Vairagyam

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Sankarraman:

 

Please go ahead send your translation and put them in an organized way

by choosing appropriate titles. While explaining, please make sure to

point out the vedantic message behind those wonderful poems. Don't try

to rush in posting, instead first translate them and group them in an

order so that it covers an important subject matter.

 

With shiva's and pattinathar's grace, you will make a wonderful

contribution. Some of the Tamil Bhakti works (Shiva, Vishnu, Ambaal and

Andaal) are considered as 'Tamil Vedas' and they would be quite

complementary to Vedantic thoughts.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Harih om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran

wrote:

>

> >

If the moderators permit me, I shall, God Willing, render the poems of

these saints in English.

> yours in Lord Siva

> Sankarraman

>

[Guest guest]

Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran wrote:

 

subrahmanian_v <subrahmanian_v wrote: --- In

advaitin, Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran

wrote:>

> Ganesan Sankarraman <shnkaran wrote:

>

>

> Dear sir,

> There is a Tamil saint by name, 'Bathrihiri,'

( not Barthihari, the author of Vairagya Sathakam ), a contemporary

of, "Pattinathar," a saint of a very high order, whose works are

full of dispassion. Even a cursory glance of these two great saints,

the devotees of Lord Siva, will produce great vairagya in the minds

of even a confirmed libertine.

> Sankarraman

>

Namaste Sir,

This information delights me. I am somewhat familiar with

Pattinathar's teachings but am totally ignorant about the other

Saint. May i request you to give us an English rendering of a

selection of the two Saints' teachings? Just one or two at a time

with your valuable comments will be of immense advantage to all of

us here.

 

Regards,

subbu

>

Respected Sir,

I am moved by your eagerness to know about these two great

saints. If this forum permits me, I shall render in English a few verses each

day of these two great saints, of course, with my limited command over both the

languages, especially English. Unfortunately, with the Tamil Brahmins, one

shortcoming is the neglect of their native language, and the pursuit of the

glamour of a foreign language to which I am also very much a prey. But, truth

transcends the barrier of language, being only silence, the source of all words,

all ideations. These two great saints do not have any particular philosophy, but

are devoted to the worship of Lord Siva, more so in the nirguna aspect. One can

equate their teachings with Saiva Siddhantha philosophy of the four great

Saivaite apostles, Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manickkavachakar. The

outpourings of Pattinathar and Bathrahari are rapturous, full of vairagya of the

highest order, soul-elevating, bedewing our cheeks with

tears of devotion. Bathrahiri is the disciple of Pattinathar. Pattinathar is a

great merchant, who renounces the entire life in a trice, the truth brought home

to him through his son, who, after return from a voyage, brings only a

sack-cloth, a dry cow-dung, and an eyeless needle, contained in a basket, when

Pattinathar is hoping that the entire wealth of the world will be his

possession. Suddenly, there is an onrush of devotion and dispassion in him

making him understand the evanescence of the entire life- land, lucre and lass.

Pattinathar abandons home and hearth singing the praise of the Lord, decrying

the worldly life in a very intense language. He visits all the temples of Siva.

In one place- I have forgotten the name of the temple-Pattinathar is in

Nirvikalpa Samadhi, when some robbers happen to come there sharing their

booties. Mistaking Pattinathar to be Lord Vinayaka Himself, in view of the

extreme trance position of Pattinathar, they throw a jewel on his neck, as

an offering to the Lord, which

adorns Pattinathar. The robbers run away. The jewel is the property of the

king. The king's spies apprehend the saint mistaking him to be the robber. The

fact is reported to the king, who immediately orders the saint to be hanged

without any enquiry being conducted. When Pattinathar was woken up from the

trance to be executed, understanding his predicament he sings: “Nothing lies

in my hands; everything is ordained by the immaculate Action of Lord Siva. I do

not seem to have perpetrated any evil act in this birth to deserve this end.

But, I ought to have performed some heinous sin in my previous births to deserve

this ignominious end. Since not an atom is stirred into activity without the

behest of the Lord, let me accept my fate." But Pattinathar in a divine

remonstrance against the punishment meted out to him says, “If it were true

that I did not steal the ornament of the king, let it be proved by these

scaffoldings, meant to hang me, being burnt to ashes. Lo! A bit

conflagration engulfs every thing and the king's officers realizing their sin

of having accused an innocent man, and understanding his saintliness, run and

report the matter to the king. The king feels sorry for his hasty action, and

astounded at the greatness of the saintliness of Pattinathar, chooses to abandon

the kingdom and family, and take to the wandering life with Pattinathar as his

spiritual guru. While, both the spiritual mendicants wander around

Thiruvidaimaruthur, a temple of Lord Siva, a wayfarer accosts Pattinathar trying

to share some of the begged food from him. Pattinathar tells him that he is a

wandering mendicant, and that there is a family man sitting near the Eastern

Gopuram of the temple, who can be approached in the matter. The wayfarer finds

there none other than a mendicant sharing the company of a dog. He tells that

mendicant, who is no less a person than the mendicant turned king, Bathrahiri,

what Pattinathar told him. Bathrihiri understands that

Pattinathar considers him still a family man on account of his being attached

to a dog, and immediately abandons the company of the dog also, choosing to

wander in utter loneliness seeking only Siva. Bathrahiri passes away before

Pattinathar. Pattinathar bemoans his fate that he has not attained mukti yet,

when his disciple has attained. He comes out with soul-stirring song of

lamentation known as, “ Meijnana Pulambal,†(spiritual song of lamentation).

Pattinathar wanders all over Tamilnadu, getting a message through an oracle

that whichever place in which he finds a sugar-cane, the bottom part of which

tastes sweetest, would be the place, where he would attain Mukti. This

phenomenon takes place at Tiruvotriyur at Chennai, a temple near the sea-shore.

Pattinathar plays a conjuring game with some urchin-boys to delight them, by

asking them to bury him in a deep pit, and open it after some time. Every time

they open the pit, Pattinathar is not found in the pit, but

comes from some other place. At the third time, when the pit is opened, there

is only a Siva-Linga, Pattinathar not coming back from any where. In that place

there is a Samadhi for Pattinathar. Kunju Swamigal, a disciple of Bhaghavan

Ramana, equates the renunciation of Pattinathar with what is known as, “

Viraktha gathi,†that being like a bolt of lightning, irrespective of age and

environment, as different from, “ Viveka gathi,†involving discrimination.

The positions of Bhaghavan Ramana and Buddha are equated with this. (The thought

of Kunju swamigal is written in the book Padamalai of David Godman, page 259)

Thus is so far the historical account of the life of

the sages Pattinathar and Bathrahiriyar, who flourished in the tenth century.

To start with, I am quoting the following verses, the first two being that of

Bathrahiriyar, and the rest that of Pattinathar.

“When shall the day come, when one abides still in the sleepless

sleep of Sivaraja-yoga, with the ego totally dissolved and the wanderings of the

senses put to a total stop?â€

 

“When shall the day come, when one abides in the sleepless sleep of

Sivaraja-yoga flooding the entire being with the surge of compassion which the

mind cannot receive?â€

Both the above verses are indicative of the hankering of the saint to come

upon the state of turiya.

 

“All those who were born with me, all my companions, are gone, leaving me

rigorously alone. What a pitiable plight.â€

Pattinathar, I think, makes a euphemistic description of the state

of aloneness of freedom.

 

“He has destroyed so entirely my karmic coil that I remain the sole

person to know myself.â€

This is the advaitic state of the sole reality of the atman.

 

yours in Bhaghavan Ramana

Sankarraman

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Vairagyam

 

Namaste Sadhakas,

 

When the Shastram teaches us to develop vairagyam, there are two elements

involved in it. 1. The viveka, discrimination. and 2. The Tyaga, giving up. The

first is the application of reason and understanding why attachment to the sense

objects is not conducive to spiritual growth and the second ensures the

sustained practice of vairagyam. Both are important. The discrimination,

dosha-drishti, is required to find out the faults, the dosha, in the objects.

This forms the core of vairagya, for that vairagya alone that is born out of

such a riori analysis of the faults pertaining to the sense objects survives

the onslaughts of this unpredictable life. The simultaneous giving up,

otherwise called abstinence, is equally important for however much intellectual

understanding is gained about the faults, when the objects present themselves to

us in actual life, the chances of yielding to them being high, a deliberate

'turning away' from them is essential. That is the reason

'dama' is prescribed. Dama is the restraint of sense organs. In a case that I

know of, a young sadhaka, had become addicted to watching programmes on the

Television. As soon as entering the house on return from work, he would sink

into the sofa and remain glued to the TV to the disregard of every other thing.

His sandhya anushthanam became the first casualty and all other sadhanas took a

severe beating. To him, his Guru suggested, apart from intellectual

counselling, this exercise: As soon as you enter home walk past the living room

where the TV is placed and enter your private room. Then close the door behind

you and tell yourself: 'Now I am saved from it.' The advice was put into

practice and over time the problem passed off. I mentioned this just to show

that in actual practice, similar instructions in physical abstinence are given

to aspirants. When they have sufficiently grown, there may not be the need for

very strict enforcement of abstinence. Sri

Ramakrishna says: For a small plant, initially a strong fencing is required to

protect it from goats, cows, etc. But when the plant has grown into a tree,

taking deep roots, no fencing is required. Even if an elephant is chained to

the tree there would be no harm to it.

 

There is this verse of Kalidasa in the Kumarasambhavam:

 

vikaarahetau sati vikriyante yeshaam na chetaamsi ta eva dhiraaH

 

They are the truly heroic who are able to stay unperturbed even in the

presence of provocation. In the absence of provocation it is easy to say ' I am

not affected by sense objects'. Lord Shiva was engaged in Tapas. Uma, daughter

of Himavan, had dedicated Herself to the Lord and was permitted to go and serve

Lord Shiva during His Tapas. Kalidasa raises a question: What kind of Tapas

could it be when there is a beautiful damsel around? He himself provides the

answer by paying rich tributes to the Lord in the above verse.

 

The Panchadasi Chapter VI, Chitradipa prakaranam verse 278 adopts the method

of enquiring into the hetu = cause, svarupam =characteristic and karyam = effect

of vairagyam thus:

Dosha-drishtiH jihaasaa cha punar-bhogeshvadiinataa |

Asaadhaarana-hetvaadyaaH vairagyasya trayo'pyami ||

 

1.The extraordinary cause that espouses vairagyam, dispassion, is the

perception of faults in the sense objects in particular and samsara as a whole.

2. What is the characteristic of vairagya? The experiencing of a strong

dislike, despicability, towards the sense objects marks the presence of

dispassion.

3. What is the fruit of vairagya? The freedom from the strong clutches, hold,

of the sense objects is the result available for experience. The

Vivekachoodamani 425 specifies the upper limit of the fruit of vairagya thus:

Vaasana-anudayo bhogye vairagyasya tadaa-avadhiH. = The absence of even the

latent mental impression pertaining to desire for objects of enjoyment is

specified as the ultimate limit of the practice and perfection of vairagya.

 

I shall take up the 'dosha-drishti' abhyasa in a subsequent post. Here are

some verses aimed at generating vairagyam:

 

Detachment to worldly and heavenly pleasures is vital for securing

enlightenment and liberation. The Mahànàràyana Upanishad (I.10.21) teaches:

Na karmanaa na prajayaa dhanena, Tyagenaike Amrutatvam AanashuH.

(Not by work (rites), progeny or wealth did they attain immortality. It is by

renunciation that some have attained immortality.)

 

The Lord has said (Bhagavad-Gätà V.22):

 

Ye hi samsparshajaa bhogaaH duHkha-yonaya eva te |

AadyatavantaH Kaunteya na teshu ramate budhaH ||

 

(Since enjoyments that result from contact between the organs and their

objects are decidedly sources of sorrow and have a beginning and an end, O son

of Kuntä, the wise one does not delight in them.)

 

Shaknoti ihaiva yaH sodhum praak sharira-vimokshanaat |

Kaama-krodhodbhavam vegam sa yuktaH sa sukhi naraH || (ibid. V.23)

 

(One who can withstand here itself - prior to departing from the body - the

impulse arising from desire and anger, that man is a Yogin; he is happy.)

 

Asamshayam Mahaabaho mano durnigraham chalam |

Abhyasena tu Kaunteya vairagyena cha gruhyate || (ibid.VI.35)

 

(O mighty-armed one, undoubtedly, the mind is intractable and restless. But, O

son of Kuntä, it can be brought under control through practice and detachment.)

 

Paramacharyal (Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Swamigal) emphasised detachment to

Sri Srinivasa Sastry (Later, Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swamigal) . One

evening, Paramacharyal was proceeding to the Kàlabhairava temple taking the

students and Vaidyanatha Sastry with Him. V.Sastry submitted to Paramacharyal

that he had noted down some verses uttered by Him when He had been in an

inward-turned state. Paramacharyal directed him to recite one of them. In

response, V.Sastry said:

 

Nahi nahi manutaam svatvam martyaH sviiya dehe'pi |

Pitrbhoomi-shrgaala-ganaaH svatvam parichintayanti tatkaale ||

 

(A mortal should never have the sense of “mine” with regard to even the body.

The packs of jackals in the crematorium deem it to belong to them when the body

lies there.)

 

Then, Paramacharyal proceeded to explain to the worthlessness of attachment to

the body. He finally chanted:

Simhaasanopavishtam drshtvaa yam mudam avaapa loko'yam |

Tam Kaala-akrshta-tanum vilokya netre nimilayanti || (Prabodha-Sudhàkara

I.26)

 

(People shut their eyes on seeing him, whom they had felt joy on seeing seated

on the royal throne, when he is taken away by Death.)

 

The following day, Paramacharyal directed Vaidyanatha Sastry to come to Him

with just Sri Srinivasa Sastry. When His directive was complied with, He said,

“Today, we shall discuss the comparative merits of being a householder and a

saænyàsin. You first explain the advantages of family life.” In obedience to the

command of Paramacharyal, Sri Srinivasa Sastry and Vaidyanatha Sastry spoke of

the plus points of one being a householder. Paramacharyal then detailed the

disadvantages of that stage of life. He gave many examples and chanted:

 

Ko hi jaanaati kasya adya mrtyukaalo bhavishyati |

Yuvaiva dharma-sheelaH syad anityam khalu jivanam ||

 

Baalye nashta-viveko vishaya-sukha-aasvaada-lampatas tarunaH |

Parato jaata-viveko vrddho'shaktaH kimaapnuyaat siddhim ||

 

(Who indeed knows which day shall be his last? Even when young, one should

practise righteousness; life is decidedly transient. During childhood, one is

bereft of discriminative insight. While a youth, one is engrossed in the

experience of sensual pleasures. Later, what success can an infirm old man

achieve after the dawn of discrimination?)

 

(The verses are also given in transliterated form so that the very reciting of

these beautiful verses is enjoyable.)

To be continued.

 

Pranams,

subbu

 

 

 

 

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