DEIVATHIN KURAL # 86 (Vol # 5) Dated 22 Nov 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 86 (Vol # 5) Dated 22 Nov 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 517 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)
347. There is a virulent forest fire in the world of people’s mind due to Agnaana and Swami DakshiNa Murthy is sitting under the ‘VataVruksha Moole’ in static stoicism! Nobody can reach him or talk to him and or persuade him to come down to the earth as an Avatara. In the absence of the spring of Gnaana Teertha the people being roasted alive cannot be saved! Now what is to be done? Though he cannot be touched from outside, the inner spring of kindness in him is everlasting! That will cause him to come down as an Avatara. It is that kindness which cannot be separated from Siva that is known as Sivaa or Shakti or AmbaaL. When people are embroiled in the affairs of the world up to a certain extent, he will be sitting unconcerned. Once the threshold is crossed, he will not keep quiet. That is what happened now. (That is the thought process of analysing the situation, going on in the inner being of DakshiNa Murthy Swami, that we have been discussing for the past so many e-mails, isn’t it?)
348. In the forest fire of Agnaana, as people were being roasted alive in their involvement in Samsaara, Sambhu thought of saving them, ‘traatum lokaan’. Instantly he put a full stop to his silence, ‘muktvaa maunam’. The stagnant pool of love and kindness somewhere high up in the hills started on its downward voyage. Like the small stream gathers momentum and volume as it trickles down the slopes through crevasses, rivulets, through valleys, dales, forest, villages and townships; becoming a torrential gush, this Gnaana Ganga ran all over the country –‘muktva maunam vata vitapino moolato nishpadanti’. The actionless spring of bliss ‘Sam – Bhu’, became dynamically active ‘Sam – Kara’. The absolute silence became highly talkative, giving lectures, participating in debates, imparting Upadesa and writing copiously! He who was static under the banyan tree like a statue, walked bare foot covering all the corners of India in three rounds!
349. In short, from immobile Sambhu, he became the very mobile Sankara – ‘sambhor murthy: charathi bhuvane sankara aachaarya roopaa’! From being the Sambhu’s statue in the sanctum sanctorum as DakshiNa Murthy roopa, it became the Utsava Murthy of the Avatara Sankara AachaaryaaL. Word to word translation: ‘sambhor murthy:’ – the static statue of Sambhu became; ‘sankara aachaarya roopaa’ – taking the form of Sankara AachaaryaaL; ‘bhuvane’ – in this world; ‘charathi’ – is moving about! For the whole world India is like the space in the heart. So by going around this country thrice, he is said to have gone around the whole world. The word used here for going around is ‘charathi’, which is in the present tense.
350. Instead of saying that he went around the country sometime in the past, he is said to be going around now. This sloka as I said earlier occurs in ‘Madhaveeya Sankara Vijayam’ which is a biographical study of our AachaaryaaL in which he is described with fervour and devotion often and so is in the present tense. By its poetical beauty and very apt word selection, the poem is popular enough to be used as a prayer by many individuals and organizations. While chanting it you get a feeling as though our AachaaryaaL is amongst our midst even now and thus gives some pleasant satisfaction. Rama, Krishna and our AachaaryaaL and such Avatara Purushas, having moved around in human form, even after dropping their mortal coil, do not cease to exist. Their power to grant our prayers – called the ‘Anugraha Shakti’ does not cease. What is their body? It is only a form of conception unlike the ‘sthula sareera’ of ours, which is born and bred of material food! That Anugraha Shakti is eternal as God is eternal, otherwise known in Sanskrit as, ‘Amaram’ that is immortal. So they will continue their favourite job of protecting the people and granting their genuine wishes. That is how Rama, Krishna and our AachaaryaaL even after the passage of thousands of years are continuing their ‘Bhakta Anugraha’ of granting the devotees wishes. When the devotional fervour increases, they also give ‘Darshan’ in the roopa as cherished by the devotees! Thus till date it happens that our AachaaryaaL is roaming about amongst us all in a subtle form – “charati bhuvane sankaraachaarya roopa”.
351. I am reiterating what I have said so far, to underline and emphasize what I said earlier about how ‘Sambhu’ became ‘Sankara’ as Avatara amongst us all. ‘Sam’ is eternal bliss, comfort and pleasure – the Adwaita Stiti of Aatma Aanandam. ‘Bhu’ is the place of origin. Parameswara when he is the spring of eternal happiness is the ‘Sambhu’. Then as the Adwaita Aananda Swaroopa he will be the actionless DakshiNa Murthy sitting silently stoic. That spring of ‘Sam’ is in a very high place inaccessible to most of us human beings. Some amongst us also persevere to reach there, partake the ‘Teertam’, experience the eternal bliss of Gnaana, which rubs off on some of us also by reflection or proximity. But most of us are being roasted alive by the forest fire of Agnaana, some knowing that we are being roasted alive and some not even knowing it! Most of us are not even aware that there is an eternal fountain of Aananda of Gnaana – the spring called ‘Sambhu’ that could quench the forest fire of Agnaana. Some of us who are aware of its presence do not know as to how to reach there or are not powerful enough to do that! Feeling vexed of the state of affairs Parameswara decided that, “We should not leave the state of affairs as it is but, descend amongst human beings as an Avatara. Let this static spring start flowing as a river never standing at one place. Let it quench the fire of ignorance in the mortal life and enable all the people an access to the bliss of ‘Sam’. Thus the one who does that is the ‘sam + karar = Sankara’. For this Kali Yuga, it is not enough to be the ‘Sam’ or the source of it, as the carrier of Sam ‘as’ the river and flow of ‘Sam’, let me become Sankara running all over the world and in to all the people’s lives and minds.” Thus the static, stoic and silent Sambhu became the ever mobile, active and vocal Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL our AachaaryaaL!
352. The word ‘Sambhu’ has been defined as the one that conceives and produces ‘Sam’ – ‘sam bhaavayati, utpaadayati iti sambhu’! That stops at production only and is not the promoter, advertiser and distributor. Many of the mills and factories only produce and stop at that. There has to be some agents who collect and distribute the material. If the agents do not do their job, there will be stagnation at the factories, resulting in the finished goods in not being useful to anybody! So it is not enough to be only the producer of ‘Sam’ but also become the distributor, making it available to all. Such a producer cum distributor of ‘Sam’ is Sankara!
353. If the production point of ‘Sam’ is ‘Sambhu’, we have to go and reach that starting point. When he is as, ‘sam karoti iti sankara:’, extending from its point of origin, it reaches all of us and grants us the attainment of ‘sukam and soukyam’. We have to go on a trek for the river’s moola sthaanam to bring the Teertam from there. But the river comes to wherever we are, bringing the water to us. Moreover nowadays it comes to us in each of our houses as the tap water, kind courtesy the municipal corporations! Thus the DakshiNa Murthy, who was the unreachable fruit in the top most twig of the tree as ‘ettaak kani’, arrives within easy reach, being thrust into our hands even if we ignore and side step. With such extreme compassion he comes to us as Sankara Avatara, our AachaaryaaL!
354. Proof of Sankara Being an Avatara of Easwara: as Gleaned From Itihaasa and PuraNas. If we say that Parameswara as Sambhu took an Avatara as Sankara, as given in the biographical books titled ‘Sankara Vijayam’, it can give rise to one question. ‘Those who have written his biography ‘Sankara Vijayam’ are likely to be his devotees, having him as their Guru and fully subscribing to his views and principled stands only mostly. It is but natural for them to overly praise him and exaggerate his greatness sky high as Maha Purusha and an Avatara of the very God! On the grounds of pride when you say something it does not have to be very true. So, is there any other independent evidence that Sankara AachaaryaaL is an Avatara of the very Easwara? Then only we will agree to your this statement.’
355. There are many evidences to prove this fact. Above all this, there is the evidence by Sruti that is the Vedas itself. Even in our normal day to day talk, if anything is claimed to be an authority that cannot be questioned, we tend to ask, “Adu enna Veda vaakko?” What we mean is that we are asking if such a statement is as inviolable as the Vedas! Such a ‘Veda Vaakku’ is available. But it is slightly indirect. Even then when rightly interpreted, it is quite interesting! Having explained the meaning of the two words Sambhu and Sankara, I had told you as to how, the one who is the Sambhu originally came down to us as Sankara, isn’t it? Using the same two names in the same order, Veda ends that sentence with the Panchatchara Mantra of ‘Namah Sivaya’, in Yajur Veda, in evidence. Before this, in the Rik Veda, considered as the first among the Vedas also, there is a proof. But before talking about the Rik Veda, oldest of all scriptures, also called the ‘Aadi Grantham’, I have to go back to an episode of 17th /18th Centuries A.D.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.