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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

                                              Of Human Bondage
 

What do you think is the grossest of indignities that can be heaped upon a 
person? One may be abused, physically and verbally; one may even be punished 
with fines or with imprisonment. Worse than all these is the use of Fetters. 
Denial of liberty though incarceration is bad enough: but worse is 
immobilisation through fetters, severely curtailing the movement of one's 
limbs. Though prisoners are normally kept in locked cells, the application of 
fetters to their hands and feet eliminates any possibility of escape. These 
days, when human rights are the watchword, the use of fetters has been 
forbidden by various courts, except where hard-core criminals and terrorists 
are involved. However, whether or not one has been tried and punished by 
courts, would it surprise you to know that all of us are severely immobilised 
by irremovable fetters? Do read on, to know more about these fetters and how we 
can get out of them.

 

Putting people in shackles so that they don't escape, appears to be quite an 
ancient practice. We thus hear of cruel Kamsa clapping both Devaki and Vasudeva 
in irons, so that they did not escape with the eighth child, which was 
predicted to be the king's nemesis. Such was Kamsa's fear of the yet-to-be born 
Krishna, that not content with merely imprisoning his sister and brother-in-law 
in a maximum security jail, he also bound their hands and feet with manacles. 
It was one of the Lord's principal missions in the Krishnavataram to rid His 
parents of their fetters, says 

Sri Poigaiyazhwar-

 

"Pettraar talai kazhala perndu or kural uruvaai

settraar padi kadanda Senkan Maal"

 

If this were so, should not the divine parents been set free the moment Sri 
Krishna was born? Why did they have to wait for their release from their 
"vilangu" till Krishna grew up, arrived at Mathura and killed Kamsa?

 

The answer is that the bonds of Karma are stronger than any other. It was thus 
their accumulated sin that kept Devaki and Vasudeva in chains, even after they 
gave birth to the Supreme Being. This also strengthens our faith that the Lord 
is indeed an impartial arbiter, displaying absolutely no favour or nepotism in 
rewarding or punishing people as per their own Karma, be they His own parents 
or sworn enemies.

 

Speaking of the bonds of Karma, Sri Nammazhwar calls them the strongest 
available, stronger even than those of iron, to tie a person hand and foot, 
imprisoning the Atma in the maximum-security prison of the body, from which 
release is just not possible. Even if one were to escape the constricting 
confines of one body, it is only to be imprisoned in another body-from the 
frying pan into the fire, so to say. "Tinnam azhunda katti pala sei vinai van 
kayittraal" says the Azhwar, describing our plight as victims of our past 
deeds, good and bad.

 

"Good and Bad"? I am almost able to see the questioning frown on the reader's 
face. We can equate our sins or bad deeds to shackles, but does the same apply 
to Punyam or good deeds? How would one's meritorious acts form fetters?

 

Just as our sins deny us emancipation, Punyam also requires its fruits to be 
experienced, either in this world itself or in the exalted ones above, such as 
Svargam. Even if one were to attain the lofty status of Brahmaa the Creator, 
through one's good deeds, after the effects of Punyam have been exhausted, one 
has to return to this mundane world of sorrow and suffering. It is only when we 
are rid both of Punyam and Papam, that we attain eligibility for Liberation, 
says the Shruti-"Punya paape vidhooya niranjana: paramam saamyam upaiti". Thus, 
if we wish to get rid of our bodily shackles, we have to be free of both sin 
and merit. If sins can be equated to iron manacles, then Punyam can at best be 
called a golden handcuff, a "Pon Vilangu", says Swami Desikan in Sri Varadaraja 
Panchasat-

 

"kasmai svadeta sukha sancharana utsukaaya

 kaaraagrihe kanaka shrinkhalayaapi bandha:"

 

All of us know that Sri Krishna allowed Himself to be tied up by Yasoda with 
the shortest of ropes, displaying His Soulabhyam. However, it is a little known 
fact that Sri Rama too was tied up. Though we do not find this episode in Sri 
Valmiki's magnum opus, we have it for a fact, from an equally impeccable 
source. 

 

Hanuman, in his effort to prove his identity to a suspicious Sita Devi, 
recounts various intimate episodes from Her life with Raghava, to convince Her 
that he was indeed Rama's messenger and not Ravana come in disguise. One of 
these is the story of Rama being tied up with bonds, made, however, of Jasmine 
garlands.

 

. Once during their happy days at Ayodhya, the divine couple were engaged in 
playing Chaturangam (Chess). Having won the game, Sri Sita tied up Her dear 
Prince with strands of fragrant jasmine, as a token of Her victory. As none 
else could have known this unless confided in by Chakkravartthi Tirumagan, this 
romantic titbit generates confidence in Sri Janaki's heart about the bona fides 
of Hanuman. Here is Periyazhwar's beautiful pasuram, describing this episode-

 

"alliam poo malar kodaai! adi paninden vinnappam

 sollugen kettarulaai tunai malar kan mada maane!

elliam podu inidu iruttal irundador ida vagayil

 Malligai maalai kondu angu aarttadum or adayaalam"

 

We see in some households the plight of the hapless husband torn between his 
wife and mother, each indulging in one-upmanship to demonstrate who wields 
greater power over the poor fellow. We wonder whether it is not the same case 
with Emeperuman too. Finding His wife tying Him up in the Ramavataram, perhaps 
the mother (Yasoda) indulged in the same game in the Krishnavataram, to display 
her superiority! Jokes apart, the two episodes, where Emperuman was effectively 
tied up, demonstrate that He is indeed susceptible to be immobilised by 
devotees' bonds of love and affection.

 

Speaking of being tied up, we hear of the great Anjaneya being immobilised by 
the Brahmaastram let loose by Indrajit, when the Rama doota indulged in 
destruction and arson, reducing Lanka to shambles. Though no power could put 
fetters on the irrepressible Hanuman, he submitted voluntarily to the bonds of 
the Brahmaastram as a tactical measure, so that he could meet Ravana and give 
the rakshasa a piece of his mind.  

 

 The peculiar nature of the Brahmaastram is that after its use against a 
person, if other restraints are also applied, then the Brahmaastram loses its 
potency and the arrested person becomes free from its crippling effects ("Astra 
bandha: sa cha anyam hi na bandham anuvartate"). The stupid Rakshasas, in their 
eagerness to secure Hanuman in a fool-proof manner, bound him further with 
whatever they could lay their hands on-jute ropes, tree barks, etc. Instantly, 
the Vaanara Veera was automatically rid of the fetters imposed by the 
Brahmaastram. Still, he pretended to be bound, so that he could meet Ravana. 
Though the other rakshasas hardly realised that Hanuman was now free, Indrajit 
did and was filled with wonder as to why the monkey did not spring free from 
its captors and resume its spree of destruction.

 

Another bond, which is dreaded by everyone and spells instant death, is that of 
Varuna, the Deity of Waters. We find numerous references in the Shruti to the 
"Varuna paasam" and its deleterious effects and impassioned prayers to spare 
one from its rigours.

 

Bonds and Fetters need not always be physical. When one feels powerless to act 
due to constricting circumstances, then too one is bound hand and foot. Such 
was the case with Dasaratha, when he felt powerless to stop the march of events 
culminating in the banishment of Sri Rama to the forests. Having given two 
boons to Kaikayee, the Emperor felt powerless to go back on his words, as not 
only his credibility but that of the entire lineage of  Ikshvaakus was at 
stake. He would have loved to tell Kaikayee to go to hell and retracted his 
earlier promises, but since he was bound by the fetters of Satyam 
(truthfulness), he felt incapable of doing so. "Sa satya vachanaat Raaja Dharma 
paasena samyata:" says Sri Valmiki, describing Dasaratha's plight. 

 

Coming back to our own unbreakable bonds of Karma, which bind us fast to 
Samsaara, we wonder whether there is no way out of it. Are we doomed forever to 
be fettered, bound hand and foot, unable to exert ourselves in any measure 
towards freedom from this eternal bondage?. Because, even if we were to take 
thousands of births, it would be difficult for us to wipe off the accumulated 
grime and gristle of our good and bad deeds. And we are told that only when the 
slate is clean would we be eligible for emancipation. 

 

Our compassionate Acharyas have shown us the strategy to rid ourselves of these 
terribly painful shackles. They have shown us the path of absolute surrender to 
the Lord, that of Saranagati, which, once performed sincerely through an 
Acharya, frees us forever from the fetters of Samsara. All our sins (and merits 
too) are destroyed in a trice, leaving us pure and untainted, eligible in every 
way to the eternal life of blissful service to the Lord and His devotees. Thus, 
Saranagati or Prapatti ensures that--"Poya pizhayum pugu taruvaan nindranavum 
teeyinil doosaagum"-all our Karma is destroyed like mere dust by a raging fire. 
Once we perform Saranagati at the lotus feet of the Lord, these twin fetters of 
sin and merit drop off automatically, leaving us free to ascend to Paramapadam, 
says Swami Desikan-

 

"Mukta: svayam sukrita dushkrita shrinkhalaabhyaam

achirmukhai: adhikritai: adhivaahita adhvaa

svacchanda kinkaratayaa bhavata: Kareesa!

Svaabhaavikam pratilabheya mahaa adhikaaram"

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan

 

 

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






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