DEIVATHIN KURAL # 46 (Vol # 5) Dated 30 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 46 (Vol # 5) Dated 30 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 284 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in ‘man/he’ includes ‘woman/she’ too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
SANKARA CHARITAM
1. Today we are starting a new series on the life of Aadi Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL, our AachaaryaaL. Some 2,000 or 2,500 years before now, the social situation in India, that is, Bharat Varsh was very bad. From time immemorial the religion in this country has been as per the Vedas, known as ‘Sanaatana Dharma’. As it is based on the Vedas, it is also known as Vaidic Madam. Much later only after the Muslim and British occupation of this country, people started calling it the Hindu Religion. Anyhow in none of the scriptures is any name for this religion mentioned as Vaidic or Sanaatana Dharma. As it was the only religion in this country from very olden times, there was no need to give it a name. As the foreigners came to India after crossing the Indus River, people living east and south of the Indus River came to be called the Hindus, their religion Hinduism and their country Bharath Varsh came to be known as India. (Please relate to an earlier e-mail under heading ‘Peyar Illaada Madam’ meaning the Nameless Religion, in Deivathin Kural Series No 30, dated 19 July 2006.) Before we go into the life history of Aadi Sankara, we will be cursorily perusing some of the salient principles of importance of our religion.
2. In this Sanaatana Dharma as directed by the Vedas, there are two paths – one is the Pravrutti Marga and the second is the Nivrutti Marga. To run one’s life as per the rules and regulations of ethical and moral codes of Dharma is the Pravrutti Marga. To leave the involvement in the worldly affairs or after having had one’s innings in the Pravrutti Marga to opt for total renunciation in the quest for understanding the secrets of existence, to comprehend and merge in the Paramaatma, thereby putting a full stop to the cycle of repeated births and deaths is the Nivrutti Marga.
3. To live a life according to Dharma, that is doing good to oneself and to the family and society in which we live, following the Do’s and Don’ts of rules and restrictions as per VarNa and Aashrama, to conduct oneself above board without a blemish, doing the Karma Anushtaanaas faultlessly; one earns much meritorious credits of PuNya. Accordingly, one enjoys the benefits of such noble actions and behaviour here in (that is, Iham) and in heavens (that is, Param). But none of these pleasures are forever. As we enjoy the benefits our credit balance of PuNya will keep diminishing. Then when it is back to Zero, one has to be born again, as said in Bhaja Govindam, ‘punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam punarapi janani jatare sayanam’, one has to be born again! But you do not go to square one as in the game of ‘Parama Padam’ played with the dice, in which between 98 and 100, at 99 there is this huge snake with his mouth wide open. Instead of crossing him if you happen to reach 99, you will slide back to square one!
4. Instead, if you have accumulated a lot of PuNya, you will be enabled to be born in such circumstances that there will be further progress, from where you left off in your previous life, as promised in the Bhagawat Gita. (Refer to Sloka No. 39 to 45 in Chapter No. 6. B.G. Arjuna asks Sri Krishna, “He who is unable to control himself though he has the faith, and whose mind wanders away from Yoga, what end awaits him, having failed to attain perfection in Yoga, O Krishna? Fallen from both, does he not perish like a rent cloud devoid of any support, O mighty armed Krishna, deluded on the path of Brhman?” Sri Krishna replies, “O Arjuna, neither in this world, nor in the next world is there destruction for him; none verily, for the one who does good, ever come to grief. Having attained to the worlds of the righteous and having dwelt there for everlasting years, he who fell from Yoga is reborn in a house of the pure and wealthy. Or he is born in a family of even the wise Yogis; verily a birth like this is very difficult to obtain in this world. There he comes in touch with the knowledge acquired in his former body and strives more than before for perfection, O Arjuna! By that very former practice he is borne on in spite of himself. Even he who merely wishes to know Yoga goes beyond the Brahmic world. But the Yogi who strives assiduously, purified of sins and perfected gradually through many births, reaches the highest goal! )
5. The pleasures of this worldly life are, in addition to being not permanent are also not wholesomely satisfying. Every pleasure of this life is also with concurrent problems galore! To reach the state of not having any more needs ever, with the feeling of completeness is total bliss. Whether in this world or in heaven, whatever the bliss and thrills one may have can never give us the eternal sense of completeness. Many varieties of fear, sadness, desires, anger, hate and jealousy will always be there with pulls and pressures. So, the fight continues. Moreover, these pleasures of life cannot satisfy what we are deep inside. Whatever is pleasureful for the eyes, ears, taste buds, and tactile nerve ends, the mind and intellect; will still not make a dent on the inner being. Even while going through these pleasures we will feel a sense of incompleteness which will make us wonder, “What is this? Instead of getting real satisfaction for the core of our being, peripherally we are running helter-skelter after these thrills like a mad chap!”
6. The complete inner fulfilment is available only from the Nivrutty Marga. Leaving all endeavours and social interactions when you become a total recluse, accepting the Sanyaasa Aashrama, forever doing meditation and Dhyana, such a person is most likely to feel and experience, what is known as the Samaadhi and Aatma Saatchaatkaara. That stage once reached or obtained becomes permanent. When we talk about a blissful experience of listening to soulful music or having a serene Dharshan of the God in the temple we say, ‘brhma anandama irundadu’! That is only a word used without knowing its full impact. But that ‘brhma aanandam’ is known only to one who has attained to the Siddhi in the Nivrutti marga. That is not the one entity Brhmam being enjoyed by another entity, this man. The man who has attained that Anubhava in the Nivrutti marga, becomes that Brhmam itself of being happiness. There in that state, there is no fear, no sorrow and no pulls of desire and anger! All trying and tendencies are annulled. Once that aim is reached, there is no slipping from it.
7. That is why, it is said, “thillai veLiyile kalandu vittaal avar thirumbiyum varuvaaro?” It means, ‘once having merged in the open spaces of the Thillai VeLi, will they ever come back?’ Exactly in the same vein, ‘Brhma Sutram’ finishes its last statement by repeating it, “anaavrutti sabdaat anaavrutti sabdaat”. The author of ‘Brhma Sutram’ is Badarayana also known as Veda Vyasa. He confirms that it is not simply his statement, but the conclusion of the Vedas that the Yogi who has experienced the Brhmam does not return, does not return. Similarly, the last chapter of Chandogya Upanishad too says twice that, having attained to Brhma Loka the Saadhak does not come back, “na cha punar aavartate, na cha punar aavartate”! That is to say, the ‘Perinbam’ – the highest bliss, is only by the path of Nivrutti Marga. All that one can experience by the Pravrutti Marga are only transitory pleasures.
8. Still in this drama of worldly life, if someone gets interested in this line of Sanyaasi-s and Saints or God Men, the general reaction of people is to say, “OK, OK, become a Sanyaasi, go to the forest, catch hold of your nose, spend all the time in Aatma, God and such things and get lost!” Many people rather get interested in finding a way of earning a livelihood and discourage anyone having a slightly different attitude. If you are having a tendency towards getting to know Brhmam, Aatma and such, you become subjected to much ridicule! So, though there may not be a single person who has not asked himself as to, what this life is and where we are heading to; hardly anybody launches himself into this endeavour! Whereas, VivekachudamaNi mentions this urge ‘Mumukchutvam’, the keen desire to know what is Brhmam, Aatma and how to get out of this cycle of repeated births and deaths; as the first quality required for progress! What I have been calling the Nivrutti Marga is the same as the path of Gnaana. Have we got the ‘gate pass’ to launch ourselves in that path? That ‘gate pass’ is Mumukchutvam.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 45 (Vol # 5) Dated 28 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 45 (Vol # 5) Dated 28 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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. Toda y we are proceeding from page No 275 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
Guru Vandana is Amirtam & Guru Nindana is Poison.
144. ‘Prasna Uttara Ratna Maalika’ is one of the many creations of our AachaaryaaL. In it, he himself raises many of the questions that are likely to occur to a student and gives answers to them. One of the questions is, ‘Kim visham?’ meaning ‘what is poison?’ The answer to that is, ‘avadeeraNaa gurushu’ meaning, ‘to show disrespect to the Guru is poison’! The opposite of that is to do Namaskaara with respect, is the nectar of eternal goodness. Repeating the Prasnottara Maalika Stotras within himself, PeriyavaaL says, like the question on poison, a little later another question occurs as to what is Amirtam? Instead of simply Amirtam, the question is ‘what is nectar like for the ears?’ ‘Paathum karNaanjalibhi: kim Amrutam?’
145. The ears are like the cup capable of being used for drinking, isn’t it? What can be received in that cup, drunk and sent to the heart straight? The answer is ‘sad Upadesa:’, ‘the good advices (given by Guru) are like the nectar’. Instead of asking generally as to what is Amirtam, when the question if specifically worded as, what is the nectar for the ears, there is a very delectably pleasing thing there! What did we see earlier? We noted that to be disrespectful towards the Guru is the poison of self destruction. So the opposite of that is nectar. So if Guru nindana is poison, automatically Guru vandana is Amirtam. We thought so, so has AachaaryaaL opined, which can be easily discerned by even a baby! So AachaaryaaL has evidently concluded that there was no need to mention the obvious corollary! Later he did wish to speak about the ‘sad upadesh’ by the Guru and so thought of the question as to what will be the nectar for the ears!
146. Instead of saying ‘karNamrutam’ – that is nectar for the ears, he said, the nectar that can be drunk by the goblets of the ears, ‘karNaanjali’! The word ‘anjali’ otherwise means Namaskaara, isn’t it? Like a flower the mind when it is focussed in devotion, the hands automatically join in a posture of ‘anjali’. At that time the hands are in the shape of a flower bud. This in other words is Guru Vandanam only. This anajali of a Namaskaara is like nectar for the life of a devotee. What is most pleasant for the KarNa Anjali is the Sad Upadesa of the mentor, guide and philosopher that is the Guru!
147. As we move from one noble idea to another, as we analyse the questions and answers of the Prasna – Uttara – Maalika; there is one more that comes out as a matter of ‘durita uddharaNa’. As we pull out an idea from deep inside, it is ‘uddharaNa’, as I told you earlier isn’t it? In the early part of that scripture, is the question, ‘kim upaadeyam?’ – meaning ‘what is worthy of our acceptance’? The answer is – ‘Guru Vachanam’! Then is the question, ‘Ko Guru:’ meaning, ‘Who is the Guru?’ The reply is slightly long – ‘adhigata tattva:, sishya hitaaya udhyata: satatam’. The one who has learnt and comprehended the meaning of the principles and known the practical applicability of those ideas in real life – that is ‘adhigata tattva:’. Now comes our subject of ‘duritoddharaNam’. Being ‘adhigata tattva:’, he is also, ‘sishya hitaaya udhyata: satatam’. That means – ‘satatam’ – forever; ‘sishya hitaaya’ – for the benefit of the disciple; ‘udhyata:’ – is sincerely and seriously persevering! It is what I have already told you in other words. The Guru is one who has mastered the Saastraas, understood and completely absorbed all the delicate and intricate principles. Then he is forever working hard to inculcate those ideas in the disciple, like a mother does for feeding the child, seriously and sincerely persevering. In the Kanaka Dhaaraa Sthava he has used the same combination of words as ‘durita uddharaNa udhyataani’ as being the fruits of doing Namaskaara-s to Maha Lakshmi!
148. Amongst the many fruits of the act of Namaskaara, sincerely trying to pull out the tendency of sinfulness is the most important one. Other fruits of that act of Namaskaara are quite easily obtained, such as getting wealth, sensual pleasures and power to rule are more like the by-products. The release from sinfulness is what is obtained after much effort – ‘udhyata:’. He did not use this word ‘udhyata;’ for ‘sampath karaaNi’ and ‘sakala Indriya nandanaani’. Then ‘saamraajya daana nirataani’ – rule over a kingdom is ‘nirata:’ – as easily and happily as being involved in a game. Thus after finishing these worldly benefits, comes ‘udhyataani’, to pry out the sinful tendencies imbedded over generations of our many life times! It is not so easy even for the act of Namaskaara, as indicated by AachaaryaaL.
149. The intention was not in any way to undermine the power of Namaskaara, that the word ‘udhyataani’ has been used only for removal of sinfulness, but only to emphasise the deep rootedness of our sinful tendencies. Here in ‘Prasna Uttara Ratna Maalika’, he says that the Guru is trying his level best (udhyata:) for the disciple’s ‘hitam’. What is ‘hitam’? Disciple’s welfare is ‘hitam’ and that is to offset and annul the effects of his past Karmas over many life times of existence. For ‘samsaara nivrutti’ there is no other method. Till that happens, one goes on through endless cycles of birth and death. MaNikka Vaachagar says that he has gone through life many times before as, ‘grasses, weeds, worms, trees, many animals, birds, snakes, stones, human beings, ghosts, ogres, Rishis, divine beings and so have gone through many manifestations amongst the flora and fauna and so am tired and worn out’! I quote – ‘pullaai, poodaai, puzhuvaai, maramaagi, pal virugamaagi, paravaiaai, paambaagi, kallaai, manidaraai, peyaai, ganangalaai, val asuraraagi, munivaraai, devaraai; sella ninra taavara sangamthuL ellaap pirappum pirandu iLaiththen emperumaan’! ‘Samsaara nivrutti’ is to break through this endless cycle!
150. The end purpose for which the disciple finally reaches the Guru, that everlasting happiness can only be attained when he finally extricates himself from this cycle of repeated births and deaths. For that he has to loosen himself from the clutches of Karma and its effects. Karma nivrutti is paapa nivrutti and that is ‘duritoddharaNam’. The same AachaaryaaL who said that the power of Namaskaara actively ‘relieves and raises the doer from sins’, also said that the Guru is arduously and continuously persevering for the welfare of the disciple; meaning thereby the action of the Guru is similarly an act of ‘duritoddharaNam’! The Namaskaara-s that we do instigates Guru’s power of Anugraha that ferrets out the deep rooted sinful tendencies from the disciple.
151. In practice, we have to go to Maha Lakshmi for wealth, sensual pleasures and power of governance and for ‘paapa nivrutti’ we have to approach the Guru. Whatever AachaaryaaL said while praying to Maha Lakshmi, we should suitably adapt in our prayers to our Guru. We should be telling him, “Sir! You, who are ever tirelessly persevering for our ‘durita uddharaNa’, please grant that the Namaskaara-s that we do to you may be our permanent asset.” Thus, be repeatedly prostrating ourselves before him, we should get the golden shower of his Anugraha (kanaka dhaaraa), happily and become rid of sins, as light as a feather!
152. AachaaryaaL’s exclamation of ‘Mata’ should be changed to ‘Guro’ and say, “We do not need anything more. To be ever grateful to you by Namaskaara-s may become our eternal property, ‘na anyaani’. Let this body be laid on the ground and our hearts on your lotus feet. There is no other greater asset than this Anugraha that we get by this act of Namaskaara.” So we say again and again, ‘tasmai sri gurave nama:’.
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 44 (Vol # 5) Dated 26 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 44 (Vol # 5) Dated 26 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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. Toda y we are proceeding from page No 268 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
135. What is the meaning of what Purandara Dasa sings of Sri Krishna as ‘JagatoddhaaraNa’? It means that even in the age of Kali, God comes to pull the world out of the mire of sinfulness and reform, repair and renovate the world and its people! The phrase will divide into Jagat + uddharaNa. The weeds in the tilled land are pulled out and thrown. But all that is pulled out in the social milieu need not to be thrown out but, cleansed, corrected and reformed! To be pulled out of the mire of Adharma, that is sinfulness is by itself a reformation, isn’t it? Having pulled out the Govardhana Giri, Bhagawan did not throw it off but used it as an umbrella!
136. To pull it out of dirt, mire and sinfulness is ‘uddharaNam’, then it can be thrown away or reformed or renewed and used; which is all part of the job of ‘uddharaNam’ depending on the need and reference to the context. To pull out the thorny growth of sinfulness in our minds and eradicating it is ‘duritoddhaaraNam’. If there is a foreign body in our eyes or ears or any part of the body, it is harmful to the health and well being of the body and its removal is the job of the surgeon. Similarly, to remove the Paapa-s is ‘durita + uddharaNam = duritoddharaNam’. So, instead of the word, ‘aaharaNam’ which only means ‘removal’; the well entrenched thorny tree of sinfulness to be dug out from its roots requires greater efforts and more powerful tools and is to be destroyed with leaves, branches, trunk and roots; is what is conveyed by the word ‘uddharaNam’. If all our sins are reduced to nullity, that is total repair, renovation and reformation. ‘All that, is achieved by doing the act of Namaskaarams to You Amma’, says AachaaryaaL and so, ‘let me be able to do that, for which he says – maameva kalayantu’!
137. When none of the fruits of doing Namaskaara, namely wealth, sensual pleasures and power to rule; were not needed and acceptable to him, after a pause of a fraction of a second, he added ‘removal of sins’ as a more acceptable one for himself. But when you think about it, our Aadi Sankara Aachaaryaal is so pure and sacred that he is unapproachable by any sins! So, evidently we can see that it is to train our minds on the right lines and teaching us as to how to pray and what to pray for he has put himself in our shoes. Thus he has completed the sloka by requesting Maha Lakshmi to give us the opportunity to be able to do Namaskaara! While the first three items listed as the fruits of doing Namaskaara are useful for this worldly life of involvement, the last one of ‘removal of sins’ is the only one useful for enabling detachment. So, the poem has been so formed that the first three fruits are listed before ‘vandanaani’ and then added ‘duritoddharaNodyataani’ after that word!
138. Where is this ‘eva’ to be connected? The sloka goes, “maameva kalayantu” – “tvad vandanaani maam eva kalayantu”, meaning, ‘let this work of doing Namaskaara come to me’. If you say, ‘maam kalayantu’ that would mean, ‘let it reach me’. So, the ‘eva’ after ‘maam’ could mean ‘only me’! So, instead of reaching anybody else let it reach only me, would be a selfish statement! When AachaaryaaL has lived a life of total abnegation sans any selfishness whatsoever, (exactly as he described the ‘Vasanta Kaalam’ that is, the Spring Season does for the whole world without any expectations of any returns;) it is completely uncharacteristic of him to be saying, ‘let all the Namaskaara-s come to me’! Short of properly understanding him, some do not only misunderstand him but, emphasise their mistake by altering the phrase ‘kalayantu naanye’ as ‘kalayantu naanyam’. That would change the meaning from, ‘all I need is for the action of doing Namaskaara to reach me, nothing else’, to ‘not to anybody else’! That would be tantamount to underlining the selfishness! Could AachaaryaaL have ever said such a thing? Some having debated between, ‘naanye’ and ‘naanyam’, could have dropped both and finished it with, ‘maanye’! The word ‘maanye’ as a method of addressing Lakshmi with respect, ‘maameva maataranisam kalayantu maanye’!
139. Now, there can be another question. “Let people have a difference of opinion between ‘maanye’ and ‘naanye’; the word ‘maameva’ still remains, meaning, ‘to me only’, isn’t it? There is a shade of selfishness or pride there. How are you going to explain that away, Swami?” In all languages, in poetry as compared to prose, the order in which the words occur, can vary. In Sanskrit, compared with other languages in the prose itself, there is greater liberty and in poetry, even more! Based on the homogeneity of sound and structure of the poetical metre’s words can be anywhere, adding to the beauty of expression! Accordingly, ‘eva’ though occurring immediately after ‘maam’, in interpreting the meaning, could be construed to be attached to the word ‘vandanaani’. Now the order will change from, ‘vandanaani maameva kalayantu’, to ‘vandanaani eva maam kalayantu’ and the meaning is changing from, ‘let the opportunity of doing Namaskaara-s reach only to me’; to ‘let only the opportunity to do Namaskaara-s come to me’!
140. Now there is no possibility of suspecting AachaaryaaL’s veracity and intention! Look at the meaning again, “Amma, though you are capable of endowing all the varieties of riches, I do not want anything else other than to be able to do Namaskaara-s to you, ‘vandanaani eva maam kalayantu’. So, instead of being interpreted to mean, ‘let that vandana kriya come only to me’, it will change to, ‘let only vandana kriya come to me. Please grant that!’ For the word ‘kalayantu’ I gave you the meaning ‘let it come to me’. That is not the only meaning. For the root word ‘kal’, can be interpreted variously. In a high state of animation let the act of doing Namaskaara absorb and occupy me. This is a prayer not for his sake but, for our sake, telling us as to how we should pray! As Appar says, “naan marakkinum sollu naa namasivayave” meaning, that even if I forget my tongue will continue to chant ‘Namasivaya’, AachaaryaaL is saying that, ‘even if I give up, let that act of doing Namaskaara-s grab and possess me’, telling us as to how to make a prayer!
141. Guru of the Three Worlds! In another place in this ‘Kanak Daara Sthava’, he calls Maha Lakshmi, ‘tribhuvaneika guros tarunyai’, which means, ‘the dear wife of the Guru of the three worlds’. Guru can be taken as the Aachaarya or Father. As she is called the ‘Thaayaar’, Maha Vishnu can be considered as the ‘Thagappanaar’ and so Guru. They are the Parents of the three worlds of upper, middle and lower or here, there and everywhere or past, present and future and the world of Nara-s (humans), Sura-s (divine beings) and Asura-s (devils and ogres)! But, as Lakshmi and Parvathy Sannidy-s are known as Thaayaar and Amman Sannidy respectively, talking about PerumaaL and Easwaran Sannidy-s as Father’s Sannidy is not in vogue except in Kerala, where they say, Guruvayoor Appan, Vaikkathu Appan and Ayyappan.
142. So, Like the Loka Guru and Jagat Guru, Maha Vishnu could be considered as the ‘Thribhuvana Guru’ and his wife could be the ‘thribhuvana guros tharuNi’. God when he came in Human form as Krishna and Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL, as the Guru of the human world, they got the name of ‘Loka Guru’. As Narayana in super-human form, he has been the Triloka Guru. His consort is lakshmi. If you have to do Namaskaara to her eternally, you cannot leave him out. To ask the husband and wife to stand together and express your regards for them is the tradition as per Saastraas. So, our Namaskaara-s should ever be there for the Guru of the three worlds!
143. As our Guru is the same as Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara as well as the Parabrhmam beyond all manifested existences, we do not have to go searching for a separate Guru of the three worlds. Our, this Guru is entitled to whatever respect you wish to show, as well as being approachable. So, as it comes in many slokas, let us keep expressing our regards, appreciation and thankfulness by saying, ‘nam: + te = namste, namste, namste and nama: + astu = namostu!’ For him who removes and gets rid of all our sins and so is entitled to all the respects that we can show, our Namaskaara-s for him may be in us, as our greatest asset and do all the things it does!
(To be continued.) Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 43 (Vol # 5) Dated 24 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 43 (Vol # 5) Dated 24 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 last para on page No 260 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
125. Everybody knows the words, ‘Amba and Mata’ as they are synonym for the English word Mother. But a child can pronounce ‘Amma or Amba’ better than any other words. Mata is grammatically correct in Sanskrit and Hindi, like ‘Thaayaar’ in Tamil. The Tamil word Thaayaar for mother seems to endow a higher status to her. The Devi, who is the Parameshwara’s Patni or consort, is referred as ‘Amman’, closer to the child’s way of addressing the mother. Normally in Tamil, words of the male gender of the species only end with an ‘n’, like Thalaivan, Veeran and so on. For a child’s language there is no grammer. Thus Amma becomes endearingly changed into Amman. (Of course the English speaking children use another variation ‘Mummy’, which we know has another meaning of a mummified cadaver!) Similarly for Father, there are the words ‘Appa’, ‘Daddy’ and ‘Papa’. So generally, Siva Dharma Patni is called Amba or AmbaaL. Maha Vishnu’s Patni is referred with a little more respect as, ‘Thaayaar’! Their Garbagruha (sanctum sanctorum) in the temples are referred as the Amman Sannidy and Thaayaar Sannidy respectively.
126. In the Sanskrit dictionary ‘Amara Kosa’ it is mentioned similarly, with a little bit more respect for the consort of Maha Vishnu as, ‘Indira, Loka Mata,’ for the Thaayaar, whereas the consort of Siva is mentioned a little bit more endearingly with liberty, as ‘AparNa, Uma, Parvathy, Durga, Mrudaanee, Chandika and Ambika; decorating the word Amba a little more as Ambika! Since we go to Lakshmi for obtaining wealth, she is possibly addressed more respectfully as we would a wealthy lady or Matron as ‘Thaayaar and Mata’! Having said, ‘maata: anisam kalayantu naanye’, our AachaaryaaL calls her ‘Saroruhaakshi’, meaning that her eyes are like the lotus flower. The Lord Vishnu is known as ‘PuNdarika Akshan’ also meaning that he is having eyes like the lotus; that is the oneness of the divine couple I suppose!
The Benefits Obtained by Doing Namaskaaram.
127. When AachaaryaaL says that ‘to do Namaskaaram to you is good enough for me’, he must have thought that even saying that may not be considered to be sufficiently humble. His statement that to do obeisance of Namaskaara to you is enough for him, could be construed to mean, ‘You see I am matured enough. Though you are known as Ashta Lakshmi, as the Goddess for eight different avenues of prosperity, instead of putting you on a high pedestal and do Namaskaara to you with utterly sincere subservience, if I stand unconcerned and do Namaskaara on my own and say that I get full satisfaction by that, it would sound too complacent on my part!’ So when he says that through this very act of Namaskaara, he gets so and so benefits, which is good enough for him that means Goddess Lakshmi is granting all those benefits, which he is humbly receiving. What are those benefits?
128. ‘SampatkaraaNi’ – It gives abundant wealth. ‘Sakala Indriya nandanaani’ – Gives all sorts of happiness to all the senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching; satisfies the hunger and thirst, and gives a sense of fulfilment to the mind! ‘Saamraajya daana nirataani’ – Her Grace is fully actively involved in granting Governorship of huge Empires to the devotees. Lalita Sahasranaama also calls her, ‘Raja Rajeswari – the Empress of Kingdoms; Rajyadaayinee – endower of Governorship; and Raja peeta nivesita nijaasritaa – who enables her true devotees to ascend to the thrones’ and such. Aachaaryaal must have thought that in addition to other reasons, only when you talk about worldly and material gains, general public will be attracted towards being devoted. So having described these gains in the first part of the sloka, he says that ‘tvad vandanaani’ – your Namaskaaram-s, grant all this. The moment he said this, he got another idea!
129. Having said that one would get a lot of wealth, satisfaction for all the senses, body, mind and emperorship, by doing Namaskaara; if he stops with, ‘the Namaskaara-s that would give all this come to me’; that would not be a suitable prayer for a man like Sankara AachaaryaaL. So he stopped for a moment. For a man like him, any cogitation, hesitation or deliberation is only for a fraction of a second. Not even that! As they are forming the ideas into words and words into sentences of one line, the questions will be answered and doubts cleared. As he started the second part of the sloka with ‘tvad vandanaani’, AchaaryaaL who felt that he seems to have over stated the material and worldly benefits, at the speed of light he put in a phrase, ‘duritotddaraNodyataani’. Having listed three major gains for doing Namaskaara before the word ‘tvad vandanaani’, after that word he added this one advantage which is spiritually satisfying. In poems, unlike in prose you can put and interpolate the words between the earlier and later part of the sentence, in any number of ways. Actually to do so with beauty, by itself is an art! That too in the Sanskrit language there is more freedom for connecting the words in many intricate ways. So without corrupting the poetical form and expression of the sloka he put in there, ‘tvad vandanaani duritotddaraNodyataani’. People like Aachaaryaal have poured out with poetical ebullience in a state of high inspiration within which, when we analyse we come across nuggets of brilliance satisfying our intellect and sense of appreciation!
130. One Correction of Printed Version of the Poem. I have seen some printed versions of this poem ‘Kanaka Dhaara Stava’ and noticed that many of them have an error of printing or editing, this particular phrase. Instead of the phrase ‘duritotddaraNodyataani’, it is given as ‘duritaa haraNodyataani’. This needs to be corrected. ‘Duritam’ means sin. Nowadays in music they say ‘durita kaalam’ for the speed of singing or playing the musical instrument. Here the word should be ‘Drutam’ which means ‘fast’ and which is being mistakenly mentioned as ‘duritam’. In Sanskrit there is another word ‘Tvaritam’, which also means ‘speedily’, which could also be possibly the reason for the mistake in editing / printing!
131. As I said, ‘duritam’ means sin. Whenever we do ‘Sankalpa’ before any intended action, we say “durita – kshaya – dwaara Parameshwara preetyartam”. ‘To please Parameswara is our aim. Our sins prevent us from obtaining ‘Easwara preeti’. When our sins are cancelled out, that is when our ‘duritam’ is ‘kshayam’ (sins are nullified), that very process enables us to be worthy of receiving Easwara preeti! The phrase ‘duritotddaraNodyataani’, will separate into, ‘durita aacharaNa udyataani’. The words ‘haraNam’ and ‘aaharaNam’, mean the verb cancelling and the noun cancellation; like the words ‘bharaNam’ and ‘aabharanam’ mean wearing (verb) and jewels (noun). So by the Namaskaara-s that we do to Maha Lakshmi, our sins are cancelled out!
132. Though as per the dictionary, the words ‘haraNam’ and ‘aaharaNam’ have grammatically close and similar meaning, in practice, ‘haranam’ has come to mean cancellation and ‘aaharaNam’ has come to mean ‘to fetch’. Please note that ‘haraNam’ is reinforced by the opposite meaning by using the prefix ‘abha’ to become ‘abhaharaNam’ (like in ‘Sita abhaharaNam’ to mean ‘snatching away Sita’)! So, here the prefix ‘aa’ in front of ‘haranam’ instead of giving an opposite meaning simply reinforces. So where is the mistake in printing or editing? I said so because, instead of saying ‘duritaa haraNodyataani’ we get a better meaning when we say ‘duritotddaraNodyataani’, to mean, ‘durita uddaraNa udtyataani’, using instead of the word ‘aaharaNa’, the word ‘uddaraNa’!
133. ‘UddaraNa’ will extend to become ‘uddaaraNam’. This essentially would mean ‘to pluck it and remove’. What is lying on the surface can be just removed or cancelled out or simply swept clean with a sweeper. But what is deep rooted has to be plucked from its roots. When we say that Sri Krishna did ‘GovardanoddaraNam’, without knowing its full meaning, that he put his hand underneath and lifted it and celebrate his, this action. But what he did was to pluck the hill from its embedded roots and held it high.
134. We call the repair, renewal and renovation of dilapidated temples as ‘JeerNoddaaraNam’. ‘JeerNam’ means what is in ruins. So what do we have to do? Is it enough to superficially give it some cosmetic make up and sweep it clean? Or do we have to first completely destroy it and then rebuild? We may have to do that also partially. But mostly we may have to rebuild it from its foundations. What is in ruin on top would mean that the structure has been shaken from its foundations. Trees and plants could have sent deep roots inserting themselves through the construction. To remove all such stones, trees, plants and roots of theirs and then to reconstruct is ‘JeerNoddaaraNam’ which is not simple renovation! Our sins are deep rooted into our very consciousness and being. We are to be not only rid of our sins but plucked out from the roots! We are coming to that!
(To be continued)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 42 (Vol # 5) Dated 22 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 42 (Vol # 5) Dated 22 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 254 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
114. We saw how Guru reveals himself as a Guru for our sake. Similarly here too, though we cannot do anything in gratitude to Vasantham, we can do much in the case of the Guru. Whatever we can do, such as a small service or care or monetary contribution can be done, isn’t it? Saastraas say that to pay Guru DakshiNa is important. The reason why he reveals his identity, has to be repeated here too, it seems. It is for our sake that he reveals his identity and accepts our service and DakshiNa so as to give us the satisfaction and PuNya Phala and not because he has any expectations of name, fame and benefits from us. One of the most important lessons he has to teach us is to reduce our attachment to money. His Anugraha is spontaneous, ‘ahetuka’ and without any expectations like what Vasantam does.
115. Without any intentions or motive, universal unconditional love emerges from him like water from a spring. The only logic can be that God has willed it so! Always and every time the constant thought that emerges in their minds is, “lokaa: samasta: sukhino bhavantu and sarve janaa: sukhino bhavantu”, meaning, ‘let all the worlds be at ease and comfort and let all the people be happy and comfortable’! Not only wishing so, he is also doing his best for that purpose! Then what he does finally is “bheema bhava aarNavam janaan taarayanta:”, that is enable people to cross this treacherous waters of the ocean of worldly life! That he can do because he has done it himself – swayam teerNa:, so ‘anyaan taarayanta:’, can enable others to cross!
116. Our AachaaryaaL Aadi Sankara has blessed us all with a work of his, containing a thousand Upadesas, known as ‘Upadesa Saahasri’. The moment I mention his name, 90% of people will be reminded of ‘Bhaja Govindam’ and then ‘Soundarya Lahari’. May be ‘Viveka ChudamaNi’ will bring his name to the mind of some 50% of the people. Less than 10% of the people are likely to have heard about ‘Upadesa Saahasri’! It is a thesis addressed to people in a Guru’s role, on how to train the disciples in bringing high principles, ideas and concepts in to practice. The first part of that work is in prose and the latter part is in poetical form. In this book, at the very beginning AachaaryaaL has talked about the same idea as to how the Guru is required to enable the disciples to get across the ocean of ‘Bhava Saagara’!
117. The traditional Vidya that is taught from generation to generation is useful to the society as a boat enables many travellers to cross the river. The sloka runs like this:- “vidya santadichcha praaNyaan anugrahaaya bhavati nouriva nadim titeersho:” For a person wishing to cross the river, ‘nadim titeersho:’, like a boat ‘nouriva’. ‘Nau’ and Nouka’ both mean a boat in Sanskrit and Hindi. In Tamil it becomes ‘Naavaai’. In Christian mythology at the time of apocalypse like our pralaya, the man who was ‘righteous in his generation’ is enabled by God to build an ark in which, a pair of all sorts of animals along with his own family are accommodated, to withstand the floods of Armageddon! His name was also ‘Noah’! That story is almost like the story of Vaivasvata Manu in our mythologies. In the flood of this worldly life the boatman is Guru. He can cross the floods and enables others to do so. To cross and reach the shore symbolically means the one who realizes his true being and enables others to do so! That is the meaning of, “guru saakchaat param brhma”.
118. He is not one to do ‘varattu vedaantam’, i.e., talking dry philosophy without himself realizing what he is talking about! But he can talk on ‘vedaantam’ with clarity, capable of supporting his argument with positive inputs of guess work, examination of data, drawing the correct inferences with intuition and having the ability to counter opposing viewpoints with equal felicity. One is ‘ooha shakthi’ and the other is ‘aboha shakthi’, together known as ‘oohaaboham’! Having given many other defining characteristics of a Guru, our AachaaryaaL goes on to say that the Guru is, “brhmavid brhmaNi sthitha:”. The word ‘brhmavid’ means ‘a knower of Brhmam’. Having said that, so that this may not be misunderstood to be simply having knowledge at the level of mind and intellect, like a professor or doctor, the next word ‘brhmaNi sthitha:’ is added, to mean ‘established in brhmam itself’’! That is a person who has completely identified himself to be that Brhmam only devoid of all other adjuncts and deluded ideas! So, ‘Guru: Saakchaat Param Brhma’ is perfectly appropriate. When you add the last phrase, ‘tasmai Sri Gurave nama:’, again the question arises! Should we do Namaskaaram to him?
119. We are making a difference here in our understanding of Brhma as one of the office holders like Vishnu and Maheswara; and Param Brhma as the one Muzhu Mudar KadavuL. We may not be doing Namaskaara to the Thrimurthy-s as they are simply doing their duties only, while Para Brhmam is all inclusive, wide and all powerful, beyond the reach of mind and speech. So even if we do Namaskaaram it won’t reach. Para Brhmam being Nishkriya, NirguNa; will it receive just some Namaskaara or our prayers? We do not need to do Namaskaaram to the Thrimurthy-s and Para Brhmam doesn’t need our Namaskaaram. So, if Guru is Para Brhmam, why should we do Namaskaara to him? OK, in one way we saw that even when the Guru was equated to the Thrimurthy-s also, to do Namaskaaram to him was still justified. Exactly similarly if there is any logic here too, let us see that.
120. This is simple! Though Guru is Para Brhmam, he is not beyond our reach, isn’t it? Despite the fact that he has all the qualities of Para Brhmam, for our sake he is not Nishkriya. So as to be within our reach that Para Brhmam has come in our lives as the Guru! Though we do not have to do Namaskaara to that Para Brhmam, to Guru we should be doing all that Ananta Koti Namaskaaraa-s. Instead of being happily without any concerns, he is so keen on correcting our innumerable faults and quirks that, for his kindness we can never be able to be thankful enough. So we should be obedient and subservient to him and be doing Namaskaaraa-s endlessly!
121. This Namaskaara is our biggest asset. AachaaryaaL says so! When he was a young Brhmachaary and was standing with a begging bowl outside her hut, this aged and poor Brahmin lady wished to give something or the other to this tiny tot saying, “Bhavati bikshaan dehi”. She could not find anything to give. After searching all her empty pots, she could locate a shrivelled berry, which she gave him reluctantly ashamed of her own poverty. AachaaryaaL’s heart melted with this gesture of hers. He broke out with the song ‘Kanaka Dhaara Sthavam’, praying to Maha Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. She caused a rain of gold nuggets the size of berries to pour around this old woman’s hut! Though still a child, he didn’t take even one bit from it? But having prayed to Lakshmi, if this beautiful child doesn’t take anything, will that Goddess of Wealth not be offended?
122. He couldn’t have said, “Amma, I prayed for that poor Brahmin family only. I do not need anything from you”, that would not have been very acceptable and so he thought for a split second, that he should do Namaskaara to her and question her as to what he should ask for. He did Namaskaara and by the time he stood up, he knew the answer! When we make ourselves humble enough and do Namaskaara to someone with love, humility and gratitude; see how satisfying the experience is! So he told her, “Amma, give me the pleasure of ever doing prostrations to you, that is all!”
123. Look at the sloka. “sampath karraaNi saklendriya nandanaani saamraajya daana nirataani saroruhaakshi I tvat vandanaani duritod daraNotyataani maameva maataranisam kalayantu naanye II” Last word is ‘naanye’, meaning nothing else! That is the final word. ‘Vera onnum vendaam’, ‘aur kuch bhi nahin chaahiye’, nothing more! That is, he says, “Amma, Maha Lakshmi! Amongst all that you may grant as blessing, give me the biggest wealth of being beholden to you, ever! I do not want anything else. ‘tvad vandanaani’ – Namaskaarams to you may; ‘maameva’ – to me; ‘anisam’ – always; ‘kalayantu’ – reach me; ‘na anye’ – not anything else! To be doing Namaskaaram-s to you always is all that I wish for!”
124. ThiruvaLLuvar has said, “aruL selvam selvattut selvam”, meaning that, ‘gracefulness is the biggest asset, whereas any unworthy character could have money.’ (Refer to the first KuraL in Adikaaram No 25, in Turavara Iyal.) AruL or Grace is bountifully given by God. What we do with a sense of gratitude is Namaskaaram. This is not a ‘levaa devee’ or transaction! Both are spontaneous and not as ‘quid pro quo’! AachaaryaaL is not even begging for the Grace of God. He says give me the opportunity to do Namaskaaram forever, nothing else. Let this wealth come to me, ‘tvad vandanaani...maameva maata: anisam kalayantu, na anye’! Let this Namaskaara Lakshmi be with me eternally!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 41 (Vol # 5) Dated 20 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 41 (Vol # 5) Dated 20 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 248 of Vol 5 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
104. We are talking about the true Guru in human form that will not rest till he has ensured that the true Sishya has understood, comprehended, discerned, absorbed and attained the eternal bliss; even it means that Guru also has to take repeated births for the sake of the disciple! We are not concerned about the pseudo-Gurus, the God-men who have always been there at all points of the human calendar. We are not on the subject of how to identify the real Guru and also as to how even if the Guru is false, the disciple’s sincerity and integrity like ‘Ekalaiva’ can take him across all the Agnaana of this existence!
105. So, the Guru gives us happiness, awareness and wakes us up from this world of dreams and so deserves our thankfulness for what he has done, is doing and going to do. For him we can do and should do endless number of crores of Namaskaara-s! So now the sloka on Guru ending with, ‘tasmai sri gurave namah’ is not inapt but absolutely the way it should be! Brhma, Vishnu and Rudra; are giving us the fruits of our own Karma and not anything in addition. Here we are looking at Vishnu and Siva as only doing their duties and not as ‘Muzhu Mudar KadavuL’ but, only as Sthithi and Samhaara Karta-s! Then, they are bound by the limiting parameters of their office. Whereas Guru helps in cancelling out our negative balances in many ways such as, enabling us to turn the corner towards good deeds, by creating a fire wall sort of protection around us of Bhakti and Gnaana and taking some of the load of our demerits on himself! The Thrimurthy-s conduct their duties within the cause – effect relationship between our Karma and our fate, whereas our, this Gurumurthy gets us out of the mire of strangle hold of Karma! So he is entitled to all our Namaskaaraa-s! So, the sloka which says; ‘Gurur Brhma, Gurur Vishnu: Gurur Devo Maheswara: tasmai Sri Gurave Nama:’ is very correct and appropriate.
106. Guru as Parabrhmam. Still a portion of the sloka is not fully explained. What is that? ‘Guru: Saakchaat Param Brhma’ – If we are talking about the real Guru, this statement must also be correct. We had to give a lot of explanation as to how he is the Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara. But in this case, that he is the Param-Brhma we do not have to give copious explanations! From the present state of Agnaana of darkness, doubt, delusion and Ahankaara; Guru fetches us to Aatma Swarajyam – that is, our inner reality, the stuff of eternal freedom and effulgence devoid of confusion and the darkness of ignorance! It means that he makes us realise that we are nothing but Para-Brhmam ourselves! He tells us, “My dear Sir! You are yourself the same Para-Brhmam wearing a garb as Rama or Krishna or Tom, Dick and Harry! You are an actor on the stage as so many of the characters of the cast – that is all part of the scenery of appearances. If you remove the guise and look inward, you will know yourself to be the Para-Brhmam.” Only a realised soul could say this with the clarity of conviction! So there is no doubt at all about the last line of the sloka – ‘guru: saakchaat param brhma:’!
107. The One Who Has Extricated Himself Will Save Us Too! The one who has crossed the ocean of this mortal existence will enable us also, as he has correctly studied the problem, fully comprehended and appreciated the situation, identified the pitfalls, learnt to invert and ignore the distractions and found the method of extrication after analysing the strength and weaknesses of various options. Without extricating himself from the clutches of Agnaana, somebody who assumes a pseudonym of ‘Adwaitaa’, giving lectures and publishing books can be a Reader, Fellow or Doctor or Professor in an educational institution and not a Guru! Having got out of the rut, the one who is quiet and deeply merged in himself, having completely delinked himself from worldly involvement, can be a Saint, Mahan or Brhma Gnaani; but, he is also not a Guru! Having reached the shores of this Bhava Saagara, the one who enables others also to wade ashore; that sort of a Brhma Gnaani is worthy of being considered as a Guru! To reach the shore of this Samsaara Saagara is the same as attainment of Gnaana. Our AachaaryaaL, Aadi Sankara says the same thing, as the definition of a Guru.
108. AachaaryaaL’s Definition of an Aachaarya. Aadi Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL who is himself a definition of a Guru gives this elucidation in Viveka Chudamani, “teerNaa: swayam bheema – bhava aarNavam janaan ahetunaa – anyaan api taarayanta:”. Meaning of that sloka is as under, “Guru should have himself be the one who has crossed the fearful ocean of this life of Agnaana. The phrase, ‘bheema bhava AarNavam’ means, ‘the treacherous waters of the ocean of life’. He should be the one who has already crossed it, ‘teerNaa:’. Having done so, he should be ‘taarayanta:’- causing (‘anyaan api’ – others also) to cross.” How are such people to be identified? They are, as the first part of the sloka says, ‘saanto mahaanto nivasanti santo vasantavat loka hitam charanta:’. That means ‘saanta:’ – peacefully quiet; ‘mahaanta:’ – great Mahaans; ‘vasantavat loka hitam charanta:’ – like the spring season cause the world to be hale and hearty full of wellbeing!
109. Think of it! The moment the earth reaches a particular combination of time and space in its orbit around the sun and swivelling on its own axis; pronto, there is the Vasantam, the spring season! In no time the whole world is green and pleasantly warm. There is a beautiful breeze. Suddenly as though they were waiting for it, the plants and trees are full of blooms and flowers. Birds like the cuckoo, honey suckle, and peahen and bees and beetles are all singing, celebrating the arrival of the spring season. When it was falls, all the plants and trees were looking morose and gloomy. Now at once, there is smiling cheerfulness and fragrance in the air! The biting cold of winter is over and it is not yet too hot. There are jasmine, hyacinth, hibiscus, lilies, lotuses, and what not, adding colour and salubriousness all around! But, can you see something or somebody by the name of Vasantam or Spring Season anywhere? Without saying ‘I am doing all this’, without an iota of head weight, this season does so much good, doesn’t it? That is how, the Guru functions!
110. Guru has not the slightest pride. He reveals his humbleness not as a show off but, to make it clear for our sake. That too when we are queasy in our own minds as to how and where to comprehend the very concept of what is God and who is going to be our Guru, he reveals himself for us. Not with the idea that, ‘Here I am doing all this’, but to fill up our needs. In reality he is not easily identifiable, of whom it is said that he is ‘Nirlingam’! Even without our knowing that Guru is doing all this, things will happen. We will rather wonder as to who is suddenly making it very convenient for us in many areas of our lives. Suddenly we will find that many loose ends just meet. Many irreconcilable problems just resolve and suddenly we will know that it is Guru’s Grace that is in operation in a subtle but certain way!
111. More than all this, AachaaryaaL has hit the nail on its head as though, in putting the most important point of what the Guru does in a simple phrase in four words. The word ‘ahetunaa’ means without any reason. Without any logic why, Guru is spreading Grace and living (‘nivasanti’) in the world like the season of spring! These Aachaaryaas are living in this world as epitome of peacefulness, as Maha Aatmas, as Saadhus, as those who have themselves crossed the ocean of the confusion of earthly life, for no rhyme or reason (‘ahetunaa’) doing all the good to others!
112. Why should they do all this? Why should they be bothered at all? Day and night, why should they be talking to idiots like us, counselling and advising, uncaring for their personal comforts, roaming about here, there and everywhere, giving public lectures and individual interviews and so on? Do we deserve them? Are they indebted to us? What do they get out of this? Having comprehended the reality, they could have been happily immersed in their blissful state, isn’t it? Instead, they are laundering our dirty linen as though! Whether you look at it from our point of view or from his angle, for his this inhuman sacrifice of his precious time and efforts, there doesn’t seem to be any logic to which all this can be attributed! It is all simply ‘ahetunaa’!
113. By saving us from Agnaana he is not going to get any name and fame! We, as we are, do not deserve his, this kindness also. He first goes about creating worth in us and then tirelessly, relentlessly perseveres to get us out of the rut! The beauty of saying ‘like the spring season – vasantavat’, gets appropriately explained by the word ‘ahetunaa’, at the end! When the people, animals, flora and fauna, were all shivering in cold of winter, this spring comes from we do not know where and weaves a magic change in the atmosphere, decorating the world with fruits and flowers of varieties and filling the air with wonderful, fragrances, simply ‘ahetunaa’! Can we be thankful enough to the spring season? Can we catch hold of it and do anything of honour in return? Same is the case with the Guru.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 40 (Vol # 5) Dated 18 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 40 (Vol # 5) Dated 18 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 241 of Vol 5 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)
93. When Guru has been described as equivalent to Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara, there must be points of similarity as well as dissimilarity. We saw that the three who are doing the three major jobs of Creation, Sustenance and Destruction (including re-absorption), are not to be revered or respected simply for doing their appointed duties. So, now with a slight change in our approach, that idea will change and the sloka instead of being a case of ‘confusion confounded’ will be reconciled as being OK! Let us see as to how this can be!
94. As all the three names of Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara have been equated to Guru, it seems that he is also doing something like them; that is Guru is also doing Srushti, Sthithi and Samhaara. How? This becomes clear with some deep cogitation. Guru gives us birth into the world of Gnaana Loka, the world of Aadhyaatmic life. Opening our eyes to reality, changing our attitude of material involvement, he gives us a new form of existence. That is as good as giving us a new life and that means the job of Creation. As Guru causes Gnaana to be born or awakened, he is doing the job of Brhma.
95. Then is the job of Vishnu that is Sthithi or Paripaalana involving sustenance, nourishment and protection. How does he do it? In our life and growth in the path of Gnaana Guru gives us the Adhyaatma assets and other wherewithal. For bodily growth as Mahavishnu gives us wealth and health, for the nourishment of our inner being Guru gives us Upadesa, books, scriptures and sets targets for us to achieve in Saadhana, caring for our well being. For us he sacrifices his own peace and comforts to pull us out of the mire and quicksand of Agnaana. Even in this ‘Iha Loka’, he supports us in all ways. He takes his pound of flesh only in these modern days, in terms of fees by pseudo Gurus. But in the olden days gone by, it was the disciple who gave Guru Dakshina, within his capabilities out of a sheer sense of gratitude! He gives us ‘Nayana Deeksha, Sparsa Deeksha and Mantropadesa’! He mainly does ‘Aadhyaatmic Gnaana Paripaalana’ and thus does the job of Mahavishnu in the lives of the disciple.
96. Now about Samhaara as done by Maheswara. Guru is too humble and unconceited. How can he be ferocious to do the act of Samhaara? To hear words such as Rudra, Rudra Thaandavam and Roudraakaaram itself is fearful is it not so? Whereas this Guru is peacefulness and piety incarnate. May be so as not to scare us, instead of the word ‘Rudra’, the word Maheswara has been used, saying ‘Gurur Devo Maheswara:’ possibly. Still the very word Samhaara meaning destruction cannot be thought to be a pleasant experience! ‘You only said that in ‘Upama Alankaara’ instead of similarities there could be similarities and differences’. So can this be that? No, having given two similarities with the responsibilities of Brhma and Vishnu, the third Upama cannot jump to a comparison of difference. Guru as Brhma having given birth to Gnaana in the disciple, and then as Vishnu having nourished and ensured the growth of that Gnaana, as Rudra will he destroy that Gnaana?! (PeriyavaL laughs saying this.)
97. There are many forces that keep us tied down in Agnaana preventing us from Self Realization, is it not so? Guru as Maheswara destroys those forces patiently fighting with them till he is able to fully rid us of those obstacles. When you cultivate as a farmer, is it not essential to remove the weeds, however persistent they may be? So, while advising and tutoring us on Gnaana, our die-hard Agnaana has to be got rid of. This is a more difficult job. If you move up an inch with great difficulty, you can easily slip a yard or come sliding down, like in the Malkhamb. That is the sort of hazard we are facing in this effort for Gnaana. Before some good and positive attitudes are imbibed, the bad and negative tendencies predominate! Before the slightest move towards enlightenment, the darkness of ignorance envelops us. It is this darkness of Tamas that Guru destroys as the Rudra Murthy. The very name Guru is defined as the one who destroys the darkness. ‘Gu’ means destroyer and ‘Ru’ means the darkness!
98. Thus by Guru’s Grace, we are reborn in to Gnaana, we are nurtured, nourished and cultivated and the countervailing and contrary forces are destroyed. So through Guru the three important jobs of Srushti, Sthithi and Samhaara occur. So Gurumurthy becomes the Thrimurthy! The difference lies in what Brhma creates and Vishnu nourishes is the body-mind-intellect complex, that is finally destroyed by Maheswara. Whereas Guru enables the rebirth in to Gnaana, nurtures and nourishes the Atma-Gnaana and destroys the Deha-Atma-Buddhi of Agnaana. Amongst the Thrimurthys, the three have different jobs while the Guru does all three, creating and protecting Gnaana and destroying Agnaana. The Gnaana that he creates and protects is never destroyed but, is everlasting and eternal.
99. Thus, what the three deities do together in this life of involvement, Guru does singlehandedly in the life of Gnaana. To think of it is awe inspiring and amazing! To be born in this ephemeral world of Maya and manage it we need three great important deities of the Holy Trinity and to extricate and save us from it and give us the everlasting Anubhava of Gnaana, this one Guru in human form does it so skilfully apparently! You can try to vindicate by saying that, ‘The Thrimurthys have to do for millions and trillions of lives whereas Guru has to cater for only some select group of disciples’. But that argument will not clinch the issue anywhere. We saw as to how the Guru takes up the role of the three deities. We also saw as to how the three deities together became the Dattaatreya Guru. So are all the Gurus. We have seen that thus Guru has been compared with the three major deities on the basis of functional similarities.
100. Guru as Worthy of our Respect and Namaskaara. We have already seen as to how those three deities do not deserve our Namaskaaraas, for doing their duties. But the sloka says, ‘tasmai sri gurave namaha’. Here is where, we have to bear in mind that Upama Alankaara while based on similarities, touches the dissimilarities also. Why did we find that we could not do Namaskaara to them? When do we do Namaskaara to anybody, first of all? We thank somebody and express our gratitude when we are satisfied by what they have done to us. If they happen to be elder to us in age or status we will do Namaskaaram to them. Or when we have requested them for something we like or need and expect that they will do so, we will do Namaskaara and pray in anticipation. We are not happy with our being created by Brhma or the way Vishnu looks after us or the likelihood of eventual Samhaara by Siva. So we are not happy with the past and present. Looking at the future, Brhma can do nothing more for us. His job is over as far as we are concerned. Even for the next life, there isn’t much in his hands as he is to bounden by the Laws of Karma without much freedom of discretion! So, there isn’t much scope for doing Namaskaara to him. Similar is the case with Vishnu. He cannot do more than what we deserve as per our own Karma. The very fact that we become devoted is an indication of the fact that we have turned around towards the Godhead.
101. If we are still alive as we are discussing this, Maheswara’s job is yet to be, as far as we are concerned. There is nothing we can pray to him for. If he has annulled and cancelled out many of our past lives, we do not know anything about all that. For that there is no chance that we should thank him and do Namaskaara. Later also, there is no cause for our happiness that he is going to do Samhaara. We cannot even request him to not to do so, as anyhow at the end of our this life time, he will just do his job! There is nothing in what they have done or doing or going to do that could make us indebted or beholden to them. So we do not feel like doing Namaskaara to them!
102. Now with this as the background, let us see what the Guru has done, doing and going to do. When we were shackled by the chains of attachment, buffeted by the ups and downs of Samsaara, he opened our eyes to the possibility of peace and quietude of Aatma Shanti, didn’t he? For that and for the fact that having opened our eyes he also showed us the way, and catching hold of our hand guided us along the path towards salvation, didn’t he? For these acts of kindness we cannot but be overflowing with a sense of gratitude, isn’t it? To thank him so far, you tell me as to how many Namaskaaraas would be the right number?
103. What he is going to do is still bigger than all that has gone earlier! We have so far only seen some glimpses of the ray of brilliant light at the end of the proverbial tunnel! As of now we only know that there is the effulgence of the world of Aatma Swaraajya of freedom and independence, sometime, somewhere on the way. Till we reach there and till we become one with that Enlightenment, we know our Guru will not give up. It is alright if we do not reach there in this life. In our next life, any number of life times that may be in store for us, he will be with us and will not quit till this job is over! Real Guru will not only create this trust, belief and faith in the disciple; but will also not rest till we become one with that eternal state of being blissfully happy, that is Sat – chit – Ananda!
(To be continued)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 39 (Vol # 5) Dated 16 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 39 (Vol # 5) Dated 16 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 No 234 of Vol 5 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)
82. There is one more reason for there being no temple for the foremost of all devotees of God, Narada. Once Daksha Prajapati got so annoyed with him that he cursed him that he will keep roaming about and never stay permanently in any one place! That is how Narada has a name as ‘Triloka Sanchari’, meaning the man on the move in all the three worlds forever! So, for a man who is ever mobile, to be installed in a temple is to try the impossible. Talking about the three Murthy-s of the Holy Trinity, as to how Guru is all of them rolled into one, we have also gone everywhere and finally ended up with Narada. That is also in the rightness of things in a way.
83. Because Narada is also a Guru, the Sankeertana Guru. He is the Guru of ThyagayyarvaaL famous for his devotional songs on Sri Rama especially. (Thyaga Raja Swami is one amongst the famous trio of Carnatic Classical Music. The other two are Muthuswami Deekshidar and Shyama SaastrigaL.) While being the Guru of ThyaagayyarvaaL, he is also the first disciple to get the Mantra, specially meant for this Kali Yuga, “Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare I Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare II” He got this mantra from his father Brhma as a ‘Mantropadesa’ in his childhood itself.
84. Talking about this, I am reminded that other than being the ‘Srushti Karta’, Brhma is also the Guru for Bhakti and Gnaana Margas. Since the undercurrent of my talk is about the Guru, it is appropriate that we recognise the fact the Brhma is also the Guru for the paths of Bhakti and Gnaana. Amongst the followers of Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL known as Smaarthaas’ tradition of Brhma Vidya Guru Parampara; Brhma, Vishnu and Siva are all there. The first original Guru who sanctions Gnaana silently without ever opening his mouth is Dakshinamurthy, the Siva’s Parama Gnaana Roopa. Then is Dattaatreya a combined form of Brhma – Vishnu – Maheswaras, with three heads. Only after Dattaatreya the tradition of systematic oral Upadesa to disciples started. First it was father to son for five generations. In this the first Guru is Vishnu and then his son Brhma. Then after Sukha Achaarya, who remained celibate throughout his life, the system of Sanyaasa Guru to Sannyaasa Sishya (celibate renunciate Guru to celibate renunciate disciple tradition) started.
85. Narayanam – Padmabhuvam. First is Narayana who gave Upadesa to Padmabhuvam. That is the Brhma born in a lotus, as a disciple got Brhma Vidya from his father. He in turn gave Upadesa to his Maanasika Putras (mind born sons) Vasishta on Brhma-Vidya and Narada on Bhakti. Actually Brhma had ten Maanasika Putras known as Prajapati-s in which Vasishta and Narada are included. (Prajapati in Sanskrit means Leader of citizens. In the Vedas, the word Prajapati stands for Brhma.) Vasishta got pure Adwaita Upadesa from Brhma which later he gave to other disciples of his. Many may not be aware that Sri Rama got this directly from Vasishta; before he was taken away by Viswamithra. That is even before he went to give protection to Vishwamitra’s conduct of some Yaagas. Then he goes on to Mithila to get the hand of Janaki in marriage! That would mean that Sri Rama, an Avatara of Vishnu got Brhma Gnaana before he was launched into the Adventures of Ramayana! Keep that fact in some corner of your minds safe and sound, that even God when he comes amongst the human beings is covered by some Agnaana and needs some reminder to wake up to his reality by way of Upadesa from a Guru! What was originally 32,000 slokas are now available in a much abridged form of some 1698 slokas known as Yogaavaasishtam, a book by Samata Publications from Chennai.
86. In the Vaishnava Guru Parampara, first is MahaVishnu, then Maha Lakshmi, known as Periya PerumaaL and Periya Piraatti respectively. Then it is not Brhma, but like Siva’s son GaNapathi who is the leader of all GaNaas, there is a Senapathi known as Vishvaksena, the next Vaishnava Guru. Then are the Aazhvaars in human form starting from Nammaazhvaar. In Smaartha Sampradaaya, after Maha Vishnu it is Brhma. So, though there is no temple and procedures for worshipping Brhma, while starting Vedaanta Abhyaasa, Smaarthaas when they do Guru Dhyaanam, they say, “Naaraayanam padmabhuvam, vasishtam...”, and thus do Namaskaara to Brhma the Lotus born. Thus it is heartening to note that there is a system of at least doing Namaskaara to Brhma!
87. Similarly, when Sanyasi-s do Guru Parampara pooja on the day of Vyaasa Pooja, they include Saraswathi and Narada. Though students of Vedanta going deep into the philosophy do not give much importance to this imaginary world of Maya and its Creator Brhma, they do give him the due as a Guru. Amongst the general public however this is more as an exception to the rule.
88. From what I have spoken so far, it seems that if I say that Guru is Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara, so we should do Namaskaara to him, ‘tasmai sri gurave namaha’, that is a mistake! (PeriyavaaL laughs saying this.) Whatever other reasons one may forward, for being the Srushti –Paripaalana – Samhaara Murthys, in that status they do not deserve any Namaskaara from any one of us! (He laughs again!) No Namaskaaram-s! “Guru saaktchaat Parabrhma: tasmai sri gurave nama:”, meaning that Guru is virtually the primordial Parabrhmam. Now at least does he deserve a Namaskaara? Is it OK now, at least now?
89. ‘No, that is also not correct!’ ‘Why not correct?’ Parabrhmam is beyond the reach and comprehension of our mind and speech. So you cannot meaningfully interact with it and or do Namaskaara to it. Even if you do, that which is Nishkriya – NirguNa will not receive your obeisances. The state of total inertness and inactivity is what is known as ‘Parabrhmam – Jagannaatham’. So, what is the use of doing anything with it, let alone doing Namaskaara! When it happens that you have understood and comprehended it, then ‘you are that’, is it not so? So again there is no chance for a Namaskaara. How can you do Namaskaara to yourself? Thus as the first sloka that is taught to the student starting his life as a pupil – disciple itself is so confusingly complicated like a self inflicted injury! (PeriyavaaL laughs for long saying this!)
90. So, what is the real purport? Guru is not doing the job of Brhma – Vishnu – Maheswara-s. He is not granting this life, protecting it and or finishing it. For those jobs the three deities are there. When saying that Guru is Brhma – Vishnu – Maheswara-s, it means that Guru is doing something on those lines but, not the same as them. If you call your dear child, ‘My darling’, does it mean the child has become a darling of the eye? It only means that the baby is as dear as the darling of the eye! It means that the baby is to be protected as well as the eyebrows take care of the most important part of our body. We pet the baby with words like, ‘My pearl, my Gem, and so on’. God is coddled with words of endearment saying, ‘MazhapaadiyuL MaaNikkame!’ MaaNikkam is emerald. That is only a way of expressing one’s endearment!
91. We take an item and compare it with other things like that. The item being compared is ‘upameyam’. The thing compared with is ‘upamaanam’. Some characteristic between the upamaanam and upameyam will match, not all! You can compare one thing with another, but they cannot become the same! You cannot compare the moon with the moon! When you compare someone’s face with the moon, the face must be beautiful, shining, effulgent and cool. But like the moon, the face cannot be waxing and waning. In comparing Guru with Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara, there must be some points of similarity. What are they?
92. Before going into it, let me talk about another such sloka, that I am reminded of. That sloka is about Vyasa AachaaryaaL, who is honoured as being responsible for dividing the Veda mantras in to four distinct groups, authoring the 18 Puraanaas, the Bhagawatham and on whose name we celebrate the Guru PoorNima. In that sloka Bhagawan BadarayaNa, that is Guru Veda Vyasa is compared with Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswara by pointing out the differences, instead of similarities! “If I were to say that he is Brhma, he does not have four faces (achaturvadano brhma)! If I were to compare him with Vishnu, this BadarayaNa has only two hands (dvibaahuraparo hari:)! If we compare him with Siva, where is the third eye gone? (apaala lochana: sambu:)” (Rishi Vyasa sat under the berry tree in Badrikasram and did tapasya for a long number of years and thus got the name of BadarayaNa.) Now let us look at the sloka. “achaturvadano brhma dvibaahuraparo hari: apaala lochana: sambu: bhagawan badarayaNa:” Meaning of the sloka has already been given!
(To be continued)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 38 (Vol # 5) Dated 14 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 38 (Vol # 5) Dated 14 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 last para on page No 227 of Vol 5 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)
71. How to create this relationship between them? This could be done by grouping them as husband and wife. One pair of elder brother and younger sister getting married to another pair of brother and sister would not be very suitable as it is called, ‘peN koduthu peN vaangal’ – which is a Tamil phrase meaning ‘give a girl and take a girl’ on the grounds of something like inbreeding, though not exactly so. To overcome this problem another pair had to be created. When you have only two pairs as 1 – 1, 2 – 2, you cannot avoid ‘peN koduthu peN vaangal’. But if you have three pairs of brother and sister as1 – 1, 2 – 2 and 3 – 3; now you can match them as 1 – 2, 2 – 3 and 3 – 1, thereby avoiding ‘peN koduthu peN vaangal’. With this idea were created Brhma and Lakshmi, both of golden hue and both normally seated on lotus. As Vishnu’s son Brhma is known to be the son of Lakshmi too. So how can it be that Brhma and Lakshmi are related as brother and sister? There is an old story of the Purana-s, which may not be known to many as given in Devi Mahaatmiyam’s end part called ‘Brataniga Rahasyam’, in which Vishnu & AmbaaL, Siva & Saraswathi and Brhma & Lakshmi are said to have come into being as brothers and sisters respectively.
72. Now they could be paired off without any complication, Brhma with Siva’s sister Saraswathi; Vishnu with Brhma’s sister Lakshmi and Siva with Vishnu’s sister AmbaaL. Let this fact of their coming into being for resolving the issue of pairing be set aside; having been created as Devata-s they had to be given some job. Between running of the world of Maya and release from Maya; the latter part of release from Maya that is, attainment of Gnaana cannot be subdivided. So, it is in the business of running of the world of Maya that can be apportioned. Thus creation and management of repeated births as per Karma of individuals, was given to Brhma while Lakshmi was made responsible for financial affairs. As part of the creation of variety of play, Lakshmi was also given the big title of Loka Mata, something like the Empress of the World, with plenty of powers of sanctioning. Within Vishnu’s area of responsibility of running the world, to make it known to all that the job of Creation is also within the ambit of his overall responsibility; Brhma the Creator was created from the lotus of Vishnu’s Naval!
73. Now do you understand as to how, in the arrangement of Tri-Murthy-s (Holy Trinity), with the Siva and Vishnu who have complete power of Brhma Shakti (Omni potency), have accepted the third entity Brhma as an equal? That is why there is much more closeness between Siva and Vishnu. With the powers for creation, Brhma was given the knowledge of all the Vedas and honoured as the foremost Vidya Guru. Then further play or Leela is the fact that Brhma is to be a power in the background, without many temples and or devotees!
74. Brhma who is eulogised as Prajapathy and Hiranyagarba; much praised by Veda-s, Upanishad-s and Purana-s; is to be revered with elaborate procedures of worship. If such arrangements cannot be made, it is better not done haphazardly. He does not lose anything if we do not pray to him. He is well supported by his Father Vishnu, bearing him in his Naval Lotus! In his mouth reside all the four Veda-s which nourish the whole world. So, he does not need the temples anyhow. Looking at the common man’s understanding and attitude too, there is no need for a temple for Brhma. His jobs of Creation and the Law of Karma are serious enough that at least one of the Tri-Murthy’s is not pestered by the people of the world! May be that is another reason for there not being a temple for Brhma!
75. Why are there no temples for Saraswathi? Another example of how when you think of one thing, another clarification occurs to our minds! While talking about Siva –AmbaaL and Maha Vishnu – Maha Lakshmi, as wedded couples and their greatness, it occurred to me as to how I have not thrown much light on Saraswathi the wife of Brhma! Instead of interrupting the flow of talk about Brhma, I decided to take up her case separately.
76. How do we look at Saraswathi? Whether we think of her as a Poorna Brhma Shakti or not, we adore her as the Goddess of Learning, the Fine Arts and all Knowledge! To think of her in absolute white saree holding books, seated on a white lotus playing on the VeeNa, is to feel peaceful and pleasant. Great saints such as Kambar, Ottakkoothar, Kumara Guruparar, Bharathiyar and some others have sung beautiful poems in Tamil on her. Muthuswamy Deekshidar has composed and set to music, many a Keerthanaas on her, which are well known. In Sanskrit Maha Kavi KaLidasa has written wonderful poems of immense beauty and devotion on Saraswathi! Even when we are tiny tots, we sing praises of her with intense devotion. But the point to note is that, there are not many temples of Saraswathi. In the whole of Tamil Nadu there is one at Koothanur in Tanjavur district, the birth place of Ottakkoothar. In Kanchipuram in the temple for Kamakshi Amman, there is one Sannidy for Saraswathi. Even that is not as the wife of Brhma but as a minister of Raja Rajeswari known as RajasyamaLa or Maha Saraswathi. Even in temples where there is a Sannidy for her, it will be in some corner a small enclosure and not in the main sanctum sanctorum! Like Brhma, temple is not important for Saraswathi too but, unlike Brhma she is not ignored as a deity. Like Koothanur in Tamil Nadu, there is a temple for her in Basar on the banks of River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh and one nearer Hyderabad in Vargal. Then in Karnataka on the west coast in KoLLur, there is a temple for Saraswathi known by the name of Mookaambika. In all these places the most important function is to take small children and start their education with a ritual known as ‘Akshara Abhyasam’. From the time we start our education, we develop devotion for her right up to the point short of imbibing Gnaana by her Grace. So, she is a very popular deity. Then why are there not many temples for her too, excepting the three or four places mentioned above?
78. Here is where our national ethos and culture comes into play. ‘Pativratyam’ or ‘Karpu’ is typical of Indian culture much praised and glorified. Both these two words mean true faithfulness of the lady wife to the wedded husband, as exemplified by the stories about Satyavan – Savitri and Kovalan – Kannagi. The pativrata lady will not enjoy anything that is not available to her husband. AmbaaL has the left half of Siva’s body. Lakshmi stays in Vishnu’s Vatchasthala that is the left chest. Similarly Saraswathi resides in Brhma’s tongue. When there is no temple for him, how can she look for a separate residence? That is why when there are not many temples for him, for her too there are hardly any! (What is mentioned in the previous para are only like a drop in the ocean of temples all over India, once again exceptions only proving the rule.)
79. If we invite her to our houses she will come promptly as the Mother, as part of our family especially. But to make a common public invitation without her husband, she will not agree. It is respecting her this quality only we have let her be without a temple for her! Power in our culture is revered as the Shakti, essentially in female form. As they say in English, ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’ as the power behind him, we celebrate the wife as the man’s Shakti. While celebrating Navratri or Dussehra, the last three days are meant for venerating the three Shakti-s Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. For that she will very much be there. But otherwise without her husband for daily poojas and festivals, she would never agree!
80. The matter of Savitri, Gayatri and Narada. Brhma has three wives namely Saraswathi, Savitri and Gayatri. Gayatri Mantra is considered as the foremost of all Mantras and derives its name from the ‘chandas’ or poetical metre called Gayatri. The inner power of that Mantra is Savitri. Despite being intimately the life and metre of that Mantra which is said to be the quintessence of all Veda-s, they both have no temples for them. The only reason is that they have refused what is not available for their husband!
81. While analysing thus, it is also becoming clear as to why Narada has no temple on his name! Vishnu’s devotees are called Bhagawata-s. He is tops amongst them and so is known as ‘Bhagawata Uttama’. The very defining treatise on devotion known as Bhakti Sutra is written by him. When we say that ‘Sankeertanam’ that is, singing praises of God is the only antidote for these days of ‘Kali Yuga’; not to have a temple for Narada who is ever doing ‘Bhagawan Naama Sankeertanam’, that is singing the praise of God to the tune of a Tambura held in his hands, is just not in order! But, when you think of it, you realise that being the ‘Maanasika putra’ or mind born son of Brhma, because there is no temple for his father and three mothers, Narada too will not stay in a temple of his own?
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 37 (Vol # 5) Dated 12 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 37 (Vol # 5) Dated 12 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 221 of Vol 5 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)
62. Siva Lingam, AmbaaL, PerumaaL, Thaayaar and such in the temple with their own Sannidy-s are known to be all powerful and so to them we are able to become totally devoted to and do Namaskaara. The Navagrahas and such others we know to be not so very powerful but could be useful in granting our wishes. So we perambulate around them and prostrate to them. So, we average devotees are able to get attached to either the all powerful or those with some suitably beneficial capabilities. The same thing does not apply to Chandykeswara or Vishvaksena, as we do not know much about them. While going around such Gods, are we able to think that through them also let Paramaatma bless us? No!
63. Our attitude towards the Nayanmaars, Aazhvaars and such AachaaryaaLs is slightly different in that, we know that they have been great devotees and or Gurus. We know that they can guide us even today by their lives and recorded words of wisdom. Thus we are devoted and respectful to three types of those represented in the temples namely, the Easwara Koti-s, those with limited but beneficent powers and the past masters. Let us imagine that amongst the three types of Gods or great souls described above, there is also a Sannidy of Brhma. We know that he is not one of the Easwara Koti-s. As part of the Holy Trinity, it is deep rooted in our minds that he is the Creator. We know as revealed in the Puranas that Brhma could be useful as a via-media to approach the Easwara Koti-s. But, for long the world has been under the grip of Kali that hardly is there anybody who is not disgusted with the very fact of being born. So devotion to Brhma has become a scarce commodity. Not only is it that Brhma could not be thought of as the primordial God, even to make use of him to approach one of the Easwara Koti-s is considered too circuitous.
64. He cannot be thought of as an ardent devotee like the Aazhvaar-s and Naayanmaar-s also. Then if we are to pray to him as we do for the other not so very powerful deities also, his power being the one of creation, based on as per our old stock of past Karma-s, all that he does to give us this life, is to ordain us to live by an unavoidable and unalterable ‘praarabda’ or fate, that we detest rather than appreciate! After that there is nothing he can do for us. In every Saastraas and sciences there are so many laws, which cannot be changed. He creates us with our ‘vidhi’ that is fate, that he is referred as ‘vidhi’ itself! So there is no logic or reason for us to feel beholden to him or have any sense of overflowing devotion towards him.
65. If he is to be revered because compared to our infinitesimal abilities and power, his is enormous; one peculiarity comes in the way. That is the fact that, despite not being an Easwara Koti, he is on equal footing with Siva and Vishnu as one of the Holy Trinity! We do not see him as omnipotent beyond the limited role that he has to anyhow play, whereas Vishnu and Siva despite being noticeably omnipotent are playing a limited role of Paripaalana Murthy and Samhaara Murthy respectively. In comparison Brhma seems to be part of the bureaucracy, doing his appointed role as per duties entrusted to him and not an executive. When we think of Vishnu, other than his appointed role as Paripaalana Karta, he seems visibly and evidently another form of the Primordial God is it not so?
66. Exactly similarly, looking at Siva we see him as the all capable Paramaatma and not just the Samhaara Murthy. Actually if he were to be considered only as the one who will destroy us, none of us will think of approaching him, let alone have a temple for him! So when we think of Trimurthy-s composed of Vishnu and Siva who other than being the Paripaalana and Samhaara Murthy-s, are directly noticeably are omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Primordial God in different forms and then add the name of Brhma; in our average not so matured state of mind, there is an immediate confusion as to how is he part of that elite company? So, may be they have not bothered to construct temples for Brhma, I suppose.
67. Once such a question as to how is he considered as equal to Siva and Vishnu arises, then even in our being respectful to him there could be some reservations. May be to obviate such a question and resultant reservations, traditionally we have refrained from giving Brhma a place in the temples. Brhma is in no way less than many of the Devatas. But we are not able to be devoted to him. May be that if we have more temples for him people may start going to him, as after all that is the purpose of constructing temples. But having gone to his temple, standing in front of him, there may not be a natural flow of devotion for him, in our minds. Do we ever hear of anybody being devoted to Brhma? OK. It is alright if we are not abundantly over flowing with love towards him! Even with Chitragupta and such Gods, we do not have much of devotion. But with those we are not having any reservations or questions, but simply only accept. So, we are able to do one simple Namaskaaram of acceptance of their superior status. Only with Brhma there is the question as to how could he claim an equivalent status with Siva and Vishnu. May be that he is not claiming any such equality and we do not have to accuse him of that. But, having heard often ‘Brhma – Vishnu – Siva’ being mentioned in one breath, it is deeply etched in our minds that he is one of the Holy Trinity.
68. So the question arises as to how are we to consider him to be equal to Siva and Vishnu; and where there is a doubt and question, how can there be devotion? Let alone deep rooted devotion, with doubt and question, even normal respect cannot be there! Without even a tinge of respect, will our Namaskaaram be genuine? Since we are already doing plenty of frauds and shenanigans, we go to the temple to offset those capers. Now if we were to a Namaskaaram to Brhma without real respect that will be tantamount to yet another caper! May be that there is no temple for Brhma to obviate this insincere Namaskaaram. It is not something lacking in him, but us only. We are not able to assess his real worth and not able to bracket him with any of the three lots, namely not like Chtiragupta or Vishvaksena (just another Devata of no concern but better be respectful); or the lesser of the Devatas such as IruLan or Veerappan (as they can be of some benefit for some purposes); or Easwara Koti such as Vishnu, Siva and AmbaaL, though he is said to be one of the Holy Trinity about which we have a question! So out of kindness for us, that we may not do insincere Namaskaara, he has been left without a temple, I suppose.
69. Reason for the Holy Trinity to be there Inclusive of Brhma. The reason for Brhma to be included with Siva and Vishnu (both Poorna Sakta-s that is Easwara Koti-s), is different. That is explained hereinafter. What we call or refer to as Paramaatma or Parabrhmam that one Primordial God, decided to have a worldly life peopled by Jeevas with delusion of Maya and release the Jeeva from Maya and grant him the Gnaana Moksha. For this purpose the one formless and actionless decided to take forms with actions and responsibilities, one each for Maya Jagat and another for Gnaana Moksha. Each of these forms had to have male and female counter parts each. Accordingly Mahavishnu and AmbaaL came into being for Maya Leela. Both have similar jobs. In form too both are of the dark blue colour of the clouds. Since they are similar in form, colour and characteristics, they are said to be brother and sister. Similarly Parama Siva and Saraswathi came into being as responsible to release us from Maya and attain to Gnaana. So they are brother and sister, both fair in complexion.
70. After this Paramaatma thought, ‘This total separation as one pair for worldly life in Maya and one pair for release unto Gnaana; will not be sufficient by itself. Instead of being all capable, their roles and power will be rather restricted. Instead, let them be all capable with one pair mainly for life in Maya and another with the major task of Gnaana. Then he did some more mixing. Thus the decision was that Vishnu, AmbaaL and Siva were to have complete powers, capable of granting all sorts of boons to the Jeevas. Saraswathi with powers of sanctioning Gnaana is to be the Goddess of all Saastraas, Arts and Crafts. Then instead of just brother sister relationship they were to be mixed with other inter relations that will create a sense of family feelings amongst Devatas, especially to enable the devotees to have balance and egalitarianism in their approach towards the Gods.’
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 36 (Vol # 5) Dated 10 Aug 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 36 (Vol # 5) Dated 10 Aug 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 page No 215 of Vol 5 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)
54. PiLLaiyar and Murugan are also like that only. Instead of being just ‘Vignaharta (obviating obstacles) and Devasenapati’ (the commander of the divine forces), they are also capable of granting the totality of all that is divine! Anjaneya Murthy similarly, while still being the ‘Rama Daasa’ (something like a slave to Sri Rama), is considered and revered for being Omnipotent! Brhma is not included as one like that. Having carefully perused and analysed all the Saastraas, Appayya Deekshidar has opined ‘Vishnu, Siva and AmbaaL’ as ‘Easwarakoti’ as the ‘PoorNa Brhma Sakthi’, meaning the totality of the power of God; Brhma only is not considered as equivalent to that! Only just a few minutes back we saw that when anybody asked for the boon of immortality, Brhma himself said that he is not capable of giving such a boon, didn’t we?
55. Why is Brhma Excluded from that List? When we talk about one subject, we stumble on another thing. Now we have another reason why there is no temple for Brhma! To worship someone by building a temple in his or her name, that person should be Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent! Or that he is entitled to such powers, should be known to us and suitably such powers should be what we need, such as wealth (Lakshmi), knowledge and education (Saraswathi), removal of obstacles (Vigneswara), health (Danvantry and Surya Bhagawan), removal of negative influences (Nava Grahas), nullifying the powers of ghosts and infectious diseases (Aiyanaar and Maariyamman) and such. That is, their obtained powers should just fit in with our felt needs! In the areas where Brhma is powerful, there is nothing that can ‘foot any of our bills’ so to say! Or for raising a temple on his name he should be a great devotee or Aachaarya of exceptional acumen and reach! In the case of Brhma, there does not seem to be any of these qualitative requirements, (that is Q.Rs) being met with! That is why, while there are temples for even such minor powers such as Aazhwaars, Naayanmaars, Maariamman, IruLan, Veerappan and such; for one despite being part of the Holy Trinity, who is eternally chanting the four Vedas with his four faces; there is no temple! It is very bad indeed!
56. Because he has not known or shown having known, himself to be the Paramaatma, there is no temple for him and he is not being worshipped. Not only that, just a Veeran and IruLan and such minor punishing powers (Kshudra Devatas), without any claims for Paramata-hood, just because they can correct a wrong, they are being adored and eulogised, while Brhma of the stature of being one of the Trimurthy-s, has neither a temple nor are there any worshipping of him; this state of affairs raises another question. (Exceptions of there being some rare temples, only prove the rule) “Even when we are devoted to a mother or father or husband; even when they may have no gnaana or super-human powers of granting the devotee’s wishes; to the one who is devoted like this, the God who is indwelling in them will grant all our wishes and more, as it is said and as you yourself have confirmed earlier, isn’t it? You have said that our devotion and surrender is important which clinches the Anugraha, and not the power quotient of the target of our devotion! So then, why is that, Brhma cannot do what can be achieved by any of these minor Ktchudra Devatas like IruLan or Veerappan or even normal human beings like a mother, father or husband to a child or wife? Why this denial of name and fame and recognition to only Brhma? What heinous crime has he committed?”
57. He has done no heinous crime. He has been given a pride of place only. Though he is not all powerful, he has the next highest status only as seen in PuraNa Itihaasaas. Surya, Chandra, the others of the Nava Grahas and the King of the Devas, the Devendra have all fallen in his feet in respect and awe, many a times, seeking his help in distress! Though not considered as an Easwara Koti, he moves in such circles in equality and proximity as one of their colleagues. So, Brhma can take the Devatas to the presence of AmbaaL, Siva and Vishnu, who are normally not easily accessible to other Devatas and recommend their case.
58. That is why all the Devatas often approach Brhma for their needs. His father is one of the Easwara Koti. When Vishnu himself was roaming about on earth as Sri Rama, after Ravana had been sorted out, Sita was about to enter the fire, it was Brhma who came as the Asareeri (that is sans the body) and announced for all to hear, “Rama! You are not a mortal human being. Do you not remember that you are the very NaaraayaNa and Sita is none else but Mahalakshmi Herself! Even today when a matter has been settled beyond further discussion, do we not say, ‘Brhma Astram has been launched’! That is the proof of his powers!
59. Still, since he is in a peculiar position, there are rarely any temples for him. Yes he bluffed once that he had reached the top of the infinite effulgence of Siva in the Thiru ANNaamalai episode, after a clash with his own father! More than all that, it is our own peculiar attitudinal failure I suppose, that we are not having any temples and are not worshipping him ritually! The indwelling Antaryaami in every form of life being the same Omnipresent reality in all, there is just no doubt that, from within Brhma too, Divine Grace will flow to do the needful. If we set aside devotion to all other Gods and totally keep him as the target of our devotion, I am sure that there will be positive result. It is our nature that is preventing it. We are all copy cats and tradition bound. We look at our parents being devoted to Rama or Krishna as Vaishnavites or Siva as Saivites, or devotees of Sakti, Subrahmanya, Anjaneya or Ayyappa; we also become a devotee of those Gods or Goddesses. So for some reason our minds are not allowing us to give the pride of place to Brhma. Even our own AachaaryaaL when he started the ‘Shan Madam’, the six religions of Saaktam, Saivam, VaiNavam, GaaNaapatyam, Koumaaram and Souram; he did not start a ‘Brhma Madam’! (Yes in recent times, a sect known as ‘Brhma Kumaaris’ have come into being.) So I suppose tradition seems to be the only culprit.
60. Even if we start in a small way, being devoted to any one of these Gods with very limited powers, later we get so close and that God becomes our Ishta Devata (the preferred one) and we become totally convinced that it will do all sorts of Anugraha and we are able to reach a stage of ‘Ananya Bhakti’ that we do not bother about any other God! But in the case of Brhma, at the very start, his power of ‘creation’ of giving us a life time to live, is not only not much popular, but also rather detested, we do not even think of being devoted to him! Though it is true that Paramaatma will grant us Anugraha through whatever the target of our devotion, when there are so many gods available more likeable, knowing that we do not have a natural liking for him, to expect anything from him will be rather unnatural. So, none of us become a devotee of Brhma.
61. Once you have a liking for someone for whatever reason then that liking can become love and that love can expand in to mature devotion. But to start with, if there is no inherent liking then, we can do nothing about it, isn’t it? There is one more thing about human mind. If someone is known to be a great saint or Mahaan, or nowadays what people keep going gaga over what they call ‘Thalaiva’, (alluding to the head of a political party), when you get to know somebody like that, slowly a little respect and admiration can develop in to a deep set liking and that can lead to total ‘SaraNaagati’, thinking of him to be the very embodiment of Paramaatma! (In the political arena, the following that they command is at times mind boggling! People are ready to even immolate themselves for the sake of their Thalaiva’s imagined or alluded smirch!) With a nebulous idea of a God, said to be Brhma, when he is not seen to be the Muzhu Mudar KadavuL or the Primordial God; it is well neigh impossible to imbibe the intimacy that could develop with one’s mother or father or even a Thalaiva! This is as per the dictate of our mind and intellect or buddhi. Without any brain work, blindly if we get attached to a Thalaiva or Guru, then it is an easy transformation to one of total surrender! Though we know that any God can raise us to the pinnacle of spiritual excellence; to start with, it does not happen to easily appeal to our minds, as far as Brhma is concerned. Now let us see as to what would be our attitude if and when Brhma also has a Sannidy of his own in a temple, let us say!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.