Bhatruhari'- King, poet and yogi - a fascinating personality! ....

[Guest guest]

Nair-ji ,

 

YES! YES! an amorous man who turned a yogi in the evening of his

life !!

 

Nothing contradictory about these things ...

 

FROM A BHOGI ONE BECOMES A YOGI -this is transcendence !

>From a small 'love' for a woman, you turn towrds a big love for the

beloved of all beloveds, lord Krishna-THE SUPREME LOVER!!!

 

 

Bhatruhari ( also spelled as Bhatrihari) was a versatile being ... He

was a king , a poet who in his later life became a Yogi.

 

It is believed he was King Vikramaditya's brother ...

 

When i was in HAridwar in the Winter of 2004 , i was told by a tour

guide that Raja Vikramaditya constructed A sacred Ghat in memory of

his brother Bhatrihari who it is believed had come to Haridwar to

meditate on the banks of the Ganga. This ghat later came to be known

as Har-Ki-Pauri (also called Brahamakund).

 

BHATRUHARI WROTE MANY WORKS

 

He has written three Shatakas or "centuries of verses", called:

 

1)Shringara Shatakam, on amatory matters

2) Niti Shatakam, on polity and ethics

3) Vairagya Shatakam, on religious austerity.

 

an oft quoted verse from Shringara shatakam goes like this ...

 

woman talks to one man,

looks at a second,

and thinks of a third

- Bhatrihari

 

shows the fickleminded and amorous qualities of a woman !

 

in his vairaghya shatakam, Bhatruhari sings

 

Uniquely great is Shiva among the sensuous, for he shares half the

body with His beloved; among the dispassionate no one excels Him in

detachment from women.

Rest of the people, stunned in infatuation by Cupid's irresistible

arrows tipped

with serpent poison, can neither enjoy their desires nor give them up

at will.

 

to read the entire Vairaghya shatakam , go to

 

http://skrit.bhaarat.com/Doc_Project/doc_z_misc_major_works/vairagya

 

here is another famous verse of Bhatruhari's

 

BE FEARLESS

 

dhairya yasya pita, ksama ca janani santi cira gehini

 

satyam ca suta daya ca bhagini bhrata manah samyama

 

sajya bhumitala diso `pi vasana jnanamrtam bhojanam

 

yasya ete kutumbinah vada sakhe bhayamkasmad yoginah

 

"Oh my friend, if a man has a family with patience as father,

forgiveness as the mother, continuous peace as his wife, truthfulness

as his son, compassion as sister and mind-control as the brother,

whose bed is the earth, whose clothes are the infinity of space and

whose food is the nectar of knowledge, where is the cause for fear?"

 

and a verse from Niti shatakam ...

 

A fire can be extinguished with water; an umbrella protects one from

the heat of the sun; a frenzied elephant can be tamed by a mahout's

sharp iron-goad, and so can a cow and a donkey with a stick; diseases

can be cured by an assortment of medicines, and the incantation of

various mantras is an antidote to toxicants. The scriptures contain

remedies for all, but there is none for a conceited fool.

 

(home.earthlink.net/~tyag/NitiShatakam-Text.doc - 65k - View as html )

 

**********************************************************************

WELL, NAIR-JI., i still feel there is nothing inconruous about

Bhatruhari, the pleasure-seeking king, becoming a yogi in the evening

of his life...

 

after all, history abounds with such examples ...

 

King Janaka who became SAGE ASHTAVAKRA;S DISCIPLE

 

Emperor Ashoka who turned to BUDDHISM

 

Prince siddhartha who became GAUTAMA Buddha

 

and then our beloved poet Kalidasa who himself wrote many works

of 'amorous' nature ( malavikaagnimitram, shakuntalam, Ritusamhara

etc) and also composed the devotional verse "shymala dandakam" on

devi!!!

 

Bhatruhari's renunciation is total and real.... Being a king, he was

surrounded by wealth , riches and a palce full of beautiful women at

his beck and call .... but , later on in his life, he realized such

carnal pleasures are transcient and impermanent and from a full

fledged Bhogi, he became a realized Yogi!!!

 

that is why , Bhatruhari loudly proclaims

 

Sensual pleasures will surely leave us sometime, even if they stay

with us for a long time. Then, what difference does it make if the

people discard them by their own choice? The mind is sorely afflicted

if pleasures leave us of their own accord. However, if people

renounce them voluntarily, such self-control gives infinite bliss.

 

Thank you, nair-ji for giving me an opportunity to

be 'controversial'?

 

love and regards

[Guest guest]

Namaste Adiji.

 

You seem to be really well-read on Bhartrihari!

 

Well, the information I have suggests that he wrote his philosophical

works while he was still a bhOgi. That was my bafflement. In the

case of Kalidasa (Courtesy: Krishnanji) and VAtmIki, wisdom started

pouring out after crucial milestones in their lives. There is no

documented evidence in the case of Bhartrihari that this is so. Yet,

we can grant him the benefit of doubt.

 

If I am not adding fuel to controversy, another bafflement is the

case of our much-reverred Shri Nisargadatta Maharajji. I have great

admiration for his enlightening teachings. He was a chain-smoker

right to the end. Well, there is this explanation. You can have

anything. But don't feel miserable if you don't get it. Probably,

this was the case with Maharaj. Honestly, I don't know how he

behaved when beedies were not immediately available.

 

In all certainty, Maharaj would have been fine with or without

beedies. But, a teacher's chain-smoking an addictive like tobacco

can certainly unsettle his disciples, particularly in the context of

stressing the need to control the senses. Do you have any thoughts?

Do we have to dilute the emphasis on sense-control to suit modern

situations? A sacrilegious thought, indeed! Yet, let us not fight

shy. Let us discuss.

 

PraNAms.

 

Madathil Nair

________________________

 

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16>

wrote:

.....> YES! YES! an amorous man who turned a yogi in the evening of

his

> life !!

>

> Nothing contradictory about these things ...

>

> FROM A BHOGI ONE BECOMES A YOGI -this is transcendence !

>...........

[Guest guest]

Namaste Nair-ji!

 

As you may already know from my posts, i am a great 'lover' of

poetry . Also, once i read swami vivekananda quoting a verse from

Vairagya shatakam by Bhatruhari - then i made it my business to know

who Bhatruhari is .... unfortunately, not much information is readily

available on this great Mystic... btw, did you know that he was also

a great grammarian like Panini?

 

This is the verse Swami Vivekananda was fond of quoting from

Bhatruhari's Vairaghya Shatakam

 

Vairagya-Shatakam (31)

 

In wealth is the fear of poverty, in knowledge the fear of ignorance,

in beauty the fear of age, in fame the fear of backbiters, in success

the fear of jealousy, even in body is the fear of death. Everything

in this earth is fraught with fear. He alone is fearless who has

given up everything.

 

Don't think this is an ultimate vedantic thought? one of total

renunciation and detatchment ?

 

well, honestly, i do not know when Bhatruhari wrote his Vairagya

Shatakam BEFORE OR AFTER enlightenment!!!

 

I know one thing for sure! He was a RASIKA-SIDDHA just like Poet

KALIDASA!

 

 

In Shringaara Shatakam , The Rasika in BHATRUHARI is fully

manifested ...

 

He writes...

 

VISHWAMITRAPARAASHAR PRABHRITYO VAATAAMBUPARANAASHANAASTEAPI

STREEMUKHAPANKAJAM SULALITAM DRISHTVAIV MOHAM GATAAH|

SHAALYANNAM SAGHRITAM PAYODADHIYUTAM BHUNJATI YE

MAANVAASTESHAAMINDRIYANIGRAHO YADI BHAVEDVINDHYASRESAAGARAM||

(verse 26 -shringara shatakam)

 

 

Even the great sages like Vishwamitra, and Parashar who lived on

plain food, water and air, could not contain their urges when they

saw the beautiful faces of pretty young women. It is not surprising

then if an ordinary person who lives on milk and cereals falls in

love with young women. Control of sense organs by an ordinary person

is as surprising as a mountain floating on the sea.

 

In verse 36, the poet says ...

 

KAANTETYUTPALALOCHANETI VIPULA SHRONIBHARETYUTSUKAH

PINOTUNGPAYODHARETI SUMUKHAANBHOJETI SUBHRURITI| DHRISTVAA MAADYATI

MOHATEABHIRAMATE PRASTAUTI JAANANNAPI PRATAKSHYAASUCHI PUTRIKAAM

STREEYAMAHO MOHASYA DUSHCHESHTITAM||

 

 

 

Learned people regard a woman as a statue of impurity. Still such

learned people come to rut when they see a pretty woman. Mere sight

of an amorous pretty woman causes tremendous joy to these learned

people who fall instantly in love with her and appreciate her beauty.

They compare her eyes with lotus, her breasts with domes and her

eyebrows with the bow of Kamadeva.

 

Nair-ji!

 

i am not in the least surprised about these outpourings of Passion

from a so called Jnani saint? do you know why?

 

I have already mentioned in this group about Tantrik Guru

Dattatreya , the avadhoota ! He created a scandal in his times when

he was seen 'swimming' naked in the company of 'prostitutes' and

other beautiful women!

 

In the Srimad BHAGVATAM, Dattatreya listed 24 upagurus when KING

Yadu asked this great sage who his GURU was!

 

This upagurus were

 

"the earth, air, ether, water, fire, the moon, the sun, dove, python,

sea, moth, honeybee and apiarist, elephant, deer, fish, *prostitute

Pingala,* osprey, infant, maid, arrow smith, serpent, spider, insect,

and wasp. "

 

Sage Dattatreya tells this story of

 

Pingala the prostitute and her search for a paramour

 

"In the city of Mithila, there once was a prostitute, Pingala, who

spent her days beautifying herself for the night. As the sun dipped

down, the dusk whisked in and the night fell, the night walker

ventured out to sell her services to the ogling paramours and

dandies. As men walked the streets, no one came to use her services.

She greeted, accosted and displayed her assets discreetly. She was

waiting for a wealthy man (a sugardaddy) to come along and make her

waiting and loitering worthwhile. She waited all night with no client

in sight; she lost her sleep; she was tired and hungry; she did not

make any money. She began to ruminate on her life. She was disgusted

with her lifestyle. The pain she felt came down like a sword cutting

asunder the attachment to material things. There were beginning signs

of dispassion. She broke into a song which essentially said the

following: "I am an ignorant fool. My pain springs from an

unrestrained mind. I have been a fool thinking that happiness comes

from my clients. I have been a fool while I ignored the immortal Self

that lives in my heart, ready to give me happiness. The precious Self

gives me true and eternal wealth. These base lechers bring me only

pain and suffering, fears and phobia and fatuous passion. This

prostitution did not bring me health, wealth or happiness. Selling my

body to the amorists did not improve my lot. His body has nine gates

constantly discharging waste. It has skin and bones and hair and

nails and exudes foul smell. Who would consider it precious other

than me? I expected Bliss from my prostitution not knowing that Self

is the only Bliss. I surrender myself to the Great Self and live in

Bliss in the company of the Supreme. Time is a greater devourer of

men and gods. Can any woman depend on men and gods to pay off the

inexorable Time? Paramatman smiled on me; in an instant, my despair

vanished; my heart is detached from all that the world has to offer

me. This unhappiness is a blessing in disguise and enables me to

trounce my expectations and gain inner peace. With love and devotion,

I accept this gift of Paramatman (the Supreme Self), shun worldly

things and drop my pursuit of the ephemeral. My faith rests in the

Supreme; I will lead a life of contentment with the Self as my soul

guide. I will consider the Lord, who is my own Self, as my husband

from now on and enjoy his company. Only the Supreme can save us when

we are down and out, our senses lost their direction and Serpent Time

engulfs us. When we see Time devouring everything in its path, we

begin to realize what this world is made of; we renounce it knowing

that the Supreme is the only savior." Pingla, walking the streets in

such thoughts, knew what she wanted out of her remaining life, gave

up her worldly hopes and expectations, and returned home. She rose

above the expectations of the world and its people which caused her

untold misery, let them go and retreated in peace. "

 

http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/AVADHUTA.HTM - 33k - Cached

 

TO ME, it appears that Poet-philosophers like Bhatruhari are the real

non-dualists who have transcended duality -

 

"they are in the world but not of the world"

 

In VAIRAGHYA SHATAKAM, bHATRUHARI SAYS

 

 

15)BHOGA MEGHA VITANA MADHYA VILASATSAUDAMINI CHANCHALA

AYURVAYUVI GHATTITABJA PATA LILINAMBUVANGURAM|

LILA YAUVAN LALASASTANUBHRITA MITYA KALAYYA DRUTAM YOGE

DHAIRYA SAMADHI SIDDHI SULABHE BUDDHI VI DADHVAM BUDHAHA||

 

 

 

O, intelligent people amongst. The clouds of pleasure of humans

lightening is going to strike i.e. pleasures shall soon cease to

exist.

Our life is transitory and momentary just as a drop of water over the

lotuses. The passions created out of youthhood are also unstable.

Realizing this engage in meditation and contemplation and attainment

of super natural powers so that one can make the mind stable and

calm. One should also contemplate on the supreme cosmic soul.

 

PLEASE VISIT-Bhatruhar's shatakams

 

 

http://urday.com/shringar.htm [with meaning]

 

http://sanskrit.gde.to/ [major works] in devanagari

 

(THANK YOU SUNDER-JI for these wonderful links)

 

Yes, Nair-ji! is this not Adi sankara Bhagavadapada also say in the

Baja Govindam stotra?

 

naliniidalagata jalamatitaralaM

tadvajjiivitamatishayachapalam.h .

viddhi vyaadhyabhimaanagrastaM

lokaM shokahataM cha samastam.h (verse 4)

 

 

 

The life of a man is as uncertain as rain drops trembling on a lotus

leaf. Know that the whole world remains a prey to disease, ego and

grief.

 

 

well, i do not think there is therefore anything contradictory about

an Ordinary man who turns into a Yogi after realizing that wine,

women and wealth are all 'transitory' pleasures and the only thing

that is 'permanent' and 'eternal' is the SELF .... Atma-Gyana!!!

 

our most respected Ananda-ji has furnished a wonderful explanation on

BHATRUHARI'S PHILOSOPHY AND I CANNOT MATCH THAT! thank you , aAnanda-

ji ! You are so versatile! i luv Shakespeare !

 

as far as SHRI Nisargadatta Maharajji'S 'SMOKING' ADDICTION IS

CONCERNED , I CANNOT COMMENT ON THAT !

 

but, i know for sure ,that our most beloved saint SHRI Ramakrishna

Pparamahamsa used to smoke 'tobacco' via the Hookah ... but being a

paramahamsa he could do that because he had transcended all duality !

He was a true Tantrik-Advaitin who had transceded all pain and

pleasure !

 

Hope i was not too 'brazen' IN MY RESPONSE!!! SMILES!!!