charama-shlOka

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

 

Reading all the interesting mails last week on the subject of

"charama-shlOka" --- notably those of Sri.Murali Rangaswamy, Sri.Anbil

and Sri.Sadagopan --- I can't help remembering an old story connected

with the subject.

 

A good man once approached a Wise One for advice on the art of living.

He was told to start with a thorough study of the Bhagavath-gita.

 

The man went home and eagerly took up the first chapter. Halfway through

the chapters on the 'sankhya-yoga' his mind boggled and, poor man,he

simply gave up.

 

He returned to the Wise One to complain "Sir, there are eighteen

chapters in the Gita. If each of them is as formidable as the first

couple of ones then I am afraid I must tell you I am woefully unequal to

the daunting task."

 

"Can you instead direct me," pleaded the man with the Wise One, "can you

direct me to the heart of the Gita texts so that I can grasp their core

of sacred essence without having to traverse their entire length?".

 

The Wise One replied, "If 18 chapters are too much for you, my friend,

then you better restrict your study to the passages on the "bhakti-yoga"

alone."

 

"Thank you, O noble, Sir", said the good man to the Wise One and

departed.

 

Back home our good friend opened the Gita text and began his arduous

inquiry into the 'bhakti-yoga'. The chapter was long and the passages

seemingly interminable…..

 

Soon the man gave up the effort and returned to the Wise One.

 

"Sir, the chapters on the "bhakti-yoga" too are beyond my powers of

comprehension! Can you direct me to a single 'shlOka' which may be said

to nutshell the entire Gita?"

 

The Wise One was by now annoyed with the man's attitude… so typical of

the modern time when everyone expects to maximise rewards while

expending minimum effort.

 

However he patiently advised, "My friend, if you want the Gita in a

nutshell go to the verse called the 'charama-shlOka" : "sarva dharmAm

parityajja….etc. You might find in it whatever you are looking for in

this world".

 

Our friend, the seeker of Truth, returned home, delighted in the

discovery that the whole of the Gita could be absorbed through the study

of a single verse! He spent the rest of the day in zealous attempts to

commit to memory the Lord's 'charama-shlOka'.

 

After about an hour's effort he gave up!

 

Returning to the wise One he confessed, "Sir, the 32-syllabled

"charama-shlOka" eludes my mind."

 

"So what do you want me to do about it?" asked the wise One with now

barely concealed exasperation.

 

"Pray, direct me to a single phrase, expression or word in the verse

which may be said to epitomize the Gita.That way I can rest content that

I have ingested all of the substance of the Lord's message in a verbal

capsule."

 

The Wise One thought for a while and replied:

 

"Leave out "sarva dharmAm parittyajja"; leave out "mamEkam saranam

vraja"; leave out "aham tva sarva pApEBhyo moksha~ishyAmi"…..

 

Then after a pause the Wise one said, "Hold steadfast to the last phrase

"ma shucha:". It means "Do not worry or grieve" Believe me it's verily

the essence of the Lord's Gita… "DO NOT WORRY".It's the secret of

life.Hold on to that phrase all your life and never let go of it!"

 

The good man went away absolutely delighted in the discovery of the

Bhaavath-gita… muttering "ma shucha:", "ma shucha:"….

 

(story -- courtesy my "mAnaseega-AchAryan" Sriman Mukkur

Lakshminarasimhachariar)

**********************************

 

For those who harbour disquieting reservations about the first person

voice of the "charama-shlOka"... merely repeating "ma shucha:" may be an

equally effective alternative to chanting the whole.

 

Think about it and let me know how you feel about it.

 

adiyEn dAsAnu dAsan,

sudarshan

 

 

 

____

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sudarshan :

 

The coincidence of receiving your mail soon after

listening this morning to the most insightful and

blessed upanyAsam of Srimadh Azhagiya Singar

some ten minutes ago can only be described as

extraordinary .The great Jeeyar was blessing us

from Thuvarimaan near Madhurai and was reaching us

all over the USA .

 

In an hour long tele-bridge upanyAsam to

the AasthikAs of North America ,His Holiness

the Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt chose the topic

of SaraNAgathi , Chaarama slOkam and

GeethaAchAryan as Sarva Rakshakan and

Moksha DhAyakan .He pointed out the importance

of SaranAgathi with profound quotations

from purvAchAryAs and AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis .

It was one of the most blessed experiences

of one's life time to listen to the anugraha

bhAshaNam of H.H. The Jeeyar . I will try to

summarize the highlights later .

 

Since the Mahaan Mukkur LakshminrusimhAcchAr Swamy

is a matam sishyar with the 42nd and 43rd Jeeyars as His

AchAryAs , it was another great coincidence .

 

The next coincidence is that you are connected to both

Kaanchi and ThiruvEnkatam by birth . At Kaanchi , the Moolavar

displays in His hastham " maa Sucha : " that you wrote about.

At Oppiliappan Koil , ThiruviNNagarappan displays in

His lower right hand the words of the same charama slOkam ,

" MaamEkam SaraNam vraja ". What a complimentary message from

both the ArchA Murthys ! At ThiruviNNagar, the Lord

accepted the SaraNAgathi of NammAzhwAr .Kaanchi

VaradarAjan sent as presents both AchArya RaamAnujA

and Swami Desikan to Sri RanganAthan .

 

Today is a blessed day to stir all these

thoughts arising from H.H.The Jeeyar's

anugraha bhAshaNam and it is only

appropriate to thank Sri ParthasArathy

Dileepan to identify the exactly right kind of

Tele-bridge connection to enjoy the upadEsam of

the great Jeeyar without any technical problems .

 

The MahA KaaruNikar , H.H. The Jeeyar rushed to

bless us after participating in the DolOthsavam

for KaNNan at His sanchAra aasthAnam at ThuvarimAn ,

where another great Ahobila Matam Jeeyar

( H.H. The 40th pattam )has his BrindhAvanam

on the banks of Vaighai river .He ascended to

Parama Padham on a Thai KrishNa paksha TrayOdasi

day . This year , that memorable day

falls on February 13 . This Jeeyar's( H.H. The 40th Jeeyar's)

archA mUrthy is so beautiful and reminds one

of Swami Desikan's archai at ThiruvahIndhrapuram .

All of these anubhavams might have gone thru the mind

of the Prakrutham Parama Hamsa Jeeyar to choose the topic

of SaraNAgathi as parama hitham for today's

updEsam and quote profusely from Swami Desikan's

Sri Sookthis and Thirumazhisai AzhwAr's extraordinary

pasuram on SaraNAgathi .

 

AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradaachAri Sadagopan

 

 

 

At 07:36 AM 2/7/99 PST, you wrote:

>Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

>

-- I can't help remembering an old story connected

>with the subject.

>

>A good man once approached a Wise One for advice on the art of living.

>

>However he patiently advised, "My friend, if you want the Gita in a

>nutshell go to the verse called the 'charama-shlOka" : "sarva dharmAm

>parityajja….etc. You might find in it whatever you are looking for in

>this world".

>

>

>Returning to the wise One he confessed, "Sir, the 32-syllabled

>"charama-shlOka" eludes my mind."

>

>"So what do you want me to do about it?" asked the wise One with now

>barely concealed exasperation.

>

>"Pray, direct me to a single phrase, expression or word in the verse

>which may be said to epitomize the Gita.That way I can rest content that

>I have ingested all of the substance of the Lord's message in a verbal

>capsule."

>

>The Wise One thought for a while and replied:

>

>"Leave out "sarva dharmAm parittyajja"; leave out "mamEkam saranam

>vraja"; leave out "aham tva sarva pApEBhyo moksha~ishyAmi"…..

>

>Then after a pause the Wise one said, "Hold steadfast to the last phrase

>"ma shucha:". It means "Do not worry or grieve" Believe me it's verily

>the essence of the Lord's Gita… "DO NOT WORRY".It's the secret of

>life.Hold on to that phrase all your life and never let go of it!"

>

>The good man went away absolutely delighted in the discovery of the

>Bhaavath-gita… muttering "ma shucha:", "ma shucha:"….

>

>(story -- courtesy my "mAnaseega-AchAryan" Sriman Mukkur

>Lakshminarasimhachariar)

>**********************************

>

>For those who harbour disquieting reservations about the first person

>voice of the "charama-shlOka"... merely repeating "ma shucha:" may be an

>equally effective alternative to chanting the whole.

>

>Think about it and let me know how you feel about it.

>

>adiyEn dAsAnu dAsan,

>sudarshan

>

>