bandhus & jantus

[Guest guest]

srimathe lakshmi-nrsimha parabrahmane namaha

sri vedanta gurave namaha

 

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

 

You will be surprised to know that much of Vedic and Vedantic scripture

(the Srutis, Upanishads) and much of Veda-inspired literature like the

"puranA-s" and "itihAsA-s" also brim with references and allusions to

the "cosmic orphan-hood" of the human species!

 

In SriVaishnava tradition the sense of cosmic desolation or helplessness

felt by Man (described briefly in my last post on Loren Eisely) is

variously described in Sanskrit as "kArpannyam", "AkInchanatvam" and

"naichyAnusandhAna". The 4000 verses of the Azwar’s "divya-prabhandhams"

and the magnificent compositions of SriRamanuja, Kuresan, Bhattar and

Swami Desikan are all deeply interwoven around the common leitmotif of

the essential orphan-hood of Man.

 

Objective and scientific inquiry, on the one hand, and deeply personal

and religious experience, on the other, converge in some rare cases, as

in this instance, onto the same lofty Truth! It is what perhaps led even

the hard-nosed English logician and philosopher, John Stuart Mill, to

once admit, "There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be

realized until personal experience has brought it home."

 

Amazingly, the sense of man’s "cosmic orphan-hood", spoken of in rather

grim and morbid terms by modern science, is regarded in the Vedantic

tradition, in fact, as an unqualified blessing for him! Man’s deep sense

of his cosmic disenfranchisement, seen by modern science to be some kind

of fatal flaw in his biological character and make-up is regarded,

however, in the Vedic religion to be God’s best opportunity to reclaim

humanity!

 

In the SriVaishnava tradition, the pathway "from orphan-hood to Godhead"

is actually a well-beaten, oft-travelled route for the human spirit that

wishes to soar!

 

Through a plethora of "purAnic" lore and devotional poetry, the Vedic

masters affirm, again and again, that when true awareness of being a

"cosmic orphan" -– of being utterly helpless ("AkInchanan") and

abandoned in a spiritual desert —- when such awareness dawns in a man…

or in any "jantu" for that matter… you can be sure the great journey

to God-realization has well and truly begun!

 

Great spiritual Masters actually hail "AkInchanatvam" as the greatest

manna that heaven can bestow on man. The sense of being a "cosmic

orphan" is in fact declared by Swami Desikan in a verse of extremely

intense feeling (in the "Dehaleesa-stuti"-Verse#25) to

be Man’s "mahA-dhanam" ie. "priceless, measureless wealth" conferred on

man by the gods:

 

"manyE dayAr-dahrdayEna mahA-dhanam may

dhat-tham tvayE-damanapAya-akinchana-tvam I

yEna sthanan-Dhayamiva svahitA-naBhighnyam

nyAsIkarOshi nijapAda-sarO-ruhay mAm II

 

My free translation of the central idea in the verse:

 

"Mighty indeed is an infant’s frailty

That dost make mothers

Tremble with love

And scurry

God-speed

To suckle their little one!

 

Such is mine own strength too

My Lord!

My destitution, my pitiable state

Which verily is my riches,

Shalt surely, by and by,

Bring Thee to me!

 

We see here a curious irony if we look closely:

 

Both the religious mystic and the modern scientist, no doubt, come to

the same intuitive awareness of the "cosmic orphan" that Man is.

 

To the scientist such awareness presents itself (as it obviously did

in the case of Loren Eisely) merely as a spiritual dead-end --- an

experience of Man’s metaphysical and terminal desolation on earth…

period!

 

But the great Vedic "AchAryA-s" go forward and far beyond scientific

"dead-ends"!

 

To the great Masters the awareness of "orphan-hood", of "kArpannyam" or

of Man’s spiritual helplessness in the face of a terrifying Cosmos,

presents itself as opportunity for Man’s redemption from the plight of

his own humanity. It is opportunity for man to become "un-flawed" in his

natural state, to become "un-incomplete", to turn "un-unfinished", as it

were --- and to be able to reach for the Heavens themselves, so to say!

 

We see therefore, in this case, that where Science confronts a

cul-de-sac Religion beholds instead a veritable Gateway to Heaven! When

Science tends to slink away into a mood of philosophical despondency,

Religion holds out the glimmer of hope and of faith for Man!

 

Next we must ask ourselves some important questions:

 

We say that the dawn of "AkInchanatvam" or awareness of "cosmic

orphan-hood" in a man -- or in any "jantu" -- is his first step taken

towards Godhead.

 

How are we to know,in the first place, that such an awareness has been

born in us ?

 

How do we recognize within our hearts the experience of "kArpannyam"?

 

Many of us at some time in our lives have, on a sultry night perhaps,sat

on a terraced balcony at home and gazed into the night sky. We may have

then turned a little contemplative as we watched the stillness of the

empty spaces vaulting above us. On such occasions of brief but profound

reflection, we find ourselves suddenly struck by the awesome mysteries

of the heavenly spheres. It is then we realize, rather uneasily perhaps,

how puny and inconsequential we really are in the great cosmic scheme of

things! We actually sense how helpless and abject ("akInchina") we

really are as "jantus" or as plain and simple beings of nature!

 

Are we right to conclude, in such moments, that true awareness of Man’s

great "cosmic orphan-hood" has actually dawned on us?

 

If so, then as the "AchAryA-s" have revealed, are we all well on our way

to spiritual enlightenment?

 

If it took only an evening of gazing into the night sky from the balcony

in our homes to arrive at the awareness of Man being a "cosmic orphan",

then, would the Loren Eiselys of the world earn or deserve half the

eminence they command in the world today? Or would

we all ever be moved to hold the "AzhwArs" or Swami Desikan in so mcuh

esteem and with so much awe and reverence?

 

No, true insight into Man’s "kArpannyam" does not come that easily. It

arrives but rarely amongst men and when it does it is usually

accompanied by searing pain in the soul and copious tears from the

heart… the sort which is evident in the poetry of the "AzhwArs" and

Swami Desikan.

 

The question nevertheless keeps nagging us, doesn't it:

 

"How do we ascertain for ourselves that we have arrived at an intuitive

awareness of our "AkInchanatvam" or of our being "cosmic orphans of

creation"?

 

The "AchAryA-s" have devised a simple test to help us answer the above

question.

 

The test is this:

 

"When we have begun to understand that our earthly "bandhu-s" have

forsaken us, then indeed do we turn true "AkInchanA-s"(cosmic orphans)

on the road to God-realization."

 

Now what do the "AchAryA-s" mean by this?

 

We shall examine the question in the next post.

 

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yatindra mahadesikaya namaha

sudarshan