"Is Ignorance really bliss?" (Part 4): Essay on VII.15 of Bhagavath-gita

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(continued from Part 3)

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Type 2: "narAdhama"

 

The second type of Ignorant Man is the "narAdhama". He

is the spiritual "drop-out".

 

In his magnificent commentary titled "gitAbhAshya", on

the Bhagavath-Gita, Sri RamanujAchArya describes for

us the second type of Ignorant Man in a single line:

 

"narAdhamAh: sAmAnyEna gnyAtE api mathsvarUpE

madhown~mUkhyAnarhAh:I"

 

("gitAbhAshya" of Sri RamanujachArya)

 

"The lowest class of men in this world are those

"narAdhamA-s" who are incapable of turning towards

God, even though they are generally aware of who He is

and what is His essential nature".

 

The Sanksrit "nara" means Man and "AdhamA" means

"lowest" or "worst". The "narAdhamA" is the worst

specie of Man to be found on earth because he is

irresponsible: he condones his own Ignorance.

 

Many years ago when I was a graduate-student at Loyola

College, Madras (India), I knew an interesting

fellow-student. He hailed from one of the high-class

families of the city and many of whose members were

scholars and academicians of excellence in their

respective generation. When this fellow enrolled in

Loyola College, the whole campus, faculty and

student-fraternity alike, was naturally proud to

welcome him. Great things were expected of this scion

of one of the best families in town. He was

intelligent, handsome, of aristocratic background and

he knew only too well the pre-eminence of his social

standing... But the fellow turned out to be a

disaster.

 

At the end of 4 long semesters, it was discovered the

fellow had simply not turned up for lectures, had not

taken a single exam and had failed to make the grade

in any subject. When the family investigated the

matter they found to their horror that their

illustrious ward had found his spiritual haunt

elsewhere than in the corridors of Loyola. He,

alongwith many a female companion, was spotted

regularly on the 'royal box' high above the lush lawns

of The Madras Race Club placing huge bets on horses!

 

Now, the "narAdhamA" of the Bhagavath-gita is not

unlike this fellow-student of mine at Loyola. In a

university classroom, the worst students are those who

fail to make the grade because they are intellectually

deficient. These failed students often opt to

"drop-out" and then return to delinquent ways. But

there is another kind of student who is even worse

than the dumb 'drop-out'. He is the "privileged

drop-out". Like my famous fellow-student, he has all

the necessary requisites to achieve academic

excellence, has every privilege of family and society

at his disposal, and everyone expects he is a

distinguished scholar-in-the-making... and he knows it

all too very well... And yet such a man will choose to

"drop-out"! He will choose to be irresponsible and

willingly walk down the path to moral seed and

destruction.

 

This is exactly the behaviour of the spiritual

"drop-out", the "narAdhama" of the Bhagavath-gita.

 

Endowed with human birth, that rare gift of evolution;

blessed with reason and intelligence, the precious

gifts of nature; and possessed with moral sense and

instinct, the gifts civilized society gives unto every

man.... if, in spite of having all these God-given

privileges showered upon him, a man chooses to turn

his back on the Almighty, studiously ignores Him and

remains stubbornly indifferent to His presence; if

such a Man is not once curious to know about God or

unravel His "unseen, unheard, unthought" presence

(revealed as it was to young Shvetaketu in the

Chandogya); if such a man is not even once in his

lifetime moved by the urge to pick up a sacred

scripture or holy text and study it to inquire about

God... then what is to be said of such a one except

that he is the lowest possible class of 'privileged

drop-out' --the "narAdhama"?

 

A beautiful and thought-provoking verse in the

"Srimadh-Bhagavatham", the Vedantic "purANa" written

by Sage Vyasa, makes precisely such a point

contrasting the "gnyAni" (the Man of wisdom) with the

"narAdhama" of the 'Gita':

 

"labdhvA sudurlabhamidam bahusambhavAntE

mAnushyam arthadam anityamapi iha dhIrAh;

tUrnam yatEta na patet anumrthyu yAvat

nihshrEyasAya vishayah khalu sarvatah syAt --

 

(srimadh bhAgavatham -- XI.ix.29)

 

"The human form is a perishable one, and is hard to

obtain;

Man attains it at the end of several births -- It is

capable of conferring on Man, in this very life,

The highest spiritual freedom.

 

Before Death overtakes him, a man of wisdom,

Instead of delighting in the sensual

As lesser bodies are wont to do,

He strives earnestly for the highest excellence

Which such Freedom is indeed!"

 

***********

 

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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