DEIVATHIN KURAL # 31 (of Vol 3) Dated 19 Dec 2008

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 31 (of Vol 3) Dated 19 Dec 2008

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyavaal of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, over a period of some sixty years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of last century. These have been published in Tamil by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each, as Deivathin Kural. To day we are proceeding from the last paragraph on page number 133, of Vol 3, of the Tamil original. The readers are reminded that herein the word 'man' includes 'woman' too. )
(Note:- These e-mails are all available at http://advaitham.blogspot.com constantly up-dated.
151. You should give. Giving is 'thyagam'. That is what is repeatedly emphasized by the Veda-s. At the end of any and every Karma, since I am the one who is doing this action and as it is likely that all the merits for this action may come to me, I avoid that by diverting the 'punyam' by saying two words, "na mama, na mama", meaning, 'not mine, not for my sake', after every offering! This is what is demanded of us by the Veda-s.
152. After offering everything as a sacrifice, if we carry the idea in us that 'we have given', that pride will totally offset the merits of our action! More than anything else, it is this idea which should be sacrificed first! Mahabali the grand son of Prahlada, gave a lot, to whosoever asked. He literally flooded others with gifts and largess. If his capacity to give was boundless, his pride had no limit either. It is that pride which caused Mahavishnu Himself to come as a small, short Brahmin boy 'Vaamana' and asked Mahabali to give him three feet of land. Against the advice of Sukra his family mentor, Mahabali gave what Vaamana asked for! With one foot the expanding Vaamana measured all the Earth, with the second He had covered the whole of the upper worlds of the cosmos; the third foot had to be placed somewhere! So, it was placed on the head of the great Mahabali, depressing him down into the nether worlds. It was the Egoism, the Head weight of Mahabali that was depressed!
153. Saying that 'I am doing social service', if you make a show of your activities without getting rid of your pride and ego, neither will you benefit by your actions nor will the society benefit! Temporarily it may look as though something very important is happening. But, there will not be any permanency about it!
The Sacrifice by the Dove.
154. "enbum uriyar pirarkku" says Thirukkural, meaning that 'even the bones of our body are meant for others sake'! That is how we should be helping others with all our might. You might have heard about Emperor Sibi, who for the sake of a dove which had surrendered to him, gave the flesh of his own body, to satisfy the hunger of the kite that was chasing the dove! ( Anushasana Parva. 32 Adhyaaya. Maha Bharat) In our Dharma, that the principle of 'Jeeva Kaarunyam' has it's rightful place, is amply borne out by that story.
155. The greatness of Bharat Desh is that, we are motivated to sacrifices not only for the sake of human beings but, for the benefit of all types of life forms, the non-moving, moving in land, water, air or any of those medias. Another side to it. Because of the special sacred quality of the ambient environment, even the birds and animals; have 'the sacrificing mentality, hospitality and conviviality for guests/visitors' in their very being.
156. I told you about Sibi, who sacrificed his own flesh to save a dove form the clutches of the kite. 'Kabota Upakyanam' tells us about how the doves took care a chance visitor. 'Kabota' means dove and 'Upakyanam' means a short story. This story may be short but, very deeply moving! There was a hunter who caught a female dove in his net in a forest. There was an out pouring of torrential rains. The hunter took shelter under the self same tree in which, that female dove and her male partner used to live. When the rains stopped, it was night already. The hunter was wet and the whether was very cold. Shaking and shivering, the hunter was huddled under that tree for the night.
157. The male dove was watching all this from the tree. Though he was sorry for the fact that this hunter had caught his sweet darling, he took pity on the visitor. Our nation's traditional ethos of 'atithi devo bhava' , meaning that, 'a guest is to be thought of as God Himself!', crystallized in to the mind of this small bird. He thought as to how best he could take care of this guest!
158. First it thought of providing some warmth for the guest who was shivering in the cold. It got it's own nest unstuck and brought all the dry twigs one by one and dropped them in front of the hunter. As a first step the dove had sacrificed its abode! Then he went around the forest searching for two 'siki - mukhi' stones. 'Siki' means fire and 'mukhi' means faced. Two of those stones when rubbed against each other, it spits fire! The dove brought two such stones and dropped them in front of the hunter, who lighted up a fire using those stones and the dry twigs of the nest.
159. Looking at the birds actions, the hunter's heart started melting in gratitude. He freed the other dove feeling slightly abashed with his own cruelty, in front of the bird's hospitality! But, the most important part of taking care of the guest is feeding. 'The hunter who has become a guest in our household of the tree, should not go hungry', thought the female dove. It thought further that the best suitable offering for the guest would be her own body. With utmost happiness in her heart, the bird jumped in to the fire, making a supreme sacrifice of her own body and life! Without further ado, the male bird followed suit!
160. Thus those two birds took care of the chance guest, true to the dictum 'enbum uriyar pirarkku'. Our Saastraa-s and Puranaa-s are full of such anecdotes inculcating the noble principles of the Veda-s!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.