lakshmi-nrsimha-karAvalamba-stOtram-19

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

 

The last post (No:18) ended saying that the clue to understanding Sankara's

poetic metaphor, "samsAra-vruksha", in the 8th stanza of the

"lakshmi-nrsimha-karAvalmba-stOtram" … the clue to understanding that

particular term lies in probing what the 'Tree of Knowledge or Life' is

really all about:

 

"samsAra-vruksha" (or the 'World Tree', which with the help of the

'Brittanica' entry we learn) is the "VITAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WORLD OF

GODS AND THE HUMAN WORLD", the "SOURCE OF TERRESTRIAL FERTILITY AND LIFE…

and is PROTECTED BY SUPERNATURAL GUARDIANS".

 

The above definition, when taken at both face and real value, leads us to

believe the "samsAra-vruksha" Sankara was referring to in this verse of the

LNKS was… unmistakably … the "Vedas". For, if anything definitive at all

can be said about the Veda in layman terms it is certainly this: (1) It is a

great 'Tree'. (2) It is protected by supernatural guardians. (3) It is the

connection between the world of gods and the human world. (4) It is the

source of terrestrial fertility and life.

 

(1) Why is the Veda poetically conceived as a great "vruksha"?

 

The word 'Veda' is derived from the Sanskrit root "vid" … i.e. "to know" and

the "veda" thus literally means "Knowledge". This 'Knowledge' is conceived

in the form of a great Tree. The Tamils, in fact, refer to the Veda as

"marai", "maramOduvadhu" etc. And the variant "maram" literally means "tree"

in the Tamil language. All those who embrace the Veda know only too well

that every possible characteristic of a great tree is in fact associated

with it. Hence:

 

--- Chapter 15 in the Bhagavath-gita (about which we will have more to say

in the following posts) begins with the ringing, esoteric words:

 

" sri bhagavAnUvAcha:

 

"urdhva-moolam aDah:shAkham

aswattham prAhur avyayam

chandAmsi yasya parNani

yas tam veda sa vedavit" II

 

(Thus spake Bhagavan Krishna: "There is a banyan Tree and it has its roots

going upward and its branches going down! It has the Vedic hymns for its

leaves! He who knows this Tree knows the Vedas too!")

 

--- The "manu-smriti" says: "vEdo'khilo dharmamulam"… where "mulam" refers

to "root", which is to say, "The Vedas are the ROOT of all "dharmA"",

--- The Vedas are also commonly known to be divided into 4 "shAkA-s" i.e.

tree BRANCHES of learning called Rg., Yajur, Sama and Atharva.

--- Then the Vedic Tree is also known to have its LIMBS called "vEdAngas":

"siksha", "vyAkarana", "chandas", "nirukta", "jyOtisa" and "kalpa". These in

turn further are said to STEM out into "upangA-s" called "meemAmsa",

"nyAya", "purAna" and "dharmasAstra".

--- If the Veda is a Tree, the "AchAryA-s" also explain, then the "samhita"

may be said to be its FOLIAGE, the FLOWER its "brAhmaNa", the unripe FRUIT

its "Aranyaka" and the mellowed FRUIT its "upanishads".

 

(2) Next, why is it said that the Veda is "protected by supernatural

guardians"?

 

The Veda is "apowrusheya" and "anAdi"… It is as ageless and limitless as the

cosmos. It has no authorship. It has no such thing as a "first published

date". In pre-history it seemed to have been all revealed to seers

("r-shis") as Pure Sound ("mantrA") in moments of true inspiration.

 

Over the centuries only once (under the aegis of the great Sage Vyasa) has

the Veda ever undergone any sort of "revision" and re-issued as a sort of

"new edition". Thereafter neither abridgement nor embellishment has ever

been necessary for it. Until about a few thousand years ago not a word of it

was ever written down… not on stones or tree-barks and not on palm-leaves or

paper. Instead it remained indelibly etched in the memories and hearts of

men. The Veda perpetuated itself as the priceless and unchanged legacy one

generation of Man left behind in trust for another through aural and oral

traditions of bequeathing.

 

During the march of millennia, from primordial time to pre-history, from

pre-history to history and right until the present day, the unwritten Veda

sometimes waxed and waned… and much of it went under the eclipse of human

neglect and desuetude too.

 

But the Veda dimmed only because Man's faculty to apprehend it dimmed; never

was the Veda in itself extinguished… Like the macrocosm the "r-shis" said it

reflected in earthly microcosm, the Veda remained, as it does to this day,

eternal and unbounded in an utterly supra-mundane Reality of its own...

"anantAh: vai vedAh:"…

 

What keeps the aural Reality of the Veda intact and timeless? Who or what is

the agency that is responsible for its preservation? Does it have a

'guardian angel' to stand guard over it? How has it survived? Who protects

it from the ravages of Time and the tide of human history?

 

No one can categorically answer such questions for sure. For, to ask "Who is

the guardian of the Veda?" is like inquiring, "Who is the guardian of the

Cosmos?"… It is often explained by the Vedic Masters , the "AchAryA-s", that

if it is accepted a Supernatural Being is the guardian of the Cosmos then we

might as well accept that the same Supreme Being is also the guardian of the

Vedas. It is for the same reason why the "purAnA-s" are full of allegorical

stories of how the Veda came to be preserved, protected and propagated by

the 'avatars' of God Himself. All those "purAni-c" accounts serve, in fact,

to only underscore and reiterate the divine guardianship of the Vedas.

 

In this context, those of you who are familiar with the "hayagriva-stOtram"

of Swami Vedanta Desikan will quickly recall a beautiful and oft-quoted

verse from the hymn (Stanza#8):

 

"mandOBhavishyan-niyatam virinchO

vAchAm-niDhE vanchita-BhAga-DhEya-ha I

daityApaneetAn daya-yaiva BhuyOpi

aDhyApayishyO nigamAn na chEtvam II

 

(I am not going to translate or explain the verse since I'm pretty sure most

of you are already very well acquainted with the famous

"hayagriva-stOtram").

 

(3) The next question: "Why do we say the Veda is the "connection between

the world of gods and the human world"?

 

The answer in the next post.

 

adiyEn dAsAnu-dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

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