Re:Advaita Bhakti thro. Contemplative Practice of Narayaniyam ( ABCPN - 12)

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ABCPN - 12

Note: Please read the Introduction

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

 

Namaste.

Sloka No. 34 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 1 - 7):

 

kaShTA te sR^iShTi-ceShTA bahutara-bhava-khedAvahA jIva-bhAjAm-

ity-evaM pUrvam-Alocitam-ajita mayA naivam-ady-AbhijAne /

no cej-jIvAH kathaM vA madhura-taram-idaM

tvad-vapush-cid-rasardraM

netraiH shrotraishca pItvA parama-rasa-sudh-Ambhodhi-pUre

rameran //

 

Tr. Oh Supreme Being! Once I thought that Thy creative activity

is a tragic sport, as it inflicts various forms of suffering on

embodied beings involved in the cycle of births and deaths, but

now I do not think so. For, if there were no creation and

therefore no embodied beings, who would have been there to revel

in the ocean of unparalleled joy derived from the experience of

seeing this Form of Thine replete with Consciousness and of

hearing descriptions of Thy glory?

 

Comment. God ‘descends’ from His pedestal of perfection and

assumes an imperfection in terms of a name and form so that we

mortals may be guided from our extremities of imperfection onto

the path towards perfection. This descent of the Divine from its

divine pedestal is called an Avatara. The complete such Avatara

is Krishna. What appears before us as a deity in the form of an

image is not just an image but it is itself the personification

of that Transcendental Absolute. Such divine Images for worship

in temples are called ‘archAvatAras’ in Vaishnava theology.

Great saints and seers (from Prahlada and Ambarisha of yore

down to Sage Ramakrishna of modern times) have actually

experienced the presence of the Absolute in such ‘archAvatAras’.

 

 

Sloka No. 35 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 1 - 1):

sAndr-Anand-Avabodh-Atmakam-anupamitaM kAla-desh-AvadhibhyAM

nirmuktaM nityamuktaM nigama-shata-sahasreNa nirbhAsyamAnaM /

aspaShTaM dR^iShTa-mAtre punar-uru-puruShArth-AtmakaM

brahma-tattvaM

tat-tAvad-bhAti sAkShAd-guru-pavana-pure hanta bhAgyaM janAnAM

//

 

Tr. In the temple of Guruvayoor there shines in truth and in

reality what appears at first to be a mere image but on

contemplation reveals itself to be the condensed essence of

Consciousness-Bliss – the veritable Brahman Supreme – who is the

ultimate end of all human endeavours, to whom there is none

comparable, who is ever beyond the limitations of time and

space, who is eternally free, and whose nature the numerous

texts of the Vedas seek to reveal. Fortunate indeed, is mankind

(that such a manifestation of Divinity exists in its midst as

the image of Krishna)!

 

Comment. The Lord of Guruvayoor, is no distant exclusive deity.

He is famous as the One deity accessible to all devout, of

whatever condition and degree, learned and unlearned. The

rituals performed daily and the many temple festivals, round the

year, all confirm this impression. There is a fascinating

legend about the origin of rituals in the temple. For this, see

my separate posting entitled : ‘Fascinating legend about Sankara

and Guruvayoor’.

This first sloka of Narayaniyam has been hailed by many as

pregnant with meanings, devotional, philosophical and esoteric.

Brahman Supreme is impersonal according to Upanishadic accounts

but Bhattatiri believes that it is also simultaneously personal.

And because of this conviction he begins to rapturously pour

out, in the presence of that deity, his devotional thoughts that

have become the now-immortal poem. The very first word

‘sAndra’ is notable. ‘sAndra’ means thick, dense, violent,

intense, soft, bland; crowded with, full to the brim of. This

inimitable word is so powerfully expressive that Bhattatiri uses

it very often. Not being derived from any other root word, it

stands alone as an adjective by itself. In our selection of 36

verses, it occurs in Sloka nos. 3, (the Gopis reached the

heights of bliss), 31 (full to the brim with consciousness), 33

(intensely brilliant with incomparable extreme bliss) and here

in 36 (condensed essence of consciousness-bliss).

In the beginning, that is, in the early stages on the spiritual

ladder, one does not see Him at all. Or, even if one happens to

see Him, the vision is all vague and diffuse. This is what the

word ‘aspaShTam dR^iShTa-mAtre’ implies. The truth is not easily

perceived, because, everything is mixed up everywhere. ‘nAhaM

prakAshas-sarvasya yoga-mAyA-samAvR^itaH’ (Gita VII – 25) – I

am not manifest to all (as I am) veiled by the yoga-mAyA, says

the Lord. That is why the initial pictures and images are all

blurred, if at all. But if we persist in our sAdhanA, in our

pursuit of the search for Truth, He reveals Himself as our own

Self. The word ‘nitya-muktaM’ (eternally free) is significant.

The Almighty, by the very definition, is eternally free. Why was

it necessary to call Him eternally free? It is the self which is

mistakenly thought to be bound and needing release from bondage.

So it is necessary to say of the self, that it is eternally

free, it is in fact the Self that is nothing but the

Brahman-principle (brahma-tatvaM).

 

 

Sloka No. 36 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 1 - 2):

evaM durlabhya-vastuny-api sulabhatayA hasta-labdhe yad-anyat

tanvA vAcA dhiyA vA bhajati bata janaH kShudrat-aiva sphuTeyaM /

ete tAvad-vayaM tu sthiratara-manasA vishva-pID-Apahatyai

nishsheSh-AtmAnam-enaM guru-pavana-purAdhIsham-ev-AshrayAmaH

//

 

Tr. But alas! What a pity that in spite of the easy availability

of this rarest of blessings right on hand, human beings,

prompted by their base nature, overlook it and pursue worldly

objects with all the powers of their body, mind or intellect!

But we, devotees, however, shall, with unswerving devotion,

serve the Lord of Guruvayoor, Sri Krishna, the soul of all

beings, for the total eradication of all the (physical and

spiritual) woes of the world.

 

Comment. The word ‘nishsheSha-aatmAnaM’ means He is the Self

and there is nothing remaining. In other words He is the Self,

period. This is the conclusion of advaita. The word

‘vishva-pIDApahatyai’ is to be noted. Vishva-pIDA is the

disease of not recognizing vishvam (universe) as nothing but the

Lord Almighty. The cure for it is contained in ‘neti neti’. The

very universe which is visible to us in our sensory experience

should remind us that the Absolute is neither this nor like

this. So vishvam has to be seen not as vishvam, but as the

Ultimate itself. That is why it is the very first word in Vishnu

sahasranama. Vishvam, with the meaning ‘universe’ really means

‘that which has entered’, the root word being ‘vish’ to ‘enter’.

In other words, the Almighty is in it, that is, it is immanent

in it. This immanence in everything is the most important

concept of Vedanta. More, it defines this most ancient religion:

‘God is everywhere; not only that, God is the ONLY ENTITY

everywhere’.

Of course the ordinary meaning of vishva-pIDApahatyai is

obvious. All the penance, all the rituals, all the worship –

are all for the goal of the universal good of the universe.

lokAs-samastAs-sukhino bhavantu

May the entire universe be happy.

 

(Concluded).

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

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

15393).

 

I thank all the readers who have gone through this series of

postings. My capsule summary of a gist of this series of 36

verses is already available under the heading: ‘Devotion

vis-à-vis non-Duality a la Narayaniyam’, at

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/77.html

 

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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