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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Objective of the scriptural texts

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 12. The scriptures describe the Supreme Being as

beyond the grasp of the human senses and the intellect and the

seers of these texts are often at a loss to describe His nature

and glory. The transcendent Absolute Reality, which is the

formless aspect, is difficult to grasp for the laity. But, in the

context of practical religion, God cannot remain an abstraction

creating a chasm difficult to bridge. The spiritual experiences

of the God-realised which are couched in hymns and mystical

outpourings give a clue into the nature of the supreme principle.

 

The Narayaneeyam of Narayana Bhattatiri is a condensation of the

Bhagavata Purana but it differs from it in style. The poet has

composed the entire work in a conversational style which has the

stamp of an authentic mystical work embodying the spiritual

experience of this devotee. Even at the outset, in the opening

verse, he describes the nature of the Supreme Brahman on the

lines of the Upanishads as pure existence-consciousness-bliss,

which is free from the limitations of space and time.

 

In his discourse, Sri Srivatsa Jayarama Sarma said that the poet

further delved into the purpose of the scriptural texts like the

Upanishads. He says with conviction of one who has realised God

that though these texts describe the nature of the Supreme Being

it is not possible to grasp their import by mere study. They can

only indicate and the spiritual aspirant has to experience the

truth for himself. The objective of works like the Narayaneeyam

is to enable the aspirant to realise God.

 

Being a devotional work the Narayaneeyam describes the Absolute

Reality in both its aspects - the formless and the personal God.

That both are aspects of the same Reality is implied here in the

predication the poet makes that it is the Supreme One who is

present in the concrete image form in the temple of Guruvayur.

 

The paradox of the spiritual experience has to be appreciated to

understand the description of the Supreme One as bliss-incarnate

in the opening verse. While all mystical outpourings describe the

experience as blissful it is not possible to say anything more

about it as it is a matter of experience, similar to that of a

person who says that he slept peacefully on waking up. The

experience is articulated only later and another person who wants

to understand it must experience it for himself.

 

An anecdote is related about Swami Vivekananda questioning every

saint he met as to whether he can show him God. When he

envisioned God by the grace of Sri Ramakrishna he was struck dumb

by that experience.

 

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