"maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu"- (PART 26)

[Guest guest]

The Story of Saint Poosalar: Conquest of “kaama”

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through Sublimation of Desire --

“bhakti yOga” (continued from Part 25)

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In the ancient "dharma-sAstras" there is a Sanskrit

couplet which when examined closely helps us

understand the wisdom exhibited by our Vedic ancestors

in the way in which they personally cultivated a

certain amount of dispassion and detachment (the

opposite of "kaama") towards their earthly property

and possessions -- what is symbolized in the

expression, "Home Sweet Home".

 

To our ancestors Home was not so much a place on earth

meant for enjoyment of conjugal or domestic bliss

("kaama") as it was a place conducive for spiritual

atonement, practices and advancement.

 

"panchyasUnA gruhasthasya vartantE'hara-harah sadA

khandanI pEsanI chuLLi jalakumbha upaskarah".

 

The verse above is a very interesting one indeed. It

attracted the attention of none other than the

venerable (late) "AchArya" of Kanchi, Pujyasri

Chandrasekherendra Saraswati, who devoted one whole

chapter to it in his famous book of spiritual

discourses and commentary in Tamil, "deivattin-kural".

It would be profitable for us to briefly summarize

that chapter in the context of our ongoing discussions

on the subject of "kaama" as it extends to Man's

"homing instinct".

 

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

 

In what comes to us as rather shocking revelation,

one's home is a brutal butchery, says the above

Sanskrit couplet. And because our home is a butchery,

it is a place of rampant "himsa" or violence.

 

There are many sins in the world of which Man can be

guilty. Violence is perhaps the most heinous of them.

Violence is rather unbecoming too of a man of

spiritual refinement. Therefore it is sin that he must

shun and avoid in life with all the courage and

conviction at his disposal.

 

Unfortunately, Violence sometimes becomes unavoidable

in life due to the inexorable working of the law of

"karma" i.e. due to the exigencies and vagaries of

life. Conditions and circumstances of human existence,

as well as the ebb and tide of human affairs sometimes

conspire to make violence inevitable. In life

sometimes, Violence is imposed upon Man against his

personal will and willingness.

 

One such human circumstance, where Violence becomes

inevitable and ineluctable, says the above Sanskrit

couplet of the ancient "dharma-sAstra", prevails in

Man's very home. In his very house, says the verse,

day in and day out, Man commits such brutal acts of

killing and such savage taking of life, that a home

really deserves to be called a bloody butchery. It is

a place where the business of violence is conducted

daily, unceasingly and unfeelingly, in five different

murderous ways. This is what is meant by the phrase:

 

"panchyasUnA gruhasthasya vartantE'hara-harah sadA"

 

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

 

Now, why does the "dharma-sAstrA" say a man's home is

a butchery where violence is perpetrated daily in five

different ways? The answer is in the next line of the

verse:

 

"khandanI pEsanI chuLLi jalakumbha upaskarah".

 

The word "khandani" in Sanskrit means "cutter" (some

of you may instantly recall the word as it appears in

the 2nd stanza of Swami Desikan's famous "stOtra",

"sri sudarshanAshtakam": "shubajagadrUpa mandana,

suragaNatrAsa KHANDANA"!). Any instrument that cuts,

cleaves, minces, chops, sloughs, decapitates, lops...

is called "khandanI".

 

In all our homes, we carry all varieties of such

"khandani" kitchens --- e.g. knives, cleavers,

cutters, mincers, graters etc. --- and in our garages

--- e.g. hacksaws, chain-saws, blades etc. Now, with

these lethal "khandani" in our kitchen, we commit

violence on many life-bearing organisms indeed

everyday. In "non-vegetarian" homes, the "khandani" is

used to wring out the necks and gouge out the flesh of

ducks, turkey and fish. In "vegetarian" homes, they

are used to cut, chop, slice and dice root-vegetables,

leafy vegetables and fruits (which even though are not

locomoting living-creatures like chickens or fish, are

nevertheless living organisms too, and who therefore

suffer pain when violence is inflicted upon them,

though not perhaps to the same degree locomoting

creatures do when they meet their end on a kitchen

table).

 

Next, there is "pEsani". This is a very interesting

Sanskrit word for anyone who is interested in

linguistics and philology. There is the English word

"pestle" which all of you know. We use pestle and

mortar as instruments when we want to grind something,

or crush, knead, mash, granulate or powder something.

The word English "pestle" probably has its roots in

the Sanskrit "pEsani" because that instrument of

destruction is exactly what is meant too in the

subject verse. At home in the kitchen we use "pesani"

to grind and pound seed, gram, pulses and other kinds

of grain in order to make food for ourselves. In the

olden days they used the stone pestle ("ammi",

"worrel", "olakkae", it used to be called in Tamil).

These days we use the modern mechanical automatic

"kitchen system" with such global brand-names as

Moulinex, Philips and Braun that do the same job as

the "pesani" more efficiently and at great speeds. The

purpose of these "pesani" tools is to pulverize the

grains and seeds we use as food items for ourselves.

Although such grain or seed is not a locomoting living

creature, still it does contain the potential for life

and life-giving, isn't it? (If we take a seed of paddy

and plant it, it will surely grow and multiply). So by

pounding and gnashing grain and seed with "pesani" in

our kitchen, says the above verse, we do inflict pain

on them and commit violence in our homes.

 

Then there is "chulli". This is the fire-place,

hot-stove, hot-plate or oven in the kitchen that we

use to cook our food. Today we have "micro-waves"

which are the modern avatars of the old "chulli". In

the process or cooking with the aid of "chulli",

unknowingly and unwittingly, we also burn up little

insects and organisms that are present in the air

around our kitchen surroundings but which are

invisible to the naked eye. When we boil water or

milk, or when we roast something or fry something,

alongwith the edible portion of what we cook,

invariably and quite unavoidably, we also destroy

millions of living micro-organisms too that are

present in such food-items. So, in that particular and

narrow sense, we do commit mass-slaughter of life. Our

"chulli" is (in the parlance of Sri George Bush II)

indeed a "weapon of mass-destruction" housed within

our kitchens.

 

Next, there is "jalakumbha". In the kitchen of the

olden days in India, they used big earthen pots to

store water. These were called "jalakumbha". Large

quantities of water were daily poured in and decanted

out for various purposes from these pots. While doing

so, again, many tiny insects and creatures and other

micro-organisms in the air and on the floor of the

house-kitchen would be deluged and drowned. Thus, the

"jalakumbha" too in the house was regarded, by this

verse, as a tool of great violence.

 

And finally, there was the "upaskarah". This was the

most lethan weapon of destruction in the hands of the

lady of the house. The broom-stick. The lady of the

house who kept the home surroundings tidy and clean

did so by daily sweeping away all manner of dust,

grime, garbage and trash. IN the process, she also

caused death and destruction to the lives and homes of

millions of minute creatures, insects and microscopic

living organisms that inhabit such dust, grime and

garbage. In the modern home, the simple tool of

"upaskarah" has been developed and perfected into a

technologically advanced and sophisticated

killing-machine. It is the Hoover vacuum-cleaner. It

can sweep away billions and billions of

micro-organisms and germs from our homes with a single

swish and a single stroke of Madam. The modern Hoover

is to the Vedic-day "upaskarah" what the modern

atom-bomb is to the pre-historic spear.

 

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

 

It was because of the above orgy of violence

perpetrated daily by humans in their homes ---i.e.

"panchyasUnA gruhasthasya vartantE'hara-harah sadA"

--- that the "gruha", the Home, in spite being

undoubtedly a very auspicious and virtuous institution

otherwise, was yet regarded by the ancient

"dharma-sAstras" as an inexhautible source of

unavoidable sin --- the sin of "himsa". It was really

a butchery of sorts.

 

And that was the reason why our ancient ancestors did

not get over-excited about or go overboard in their

love and attachment for the home. They did not allow

the "kaama" of the "homing instinct" overpower them or

distort their sense of life-values. They maintained at

all times "vairAgya", a sense of emotional distance

from the Home.

 

The home was a cradle of many human virtues and

happiness indeed. But it was also a fountainhead of

unwitting sin and error for which, the ancient

ancestors recognized, Man needed to atone in a deeply

moral and spiritual way. It was for that very reason

that they regarded the home not so much as a place for

indulgence in personal pleasure, comfort and enjoyment

("kaama"), but as a conducive place for spiritual

atonement and penance. It was the reason therefore why

the home was considered the fittest place to carry out

daily rituals of sacrifice and offerings to the gods

(e.g. "sandhyavandana arghya", "agni-sandhAnam") as

well as of human charity and expiation ("owpasanam",

"vaisvadevam").

 

It was a measure of our Vedic ancestors' wisdom that

not only did they believe that 'charity begins at

home' but also that 'self-sacrifice', the greatest of

all charitable deeds, too begins at Home. Such deeds

were ritualized in the Vedic scheme of things --- in

little daily sacraments such as the "vaisvadeva" rite

or the daily "arghya-samarpaNam" routine. The Home

thus became "yagnya-bhUmi" --- a place primarily meant

for Man's self-sacrifice, not self-gratification.

 

Thus, by ritualizing daily life at home into

sacrificial expressions of spiritual charity and

atonement, the overpowering feeling of "kaama" --- the

deep-rooted instinct of attachment and possessiveness

that arises in the human heart for one's "own home"

and property -- that "kaamic" urge was sought to be

conquered.

 

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

(to be continued)

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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