Another Query - Asymmetry

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Hari Om Sri Thiagarajan:

 

(This is question raised by a member of another forum and subject is quite

relevant for this list)

 

You have an interesting question and let me try to answer on the basis of my

understanding of the symbolism behind these stories. First, Hari (Vishnu) and

Haran (Siva) both represent Ishwara (Saguna Brahman). In Tamil Nadu, the name

Hariharan is quite common and. Smartas (those who follow the Sampradhyam

(ttraditions) Shankara Maths) accept and worship them both wholeheartedly. The

Tamil Proverb, " Hariyum Sivanum Onru, Ariyathavar Vayile Mannu" ( (Those who

fail to understand the unity between Hari and Sivan continue to face the misery

of ignorance!). In both your stories, Ishwara's behavior appears asymmetrical to

human mind. The same human mind also raises another question ‘Why Me?,' if and

when we face failures or tragedies! Fundamentally, these questions and doubts

arise in the human mind where ‘plurality' prevails like the water in the ocean.

One simple answer to these question is the following -‘These doubts and

questions just confirm that we are still ignorant and only Ishwara knows the

Truth!'

Both these stories want to emphasize that we need the ‘faith' that Ishwara is

omnipotent and omnipresent. These stories are quite subtle with deep messages

to strengthen faith. These stories contain two parts: what really happened and

what we infer out of what happened:

 

Story 1:

What happened? Panchali served few grains of rice to Ishwara and Sage Dhurvasa

and his disciples who indicated to come for the Biksha. When Ishwara fulfilled

his hunger, it fulfilled the hunger of Sage Dhurvasa and his disciples and

consequently they didn't feel hungry any more!

Inference: Sage Dhurvasa and disciples are the most relevant characters to this

story and the rest of the population becomes irrelevant! There is nothing in the

story to dispute that others did not fulfill their hunger!

 

Story 2:

What happened?

An old and poor woman in the city of Madurai maintained her living through

selling "Puttu" (very simple food prepared by steaming cream of rice and brown

sugar). Everyday, just before selling she offered the puttu to Siva through

mental prayers and got His blessings. What she sold the public was the "prasad"

at very nominal price just sufficient for her to maintain living. The Pandiyan

king wanted to construct a big water tank and ordered that every household

including the old woman to provide an adult labor for the project. This poor

old woman had no strength to participate in the construction project and she

prayed Siva for his help. Suddenly, a young man (Siva) came and told her that

he is fond of her puttu and will work on her behalf if she agrees to provide him

a small quantity of puttu during the construction period. The old woman was

quite happy and handed him a small pocket of puttu for his lunch. The young man

was enjoying the putting during the break and apparently fell sleep at the

construct

Inference: The central theme of the story is not the strike, but the Bhakti of

the old woman and the compassion of Siva toward the Bhakta. Pains and

sufferings are never there in reality and they are just human perception. The

story just confirms that as humans, we can only perceive pains and sufferings

and they are universal and no one can escape from it. We have go beyond our

perception to understand the mystics of human life and our true nature!

 

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Ramu Thiagarajan writes:

 

Namaste:

I have another query regarding the absence of symmetry in our scriptures. Let

me elaborate. I am sure many of you are aware of this and have probably thought

about this. Unlike my earlier query, there may not be a definitive answer to

this, so thoughts and opinions are welcome.

 

The story goes that at the behest of Panchali, Lord Krishna appeared to help the

Pandavas when Sage Dhurvasa appeared all of a sudden. Panchali had no food left

and did not know what to do, so she prayed for help to the Lord. Lord Krishna

appeared and had the few morsels of food in the Acshaya Patram and Sage Dhurvasa

and his disciples were satiated and the crisis was averted and a valuable lesson

was learnt.

 

Now the stage moves to Madurai. (I am not entirely sure about the sequence

here., so my apologies if I mixed up the names etc.) The story relates to Lord

Shiva who is referred to in the Tamil saying "Puttuku Man Sumanthu, Perambu Athi

Pattavan" The story is that Lord Sundaresvarar appeared as an employee during

the building of the Madurai temple. He was beaten by either the King or his

employees when HE was working and when HE was beaten by the rope, the WHOLE

world felt the beating and everyone's back had the marks of the punishment.!!

 

Here is the asymmetry:

When Lord Krishna ate the food, the WHOLE WORLD did not feel satiated., instead

only a select group felt satisfied. However., when Lord Shiva was hit, the

WHOLE WORLD felt the punishment. Why this asymmetry? What is the Tatparyam

(inner meaning) here? I know that there is one., because has been discussed by

scholars and I know that Maha Periyaval discussed it. But I am unable to unearth

the particular lecture in which this was discussed. Thoughts and suggestions

are welcome.

Hari OM

Ramu Thiagarajan

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