DEIVATHIN KURAL # 191 (Vol # 6) Dated 23 June 2013

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 191 (Vol # 6) Dated 23 June 2013

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavãL 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 going ahead from page No 1325 of Volume 6 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)

தீர்காயுளும் வேண்டுவதே

Longevity Also Required

1.             We acclaim that Hanuman is 'Chiranjeevi' that is, having eternal life and then in the same breath we also say that a sinner lives long!  Longevity without good health is a curse, as we experience more and more physical discomforts, inconveniences and problems.  The body becomes sluggish, our senses of sight, hearing, smell and responses get adversely affected.  Digestion gets bad with these problems having a cumulative effect!  In such a state, long life will be a burden; the result of our past sins.  These are the individual's own problems.  Then there are other problems such as, people of the next generation or the next dying before your eyes.  Those whom we love most seem to pass away earlier!  This is the period of Kali Yuga, remember?  So, every day if there is an increase in individual, collective, social, organizational, and governmental errors, blunders and faux-pas; which are unintended anyhow, then there are breaking of rules, felonies, arsons, atrocities, political killing, breaking of law and order and vendetta.   Then after all this, there is this ogre of corruption from the grass root level to top echelons of the government, governmental misrule, tyranny; terrorism and natural calamities!  Thus longevity seems to be a punishment for our past sins rather than an endowment, as we have to face such events galore in one's life!

2.            Then the question arises as to why did Sri Rama punish thus, this Ãnjaneya Swami, who was the foremost amongst his ardent followers, instead of taking him along to Parama Padam, telling him to, "Live as a Chiranjeevi (immortal) on earth"?  Why did Sri Rama, who had taken the whole lot of people of Ayodhya 'lock stock and barrel' to Parama Padam, deceive this No. 1 fan of his?  On a deeper analysis, we will know that it is not a punishment but an award only.  More than for him, for us the people of this world, it is Sri Rama's gift!  Our ÃchãryãL refers to him as 'Anjanã Bhãgyam' in 'Hanumat Pancha Ratnam' sloka 2, that it is his Mother's good-luck that he was born to her!  That happens to be all our Bhãgyam also.  The purity that knows no desire with such Bhakti, Gnãna, fearlessness, bravery and efficiency!  Just to think of him that, despite being so valiant and powerful, uncaring for any personal benefit, as a slave of Sri Rama he could devote   his entire life in the service of Sri Rama; is to soak in such blissful devotion ourselves.  That is our prise and award!

3.            By showing such an exemplary person as our model, Sri Rama has ensured that there will be at least some light flickering as a beacon in some corner of the world that, Sri Rama has arranged for Ãnjaneya to continue to stay here on earth.  Though he is invisible to our eyes, he has ensured that we will be aware of his presence by certain tell-tale marks and indicators.  That is why, though there are supposed to be six other Chiranjeevi-s namely Aswattãma, Bali, Vyãsa, Krupa, Parasurama and Vibhishana, it is only the presence of Hanuman that is fully felt by the masses!  Similarly there are other great devotees of other aspects of God such as, Garuda Ãzhvãr, Ãdi Sesha, Nandi and Chandikeswara; it is only Ãnjaneya Hanuman whom the world over, is referred as a great devotee and revered!  His continued stay with us is alright and wonderful for us; but how does he take this point of having to share with all of us, good-for-nothing characters?

4.            His real greatness lies in this only.  He does not take this worldly life too seriously real as we do.  In his views the whole world is a drama stage in which, all the characters are enacted by the same Sri Rama.  In that drama, he is adorning the role of the man who has the task of removing all Adharma, injustices, cruelties and work for upholding of justice, Dharma and good-sense.  Like an actor on stage, he knows that all parts of hero and villain are that of Sri Ramachandra Murthy only, he goes about his task without carrying any ill-will towards other actors on the stage!  That is how he fought against all injustices.  Here one is reminded of Shakespeare's 'All the world's a stage dialogue': -

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players. 
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then, a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big, manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange, eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything
(William Shakespeare is almost there, but a little short of totality of understanding that in life's stage, all the parts are played by the same one God as so many!)

5.            Like Badrãchala Ramadasa's 'antã rama mayam' song, when you know that all the parts are enacted by Rama and all that happens in the world is but enactment on stage, how can one be troubled by longevity, that too when you also never suffer by old age?  You know that you do not have to go somewhere else for a Parama Padam or heaven, but here and now is the omnipresence of the bliss of Moksha!  So it can never be a punishment for Hanuman!  'OK, he may not think of it as a punishment, but what is there in it for his taking it as an award?'  Yes, there is award!  Though everything is the same Rama, more than that Adwaitam, there is a higher level of Anandam to be experienced which Rama had kept in the 'Rama Nama' itself!  By repeatedly chanting, merging and meditating on the 'Rama Nama', Hanuman had become the essence of that taste of that name! Without his knowing, like a lamp that spreads light in all directions, the rays of devotion from him are kindling Rama Bhakti, devotion to God in minds of the people.  Though only a fraction of his intensity could come out, it is permeating in all directions of the globe, spreading spirituality in the midst of all that is negative and contrary to goodness; kindling and instigating Bhakti like bits of forest fires here and there!  If and when 'Rama Nama' from the world at large falls in his ears, happiness and thrill will effervesce from him like from a spring.  Like from a huge pot of water you pick up some in a smaller vessel and pour it back and what do you see?   It looks as if the water in the big pot is jumping up in all direction receiving the water back in fulfilment of anticipation and joy!  Like that he will experience a peculiar joy!  If there is Rama Nama Bhajan in the Heavens too, it would only be like a lighted candle in Sunlight, nothing much to be noticed or talked about!  As light is more noticeable in darkness, it is in our world of inner darkness that the Nama Deepa (the light of God's names) shines more brightly.  Only the mouth that has bitten on the hot chilly appreciates the taste of sugar candy, isn't it?  To serve the common masses through Rama Nama is of special interest for Ãnjaneya!  So he is also happy in being retained here in the world instead of being consigned to some heaven like Parama Padam, it seems.  There is nothing for him to do in the heavens or anything to look forward to either!  He loves the role that he is playing.  Only on the earth he could keep spreading the radiation of righteousness and Bhakti.  What is the use of such things in Parama Padam, like 'Is there a need for rain in the oceans?'  Where there is drought, there should be rain and so Hanuman will consider his eternal life on earth to be a great boon.

6.            If loved ones die earlier, elders do not feel sad.  If life is like a drama, there will be actors walking in when required and walking out when their part is over.  If life is a drama, death is also a drama only.  Does it ever happen that all the characters come in together and go back together?  When people were killed in the war, it is nowhere mentioned that Hanuman cried for any of them.  Then when he brought the Sanjivini herb for Rama and Lakshmana, many of the soldiers who had died earlier were revived.  Hanuman did not do a 'Bhãngra' dance for that or shout 'Ole Ole!'  Then at the end of the war, Sri Rama got a boon from Indra for reviving all the dead.  There was no reaction from Ãnjaneya for that either.  He was far above being affected by these meetings and separations of birth and death in life. 

7.            He never was affected by these old age related problems.  He had a body that was hard like a granite – Vajra Sareeri – known as 'Bajrang Bhali' in the Hindi speaking North India, which means that he is as strong as the thunder-bolt that is the weapon of Indra called the Vajra!  But the point I am making is that he would not have bothered by deafness or blindness or any such debility either but, would have accepted them all as part of life's role-playing!  Do not actors, play act the role as the blind Surdas or Dhrutarashtra happily?  If by our old age debility we are being a burden on others, he would have taken that also in his stride, as an opportunity to enable them to reduce some of their negative Karma balances!  If he was ill-treated by others, he would have still been happy that by our stoic tolerance we can reduce our own back-balances of Karma!  If ever he can be a debilitated- Ãnjaneya, that is how he would have taken it. 

8.            The gist of my statement is that, if we develop the attitude to look at the world as the Drama conducted by God, we can never feel agitated or dejected or bored.  Then old age or whatever cannot affect us adversely.  The taste of dramatics is much more here on earth than any heaven of Parama Padam!  There if we think of God in a well maintained place, on a high pedestal in rich and sparkling splendour in heavens; so is he here too in temples.  But here that magician is also play acting in a whole lot of variegated roles!  All that we have to do is to bring that perspective to see God in all human beings and non-human beings; in animals and other life forms; in flora and fauna; and in nature in all its splendour!  'Variety is the spice of life' says the English proverb.  Heavens cannot be so interesting.  Oh! God!  What variety, what magic, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, laughter, humour, so many forms, colours, shades, sizes, textures, gradations; if only we develop the child's perspective of wonder; there can never be a dull moment in our lives!  Then we will look at God and keep saying, "அலகிலா விளையாட்டு உடையான் அன்னவர்க்கே சரண் நாங்களே", and "மனித்த பிறவியும் வேண்டுவதே" – 'meaning that God is of immeasurable playfulness and we are asunder unto Him & human life is also essential [if life is to be understood and get over that cycle of life and birth!]'.  Then to be born as a human being will be understood to be needed and essential and we can take life in the right perspective and have the right attitude!  Then whether we all become Chiranjeevi or not, Longevity is very much required as it is our custom to give blessings / Asirvadam as elders to people of the younger generation to say, "deerga ãyushmãn bhãva dhida gãtra siddhirastu" – "दीर्ग आयुष्मान भव धिड गात्र सिद्धिरस्तु", meaning 'May you live long with excellent health', is all appropriate and quite meaningful!  Anyhow today, Ãnjaneya Swami has come in my talk and blessed you all, through my words!

"மங்களம்"

(With this Vol # 6 comes to an end.)

(Deivathin Kural Volume # 7 commences in the next e-mail.)

Sambhomahadeva