Musings on #39 of Desikan's RG

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srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNe namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

 

When you examine the circumstances under which "transcending of

"sva-dharmA"" was accomplished in the 'araNyA-kAndam' by Jatayu, you would

be tempted to think that Lord Rama's effort in the same direction, which we

essayed in my last posting, pales by comparison and emerges only a close

second !!

 

What an "avatar" of the Lord only demonstrated, a mere bird actually practised !

 

What an "avatar" of the Lord simply hinted, a mere bird turned into a

splendid and monumental moment in epic-history !!

 

All of you are aware, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', that of all the animal

instincts that rule the jungle the INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL is the strongest,

most primal and urgent. In the jungle the search for food and sustenance is

a constant and life-long mission for many species of animals. Not a day

passes when a creature of the forest does not think of food for itself and

its brood. Daybreak, dusk, winter, spring, through torrential rain or raging

forest-fire .... whatever be the physical circumstance .... an animal is

ever pre-occupied with the need for food.

 

This is such a powerful instinct, indeed, that it virtually fuels all

activity in the jungle --- the tiger on the prowl, the wolf on the hunt, the

bear that goes stalking its prey and the alligator that waits silently in

water to ambush its victim .. ....

 

It is also the very same instinct, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', that drives the

vulture, the eagle, the buzzard or the great falcon to perenially keep

foraging the length and breadth of the forest for carrion !!

 

By inherent nature, or by "sva-dharmA", if you like, certain species of

birds like the vulture, do not need to hunt or stalk for food. It is their

lot to wander high amidst the clouds over the jungle and keep looking out on

the ground for where a hunting "kill" has taken place and carrion is left

behind ---- meat of animal carcass left behind by large predatory animals,

like lion or tiger, after having ravished their "kills". When vultures

overhead spot such "dead-meat" from the sky they are seen then to swoop down

in a flock to the site of such "kills" on the ground. And once there, they

fiercely compete amongst their own kindred to get a fair share of the

"dead-meat".

 

This is how, we know, vultures feed.

 

Some days they get their fair share of food. Most days vultures have to go

without a decent meal !

 

Which is why, perhaps, in the English language, we attribute "the lean and

hungry look of a vulture", to persons, we suspect, are "parasites"

perenially and habitually "feeding" on the remains of another's work or

effort !!

 

Now, let us for a moment turn our attention to the dramatic situation in the

"Dandaka" woods when Ravana appeared there in disguise.

 

In this scene we must pause and imagine Ravana to be the "hunter", the

Dandaka-woods to be "hunting ground" and "Sita-pirAtti" as, indeed, the quarry.

 

If the above is true then, for Jatayu, it may all have appeared as the

perfect setting where a predator is about to make a "kill" !!

 

If you continue to further follow closely the dramatic script in the

'araNya- kAndam', you will observe Ravana appearing before Princess Sita and

first persuading Her to "elope" with him. Sita dismisses him. Ravana then

gives up the pretence of disguise; threatens to molest her unless she

willingly goes with him immediately to Lanka. Sita, the poor helpless soul,

protests and resists Ravana's flagrant overtures. Ravana next gradually

loses patience and begins to rave and rant. Eventually he begins to bellow

out threats to Sita and warns her of physical violence. Sita, undaunted,

does not relent.

 

Now, 'dear bhAgavatOttamA-s', try and picture in your own minds what the

above scene would look like to a vulture, sitting atop some tree-branch

nearby !!

 

A hungry vulture, watching this scene from a distance, must have been

extremely gratified to witness this tussle between the "predator", Ravana,

and the "prey", "Sita-pirAtti" !!

 

The scene would have seemed to a carrion-bird, like Jatayu, as the perfect

moment, or moments, just before a predator strikes down its helpless prey,

crushing it with a swipe of its horrendous paw and sinking its mighty fangs

into the helpless throat of the hunted !!

 

The vulture would then have gleefully looked forward to the actual moment

when the "kill" would take place. The hungry bird would then anticipate the

'predator' to ravish itself on the 'prey' and after fully satiating its

hunger, leave behind plenty of carrion on which the anticipating vulture,

eagerly hovering above the scene, could swoop down on and then leisurely

feast to its heart's content !!!

 

Please appreciate, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', that for Jatayu, the vulture,

this scene in the Dandaka-woods might well have meant the prospect of a

"full day's meal" --- something for which hungry vultures go to any effort

or extent, since it would mean satisfying one of their most powerful

"instincts" : the "instinct" ("sva-dharmA"), as we explained above, of

"hunger and survival".

 

In fact, if you think about it deeply, given the dramatic context of the

"Ramayana", there might well have been a "kill" in the Dandaka woods at that

point of time in the "araNya-kAndam"!

 

Two tragic events might well have happened there, at that point of time,

when Jatayu was witnessing Ravana's molestation of 'Sita-pirAtti' :

 

A) Ravana may have become so incensed and frustrated with Sita's

intransigence he may well have been provoked into drawing his sword and

either killing her then and there or perhaps grievously wounding her ;

OR

B) 'Sita-pirAtti', hopelessly struggling to resist Ravana's physical

violence, and realizing that all hope of Rama coming to her rescue was

futile, may have decided, then and there, to take her own life. She

might well have,in a moment of utter desperation, snatched Ravana's

sword from him and plunged it herself into her bosom.

 

I don't know if you agree with the above two hypothetical scenarios, dear

friends, but I personally believe they are both extremely credible given the

characterisation of both "Sita-pirAtti" and of Ravana in the entire Ramayana

epic.

 

But the important point to note is that in either of the above two

situations,(A) or (B), Jatayu, the vulture, would have been assured of the

"dead-meat" of "Sita-pirAtti" and could well have looked forward to

comfortably fulfilling its "sva-dharmA" of "foraging for food" !!

 

Indeed, at that moment, one would "naturally" have expected a vulture like

Jatayu to patiently wait for, or even actively aid Ravana to complete,

"Sita-pirAtti'skill" !! There would have been nothing morally

reprehensible in Jatayu's behaviour since it would only have been playing

true to the "sva-dharmA" of an ordinary vulture looking out to feed itself

somehow !!

 

But Jatayu, dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s', at that moment chose to "transcend" its

own "sva-dharmA" !! It chose to "give-up" its primal instincts of hunger and

of the will to survive !! It set aside its raw, gnawing biological needs !!

It looked at the danger in which "Sita-pirAtti" was at that moment and She

did not appear to the Great Bird as prospective "dead-meat" but as the

Divine Consort of the Lord of Creation !!

 

Jatayu thus immediately 'abandoned' its 'sva-dharmA' and chose to embrace a

higher order of "dharmA'. In other words, it "ceased to depend" (to use

Sri.Rajaji's phrase for the "charama-shlOka") on the wonted "natural" codes

("sva-dharmA") of conduct given to the whole species of animals called

"vultures" to abide by under normal circumstances of living !!

 

Jatayu embraced, instead, a higher order of hierarchic-"dharmA" --- called

the "sAdhAraNa-dharmA" of human beings !

 

That takes us next logically, as it were, to a discussion of

'sAdhAraNa-dharmA', dear 'bhAgavatOttamA-s'.

 

But we shall continue only in my next posting.

 

I had intended to conclude this series of postings of mine well before the

end of 1996. I had looked forward to be able to quietly enjoy in the NEW

YEAR the postings of other "bhAgavatOttamA-s" like Sriman Sadagopan,

Sri.Mani Varadarajan, Sri.Rengarajan, Sri.Rangaswamy, Sri Sundar,

Sri.Bharadwaj, Sri.Mohan Sagar and others. Unfortunately, the substance of

Stanza #39 of the 'Raghuveera-gadyam' seems to me to be interminably

glorious and I am not able to conclude discussion of it in the time I had

allotted for it myself.

 

However, soon during the first week of January '97 I shall conclude this

series after discussing 'sAdhAraNa-dharmA' and "visEsha-dharmA'.

 

Wishing all of you on this last day of 1996 a very happy and prosperous 1997.

 

May the Lord of Ahobilam protect us all !!

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan