standing on one leg

[Guest guest]

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

Since just I finished the 'game of waiting', the hangover of that 'love'

continues. One of the stages of love is shy-less-ness. To prove this, it is said

by elders say while gossiping [about some youngsters when they have fallen in

love with some girl and insisted about marrying her only], 'that so and so boy

stood on a single leg just to marry that so and so girl only" - to put it in

tamil and colloquially 'anthap paiyan ivaLaiyE [alladhu anthap poNNaiyE]

kalyaaNam paNNippEnnu oththak kaalil ninnaan". So, to desire some thing and

achieve that same thing with some force, it is usual to say "stand on one leg

and achieve"- literally means strive hard and achieve.

 

While picturizing visvaamithra or some other rishi, or for that matter even

raavaNan, doing penance, it is generally shown in TV or cinema as they are all

standing on one leg and doing the penance. This means doing a saahasak kaaryam -

a risky and strenuous job.

 

But why that 'dharmam' or the dharma dhEvathai - personification of dharmam -

not 'yama'- should stand on one leg? What dharmam has to achieve? Because, to

save that dharmam, from being snatched away or robbed away by rogues and

raakshasaas, paramaathmaa sriman naaraayaNa, [for me it is my sri kishna], takes

many avathaarams and does that saahasak kaaryam.

 

Then what for dharmam should stand on one leg? Is it really puzzling? Or has

dharmam been created with one leg only by that paranaathmaa, thinking that, we,

common people will be able to topple that at our convenience and free will? Is

it his intention "Hey let dharmam have only one leg, and let all these people

feel comfortable that they have toppled dharmam". Or is it true that, as a

special case, dharmam is created to stand comfortably, with that one leg only.

 

No, Sirs and Madams, dharmam had initially four legs, but as time passed, lost

its legs one by one. You may say, 'hey, your imagination is very good'. Dear

bhakthaas, it is not my imagination but srimadh bhaagavatham says so, that

dharmam stands on one leg only, now, in this kali yugam, but earlier , in other

yugams, dharmam had four legs.

 

thapa: saicham dhayaa sathyamithi paadhaa: kruthE kruthaa: |

adharmaamsaisthrayO bhagnaa: smaya-sangamadhais thava ||

-1-17-24 srimadh bhaagavatham [1 means first skandham, 17th is sargam, slokam

24]

word by word meaning:

thapa: - austerity;

saicham - cleanliness;

dhayaa - mercy;

sathyam - truthfulness;

ithi - thus;

paadhaa: - legs;

kruthE - in the age of sathya;

kruthaa: - established;

adharma - ir-religiosity;

amsai: - by the parts;

thraya: - three combined;

bhagnaa: - broken;

smaya - pride;

sanga -too much association with women;

madhai: - intoxication;

tava - your.

Summary:

In the age of sathya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four

principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears

that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of

pride, lust for women, and intoxication.

 

Slokam 1-17 -25 srimadh bhaagavatham

idhaaneem dharma paadhas thE sathyam nirvarthayEdhyatha: |

tham jighrukshathyadharmO~yam anruthEnaiDhitha: kali: ||

 

word by word meaning:

idhaaneem - at the present moment;

dharma: - O personality of religion;

paadha: - leg;

thE - of you;

sathyam - truthfulness;

nirvarthayEth - hobbling along somehow or other;

yatha: - whereby;

tham - that;

jighrukshathi - trying to destroy;

adharma: - the personality of irreligion;

ayam - this;

anruthEna - by deceit;

Edhitha: - flourishing;

kali: - quarrel personified.

summary

You are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you are

somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by

deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.

 

The principles of dharmam do not stand on some dogmas or man-made formulas, but

they stand on four primary regulative observances, or legs namely

1. austerity,

2. cleanliness,

3. mercy

4. truthfulness.

1. Austerity means to accept voluntarily things, which may or may not be very

comfortable for the body but are conducive for god or spiritual realization. A

very good example is fasting. Fasting twice or four times a month is a sort of

austerity, which can be voluntarily accepted for god or spiritual realization

only, and not for any other purposes, like political or otherwise.

 

2. Cleanliness is necessary both for the mind and body. Bodily clean may help to

some extent, but cleanliness more in the mind is necessary. It is effected by

glorifying the Supreme Lord. No one can cleanse the accumulated mental dirt

without glorifying the Supreme Lord.

 

3. Mercy is to have compassion to all. Human mind is expandable in love and love

given towards all [without considering the gender], enhances his nature and

hastens god realization.

 

4. Truthfulness in thought and action leads one towards easy elevation in peace

of mind and as such an easy step in god realization.

 

We have to see things by their resultant action. The resultant action of human

civilization in the age of Kali is dissatisfaction, so everyone is anxious to

get peace of mind. This peace of mind was complete in the Sathya age because of

the existence of the above-mentioned attributes of the human beings. Gradually

these attributes have diminished in the thrEthaa-yuga to three fourths, in the

dhvaapara to half, and in this age of kali to one fourth, which is also

gradually diminishing on account of prevailing untruthfulness.

 

By pride, either artificial or real, the resultant action of austerity is

spoiled; by too much affection for female association, cleanliness is spoiled;

by too much addiction to intoxication, mercy is spoiled; and by too much 'lying

propaganda', truthfulness is spoiled.

 

Dear bahkthaas, I am not here to preach. But just to point out certain facts as

given above.

 

About this dharmam having one leg srimadh rahasya thraya saaram of swamy

dhesikan also has the following -- ithyaadhigaLilE kali yugaththil

bhaagavathargal vasikkum dhEsa visEsham sollugaiyaalE indha yugaththil ip

pradhEsangaLil bhaagavatha parigruheethamaana sthalangalE parigraahyangaL. Thiru

naaraayaNeeyaththil "Eka paadha sthithE dharma yathra kvachana gaamini katham

vasthathrayam asmibhir bhagavan thath vadhasva na:" enRu dhEvargaLum viNNappam

seyya --- page 549 vol 1 of SRTS by sri uthamoor swamy.

 

Commenting on above sri uthamoor swamy puts his version as "sudhdha sthalamum

aasthika parigrahamum illaadha pOdhu vidath thakkadhu enbadhai bhaarthaththil

irundhu nirubikkiRaar. Thiru naaraayaNeeyaththil ithi - mudhalil naalu

paadhangaLodu irundha dharmam engiRa vrushabham aanadhu kaliyil 3 paadhangaL pOi

oru kaalOdu iruppadhu aagiRa vEru idam selluvadhu aana pOdhu, pazhaiya idaththil

naangaL eppadi vasippadhu emprumaanE, engaLukku solla vENum enRanar. [Thapas,

gnaanam, yagnam, dhaanam, enbana 4 paadhangaL. dhaanam ippOdhu uLLa paadham

enradhu nyaaya kusumaanjali.]

 

After reading all these, we can understand very well that at each age one aspect

is considered supreme and other three are supportive. In kali truthfulness is

more important.

 

Of course, my point in raising this "standing on one leg" is NOT TO PREACH but

to learn from experts of SRTS, what is this 'naaraayaNeeyam' referred in SRTS.

 

a. It cannot be "maaha naaraayaNa upanishadh" or the "naaraayaNa

anuvaagham" of

thaithreeya upanishadh, the fourth part, after the three 'vallees'. For this

slokam is not appearing in the upanishadh.

 

b. In the book of SRTS published by srimadh aandavan aasramam, it is said this

slokam ref by swamy desikan is in "saanthi parvam" ch 249 85th slokam. Of course

the sentence of Uthamoor swamy is also there referring to mahaa bhaaratham. But

there are only 17 slokams in ch 249 and that too the chapter deals with talking

with dhoumya rishi in kanteeka vanam. [i am referring vana parvam as available

in internet - mahaabhaarata based on the poona critical edition produced by

muneo tokunaga kyoto, japan and the english translation of Sri Kesari Mohan

ganguli.]

 

Then what is this 'naaraayaNeeyam' referred?

 

Is it that 'mahaa bhaaratham' has a name such as 'naaraayaNeeyam'?

 

Of course, I know mahaa bhaaratham is called 'jayam'.

 

But this is some thing new. If I straightaway throw this question, perhaps you

may not be interested. That is why all this.

 

Awaiting a reply from the scholars of the forum

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.

[Guest guest]

Dear Shrr MG VasudEvan swAmy,

 

I am just penning (keyboarding) the 'A Peep into Periya

Thiru-mozhi-148' which traverses this very subject of 'dharmam'

 

Hence, I am able to immediately recall the following.

krishNan dharmam sanAthanam:

rAmOA vigravAn dharmA:

'vundhannai piRavip perumthanaip puNNiyam yAmudaiyOam' thiruppAvai 28

'aRam periyan Ar adhaRivAr'iRandAm thiruvandhAdhi 52;

'aRAm thAnAi thirivAi' periya thirumozhi 6-3-2;

 

rgds.

dAsan

vanamamalai padmanabhan

-

M.G.Vasudevan

oppiliappan

Cc: ramanuja

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 5:22 PM

standing on one leg

Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,Since just I finished the 'game of

waiting', the hangover of that 'love' continues. One of the stages of

love is shy-less-ness. To prove this, it is said by elders say while

gossiping [about some youngsters when they have fallen in love with

some girl and insisted about marrying her only], 'that so and so boy

stood on a single leg just to marry that so and so girl only" - to

put it in tamil and colloquially 'anthap paiyan ivaLaiyE [alladhu

anthap poNNaiyE] kalyaaNam paNNippEnnu oththak kaalil ninnaan". So,

to desire some thing and achieve that same thing with some force, it

is usual to say "stand on one leg and achieve"- literally means

strive hard and achieve. While picturizing visvaamithra or some other

rishi, or for that matter even raavaNan, doing penance, it is

generally shown in TV or cinema as they are all standing on one leg

and doing the penance. This means doing a saahasak kaaryam - a risky

and strenuous job. But why that 'dharmam' or the dharma dhEvathai -

personification of dharmam - not 'yama'- should stand on one leg?

What dharmam has to achieve? Because, to save that dharmam, from

being snatched away or robbed away by rogues and raakshasaas,

paramaathmaa sriman naaraayaNa, [for me it is my sri kishna], takes

many avathaarams and does that saahasak kaaryam. Then what for

dharmam should stand on one leg? Is it really puzzling? Or has

dharmam been created with one leg only by that paranaathmaa, thinking

that, we, common people will be able to topple that at our convenience

and free will? Is it his intention "Hey let dharmam have only one leg,

and let all these people feel comfortable that they have toppled

dharmam". Or is it true that, as a special case, dharmam is created

to stand comfortably, with that one leg only. No, Sirs and Madams,

dharmam had initially four legs, but as time passed, lost its legs

one by one. You may say, 'hey, your imagination is very good'. Dear

bhakthaas, it is not my imagination but srimadh bhaagavatham says so,

that dharmam stands on one leg only, now, in this kali yugam, but

earlier , in other yugams, dharmam had four legs. thapa: saicham

dhayaa sathyamithi paadhaa: kruthE kruthaa: |adharmaamsaisthrayO

bhagnaa: smaya-sangamadhais thava || -1-17-24 srimadh bhaagavatham

[1 means first skandham, 17th is sargam, slokam 24]word by word

meaning: thapa: - austerity; saicham - cleanliness; dhayaa - mercy;

sathyam - truthfulness;ithi - thus; paadhaa: - legs; kruthE - in the

age of sathya; kruthaa: - established;adharma - ir-religiosity;

amsai: - by the parts; thraya: - three combined;bhagnaa: - broken;

smaya - pride; sanga -too much association with women;madhai: -

intoxication; tava - your.Summary: In the age of sathya

[truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles

of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that

three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of

pride, lust for women, and intoxication.Slokam 1-17 -25 srimadh

bhaagavathamidhaaneem dharma paadhas thE sathyam nirvarthayEdhyatha:

|tham jighrukshathyadharmO~yam anruthEnaiDhitha: kali: ||word by word

meaning:idhaaneem - at the present moment; dharma: - O personality of

religion;paadha: - leg; thE - of you; sathyam - truthfulness;

nirvarthayEth - hobbling along somehow or other; yatha: - whereby;

tham - that; jighrukshathi - trying to destroy;adharma: - the

personality of irreligion; ayam - this; anruthEna - by

deceit;Edhitha: - flourishing; kali: - quarrel personified.summaryYou

are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you

are somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali],

flourishing by deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.The

principles of dharmam do not stand on some dogmas or man-made

formulas, but they stand on four primary regulative observances, or

legs namely 1. austerity, 2. cleanliness,

3. mercy 4. truthfulness. 1. Austerity means to

accept voluntarily things, which may or may not be very comfortable

for the body but are conducive for god or spiritual realization. A

very good example is fasting. Fasting twice or four times a month is

a sort of austerity, which can be voluntarily accepted for god or

spiritual realization only, and not for any other purposes, like

political or otherwise. 2. Cleanliness is necessary both for the mind

and body. Bodily clean may help to some extent, but cleanliness more

in the mind is necessary. It is effected by glorifying the Supreme

Lord. No one can cleanse the accumulated mental dirt without

glorifying the Supreme Lord. 3. Mercy is to have compassion to all.

Human mind is expandable in love and love given towards all [without

considering the gender], enhances his nature and hastens god

realization. 4. Truthfulness in thought and action leads one

towards easy elevation in peace of mind and as such an easy step in

god realization. We have to see things by their resultant action. The

resultant action of human civilization in the age of Kali is

dissatisfaction, so everyone is anxious to get peace of mind. This

peace of mind was complete in the Sathya age because of the existence

of the above-mentioned attributes of the human beings. Gradually these

attributes have diminished in the thrEthaa-yuga to three fourths, in

the dhvaapara to half, and in this age of kali to one fourth, which

is also gradually diminishing on account of prevailing

untruthfulness. By pride, either artificial or real, the resultant

action of austerity is spoiled; by too much affection for female

association, cleanliness is spoiled; by too much addiction to

intoxication, mercy is spoiled; and by too much 'lying propaganda',

truthfulness is spoiled. Dear bahkthaas, I am not here to preach. But

just to point out certain facts as given above. About this dharmam

having one leg srimadh rahasya thraya saaram of swamy dhesikan also

has the following -- ithyaadhigaLilE kali yugaththil bhaagavathargal

vasikkum dhEsa visEsham sollugaiyaalE indha yugaththil ip

pradhEsangaLil bhaagavatha parigruheethamaana sthalangalE

parigraahyangaL. Thiru naaraayaNeeyaththil "Eka paadha sthithE dharma

yathra kvachana gaamini katham vasthathrayam asmibhir bhagavan thath

vadhasva na:" enRu dhEvargaLum viNNappam seyya --- page 549 vol 1 of

SRTS by sri uthamoor swamy. Commenting on above sri uthamoor swamy

puts his version as "sudhdha sthalamum aasthika parigrahamum illaadha

pOdhu vidath thakkadhu enbadhai bhaarthaththil irundhu nirubikkiRaar.

Thiru naaraayaNeeyaththil ithi - mudhalil naalu paadhangaLodu irundha

dharmam engiRa vrushabham aanadhu kaliyil 3 paadhangaL pOi oru kaalOdu

iruppadhu aagiRa vEru idam selluvadhu aana pOdhu, pazhaiya idaththil

naangaL eppadi vasippadhu emprumaanE, engaLukku solla vENum enRanar.

[Thapas, gnaanam, yagnam, dhaanam, enbana 4 paadhangaL. dhaanam

ippOdhu uLLa paadham enradhu nyaaya kusumaanjali.]After reading all

these, we can understand very well that at each age one aspect is

considered supreme and other three are supportive. In kali

truthfulness is more important. Of course, my point in raising this

"standing on one leg" is NOT TO PREACH but to learn from experts of

SRTS, what is this 'naaraayaNeeyam' referred in SRTS. a.

It cannot be "maaha naaraayaNa upanishadh" or the "naaraayaNa

anuvaagham" of thaithreeya upanishadh, the fourth part, after the

three 'vallees'. For this slokam is not appearing in the upanishadh.

b. In the book of SRTS published by srimadh aandavan

aasramam, it is said this slokam ref by swamy desikan is in "saanthi

parvam" ch 249 85th slokam. Of course the sentence of Uthamoor swamy

is also there referring to mahaa bhaaratham. But there are only 17

slokams in ch 249 and that too the chapter deals with talking with

dhoumya rishi in kanteeka vanam. [i am referring vana parvam as

available in internet - mahaabhaarata based on the poona critical

edition produced by muneo tokunaga kyoto, japan and the english

translation of Sri Kesari Mohan ganguli.] Then what is this

'naaraayaNeeyam' referred? Is it that 'mahaa bhaaratham' has a name

such as 'naaraayaNeeyam'? Of course, I know mahaa bhaaratham is

called 'jayam'. But this is some thing new. If I straightaway throw

this question, perhaps you may not be interested. That is why all

this. Awaiting a reply from the scholars of the forumDhasanVasudevan

m.g.