Oh! To be Young Again!

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

 

 

Oh! To be Young Again!

 

 

 

The old man reclines in his chair, watching passers by. His eyes are clouded

with cataract, limbs crippled with arthritis, lungs heavy with phlegm and the

heart wheezing like an old, unserviceable pump. Looking at some youthful

pedestrians, the old man is caught up in nostalgic memories of his own youth,

when he was sprightly, active and full of vigour, able to enjoy the good things

of life to the hilt. It all seems so distant, ages away, and the memories make

the current state of helplessness more painful, almost intolerable. He fervently

longs for a return to those good "young" days.

 

Everyone would agree that youth is a golden period of one's life,

when one is out of the fetters of boyhood and parental control, able to indulge

one's whims without inhibitions, with the brow unclouded by care and the

forehead unlined with concern. The back is still straight, unburdened with

familial responsibilities. The blood is hot and life seems to beckon to one,

full of infinite possibilities ripe for exploitation.

 

Even the Upanishad seems to recognise the magnificence of youth. While

describing the factors which make a man the happiest in the world, the

Anandavalli lists "youth" first-

 

"YuvA syAt sAdhu yuvAdhyAyaka: AsishttO dradishttO balishtta: tasya iyam

prithivi sarvA vittasya poorNA:syAt. Sa EkO mAnusha Ananda:"

 

When a man is in the prime of his youth, endowed with sterling qualities, the

blessings of elders and physical might, is intent in the pursuit of knowledge,

and literally owns the entire world, his cup of happiness is deemed to be full.

The reason for the Upanishad listing youth as the prime blessing is that without

the same, the rest of the attainments cannot be a source of enjoyment. Of what

use are untold riches to the old man described above, whose faculties do not

permit enjoyment? Of what use is a sumptuous feast to the old man whose

digestive juices have dried up and whose stomach can accommodate only a spoonful

of gruel? Thus youth is the key to good life, as we know it.

 

Azwars too remind us of the glory of youth and exhort us to pay

obeisance to the Lord at various divya desams, before middle/old age cripples

us. Sri Nammazhwar would like us to visit TirumAlirumsOlai before we lose our

youthful vigour-"KiLaroLi iLamai keduvathan munnam

 

VaLaroLi MayOn maruvia kOil

 

VaLariLam pozhil soozh MalirumsOlai';

 

TaLarvilar Agi sArvadu sadirE"

 

Sri Tirumangai Mannan too impresses upon us the need to perform mangalasasanam

at Badarikashramam when we are young and active, in all of ten pasurams

beginning with

 

"Mutra mootthu kOl tuNaiyA munnadi vaLaindu".

 

Shastras too concur with the Azhwar-:"tasmAt bAlyE vivEkAtmA yatEta shrEyasE

sadA"- the wise man makes efforts for liberation when he is young. Sri

Tirumangai Mannan says that since youth disappears in a jiffy, we should spend

it in the optimum fashion by Bhagavat, BhAgavata sEvanam-"vALgaL Agi nALgaL

sella nOimai kundri mooppeidi mALum nAL".

 

 

 

Regretfully, however, youth lasts for seemingly a fleeting moment only,

and is replaced by middle age, before one is even aware of it. One fine day you

are surprised to hear a neighbourhood boy call you "uncle", (where you were

hitherto accustomed to "aNNA") and realise with a heavy heart that the magic of

youth has worn off. You wistfully long for youth again, but alas! the

irreversible track of time leads only forward, onward to old age and

decrepitude. If it is any consolation, we are not alone in longing for a return

to golden youth- the Mahabharata says that no less a person than Emperor YayAti

was seized with such a yearning, and could exchange his old age for the vigour

of youth, with one of his sons.

 

Amidst this gloomy scenario of fading youth and beckoning old age, we

find that surprisingly there is someone who never ages. Despite the passage of

innumerable millennia, He remains young, and what is more, seems to grow younger

by the day. Age doesn't seem to affect Him adversely, and does not even give Him

a "mature" look (as some people who have long last their youth are wont to

describe themselves).

 

Who could this youth be? The Lord, of course! It is He who is unanimously

voted as the Perennial Youth, by the Vedas and the Azhwars alike.

 

"YuvA suvAsA: pariveeta agAt. Sa u shrEyAn bhavati jAyamAna:"

 

declares the Shruti, attesting to Emperuman's nitya youvanam. That He never

crosses the threshold of youth is gleaned from the description "YuvA KumAra:".

In an almost literal translation, a MudalAzhwar calls Him "iLam kumaran" ("iLam

kumaran tan viNNagar") .

 

He is the "iLam singam" of Sri Yasoda Piratti- a vigorous, uncontrollable lion

cub- not a toothless old lion.

 

His perennial youthfulness is something wonderful, magnificent, and beyond

description, says Sri Alavandar-

 

"achintya divya adhbhuta nitya youvana

 

prakAsa lAvaNya maya amrutOdadhim".

 

He is the youthful sun who makes the visages of Gopis bloom with

happiness-"madanAtura vallavAnganA vadanAmbhOja DivAkarO YuvA" (Sri Gopala

Vimsati).

 

 

 

Modern scientists are forever in search of formulae for reversing the inexorable

advance of age and its debilitating effects on mankind. There are occasionally

reports in scientific journals of significant progress in this regard, but the

magic potion capable of reversing the aging process and restoring youthfulness

has remained elusive, despite the millions spent on geriatric research.

 

However, Azhwars have, centuries before, spoken of a secret formula for this.

Not only is the Lord of Seven Hills, Tirumalayappan, perennially youthful, but

He makes His devotees too shed the rigours of old age, informs Sri Nammazhwar-

 

"Oyum mooppu pirappu irappu piNi

 

veeyumAru seivAn TiruvEngadatthu

 

Ayan nALmalaram adittAmarai

 

vAyuLLum manatthuLLum vaippArkatkE"

 

Those whose minds are full of His thoughts and lips constantly abuzz with His

holy names, are spared the infirmities of old age, says Azhwar.

 

Sri Kulasekharazhwar has another antidote for old age, death and rebirth-the

Krishna RasAyanam or the Elixir capable of delivering us from the unending cycle

of births and deaths, and endowing us with perennial youthfulness in the company

of the youngest inhabitant of Sri Vaikuntam, viz., the Lord, who is verily the

fountainhead of youth.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan.