lakshmi-nrsimha karavalmba stotram-5

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

 

The 9 primal fears of man have been described in the

"lakshmi-nsrismha-karAvalamba stOtram" through 9 poetic metaphors:

 

(a) "… jwAlAvalee" : the forest-fire

 

(b) "…jAla-pati-tasya" : the fish-net

 

© "…koopa" : the well, the abyss

 

(d) "…Bheekara-kareendra" : the irate tusker

 

(e) "…sarpaGana" : the serpent

 

(f) " … vruksha" : the tree

 

(g) "…nakra" : the alligator

 

(h) "…sAgara" : the sea

 

(i) "…gahanE" : the forest

 

 

Many of you, I'm sure, will not fail to quickly notice that the

principal archetypes of fear Sankara bhagavatpAdA refers to in his

hymn above also appear… and not coincidentally perhaps… in the

"purAN-ic" and endearing tale of 'prahlAda'. That poor child of the

"rAkshasA" emperor, Hiranyakashipu, we all know, was thrown into the

middle of the "sea" ("sAgara") to drown. They engaged palace tuskers

in raging rut ("Bheekara-kareendra") to trample the poor child. They

hurled him down into a rocky abyss ("koopa") from high above a cliff

in the hills of Ahobilam. Then they tried tossing the boy into a pit

full of writhing, hissing and hideous serpents ("sarpaGana"). And when

they failed to get rid of him otherwise they deserted the child in the

jungle ("gahanE") to face the grim death which either a raging

forest-fire ("jwAlAvalee") or a swamp-alligator ("nakra") might have

easily dealt.

 

By alluding to the same archetypes of fear in the stanzas of the

"karAvalamba-stOtrA" as were used in the "purAnA", we see how Sankara

skilfully touches a raw nerve in the recesses of our mind…and triggers

in it…as we slowly recite the verses of the "karAvalamba-stOtrA"…he

evokes in our minds the dark and sepulchral spectre of Man's most

primal of fears.

 

The horrors hinted in the 'stOtrA' are not, thus, simply those which

Hiranyakassipu in some distant past in "purAn-ic' times intended for a

truant and rebellious son. We are led by Sankara bhagavatpAdA to

instead believe that they are, in truth, the horrors of the living

day… of the present and daily moment! And, again, the victim of those

"purAn-ic" terrors is not really PrahlAda. The unfortunate and

unguarded victims… the "stOtrA' subtly reminds us…the real victims

of those terrors are none other than ourselves!

 

The fear of the raging forest-fire, the "jwAlavalee", or of the mad

elephant ("bheekara-kareendra")… or of the vicious serpents

("sarpaGana")…these are all fears which come to perennially haunt us

in this world…. These are the fears which WE must seek to overcome…

These are all indeed the fears of life from which WE have to seek

freedom….

 

If we have not understood this truth of the "purAn-ic" tale of

"prahlAdA"… if we have not grasped this stark lesson from that hoary

legend of our faith which generations of our "purvAchAryA-s" have

never tired of recounting… then, truly indeed, we have learnt nothing

at all from one of the greatest stories ever told in all the Vedic

tradition of ancient India!

 

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

 

If the archetypes of fear used in the "pUrAn-ic" story of "prahlAdA"

are the same ones which Sankara's 9 (nine) poetic metaphors evoke in

the verses of the "lakshmi-nrsimha karAvalamba stOtram", what are

they?

 

The 9 Archetypes of Fear are as follows:

 

(a) "… jwAlAvalee" : the forest-fire i.e Desire

 

(b) "…jAla-pati-tasya": the fish-net i.e The tyranny of the senses

 

© "…koopa" : the well, the abyss i.e Sorrow

 

(d) "…Bheekara-kareendra" : the irate tusker i.e Death

 

(e) "…sarpaGana" : the serpent i.e. Evil

 

(f) " … vruksha" : the tree i.e Delusion

 

(g) "…nakra" : the alligator i.e Time

 

(h) "…sAgara" : the sea i.e Personal oblivion

 

(i) "…gahanE" : the forest i.e Transmigration

 

 

We must next proceed to examine each of the above.

Next post.

 

adiyEn dAsAnu-dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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