DEIVATHIN KURAL #188 (Vol #4) Dated 10 May 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL #188 (Vol #4) Dated 10 May 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from the middle of page number 1,058 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
11. We hear similar stories about Vedanta Desikar too. VidyaraNya SwamigaL was responsible for the establishment of the dynasty of Vijaya Nagara Samrajya! His disciples Harihara and Bukka, two brothers who energised the locals to unite and rise against the tyranny of the Delhi Nawabs and install the ‘Vidya Nagara’, which came to be morphed in to the ‘Vijaya Nagara Empire’. This VidyaraNya SwamigaL was a pure Adwaitin and an AachaaryaaL of Sankara Mata Peetam at Sringeri. He was a man of letters of erudition beyond compare! He had genuine love and respect for Vedanta Desikar, as only the very learned people could have for their own lot. Vedanta Desikar for that matter was a virulent critique of the Adwaita Philosophy as a staunch follower of the Ramanuja AachaaryaaL’s cult of Visishtaadwaitam. However VidyaraNya was the type of person who believed in respecting all learned Pundits despite their beliefs and faith. As the Raja Guru of Vijaya Nagara Saamrajya, he sent an invitation to Vedanta Desikar to come join as the Aasthaana Vidwaan. Desikar refused that he did not need such esteem and recognition. His reply he sent became a famous sloka known as, ‘Vairaagya Panchagam’, a declaration of dispassion in five stanzas.
12. Such greats worthy of being included in the list of Mahaans – who could not care less for – titles, status, awards and such despite being acts of courage; are not something so extra ordinarily out of the way! To note that even poets who were trying to make ends meet as normal house holders, did refuse such recognition as “Aasthaana Kavi”, just so as not to give up their freedom of expression; is to be appreciated as awesome! Mahaans refused such awards on the principle of dispassion. Poets did so, on a simple matter of self – respect!
Dispassion and Self Respect
13. Mahaans had gone above the need for self respect. Others who considered their self respect as priority one, thought it to be below their dignity to strive for name and fame despite the insults in such a way of life. Such people were rare and so, all the more worthy of appreciation. Looking at it from the point of view of his position of poverty and penury, such acts need our special attention. We should be learning a lesson that in a similar situation, we should also persevere not to lose our self respect. Amongst them I have already told you the names of KaaLidaasa and Kambar. So I will tell you their stories also!
14. KaaLidaasa and Bhoja Raja. VaLLal is a special name for such Kings who had a natural bent for being magnanimously liberal in heaping largesse on poets, artists and craftsmen. Bhoja Raja was one such King famous for his philanthropy whose capital was located in a place known as Dhar near Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh in Central India. KaaLidaasa was an ‘Aasthaana Kavi’ in his royal assembly. Bhoja Raja’s cabinet of ministers were world famous as ‘Nava Ratna’ or the Nine Gems! Bhoja Raja had good understanding of the nuances of the poets and was a poet himself of some standing. So instead of being a championing King and the supported Poet, they treated each other on equal footing. By dint of habit they had become very fond of each other as friends. Human nature is such that when the friendship breaks after becoming thick and thin, it turns into intolerance. When the fruit becomes over ripe it becomes rank smelling. Pure ghee starts stinking when it goes bad! Pure milk with a small drop of acid can become unusable! Extreme love easily turns in to hate. That is what happened in their friendship.
15. Bhoja Raja Asked for ‘Sarama Kavi’ for Himself! Some bad period I suppose. As though people were jealous of their friendship, suddenly Bhoja Raja got a peculiar desire. There is a type of poetry in India known as ‘Sarama Kavi’, in which eulogies of praise are heaped on a departed soul and read out as part of the obsequies at the ceremony after a person’s death. While still alive, Bhoja Raja wanted to hear ‘Sarama Kavi’ written by KaaLidaasa. He thought on these lines. “We have enjoyed our friend KaaLidaasaa’s literary abilities in so many ways! Still there is one wish that would remain unfulfilled as I will be no more, to be able to hear a ‘Sarama Kavi’ on myself, that too written by KaaLidaasa.” He started wondering as to how to make KaaLidaasa sing a ‘Sarama Kavi’ even while being alive!
16. So he asked for KaaLidaasa’s to be called to his presence. He told KaaLidaasa, “Imagine that I am dead. After all, you have a fertile imagination. So, imagining myself to be dead, sing before me the ‘Sarama Kavi’ that you will sing in all the intensity of sorrow that you would go through on my death. You never know as to who can live for how long! What is the use of your singing such a song after I am no more? I wish to hear it now!” Even when KaaLidaasa refused to accede to such an odd request from his King, still Bhoja was adamant enough to give him a royal command.
17. Anybody else could have thought, “Why should I cross the King’s path? Just because we should not be singing about his leaving the world, why should we leave our house and properties and be banished from our own land and suffer in some foreign land? It is better that we sing the ‘Sarama Kavi’ as he is asking and gain plenty of wealth in the bargain”! KaaLidaasa did not think on those lines. He neither feared the King’s wrath nor was he greedy enough to take advantage of the peculiar situation. Not giving into the King’s wish, he continued to argue against that. Finally he opted to leave the country on his own and simply walked out of the scene.
18. I came to talk about the principled stand on self respect that the poets of those days had. In the case of KaaLidaasa, in addition to self respect, there are many more character qualities that we get an insight by this incident. As our minds will not permit us to sing a song, assuming one of our kith and kin to be dead when alive, KaaLidaasaa’s love for his friend was too deep rooted to accept his loss and exploit the same! Whatever his capacity for imagination, he was just not prepared to even imagine the death of his friend.
19. There is another reason for his not being able to imagine his friend’s death and sing a ‘Sarama Kavi’. Bhavaboothi through the mouth of Sri Ramachandra brings out a truth about Rishis and the power of their speech. “Other people talk of what has happened. But Rishis when they talk, what they say becomes the truth. If others talk about real incidents that happened in the past, what Rishis say is grabbed by the elements of existence to make it happen. The meaning runs after the words uttered by Rishis to cause it to happen!” Rama is talking about Vasishta thus, “vaacham artho anudhaavati”, as written by Bhavaboothi in ‘Uttara Rama Charitam’!
20. If Rishi’s words are so powerful, poets who have abundant Grace of God flowing through their words, have similar power. That is, whatever they say will become the truth. Their imagined scene becomes the reality. So, even though it would have been a ‘Sarama Kavi’ for an imagined death, Bhoja Raja would have had to pay for it through his death! KaaLidaasa told Bhoja Raja about this likelihood. But the King’s ego came in the way. “I am a King and he is only a Praja, a citizen. How can a simple Praja refuse an order of a King? Am I to listen to him and cancel my own order? No, it is he who has to obey.” He was adamant in his stand. KaaLidaasa was more adamant that he walked away from the situation. Here we can perceive KaaLidaasa’s sense of sacrifice and care of other poor poets! If you ask me how, let me explain.
21. Either giving in to Bhoja Raja’s persistence or in appreciation of a fan’s uncommon wish that he was ready to die so as to be able listen to a song on his own imaginary death; had he sung a ‘Sarama Kavi’, what would have happened? Bhoja Raja would have died. That would not have made much damage to KaaLidaasaa’s reputation as a poet. His market value would have remained high not only as one amongst the ‘Nava Ratna’ but also as poet whose words have the power of reality! He was not thinking about himself. Other younger poets would have missed the patronage of such a great King who was a poet himself and also a liberal minded connoisseur of arts and literature! That would have been the greater loss for the fraternity of poets and the world of poetry, literature and arts! So, instead of being selfish and greedy; instead of depriving a friend of continued existence and causing loss to the world of arts and culture; he agreed to banish himself from his Mother Land!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.