Of Human Bondage

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta

Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Of Human Bondage

 

What do you think is the grossest of indignities that can be heaped

upon a person? One may be abused, physically and verbally; one may

even be punished with fines or with imprisonment. Worse than all

these is the use of Fetters. Denial of liberty though incarceration

is bad enough: but worse is immobilisation through fetters, severely

curtailing the movement of one’s limbs. Though prisoners are

normally kept in locked cells, the application of fetters to their

hands and feet eliminates any possibility of escape. These days, when

human rights are the watchword, the use of fetters has been forbidden

by various courts, except where hard-core criminals and terrorists

are involved. However, whether or not one has been tried and punished

by courts, would it surprise you to know that all of us are severely

immobilised by irremovable fetters? Do read on, to know more about

these fetters and how we can get out of them.

 

Putting people in shackles so that they don’t escape, appears to

be quite an ancient practice. We thus hear of cruel Kamsa clapping

both Devaki and Vasudeva in irons, so that they did not escape with

the eighth child, which was predicted to be the king’s nemesis.

Such was Kamsa’s fear of the yet-to-be born Krishna, that not

content with merely imprisoning his sister and brother-in-law in a

maximum security jail, he also bound their hands and feet with

manacles. It was one of the Lord’s principal missions in the

Krishnavataram to rid His parents of their fetters, says

Sri Poigaiyazhwar—

 

“Pettraar talai kazhala perndu or kural uruvaai

settraar padi kadanda Senkan Maal”

 

If this were so, should not the divine parents been set free the

moment Sri Krishna was born? Why did they have to wait for their

release from their “vilangu” till Krishna grew up,

arrived at Mathura and killed Kamsa?

 

The answer is that the bonds of Karma are stronger than any other. It

was thus their accumulated sin that kept Devaki and Vasudeva in

chains, even after they gave birth to the Supreme Being. This also

strengthens our faith that the Lord is indeed an impartial arbiter,

displaying absolutely no favour or nepotism in rewarding or punishing

people as per their own Karma, be they His own parents or sworn

enemies.

 

Speaking of the bonds of Karma, Sri Nammazhwar calls them the

strongest available, stronger even than those of iron, to tie a

person hand and foot, imprisoning the Atma in the maximum-security

prison of the body, from which release is just not possible. Even if

one were to escape the constricting confines of one body, it is only

to be imprisoned in another body—from the frying pan into the

fire, so to say. “Tinnam azhunda katti pala sei vinai van

kayittraal” says the Azhwar, describing our plight as victims

of our past deeds, good and bad.

 

“Good and Bad”? I am almost able to see the questioning

frown on the reader’s face. We can equate our sins or bad deeds

to shackles, but does the same apply to Punyam or good deeds? How

would one’s meritorious acts form fetters?

 

Just as our sins deny us emancipation, Punyam also requires its fruits

to be experienced, either in this world itself or in the exalted ones

above, such as Svargam. Even if one were to attain the lofty status

of Brahmaa the Creator, through one’s good deeds, after the

effects of Punyam have been exhausted, one has to return to this

mundane world of sorrow and suffering. It is only when we are rid

both of Punyam and Papam, that we attain eligibility for Liberation,

says the Shruti—“Punya paape vidhooya niranjana: paramam

saamyam upaiti”. Thus, if we wish to get rid of our bodily

shackles, we have to be free of both sin and merit. If sins can be

equated to iron manacles, then Punyam can at best be called a golden

handcuff, a “Pon Vilangu”, says Swami Desikan in Sri

Varadaraja Panchasat—

 

“kasmai svadeta sukha sancharana utsukaaya

kaaraagrihe kanaka shrinkhalayaapi bandha:”

 

All of us know that Sri Krishna allowed Himself to be tied up by

Yasoda with the shortest of ropes, displaying His Soulabhyam.

However, it is a little known fact that Sri Rama too was tied up.

Though we do not find this episode in Sri Valmiki’s magnum

opus, we have it for a fact, from an equally impeccable source.

 

Hanuman, in his effort to prove his identity to a suspicious Sita

Devi, recounts various intimate episodes from Her life with Raghava,

to convince Her that he was indeed Rama’s messenger and not

Ravana come in disguise. One of these is the story of Rama being tied

up with bonds, made, however, of Jasmine garlands.

 

.. Once during their happy days at Ayodhya, the divine couple were

engaged in playing Chaturangam (Chess). Having won the game, Sri Sita

tied up Her dear Prince with strands of fragrant jasmine, as a token

of Her victory. As none else could have known this unless confided in

by Chakkravartthi Tirumagan, this romantic titbit generates confidence

in Sri Janaki’s heart about the bona fides of Hanuman. Here is

Periyazhwar’s beautiful pasuram, describing this episode—

 

“alliam poo malar kodaai! adi paninden vinnappam

sollugen kettarulaai tunai malar kan mada maane!

elliam podu inidu iruttal irundador ida vagayil

Malligai maalai kondu angu aarttadum or adayaalam”

 

We see in some households the plight of the hapless husband torn

between his wife and mother, each indulging in one-upmanship to

demonstrate who wields greater power over the poor fellow. We wonder

whether it is not the same case with Emeperuman too. Finding His wife

tying Him up in the Ramavataram, perhaps the mother (Yasoda) indulged

in the same game in the Krishnavataram, to display her superiority!

Jokes apart, the two episodes, where Emperuman was effectively tied

up, demonstrate that He is indeed susceptible to be immobilised by

devotees’ bonds of love and affection.

 

Speaking of being tied up, we hear of the great Anjaneya being

immobilised by the Brahmaastram let loose by Indrajit, when the Rama

doota indulged in destruction and arson, reducing Lanka to shambles.

Though no power could put fetters on the irrepressible Hanuman, he

submitted voluntarily to the bonds of the Brahmaastram as a tactical

measure, so that he could meet Ravana and give the rakshasa a piece

of his mind.

 

The peculiar nature of the Brahmaastram is that after its use against

a person, if other restraints are also applied, then the Brahmaastram

loses its potency and the arrested person becomes free from its

crippling effects (“Astra bandha: sa cha anyam hi na bandham

anuvartate”). The stupid Rakshasas, in their eagerness to

secure Hanuman in a fool-proof manner, bound him further with

whatever they could lay their hands on—jute ropes, tree barks,

etc. Instantly, the Vaanara Veera was automatically rid of the

fetters imposed by the Brahmaastram. Still, he pretended to be bound,

so that he could meet Ravana. Though the other rakshasas hardly

realised that Hanuman was now free, Indrajit did and was filled with

wonder as to why the monkey did not spring free from its captors and

resume its spree of destruction.

 

Another bond, which is dreaded by everyone and spells instant death,

is that of Varuna, the Deity of Waters. We find numerous references

in the Shruti to the “Varuna paasam” and its deleterious

effects and impassioned prayers to spare one from its rigours.

 

Bonds and Fetters need not always be physical. When one feels

powerless to act due to constricting circumstances, then too one is

bound hand and foot. Such was the case with Dasaratha, when he felt

powerless to stop the march of events culminating in the banishment

of Sri Rama to the forests. Having given two boons to Kaikayee, the

Emperor felt powerless to go back on his words, as not only his

credibility but that of the entire lineage of Ikshvaakus was at

stake. He would have loved to tell Kaikayee to go to hell and

retracted his earlier promises, but since he was bound by the fetters

of Satyam (truthfulness), he felt incapable of doing so. “Sa

satya vachanaat Raaja Dharma paasena samyata:” says Sri

Valmiki, describing Dasaratha’s plight.

 

Coming back to our own unbreakable bonds of Karma, which bind us fast

to Samsaara, we wonder whether there is no way out of it. Are we

doomed forever to be fettered, bound hand and foot, unable to exert

ourselves in any measure towards freedom from this eternal bondage?.

Because, even if we were to take thousands of births, it would be

difficult for us to wipe off the accumulated grime and gristle of our

good and bad deeds. And we are told that only when the slate is clean

would we be eligible for emancipation.

 

Our compassionate Acharyas have shown us the strategy to rid ourselves

of these terribly painful shackles. They have shown us the path of

absolute surrender to the Lord, that of Saranagati, which, once

performed sincerely through an Acharya, frees us forever from the

fetters of Samsara. All our sins (and merits too) are destroyed in a

trice, leaving us pure and untainted, eligible in every way to the

eternal life of blissful service to the Lord and His devotees. Thus,

Saranagati or Prapatti ensures that--“Poya pizhayum pugu

taruvaan nindranavum teeyinil doosaagum”—all our Karma is

destroyed like mere dust by a raging fire. Once we perform Saranagati

at the lotus feet of the Lord, these twin fetters of sin and merit

drop off automatically, leaving us free to ascend to Paramapadam,

says Swami Desikan—

 

“Mukta: svayam sukrita dushkrita shrinkhalaabhyaam

achirmukhai: adhikritai: adhivaahita adhvaa

svacchanda kinkaratayaa bhavata: Kareesa!

Svaabhaavikam pratilabheya mahaa adhikaaram”

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan