Guest guest Posted November 21, 2003 Report Share Posted November 21, 2003 SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha // SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha // SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/ SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya// KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: / SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm// ========================================================== SRI RANGA SRI VOL.05 / ISSUE # 05 dated 20th November 2003 ========================================================== IMPORTANT POLICY STATEMENT: Kind attention of contributors is invited to the guidelines in “Sri Ranga Sri” Issues 04/24 dated 06/05/03 and 04/25dated 06/06/03 and the amendment in 04/28 dated 07/29/03(archived at Messages 2678, 2691 and 2903). NO DISCUSSIONS will be allowed in the JOURNAL even on matters featured in the Regular Issues of the JOURNAL. Any such discussions, appreciations, comments, criticisms or responses may be addressed to -Satsangam. As only members can post, those desiring to post may enroll in the first place, by sending email to – Satsangam- ===================================================== EDITORIAL: IN THIS ISSUE: 1. IMPORTANT DAYS IN KARTIKAI (VRISCHIKAM) MONTH -------------------- 2. DESIKAMRUTHAM SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS- 5. By Sri Sadagopa Iyengar Swamin (of Coimbatore) “Srikaaryam” of the Board of Advisors of “Sri Ranga Sri” ---------------------- 3. FROM MAHABHARATA: YAKSHA PRASNAM” Part 31: Prasnams 86 and 87 By Sri M.K. Ramaswamy Iyengar Swami, Senior Officer of Govt. of India. ---------------------- 4 GOTRAS AND PRAVARAS – AN OVERVIEW –PART 15 THE GLORY OF KASYAPA GOTRAM (Anbil Ramaswamy) (Based on Monograph of MahaamahOpaadhyaaya Sri Srivatsaankaachaar Swami, now Head of Dept. French Indolgical Research Institute, Pondicherry and “MaharishigaL Charitram” by Mimamsa SirOmaNi Mimamsa Vidvan Mimamsa Kovida, Ubhaya Mimamsa Saaragjna, Veda Vedanta ChooDaamaNi Sri N.S. Devanathachariar referred by Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami) (Could not be accommodated in this Issue) =========================================================== 123 Regular issues have been released, so far besides several Special Issues) - - 27 Issues of Vol. 1 - 15 Issues of Vol. 2 - 42 Issues of Vol. 3 - 35 Issues of Vol. 4 & - 04 Issue of Vol. 5 These issues have been archived for public view at - by Sri Diwakar Kannan. We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the "Regular Issues" archived in the “Files” Section and view the Contents at “srsindex.html” (Not the individual postings allowed encouraging "Reader participation"). We are sure that you will be convinced of the quality of the contents. IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of “Sri Ranga Sri”: Tell your friends to join by sending an email to Srirangasri- IF not: Tell us, as to how we may improve. Dasoham Anbil Ramaswamy Editor & Publisher “Sri Ranga Sri” ================================================================== IMPORTANT DAYS IN KARTIKAI (VRISCHIKAM) MONTH (17th November 2003 to 15th December 2003) ================================================================== Star/ Indian Date /Western Date/ Day/ Name of Acharya/(Authority) ASWINI / 19th / Decr05th /Friday Srinivasa Desikendra parakala swami Tirunakshatram (PM) (Email from Sri Prasanna R (prasannahrr) BARANI / 20th / Dec 06th/ Saturday AruLaaLa PerumaaLEmperumaanaar (Aniyarangan p.8) KRITTIGAI / 21st / Dec 07th / Sunday TIRUMANGAI AZHWAR TIRUNAKSHATRAM AM5.Sadagopa YMD (AVA p.243) Nam-Pillai (AVV Part 20 in Sgati Vol.01/20 ROHINI / 22nd / Dec.08th / Monday TIRUPPAAN AZHWAR TIRUNAKSHATRAM Tirukoshtiyur Sowmya Narayanachariar (P.284 &376) MAGAM / 29th / Dec.15th / Monday AM31.Sadagopa Narayana VedantaYMD (AVA p.250) Chinnandavan Ramanuja MD (PA 8 & PP) (AVV Part 37 in SRS Vol.01/11) - POORAM (POORVA PALGUNI) / 02nd / Nov.18th / Tuesday Ayya Narasimha Tata Desikan (P. 465) ANUSHAM / 08th / Nov.24th / Monday KOTi Kannikaadaanam Tatachariar (28#P) - KETTAI / 09th / Nov25th / Tuesday Koil Aaayanaar (28#P & SrgmP) - POORADAM / 11th / Novr.27th / Thursday AM43.SadagopaViraragava SadagopaYMD (p.260) and (AVA p.253) UTHRADAM / 12th / Novr.28th / Friday AM 34.LNDPS Sadagopa Ramanuja YMD (AVA p.250) - UTHRATTADI / 17th / Dec03rd / Wednesday AM 45.SADAGOPA NARAYANA YMD (Prakritam Jeeyar of Ahiobila Mutt) (AVA p.254) & (Subanu Seva Diary p.126) Ko.Ka. Vadoola Desikar (28#P & SrgmP) OTHER IMPORTANT DAYS IN KARTIGAI Krishna Paksha Ekadasi 04 /Novr.20 /Thursday Amavasya 07 / November 23 /Sunday Sravanam 13 /Novr.29 /Saturday Sukla Paksha Ekadasi (Kaisika Ekadasi) 18 /Decr.04 / Thursday BARANI DEEPAM 20 /Decr.06 /Saturday as per 28# Panchangam, 21/ Decr.07/ Sunday as per Kanchi Perarulalan Pournami 22 / Decr.07/Sunday TIRUK KAARTIGAI 22 /Decr.08/Monday PARASURAMA JAYANTHI 24 /Decr.10 /Wednesday ======================================================================= To Continue ======================================================================= xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ======================================================================= 2. DESIKAMRUTHAM SRIMAD RAHASYA TRAYA SARAM THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS - 5. By Sri Sadagopa Iyengar Swamin (of Coimbatore) “Srikaaryam” of the Board of Advisors of “Sri Ranga Sri” ------------------------------ We have seen that the Paramapurusha is indeed endowed with a divya managaLa vigraha, which is magnificent beyond description and acquires five forms- 1 The ParaVAsudEva roopam, 2. The VyUhAs like VAsudEva, PradyumnA, Aniruddha and SankarshaNa, 3. Vibhava avatArAs like those of Sri Vamana, Rama and Krishna, 4. The HArda or antaryAmI who resides in everyone's heart and 5. The arcchA, the form in which the Lord is to be worshipped at the numerous sannidhis at divyadesams and other places. Paraphernalia always impresses the human mind. We rush to see a person, if a retinue of sycophants accompanies him. Hence worship of the Lord becomes more pleasurable, when we consider Him to be the Master of all the worlds, with their vivid varieties of life forms, natural bounties and treasures. All the myriad forms of living beings and non-sentient things, along with all that we encounter in this world and others, are but His Iyshvaryam, His VibhUti, of which He is the Sole Proprietor. Nothing in any created world can claim independence from Him, as everything, moving and unmoving, is His inseparable adjunct and property. Thus, whenever we think of the Lord, He should be picturized in our mind's eye as the wonderful owner of all that we see or hear of. This is borne out by the following sloka from Sri Vishnu Purana: "Vishnu: Manu Adaya: KAla: sarva bhootAni vai dvija! SthitEtE: nimitta bhootasya VishNO: EtA vibhootaya" What is the nature of His property? It is boundless, with everything and everyone in all the Universes belonging solely to Him. Thus, His Iyshvaryam can be described as magnificent, says the same Purana- "Sakala AvaraNa ateeta! nirAlambana bhAvana! MahA vibhooti samstthAna! NamastE PurushOttama!" After showing the PANdava, samples of His vibhooti in a Visvaroopam, the Lord tells the awe-struck Arjuna that all that was shown to him was but a negligible portion of the Lord's ishvaryam, which is indeed beyond enumeration or measure- "na antOsti mama divyAnAm vibhootInAm Parantapa! Esha tu uddEshata: prOkta: vibhootE: vistarO mayA" The country we live in belongs to a continent. Several such continents make up the Planet Earth. There are any numbers of such planets in the Solar System, with several such Solar Systems in existence. The Sun, with its attendant planets and stars, is but an insignificant component of a Galaxy, which consists of countless stars and planets orbiting in their own gravitational paths. The Galaxy visible from the earth is the Milky Way Galaxy. Astronomers estimate that there are about 125 billion Galaxies in the Universe. And there are an infinite number of such Universes, though present day Astronomy may not be competent to talk authoritatively about the same. If all these bodies of matter form but a small portion of the magnificent Lord's bounty, one can imagine how vast and immeasurable His vibhooti is, says Sri Alavandar- "Yat aNdam aNdAntara gOcharam cha yat dasOttarANi AvaraNani yAni cha GuNA: pradhAnam purusha: param padam parAt param Brahma cha tE vibhootaya:" It is accompanied by all this ishvaryam that we should think of the Lord, when we do think of Him-as the "ellA ulagum udaya oru moortthi", in the words of Sri Nammazhwar. It is perhaps to signify His over-lordship over all Universes that the Lord holds a staff of authority in His hand-"SenkOludaya Tiruvaranga SelvanAr". These Vibhootis are of two types-sentient and non-sentient. Another Classification of these glorious possessions of the Lord is that of those that exist for His sport, "leelA" and those that exist solely for His enjoyment ("BhOga"). This is a division based on the type of pleasure they afford the Paramapurusha, though both serve to gladden His heart. Both sentient beings and inanimate objects are subject to this classification-that of beings or things which serve as playthings ("leelOpakaraNam") to the Lord and those which serve as objects of gratification and enjoyment to Him ("BhOgOpakaraNam). This difference arises not due to the degree of their utility to Emperuman-- for, animate or otherwise, all beings and things are of equal utility to Him—but from the varied uses the Lord has for them. For instance, to an Emperor, his beautiful consort, fragrant perfumes and the glorious spring might be as beneficial as a sprawling royal park filled with the best of blooms or a playing ball. However, while the former category of beings and objects generates enjoyment for him by serving as instruments of pleasure, the latter, consisting of the park and the ball, serve to satisfy his sporting instinct. Similar too is the nature of instruments of leela and bhOga to the Lord. As we have already seen, the Lord's glorious possessions, His VibhUtis, fall into two more broad categories-the first is the Nitya VibhUti, consisting of Sri Vaikuntam and all its permanent residents, all of which and whom are eternal and unchanging, forever at the Lord's service. The other is the leela VibhUti, consisting of all the worlds bound by Karma and characterized by a continuing cycle of births and deaths, subject to the inexorable processes of decline, death and decay. The Lord indulges in the processes of Creation, Sustenance and Destruction of all these Karma-bound worlds, out of pure sporting instinct, just as the Emperor plays with a ball for pure enjoyment, says the Mahabharata- "avyaktAdi visEshAntam parimANArtha samyutam kreedA HarE: idam sarvam ksharam iti avadhAryatAm". Being the Paramapurusha with nothing remaining to be attained, He engages in the aforesaid processes purely as a hobby, with nothing to gain or lose, akin to a kid throwing a ball at a wall- "aniyOjyascha apramEyascha yastu kAma sharIra dhrit mOdatE BhagavAn atra bAla: kreedanakairiva". We are told that the Lord plays with creatures, as if they were mere balls in a tennis game or just pawns in a game of chess. Does this mean that He is an extremely heartless Emperor, making people undergo untold sufferings in this world of sorrow and despair, just because it affords Him entertainment? Is He so cruel as to watch the writhing of created beings in the agonizing hotbed of Samsaara, with a perverted sense of sport, just like the Roman emperors of yore, who fed live people to lions and derived a sadistic pleasure in watching them struggling for their lives and ultimately being gored to death by the beasts? If this is indeed true, where do His much-touted Mercy and compassion hide, when the Lord indulges in such pitiless sport? Though it is very much sport for the Lord ("lOkavat tu leelA kaivalyam" says the Brahmasutra, emphasizing this), it is not out of a desire to gloat over the sufferings of people, that the Lord creates the world and its inhabitants. As we know, after the Cosmic Deluge, both sentient and non-sentient souls lie mixed up inextricably, as undifferentiated matter. It is to provide these souls an avenue of emancipation that the Lord indulges in Creation, giving the souls a physical body to carry out their respective dharmAs, to stay on the straight but narrow path of virtue and to adopt one of the many strategies for liberation that the Lord Himself has fashioned for the emancipation of suffering humanity. Thus, Creation is essentially the outcome of the Lord's infinite mercy or KaruNa ("vitarasi karaNa kaLEbara yOgam VrishasailanAtha karuNE tvam"-Daya Satakam), to enable many of His children swim ashore to the safety of Liberation, while the rest of them are swept away by the swirling currents of Samsaara. The Lord affords them alternate bodies again, providing them yet other opportunities to redeem them, in an unending effort to emancipate errant humanity. Swami Desikan summarizes the attributes of the Parabrahmam, which is the goal to be attained, enumerated so far in the chapter- 1. Inseparability from Sri LakshmI-LakshmI sahAyam 2. The personification of immeasurable wisdom and bliss-aparimita gnAna Anandam 3. The antithesis of all that is evil or bad-akhila hEya pratyanIkam 4. The repository of innumerable auspicious attributes like power, wisdom, strength, possessions etc.-gnAna shaktyAdi ananta mangala guNa visishtam 5. The possession of an incomparably magnificent form, assumed at will-divya mangala vigrahOpEam 6. Carrying on His person the two VibhUtIs, the Nitya VibhUti and the leelA VibhUti-sharIra bhoota vibhUti dvaya yuktam 7. Indulging in the sport of Creation etc. of all these mundane worlds-jagat srishtyAdi vyApAra leelam. --------------------------- To Continue ============================================================ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ============================================================ 3. FROM MAHABHARATA: YAKSHA PRASNAM” Part 31: Prasnams 84 and 85 By Sri M.K. Ramaswamy Iyengar Swami, Senior Officer of Govt. of India. --------------------------- PRASNAM 84: YAKSHA: ”KO DAMAS CHA PRAKEERTITAH?” “WHAT IS THAT ACTION CALLED ‘DAMA’ THAT IS ACHIEVING FULL CONTROL OF THE SENSES?” YUDISHTIRA: ”MANASO DAMANAM DAMAH” “CONTROLLING THE SENSES IS ONLY ANOTHER WAY OF REFERRING TO CONTROLLING THE MIND” NOTES: The five senses, namely, the eye that sees, the ear that hears, the nose that smells, the tongue that tastes and the skin that feels are the five senses that perform the act of cognition. All of them dutifully lodge what they perceive or cognize into the mind. These senses acting singly or acting together cannot stir up any storm or even the least disturbance unless they manage to trigger the mind to respond or lean in their direction. Hanuman went to Lanka in search of Sita. He entered Ravana’s palace. Searching high and low, he entered the sleeping chambers of Ravana. Ravana was asleep. Hanuman also saw that he was surrounded by a countless number of women of unsurpassed beauty, which, in fact, was too obvious to the eye. The women after having sported with Ravana and some of them perhaps was having been sported with by Ravana were sleeping in a state of abandon, in various stages of dress and undress. Hanuman felt like chastising himself for having allowed himself to set his eyes on such women in such a state. Soon enough, he noticed that his mind remained calm, totally unruffled and had, as it were, ‘stepped inside to watch the endless stream flow by’. No longing arose in Hanuman’s mind. Promptly, he nodded his head safely and murmured wisely: “Mano hi hetuh sarveshaam indriyaanaam pravartane” (VR V.11.42) It is the mind that has ultimately to order the senses as to what they may or may not do. Hanuman’s mind was at a lofty pitch. It was impervious to the senses. But, it is not true that it is mind’s nature to be so. Mind has to be yoked to behave like that by the ‘will’. Left to itself, the mind may let out a shriek of delight, in the manner of an adolescent who knows only to act or express and thinks later, and run like another wild horse. Such a mind may whip up the senses to gallop even more wildly. Such an experience happened to Sage Viswamitra when he was indeed engaged in PENANCE TO ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF SUPER CONSCIOUSNESS. He saw Menaka, the celestial nymph who was sporting in the lotus pond nearby. She had been sent specially to divert the Sage from his goal. The moment Viswamitra saw her; his senses made such a clamor and his mind went wild with passion. He promptly begged her to accept his love, which she did coyly. And so, ‘ahO raatraapadEsEna gataah smvatsaraa dasaa” (VR I.63.91) The Sage who was bent on attaining knowledge of the Brahmam, forgot all about it; he started a life with Menaka and in a trice, as it were, ten years rolled by as if it was only a single night. Therefore, even if the senses are wild horses, and it is the nature of a horse to strain at their reins, shake and toss their mane or paw the ground restlessly, it is the mind that has to set them to go or move in a particular direction. The mind is capable of joining hands with the wild horses and plays their games or even more wild games, as in the case of Viswamitra or remain at a lofty pitch above the tumult untagged by the gravitational pull of the senses, as in the case of Hanuman. The question is how to keep the mind more like Hanuman’s mind rather than like Viswamitra’s mind? How can the control of the mind be achieved, so that it can control the senses? Ramana Maharishi, the Sage of Arunachala (1896-1950) would say: “The mind is a vast accumulation of ideas and desires. One cannot escape or destroy the mind by any kind of mental activity. The mind should be let subside to the point where it disappears. The mind is nothing but thoughts”. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up. Therefore, it is foolish to kill the mind by means of the mind. The only way to do it is to find another source and hold on to it. Few lines can convey better as to how circumscribed indeed is the thing called ‘Mind’, than these lines written by Sri Aurobindo in Savitri. “Mind is and what it thinks is seen If mind is all, renounce the hope of bliss; If mind is all, renounce the hope of truth For, mind can never touch the body of truth” (Savitri Book X. Canto IV Page 645) The solution is to make the mind remain still by the exercise of will. ------------- PRASNAM 85: YAKSHA: “KSHAMAA CHA KAA PARAA PROKTAA?” “WHEREIN LIES THE ESSENCE OF TOLERANCE?” YUDISHTIRA: “KSHAMAA DVANDVA SAHISHNUTVAM” “THE ESSENCE OF TOLERANCE LIES IN BEING UNAFFECTED BY THE DUALITIES OF THE WORLD” NOTES: YudishTira’s reply is that tolerance lies in the stable ascendancy over duality. What are the dualities? Everything in this world seems to have its exact opposite. Also, one seems relentlessly to chase the other. The opposites also seem perilously close to each other. Thus, night follows day. The reverse is also true. One moment there is light. The next moment there is pitch darkness. Happiness, particularly, seems very fleeting. When happiness leaves, the unwanted guest, grief settles in. There does not seem to be any elevated terrace that is free from the play of these opposites. Is it at all possible not to swing between the heights of ecstasy and the depths of despair? Or is one condemned and damned to eternity to swing between extremes? The only way is to keep the mind away from the downward pull or the upward buoy of the senses. That method is to recognize the inevitability of these two extreme situations happening slowly yet remorselessly or with great rapidity and keep the mind detached from them. Dualities cannot be extinguished. But the mind can certainly be distanced from their clasp. The interplay between the three gunas namely, the Saatvic, Raajasic and Taaamasic (the well lit, the calm and imperturbable, the action oriented and goal seeking, the indolent and slothful) on the one hand and the senses on the other hand is a constant process. But, keeping the mind above the tussle and turmoil is the solution. The mind has to remain stable and in an unaffected state, much like the sky in relation to clouds. UbhE satyaanrutE tyaktvaa sOkaanandou bhayaabhayou / PriyaapriyE parityajya prasaantaatmaa bhavishyati // (Santi Parva Chapter 168.43) It is possible for you to remain peaceful at heart only by the dualities like truth and falsehood, grief and happiness, fear and courage, likes and dislikes are renounced. The Immortal Bhagavad Gita endorses this truth in the following manner: Jitaatmana prasaantasya paramaatmaa samaahita: / SeethOshNa sukha duhkhEshu tathaa maanaapamaanayOh // Suhrin mitrudaaseena madhyastha dvEshya bhandushu / Saadhusvapi cha paapEshu sama buddhir visishyatE // (BG Ch VI. 7 and 9) To the self disciplined and serene person, the inner mind which is supreme and above the senses and the will as well remain unaffected amidst such extremes like heat and cold, pleasure and pain as well as honor and dishonor. Likewise, he regards alike with a sense of balance and total poise, friends, enemies, companions, arbiters and those who are neutral, the sinners, saints as well as the hateful and the relatives. Keep the mind in a state of steady equipoise, equidistant from the two extremities on either side. That is the state of excellent tolerance. This is the “Dvandva Sahishnutvam”, which YudishTira is referring to. YudishTira is perhaps hinting at a subtler truth as well. The ability to treat the dualities as abandonable adjuncts helps one to transcend. As Sri Aurobindo would say: “ As there is a cessation of the duality of truth and error in an infinite truth- consciousness, so there is a liberation from the duality of good and evil in an infinite good, there is transcendence. -- To Continue ==================================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ==================================================================== 4.GOTRAS AND PRAVARAS – AN OVERVIEW –PART 15 THE GLORY OF KASYAPA GOTRAM (Anbil Ramaswamy) (Based on Monograph of MahaamahOpaadhyaaya Sri Srivatsaankaachaar Swami, now Head of Dept. French Indolgical Research Institute, Pondicherry and “MaharishigaL Charitram” by Mimamsa SirOmaNi Mimamsa Vidvan Mimamsa Kovida, Ubhaya Mimamsa Saaragjna, Veda Vedanta ChooDaamaNi Sri N.S. Devanathachariar referred by Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami) (Could not be accommodated in this Issue) ====================================================================== xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ====================================================================== _______________ Gift-shop online from the comfort of home at MSN Shopping! No crowds, free parking. http://shopping.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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