You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Nov 2004

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00055 Nov 2004

 
Nov 2004 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]




         (continued from Part 7 posted earlier)

******************************************************

The child is perhaps the best specimen of a "jignyAsu"
that we can find in the world.

Every child is born with an innate capacity for 
Wonder. The child looks at the whole world around it
in a fresh, open, innocent and wondrous light -- in a
light that is wholly different from the way in which
adults see things around them. And it is in that
unique perception of the child that there are many
truths gleaned of which we know little, and many
special insights gained too that perhaps are quite
beyond our comprehension or imagination. It is because
the child possesses this extraordinary faculty of
Wonder that it is always seen to be very curious, very
inquisitive, and very inquiring. We all know how
difficult it is to keep up with the incessant
questioning of an intelligent child. 

As we grow from childhood to manhood, however, we all
gradually seem to lose that magical capacity for
child-like Wonder. It is the progressive loss of that
wonderful capacity that actually ages us, that
transforms the world around us from what as child
seemed rich and vibrant into a drab and joyless place.
That loss robs us of all the Life that there is in
living. We then sadly ask ourselves, "Why is it that
the same things that once used to arouse my wonder or
fascination as a child, now leave me utterly cold?"...
It's a very important and very uncomfortable question
that few of us ever figure out in life... 

It was the same question which the English poet,
William Wordsworth, asked too in a famous poem ("Ode
on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of
Early Childhood"):

"There was a time when meadow, grove and stream,
   The earth, and every common sight,
     To me did seem
   Apparell'd in celestial light,
 The glory and freshness of a dream.
 It is not now as it hath been of yore:-
   Turn wheresoe'er I may,
     By night or day,
 The things which I have seen, I now can see no more.

 The rainbow comes and goes,
 And lovely is the rose;
 The moon doth with delight
 Look around her when the heavens are bare;
  Waters on a starry night
  Are beautiful and fair;
 The sunshine is a glorious birth;
  But yet I know, where'er I go,
 That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth.

 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
 The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
   Hath had elsewhere its setting,
     And cometh from afar;
  Not in entire forgetfulness,
  And not in utter nakedness,
 But trailing clouds of glory do we come
  From God, who is our own home:
 Heaven lies about us in our infancy!"

              -- William Wordsworth

             *************

"Heaven lies about us in our infancy", wrote
Wordsworth and how profoundly true indeed is the
poet's discovery. Ages ago, the timeless Upanishads
and "purANA" too spoke the very same truth!

In much of the Vedantic scriptures of India, it is the
child indeed who is held up as the best example  of
the true seeker of God, the true "jingyAsu" who with
its keen sense of Wonder is capable of genuine
spiritual curiousity, and is willing to go to any
lengths in search of God. 

The Srimadh BhAgavatham, for example, tells the famous
tale of the child Dhruva who departed to the forests
in search of the Almighty. Then there is the story of
Prahlada, a mere child, who saw God in all places, in
every nook and cranny of the world where his father
saw none.. The Katopanishad tells the story of
Nachiketas, a mere boy, whose quest for God engaged
him in a dialogue with the god of Death. In the
ChandOgya Upanishad there is a gripping narration of
how Svetaketu, a true "jignyAsu", posed questions to
his wise father, Uddalaka, on the nature of God. In
the same Upanishad, there is the account of the boy
Satyakama Jabala. In the Taittiriya Upanishad it is
young Bhrighu who poses both wondrous and wise
questions to his father, Sage Varuni, about God and
Existence...

To all these eminent child-heroes of the Vedantic
scriptures, to all these youthful "jignyAsu-s", Heaven
did indeed "lie about in their infancy"!

                  ************* 
  
A disciple of Adi Sankara bhagavathpAdA is said to
have once posed to him the question "samsArE kim
sAram?" "What is the meaning of Existence?". It was
the typical question of a serious and wondering
"jignyAsu".

They say the 'AchArya' provided a pithy but
enlightening answer:

"bahusah: abhi vichintyamAnam idam eva"

Meaning, "You have asked the question. Keep wondering
about it. And in the inquiry itself shall you find the
answer".

Sankara thus urged the disciple to ceaselessly
confront such questions. Never relent, Sankara
advised, never give up the unending inquiry --"samsArE
kim sAram?". The "jignyAsu's" quest and his Way of
Worship, will one day surely meet with success.

                 **************
                   (CONCLUDED)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan
















________________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your life partner online
Go to: http://yahoo.shaadi.com/india-matrimony





------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/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/
 




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list