----- Original Message -----
From: sadagopan
To: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2005 10:10 AM
Subject: Fw: A Prince in Distress
----- Original Message -----
From: sadagopan
To: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: sadagopan
Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2005 5:21 AM
Subject: Fw: A Prince in Distress
----- Original Message -----
From: sadagopan
To: SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:46 PM
Subject: A Prince in Distress
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
A Prince in Distress
Of all emotions, sorrow and sadness are the most debilitating, as most of us
know from experience. They sap our self-confidence, breed self-pity, paralyze
our normal functioning and turn us into zombies. Distress begets dejection,
which turns into despondency, ultimately landing us in despair and depression,
from which it is difficult to recover. If you have any doubt about this, you
only have to remember Arjuna's plight, his sorrow (at having to fight and kill
relatives and elders) making him throw away the bow and arrow right on the
battlefield. Sri Krishna has quite a job, convincing him to fight.
Though sorrow may originate from several sources, that caused by the passing
away of those near and dear is perhaps the hardest to bear. And even in this
class, the death of a beloved son or daughter is especially hard on the
surviving parents, often driving them to a premature death. Dasaratha is a case
in point, his grief (Putra shokham) being shared by Dhritaraashtra, Kunti, the
Pandavas (who lost several of their offspring in the war and subsequent to
that) and so on.
What exactly is the reason for grief or sorrow? Attachment is the sole source
of sadness, says the Mahabharata-
"Sneha moolaani du:khaani snehajaani bhayaani cha
Shoka harshou tathaa aayaasa: sarvam snehaat pravartate"
Sorrow or Shokham appears to be an all-pervading emotion, afflicting not only
ordinary mortals, but even Deities. For instance, we find Sri Valmiki
chronicling several instances of Sri Raghava being affected by distress. When
He is told to leave for a jungle sojourn for 14 long years, though Sri Rama
doesn't immediately display any emotion, we find that His heart was indeed
weighed down with sorrow, not perhaps due to the loss of the Crown, but at the
prospect of His departure causing incalculable harm to His parents and
subjects. We are told that on His way to break the terrible news to His
expectant mother, Raghava locked up His sorrow within Himself and was
externally the picture of iron control-"Dhaarayan manasaa du:kham, indriyaani
nigrihya cha". After all, what could be more saddening for the citizenry of
Ayodhya, than the beloved Rama's departure for the forest? And when they are
sad, it would naturally affect their ruler-to-be, who participates
wholeheartely in their happiness and sorrow-"Vyasaneshu manushyaanaam bhrisam
bhavati du:khita:".
Another instance where Sri Rama displayed sorrow is at the parting with Sita.
Finding the cottage deserted upon His return from the engagement with
Maareecha, Sri Rama is almost beside Himself with distress at Sri Sita's
abduction, tortured by emotions and memories of the beloved Mythily-
"Sa Raja putra: priyayaa viheena: shokena mohena cha peedyamaana:
Vishaadayan bhraataram aarta roopo bhooyo vishaadam pravivesa teevram".
Rama cries out in torment, much like an ordinary mortal-"tam tathaa shoka
santaptam, vilapantam anaathavat". It is left to His younger brother, the wise
Lakshmana, to console Rama, to point out the dangers of succumbing to
depression and to remind Him of His true stature. All that grief leads to is
more grief and none who succumbs to sorrow ever comes out of it, says
Lakshmana, in a bid to prise Rama out of the morass of depression into which He
appears to be falling.
Again, the sight of the slain Jataayu prompts a fresh bout of self-pity and
despair in Sri Rama, who is reminded of His own late father and his recent
death.
The separation from Sita tells a lot upon Raghunandana and we find Him prepared
even to take His own life, were He not to be reunited with Her within a few
hours-"Muhoortamapi na jeeveyam tam vinaa asitekshanaam".
Similar despair seizes Sri Rama, when He finds Lakshmana felled with the Shakti
Aayudham-
"Raaghavo bhraataram drishtvaa, priyam praanam bahischaram
Du:khena mahataavishta: dhyaana shoka paraayana:".
To Him, it appears to be the last straw on the already heavy load of sorrow
that had been thrust on Him-Denial of the Crown at the last minute, banishment
to the jungle for 14 years, the loss of the beloved Mythily, all the
inconveniences encountered in the dense Dandakaaranyam and finally, the felling
of Lakshmana, who was verily Rama's life spirit-"Bahischara iva praana:".
We thus find any number of instances in Srimad Ramayanam, where the Lord was
overwhelmed with sorrow, for some reason or the other. Even granting that all
these occasions would have generated the same emotions in any other person, we
are plagued by doubts as to whether the feelings should affect Rama, of all
people. We are so used to putting Him on a pedestal and worshipping Him as the
Model Man, the Magnificent Monarch and the personification of all virtue, that
any sign of weakness in Him tends to disturb us. Indeed, anyone would react as
Rama did, given the successive slings and arrows that a cruel fate had aimed at
Him-but what then would be the difference between we mortals, who are easily
susceptible to such emotions, and the Avataara Purusha? And if He Himself is
subject to sorrow, how capable would He be in dispelling ours? Further, Shokam
or grief is said to be the product of Raajasic and Taamasic temperaments.
("Harsha Shoka anvita: kartaa Raajasa: parikeertita"
"Yathaa svapnam bhayam, shokam, vishaadam madam eva cha
na vimunchati durmedhaa: dhriti: saa Paartha! Taamasee"
This contrasts with the description of the Paramatma as being beyond Rajas and
Tamas.
The Cchaandogya Upanishad tells us that the Parabrahmam is without any sorrow
or sadness-
"Esha Aatma apahata paapmaa vijaro vimrityu: vishoko vijighatso apipaasa:
Satyakaama: Satyasankalpa:".
The Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram reiterates this with the tirunaamam, "Vishoka:",
meaning the griefless. In another nama, "Ashoka:", the Stotram tells us that He
is the remover of all sorrow, Himself being beyond the pale of any such
affliction-"Shokaadi shat oormi varjita:' says Sri Sankaracharya too, while
commenting on this name.
If all these citations are true and the Lord is truly without any sadness or
sorrow, how then would you explain the display of such base emotions during His
avataras? And if He were indeed subject to sorrow, how then could we look to
Him for removing ours? Is it not a case of "Physician! Heal thyself!"? There
can be no two opinions that Sadness or Shokam is a debilitating emotion and
those who suffer from it can definitely not be elevated to the divine pedestal,
which belongs only to the Parabrahmam, which is bereft of all things
inauspicious-"Akhila heya pratyaneekam"
Swami Desikan comes to our rescue in answering this seemingly unanswerable
puzzle, which strikes at the very base of the Paramatma Tattvam. In the
Siddhopaaya Sodhanaadhikaaram of Srimad Rahasyatrayasaaram, the Acharya tells
us that such emotions, affected by the Lord during His avataaras, constitute an
act put on by the Sarveswara, to attract the devout and to deceive the
unholy-"Avataara vrittaantangalilum du:kha abhinaya maatrame ulladu". These are
performances staged by the Paramatma, to gladden the hearts of the devout, who
find the Lord's grief heartening and are drawn to Him. Such play-acting also
serves to mislead the unholy, who naturally think that Iswara, being subject to
such feelings, is indeed no better than mortals.
If that be so, then is the Lord a hypocrite, feigning emotions to mislead
gullible mortals, whether they be devout or otherwise? No, says Swami Desikan,
telling us that such play-acting on the part of Paramatma is really an upshot
of His mercy-"adu taanum kripaa moolam". In defence of his averment, Swami
Desikan cites the following Vishnu Purana slokam, which lays down that the
Lord, during His sojourn in the world of mortals, affects entirely human
emotions and actions, despite retaining all His incomparable attributes like
Supremacy-
"Eesan api Mahayogi sarvasya jagata: Prabhu:
Karmaani aarabhate kartum keenaasa iva durbala:
Tena vanchayate lokaan mayaa yogena Kesava:
Ye tam eva prapadyante na te muhyanti maanava:"
Though He is the omnipotent Parabrahmam, the Lord poses at times to be a
helpless mortal, affecting emotions like grief, anger and sorrow, which
ordinary men feel on occasion. Those whose faith in Him is steadfast, are able
to appreciate the true purport of such actions, while the rest of the agnostic
or atheistic world takes such play-acting at face value and is led astray by
the Lord, in accordance with their accumulated baggage of sin. Would anyone in
their right minds believe that Sri Krishna was really in such dire need of
dairy products as to steal them and be punished therefor by being tied up to
the grindstone, begging His mother for freedom with tearful eyes? And why
should Krishna run away from facing Jaraasandha in battle? Did Rama, whom
Valmiki praises sky high right at the beginning of the epic, suddenly turn into
a helpless and lamenting mortal, midway through the saga, the moment He is
parted from Sita?
All these, you would agree, are totally inconsistent with the unbridled
supremacy, omnipotence and omniscience of the Paramatma and the only plausible
explanation therefor is that He acts in a certain fashion for purposes of His
own, which do not in any way detract from His stature as the Ultimate.
Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
dasan,sadagopan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release Date: 8/17/2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release Date: 8/17/2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release Date: 8/17/2005
----------
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release Date: 8/17/2005
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/VkWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |