4th follow-up on 'PPS'

[Guest guest]

srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha

sri vedanta desika guravE namaha

 

Dear 'bhagavatOttamA-s',

 

Parashara Bhattar led his disciple down a SriRangam street to a large

"pandal" (a sprawling make-shift canopy erected on street-kerbs on festive

occasions). He pointed to one of the bamboo-poles supporting the structure

and asked :

"Tell me, boy, what is this ?"

"It is a bamboo-pole, sir," replied the disciple.

"And what is this that has been wound around the pole?"

"It is a streamer, Sir, woven out of the bark-fibre of the coconut tree".

"And how does it look ?", asked the Bhattar.

"It looks very pretty and colourful, Sir. They have painted it all for the

occasion, as you can see," remarked the disciple.

"And what is this here ?", continued Bhattar.

"It is a festoon of the leaves of the banana-tree. ("thOraNum")".

"And how does it look ?"

"Why, it looks very lush and pleasing to the eye, Sir," replied the disciple.

"And, boy, tell me what is this here ?", Sri.Bhattar persisted.

"It is a colourful banner made of leaves of the mango-tree ("mAvalai-kodi'),

Sir."

"And how does this banner look, boy ?".

"It's been plaited together with floral wreaths; its a festive and colourful

sight, Sir, indeed !", said the disciple.

 

Sri.Parashara next drew the boy closer to him and looked him in the eye and

spoke to his disciple :

"Now, answer me, boy. The streamer, the festoon and the banner here, which

you say all look so pretty, why have all these been strung up here on this

pandal?".

 

The disciple thought hard for a moment.

 

Then he answered,"Sir, these have been put up here for the occasion of our

Lord Ranga's "utsavam"."

 

"Smart boy!", said the Bhattar gleefully,"I say, however, that the streamer,

festoon and the banner have been put up here not so much for the occasion of

Lord Ranga's procession as for the purpose of ornamenting this structure of

a "pandal" here ! Now what say you to that, eh?" asked Bhattar.

 

The disciple fell silent and contemplated Sri.Parasharar's remark for a full

minute.

 

It was then that Sri.Bhattar's lesson slowly sank into his comprehension.

 

The boy looked up into Bhattar's face. The tears then welled up in his eyes.

He fell at his guru's feet and prostrated and said,

 

"Honourable Sir, please forgive me! Please pardon this sinner. I have

understood your "virakthi" now truly. Out of ignorance and inexperience I

mistook your sartorial bearing today as a sign of your insincerity to the

values of true "virakthi" and "vairAgyam". But now I have understood what

you truly mean, Sir!"

 

The Bhattar gathered his young disciple up in his arms, stroked his tearful

cheeks and whispered in his ears :

 

"My pet, my little pet, if it were not for the Lord's procession this

morning would there be need for this "pandal" here ? Similarly, if it were

not for the Lord's Will ("ichcha") would there be any need for this world

("prakriti")? Would there be need for even you and me ("jivAtmA's")? Now

when they decorated this "pandal" here with streamers, festoons and banners,

they did it,of course, to enhance the beauty of this canopy; but what is the

real purpose for display of such beauty ? It is for our Lord Ranga's

procession, really, isn't it? If Lord Ranga didn't come by this way this

morning, would any fool take the trouble of hanging streamers and festoons

around this dumb and dead timber ? If it were not for the Lord's "utsavam"

and His Exclusive Pleasure, where would we confine, I ask you, these silly

things like festoons and banners ? In the dust-bin, isn't it ? We would

treat them all with a kind of "virakthi" (indifference) isn't it? They would

have no more lofty purpose other than to be used as menial implements such

as domestic broom-sticks ("thOdappam") or kitchen firewood ("varatti"),

isn't it ?"

 

"Likewise, my boy", Sri.Parasharar continued,"when we talk of "virakthi" and

"vairAgyam", we refer to them as appropriate emotional responses to a world

not serving the Pleasure of the Lord ("bhagavth-AgnyA","bhagavath-icchai"

etc.). So long as the things of this world serve us not in offering Ranga

His Due Pleasure ("bhagavath-kainkaryam"), they deserve nothing but our

unqualified revulsion (virakthi). But occasionally even such worldly things

-- like the streamers, festoons and banners here did today -- do serve The

Lord's Purpose or Pleasure ! At those times, my dear boy, we should embrace

the world, and freely rejoice and indulge in it ! Even the objects of our

"virakthi" would then turn into objects of Pleasure for the Lord ! It then

becomes our duty as His servants ("sEsha"), my dear boy, to offer Him

("sEshi") and for His Sole Pleasure, the very same "material" world that

otherwise would deserve our revulsion!

 

"Tell me, which is greater to us, after all -- Ranga's Pleasure or our own

"vairAgyam" ?!!".

 

"It is in that spirit of "virakthi" or "vairAgyam", my dear little boy, that

I wore all these fine clothes and diamond ear-studs on my body today. These

are but like your streamers, festoons and banners for this body ("sarira")

of mine akin to this "pandal" here erected for the Lord's procession !".

 

"Understand, my dear disciple," said Sri.Parashara Bhattar finally,"that the

practice of "virakthi" or "vairAgyam" (self-abnegation), by itself, will not

carry you far forward to the Lord if there is, within your heart, no

awareness of the "sEsha-sEshi sambhandham" (Master-Servant equation) between

ourselves and Ranga. Without that understanding, my dear boy, the practice

of "virakthi" or "vairAgyam" will not only be vain and empty but also

fruitless effort."

 

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I trust now, dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", that Sri.Bhattar's aforesaid

"nirvAham" adequately addresses Question (B) we posed to ourselves as follows :

 

"(B) Even after performing 'prappati' in the 'prasadana-parva', how does one

still reconcile the fact that one has to continue accepting, to some

inevitable degree, the same "indulgences" and "excesses" of quotidian

existence in a "material" world that was once the object of the "prapanna's"

"virakthi" and the source of his "bheethi" ?"

 

We have one more related question to be next examined i.e. (A).

 

There's another Bhattar-"nirvAham" for that one !!

 

We shall discuss it in my next post.

 

srimathE srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha

 

sudarshan