The Petite Paramatma

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa

Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

The Petite Paramatma

 

The very term “Brahmam” brings to our mind a huge and

immeasurable entity. We are used to thinking of the Paramatma as a

colossus, led to believe so by the various Vedic texts like

“Sahasra Seershaa Purusha: Sahasraaksha: Sahara paat”,

ascribing to the Lord innumerable heads, eyes and feet. Not only His

physical features, His auspicious attributes too are endless, we are

told—“ananta kalyaana gunaganougha mahaarnavam”.

Additionally, the very term “Brahmam” etymologically

refers to a giant—“Brihatvaat Brahma”. Azhwars too

attest to the Lord’s huge and immeasurable form—

 

“soozhndu agandru aazhndu uyarnda mudivil perum paazheyo

soozhundu adanil periya en para nan malar sodeeyo”

 

Our VisihstAdvaita Sampradaya too supports a gigantic Parabrahmam,

which has for its body the entire gamut of universes and galaxies,

with all their sentient and non-sentient inhabitants. Anyone with

such an elaborate form must necessarily be huge beyond imagination

and ipso facto, the Brahmam must be of inconceivably gargantuan

proportions. The Lord is bigger than the biggest, greater than the

greatest, says the Shruti—“mahato maheeyaan”. He is

bigger than the Universe, the skies and everything else imaginable,

says the Upanishad—“Jyaayaan Prithivya: jyaayaan

Antarishshaat, jyaayaan divo, jyaayaan ebhyo lokebhya:” It is

thus a well-established tenet that the Lord is indeed a Colossus, in

all senses of the word.

 

However, the Scripture speaks of another form of the Parabrahmam,

which is diametrically opposite to that described above.

 

Many are the Veda vaakyas, which tell us that the Lord resides in our

hearts. “anta: pravishta: Shaasta janaanaam Sarvaatma”

says the Taittiriya Aranyakam, describing Him as the Inner Controller

of everyone. The same text tells us that the Universal Creator also

enters into every one of us and dwells within—“anta:

pravishtam Kartaaram etam”. “Prajaapati: charati garbhe

anta:” says the Purusha Suktam, ascribing to the Lord, a

residence inside us. He Himself tells Arjuna that this is so, that He

resides in the heart of all beings—“ Isvara: sarva

bhootaanaam hrit dese Arjuna tishttathi”

 

The Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad too speaks about a peculiar Stranger.

This Stranger resides pretty close by, in fact inside us. He

functions as the Inner Controller of the body and the soul, while

being distinctly different from both. Neither the soul nor the body

realise His existence, much less know Him intimately. We know not

what He looks like, what His attributes are, what He stands for and

what is the relationship between this Stranger and ourselves."Ya

Atmani tishttan, Atmana: antara:, yam Atma na veda, yasya Atma

shareeram, ya Atmaanam antaro yamayati, sa ta Atma antaryaami

amruta:" says the Upanishad.

 

We thus have the Scriptures speaking in two different voices about the

Parabrahmam—one that He is a Giant, huge beyond description,

infinitely bigger than the biggest known entity. In the same breath,

the Shruti tells us that the Lord resides in the hearts of all

beings. We are prepared to accept these two different forms of the

Lord, because it is the Shruti which says so.

 

However, we are assailed by a doubt—if the Lord is indeed huge,

how can He reside inside the heart of a being, which is supposed to

be extremely small? As we know, the human heart, or that of any other

being, must indeed be tiny, with hardly any space but for the blood

vessels and the pump. How then can the Parabrahmam accommodate itself

in such a cramped space? Conversely, if He can indeed reside inside

such a tiny room of flesh, can He indeed be the glorious and huge

Supreme Being? And, wouldn’t the extremely limited and stuffy

environs cramp His splendour and style? The residence of the

Universal Emperor must be a magnificent palace, a glorious

accommodation befitting the Brahmam. Can you imagine a King residing

in a hut? And if he indeed does, what sort of respect would he

command? And we are told that He contracts His huge form to one

smaller than a grain of rice, so as to accommodate Himself in the

human body. Whither the Colossus whom we are used to adoring as the

Paramatma, and whither this Antaryami, with an infinitesimal form,

subtler than the subtlest of micro-bacteria (“Ano:

aneeyaan”)?

 

The glory of our Scripture is that all possible doubts and misgivings,

that are likely to plague ill-informed individuals like us, are

anticipated and answered. Here too, the Brahma Sutras are ready with

an answer, for the apparently irreconcilable riddle of the great

Parabrahmam residing in the extremely cramped and fleshy confines of

the human heart.

 

Furnishing us an example for easy comprehension, the Brahma Sutra says

that just as Atmosphere or Akaasam, which is really infinite and

all-pervasive, is present inside a pot too, with none of its

qualities compromised, so too the infinite Paramatma, with an

unimaginably huge size and body, is present in the human heart

too--Evam Vyomavat cha”. Just as we cannot deny the presence of

omnipresent Atmosphere inside a bottle, so too, merely on account of

the cramped confines, we cannot doubt the Antaryaami’s

existence in the human heart, in a minute form.

 

Now to the question of visibility of the Antaryami roopam of the Lord.

We know that the Paramatma at Sri Vaikuntam is visible to the Nitya

Sooris like Adisesha, Garuda, Vishvaksena, et al. We understand from

Epics and Puranas that during His avataras as Rama and Krishna, the

Supreme Lord made Himself visible to the eyes of the inhabitants of

Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Mathura, etc. We are told that Emperuman accorded

special eyesight to Sanjaya, Arjuna and others, so that they might

witness His primordial form in His Visvaroopam. And in His

Arcchaavataram (the images of stone, wood, etc. which He inhabits at

various temples in this world) He makes Himself the subject of vision

for all frail mortals. To whom then is His form as the Antaryami or

Inner Dweller of the human heart, visible?

 

The Antaryaami is visible in this infinitesimal form only to Yogis,

those exalted souls who reserve all their faculties only for His

service—“Hridaa maneeshaa manasa abhiklipto ya enam

vidu:” says the Upanishad. He is visible to those who consider

Him their all—“Unnum soru, parugum neer, tinnum vettrilai

ellaam Kannan Emperuman”, to those with hearts brimming over

with devotion, to those who have banished all sorts of dirt and

refuse from their heart, making it a fit place for the Paramatma to

reside. And such devotion and love for the Lord, in turn, comes about

only due to His blessing, says the Upanishad, telling us that only

those whom He Himself has blessed would be able to see this

Antaryaami—“tam akratum pasyati veeta shoko Dhaatu:

prasaadaat mahimaanam Eesam”

 

One more doubt may arise. Just as the good and bad deeds performed by

the body leave their accumulated impression on the Jeevatma, pushing

him into deeper into interminable cycles of births and deaths, would

not the Paramatma also be similarly affected, inhabiting the same

body as the Jeevatma? If you reside in a dustbin (which is what this

body really is, in its present form) you really can’t escape

dirt adhering to your person. This being so, would it be logical to

say that the Jeeva is affected by the deeds of the body, while the

Lord, who too dwells in the same body, is not?

 

What we must note here is that it is not mere residence in the human

body that makes Karma stick to the Jeevatma—it is the

susceptibility to fruits flowing from good and bad deeds, the

punishing baggage acquired over interminable births, cumulatively

known as Karma. It is this Karma, which causes contraction and

expansion in the wisdom of the Individual Soul.

 

The Lord, on the other hand, is outside the purview of Karma. He is

the Divine Arbiter, dealing out pleasure and pain to Jeevas as per

their Karma, while Himself remaining unaffected by it. The Lord

Himself clarifies this in the Gita, telling Arjuna that the fruits of

good and bad deeds do not touch Him, as His deeds are without any

desire therefor--

“na maam karmaani limpanti, na me karma phale spruha”

 

Just as water does not stick to the lotus leaf, despite the former

remaining in aquatic environs all the time, the Lord too has a

non-stick nature, as for Karma is concerned, despite residing in the

human heart.

 

It is this aspect, which is referred to in the following beautiful Mundakopanishad mantra—

“Dvaa suparnaa sayujaa sakhaayaa samaanam vriksham parishasvajaate

Tayo: anya: pippalam svaadu atti, anasnan anya: abhichaakaseeti”.

 

In an exquisite allegory, this mantra describes two birds of

beautiful plumage/feathers, equal in enjoyment, bound in eternal

friendship, residing in the same tree from time immemorial. One of

the birds feasts on the fruits of the tree, while the other shining

bird eats not and just looks on.

 

On the face of it, there is nothing remarkable about this mantra,

which can at best be dubbed as a description of a picture-postcard

scenario. However, a closer look reveals a wealth of meaning. The

tree described in the mantra refers to the non-sentient body. This

particular tree is immobilized by the surrounding soil of Samsaara,

and the roots represent the accumulated baggage of rights and

wrongs, collectively called “Karma”.

 

One of the birds having the tree as its abode, is the Jeevaatma. The

Jeevaatma is bound in an interminable cycle of births and deaths, and

passes through each life enjoying the fruits of its good deeds

(punyam) and suffering from the bad ones (paapam). The pleasures of

this world are indeed exquisite for those who are unaware of the

eternal bliss that the Lord can bestow, and hence the mantra

describes the fruits of the tree to be tasty (svaadu). These fruits

represent “Karma phalam”.

 

The other bird in the tree, the non-eating spectator, is the

Paramatma. The Lord, in His infinite mercy, resides along with the

Jeevaatma (as his Inner Dweller) in the perishable body, filled with

blood, bones and refuse (“oonidai suvar vaitthu, enbu thoon

naatti, uromam veyndu onbadu vaasal taanudai

kurambai”—Sri Tirumangai Azhwar). However, He does not

partake of the ephemeral, mundane pleasures, and remains untouched

and untainted by Karma. His innumerable auspicious attributes make

Him as different from the Jeevaatma, as day is from night. Thus the

mantra says He ‘shines”. It is thus that though He

resides in the same body as the Jeeva, the Lord remains unaffected by

Karma and its fruits.

 

What are the other characteristics of this Inner Dweller of ours?

 

His size is infinitesimal, microscopic. The Jeevatma is described to

be of the size of a hundredth of a head of

corn—“Vaalaagra shata bhaagasya”. And if the

Paramatma were to reside inside such a tiny entity, He in turn has to

be tinier than the Jeeva.

 

Even in this tiny form, the Lord doesn’t lose any of His

splendour and glory. Nor does He lack any of the innumerable

auspicious attributes, which are the hallmark of the Supreme Being.

Similarly, all His divine adornments (“Aabharanam”) and

weapons (Aayudham) that He sports in Sri Vaikunttam, are intact in

His form as the Antaryaami too.

 

Since His Consorts are inseparable from Him, the Lord as the Inner

Dweller is accompanied by them, even in the tiny form that He takes,

says Swami Desikan in Sri Bhagavat Dhyaana

Sopaanam—“Madhye Rangam mama cha hridaye vartate

saavarodha:”

 

What are the practical implications to us of the concept of the Antaryaami?

 

One is that we are assured of the divine presence at extremely close

quarters, right within us, ever ready to rush to our rescue at the

slightest sign of danger. While Droupati chose to appeal to Sri

Krishna residing in distant Dwaraka, all we have to do is to think of

our Inner Resident at times of distress, and there He is, at the ready

to protect us. This is not to say that Emperuman at SriVaikunttam is

incapable of rushing to our aid in a matter of micro seconds, but we

do feel more comfortable with a Resident Personal Protector, who is

on duty 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, residing at extremely

close quarters.

 

Another is that though we are aware of the Supreme Lord’s

omnipresent eyes seeing and recording all our deeds good and bad, we

still commit offences with impunity, when we find no other human

being looking at us. With the Antaryami, however, we can afford to

take no such chances, for He knows each and every one of our

thoughts, the moment they are conceived. He is the ever-vigilant

Sentinel, who is awake even we sleep and dream. “ulluvaar

ullittru ellaam udan irundu aridi” says Sri Tondaradippodi,

telling us to behave, for the Antaryaami’s eyes are always on

us.

 

A third implication of the Antaryami concept is this--We know that all

names indicate not the bodies but the Atmas inside. For instance, when

we address Sadagopan, we know that it is not his physical shell we are

speaking to, but the Atma residing inside. And since the Jeevatma too

is but a shell for the Antaryaami Paramatma, the name Sadagopan or

for that matter any other name, indicates only the Lord. This being

so, since all abuse or adulation addressed to the individual

automatically reaches the Lord, we would definitely be more careful

in how we speak to our counterparts. When we realise that any

invective we hurl at others actually goes and hits the Indwelling

Lord, we would automatically ensure that our speech is nothing but

the sweetest. “Love thy neighbour” becomes much easier to

practice, when we realise that it is the Paramatma we actually love,

being the Antaryami of the neighbour, as He is of others.

 

More than anything else, we have in the Antaryami our own personal

God, residing in our very own body, just inches below our chest. Here

is someone with whom you can share happy tidings or sad news. Here is

one who commiserates with you when you are miserable, is always

intent on spurring you on the path to spiritual progress and is your

sincere well-wisher. Once you develop the habit of communion with Him

on a regular basis, you have in Him the closest of Friends, the

sincerest of Guides and your very own personal Philosopher, awaiting

the flimsiest of opportunities for leading you on to Liberation.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri

Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan