Deivathin Kural # 3 (of Vol 2 )

Om Namah Sivaya.
Deivathin Kural # 3 (of Vol 2 ) of 05 June 2007.
1. These e-mails, are chapter wise translations of the lectures given by, Sri Chandra Sekharendra Swamigal, of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. Every day, after the daily Puja, He used to talk, on various aspects concerning Hinduism. These are published, in Tamil, by Vanady Padippagam, T.Nagar, Chennai, as Deivathin Kural, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each. To-day's talk is titled, 'Nammai Naamaakkugiravar', that is, 'He Who Turns Us into Our Real Self', in pages 19 to 42, of Deivathin Kural, Volume 2.
A Story of a King and Queen.
2. There was a king. Once there is a king, he will have to have an enemy king and war. There was an enemy against our this king too. His bad luck, he lost the battle and ran away. Some kings may give up their life saying, 'victory; or otherwise heavens of the brave'. Some may run away from the battle field to hide. That does not mean anything to be ashamed of. Even a tiger back-tracks before pouncing. Even brave rajput kings have had to withdraw, so as to regroup and go on the offensive; while fighting the moghuls and turks.
3. The king in our story too, ran away from the battle field, instead of committing suicide. He was not alone. He was also carrying his wife on horse-back. She was 'eight months plus' in the family way at that time. The practice of people going 'under ground' to avoid detection and apprehension now-a-days, used to be in vogue, those days too. The king's minister had gone 'dogo' then. He knew that the king and queen had escaped on horse back.
4. The horse was passing through a forest. The enemy king had sent his cavalry in all direction, to trace out the missing king. Some of them had picked up his trail and were close on his heels. The king happened to notice a hunter's hut in the forest. He got an idea. He stopped the horse. Got his wife down. He told her, "Go inside the hut and save yourself. There are too many of the enemy soldiers closing in. Neither can I escape nor can I fight. It is best that You save yourself, since you are carrying my off-spring in your womb. One day in the future, he can fight and regain our lost empire. So instead of dying with me and get name and fame as a 'pathi-vrata-nari', you better take care of yourself and our baby, by surrendering to this hunter." Though this was an intolerable order, she could not go against his wishes either, as there is a 'Rajputa kula dharma' to abide with.
5. The king was shortly captured and his story ends there. The captors were not looking for anything more. They were happy with getting this priced catch. After all the king intended exactly that. In the hunter's hut was the mother of the hunter. She gave welcome hospitality to this pregnant woman, who had come from nowhere and surrendered to her. More than sophisticated and educated, poor people are always more prompt and forthcoming, in taking care of the people in need. The royal lady was looked after by the hunter-woman, as though she was her own daughter. The queen gave birth to a baby boy. She died while in labour, as though her job was over.
6. Some twelve years passed by. The enemy king was still in power. People were unhappy. Though their king had lost the battle, their loyalty to the traditional king was still active. The citizens were not knowing of the fact of the king's failed effort to escape, the queen's death in labour and the birth of the baby boy, in the hunter's place. They were silently tolerating the reign of the usurper. The minister was the only person still alive and aware that, the king had made an escape bid with the queen, who was pregnant at that time. He started looking for the progeny. His ananlysis of the situation was that, had the queen been saved somwhow and had she given birth to a boy, that boy would be about twelve years of age. By God's grace, if such a thing had happened, it was his duty to search and locate the boy. Then it was necessary to train the boy in 'Dhanur Veda', that is, archery; and other kingly attributes. Once the people know that he is the rightful incumbent, they would rally around him quite naturally, in overthrowing the enemy king. He set about this task on the quiet.
7. The minister happened to come across, the hunter's hut in the forest. The king's son was playing around with some children. He was sparesely clothed. He was wearing a bandana with a colourful feather stuck in it. He had a necklace of beads and toe-nails of the tiger. Despite the crude and poor get-up, his royal bearing and resemblance to the earlier king was unmistakeable. The old mother of the hunter was still alive. The minister approached her. Simple folk of the forest unexposed to sophistication, do not know how to bluff and cheat. She spoke the truth, when she said, "some years back, a pregnant woman suddenly appeared in my hut one day and asked for asylum. She was far advanced in her pregnancy. She died in labour without ever revealing as to who she was. Since then I am looking after this boy as my own son. I could guess that the boy belonged to some aristocracy. But we could never know for sure. So he is growing up as one of us. The minister could easily discern the truth.
8. When the minister told the old lady and other hunters, the boy's royal antecedents and his intention to take him away, initially they were very reluctant. Later with great magnanimity, they agreed to part with the boy. Such is the pull of attachment, that even great Maharishis such as Kanva and Jada Bharatha, were much affected by it. The boy however was just not interested. He liked the company of hunters only. He said so in as many words that he could not care less for royalty and such high sounding things.
9. The minister did not give up easily either. He explained with great perseverence that, 'He, the boy was the rightful son of the traditional ruler of the country. His father had been defeated in battle. He had evaded capture and made an escape with his pregnanat wife. But when his own capture was imminent, he had secreted his wife in the Hunter's hut and distracted the attention of his captors away from his pregnanat wife, in doing which he gave his life. His wife had delivered the son and died in labour. So, both his parents had sacrificed their own life, in saving their son's.' Thus the minister was able to convince the boy that, it was his Dharma now to take up arms against the pretender enemy king and that, he is not to waste his life as a mere hunter in the forests.
10. That boy got an exposure to bravery, love of parents and thus became aware of his duties. Once he was aware that he is a prince, his power, brightness, keenness and attitude towards life as such, became changed. Then when he was taught archery and other war like abilities, including tactics and strategy; he absorbed them very avidly. He left his hunter's life. With the help of the minister, he started amassing a fighting force. Once people realized his antecedents, there was no stopping him.
11. Now-a-days, in the world of democracy, in the name of a leader, they make much about someone, completely interfering with the normal life of the populace; and after a few days, you never get to know about his whereabouts even! It has also become quite clear that politics is the game played by ruthless manipulators, who have no love lost with principles and value systems. Loyalty is a bargainable commodity to-day. It was not so in the olden times. Loyalty to the king was something for which the people were ready to give their lives. The kings too had to live a life of discipline and humaneness, to be able to earn and sustain such loyalty. The kings used to consider the citizen as their children. You might have heard of the story of Sibi Chakravarthy, who ran the chariot on his own son, as a punishment for his running over a calf and killing it with his chariot accidentally.
12. In the politics of today, people scheme and invest huge amounts in unfair means, so as to get in to a position of power. Once such a power is obtained, then that power is mis-used and abused to retain themselves in power. This is not the way of traditional royalty. Like the boy in this story under consideration, the culture ingrained in the blood over the years, saved him from going astray and prevented him from falling prey to minor temptations. The history in India as revealed through Puranas indicate that, there were hardly any kings like, Venan and Asamanjan. They are exceptions to the rule, "yatha raja, thatha praja", that is to mean that, the people are as good or bad as the ruler. In the traditional set up, both the Ruler and the Ruled took care to see that 'justice is not only done but seen to be done'. But now-a-days, fairness, humaneness and justice are words only, to be paid lip-service to! Because Dharma was the guiding principle at every level and the ruler showed the way of Dharma by example. The Ruler had a feeling for the people as 'my people' and the people had the feeling for the king that he is 'our king'.
13. Our hero similarly got the fullest co-operation from his subjects, especially once the word spread around that he was the earlier kings own son! He could muster enough to go to battle with the enemy and defeat him. He was coronated and installed as the king. The boy completely forgot that he had been a hunter. He became a complete king. I did not make up this story. A great Acharyar, who was one of the leading lights of Adwaita philosophy, while talking of Guru Parampara or Guru-Sishya-Tradition, has narrated this story. I only added some bits and pieces, here and there, like adding a few touches, to an existing sketch of a face.
(That brings us to the end of page 26 only. We still have 16 pages to go. Will be continued in the next e-mail.)
Sambhomahadeva.