lakshmi-nrsimha-karAvalamba-stOtram-21

[Guest guest]

Dear bhAgavatOttamA-s,

 

"samsArE kim sAram?", Sankara bhagavathpAdA was known to have asked. "What

is the meaning of worldly existence?".

 

They say that he himself provided a pithy answer: "bahusah: abhi

vichintyamAnam idam eva". Meaning, "You have asked the question. Keep asking

it. And that is in itself the answer".

 

The question, as you see, is laconic; and the answer is rather ironic with a

trace of derision too in it, we suspect. But it must appreciated that

whatever they are, this Q&A of Sankara is not the stock-in-trade of some

"mAyAvAdin" who is out to boggle the layman's mind. The message of Sankara's

Question and Answer (Q&A) is the message of an uncompromising Vedantin who

appeals to us not to duck but to squarely face the difficult questions of

existence… "Who am I? Why was I born? Where do I come from? Where am I

going? How can I be free? How can I be fearless? Can I rid myself of desire

and anger? Can I conquer my sinful self…?".

 

Sankara urges us to ceaselessly ask ourselves such questions at every phase

in our lives even if we do not immediately find answers for them. If the

answers are not found in this lifetime they will be found in the next one…

and if not in the next, then in the following one… But never take any

"vacation" off from your unending inquiry into the problems of existential

condition (even if the "bhakti-list" does go off the I-net for a whole

week!). Our indefatigable quest of the Truth about ourselves, the venerable

"bhagavathpAdA" promises us, will one day surely and ultimately end in

success.

 

It is in the spirit of such diligent inquiry into man's plight in this

temporal world that Sankara asks, "samsArE kim sAram?" and it is the same

spirit too which pervades the poetic mood of the stanzas in the

"lakshmi-nrsimha-karavalamba-stOtra" we have so far studied

 

In one verse Sankara asks "Is this "samsAra" a forest-fire ("jvAlA-valee)?".

In another, as we saw, he asks "Is this "samsAra" a terrifying elephant

("Bheekara-kareendra")? And so on … throughout the whole of the hymn…

 

In the last verse from the LNKS that we took up for discussion (before

"bhakti" took off on a sudden and quick "vacation") the bhagavathpAdA had

poetically asked if this "samsAra" was a "vrukshA" (a tree):

 

"samsAra-vruksha-maGhabeejam-anantha-karma shAKhAshatam…karaNa-patram

anangapushpam..

Aruh~ya dukhapalinam patha-taha…".

 

"An endless Fall's indeed my fate

>From the Tree of Life with sin as its seed

With greed its boughs and lust as leaves

With love as flower and woe its fruit."

 

When we were last discussing this verse a full week ago, we had said that

Sankara's metaphor of "samsAra-vrukshA" in it refers to the Vedas. Many of

you may have been baffled and shocked by the comparison. Given the context

of the verse, you would have all indeed wondered how could the hallowed

Vedas be the subject of the metaphoric "Tree of Life" whose "seed is sin",

"greed its bough" and "woe its fruit"!

 

What profanity!

 

You may have all been even more perplexed when during the course of the

discussions in the previous posts, the following verses from the "Gita" were

also alluded to by way of support:

 

" sri bhagavAnUvAcha:

 

"urdhva-moolam aDah:shAkham

aswattham prAhur avyayam

chandAmsi yasya parNani

yas tam veda sa vedavit" II (Ch. 15 Verse 1)

(Thus spake Bhagavan Krishna: "There is a pipal 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!")

 

"Evam bahuviddha yagnyA vitatA brahmaNO mukhE I

karmajAn viddhi tAn sarvAn evam gnyAtvA vimOksha-yasE" II

(Ch.4 Verse 32)

(The Vedas prescribe and approve many "yagnyA-s". Knowing and performing

them shalt thou be liberated!)

 

"sahayagnyA: prajA srushtavA purOvAcha prajApatihi I

anEna prasavishyaDhvamEsha vO'astivashta-kAmaDhuk II

(Ch.3 Verse 10)

(In the beginning of Creation the Lord created Man and He created Sacrifice

too. Then He said to Man, "It is by sacrifice that you shall prosper;

sacrifice shall be the cow of plenty that shall grant you all your wishes!")

 

"devAn bhAvayatAnEna tE devA bhAvayantu vah:

parasparam bhAvayantaha shrEyaha param avApsyatha II

(Ch.3 verse 11)

(By this sacrifice please the gods and the gods in turn will support you.

Thus nourishing one another may you both obtain the highest good.")

 

"ishtAnBhOgAnhi vO dEvA dAsyantE yagnyaBhAvitAha I

tyredatthAna-pradAyai-BhyO yO BhunktE stEna Eva sa II

(Ch.3 verse 12)

(By the sacrifice offered by man will the gods be pleased and hence moved to

reward him amply. But should man enjoy the bounty of the world without

offering the gods their due, they regard him but as a thief!)

 

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

 

After a week long "vacation" we are back to Square One in our understanding

of this verse of the LNKS i.e. we understand nothing whatsoever of it!

 

We are as baffled by Sankara's "samsAra-vruksha" as we are of the many

questions that plague us in our worldly existence, isn't it?

 

Yet and nonetheless must we resolve in the spirit of dogged inquiry which

Sankara urges us all to examine the problems of worldly existence… ""samsArE

kim sAram?" and "bahusah: abhi vichintyamAnam idam eva"… in that same dogged

spirit must we resolve to continue our discussions on this and 2 more

remaining verses of the LNKS and somehow seek some minimum understanding of

their lofty content.

 

Onward thus we go to the next post... my dear fellow "visishtAvedAntin-s" !!

 

adiyEn dAsanu-dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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