Re:Advaita Bhakti thro. Contemplative Practice of Narayaniyam ( ABCPN - 11)

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ABCPN - 11

Note: Please read the Introduction

– post #15182 - if you have not already read it)

 

Namaste.

Sloka No. 31 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 94 - 7):

shabda-brahmaNy-ap-Iha prayatita-manasas-tvAM na jAnanti kecit

kaShTaM vandhya-shramAste cirataram-iha gAM bibhrate

niShprasUtiM /

yasyAM vishvAbhirAmAH sakala-malaharA divya-lIlAvatArAH

saccit-sAndraM ca rUpaM tava na nigaditaM tA na vAcaM bhriyAsaM

//

 

Tr. There are some with mind wholly absorbed in Sabda-brahman

(or study and exposition of the Vedas and other scriptures). But

they have no knowledge of Thee (in spite of all their learning).

Alas! Their efforts are therefore sterile, and they are like

owners of cows that never calve. May I not therefore indulge in

the study, exposition or composition of works alien to the

description of Thy blissful form and Thy sportive Incarnations,

which are universally inspiring and destructive of all mental

impurities.

 

Comment. There is a beautiful sloka in Sivananda-lahari (Sloka

6) of Sankara, which carries the same thought, however, in the

Master’s inimitable style.

ghaTo vA mR^it piNDo’pyaNurapi dhUmo’gnir-acalaH

paTo vA tantur-vA pariharati kiM ghora-shamanaM /

vR^ithA kaNTakShobhaM vahasi tarasA tarka-vacasA

padAmbhojaM shambhor-bhaja parama-soukhyaM vraja sudhIH //

meaning, Whether it is the lump of clay (that is the truth) or

the mud-pot,

or the atomic fragment of it, whether it is the smoke beyond the

mountain (that is the reality) or the fire, whether it is the

cloth (that is the ultimate) or the threads (of cotton), how

does it remove (man’s) suffering? You are wasting your throat on

such questions of logic, Oh! Man of intellect! Worship the lotus

feet of Lord Shambhu and attain the highest bliss!

 

Sloka No. 32 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 94 - 8):

yo yAvAn yAdR^isho vA tvamiti kimapi naiv-AvagacchAmi bhUman-

nevam-cAnanya-bhAvas-tvad-anu-bhajanam-ev-Adriye caidya-vairin /

tval-lingAnAM tvad-anghri-priya-jana-sadasAM

darshana-sparshanAdir-

bhUyAn-me tvat-prapUjA-nati-nuti-guNa-karm-AnukIrty-Adaro’pi //

Tr.: Oh All-pervading Being! Oh Destroyer of Sishupala! I am not

able to comprehend Thy greatness or Thy nature even in the

least. But despite my imperfect understanding of Thee, I shall

continue to serve Thee wholeheartedly, depending on Thee as my

sole support. May I be always blessed with opportunities of

seeing Holy Images and contacting congregations of Thy devotees,

and be endowed with devotion to the worship, salutation and

praise of Thee as also the recital of the deeds and excellences

of Thy Divine Self.

 

Comment. The greatness ( yAvAn - who, what?) of the Lord is

shown by the Lord Himself by opening out His cosmic form through

a divine vision to Arjuna in the 11th chapter of the Gita. The

nature (yAdRsho - how, of what nature?) of the Lord is

described by Himself in the tenth chapter of the Gita. Both

chapters are difficult to understand, says Bhattatiri.

There are two categories of people in the world: firstly, those

who grant the supernatural status (10th and 11th chapters of the

Gita) of Krishna and therefore all his miraculous deeds, but

find it difficult to follow his spiritual teachings in the rest

of the chapters of the Gita because of its philosophical

nuances; secondly, those who seem to be comfortable in studying

and learning the philosophy embedded in the Gita, but find it

difficult to swallow his divine mischief-like miraculous doings.

To both these types of people Bhattatiri addresses this sloka.

He says whether you understand Him or not, whether you can

imbibe His philosophy or not, worship Him with all the sincerity

you can command. Go through any one of (if possible, all of)

the nine forms (described in the Bhagavatam 7-5-23 by Prahlad)

in which bhakti might be expressed:

• Listening to recitals of the names and glories of God

(shravaNa) as did King Parikshit;

• Oneself reciting the names of God (nAma-sankIrtana) as did

Narada, Chaitanya, Mira and Thyagaraja;

• Recalling Him and His excellences (smaraNa) as did the sage

Suka;

• Waiting on Him (pAda-sevana), as did Lakshmana;

• Worshipping Him (archana), as did King Ambarisha;

• Prostrating before Him (vandana), as did Akrura and Uddhava;

• Serving Him (dAsya), as did Hanuman and Garuda;

• Befriending Him (sakhya), as did Arjuna and Sugriva; and

• Dedicating oneself to Him (Atma-nivedana) as did King Bali and

Kannappa Nayanar.

 

Sloka No. 33 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 10):

satyaM shuddhaM vibuddhaM jayati tava vapur-nitya-muktaM nirIhaM

 

nirdvandvaM nirvikAraM nikhila-guNa-gaNa-vyanjan-AdhAra-bhUtaM /

nirmUlaM nirmalM tan-niravadhi-mahim-ollAsi nirlInam-antar-

nissangAnAM munInAM nirupama-paramAnanda-sAndra-prakAshaM //

 

Tr. There shines Thy Being – eternal, immaculate, ever awake,

ever free, desireless, transcending the pairs of dualities,

changeless, conserving and manifesting all values, causeless,

free from the taint of ignorance, inconceivably great, latent in

noble hearts free from attachments, dense with the luminosity

(of Consciousness) and inimitable supreme bliss.

 

Comment. Now we are starting to wind up our selection of 36

slokas. So here comes an exhaustive-looking listing of the

‘attributes’ of the attributeless Brahman, as conceived in the

Upanishads. A fitting sloka for meditation purposes.

Transcendence (T), Immanence (I) and Perfection (P) - - the T,

I and P, constituting the TIP of the Iceberg, that is God – are

all three in this sloka. One may refer to the following web page

on this topic of ‘TIP of the Iceberg, that is God’:

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/31.html

 

(For reference to earlier posts in this series, see #s 15207,

15231, 15250, 15282, 15299, 15312, 15313, 15328, 15361, 15372).

 

 

(To be continued and concluded in the next post)

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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