LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT
49. LITERATURE AND LIFE
All life on earth ends in death. King or beggar, healthy or sick, wise or foolish, all die. And at death, they carry nothing with them- neither their wealth, nor their wisdom. Saint and sinner are made equal in death- it seizes both equally. So it seems. "Paths of glory lead but to the grave", wrote Thomas Gray in his famous Elegy.
But is death really the end? Religions have risen to say that this is not so. There is glory beyond the grave. Life cannot end in death, if it is not to be a cruel joke; it continues in another dimension. The nature of that life depends on how we live here. So they spoke of an after-life, and made life on earth a preparation for the Eternal life hereafter. There are many religions, with many theories and philosophies, but at the end the message is similar, if not same: there is no lasting happiness here on earth; this is not our permanent home. Christ clearly said our real treasures are laid up elsewhere. One birth, or many births, we have to leave this world. The Gita states the nature of this world very clearly:
- duhkkalayam asaasvatam 8.15
- mrutyu samsara vartmani 9.3
- anityam asukham loke 9.33
- mrutyu samasara sagaraat 12.7
- janma mrutyu jara vyadi
duhkka doshanu darsanam 13.8
- janma mrutyu jara duhkkam 14.20
The Buddha who came after the Gita made this the beginning and central plank of his Dharma: the world is full of suffering (duhkka), there is a cause for it, there is a cure, and there is a way to it! His religion is wholly world-negating, because it is not real.
Christ who came after the Buddha too latched on to this. His religion too is world negating or world-renouncing, though missionaries obscure and white wash this fact. Christ clearly said that His Kingdom was not of this earth. He gave no civil or criminal law to his followers, as earlier Moses had done. He said:
And seek ye not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither ye be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
Compare this with what Lord Krishna had said at least 3000 years earlier:
Ananyaas chintayanto maam
Ye jana: paryupaasate
Teshaam nityabhi yuktanam
Yoga kshemam vahamyaham.
For those persons who meditate on Me without any other thought, ( feeling non-separate from Me) and who ever worship Me every where- for them who are ever attached to Me I carry what they need and preserve what they have.
Gita, 9.22
There is also the story related in the Bible of how once a man approached Christ saying he wanted to follow Him. Christ told him to go back, sell all his possessions, distribute the money among the poor and then come back to him. The Bible records that the man did not come back, for he had great possessions! Obviously, such a religion is not for the masses. So, Christ said: cast not pearls before swine! The highest teaching is not for everybody.
Popular religion cannot flourish on the basis of renunciation and other -worldliness. So, when Christianity became a mass religion under Roman empire, it dumped Christ's prescription for other doctrines.
Islam has , from the beginning, been aiming to establish their kingdom here on earth- Darus Salam and is capturing nation after nation. And the rewards of heaven are reserved for the jihadis!
Adi Sankara followed the line of the Buddha- saying the world was real as Brahman, not in itself! The world is only taken as real for some practical purposes (Vayavaharika) and it is not ultimately or intrinsically real: paramartika satya. Whatever hairsplitting people may indulge in, the plain fact is that under Sankara's philosophy, this world was neglected, if not negated- blame Sankara's followers for misinterpretation, if not Sankara himself! Obviously, his philosophy too is not for every one- it is for the earnest few: the mumukshu! Mass Advaita will be mass suicide! Some can take to yoga, because most do not! If every one sat in Yoga, who would run the world? This issue is tackled jokingly in the song Tiruchazhal of Saint Manickavachaka:Girls are playing among themselves; one girl chides another, a devotee of Shiva: Oh, how great is your master, the South facing dancer of Tillai! After all, he ran after a woman! Was he not infatuated? And undaunted, the devotee-girl replies: O fool! If He had not done that, (and taken to Yoga) the whole world would have taken after him, practised Yoga and attained Liberation! ( That is, there would be no world!)
Jokes apart, the ancient Vedantic religion recognised this truth . The Veda stresses life in the world- worldly prosperity and attainment, not mass abandonment! It advocated the fulfilment of worldly life through householder stage, and quiet retirement at a later stage, after discharging the worldly obligations. The whole of Vedic dharma was discharge of obligation-debt. The Upanishads too stress the importance of the worldly life. The Isa, the first of the Upanishads, clearly says a man should wish to live in the world, performing his duties, for a hundred years-there is no other way! The Taittiriya clearly lists what the student should do on leaving the Gurukula- and sanyasa is not one of these! In the Asrama scheme, Sanyasa comes last, not first or second. Of course there have always been exceptional souls who were spiritual since birth- may be a Sukhadeva here and there. They are the exception not the rule.
It is Buddhism which polluted the system by making every other person a monk- ultimately sinking both the country and itself! Sankara followed in its footsteps, though he made tough rules for his 10 orders of monks. But it is the householder who sustains the orders of the monks! This is made clear beautifully by Tiruvalluvar in Kural.
Incidentally, neither the Vedic, nor the Upanishadic Rishis were monks. They were householders. Indians should give up their fascination for the sanyasis, many of whom are not even genuine- running huge Establishments, owning property,making investments which are not dharmic, and running into all related consequent problems. It has become such a travesty- what they are not supposed to do individually, they do collectively, in the name of the Mutt or organisation!
Vedic religion prescribed strict discipline at all levels but did not advocate mass renunciation.Neither Arjuna was a monk, nor Krishna , his teacher. And the Gita was preached in the battlefield- not in a quiet ashram in the forest, on a river-bank or mountain-top! This is symbolic: we have to live in the world, face the issues and triumph. Some may feel the world has become too complicated. But often we make our life complicated, not the world. If you switch off the mobile or the TV, where is the world? We invite the ditch into our drawing room, and then complain it stinks! The world has always been complicated for that level of development! Earlier people had moral issues to face; modern civilisation has made us amoral, and given us trifling issues to worry about. If we don't read the newspaper in the morning, can we not sip,and enjoy, our coffee? We can make even coffee drinking a prayer. Just think of this sloka:
Suklam bharataram vishnum
Sashi varnam chaturbhujam
Prasanna vadanam dhyayet
Sarva vighnopa santaye.
This is common enough-we all know it. It is about Lord Vinayaka, the remover of obstacles. But how does he remove? By giving us proper buddhi: that is why we strike at the sides of the head as we recite the sloka-to activate our mind, to awaken it from sleep. Most of us feel our mood is out, if we do not have our regular cup of coffee on waking up. But think of Ganesa along with coffee. Here is how: read the new meaning of the sloka:
Suklambharataram: the white garment- that is milk
Vishnum : the dark one- the decoction
Sasi varnam : when the two are mixed, the
resulting colour is the coffee
colour, sasi varnam
Chatur bhujam : We use the dabra and tumbler
and cool the steaming stuff by pouring the contents from one to the other so fast, it appears we are operating with four arms!
Prasanna Vadanam : With the coffee now at the right temperature, and with the first sip in, our smile is on! The face lights up!
What mountains we cannot move in that mood? So, Lord Vinayaka has blessesd us by descending to our cup of coffee! So let us think of and thank him! The Japanese have a beautiful tea ceremony!
( I heard this interpretation of the sloka in a Ramayanam pravachanam in Delhi by a visiting Madras Sastrigal 50 years ago. I have forgotten his name. I thank him, for we can thus start our day with Vinayak dhyanam! )
As we saw above ,Lord Krishna himself has listed the problems with the world. But he is not like the modern economists- expert at detailed analysis of what is wrong, shunya in how to set it right! He gives the solution also: having come to this world which is not permanent, and which is miserable, what should we do? Read philosophy? Retire to a Mountain? No.
Anityam asukham loke
Imam prapya bhajasva maam.
Having attained this transient, joyless world, (or attained this human body), worship Me.
How to worship Him? Seeking in a cave? In a temple? On a mountain? Again, No.
Yat karoshi yadashnasi
Yajjuhoshi dadhasi yat
Yat tapasyasi Kaunteya
Tat kurushva mad arpanam.
O Kaunteya! whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give away, whatever tapas or austerty you practice- do that as an offering unto Me. 9.27
Kaunteya pratijanihi
Na me bhakta pranasyati
O Kaunteya, I clearly declare that My devotee is never destroyed. 9.30.
Man mana bhava madbhakto
Madhyaji maam namaskuru
Mamevaishyasi yuktvaivam
Atmanam mat parayana:
Fill your mind with Me, be My devotee, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Having thus made your heart steadfast in Me, taking Me as the Supreme Goal,you shall come to Me. 9.34.
Mayyeva mana aadatsva
Mayi buddhim niveshaya
Nivasishyasi mayyeva
Ata urdhvam na samshaya:
Fix your mind on me alone. Place your intellect in Me.Then, without doubt, you shall hereafter live in Me. 12.8
Tasmaat savveshu kaaleshu
Maam anusmara yudhya cha
Mayyarpita mano buddhir
Maamevasiyasi asamsaya:
Therefore at all times constantly remember Me and fight. With mind and intellect absorbed in Me, you shall doubtless come to Me. 8.7
Chetasa sarva karmaani
Mayi sanyasya matpara:
Buddhiyogamupaasritya
macchitta satatam bhava.
Resigning mentally all deeds to Me, having Me as the highest goal, resorting to buddhi-yoga, ever fix your mind on Me. 18.57
Mchchitta: sarvadurgaani
Mat prasadaat tarishyasi.
Fixing your mind on Me, you shall, by My grace, overcome all obstacles. 18.58
Man mana bhava mad bhakto
Madyaji maam namaskuru
Maamevaishyasi satyam te
Pratijaane priyosi me
Occupy your mind with Me;be devoted to Me; sacrifice to Me;bow down to Me.You shall reach My very Self. Truly do I promise you- you are dear to Me. 18.65
(This verse occurs twice in the Gita: here and in 9.34. We may therefore realise its importance.)
Coming about 3000 years after Krishna,( Lord Krishna left the earth around 3100BC, when the Kali Age began.) Jesus Christ used more or less the same language, declaring himself as the Truth and the Way! On another occasion, I will fully go into this.
People approach Gurus, saints, sages, Godmen etc not for seeking Wisdom, but seeking some worldly aim, or freedom from pain, relief from suffering, etc.These are perfectly legitimate, as Lord Krishna declared in the Gita. But the Sages are capable of giving much more, meant to give much more. The three modern Masters we have been considering- Sri Ramakrishna, Sai Baba and Ramana Maharshi were very clear on this point. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna does not contain an instance when Sri Ramakrishna blessed anybody with worldly riches. When Keshub Chandra Sen, of whom Sri Ramakrisna was fond, was ill once, Sri Ramakrishna prayed to divine Mother for his health, vowing green coconut, saying "Mother, with whom will I talk in Calcutta if he is not there". But when he visited him at his house during another illness, Keshab's mother asked him to bless him for his recovery. But Sri Ramakrishna declined, saying he could not make such a blessing.
On the 1 January 1886, when he felt a little better, during the long course of his serious illness, Sri Ramakrishna came down from his room upstairs and finding the devotees in the garden, went into ecstasy and touched and blessed them all, awakening their latent spirituality, sending them all into tipsy, and declared: "May all be spiritually awakened". And what bliss did they enjoy! This day is celebrated as Kalpataru Day by devotees.
There is a contrary incident. Vivekananda (then Naren) lost his father and his family suffered in poverty. Naren was struggling for a job, could not get one. He was often hungry, pretending to have eaten, so that his portion of food could be shared by others! He was such a great soul even then! Seeing his suffering, some friends suggested why he could not approach his Master, Sri Ramakrishna whom he was then visiting. So, one day he requested Ramakrishna to pray to the Mother for the improvement of the worldly condition of the family. Sri Ramakrishna said that such a prayer would never escape his lips. Instead, he suggested that Naren himself could go to the temple and pray to Mother, and brought him to the temple and sent him in. Naren went in, sat in front of the Mother and forgot the world and everything! Sri Ramakrishna waited outside and after some time, when Naren came out, he eagerly asked him whether he had prayed and what happened. Naren said that there in Mother's presence, he forgot everything and he could not pray for his prosperity. Chiding him for his forgetfulness, Sri Ramakrishna sent him in again ; again Naren went in, sat there and came back, forgetting to pray for prosperity! It happened one more time. Naren was a born monk and the world was not in him at all! Finally, Sri Ramakrishna himself blessed his family saying they would not lack ordinary food and clothing! Mark the words! And so it happened. At no time did they do very well. Vivekananda had to borrow money to provide a roof over his mothers head- she had no place to stay!But he was cheated out of a portion of even that! The families of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother also suffered. True spirirtuality is not all halwa and jilebi all the time! It is said that God gives what people pray for, but he gives Himself to those who don't ask anything! But as Sri Ramakrishna used to say, we want the magic, and not the magician!
All sorts of people came to Sai Baba as his fame spread, and he used to tell close devotees that he was simply sick of hearing the worldly wishes of the people; no body was prepared to seek what He wanted to give!
The atmosphere in Sri Ramana's presence was entirely spiritual and no body would dare to make a worldly request. Yes, people would mention their problems- especially the regular visitors. Many would write to the Asramam and all letters would be shown to him. It was the experience of many that the moment they wrote a letter or sent a telegram, the problem was solved or the difficulty removed! Many felt that it was enough if they just mentioned matters before him. But Bhagavan attributed everything to Automatic Divine Activity, and in no case did he take credit. His advice to Devaraja Mudaliar once on some anticipated financial gain was : ' if it comes, enjoy by all means, I don't say no; but don't go after it'.
Bhagavan firmly believed in Prarabda, as the very first instruction he ever wrote - this to his mother- clearly shows. We may pray, but the result is in the hands of God. Of the four Hindu purusharthas, he held that artha and kama are decided by prarabda and we could not do anything in the matter. We have taken this body due to prarabda and it has to fulfil its course. (Artha and kama are what Sri Ramakrishna used to designate as 'Kamini-kachanam'- this world runs on , by and for this!) But it is wrong for people to leave their spiritual life and welfare in the control of prarabda- we should always strive for spiritual upliftment and liberation. He used to say that this is the real purushartha. Sadhu Om has explained this beautifully in Tamil.All three masters are united in this.
There is a very moving pasage in the Bhagavatam, where the Gopis call themselves " ASULKA DASIKA" ie unpaid servants of Krishna! Such was their devotion that they never sought anything from Krishna- they just wanted his presence! In his Bhakti sutras, Narada gives only the Gopis as the example of Bhakti!. This is the 'ananya bhakti' that the Gita speaks of- we don't seek or think of anything but God!
We know we are no bhaktas at all but traders- we put a little money in the hundi, and expect a larger return! This is our idea of God.
In our vast bhakti literature, there are many exquisite poems- unfortunately there is no elegant, good literary translation either in English or Tamil, Most are just pedestrian. But most stotras pray for worldly welfare. The phalasruti cantains a whole menu of what the reciter will get. The elders had an explanation. In our younger days, we used to be given some bitter kashayam, or oil for cleaning the stomach periodically.Or some medicine which did not taste well. The mother would keep a chocolate or sweet in hand and say , 'oh dear, swallow this medicine, I will give you the sweet!. Likewise, our sastra mother gives the inducement of the rewards in phalasruti and elsewhere, for us to take to prayer which is the real medicine for the ills of life. That literature therefore is best which acts as the medicine for the ills of life.
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