DEIVATHIN KURAL # 153 (Vol # 5) Dated 03 Apr 2012

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 153 (Vol # 5) Dated 03 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 last para on page No 951 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)


1005. Sanyaasi at the end is to know that his reality is the same as that of Brhmam. (Come to think of it, all of us have to know that one day or the other, if not in this life in the next, as we keep coming back till that Gnaana occurs to us!) For that his Guru gives him Upadesa of one of the ‘Maha Vaakya’ as the Maha Mantra Upadesa. He is required to keep on dwelling in that Upadesa till he is completely soaked in the reality of that statement of Maha Vaakya. Each Shaka (branch) of Veda has one Maha Vaakya, as given in the Upanishad. In the Adwaita Sampradaaya there was one great Mahatma by the name of Sarvagnyatmar, who has analysed whatever is said in the Brhma Sutra and written a book of poems known as ‘Samkshepa Saareerakam’. In it he says that each man, if he gets that Maha Vaakya of that Veda to which he belongs from a Sanyasi Guru and sincerely keeps chanting and mulling over it; that is enough to take him to total liberty / Mukti (Samkshepa Saareerakam III.295). This own branch of the Veda Maha Vaakya is mentioned as ‘nija – veda – shaaka – maha – vachanam’. There was another great gentleman by the name of Madusudana Saraswathy who has written an elaborate commentary on this ‘Samkshepa Saareerakam’ and has confirmed that instead of there being only four Maha Vaakya-s for the four Vedas, each branch has one such line or sentence. Our AachaaryaaL too in Viveka ChoodaamaNi, while talking about the oneness of Jeevaatma and Paramaatma, says that there are hundred such Maha Vaakyaas, “maha vaakya satena gadyate brhmaatmano: aikya-makanda-bhaava:”, thereby meaning that there are hundreds of such statements not just one hundred! Amongst them the important ones are said to be four, one each for each Veda.

1006. To our AachaaryaaL, Govinda Bhagawat Paada gave all the four Maha Vaakyaas, as given in Madhaveeya Sankara Vijayam (V.103). In our Matam in Kanchipuram too, it has been the tradition to give all the four Maha Vaakyaas at the time of giving Sannyaasa Deeksha to the new incumbent, who is to be the future Mataadipathy. Since the PraNava Mantra also has the idea of ‘So-Aham’ (That I am) built into it, that is also given as Upadesa with the four Maha Vaakyaas, as is the custom and tradition, here in Kanchi Kamakoti Sankara Matam.

1007. Govinda Bhagawat PaadaaL told our AachaaryaaL that he had come to give him Upadesa as per the orders of Vyasa Bhagawan. He also said that AachaaryaaL was to explain clearly the purport of the terse aphorisms of Brhma Sutra by way of a Bhashyam thereby he was to enlighten the common man the value of clean Vedic methods and the principle of pure Adwaitam. Lord Parameswara himself had earlier decided to do so (that he will explain and illuminate the Brhma Sutra by way of a Bhashyam). Now it had to come through as an order from the Guru Lineage. As ordered he wrote the Bhashyam for Brhma Sutra then and there, bringing out all the hidden principles and meanings, submitting his writing in his Guru’s feet and for some time stayed there serving his Guru. It was a divine Leela that he was to have eight years of life if he stayed at home and if he took Sannyaasa, that period was to be doubled it seems. Since our AachaaryaaL had the pending task of writing all those Bhashyams for Bhagawat Gita and the important Upanishads, causing the world to stand firm on Sanaatana Dharma; his Guru Govinda Bhagawat PaadaaL gave him permission to proceed to Kaasi Kshetra.

1008. Stay in Kaasi and Spreading of the Vedic Religion. For this country Kaasi has been the most important centre for Religion, Arts and Culture. In addition to that, from ancient times it has been something like an intellectual capital of this sub-continent. All the intelligentsia of any and every religion kept collecting there. So if you can put across your point of view there, if need be by arguing and debating; then your point of view got universal recognition and approval as though. So, his Guru sent AachaaryaaL to Kaasi, so that he could re-establish the supremacy and primordial position of the Veda Marga with Adwaitam at its peak! So our AachaaryaaL went to Kaasi and started his Upadesa from the Mukti Mandapa in the MaNikarNika Ghaat.

1009. Kaasi is one of the seven Mukti Kshetras that is, a place where if anyone dies, he goes directly to Moksha as believed. Out of the seven Mukti Kshetras, Ayodhya, Madura, Hardwar, Avanti and Dwaraka are all in the North India. Kanchipuram is only one out of them in the South. VaishNava Aachaarya Purusha Vedanta Desikar has said that, “mukti taru nagarezhil mukkiyamaam kachchi”. Like Kaasi, in Kanchi also there is Mukti Mandapam. Having started his Upadesas in the Mukti Mandapam in Kaasi, when he came finally to Kanchi, he stayed in the Mukti Mandapam only on the banks of the river here known as ‘Sarva Teertakkarai’. So, even today when the Vyasa Pooja is conducted, the drawing / painting of his likeness from the Kamakshi Temple, is brought over to the Mukti Mandapam.

1010. Till date when anybody is to ask if some event is very important, there is a custom to ask, “What is so important about it, is it Sutra Bhashyam?” You can imagine how it must have been when this brilliantly shining boy, actually a child of just above five; when he must have expounded his Bhashyam for Brhma Sutra, with all the variegated intelligentsia assembled on the banks of the Ganges in the MaNikarNika Ghaat! There were learned laureates of Angam, Vangam (Bengal), Kalingam (Orissa) and 53 other nations of the Indian Sub-Continent and beyond, assembled there, listening to our AachaaryaaL’s exposition of the intricate nuances of what was the message of Brhma Sutra explained and elaborated! The listeners were conquered, thrilled, baffled, and floored that such a young child could talk with so much sense of abnormal clarity, intensity, understanding, comprehension, reason, intuition and power. They thrilled to his words and drank deep into the nectar of his Bhashyam. Even people of differing points of views, with an open heart agreed and willingly became his disciples. What they learnt from him, they took to their own towns, cities and Desa to spread his words.

1011. So, there was a sudden turn and rejuvenation of Sanaatana Dharmam that took place. The work and purpose of the Avatara was launched in real earnest from there onwards. Recently did not nations fall like nine pins before Hitler? Like that, not under the force of arms but, with love in their hearts all the 56 different nations of the Bharatha Kandam (Indian Sub-continent) fell in his feet. There is nothing great about Hitler’s sudden ascendance. Only the evil and bad things of life spread like a virus disease. But our AachaaryaaL’s power of speech, the power of the inner being, his brilliance, and Anugraha Shakti combined to bring about a miraculous effect on people’s mind and understanding!

1012. He kept up a fine tempo of going on writing relentlessly. He wrote his Bhashyams for ten Upanishads and the Bhagawat Gita. There are 108 Upanishads. Our AachaaryaaL has written his Bhashyams for ten of them namely, Easavasya, Kena, Kata, Prasna, MuNdaka, MaaNdookya, Taitreeya, Aitareya, Chandokya and Bruhad AaraNyaka; collectively known as ‘Dasopanishads’. These ten Upanishads are considered as important and so our AachaaryaaL wrote the Bhashyams for them or because he wrote the Bhashyams, they have gained in importance; you can have it any which way! The Bhashyam for these ten Upanishads along with the Bhashyams for Brhma Sutram and Bhagawat Gita are collectively known as, ‘Prasthaana Traya or Thrayee’. His writing is characterised by a natural fluency and clarity of comprehension, thoughts and expression. Very difficult and subtle points were made clear with an effortless ease. In the Upanishads there are many areas seemingly contradictory to each other. In Bhagawat Gita some Marga will seem to be preferred at times. But he will go on analysing such seemingly mutual contradictions and come to a primordial conclusion of Adwaitam of oneness. The beauty of his facile logic is that, nobody who considers himself to be brainy or intelligent can avoid being deeply favourably impressed!

1013. There are also people who comment, ‘Let principled stands of Siddhaantam be set aside. By his very handling of the subjects, one becomes aware as to how that language of Sanskrit has the inbuilt resilience to handle extremely complicated subjects!’ Sanskrit has a place in India as the ‘Lingua Franca’ that is, as the link language between many languages and dialects. Especially all the religious texts are in that language only. So our AachaaryaaL used that language only for his writings. The things he wrote from there, such as the Bhashyams and other PrakaraNams were all on Gnaana Marga only. The Bhashyas contain analysis of different Siddhaantams, points and counter points in detail without avoidable repetitions and superfluity. Before coming to his point of view, he would have given all he can about the opposing point of view (poorva paksha) first and then firmly establish his point of view by eliciting out all the errors and mistakes in the ‘poorva paksha’! Then he will also raise all possible questions that can be asked about the point of view that he is professing and offer answers for them all. That is how he disputed and countered Sankhya, Meemaamsa, Buddha and Saarvaaka and such other philosophies. As we have seen earlier none of the opposing viewpoints were just discarded and set aside as good for nothing. Whatever was acceptable in them all were duly recognised and shown as to how they were all part and parcel of Adwaitam!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva