Of poets and poetry- Shankara and the laharis-2

Poets have often compared the mind to a thief. It all starts as one fanciful thought. With repetition, the thought grows. And before long, it assumes such monstrous proportions, that fulfilling it becomes a necessity. Soon, it robs us of our peace of mind and even our sense of decorum. The thief that the mind is, its wayward ways are beautifully  captured by Krishna in the Geeta. These are the verses beginning from "dhyaayato vishayaan pumsah...." (chapter 2, verse 62). If the mind is a thief which operates in such a stealthy way, what hope do we have? How do we understand its ways and eventually capture the thief?


It is an eternal cat and mouse game between the thief and the police! The thief is so slippery that even the police are at a loss to keep pace with him! At times like these, to catch a thief, we take help from a bigger thief. He understands the tricks of the trade better! It is like using one thorn to remove another! We find this idea explored in many places. Krishna is often called "chitta chora"- if the mind is a thief, Krishna is such a trickster that he can rob the very thief!


The Veda says that the greatest thief is Lord Shiva! In the famous poem, Shri Rudram, Lord Shiva is called "taskara pati". He is the Lord of all thieves. In fact, an entire section (anuvaka 3) is dedicated to varieties of thieves- petty thieves, occasional thieves, pathological thieves, forest brigands, land-grabbers; you name it- Lord Shiva is the Lord of all of them! Of course, he is the greatest thief because even these local thieves get their eventual result, from whose unerring laws.


Adi Shankara in the Shivanandalahari takes up this idea. He despairs- "This thief of a mind, how do I put up with him? "imam chetash-choram katham iha sahey"? And whom does Shankara turn for help, in taming this tempestuous mind? Quoting Shri Rudram, Shankara in this verse (verse 22) calls upon the bigger thief- "hey taskara patey" to help him out! "Tava adheenam kritvaa mayi niraparaadhey kuru krpaam". Taking the mind under your control, may You, O taskara patey, help me remain fault-free! If Adi Shankara in the Shivanandalahari takes help from a bigger thief- Lord Shiva, he stays silent on revealing the biggest thief.


He has reserved that secret for his complementary work, the Soundaryalahari. Here, Shankara reveals the thief of all thieves- Devi herself! Shankara says that Shiva, in a moment of generosity, wanted to gift half of his body to Devi. He gave her his left-half (vaamey bhaagey) and stayed as Ardhanaareeshwara. Soon, Lord Shiva would be hoodwinked. Give her an inch, and she takes a mile! Shankara says that he went to have the darshana of Lord Shiva. But when he went there, he did not see Shiva at all, not even half of him, not even as Ardhanaareeshwara. She had taken over the whole of His body, so that, all that was there, was Devi! So complete was the theft! She managed to trick the "taskara pati" Himself! In utter surprise and bewilderment, Shankara explores this idea in the verse... "tvayaa hrtvaa vaamam vapur aparitrptena manasaa..." (Soundaryalahari verse 23)! The mind is a thief, a bigger thief is Lord Shiva, and the most supreme one, is Devi!


Thus, the more we look at these two works, the Shivanandalahari and the Soundaryalahari, and study them side-by-side, the more we find correlations like these. What is left as a suggestion in one text (verse 22), is completed in the other (verse 23)! Interestingly, even in terms of numbering between the two texts, we see the sequence maintained!

Of poets and poetry- Shankara and the "laharis"......

Adi Shankara has composed two works which are very popular- Shivanandalahari on Lord Shiva and Soundaryalahari on Devi. Both are made up of exactly 100 verses and brilliant in content, style and ideas. Often, we wonder whether the texts were written by Shankara or whether they could have been written at different times, by different people. It does not really matter! The texts would be just as great.


Still, when we look at the texts side-by-side, we do find many similarities, suggesting that the same mind must have composed both the works. In a little essay like this, we cannot cover all points. But the attempt here, is to present one idea. There are many more; they can be fleshed out in separate essays later.


There is a popular verse in Shivanandalahari which talks about the "degrees of closeness" in bhakti. In ascending order, these states would- "saalokya", "saameepya", "saaroopya" and "saayujya". In "saalokya", the devotee feels the closeness in inhabiting the same loka as the Lord. In "saameepya", in addition to being in the same loka, there is "physical proximity" to the Lord too. In "saaroopya", the devotee is even closer, to the extent that the Lord's qualities rubs off on him, and he becomes a mini-Lord as though! And in "saayujya", there is total union, where even that division between the devotee and the Lord does not exist.
The verse is the following:


saalokyam tava pujaney shiva mahaadeveti sankeertaney
sameepyam cha shiva bhakti dhurya janataa saangatya sambhaashaney
saaroopyam cha charaa charaatmaka tanu dhyaaney bhavaani patey
saayujyam mam siddhim atra bhavati swaamin krtaarthosmyaham


Now, in the above verse, when it comes to addressing Lord Shiva for granting the final goal of total union, saayujyam, Shankara uses the expression "bhavaani patey"- "O Lord of Bhavaani (Devi)". We pause at this point and dive into the other text.


Interestingly, the concept of saayujyam is mentioned in the Soundaryalahari too. The verse is the following:


bhavaani tvam daasey mayi vitara drishtim sakarunaam
iti stotum vaanchan kathayati bhavaani tvam iti yah
tadeva tvam tasmai dishasi nija saayujya padaveem
mukunda brahmendra sputa makuta neeraajita padaam


In this verse, Shankara plays on the word "bhavaani". All that the devotee wants to do is address the Mother as "hey bhavaani" and follow it up with other requests. But Devi does not listen beyond the first couple of words! She takes the very address, the sambodhana of  "bhavaani tvam" as the devotee's plea to say- "may I become one with you (bhavaanitvam)" and immediately grants him "saayujyam" (total union)! In fact, that is not the devotee's intent at all! It is the Mother's impatience....that she grants him the biggest boon of total union (saayujyam)....when that was not even asked for! Such is her magnanimity! Thus, Shankara puns on the words "bhavaani tvam" and gives it a totally different meaning in this verse!


Now, we find the correlation between the two texts. The suggestion is subtle, but the usage of bhavaani patey and saayujyam in Shivanandalahari is to gently remind us of this verse in Soundaryalahari where they are used in a similar connotation.


It cannot be an arbitrary coincidence! Both the texts have been crafted by the same hand, by the same Master! 

Of poets and poetry - Tulsidas

In the Ram Charit Maanas, Tulsidas composes a set of introductory verses. These verses are at the start of each "kaanda". They are in Sanskrit, unlike the main-body of the text, which is of course in Avadhi, a dialect close to Hindi.
Our focus is mainly on these Sanskrit verses. The verses don't exactly talk about the content of the kaanda following these verses. They are essentially free-style- with the verses dedicated to Gods like Shiva, Saraswati, Ganesha and others.
One such verse talks about Lord Shiva in the Ram Charit Maanas. It says:


vande bodhamayam nityam gurum shankara rupinam
yam aashritohi vakropi chandra sarvatra vandyatey


It says...I bow down to my guru, who is saakshaat Lord Shankara Himself. And what is His nature? He is bodhamayam- of the nature of "consciousness", He is nitya, eternal. And what is the specialty of Lord Shankara? Tulsidas says- Shankara is so great that even if something is "defective", when it becomes associated with Him, the defect itself becomes an ornament! As an example, Tulsidas takes the moon. The poet says- the moon is vakra, crooked. Typically, the cresent moon adorns Shiva's head, as opposed to a full-moon. The "vakratvam" can be attributed to the crescent-nature of the moon, to the waning of the moon and to a moon which is pocked with craters! Such a moon, with so many obvious defects, Tulsidas says, becomes an object of admiration (sarvatra vandyatey) because of its association with the Lord.


We are reminded of a few aside points that the poet must have kept in mind. We have the expression- "manaso devata chandramaa" -that is, the presiding deity of the "mind" is the "moon". Between the lunar-moon and the lunatic-mind, there is a connection! That being the case, the moon in this verse, can very well be taken as our mind. And how is our mind? Vakra! Crooked! In fact, we use expressions like "vakra buddhi" and "kurukku-buddhi (in Tamil) for the crooked mind.
Essentially, what Tulsidas wants to say is- our crooked mind, when it is dedicated to Shiva (yam aashrito hi), even this mind, with its innate defects, will have an added glory, an added vibhuti and will become an object of admiration (sarvatra vandyatey)!


Interestingly, Tulsidas uses the expression "vakropi" (vakra api)...."even though crooked" in the above verse. It reminds us of other texts. The Shiva Mahimna Stotra is a popular text especially in North India. It is composed by Pushpadanta and predates Tulsidas by several centuries. In that text, we come across a similar phrase "vikaaropi" (vikaara api), "even though defective/unsightly/ugly". This expression is used in one of the verses (verse 14) which describes Lord Shiva's glory as follows- Shiva's throat was discolored upon swallowing the haalaa-hala poison. But the beauty is, even the discoloration has become an ornament for him- "vikaaropi shlaaghya", Pushpadanta says.


It is not coincidental that Tulsidas uses "vakropi" and Pushpadanta has used "vikaaropi"- both so similar in sound and meaning. It is evident that between these two verses, across texts, there is a consistency in theme. Tulsidas wants us to do the homework and connect the dots between these two verses, by leaving this suggestion in his verse.


It's as if- any defect, whether natural (as in Shiva's throat) or adorned (as in the defective moon on His head), the mere association, converts even defects into an ornament! That is His glory, His mahima!