The illustrations were done on request! Check out the context......
Monday, 8 June 2015
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Showers, taps, mugs and buckets!
Swanky hotels come with their share of challenges. Swankier the hotel, greater is the challenge...often from unexpected quarters. You drop your clothes, and in all your primal finery, get into this most inviting bath tub and draw the curtains. If you think you can get into a warm invigorating shower quickly, you can't be further away! You are suddenly faced with a bewildering array of options- an overhead shower, a hand-shower hanging off a snake-like pipe, a nozzle closer to the tub with two spouts, a couple of levers and of course, color codes for warm and cold water. And no, this isn't your home. The bathroom does not come with the basic fixture you need- a bucket and a mug!
Gingerly you pull the lever and turn on the tap. Wrong choice- the water spews from the lower spout...adequate for a foot massage perhaps, but little else. Worse, the bath-tub seems to be filling up, the water quickly encircles your feet and the rest of the tub....showing no signs of draining.
Shaken and stirred, you try other options....but to no avail. The water refuses to squirt out of any, but the lower spouts. Like Rodin's "The Thinker", here you are...on your haunches...in the bath-tub, trying to make sense out of it all....!! If I were you, I would put my clothes on. It's going to take a lot more time and effort to piece this puzzle together....and may be, get expert opinion too. Of course, you cast aside this well meaning advice and plough on.
By now, you've started yanking at the second lever. Wrong choice! It's like a multiple-choice examination with negative marking! The punishment for an incorrect choice is swift and severe! Something springs into action all of a sudden....water comes hurtling down from the overhead shower. It catches you totally off guard...and tonks your scalp with this enormous gush of ice-cold water...right out of a water-fall! You let out a strangulated yelp...and in an abrupt reflex action...try and get out of harm's way. Jumping out of a bath-tub is clearly hazardous. You bruise your knee against the tub's walls, get entangled in the curtain, let out a manic howl...and scramble to safety. The waterfall continues to gush in the background showing little empathy! Your howl hasn't gone unnoticed. "Is anything wrong?" a voice comes from outside. "Everything is wrong!" would be the honest answer... of course!
A bucket and mug would make life easy for some of us. It may look inelegant, but you don't need to exercise your grey cells...at least for a bath. Thankfully, in India, there are no swanky hotels in pilgrimage places. It could be Sringeri or Tirupati or Haridwar...doesn't matter. The bathroom has the basic fixture - a bucket and a mug and yes...the water drains off the floor too. Bathroom karma....follows you doggedly though. You take a quick stock of the surroundings...scanning for creepy lizards and lurking, over-sized cockroaches. Satisfied, you now scrutinize the plastic mug. It has a battered look- frayed, discolored and sickly. The handle is long gone. Worse, a crack runs all the way...slicing the entire mug! Your effort to fill water...is slippery and unsuccessful. Before you can raise the mug to yourself, it drains off the entire side...leaving but a few droplets on your person! A couple of attempts...and you give up. It can't work this way. You try some ingenious technique...to fold the entire mug into a smaller cone and cover the crack. It works, but the bath is slow and uninspiring. Eventually, you make the ultimate choice- throw the mug away...and go for the bucket in full. As the water comes cascading down in one enormous sweep, you feel like pounding your chest like Tarzan or Bheema! The bath couldn't be more primitive......or more exhilarating!
Taps have their share of quirks. Once they spring to action, you can't stop some of them. To your horror, you can turn them a full circle. One turn and another and another...like the head in the "Exorcist"... it keeps rotating, the water keeps spouting! It does look like this one tap can deprive the whole of humanity....of water! So let it be! Many experiments later...and after much water has literally flowed below the bridge, you find that if the tap is precariously anchored at the 6 o' clock point, it actually stops!!! Thank God for small mercies!
You can't turn some taps. It's a different design- they work like a piston; a little press and they squirt out water.....the volume determined by the pressure of the hand and the duration. It requires mastery to get the technique right. Till then, it is an incessant struggle- impatient stabs yield a few trickles as returns. If you get frustrated and pound the tap with all your might...you're in for trouble! The tap throbs and vibrates in protest- filling the entire bathroom with this deafening, high-pitched whirr and boom. It suddenly feels as if you are in a boiler-chamber with all the heavy machinery around you. I told you to be nice to taps...didn't I?
Taps are like your kid- unpredictable. Like an hour-glass, you watch the desultory flow filling up the mug. You feel you could grow a full stubble to get one mug-full. The tap waits for the opportune moment and compensates for the gloom with a sudden spurt of enthusiasm and over-effusive love! And now, you have got the front of your designer shirt all soaked!! And how are you going to explain the situation at the meeting...you've left midway?
Trains in India are not for the finicky or for the hygiene freak...especially if you need to be on the train for two days and have to use the toilet. Indian-style toilets are equipped with a mug. Thankfully, the mugs are not made from plastic and can't be cracked. But everything in India needs to be chained- be it elephants or cows or water-cooler tumblers; otherwise, they simply walk away. I have no idea why a decrepit steel mug on a train would walk away....but they do; hence they need to be chained. The problem now.... is the length of the chain. At best, it is less than a foot in length! How are you ever going to extend this mug and put it to any use....squatting from where you are!!!? It seems such a hopeless proposition! "Acche din aane waley hain...."- yes, that is the hope which keeps us going. I don't ask for world hunger to be solved when that "accha din" finally dawns. Can I put in one small request though....may be...may be...the length of the chain can be extended from one foot to perhaps three feet!? That will suffice!!
There is an urgent need for standardization across the globe when it comes to restrooms, bathrooms, taps and faucets. Till then, we will end up looking stupid and culturally uncouth. Urinals are notorious- we have no idea whether a urinal is based on a self-flushing mechanism or requires human intervention. One airport boasts of a urinal which requires human intervention- it actually has a foot pedal! And how did I find that out? Yes, it isn't courteous, but I actually peeked at my neighbor! There was no other choice!
This swanky hotel in Delhi actually has venetian blinds in the restroom. To add to it, the venetian blinds are turned by default to the outside world. What that means is... you wouldn't know...but the rest of humanity in the living room... can actually watch you going through the motions in the restroom!!! No pun intended...but you get the drift. Why would someone in his right frame of mind...want to have a window to the world at large from the precincts of a toilet!?
I read this most inspirational quote from a Master. He simply said "When you eat...eat. When you walk, walk!" You can't improve upon this teaching...it is "mindfulness" at its best. On the same lines, can we tell this swanky hotel in Delhi... "when you go...simply... go!!!" Can they allow us this privacy...please?
Gingerly you pull the lever and turn on the tap. Wrong choice- the water spews from the lower spout...adequate for a foot massage perhaps, but little else. Worse, the bath-tub seems to be filling up, the water quickly encircles your feet and the rest of the tub....showing no signs of draining.
Shaken and stirred, you try other options....but to no avail. The water refuses to squirt out of any, but the lower spouts. Like Rodin's "The Thinker", here you are...on your haunches...in the bath-tub, trying to make sense out of it all....!! If I were you, I would put my clothes on. It's going to take a lot more time and effort to piece this puzzle together....and may be, get expert opinion too. Of course, you cast aside this well meaning advice and plough on.
By now, you've started yanking at the second lever. Wrong choice! It's like a multiple-choice examination with negative marking! The punishment for an incorrect choice is swift and severe! Something springs into action all of a sudden....water comes hurtling down from the overhead shower. It catches you totally off guard...and tonks your scalp with this enormous gush of ice-cold water...right out of a water-fall! You let out a strangulated yelp...and in an abrupt reflex action...try and get out of harm's way. Jumping out of a bath-tub is clearly hazardous. You bruise your knee against the tub's walls, get entangled in the curtain, let out a manic howl...and scramble to safety. The waterfall continues to gush in the background showing little empathy! Your howl hasn't gone unnoticed. "Is anything wrong?" a voice comes from outside. "Everything is wrong!" would be the honest answer... of course!
A bucket and mug would make life easy for some of us. It may look inelegant, but you don't need to exercise your grey cells...at least for a bath. Thankfully, in India, there are no swanky hotels in pilgrimage places. It could be Sringeri or Tirupati or Haridwar...doesn't matter. The bathroom has the basic fixture - a bucket and a mug and yes...the water drains off the floor too. Bathroom karma....follows you doggedly though. You take a quick stock of the surroundings...scanning for creepy lizards and lurking, over-sized cockroaches. Satisfied, you now scrutinize the plastic mug. It has a battered look- frayed, discolored and sickly. The handle is long gone. Worse, a crack runs all the way...slicing the entire mug! Your effort to fill water...is slippery and unsuccessful. Before you can raise the mug to yourself, it drains off the entire side...leaving but a few droplets on your person! A couple of attempts...and you give up. It can't work this way. You try some ingenious technique...to fold the entire mug into a smaller cone and cover the crack. It works, but the bath is slow and uninspiring. Eventually, you make the ultimate choice- throw the mug away...and go for the bucket in full. As the water comes cascading down in one enormous sweep, you feel like pounding your chest like Tarzan or Bheema! The bath couldn't be more primitive......or more exhilarating!
Taps have their share of quirks. Once they spring to action, you can't stop some of them. To your horror, you can turn them a full circle. One turn and another and another...like the head in the "Exorcist"... it keeps rotating, the water keeps spouting! It does look like this one tap can deprive the whole of humanity....of water! So let it be! Many experiments later...and after much water has literally flowed below the bridge, you find that if the tap is precariously anchored at the 6 o' clock point, it actually stops!!! Thank God for small mercies!
You can't turn some taps. It's a different design- they work like a piston; a little press and they squirt out water.....the volume determined by the pressure of the hand and the duration. It requires mastery to get the technique right. Till then, it is an incessant struggle- impatient stabs yield a few trickles as returns. If you get frustrated and pound the tap with all your might...you're in for trouble! The tap throbs and vibrates in protest- filling the entire bathroom with this deafening, high-pitched whirr and boom. It suddenly feels as if you are in a boiler-chamber with all the heavy machinery around you. I told you to be nice to taps...didn't I?
Taps are like your kid- unpredictable. Like an hour-glass, you watch the desultory flow filling up the mug. You feel you could grow a full stubble to get one mug-full. The tap waits for the opportune moment and compensates for the gloom with a sudden spurt of enthusiasm and over-effusive love! And now, you have got the front of your designer shirt all soaked!! And how are you going to explain the situation at the meeting...you've left midway?
Trains in India are not for the finicky or for the hygiene freak...especially if you need to be on the train for two days and have to use the toilet. Indian-style toilets are equipped with a mug. Thankfully, the mugs are not made from plastic and can't be cracked. But everything in India needs to be chained- be it elephants or cows or water-cooler tumblers; otherwise, they simply walk away. I have no idea why a decrepit steel mug on a train would walk away....but they do; hence they need to be chained. The problem now.... is the length of the chain. At best, it is less than a foot in length! How are you ever going to extend this mug and put it to any use....squatting from where you are!!!? It seems such a hopeless proposition! "Acche din aane waley hain...."- yes, that is the hope which keeps us going. I don't ask for world hunger to be solved when that "accha din" finally dawns. Can I put in one small request though....may be...may be...the length of the chain can be extended from one foot to perhaps three feet!? That will suffice!!
There is an urgent need for standardization across the globe when it comes to restrooms, bathrooms, taps and faucets. Till then, we will end up looking stupid and culturally uncouth. Urinals are notorious- we have no idea whether a urinal is based on a self-flushing mechanism or requires human intervention. One airport boasts of a urinal which requires human intervention- it actually has a foot pedal! And how did I find that out? Yes, it isn't courteous, but I actually peeked at my neighbor! There was no other choice!
This swanky hotel in Delhi actually has venetian blinds in the restroom. To add to it, the venetian blinds are turned by default to the outside world. What that means is... you wouldn't know...but the rest of humanity in the living room... can actually watch you going through the motions in the restroom!!! No pun intended...but you get the drift. Why would someone in his right frame of mind...want to have a window to the world at large from the precincts of a toilet!?
I read this most inspirational quote from a Master. He simply said "When you eat...eat. When you walk, walk!" You can't improve upon this teaching...it is "mindfulness" at its best. On the same lines, can we tell this swanky hotel in Delhi... "when you go...simply... go!!!" Can they allow us this privacy...please?
Saturday, 4 April 2015
Two saints, two songs, but one heart-beat
Two saints....separated by more than a thousand years, two completely different works and yet, the more we look at them, the more alike they seem...both in content and in wording.
Adi Shankara has a written a prakarana grantha (preliminary text) on Vedanta called Atma Bodha. In this work of 68 verses, there is one verse (verse 50) where he has used the metaphor of the Ramayana.
Sadashiva Brahmendra was a saint and composer who lived in the 18th century. One of his famous compositions, which is often sung in Carnatic music concerts is the piece "khelati mama hridaye". This composition too uses the analogy of the Ramayana.
In this essay, we want to ponder over these two poems and see the striking similarity between them. In addition, using the same framework provided in these two works, we would like to take select quotes from the Upanishads and present the story of the Ramayana...as a subjective journey that every spiritual aspirant has to go through.
First, we present the two works under discussion:
Atma Bodha verse 50:
Teertvaa moha mahaarnavam
hatva raaga-dveshaadi raakshasaan
yogi shaanti samaayuktah
Aatmaaraamo viraajatey
This verse presents the journey of a spiritual aspirant using the metaphor of the Ramayana.
"Crossing (teertvaa) the ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam), and having destroyed (hatva) the raakshasaas in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga dvesha), the yogi (the qualified spiritual aspirant) gets united (samaayuktah) with peace (shaanti) and shines/enjoys (viraajatey) as the Self (aatma raama)".
The imagery is self explanatory. The jeeva (the individual) is the Self in reality (atma-rama). Peace (shanti) is his very nature, his better-half (Sita), as it were. Ravana comes in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga-dvesha) and loots this peace away. Peace recedes even further...and lies imprisoned beyond an ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam). Alas! The individual gropes for peace in the forest of samsara.
How must he regain his exalted, pristine status? Every seeker has to go through the story of the Ramayana as a personal, subjective journey.
Sadashiva Brahmendra's "Khelati mama hridaye":
khelati mama hridaye raamah,
khelati mama hridaye.......
moha mahaarnava taaraka kaari
raaga-dvesha mukhaasura maari
shaanti videha suta sahachaari
daharaayodhya nagara vihaari
paramahamsa saamraajyodhaari
satya gnyaanaananda shareeri
khelati mama hridaye.......
A running meaning would be:
Rama dances (khelati) in my heart (mama hridaye).
He is the one who helps me cross (taaraka kaari) the huge ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnava).
He is the one who helps to destroy asuras in the form of my own raaga-dveshas.
With this, I regain peace (shaanti). Here, Sita is equated with peace. A special epithet is used for her- She is Vaidehi, "videha suta", princess of the Kingdom of Videha. (Sita's father Janaka was well known as a grihastha gnyaani. And as videha suta, Sita is an inheritor of that peace.)
There after, I shall live happily (vihaari) in Ayodhya, that city which can never be destroyed (yoddhum ashakyaa ayodhya). Where is this Ayodhya? It is in my own heart/mind (hence, dahara ayodhya).
And what kind of place is this Ayodhya? It is a heart/mind where dharma flourishes. An empire (saamraajya) where noble people (paramahamsas/sanyasis/noble thoughts) are protected.
Finally, Rama, who helps me accomplish all this, and who dances in my heart, what is his nature? How does he look? He is "satya-gnyaana-aananda shareeri". That Rama is my own Self, my Higher Nature, Atma whose swarupa is "satyam-gnyaanam-anantam" as the Upanishads declare.
It is easy to see how similar these two poems are. Sadashiva Brahmendra seems to have had this Atma Bodha verse in mind and he has embellished it with a few more ideas. In keeping with this presentation of the Ramayana as a personal journey, we can now take a few more ideas from the Ramayana and see how they fit into this framework.
Vana-vaasa in the Ramayana:
There is a verse in Adi Shankara's Dhanyaashtakam as follows:
"aadau vijitya vishayaan mada moha raagah
dveshaadi shatruganam aahrta yoga raajyaah
gnyaatvaa matam samanubhuuya paraatma vidyaam
kaantaa sukham vanagrihe vicharanti dhanyaah"
In this verse, Adi Shankara lays out the journey of a seeker. Like the previous verses, a seeker starts off by cultivating a life of values. As part of this, he says "mada moha raaga-dvesha shatruganam vijitya" (having won over enemies in the form of mada, moha and raaga-dvesa). This is the same as the previous two verses we saw. The seeker then enters the portals of gnyaana yoga and does atma vichara (gnyaatva matam samanubhuya paratma vidyaam). And this gnyaana/vidya sukham (the consequent happiness) is what gives him company like a spouse (kaantaa)... even in the forest.
The vana-vaasa in the Ramayana...is as it were...condensed in this verse. The asuras that Rama killed in the forest are these "aasuri sampat" (negative traits) in our own minds. Rama and Sita lived in bliss for the first 13 years of their forest life. And that mutual happiness is likened to the vidya-sukham that a gnyaani ("dhanyaah" in this verse) derives. Hence, it is said "kaantaa sukham vanagrihe vicharanti dhanyaah". It is similar to the happiness mentioned in Yati Panchakam - "vedaanta vaakyeshu sada ramantah" (deriving happiness from the words/message of vedanta).
Vana vaasa does not have to be taken literally. It simply means that wherever a gnyaani is, he does not feel loneliness, whether in a city or in a forest.
Hence, in our subjective Ramayana, vana-vaasa can be taken as the ability to live...even in seclusion....with the happiness derived from the message of vedanta.
The "golden deer" in the Ramayana:
The Maayaavi Maareecha take the form of a golden deer. Sita is fascinated and desires to have the deer as a pet. Rama goes after the deer in pursuit. The deer leads him further and further into the forest. An exhausted Rama comes back only to find that Sita is missing. We are familiar with all this. In keeping with the idea provided by Adi Shankara and Sadashiva Brahmendra, can the "golden deer" be seen in a subjective way? Interestingly, we find a few verses related to this topic.
Why "golden" ?
The Ishaavasya Upanishad has this verse:
"hiranmayena paatrena satyasyaapitam mukham...
tat twam pushan apaavrnu....satya dharmaaya drishtaye"
The devotee looks at the sun and says that "your golden frame" (hiranmayena paatrena) is so fascinating that it has hoodwinked me and "covered the Truth" (satyasyaapitam mukham). He prays to the sun to remove this covering (apaavrnu) so that he can rediscover the Truth, his own essential nature.
Sita's fascination for the "golden" deer is similar. It covers her senses as it were and she succumbs to that temptation, only to lose the abiding Truth in her life (Rama).
In a way, her "bahir-mukhatwam" ("attention outside") led to her downfall. We are reminded of that verse from the Katha Upanishad:
"paraanchikhaani vyatrnat svayambhu....
tasmaat paraang pashyati...na antaraatman"
The creator (svayambhu) has naturally created our sense organs "turned outward" so that our attention is always on external objects (paraang pashyati)..so that the Self which is always with us (the antaraatman) is lost sight of. Consequently, like Sita, we also suffer.
The concept of "mriga trishna":
The deer in the Ramayana reminds us of the "mriga trishna" metaphor in Vedanta. The deer living on the fringes of the desert feels thirst. It sees the mirage water in the sands of the desert and runs towards it. The search must necessarily be futile. The deer is led deeper and deeper into the desert, till it dies out of sheer exhaustion.
We are reminded of the line from the Shiva Mahimna stotra:
"Na hi svaatmaaraamam vishaya mriga-trishnaam bhramayati" - The one who revels in his own Self (svaatmaaraamam) does not get lost (bhramayati) in the vishayas of the world as the mriga-trishna does.
Why deer?
Lord Shiva is called "mriga dhara". Popular iconography of Lord Shiva shows him holding a deer on his finger tips. Sometimes, the deer is beside him and he feeds the deer (as in the image of Shiva as Bhikshaatana). The deer depicts our mind...which frolics all over. After all, as Arjuna says, "chanchalam hi manah krishna", the mind is chanchala...unsteady all the time. Like Sita, we will necessarily suffer if we ride along with our mind. Lord Shiva as the mriga-dhara comes to our aid. We surrender unto Him and allow him to tame our mind and make our mind....his!
Hanuman- the embodiment of bhakti:
If samsara is an ocean, we can never hope to cross it on our own...to find Sita, that elusive peace which lies beyond it. Ishvara's anugraha is required all the way- to develop an interest for moksha, to develop the required mental qualifications like shama, dama etc. and to find a Guru. Ishvara's anugraha can be tapped only through bhakti. Cultivating bhakti thus becomes mandatory in our journey. And what better model for bhakti than the daasya bhaava exemplified by Hanuman?
Any number of verses can be taken for bhakti. We take a verse here from the "guru paaduka stotram" which shows bhakti towards the Guru. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to take a verse which shows bhakti towards Ishvara would be a natural question. There is a reason for this. The guru is non separate from Ishvara. As the Shvetashvatara Upanishad says "yasya deve paraa bhakti yathaa devey tathaa gurau", bhakti towards the guru is as efficacious as towards the Lord. Secondly, for the seeker who has no direct access to Ishvara, the Guru becomes a conduit as it were. Lastly, in advaita siddhaanta, there is no moksha without gnyaanam (knowledge). The guru's role in communicating this knowledge is unparalleled. Hence, the importance of guru-bhakti.
The verse in question talks about samudra taranam. It reminds us of Hanuman's bhakti and his heroic deeds in the story.
"ananta samsaara samudra taara
naukayitaabhyaam gurubhaktidaabhyaam
vairaagya saamraajyada-pujanaabhyaam
namo nama shri gurupaadukaabhyaam"
Our prostrations to the sandals (paaduka) of our guru. The sandals assume the role of a boat (nauka) and ferry us across the ocean of samsaara (samudra taara). And what is the benefit of this worship? We get vairaagya (contentment) and moksha saamraajya (empire of moksha) itself.
Since we are relating everything to Ramayana, the word "saamraajya" immediately takes us to Tyagaraja's song: "Raama bhakti saamraajya"!
Setu-bandhana in the Ramayana:
Rama built a bridge over the ocean, all the way to Lanka, conquered Ravana and won back Sita. Surprisingly, we find references to the "bride over the ocean" (setu) in the Upanishads too.
The Mundaka Upanishad says:
"yasmin dyau prithvi cha antariksham
otam manah sah praanaishcha sarvaihi
tameva ekam jaanatha aatmaanam
anyaa vaacho vimunchatha
amritasya esha setuhu"
"Know that aatma, which is One (tameva ekam jaanatha aatmaanam). That is the bridge (setu) to cross the ocean of samsaara and claim immortality (amritam), which is our very nature."
Atma gnyaanam is pointed here as the bridge to cross the ocean of samsaara. The Hanuman Chalisa says: "prabhu mudrika meli mukh maahi...jaladhi laanghi gaye achraj naahi". How did Hanuman get the strength to cross the ocean? He had "prabhu mudrika" with him- Rama's signet ring. It can be taken as the power of Rama nama or Atma gnyaanam itself (like the Upanishad says above).
Rama, the dhanurdharah:
"Raamah shastrabhrtaam aham" - Krishna says. "Of all the wielders of the bow, I am Rama, the best amongst archers." How can we relate to the metaphor of Rama, the archer, in our subjective journey?
We are reminded of the "archer imagery" in the Mundaka Upanishad.
"pranavah dhanu" (Omkara is the bow), "sharah aatma" (the jeevatma is the arrow), "brahma tan lakshyam" (the target is Brahman/the Self)...and what is the result upon releasing the arrow? "sharavat tanmayah bhavet" (the arrow gets inseparably lodged (tanmayah) in the target...so too, the jeeva, the individual, discovers his intrinsic identity with Brahman, the total).
Ravana- the senses running amok:
Ravana, the ten-faced demon denotes our sense organs running amok. We have "five gnyaanendriyas" (organs of knowledge) and "five karmendriyas" (organs of action) making it a total of ten. Each one pulls us in a different direction, leading to our eventual doom. And backing these ten organs is a disoriented "mind" (manas) and a fickle "intellect" (buddhi).
We are reminded of the famous "chariot metaphor" from the Katha Upanishad.
"yastu avignyaanavaan bhavati
ayuktena manasaa sadaa
tasya indriyaani avashyaani
dushta ashvaa iva saarathehe"
If the intellect is uninformed (avignyaanavaan) about the lasting goal of life, if the mind is loose (ayukta), if the senses run riot (indriyaani avashyaani), then the chariot is certain to crash by the wayside. This is Ravana- our own false values dragging us to the edge of the precipice and the inevitable fall!
"man se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske man mein hai":
A student of Vedanta sees Vedanta everywhere...sometimes, in the most unexpected place. Our subjective interpretation of Ramayana takes us to a song from the Hindi film "Swades"! It says "man se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske man mein hai". This line is most appropriate and had to be a part of this essay. In our subjective Ramayana, as this song says, Ravana and Rama are actually found in the same locus, in the same mind.
The Upanishad talks about two birds present on the same tree (samaaney vrikshey): One noble and stately (the Self) and the other (the ego) which needlessly suffers (aneeshaya shochati). But when the ego identifies itself with the Self, it becomes free (veeta shokah).
So too, our false values create a Frankenstein, a Ravana as it were, and in the very same mind, now ridden of these false elements, we recognize Rama. After all, doesn't the Upanishad say "yo veda nihitam guhaayaam" That Truth has to be recognized in one's own mind (guhaa) ?
This essay can go on! For now, with these select ideas, we close this topic! It is our privilege to have had the opportunity to think of Adi Shankara, Sadashiva Brahmendra, the Ramyana and the entire body of vedantic literature!
Adi Shankara has a written a prakarana grantha (preliminary text) on Vedanta called Atma Bodha. In this work of 68 verses, there is one verse (verse 50) where he has used the metaphor of the Ramayana.
Sadashiva Brahmendra was a saint and composer who lived in the 18th century. One of his famous compositions, which is often sung in Carnatic music concerts is the piece "khelati mama hridaye". This composition too uses the analogy of the Ramayana.
In this essay, we want to ponder over these two poems and see the striking similarity between them. In addition, using the same framework provided in these two works, we would like to take select quotes from the Upanishads and present the story of the Ramayana...as a subjective journey that every spiritual aspirant has to go through.
First, we present the two works under discussion:
Atma Bodha verse 50:
Teertvaa moha mahaarnavam
hatva raaga-dveshaadi raakshasaan
yogi shaanti samaayuktah
Aatmaaraamo viraajatey
This verse presents the journey of a spiritual aspirant using the metaphor of the Ramayana.
"Crossing (teertvaa) the ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam), and having destroyed (hatva) the raakshasaas in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga dvesha), the yogi (the qualified spiritual aspirant) gets united (samaayuktah) with peace (shaanti) and shines/enjoys (viraajatey) as the Self (aatma raama)".
The imagery is self explanatory. The jeeva (the individual) is the Self in reality (atma-rama). Peace (shanti) is his very nature, his better-half (Sita), as it were. Ravana comes in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga-dvesha) and loots this peace away. Peace recedes even further...and lies imprisoned beyond an ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam). Alas! The individual gropes for peace in the forest of samsara.
How must he regain his exalted, pristine status? Every seeker has to go through the story of the Ramayana as a personal, subjective journey.
Sadashiva Brahmendra's "Khelati mama hridaye":
khelati mama hridaye raamah,
khelati mama hridaye.......
moha mahaarnava taaraka kaari
raaga-dvesha mukhaasura maari
shaanti videha suta sahachaari
daharaayodhya nagara vihaari
paramahamsa saamraajyodhaari
satya gnyaanaananda shareeri
khelati mama hridaye.......
A running meaning would be:
Rama dances (khelati) in my heart (mama hridaye).
He is the one who helps me cross (taaraka kaari) the huge ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnava).
He is the one who helps to destroy asuras in the form of my own raaga-dveshas.
With this, I regain peace (shaanti). Here, Sita is equated with peace. A special epithet is used for her- She is Vaidehi, "videha suta", princess of the Kingdom of Videha. (Sita's father Janaka was well known as a grihastha gnyaani. And as videha suta, Sita is an inheritor of that peace.)
There after, I shall live happily (vihaari) in Ayodhya, that city which can never be destroyed (yoddhum ashakyaa ayodhya). Where is this Ayodhya? It is in my own heart/mind (hence, dahara ayodhya).
And what kind of place is this Ayodhya? It is a heart/mind where dharma flourishes. An empire (saamraajya) where noble people (paramahamsas/sanyasis/noble thoughts) are protected.
Finally, Rama, who helps me accomplish all this, and who dances in my heart, what is his nature? How does he look? He is "satya-gnyaana-aananda shareeri". That Rama is my own Self, my Higher Nature, Atma whose swarupa is "satyam-gnyaanam-anantam" as the Upanishads declare.
It is easy to see how similar these two poems are. Sadashiva Brahmendra seems to have had this Atma Bodha verse in mind and he has embellished it with a few more ideas. In keeping with this presentation of the Ramayana as a personal journey, we can now take a few more ideas from the Ramayana and see how they fit into this framework.
Vana-vaasa in the Ramayana:
There is a verse in Adi Shankara's Dhanyaashtakam as follows:
"aadau vijitya vishayaan mada moha raagah
dveshaadi shatruganam aahrta yoga raajyaah
gnyaatvaa matam samanubhuuya paraatma vidyaam
kaantaa sukham vanagrihe vicharanti dhanyaah"
In this verse, Adi Shankara lays out the journey of a seeker. Like the previous verses, a seeker starts off by cultivating a life of values. As part of this, he says "mada moha raaga-dvesha shatruganam vijitya" (having won over enemies in the form of mada, moha and raaga-dvesa). This is the same as the previous two verses we saw. The seeker then enters the portals of gnyaana yoga and does atma vichara (gnyaatva matam samanubhuya paratma vidyaam). And this gnyaana/vidya sukham (the consequent happiness) is what gives him company like a spouse (kaantaa)... even in the forest.
The vana-vaasa in the Ramayana...is as it were...condensed in this verse. The asuras that Rama killed in the forest are these "aasuri sampat" (negative traits) in our own minds. Rama and Sita lived in bliss for the first 13 years of their forest life. And that mutual happiness is likened to the vidya-sukham that a gnyaani ("dhanyaah" in this verse) derives. Hence, it is said "kaantaa sukham vanagrihe vicharanti dhanyaah". It is similar to the happiness mentioned in Yati Panchakam - "vedaanta vaakyeshu sada ramantah" (deriving happiness from the words/message of vedanta).
Vana vaasa does not have to be taken literally. It simply means that wherever a gnyaani is, he does not feel loneliness, whether in a city or in a forest.
Hence, in our subjective Ramayana, vana-vaasa can be taken as the ability to live...even in seclusion....with the happiness derived from the message of vedanta.
The "golden deer" in the Ramayana:
The Maayaavi Maareecha take the form of a golden deer. Sita is fascinated and desires to have the deer as a pet. Rama goes after the deer in pursuit. The deer leads him further and further into the forest. An exhausted Rama comes back only to find that Sita is missing. We are familiar with all this. In keeping with the idea provided by Adi Shankara and Sadashiva Brahmendra, can the "golden deer" be seen in a subjective way? Interestingly, we find a few verses related to this topic.
Why "golden" ?
The Ishaavasya Upanishad has this verse:
"hiranmayena paatrena satyasyaapitam mukham...
tat twam pushan apaavrnu....satya dharmaaya drishtaye"
The devotee looks at the sun and says that "your golden frame" (hiranmayena paatrena) is so fascinating that it has hoodwinked me and "covered the Truth" (satyasyaapitam mukham). He prays to the sun to remove this covering (apaavrnu) so that he can rediscover the Truth, his own essential nature.
Sita's fascination for the "golden" deer is similar. It covers her senses as it were and she succumbs to that temptation, only to lose the abiding Truth in her life (Rama).
In a way, her "bahir-mukhatwam" ("attention outside") led to her downfall. We are reminded of that verse from the Katha Upanishad:
"paraanchikhaani vyatrnat svayambhu....
tasmaat paraang pashyati...na antaraatman"
The creator (svayambhu) has naturally created our sense organs "turned outward" so that our attention is always on external objects (paraang pashyati)..so that the Self which is always with us (the antaraatman) is lost sight of. Consequently, like Sita, we also suffer.
The concept of "mriga trishna":
The deer in the Ramayana reminds us of the "mriga trishna" metaphor in Vedanta. The deer living on the fringes of the desert feels thirst. It sees the mirage water in the sands of the desert and runs towards it. The search must necessarily be futile. The deer is led deeper and deeper into the desert, till it dies out of sheer exhaustion.
We are reminded of the line from the Shiva Mahimna stotra:
"Na hi svaatmaaraamam vishaya mriga-trishnaam bhramayati" - The one who revels in his own Self (svaatmaaraamam) does not get lost (bhramayati) in the vishayas of the world as the mriga-trishna does.
Why deer?
Lord Shiva is called "mriga dhara". Popular iconography of Lord Shiva shows him holding a deer on his finger tips. Sometimes, the deer is beside him and he feeds the deer (as in the image of Shiva as Bhikshaatana). The deer depicts our mind...which frolics all over. After all, as Arjuna says, "chanchalam hi manah krishna", the mind is chanchala...unsteady all the time. Like Sita, we will necessarily suffer if we ride along with our mind. Lord Shiva as the mriga-dhara comes to our aid. We surrender unto Him and allow him to tame our mind and make our mind....his!
Hanuman- the embodiment of bhakti:
If samsara is an ocean, we can never hope to cross it on our own...to find Sita, that elusive peace which lies beyond it. Ishvara's anugraha is required all the way- to develop an interest for moksha, to develop the required mental qualifications like shama, dama etc. and to find a Guru. Ishvara's anugraha can be tapped only through bhakti. Cultivating bhakti thus becomes mandatory in our journey. And what better model for bhakti than the daasya bhaava exemplified by Hanuman?
Any number of verses can be taken for bhakti. We take a verse here from the "guru paaduka stotram" which shows bhakti towards the Guru. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to take a verse which shows bhakti towards Ishvara would be a natural question. There is a reason for this. The guru is non separate from Ishvara. As the Shvetashvatara Upanishad says "yasya deve paraa bhakti yathaa devey tathaa gurau", bhakti towards the guru is as efficacious as towards the Lord. Secondly, for the seeker who has no direct access to Ishvara, the Guru becomes a conduit as it were. Lastly, in advaita siddhaanta, there is no moksha without gnyaanam (knowledge). The guru's role in communicating this knowledge is unparalleled. Hence, the importance of guru-bhakti.
The verse in question talks about samudra taranam. It reminds us of Hanuman's bhakti and his heroic deeds in the story.
"ananta samsaara samudra taara
naukayitaabhyaam gurubhaktidaabhyaam
vairaagya saamraajyada-pujanaabhyaam
namo nama shri gurupaadukaabhyaam"
Our prostrations to the sandals (paaduka) of our guru. The sandals assume the role of a boat (nauka) and ferry us across the ocean of samsaara (samudra taara). And what is the benefit of this worship? We get vairaagya (contentment) and moksha saamraajya (empire of moksha) itself.
Since we are relating everything to Ramayana, the word "saamraajya" immediately takes us to Tyagaraja's song: "Raama bhakti saamraajya"!
Setu-bandhana in the Ramayana:
Rama built a bridge over the ocean, all the way to Lanka, conquered Ravana and won back Sita. Surprisingly, we find references to the "bride over the ocean" (setu) in the Upanishads too.
The Mundaka Upanishad says:
"yasmin dyau prithvi cha antariksham
otam manah sah praanaishcha sarvaihi
tameva ekam jaanatha aatmaanam
anyaa vaacho vimunchatha
amritasya esha setuhu"
"Know that aatma, which is One (tameva ekam jaanatha aatmaanam). That is the bridge (setu) to cross the ocean of samsaara and claim immortality (amritam), which is our very nature."
Atma gnyaanam is pointed here as the bridge to cross the ocean of samsaara. The Hanuman Chalisa says: "prabhu mudrika meli mukh maahi...jaladhi laanghi gaye achraj naahi". How did Hanuman get the strength to cross the ocean? He had "prabhu mudrika" with him- Rama's signet ring. It can be taken as the power of Rama nama or Atma gnyaanam itself (like the Upanishad says above).
Rama, the dhanurdharah:
"Raamah shastrabhrtaam aham" - Krishna says. "Of all the wielders of the bow, I am Rama, the best amongst archers." How can we relate to the metaphor of Rama, the archer, in our subjective journey?
We are reminded of the "archer imagery" in the Mundaka Upanishad.
"pranavah dhanu" (Omkara is the bow), "sharah aatma" (the jeevatma is the arrow), "brahma tan lakshyam" (the target is Brahman/the Self)...and what is the result upon releasing the arrow? "sharavat tanmayah bhavet" (the arrow gets inseparably lodged (tanmayah) in the target...so too, the jeeva, the individual, discovers his intrinsic identity with Brahman, the total).
Ravana- the senses running amok:
Ravana, the ten-faced demon denotes our sense organs running amok. We have "five gnyaanendriyas" (organs of knowledge) and "five karmendriyas" (organs of action) making it a total of ten. Each one pulls us in a different direction, leading to our eventual doom. And backing these ten organs is a disoriented "mind" (manas) and a fickle "intellect" (buddhi).
We are reminded of the famous "chariot metaphor" from the Katha Upanishad.
"yastu avignyaanavaan bhavati
ayuktena manasaa sadaa
tasya indriyaani avashyaani
dushta ashvaa iva saarathehe"
If the intellect is uninformed (avignyaanavaan) about the lasting goal of life, if the mind is loose (ayukta), if the senses run riot (indriyaani avashyaani), then the chariot is certain to crash by the wayside. This is Ravana- our own false values dragging us to the edge of the precipice and the inevitable fall!
"man se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske man mein hai":
A student of Vedanta sees Vedanta everywhere...sometimes, in the most unexpected place. Our subjective interpretation of Ramayana takes us to a song from the Hindi film "Swades"! It says "man se raavan jo nikaale, raam uske man mein hai". This line is most appropriate and had to be a part of this essay. In our subjective Ramayana, as this song says, Ravana and Rama are actually found in the same locus, in the same mind.
The Upanishad talks about two birds present on the same tree (samaaney vrikshey): One noble and stately (the Self) and the other (the ego) which needlessly suffers (aneeshaya shochati). But when the ego identifies itself with the Self, it becomes free (veeta shokah).
So too, our false values create a Frankenstein, a Ravana as it were, and in the very same mind, now ridden of these false elements, we recognize Rama. After all, doesn't the Upanishad say "yo veda nihitam guhaayaam" That Truth has to be recognized in one's own mind (guhaa) ?
This essay can go on! For now, with these select ideas, we close this topic! It is our privilege to have had the opportunity to think of Adi Shankara, Sadashiva Brahmendra, the Ramyana and the entire body of vedantic literature!
Saturday, 14 March 2015
Random notes on Tyagaraja's kriti "mundu venuka"
There is a story surrounding the Tyagaraja keertana "mundu venuka". Tyagaraja was on his way from Tirupati to Tiruvottriyur. He was being carried in a palanquin by his disciples. Tyagaraja had no knowledge that his disciples were carrying some money with them. Had he known it, he would have disapproved of it.
Kovur Sundara Mudaliar was a patron of music. He had great respect for Tyagaraja and had personally invited Tyagaraja on this trip. It was Sundara Mudaliar who had gifted money to the disciples so that this money could be used for Lord Rama's worship. This information was kept away from Tyagaraja.
The palanquin was now in the middle of the forest. Suddenly, the disciples panicked. They were under attack from robbers! They rushed to Tyagaraja. Tyagaraja was composed. "Surely, we have nothing to fear. After all, we carry no money!" he said. It was then that the disciples disclosed to him about the money that they were carrying.
Tyagaraja was unperturbed. He did not rebuke his disciples. Instead, he replied that if the money was to be used for Lord Rama's worship, then, it was Lord Rama's duty to protect his wealth too. After all, isn't it true that "tan man dhan...sab kuch tera" as the popular Hindi bhajan goes? "This body, mind and wealth...everything is Yours, O Lord".
It was at this juncture, right in the middle of the forest and under attack from forest robbers, that Tyagaraja composed and sang the keertana "mundu venuka" set to the raga Durbar. The impact of the song was immediate.
Now, it was the turn of the robbers to panic. They saw two divine youths guarding the palanquin. They attacked the robbers forcing them to flee. The robbers rushed to the feet of Tyagaraja and begged for forgiveness. Tyagaraja heard their story patiently. He knew that it was Rama and Lakshmana who had guarded the palanquin. There was little doubt.
Tyagaraja was distraught and wept. He had pined for the Lord's vision for many years and Rama still eluded him. On the other hand, these robbers had had the fortune of the Lord's vision. How ironical! And how the Lord's vision had changed the robbers so completely! They were immediately chastened... in one stroke! As the Upanishad says - "bhidyate hrdaya granthihi, chidyantey sarva samshayaah, ksheeyantey cha asya karmaani, tasmin drshtey paraavarey" - "The moment one "sees" (drshtey) the Ultimate (paraavaram), all the knots in the heart (hrdaya granthi), all the doubts (samshaya) and all karma...everything gets uprooted in one stroke.
The pallavi of the keertana goes as follows:
mundu venukayiru pakkala tōḍai mura khara hara rārā -
"Hey Rama, the one who vanquished rakshasas like "mura" and "khara", may you come and protect me from the "front", "rear" and from every "side".
Khara and Dushana had come with an army of 14000 rakshasas. Single handed, Rama and Lakshmana killed all of them. That is the reference to "khara hara" in the pallavi.
Incidently, the raaga Durbar is a janya of "Kharaharapriya" raaga in the melakarta classification scheme!
The other epithet "mura hara" in the pallavi actually refers to Krishna. It appears to have been used for alliterative effect in the song- mura, khara, hara etc. Tyagaraja often replaces Rama for other forms of Vishnu. We see this in other places. For example, "vandanamu raghunandana", the popular Sahaana kriti is found in Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam! There is time-wise "aberration" (for Narasimha as an avatar precedes Rama (raghu-nandana)) too. But Tyagaraja's fascination for Lord Rama is such that it cannot be restricted by such common concerns!
In this essay, we want to mainly focus on this point- "that the Lord should be like my armour and protect me from all sides". Tyagaraja has used this idea in the song. We find a similar mention in other places and this song appears to paraphrase this particular strain of thought. We take a few examples here:
Shloka on Lord Rama which has a similar theme:
The shloka is quite popular. It goes as follows:
"agratah prshtatashchaiva paarshvatashcha mahaabalau
Apoorna karna dhanvaanau raskshetaam raama lakshmanau"
"May Rama and Lakshmana protect me"....and how.?..."ready with a bow drawn right up to the ear"...(aapoorna karna dhanvaanau) ..and standing where?....on all sides... "agratah" (in front)..."prshtatah" (at the back) and "paarshvatashca"...(on each side).
This is exactly what Tyagaraja also says in "Mundu venuka".
Lord Shiva...appearing on all sides:
The eleventh and final anuvaka of Shri Rudram (from Yajur Veda) has these lines:
"namo rudrebhyo ye prithivyaam ye antarikshe"....etc... and ends with "dasha praacheer dasha dakshinaa dasha praticheer dasho udicheer.. etc"
It says: With my 10 (dasha) fingers, I bow to Lord Shiva, the one who is everywhere- in the East (praachee), in the South (dakshinaa), in the West (pratichee), in the North (udichee) and who exists even at the top (oordhva).
Just like Tyagaraja wanted Rama to appear all around him and serve as a protective armor, in Shri Rudram, the devotee reaches out to Lord Shiva...who as the vishwaroopa, appears on all sides.
Dik-devataadi vandanam in Sandhya vandanam:
Regular Sandhya Vandanam has the following simple shloka:
"praachyai dishey namah, dakshinaayai dishey namah, prateechyai dishey namah, udeechyai dishey namah, oordhvaaya namah, adharaaya namah"
Here, a devotee faces each direction- the East, West, North, South, Up and Down and offers prostration to the cardinal directions itself. Though this prayer is normally referred to as "namaskara" to the dik devatas or "direction devatas", in reality, the One Lord alone.... is seen in the form of his aspects in every direction.
Like "mundu venuka", the Lord surrounds us from all sides and protects us. That is the message here too.
Finally, we see a reference in Mundaka Upanishad where Brahman is pointed out as all pervading...and as it were...enveloping every direction.
Quote from Mundaka Upanishad:
"brahma eva idam amritam purastaad, brahma pashchaad, brahma dakshinatah cha uttarena, adhah cha oordhvam cha prasritam brahma eva vishwam idam varishtam"
What we see as "this world" (idam) is Brahman alone (brahma eva) who appears in front (purastaad), who appears at the back (pashchaat), who appears to the right (dakshinatah), who appears to the left (uttarena)...and who is spread all over (prasritam)...at the top (oordhvam) and below (adhah)!!
And as the "nama ramayanam" text says: "shuddha brahma paraatpara raam", Rama is Brahman alone. That Brahman which is formless and all-pervading, appears for us in the captivating form of Rama. Thus, Tyagaraja's Rama in "Mundu Venuka" is the same Brahman referenced in this verse from the Upanishad.
Summing up:
Tyagaraja's "mundu venuka" echoes a popular theme that the Lord is present everywhere.
Just as there is "spatial protection" from the Lord, "mundu venuka" also has a veiled reference to "time wise protection".
In the first charanam, Lord Rama is addressed as the "moon" (chandra) rising over the "ocean (abdhi) of the Solar (bhaaskara) race (kula)". The line is "chanda bhaaskara kulaabdhi chandra".
The "moon" stands for the principle of time. Time in ancient India was measured in terms of "tithis" (digits of the moon). As the Lord of Time, Rama Chandra is present at all times and showers his protection on us.
Further, the sun (bhaaskara) is the Lord of the day. The moon is the Lord of the night. By referencing both the sun and the moon in the charanam, it looks as though Tyagaraja completes the entire picture. The Lord's kavacham is present at all places...and at all times- both day and night!
"Eri Kaatha Raamar":
We may dismiss the story of Lord Rama coming to Tyagaraja's rescue as a fable. Could the robbers have had some other vision which they mistook to be Lord Rama? Could it be a story fabricated to lend divine status to Tyagaraja and his music? Doubts assail us at every step.
The story of "Eri kaatha raamar" proves that Lord Rama does come to our aid at all times and at all places. It is a matter of faith...and sometimes, the most unlikely candidate is chosen as the "paatram" (receptacle) for his grace.
The year was 1798. Colonel Lionel Blaze was at Madhurantakam, close to Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu. Rains lashed the countryside as never before. Colonel Blaze's eyes were glued to the "bund". The township's fate hinged on this bund, beyond which lay a huge water-tank. Once breached, the township would be inundated for sure.
Madhurantakam was well known for the temple of Lord Rama. It was here that Saint Ramanuja himself had stayed for many years.
On that fateful day, Colonel Blaze swears that he saw Lord Rama and Lakshmana guard the bund and protect the township. Based on this incident, the temple deity is known today as "eri kaatha raamar" (Rama...who protected the water-bund).
Colonel Blaze was not a devotee of Lord Rama. Yet, he had the Lord's vision and he testifies to that effect. An edict with the Colonel's name is present in the temple. It stands as a mute testimony to the fact that Lord Rama is present everywhere and at all times. It is for us to tap his ever flowing grace.
Kovur Sundara Mudaliar was a patron of music. He had great respect for Tyagaraja and had personally invited Tyagaraja on this trip. It was Sundara Mudaliar who had gifted money to the disciples so that this money could be used for Lord Rama's worship. This information was kept away from Tyagaraja.
The palanquin was now in the middle of the forest. Suddenly, the disciples panicked. They were under attack from robbers! They rushed to Tyagaraja. Tyagaraja was composed. "Surely, we have nothing to fear. After all, we carry no money!" he said. It was then that the disciples disclosed to him about the money that they were carrying.
Tyagaraja was unperturbed. He did not rebuke his disciples. Instead, he replied that if the money was to be used for Lord Rama's worship, then, it was Lord Rama's duty to protect his wealth too. After all, isn't it true that "tan man dhan...sab kuch tera" as the popular Hindi bhajan goes? "This body, mind and wealth...everything is Yours, O Lord".
It was at this juncture, right in the middle of the forest and under attack from forest robbers, that Tyagaraja composed and sang the keertana "mundu venuka" set to the raga Durbar. The impact of the song was immediate.
Now, it was the turn of the robbers to panic. They saw two divine youths guarding the palanquin. They attacked the robbers forcing them to flee. The robbers rushed to the feet of Tyagaraja and begged for forgiveness. Tyagaraja heard their story patiently. He knew that it was Rama and Lakshmana who had guarded the palanquin. There was little doubt.
Tyagaraja was distraught and wept. He had pined for the Lord's vision for many years and Rama still eluded him. On the other hand, these robbers had had the fortune of the Lord's vision. How ironical! And how the Lord's vision had changed the robbers so completely! They were immediately chastened... in one stroke! As the Upanishad says - "bhidyate hrdaya granthihi, chidyantey sarva samshayaah, ksheeyantey cha asya karmaani, tasmin drshtey paraavarey" - "The moment one "sees" (drshtey) the Ultimate (paraavaram), all the knots in the heart (hrdaya granthi), all the doubts (samshaya) and all karma...everything gets uprooted in one stroke.
The pallavi of the keertana goes as follows:
mundu venukayiru pakkala tōḍai mura khara hara rārā -
"Hey Rama, the one who vanquished rakshasas like "mura" and "khara", may you come and protect me from the "front", "rear" and from every "side".
Khara and Dushana had come with an army of 14000 rakshasas. Single handed, Rama and Lakshmana killed all of them. That is the reference to "khara hara" in the pallavi.
Incidently, the raaga Durbar is a janya of "Kharaharapriya" raaga in the melakarta classification scheme!
The other epithet "mura hara" in the pallavi actually refers to Krishna. It appears to have been used for alliterative effect in the song- mura, khara, hara etc. Tyagaraja often replaces Rama for other forms of Vishnu. We see this in other places. For example, "vandanamu raghunandana", the popular Sahaana kriti is found in Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam! There is time-wise "aberration" (for Narasimha as an avatar precedes Rama (raghu-nandana)) too. But Tyagaraja's fascination for Lord Rama is such that it cannot be restricted by such common concerns!
In this essay, we want to mainly focus on this point- "that the Lord should be like my armour and protect me from all sides". Tyagaraja has used this idea in the song. We find a similar mention in other places and this song appears to paraphrase this particular strain of thought. We take a few examples here:
Shloka on Lord Rama which has a similar theme:
The shloka is quite popular. It goes as follows:
"agratah prshtatashchaiva paarshvatashcha mahaabalau
Apoorna karna dhanvaanau raskshetaam raama lakshmanau"
"May Rama and Lakshmana protect me"....and how.?..."ready with a bow drawn right up to the ear"...(aapoorna karna dhanvaanau) ..and standing where?....on all sides... "agratah" (in front)..."prshtatah" (at the back) and "paarshvatashca"...(on each side).
This is exactly what Tyagaraja also says in "Mundu venuka".
Lord Shiva...appearing on all sides:
The eleventh and final anuvaka of Shri Rudram (from Yajur Veda) has these lines:
"namo rudrebhyo ye prithivyaam ye antarikshe"....etc... and ends with "dasha praacheer dasha dakshinaa dasha praticheer dasho udicheer.. etc"
It says: With my 10 (dasha) fingers, I bow to Lord Shiva, the one who is everywhere- in the East (praachee), in the South (dakshinaa), in the West (pratichee), in the North (udichee) and who exists even at the top (oordhva).
Just like Tyagaraja wanted Rama to appear all around him and serve as a protective armor, in Shri Rudram, the devotee reaches out to Lord Shiva...who as the vishwaroopa, appears on all sides.
Dik-devataadi vandanam in Sandhya vandanam:
Regular Sandhya Vandanam has the following simple shloka:
"praachyai dishey namah, dakshinaayai dishey namah, prateechyai dishey namah, udeechyai dishey namah, oordhvaaya namah, adharaaya namah"
Here, a devotee faces each direction- the East, West, North, South, Up and Down and offers prostration to the cardinal directions itself. Though this prayer is normally referred to as "namaskara" to the dik devatas or "direction devatas", in reality, the One Lord alone.... is seen in the form of his aspects in every direction.
Like "mundu venuka", the Lord surrounds us from all sides and protects us. That is the message here too.
Finally, we see a reference in Mundaka Upanishad where Brahman is pointed out as all pervading...and as it were...enveloping every direction.
Quote from Mundaka Upanishad:
"brahma eva idam amritam purastaad, brahma pashchaad, brahma dakshinatah cha uttarena, adhah cha oordhvam cha prasritam brahma eva vishwam idam varishtam"
What we see as "this world" (idam) is Brahman alone (brahma eva) who appears in front (purastaad), who appears at the back (pashchaat), who appears to the right (dakshinatah), who appears to the left (uttarena)...and who is spread all over (prasritam)...at the top (oordhvam) and below (adhah)!!
And as the "nama ramayanam" text says: "shuddha brahma paraatpara raam", Rama is Brahman alone. That Brahman which is formless and all-pervading, appears for us in the captivating form of Rama. Thus, Tyagaraja's Rama in "Mundu Venuka" is the same Brahman referenced in this verse from the Upanishad.
Summing up:
Tyagaraja's "mundu venuka" echoes a popular theme that the Lord is present everywhere.
Just as there is "spatial protection" from the Lord, "mundu venuka" also has a veiled reference to "time wise protection".
In the first charanam, Lord Rama is addressed as the "moon" (chandra) rising over the "ocean (abdhi) of the Solar (bhaaskara) race (kula)". The line is "chanda bhaaskara kulaabdhi chandra".
The "moon" stands for the principle of time. Time in ancient India was measured in terms of "tithis" (digits of the moon). As the Lord of Time, Rama Chandra is present at all times and showers his protection on us.
Further, the sun (bhaaskara) is the Lord of the day. The moon is the Lord of the night. By referencing both the sun and the moon in the charanam, it looks as though Tyagaraja completes the entire picture. The Lord's kavacham is present at all places...and at all times- both day and night!
"Eri Kaatha Raamar":
We may dismiss the story of Lord Rama coming to Tyagaraja's rescue as a fable. Could the robbers have had some other vision which they mistook to be Lord Rama? Could it be a story fabricated to lend divine status to Tyagaraja and his music? Doubts assail us at every step.
The story of "Eri kaatha raamar" proves that Lord Rama does come to our aid at all times and at all places. It is a matter of faith...and sometimes, the most unlikely candidate is chosen as the "paatram" (receptacle) for his grace.
The year was 1798. Colonel Lionel Blaze was at Madhurantakam, close to Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu. Rains lashed the countryside as never before. Colonel Blaze's eyes were glued to the "bund". The township's fate hinged on this bund, beyond which lay a huge water-tank. Once breached, the township would be inundated for sure.
Madhurantakam was well known for the temple of Lord Rama. It was here that Saint Ramanuja himself had stayed for many years.
On that fateful day, Colonel Blaze swears that he saw Lord Rama and Lakshmana guard the bund and protect the township. Based on this incident, the temple deity is known today as "eri kaatha raamar" (Rama...who protected the water-bund).
Colonel Blaze was not a devotee of Lord Rama. Yet, he had the Lord's vision and he testifies to that effect. An edict with the Colonel's name is present in the temple. It stands as a mute testimony to the fact that Lord Rama is present everywhere and at all times. It is for us to tap his ever flowing grace.
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Water-color painting: Nataraja
This is the Nataraja at Gangai-konda-chola-puram, a township close to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Liked the pose- the elegance, the grace...and the majesty. Amongst the forms of Lord Shiva, "bhikshaatana" was the previous painting. "Nataraja" again figures as one of the prominent forms of Lord Shiva.
About a couple of weeks ago, I actually had a dream of visiting this place! That settled the theme for this painting... painted it in about 4 sittings spread over 4 days. Didn't struggle with it overly!
For a change, didn't blend the water colors...left it in dots and dashes...to give the rugged texture of the stone. Like many of the grand Chola temples, Gangai-konda-Chola-Puram will rank amongst the best- it's verily poetry in stone!!!
The palette is the following: For the lightest areas, yellow-ochre.
The darker shades are done with a mix of burnt sienna, crimson and blue.
No blacks and no whites allowed in water-color! Of course, that's the most basic rule! Just work away.. in layers...from light to dark
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| Step1: Fill your painting with the light shades |
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| Step 2: Tackle the face first...what if it doesn't turn out fine!!? |
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| Step3: Get the darker shades in...progressively |
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| Step4: Work away...all areas covered.. |
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| Step5: Add more darks..and get the details in! That's all there is to it! |
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Water-color work: Lord Shiva as "bhikshaatana"
The sages at "Daarukaavana" were arrogant that their rituals and sacrifices were more than enough and all of life's goals could be achieved through them. Lord Shiva appears as a "bhikshaatana" (wandering mendicant) and captivates everyone.
Later, he teaches the sages and instructs them that rituals alone cannot be the end-all and be-all of life. While rituals are important from one standpoint, they have some limitations and must necessarily be followed by the "path of enquiry" so that the Truth of life can be known.
The form of Bhikshaatana is tied to this episode in the puranas.
It is based on this incident that Ramana Maharishi has composed the vedantic work -"Upadesha saaram" where the entire range of spiritual sadhanas is presented in a step-by-step fashion.
The painting is based on a photograph from the net. It is about the size of an A4 sheet on water-color paper.
Friday, 2 January 2015
Fatehpur Sikri
We covered Fatehpur Sikri before Rajasthan. The post is in reverse order. Didn't get the time or the wifi connectivity to write this out. The details are going to be sketchy given that it's over a week since we went there. But...for the sake of completeness, will write out something really quick.
There was thick fog as we set out from Agra. The visibility was very poor and the driving slow. And the weather....painfully cold as it has been throughout this trip.
We've taken a guide at every point and it has been useful and informative. Without a guide, these places will be just another set of relics. The guide makes the place come alive...and thankfully, they've all been well informed which made up for the lack of fluency in English.
"Fateh" means victory. Akbar made a pilgrimage on foot from Agra to this place. The sufi saint "Salim Chisti" lived at Sikri which was already an established place. Akbar had no sons at that point in time and he sought the blessings of Salim Chisti. In due course, Akbar and Jodhabai had a son. They called him "Salim" who grew up to be Emperor Jahangir. Salim's birth was a personal victory for Akbar. He decided to move his capital from Agra to Sikri and built an entire city in 8 years. This city became Fatehpur Sikri which had quarter of a million people at one point in time.
UnlikeAgra where the Yamuna flows, Fatehpur Sikri has no rivers. It boasted of a lake. Despite Akbar's efforts to store the rain water in several tanks, (there are examples within the Sikri palace), water scarcity became a problem. After 16 years, Akbar moved his capital back from Fatehpur Sikri to Agra. Fatehpur Sikri became a ghost town.
There are mainly two co-located monuments: the palace and the complex hosuing the Jami Masjid and the dargah of Salim Chisti. More on this later.....
There was thick fog as we set out from Agra. The visibility was very poor and the driving slow. And the weather....painfully cold as it has been throughout this trip.
We've taken a guide at every point and it has been useful and informative. Without a guide, these places will be just another set of relics. The guide makes the place come alive...and thankfully, they've all been well informed which made up for the lack of fluency in English.
"Fateh" means victory. Akbar made a pilgrimage on foot from Agra to this place. The sufi saint "Salim Chisti" lived at Sikri which was already an established place. Akbar had no sons at that point in time and he sought the blessings of Salim Chisti. In due course, Akbar and Jodhabai had a son. They called him "Salim" who grew up to be Emperor Jahangir. Salim's birth was a personal victory for Akbar. He decided to move his capital from Agra to Sikri and built an entire city in 8 years. This city became Fatehpur Sikri which had quarter of a million people at one point in time.
UnlikeAgra where the Yamuna flows, Fatehpur Sikri has no rivers. It boasted of a lake. Despite Akbar's efforts to store the rain water in several tanks, (there are examples within the Sikri palace), water scarcity became a problem. After 16 years, Akbar moved his capital back from Fatehpur Sikri to Agra. Fatehpur Sikri became a ghost town.
There are mainly two co-located monuments: the palace and the complex hosuing the Jami Masjid and the dargah of Salim Chisti. More on this later.....
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