Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: The Magnificent Madness Everyone is a little mad, and only the degree of madness varies, say psychologists. Especially when one is angry, one becomes temporarily insane, and loses one's sense of right and wrong. "KrOdhAt bhavati sammOha:" says the Gita, confirming that rage clouds a person's intellect and reasoning faculties. Madness is associated with abnormal or non-conformist behaviour, unacceptable to society at large. However, in some cases, it is possible that the entire society may be in the wrong, and it is the non-conformist individual who may be right. When this happens (and this has occurred innumerable times in history) Society calls the maverick mad, while to the latter, the entire society appears insane. Devotees of the Lord, moved beyond words by their sublime experience, often display behaviour which is considered abnormal by social standards. They cry out, unable to contain their happiness or sorrow, sing, dance, and indulge in extrovert activities, unmindful of what others would think of them, all prompted by Bhagavat GunAnubhavam. Sri Nammazhwar says that those deeply devoted to the Lord would never able to contain themselves, and would definitely exhibit "abnormal" behaviour, earning them the social sobriquet of madmen. "VAr punal amthaN aruvi vada TiruvEdgadathu endai Per pala solli pidattri pitthar endrE pirar koora oor pala pukkum pugAdum ulOgar sirikka nindru Adi Arvam perugi kunippAr amarar tozhappaduvArE" The mere thought of Emperuman makes the bhakta burst out in His praise, accompanied by song and dance, much to the amusement of the worldly onlookers,who consider these devotees insane. However, devotees touched by such "insanity" form objects of worship for the Nitya SUrIs of Sri Vaikuntam. That being so, Azhwar exhorts everyone to shed their ego and inhibition andto let themselves go, with hearts moved by the Lord's auspicious attributes- "perumayum nANum tavirndu pidattrumin pEdamai teerndE". It is noteworthythat Azhwar considers behaviour other than that specified above to be "pEdamai" or ignorance. We thus have a paradoxical situation- to the entire world (barring kindred souls) the Azhwar's behaviour appears insane, while to the Azhwar, anything other than such demeanour is confirmed lunacy. Besides considering them mad, Azhwar questions the very rationale of such people's existence, as are unmoved by the Lord and His attributes- "sem pavaLa tiraL vAyan SirIdharan tol pugazh pAdi kumbidu nattam ittu Adi kOgu kattuNdu uzhalAdAr tam pirappAl payan ennE sAdhu janangaL idayE". It appears that the mundane masses considering the Lord's votaries to be insane, and vice versa, is not confined to Sri Nammazhwar. Sri Kulasekharazhwar too is a victim, as he pours out in PerumAl Tirumozhi- "PEyarE enakku yAvarum -YAnum Or pEyanE evarkkum idu pEsi en AyanE ArangA endru azhaikkindrEn PEyanAi ozhindEn EmpirAnukkE" Laments the Azhwar-"People say I am mad. It is the Lord and His auspicious attributes that drive me mad. I do admit to such madness, but to me, all the world appears mad. Their madness is the result of a relentless pursuit ofmaterial pleasures ("UndiyE udayE ugandu Odum immandalam"). I am mad afterthe Lord of SriRangam, while the rest of the world is mad after slim-waisted damsels ("noolin nEr idayAr tirattE nirkum gyAlam"). This ignorant worldchases transitory delights ("Meyyil vAzhkkaiyai mey ena koLLum ivvayyam"),while I pursue only eternal bliss, personified by Sri Rangaraja. Yes, I amindeed insane, but this is insanity caused by the beautiful lotus feet of Emperuman ("Arangan adi iNai tangu chinthai tani perum pitthan"). Thus the world at large considers me a lunatic, whereas to me, they appear crazy. Neither am I able to convince them of their errant ways, nor are they able topersuade me to share their sensual pleasures. There is thus no meeting ground between us nor any channels of communication: and there is absolutely no point in discussing this any further ("idu pEsi en"). Precisely the same sentiments are voiced by Sage Narada, in the following sloka quoted by Swami Desikan in Srimad Rahasyatrasaram, highlighting the lack of meeting ground between BhAgavatAs who are slaves of the Lord, and others who are slaves to their senses- "adya prabhruti hE lOkA ! Yooyum yooyum vayam vayam arttha kAma parA yooyum, NArayaNa parA vayam nAsti sangati: asmAkam yushmAkam cha parasparam vayam tu kinkarA VishNO: yooyum indriya kinkarA:". It is such "madness" that earned two Mudal Azhwars the sobriquet "PeyAzhwAr", and "BhootattAzwar". And the BhAgavata PurAna recounts how the great Bharata Muni, due to his unconventional behaviour occasioned by constant focussing of his faculties onthe Supreme, was derisively called "Jada Bharata". If the Lord is capable of driving men mad with His kalyANa guNAs, we can imagine what effect He would have on His female devotees. Sri Andal confessesthat His matchless beauty drives Her crazy-"MAlE seyyum maNALan" says She.The ParAnkusa Nayaki too shares Sri Andal's plight, being driven to distraction by Emperuman. The result of this madness is to perceive everything inthe wide world as the Lord Himself and His vibhooti- "Eriya pitthinOdu ellA ulagum Kannan padaippu ennum neeru sevvE ida kANil NedumAl adiyAr endrOdum nAru tuzhAi malar kANil NAranan kaNNi eedennum tEriyum tErAdum MayOn tiratthanaLE it tiruvE" To conclude, being mad is not bad, per se. It is what we are mad about thatmakes the difference. Considering all this, wouldn't you like to be a little mad? Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: Dasan, sadagopan. ------=_NextPart_001_002E_01C25037.7EAEBF40 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.100" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE>BODY { BACKGROUND-POSITION: left top; MARGIN-TOP: 0em; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0em; MARGIN-LEFT: 4em; COLOR: #427d64; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-y; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial"; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffffd } P.msoNormal { BACKGROUND-POSITION: left top; MARGIN-TOP: 0em; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0em; MARGIN-LEFT: 4em; COLOR: #427d64; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-y; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial"; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffffd } LI.msoNormal { BACKGROUND-POSITION: left top; MARGIN-TOP: 0em; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0em; MARGIN-LEFT: 4em; COLOR: #427d64; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-y; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial"; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffffd } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY background=cid:002c01c25009$64e5ba60$0100007f@sadagopan> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT> <P class=MsoBlockText style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <H1 style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB></SPAN> </H1> <H1 style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> The Magnificent Madness</SPAN></H1> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Everyone is a little mad, and only the degree of madness varies, say psychologists. Especially when one is angry, one becomes temporarily insane, and loses one’s sense of right and wrong. ”KrOdhAt bhavati sammOha:” says the Gita, confirming that rage clouds a person’s intellect and reasoning faculties.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Madness is associated with abnormal or non-conformist behaviour, unacceptable to society at large. However, in some cases, it is possible that the entire society may be in the wrong, and it is the non-conformist individual who may be right. When this happens (and this has occurred innumerable times in history) Society calls the maverick mad, while to the latter, the entire society appears insane.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 1in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBlockText style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Devotees of the Lord, moved beyond words by their sublime experience, often display behaviour which is considered abnormal by social standards. They cry out, unable to contain their happiness or sorrow, sing, dance, and indulge in extrovert activities, unmindful of what others would think of them, all prompted by Bhagavat GunAnubhavam.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Sri Nammazhwar says that those deeply devoted to the Lord would never able to contain themselves, and would definitely exhibit “abnormal” behaviour, earning them the social sobriquet of madmen.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>“VAr punal amthaN aruvi vada TiruvEdgadathu endai</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Per pala solli pidattri <B>pitthar endrE pirar koora<o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><B><SPAN lang=EN-GB>o</SPAN></B><SPAN lang=EN-GB>or pala pukkum pugAdum <B>ulOgar sirikka nindru Adi<o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Arvam perugi kunippAr amarar tozhappaduvArE”</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>The mere thought of Emperuman makes the bhakta burst out in His praise, accompanied by song and dance, much to the amusement of the worldly onlookers, who consider these devotees insane. However, devotees touched bysuch “insanity” form objects of worship for the Nitya SUrIs of Sri Vaikuntam.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>That being so, Azhwar exhorts everyone to shed their ego and inhibition and to let themselves go, with hearts moved by the Lord’s auspicious attributes- “perumayum nANum tavirndu pidattrumin pEdamai teerndE”. It is noteworthy that Azhwar considers behaviour other than that specified above to be “pEdamai” or ignorance. We thus have a paradoxical situation- to the entire world (barring kindred souls) the Azhwar’s behaviour appears insane, while to the Azhwar, anything other than such demeanour is confirmed lunacy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Besides considering them mad, Azhwar questions the very rationale of such people’s existence, as are unmoved by the Lord and His attributes-</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>“sem pavaLa tiraL vAyan SirIdharan tol pugazh pAdi</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>kumbidu nattam ittu Adi kOgu kattuNdu uzhalAdAr</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><B><SPAN lang=EN-GB>tam pirappAl payan ennE<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></B><SPAN lang=EN-GB>sAdhu janangaL idayE”.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 1in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>It appears that the mundane masses considering the Lord’s votaries to be insane, and vice versa, is not confined to Sri Nammazhwar. Sri Kulasekharazhwar too is a victim, as he pours out in PerumAl Tirumozhi-</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>“PEyarE enakku yAvarum –YAnum Or pEyanE evarkkum</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>idu pEsi en</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>AyanE ArangA endru azhaikkindrEn</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>PEyanAi ozhindEn EmpirAnukkE”</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 1in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Laments the Azhwar-“People say I am mad. It is the Lord and His auspicious attributes that drive me mad. I do admit to such madness, but tome, all the world appears mad. Their madness is the result of a relentless pursuit of material pleasures (“UndiyE udayE ugandu Odum immandalam”). I am mad after the Lord of SriRangam, while the rest of the world is mad after slim-waisted damsels (“noolin nEr idayAr tirattE nirkum gyAlam”). This ignorant world chases transitory delights (“Meyyil vAzhkkaiyai mey ena koLLum ivvayyam”), while I pursue only eternal bliss, personified by Sri Rangaraja. Yes, I am indeed insane, but this is insanity caused by the beautiful lotus feet of Emperuman (“Arangan adi iNai tangu chinthai tani perum pitthan”). Thus the world at large considers me a lunatic, whereas to me, <B><I>they</I> </B>appear crazy. Neither am <B><I>I</I></B> able to convince them of their errant ways, nor are <B><I>they</I></B> able to persuade me to share their sensual pleasures. There is thus no meeting ground between us nor any channels of communication: and there is absolutely no point in discussing this any further (“idu pEsi en”).</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-INDENT: -1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Precisely the same sentiments are voiced by Sage Narada, in the following sloka quoted by Swami Desikan in Srimad Rahasyatrasaram, highlighting the lack of meeting ground between BhAgavatAs who are slaves of the Lord, and others who are slaves to their senses-</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>“adya prabhruti hE lOkA ! Yooyum yooyum vayam vayam</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>arttha kAma parA yooyum, NArayaNa parA vayam</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>nAsti sangati: asmAkam yushmAkam cha parasparam</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>vayam tu kinkarA VishNO: yooyum indriya kinkarA:”.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>It is such “madness” that earned two Mudal Azhwarsthe sobriquet “PeyAzhwAr”, and<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“BhootattAzwar”.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>And the BhAgavata PurAna recounts how the great Bharata Muni, due to his unconventional behaviour occasioned by constant focussing of his faculties on the Supreme, was derisively called “Jada Bharata”.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-INDENT: -1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>If the Lord is capable of driving men mad with His kalyANa guNAs, we can imagine what effect He would have on His female devotees. Sri Andal confesses that His matchless beauty drives Her crazy-“MAlE seyyum maNALan” says She. The ParAnkusa Nayaki too shares Sri Andal’s plight, being drivento distraction by Emperuman. The result of this madness is to perceive everything in the wide world as the Lord Himself and His vibhooti-</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>“<B>Eriya pitthinOdu </B>ellA ulagum Kannan padaippu ennum</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>neeru sevvE ida kANil NedumAl adiyAr endrOdum</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>nAru tuzhAi malar kANil NAranan kaNNi eedennum</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>tEriyum tErAdum MayOn tiratthanaLE it tiruvE”</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 1in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>To conclude, being mad is not bad, <I>per se. </I>It is what we are mad about that makes the difference.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-INDENT: -1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Considering all this, wouldn’t you like to be a little mad?</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Srimate SriLakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 1in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB>Dasan, sadagopan.</SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-INDENT: -1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_001_002E_01C25037.7EAEBF40--
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