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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00034 Jan 2004

 
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Dear friends,

(23) "yAm vandha kAriyam araaindhu arUL?"

This expression literally means "Inquiry into the
purpose of our visit".

As human beings none of us has a clear idea of the
true purpose of our sojourn on earth. We know not why,
whence or whither we came visiting into this world.
Nor do we know why, whence or whither we shall exit
it. Not knowing our real purpose in life, often we lay
to waste our existence in pursuit of trifles and the
evanescent things of life -- pelf, power, vanity,
wine, women? It is a sad predicament indeed and as the
poet Shelley mused on it:

            "We look before and after
               And pine for what is not?
            Our sweetest songs are those
               That tell of saddest thought". 

Vedanta, the way of the Veda, illumines our path in
life. It uncovers for Man the true purpose of
existence and counsels him on the right choices he
must make in life to advance towards his goals.

Firstly, one must choose wisely between the 3 sources
of joy that the world has to offer. The first is
"aihikam" -- all the enchanting and glamorous things
of life that offer quick but transient gratification.
The second is "amushmikam" -- the things in this world
like wealth, family, work and knowledge -- that are
worthy of strife and effort since they are sources of
enduring and long-term value and joy to us. But Man
must never lose sight of the third source of Joy in
life -- "nissrEyas" -- since it is the one and only
source of joy that is everlasting in nature. It is Joy
the human soul truly craves more than an other but it
is available only in the realm of the divine. 

Secondly, Man must carefully balance too the four
principal goals of life. These are what are called the
4 "purushArthA-s" in Vedanta --"dharma", "artha",
"kAma" and "mOksha". (IN Tamil, these 4
"purushArthA-s" are commonly translated as "aram",
"poruL", "inbam" and "veedu"). The art of Living
consists in striking perfect balance and harmony
between these 4 drivers of human life. "Dharma" is
right conduct. It is everything that a Man must do
within his life-span by way of answering calls of duty
--- duty to himself, to those around him and to
society at large. "Artha" is all of Man's productive
and gainful effort. It is what enables Man to give
back to the world whatever he may have taken away from
it for his own benefit. It is the unwritten "social
contract" through which Man settles account with the
material world. "Kama" is the sum of all of Man's
desires and aspirations in life. Extreme care is to be
exercised in cultivating the right kind of desires.
Equal care and circumspection is required of Man to
control and direct these desires along right channels
of living. In the conquest of "kAma" lies the key to
Man securing the fourth and ultimate goal of life --
"mOksha", the deliverance from re-birth and Man's
ascent unto God. 

Life in the world poses Man the third and yet another
tremendous challenge of purpose. It lies in the
perennial moral dilemma he must encounter throughout
his living days. It is the dilemma that is best
described in the 'Katopanishad', in the famous
dialogue between the child Nachiketas and the God of
Death, Yama. In the Upanishad Yama asks Nachiketas to
make up his mind about his true aspiration in life --
is it going to be "shrEyas" or "prEyas"? The latter
represents the promise of bliss in the mundane world.
The joys of worldly existence are countless and the
avenues for human self-gratification almost infinite.
The former, "shrEyas", in contrast, has none of the
allure of "prEyas" but it is pursuit of a far higher
order of Bliss -- the eternal bliss there is in
"Atma-vichAra" and "Atma-samarpaNa". It is pursuit of
riches within God's own domain. 

The phrase "yAm vandha kAriyam ArAindhu aruL.." in the
TiruppAvai encompasses all three dimensions of the
subject of Man's purpose and aspiration in Life -- all
the dimensions of "aihikam", "amushmikam",
"nissrEyasam", "dharma", 
"artha", "kAma", "mOksha", "prEyas" and "shrEyas".

A true 'satsangh' is fully and deeply appreciative of
its Vedantic destiny and the 'aayarpAdi' girls in the
TiruppAvai are the best example of such a 'satsangh'.
Their extraordinary expression of "yAm vandha kAriyam
ArAindhu?" is ample proof. 

                    ************
                  (to be continued)

Rgds,

dAsan,
Sudarshan




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