Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
The Petite Paramatma
The very term "Brahmam" brings to our mind a huge and immeasurable entity. We
are used to thinking of the Paramatma as a colossus, led to believe so by the
various Vedic texts like "Sahasra Seershaa Purusha: Sahasraaksha: Sahara paat",
ascribing to the Lord innumerable heads, eyes and feet. Not only His physical
features, His auspicious attributes too are endless, we are told-"ananta
kalyaana gunaganougha mahaarnavam". Additionally, the very term "Brahmam"
etymologically refers to a giant-"Brihatvaat Brahma". Azhwars too attest to the
Lord's huge and immeasurable form-
"soozhndu agandru aazhndu uyarnda mudivil perum paazheyo
soozhundu adanil periya en para nan malar sodeeyo"
Our VisihstAdvaita Sampradaya too supports a gigantic Parabrahmam, which has
for its body the entire gamut of universes and galaxies, with all their
sentient and non-sentient inhabitants. Anyone with such an elaborate form must
necessarily be huge beyond imagination and ipso facto, the Brahmam must be of
inconceivably gargantuan proportions. The Lord is bigger than the biggest,
greater than the greatest, says the Shruti-"mahato maheeyaan". He is bigger
than the Universe, the skies and everything else imaginable, says the
Upanishad-"Jyaayaan Prithivya: jyaayaan Antarishshaat, jyaayaan divo, jyaayaan
ebhyo lokebhya:" It is thus a well-established tenet that the Lord is indeed a
Colossus, in all senses of the word.
However, the Scripture speaks of another form of the Parabrahmam, which is
diametrically opposite to that described above.
Many are the Veda vaakyas, which tell us that the Lord resides in our hearts.
"anta: pravishta: Shaasta janaanaam Sarvaatma" says the Taittiriya Aranyakam,
describing Him as the Inner Controller of everyone. The same text tells us that
the Universal Creator also enters into every one of us and dwells within-"anta:
pravishtam Kartaaram etam". "Prajaapati: charati garbhe anta:" says the Purusha
Suktam, ascribing to the Lord, a residence inside us. He Himself tells Arjuna
that this is so, that He resides in the heart of all beings-" Isvara: sarva
bhootaanaam hrit dese Arjuna tishttathi"
The Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad too speaks about a peculiar Stranger.
This Stranger resides pretty close by, in fact inside us. He
functions as the Inner Controller of the body and the soul, while
being distinctly different from both. Neither the soul nor the body
realise His existence, much less know Him intimately. We know not
what He looks like, what His attributes are, what He stands for and
what is the relationship between this Stranger and ourselves.
"Ya Atmani tishttan, Atmana: antara:, yam Atma na veda, yasya Atma
shareeram, ya Atmaanam antaro yamayati, sa ta Atma antaryaami amruta:" says the
Upanishad.
We thus have the Scriptures speaking in two different voices about the
Parabrahmam-one that He is a Giant, huge beyond description, infinitely bigger
than the biggest known entity. In the same breath, the Shruti tells us that the
Lord resides in the hearts of all beings. We are prepared to accept these two
different forms of the Lord, because it is the Shruti which says so.
However, we are assailed by a doubt-if the Lord is indeed huge, how can He
reside inside the heart of a being, which is supposed to be extremely small? As
we know, the human heart, or that of any other being, must indeed be tiny, with
hardly any space but for the blood vessels and the pump. How then can the
Parabrahmam accommodate itself in such a cramped space? Conversely, if He can
indeed reside inside such a tiny room of flesh, can He indeed be the glorious
and huge Supreme Being? And, wouldn't the extremely limited and stuffy environs
cramp His splendour and style? The residence of the Universal Emperor must be a
magnificent palace, a glorious accommodation befitting the Brahmam. Can you
imagine a King residing in a hut? And if he indeed does, what sort of respect
would he command? And we are told that He contracts His huge form to one
smaller than a grain of rice, so as to accommodate Himself in the human body.
Whither the Colossus whom we are used to adoring as the Paramatma, and whither
this Antaryami, with an infinitesimal form, subtler than the subtlest of
micro-bacteria ("Ano: aneeyaan")?
The glory of our Scripture is that all possible doubts and misgivings, that are
likely to plague ill-informed individuals like us, are anticipated and
answered. Here too, the Brahma Sutras are ready with an answer, for the
apparently irreconcilable riddle of the great Parabrahmam residing in the
extremely cramped and fleshy confines of the human heart.
Furnishing us an example for easy comprehension, the Brahma Sutra says that
just as Atmosphere or Akaasam, which is really infinite and all-pervasive, is
present inside a pot too, with none of its qualities compromised, so too the
infinite Paramatma, with an unimaginably huge size and body, is present in the
human heart too--Evam Vyomavat cha". Just as we cannot deny the presence of
omnipresent Atmosphere inside a bottle, so too, merely on account of the
cramped confines, we cannot doubt the Antaryaami's existence in the human
heart, in a minute form.
Now to the question of visibility of the Antaryami roopam of the Lord. We know
that the Paramatma at Sri Vaikuntam is visible to the Nitya Sooris like
Adisesha, Garuda, Vishvaksena, et al. We understand from Epics and Puranas that
during His avataras as Rama and Krishna, the Supreme Lord made Himself visible
to the eyes of the inhabitants of Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Mathura, etc. We are told
that Emperuman accorded special eyesight to Sanjaya, Arjuna and others, so that
they might witness His primordial form in His Visvaroopam. And in His
Arcchaavataram (the images of stone, wood, etc. which He inhabits at various
temples in this world) He makes Himself the subject of vision for all frail
mortals. To whom then is His form as the Antaryami or Inner Dweller of the
human heart, visible?
The Antaryaami is visible in this infinitesimal form only to Yogis, those
exalted souls who reserve all their faculties only for His service-"Hridaa
maneeshaa manasa abhiklipto ya enam vidu:" says the Upanishad. He is visible to
those who consider Him their all-"Unnum soru, parugum neer, tinnum vettrilai
ellaam Kannan Emperuman", to those with hearts brimming over with devotion, to
those who have banished all sorts of dirt and refuse from their heart, making
it a fit place for the Paramatma to reside. And such devotion and love for the
Lord, in turn, comes about only due to His blessing, says the Upanishad,
telling us that only those whom He Himself has blessed would be able to see
this Antaryaami-"tam akratum pasyati veeta shoko Dhaatu: prasaadaat mahimaanam
Eesam"
One more doubt may arise. Just as the good and bad deeds performed by the body
leave their accumulated impression on the Jeevatma, pushing him into deeper
into interminable cycles of births and deaths, would not the Paramatma also be
similarly affected, inhabiting the same body as the Jeevatma? If you reside in
a dustbin (which is what this body really is, in its present form) you really
can't escape dirt adhering to your person. This being so, would it be logical
to say that the Jeeva is affected by the deeds of the body, while the Lord, who
too dwells in the same body, is not?
What we must note here is that it is not mere residence in the human body that
makes Karma stick to the Jeevatma-it is the susceptibility to fruits flowing
from good and bad deeds, the punishing baggage acquired over interminable
births, cumulatively known as Karma. It is this Karma, which causes contraction
and expansion in the wisdom of the Individual Soul.
The Lord, on the other hand, is outside the purview of Karma. He is the Divine
Arbiter, dealing out pleasure and pain to Jeevas as per their Karma, while
Himself remaining unaffected by it. The Lord Himself clarifies this in the
Gita, telling Arjuna that the fruits of good and bad deeds do not touch Him, as
His deeds are without any desire therefor--
"na maam karmaani limpanti, na me karma phale spruha"
Just as water does not stick to the lotus leaf, despite the former remaining in
aquatic environs all the time, the Lord too has a non-stick nature, as for
Karma is concerned, despite residing in the human heart.
It is this aspect, which is referred to in the following beautiful
Mundakopanishad mantra-
"Dvaa suparnaa sayujaa sakhaayaa samaanam vriksham parishasvajaate
Tayo: anya: pippalam svaadu atti, anasnan anya: abhichaakaseeti".
In an exquisite allegory, this mantra describes two birds of beautiful
plumage/feathers, equal in enjoyment, bound in eternal friendship, residing in
the same tree from time immemorial. One of the birds feasts on the fruits of
the tree, while the other shining bird eats not and just looks on.
On the face of it, there is nothing remarkable about this mantra, which can at
best be dubbed as a description of a picture-postcard scenario. However, a
closer look reveals a wealth of meaning. The tree described in the mantra
refers to the non-sentient body. This particular tree is immobilized by the
surrounding soil of Samsaara, and the roots represent the accumulated baggage
of rights and wrongs, collectively called "Karma".
One of the birds having the tree as its abode, is the Jeevaatma. The Jeevaatma
is bound in an interminable cycle of births and deaths, and passes through each
life enjoying the fruits of its good deeds (punyam) and suffering from the bad
ones (paapam). The pleasures of this world are indeed exquisite for those who
are unaware of the eternal bliss that the Lord can bestow, and hence the mantra
describes the fruits of the tree to be tasty (svaadu). These fruits represent
"Karma phalam".
The other bird in the tree, the non-eating spectator, is the Paramatma. The
Lord, in His infinite mercy, resides along with the Jeevaatma (as his Inner
Dweller) in the perishable body, filled with blood, bones and refuse ("oonidai
suvar vaitthu, enbu thoon naatti, uromam veyndu onbadu vaasal taanudai
kurambai"-Sri Tirumangai Azhwar). However, He does not partake of the
ephemeral, mundane pleasures, and remains untouched and untainted by Karma. His
innumerable auspicious attributes make Him as different from the Jeevaatma, as
day is from night. Thus the mantra says He 'shines". It is thus that though He
resides in the same body as the Jeeva, the Lord remains unaffected by Karma and
its fruits.
What are the other characteristics of this Inner Dweller of ours?
His size is infinitesimal, microscopic. The Jeevatma is described to be of the
size of a hundredth of a head of corn-"Vaalaagra shata bhaagasya". And if the
Paramatma were to reside inside such a tiny entity, He in turn has to be tinier
than the Jeeva.
Even in this tiny form, the Lord doesn't lose any of His splendour and glory.
Nor does He lack any of the innumerable auspicious attributes, which are the
hallmark of the Supreme Being. Similarly, all His divine adornments
("Aabharanam") and weapons (Aayudham) that He sports in Sri Vaikunttam, are
intact in His form as the Antaryaami too.
Since His Consorts are inseparable from Him, the Lord as the Inner Dweller is
accompanied by them, even in the tiny form that He takes, says Swami Desikan in
Sri Bhagavat Dhyaana Sopaanam-"Madhye Rangam mama cha hridaye vartate
saavarodha:"
What are the practical implications to us of the concept of the Antaryaami?
One is that we are assured of the divine presence at extremely close quarters,
right within us, ever ready to rush to our rescue at the slightest sign of
danger. While Droupati chose to appeal to Sri Krishna residing in distant
Dwaraka, all we have to do is to think of our Inner Resident at times of
distress, and there He is, at the ready to protect us. This is not to say that
Emperuman at SriVaikunttam is incapable of rushing to our aid in a matter of
micro seconds, but we do feel more comfortable with a Resident Personal
Protector, who is on duty 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, residing at
extremely close quarters.
Another is that though we are aware of the Supreme Lord's omnipresent eyes
seeing and recording all our deeds good and bad, we still commit offences with
impunity, when we find no other human being looking at us. With the Antaryami,
however, we can afford to take no such chances, for He knows each and every one
of our thoughts, the moment they are conceived. He is the ever-vigilant
Sentinel, who is awake even we sleep and dream. "ulluvaar ullittru ellaam udan
irundu aridi" says Sri Tondaradippodi, telling us to behave, for the
Antaryaami's eyes are always on us.
A third implication of the Antaryami concept is this--We know that all names
indicate not the bodies but the Atmas inside. For instance, when we address
Sadagopan, we know that it is not his physical shell we are speaking to, but
the Atma residing inside. And since the Jeevatma too is but a shell for the
Antaryaami Paramatma, the name Sadagopan or for that matter any other name,
indicates only the Lord. This being so, since all abuse or adulation addressed
to the individual automatically reaches the Lord, we would definitely be more
careful in how we speak to our counterparts. When we realise that any invective
we hurl at others actually goes and hits the Indwelling Lord, we would
automatically ensure that our speech is nothing but the sweetest. "Love thy
neighbour" becomes much easier to practice, when we realise that it is the
Paramatma we actually love, being the Antaryami of the neighbour, as He is of
others.
More than anything else, we have in the Antaryami our own personal God,
residing in our very own body, just inches below our chest. Here is someone
with whom you can share happy tidings or sad news. Here is one who commiserates
with you when you are miserable, is always intent on spurring you on the path
to spiritual progress and is your sincere well-wisher. Once you develop the
habit of communion with Him on a regular basis, you have in Him the closest of
Friends, the sincerest of Guides and your very own personal Philosopher,
awaiting the flimsiest of opportunities for leading you on to Liberation.
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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