DEIVATHIN KURAL # 152 (Vol # 5) Dated 01 Apr 2012

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 152 (Vol # 5) Dated 01 Apr 2012

(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 945 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)


996. The incident that happened in Kaasi about Vishwanatha himself coming in front of our AachaaryaaL in the form of an untouchable Paraia, testing his level of comprehension and understanding as to who and what is untouchable; then AachaaryaaL returning to Kaladi at the time of his mother’s last days of her existence in this world, consigning her body to flame after her death and sending her off to PuNya Loka and such things are not given in Aananda Gireeyam. But being matters generally believed to be so, should be included as acceptable as likely and possible events in our AachaaryaaL’s life. The fact that our AachaaryaaL established the ‘Shanmadam’ (the six religions) is narrated in detail in Aananda Gireeyam only. But, generally it is believed that ‘Shanmadam’ stands for the six religions of being devoted to Siva (Saivam), AmbaaL (Saaktam), Vishnu (VaiNavam), PiLLaiyar (GaaNaapatyam), SubrahmaNya (Koumaaram) and Surya (Souram). In Aananda Gireeyam instead of Koumaaram, Kaapaalikam gets mentioned. In this book there is description of each of the Avedic Religions, 72 in numbers which our AachaaryaaL countered, disproved and vanquished in various PrakaraNa aka Chapter; the story about the countering of Kaapaalikam is in the 23rd PrakaraNa. Then with five of his disciples he established and spread Saivam, Saaktam, VaiNavam, GaaNaapatyam and Souram. After that, Vadukanathar came to him and asked for permission to spread his religion also, which is but an offshoot of Saivam. He permitted that as a sop for people to know about it and for the sake of those who have been thrown out of Vedic Religion as renegades. Then Vadukanathar came back to Kanchipuram giving up his own religion and was serving the five disciples of our AachaaryaaL, as the story goes.

997. However, as far as the general belief goes, the six religions he firmly established as Shanmadam are including Koumaaram and not Kaapaalikam. Moreover, in ‘Parasara Madhaveeyam’ which is accepted as a binding rule book of Dharma, devotion to SubrahmaNya (also called Kumara or Skanda,) the second son of Siva – Parvathy, known as Koumaaram is very much one of the six religions, calling it the Skaandam – “saivam, vaiNavam, saaktam, souram vainaayakam tata I skaandam cha bhakti margasya darsanaani shade va hi II” Skaandam here is the same as Koumaaram as the sixth religion of the Shanmadam. Our AachaaryaaL, who did everything as per the Saastraas, could not have left out Koumaaram anyhow!

998. In Aananda Gireeyam, in one of the early PrakaraNams (the 11th) there is narration of how, from the Ananta Sayana Kshetra our AachaaryaaL went to the place where Kumara Swami is said to have been born known as SubrahmaNya. This place is located near Udupi where the river is known as Kumara Dhara. There the Swami is said to be in the form of a Snake. In Kerala, Andhra and Karnataka, SubrahmaNya Swami is in that form only. Further one of the famous Stotras of our AachaaryaaL soaked in devotion and steeped in literary finery, good for repeated chanting, is known as SubrahmaNya Bhujangam sung on the Murugan deity in Thiruchendur in the eastern sea shore in Tamil Nadu. When one of his cruel opponents played a trick on him by directing Abhicharam (evil powers) on him, he quietly accepted the same and suffered bodily illness for some time. He came to Thiruchendur and prayed to Murugan Swami there. A speciality of that temple is, ‘Panneer Elai Vibhuti’, known as ‘Patrabhuti’. AachaaryaaL was cured of all illness and negative influences by one glance at that Vibhuti, as he says in the SubrahmaNya Bhujangam, “apasmaara – kushta – kshayaarcha – prameha – jvronmaada –gulmaadi – rogaa mahaanta: I pishaasaachcha sarve bhavat patra bhutim vilokya kshaNaat taarakaare dravante II”. In Sanskrit if you think of a sloka, the first that comes to one’s mind is SubrahmaNya Bhujangam only. When you take these things in to consideration, undoubtedly the Shanmadam has to be inclusive of Kaumaaram and he might have just adjusted with Kaapaalikam ever so slightly and not treated it at par with the other six disciplines!

999. Having thus deliberated, taking all that is said generally in the past and subsequently, relating the common points with what is widely spread and deeply believed; removing the unwanted glitches and spikes as in a graph, we can make a collective summation of our AachaaryaaL’s life history, by taking both what is given in Aananda Gireeyam and Vyasachaleeyam.

1000. (Foot notes in pages 948 and 949 in the Tamil Deivathin Kural Volume 5, are given in the next two paragraphs.) Before they were brought to print, what was originally a palm-leaf manuscript was re-written in palm-leaf again when the earlier one went bad, if noted in time and somebody took the pains to do so. One copy of Aananda Gireeyam was thus obtained as written by hand (on paper?), seems to be the oldest copy dated Saali Vaahana Sagam 1737 (which is the same as 1815 A.D.) as written in that copy. Two other copies mostly similar to the above are available in Kanchi Sri Matam library and Manuscript Library, Chennai. Relating all these with four copies of Ananda Gireeyam as made available from Oriental Research Institute, Mysore; one Dr. N.Veezhinathan has edited and published a copy with extensive foot notes and comments, under the aegis of the Centre for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Madras University in the year 1971.

1001. ‘Vyasachaleeya Sankara Vijayam’ was published under the aegis of Chennai Manuscript Library in the year 1954 as researched and compiled by one Dr. D.Chandra Sekharan. In tha last Sarga in this book some five slokas were missed out in print and have been included in the Sushama aka Vyaakhyaana for Jagat Guru Ratnamala in the preamble, as brought out by the Matam. Similarly, the Sushama for Jagat Guru Ratnamala also contains 27 slokas, about our AachaaryaaL meeting Kaasi Viswanatha as an untouchable, said to have been missed out while printing. Once these inclusions are added, the whole form of Vyasachaleeyam will be seen to be complete.

1002. Having decided thus the reliable history of our AachaaryaaL, we should include all anecdotes and stories in common parlance, as far as they are not drastically variant to the general demeanour of the personality of our AachaaryaaL so identified. It is not enough to analyse these things only with Buddhi that is, one’s mind and intelligence. We have to have devotion and humility. If one is there, the other will follow automatically. Instead of feeling, “I say, or I have done research and so what I say is the authority”, if our aim is to know the truth; we will know the truth to the extent of our sincerity and understanding. With love and devotion, we should read them all, with the clear aim of getting our AachaaryaaL’s Anugraha. That should be our attitude!

Guru Darshanam – Sannyaasa – Sutra Bhashyam.

1003. Searching for his Guru, our AachaaryaaL as a small child of five years of age went very far and reached the banks of River Narmada. There Govinda Bhagawat Paada was in Samadhi. There was a flood in the river as though it will take away all human habitations with it. All the people from around there were collected nearby in the hope that this Mahatma will save them. But he was sitting there lost to the whole world. Looking at the effulgent child, the crowd was automatically attracted with trust and faith. They complained to the child about the flood. The child indicated to the flood to flow into his Kamandalam. At once the flow of the river subsided. All the assemblage was thrilled to see this miracle. Govinda Bhagawat Paada came out of his reverie and absorption. Looking at the child, he felt happy that the very person for whom he had been waiting for long has finally arrived. He hugged the child. AachaaryaaL fell on his feet. As per the script of Leela, they both enacted their parts. He asked, “Who and wherefrom are you, my dear Baby?”

1004. To say without saying, to reveal his self to be an Avatara; to inform the questioner the basic root of that Avatara; to further inform him and others of the basic root of all existence, the child AachaaryaaL answered in ten slokas known as ‘Dasa Slokee’! At the end of each four lined stanzas, there was this, “tat eko avasishta: siva kevalo aham”. After you discard everything as unwanted untruth, what is left in the balance is ‘kevalam’. That one stands by itself without another to compare, contrast or mix with! That one is ‘tat eka:’ and that is ‘Siva’ and that is me –‘aham’. When a Guru gives ‘Deeksha’ to any disciple, he does not tell him or give him something foreign or alien to his originality. He removes the covering of ignorance and your reality is dis-covered! Like a bird that hatches its eggs, you enable the yet-to-arrive to break through the shell of past Samskaara and break out. So, he thought, “This child is sans any past Samskaara. Through giving Upadesa to this child, the world will come to know of the value of Guru-Mukha Upadesa. It is for this reason that I have been positioned here for this child to get Guru Deeksha.” Thinking on those lines, he gave the child AachaaryaaL, Sannyaasa Aashrama and gave Upadesa!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva.