"maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu" (PART 7)

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The 4 “purUshArthAs” at work in the world

--------

 

Very few are the ones in the world who possess the

requisite wisdom or character to pursue “veedu” or

“mOksha”, the 4th of the Vedantic “purUshArthAs”, for

its very own sake.

 

The numbers of saints or sages, seekers of salvation

known generally as “mumUkshU-s”, have been but minute

fractions of humanity in all ages. We can only read

about archetypes of “mumUkshU-s”, such as young Dhruva

or old Sabari, in the age-old “pUrANas”. And it is

only once perhaps in a score of generations that we

ever come across, in actual flesh and blood, a soul as

exalted as, say, a Meerabai or a Ramakrishna

‘parama-hamsa’ -- souls that saw human life purely in

terms of opportunity to seek self-liberation and

realize the bliss of God-union. Lesser men of the

world simply cannot appreciate the value that there is

in the highest of the 4 “purUshArthAs”; they do not

really comprehend why or how a “mUmUkshu” remains a

captive in its spell. It is in acknowledgment of the

extreme rarity of the “mumUkshU” (“sa mahaatmaa

sudurlabhaH”), and in praise of the uncommon nobility

of character that is uniquely his and his alone, that

Lord Krishna in the Bhagavath-Gita said:

 

“bahuunaa.n janmanaamante GYaanavaanmaaM prapadyate .

vaasudevaH sarvamiti sa mahaatmaa sudurlabhaH ..

7\.19..”

 

“After many cycles of births and deaths, does the rare

being emerge, who knowing Me to be the Cause of all

causes and of all that is and shall ever be, pursues

Me in order to become one with Me! Such a great soul

(“mahatma”) is very rare, very rare indeed

(“sudurlabaH”).

 

****************

 

Then there are a certain number of men in the world –-

a few more perhaps than “mumUkshU-s” but really not

too many more -- who too, one might again say, are

“mahaatmaa-s” but of a different shade. Such men

dedicate their entire lives to the pursuit and

realization of the 1st of the 4 “purUshArtha-s” viz.:

“dharma”.

 

Men of charity, men of compassion, men who make it the

mission of their life to strive for the betterment of

their fellowmen, men who do their life’s work in the

sincere faith that the world they shall leave behind

will be a far better place than the one they were born

into --- such men are rare too, certainly as rare as

Justice or Righteousness (“dharma”) is in the world at

large. Men of such rare “dhArmic” qualities come to be

renowned as “dharmAtmAs” or “mahAtmas”. In the

“paurAnic” world, BhishmachArya was regarded as the

foremost amongst “dharmAtmAs”. Mahatma Gandhi, is a

much more recent example from history. Mother Teresa

of Calcutta was a great one too of contemporary times.

 

*************

 

Innumerably larger than the combined populations of

both “mUmUkshUs” and “dharmAtmAs” of the world are the

vast numbers of men that pursue the 2nd of the 4

Vedantic “purUshArthAs” viz.: “artha” or Wealth,

generally regarded the most dynamic of human

motivators.

 

For many men the pursuit of Wealth is the only truly

purposeful activity in life. Economics is their

religion, the balance-sheet is their Bible, banks are

their temple and “money-in-the-bank” or on Wall Street

is their one true God. Such men are neither shy nor

afraid to swear by 2 hallowed mantras which they hold

absolute and cardinal in life. (They are indeed the

modern version, we might say tongue-in-cheek, of the

sacred “dvaya-mantra” of the SriVaishnavas!). One

declares that “Money makes the world go around” and

the other claims “It is a rich man’s world”.

 

For millions of shop-keepers, traders, farmers,

craftsmen, professionals, businessmen, bankers,

company executives, managers, economists, accountants,

stock-brokers, commission-agents and assortments of

middlemen all across the globe, it is “porUL”, or

material gain, alone that invests Life with real

purpose or true meaning. (It is extremely significant

to observe here that in Sanskrit “artha” is a perfect

synonym denoting both “wealth” and “meaning”.

Likewise, in Tamil too, the word “porUL” means both

“assets” and “meaning”). To them what really binds the

entire world together is not so much the “bond of

human kinship” as it is the “financial bottom-line”.

The world’s holiest books do not constitute their most

profound ‘Book of Inspiration’; that exalted and

venerable status they reserve for their bank

pass-books. For such men the pursuit of Wealth and the

pursuit of God are one and the same, a fact that the

Almighty Himself confirmed in the Bhagavath-Gita:

 

chaturvidhaa bhajante maa.n janaaH sukR^itino.arjuna .

 

aarto jiGYaasurarthaarthii GYaanii cha bharatarshhabha

... 7\.16..

 

“O Arjuna! Know this to be true that the piety of all

men springs from four principal urges — the urge to

escape Pain or Distress, the urge to discover the

Unknown, the urge to realize the Absolute… and the

urge to amass Wealth too!”

 

*************

 

While “mUmUkshUs” are rare, “dharmAtmAs” few and

“porUL”-seekers form a vast but by no means complete

majority amongst mankind, the pursuers of the 3rd of

the 4 ‘purUshArthAs’ i.e. “kaama” or “inbam”, however

are simply everywhere in the world at all times, in

all ages…! They rule and predominate the entire world.

 

Pleasure, “kaama”, is the lowest common spiritual

denominator for every sphere of human activity. Every

human heart -- rich, poor, young, old, learned and

illiterate, male and female, white, black, brown,

yellow --- every human heart harbors the desire for

Pleasure and every man seeks to fulfill it to his

heart’s content at any cost. A world without “kaama”

would be a joyless and barren desert indeed. No

Pleasure, no Life; no Life, no Pleasure. Period.

Pleasure hence becomes for most men a desireable end

in itself, a great "purUshArtha", a goal of life that

transcends every other.

 

This great and self-evident universal truth about

"kaama", which no man on earth, of any age or clime,

ever needed to be persuaded about, was so well

expressed indeed by the English poet, William

Shakespeare too:

 

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”.

 

The human desire to experience Pleasure in its myriad

variety and degree is indeed an all-enveloping,

all-powerful, all-conquering force of life. In Vedanta

the force is given a special name: “icchaa-shakthi”.

Man is usually powerless against it. He has no choice

but to yield to the force of “kaama”. He must tamely

yield to it in much the same way as he must succumb or

bow down to Gravity or Magnetism, the physical forces

of Life infinitely superior to him.

 

**************

 

The conquest of "kaama" has been recognized by Vedanta

to be one of the fundamental problems of life

encountered by Man. And it is precisely to show us all

a pathway to the conquest of such a powerful force

that the 29th Verse of the TiruppAvai issues forth

that clarion call of prayer: “maRRai nam kaamangaL

maaRRu”!

 

************

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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Namaste!

 

 

[]On

Behalf Of sudarshan madabushi

Wednesday, December 28, 2005 3:37 PM

tiruvenkatam; ;

oppiliappan

"maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu" (PART 7)

 

>The conquest of "kaama" has been recognized by Vedanta

>to be one of the fundamental problems of life

>encountered by Man.

 

Swamy,

 

It would be helpful if you could dwell more on this aspect 'kama'. The

above sentence puts the word 'kama' as the one which is to be best

avoided/conquered.

 

On the other hand, going by VSN in which Vishnu is eulogised as "kaamadevah

kaamapaalah kaamee kaantah kritaagamah", and specifically, kaamadevah

denotes - On one whom a seeker must necessarily get charmed; One on whom

seekers have captivating love, we get a positive meaning of word - kama.

Thus 'kaama' if taken positively and by gleaning the meaning from the

perspective of Lord makes it a significant aspect in a sadhaka's life.

 

I read that 'kaama' is the first-born emotion Lord when Lord willed to

create and out came the beautiful lotus and from there Svayambu born. Thus

it is said everything - either loukika or aloukika is driven by 'kama'.

Gopis of Brindavana are driven by 'kama' which is satvik and aimed at Lord.

 

May be you can highlight these aspects(even though these may out of subject

here) too across - kaama; satvika krodha; satvika ahankara; moha on krishna

etc., What I think is these negative traits what we experience in our

material life have entirely opposite meanings when we dwell on it

spiritually. Pls comment.

 

 

regards

sukumar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

************

(to be continued)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

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