Deivathin Kural Series - 65

Om Namah Sivaya.
Deivathin Kural # 65 of 13 Sept 2006.

1. These e-mails are translations of talks given by the erstwhile Pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over more than sixty years, published by Vanady Padippagam, T.Nagar, Chennai, India, in ten volumes, in the Tamil language. The english version is likely to be available very soon. These e-mails are simply an effort on the part of the sender, to share some of his bliss, as it is said, 'Yam perra peru peruga ivvaiyagam'. When he adds any personal observations he uses the phrase, 'KTSV adds'.
2. To-days chapter is from his lecture, titled, 'Anbum Thunbamum', ie., 'The Agony and Extasy of Love', in pages 337 to 339, in Volume 1 of Deivathin Kural. Unless specifically mentioned, he or man includes, she or woman.
3. The purpose of taking birth as a human being is to Love. The bliss of Love cannot be matched by any other kind of happiness. There is some satisfaction in earning money, in collecting materials, in getting name and fame, in dressing, pruning and decorating oneself. But these things do not give a wholesome feeling of satisfaction, but a transient sense of elation. When you love some thing or some one, the holistic happiness that evolves, is unmatched by any other means. When you love, you do not care as to how much is the expenditure. You do not bother about whatever the physical strain. The satisfaction derived out of love, seems to compensate for whatever the pain, in the undertaking. Life without Love is a waste.
4. I said, that we are not aware of the pain, when we love. But the very thing we love, gives us the greatest sorrow one day! We love someone. Finally that person goes away leaving us forever. Or we ourselves go away. Then, either way, we suffer intensely. All the happiness and extasy out of our love for that person, turns into agony and pain. We get vexed with the feeling that, the end result of Love, is only pain and sorrow. The greater the intensity of our love originally, greater the intensity of agony. Some times we even wonder, if it is futile to have loved and lost. May be, it is better not to have loved others at all. May be, it is better to have been a selfish pragmatist. May be, life as a piece of wood is better! At the least we could have avoided this pain of seperation.
5. But, the selfish realist cynic, has only added to his 'Sanchita', or bag of sins. Having been born as a human, it is futile to lead a life of a 'jadam', like a piece of stone or wood, without happiness and satisfaction.
6. So there is a quandary. If you love, it ends in sorrow. If you do not love, life is a meaningless, tasteless, waste. So, what should we do? The only way is to develop the permanent, everlasting, infinite, love. If we can develop love for something which will never leave us, then we have solved the problem. If there is something like that, and we can develop love towards that, then only happiness without seperation can be the result. That is, the permanent, non-changing, entity of God, or Paramatma, or the supreme reality, not bounden by Time and Space. Because, there is no time that He is not; and no place where He is not; our Love for Him will not end in sorrow, now or ever; here or anywhere; while we are living or while dropping this body. Thus we will know permanent, total Love.
7. If we have to love God, should we not love others? After all, all the others are only temporary. When our Love for God, develops and matures, it will lead us to the understanding that, all are his various forms only. Then the love for people will be revealed to be the Love of God only, because, we will see eveyone as embodiment of God. The whole world should be seen as God and loved. Thus we can completely annul the chances for pain and sadness.
8. Even if we cannot see everyone as God and love them; we can look at elders, leaders, teachers, gurus, saints, rishis; obviously good and excellent human beings; whom we can think of as an embodiment of God; and surrender ourselves. God will bless us through them. Even if that person dies, we will not be subjected to extreme sorrow, as we will know that, He or She has only dropped the mortal coil and returned to divinity. Our Love will remain as it is. Having started our Love towards Sadhus and Saints, it should be slowly expanded to include all living beings. That is the purpose of this bodily existance.
Sambhomahadeva.