DEIVATHIN KURAL # 67 (Vol # 5) Dated 15 Oct 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 67 (Vol # 5) Dated 15 Oct 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 402 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)
178. We were going to look at ‘Avatara Rahasya’, that is the subtle truth behind God’s coming amidst us in human form. Before that, as a preamble let us try and answer one big question. Say, God looks at the world and notes that the world is sliding in a downward slope of deteriorating moral standards. He decides that the trend should be reversed. For that why should he have to come down amidst us? Is not his decision to reverse the trend good enough to cause a change? Let ‘Bhagawat Sankalpa’ take effect by itself. What is the need for him to be born amongst us? For him, who is normally not affected by any rules of Karma, to come down as an Avatara, make all sorts of efforts like us, even agitate for a cause, participate in fights and possibly get physically hurt, go through the whole range of feelings such as anger, hurt, greed, jealousy and loss; is all this necessary? Staying in his exalted stage of Vaikudam or Kailasam or whatever heavenly abode of his he should be getting things done to his liking just by wishing so, isn’t it? Why should he have to take birth in this world as an Avatara?
179. Yes it is true that simply by his ‘sankalpa maatra’, there is nothing that cannot be done by God. But if he were to go about simply wishing this and that, at some point, he may have to wish all this to be over by making one decision, ‘Let all this be finished and done with!’ Then he can be just happy all by himself! Come to think of it, the very creation of so much variety, colours, seasons, climates, static plants and mobile animals; crawlers, side winders, flyers, walkers and runners; valleys, dales, plains, hillocks and mountains; animate and inanimate forms of existence; snow, rains, floods, rivers, lakes and oceans; will all simply disappear! But possibly evidently he is enjoying himself too, isn’t it? Even before creation, he was enjoying himself only as Sat – Chit – Aanandam only, isn’t it? Being blissfully aware, wasn’t he? Still, for some reason beyond our comprehension, with Maya as a tool, he has created so many of us all with the whole array of odds and sorts, hasn’t he? Though all this is reabsorbed to absolute quietness at the end of each Kalpa in the Pralaya, like a cycle it is all happening again and again, isn’t it? Again and again is he not making us go through the wringer, going round and round in the giant cart wheel of birth and death?
180. However much we think on these lines, we can never understand his purpose. Being ‘ekam eva advitiyam’ that is, ‘one without a second’, he goes on, despite our being perplexed as to what is the cause of such creation! What can we do about it? Though some talk high philosophy that, “There is nothing as creation, it is all appearances of Maya, ‘like a black cat in a dark room, which is not there’”, for the question, “Why is there something as Creation”, the answer is always a vague, “It is all God’s recreation!” We do not know God’s nature and we cannot understand. So, though we may wonder as to why should he do all this disturbing his own peace, in his very peaceful state he goes on enacting all the drama on the world stage! After all is said and done, he initiates, inaugurates, runs, makes-up, wears the guises, directs, photographs, dances, sings, and continues to carry on doing all that, doesn’t he? In his agenda, except during the period known as ‘Pralaya’ like taking a break, there is never an end, finis, closing of curtains! Evidently all the chaos of the world is only in our understanding and minds and not in his!
181. “That is all right, Swami! Instead of answering my question as to why should God feel compelled to undertake the onerous job of an Avatara, you are talking about why and how God will never close shop! This is only side stepping my question, isn’t it?” I am coming to that only. Let us take that in the world stage, there is an occasion when Adharma is about to totally vanquish Dharma and God decides (that is takes a ‘Sankalpa’), ‘Let there be re-establishment of Dharma’! Can this ‘Dharma Samsthaapana’ be eternal? Can he make such a decision? He cannot and that is my point! The whole pleasure of existence is based on relativity, comparison and contrast, gradations and variety! If the whole world becomes all Dharma it will be quite unbecoming, drab and monotonous! God’s Leela, play has to have variety. Instead of just one side there has to be many sides. The tug-of-war to be interesting there has to be at least two sides pulling in opposite directions, isn’t it? If you cannot kick the ball you have to kick at least the opponent or the referee, between you me and the goal post! Then only the match will be lively. In life there has to be the opposites, winning and losing; surprises and disappointments; anger and satisfaction; crying and laughter; good and bad; piety and crassness and so on. If everybody becomes good and nice, there will be dharma but no drama! Even God can get bored in the bargain. The very world is known as ‘misra lokam’, that is a world of mix. Total evil and mischievousness is in the Asura Loka, all pleasure and happiness is the Deva Loka and Gandarva Loka, absolute quiet is the Tapo Loka or Satya Loka; while this world ‘misra loka’ of ours, is meant to be a blend of all sorts! Having given some amount of freedom to man to do many things, to be good and or bad, fun lies in his application of this freedom within restrictions. If everybody becomes well behaved, then it will become a Dharma Loka and God can close shop!
182. If everybody follows all the moral rules, no new karma will accumulate. All the old balances will get cancelled by and by. Then everybody will be relieved of this attachment to Maya Loka and all will attain to Moksha. Then this creation will have to come to an end. So instead of the created world bringing it to a close, the creator himself will call it quits, isn’t it? “What is this, we created the world for fun and these people are cancelling out all that! Why should I let them finish it, let me do so myself!” That will be his logic. God needs this Leela of Creation and variegated ‘misra loka’ of infinite possibilities. So what I said was that, if he had a choice between making the world all morally correct and righteous on the one hand and closing shop on the other; he will opt for closing shop! Talking about God’s Leela, I have also had some fun! (PeriyavaaL laughs saying this!)
183. “So OK. Instead of permanently making the world all nice and goody – goody, let him just wish (‘sankalpa maatra’) that there should be some temporarily longer period of ascendency of good over evil and not bother about taking an Avatara. That is my point”, says this ‘never – give – up’ easily disputant. If God were to do that, God will not have even the little bit of peacefulness that he has, as of now! Every moment like a ticking clock he will have to keep doing only, ‘sankalpa maatra’! You are saying, “Why should God take an Avatara”, out of concern for his being inconvenienced, isn’t it? God as ‘Niraakara, Nishkriya, Nirvikalpa, Nishkaamya and NirguNa’ anyhow remains totally unaffected. But is involved only as the SaguNa Brhmam that is something like a dynamic Chief Executive Officer! Since he is anyhow omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, we need not be overly concerned about his concerns! God is anyhow the ‘antar yaami’, the indwelling spirit in all of us, in every iota of existence. Then in Avatara-s too his involvement is either full or part as in ‘amsa avatara’! So, whether he does by ‘sankalpa maatra’ or by Avatara whole or part, we will leave it to him. So instead of ‘sankalpa maatra’, being fond of play himself, (like some of the cinema directors do, showing their faces at least in some places in some scenes and enacting a character role in some,) God makes his appearances at times!
184. Everything is God’s Sankalpa. But in action, he shows as though it has been done by some tool of his. At times we find that immorality is on the ascendant. Even that is God’s making only. But it does not mean however that God directly caused such a situation to come about. We hear about despots, corrupt people, renegades, thieves, murderers, and people spreading hate, wrong policies being advocated in the name of religion and so on. So also the opposite of this is done by people only. So it is evident that God does whatever he does through the people only. When Dharmam in waning and corruption and sinfulness is on the increase, he sends great souls as his tools to cause changes in the trend. When they are also not able to make a dent in the situation, he will arrive on the scene himself as an Avatara.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.