NARAYANEEYAM--Part 6

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Note:Please read the Introduction

if you have not already read it

 

Namaste.

 

Sloka No. 16 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 8):

 

yad-bhItyodeti sUryo dahati ca dahano vAti vAyus-tathAnye

yad-bhItAH padmajAdyAH puna-rucita-balIn-Aharante'nu kAlaM /

yen-aiv-AropitAH prang nija-padam-api te cyAvitArash-ca pashcAt

tasmai vishvaM niyantre vayam-api bhavate kR^iShNa kurmaH

praNAmaM //

 

Tr. Fearing whom the sun rises, fire burns and wind blows; for

fear of whom Brahma and other deities perform their cosmic

functions as obligatory punctual offerings; by whom all these

deities are installed in their places at the beginning and

removed afterwards – to Thee Oh Lord, who thus regulates the

whole universe, my salutations.

 

Comment. This is a actually an echo of Taittiriyopanishad II -8

– 1. 'bhIShA'smAd-vAtaH pavate; bhIShodeti sUryaH ;

bhIShA'smAd-agnish-cendrashca; mR^ityur-dhAvati pancama iti' ,

meaning, Out of His fear the Wind blows; out of fear the Sun

rises; out of His fear runs fire, as also Indra, and Death, the

fifth. The ultimate cause of fear must itself be

indestructible, since a contrary supposition will lead to an

infinite regress. And such an eternal agent is The Absolute.

This sloka is also an epitome of a whole bunch of slokas (3 – 29

– 40 to 44) in the Bhagavatam in the chapters on Kapila's

philosophical teachings to his mother.

 

Sloka No. 17 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 9):

 

trailokyaM bhAvayantaM triguNamayam-idaM

tryakSharasy-aika-vAcyaM

trIshAnAm-aikya-rUpaM tribhir-api nigamair-gIyamAna-svarUpaM /

tisrovasthA-vidantaM triyuga-jani-juShaM trikram-AkrAnta-vishvaM

 

traikAlye bheda-hInaM tribhir-aham-anishaM yoga-bhedair-bhaje

tvAM //

 

Tr. You manifest the three worlds through the three guNas. You

are the One who is implied by the three letters of the praNava.

You are the one Being who manifests as the three Deities,

Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. It is your Nature that is sung and

glorified in the three Vedas. You are the Pure Consciousness

that witnesses the three states of waking, dream and sleep. You

incarnate yourself in the three yugas of treta, dvapara and

kali. You measured the whole universe with your three strides.

You are changeless in the three parts of Time, namely, past,

present and future. I worship You always with the three forms of

yoga – karma, bhakti and jnana.

 

Comment. The list of attributes (see sloka 15) of the Lord is

continued here with poetic excellence. One cannot but recall an

analogous poetic flourish from the Tamil poet Kamban in his

Ramayana, ( yuddha-kANDa, iraNiyan-vadaip-paDalaM, verse 25),

put in the mouth of Prahlad, the greatest devotee of all times:

(in Tamil)

mUnru avan guNangaL cheigai mUnru avan uruvam mUnru

mUnru kaN chuDar kol jothi mUnru avan ulagam mUnru

tonralum iDaiyum Irum toDangiya poruLkaTku ellAm

sAnru avan-iduve veda muDivu idu sadam enrAn .

 

Meaning, His qualities are three (satva, rajas and tamas); His

actions are three (Creation, Protection and Dissolution); His

forms are three (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva); He has three eyes

(Sun, Moon and Fire) ; His worlds are three (Earth, the

nether-world and Heaven). All that have a beginning, a middle

and an end constitute a monumental proof of His existence, This

is also the bottom line of all the Vedas.

 

 

Sloka No. 18 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 91 - 3):

bhItir-nAma dvitIyAd-bhavati nanu manH kalpitaM ca dvitIyaM

tenaikyA-bhyAsa-shIlo hR^idayam-iha yathAshakti buddhyA

nirundhyAM /

mAyAviddhe tu tasmin punarapi na tathA bhAti mAyAdhi-nAthaM

tat-tvAM bhaktyA mahatyA satatam-anubhajan-nIsha bhItiM vijahyAM

//

 

Tr. Fear arises from the consciousness of a second (thing)

different from oneself. This consciousness of (such) a second is

indeed an imaginary super-imposition of the mind. Therefore I am

trying my best through discrimination to discipline the mind in

the consciousness of oneness. But when this power of

discrimination is overpowered by Thy mAyA, no amount of effort

is of any avail in getting established in Unitary Consciousness.

Therefore Oh Lord, I am trying to overcome the fear of samsAra

by constant and devoted worship of Thee, the Master of mAyA.

 

Comment. This is one of the key slokas that trumpet the highest

advaita concept, among the 36 of this selection. The sentence

'manaH-kalpitam dvitIyaM' (The consciousness of a second object

is an imaginary superimposition of the mind) constitutes the

'brahma-sUtra' of advaita. Bhattatiri clearly makes the point

that the unity of the jIva with the supreme Spirit is the

ultimate goal. But he hastens to add that the same is not

reachable by any one directly but only through the love and

service of Him and His Grace. It is only by God's Grace that

non-dual consciousness is obtained. The devotee merges in His

Being by His grace, The 'I' disappears in Him and 'He' is left.

The becoming merges in the Being. It is not vice versa. This is

what one might call Realistic advaita, to be subtly contrasted

with 'kevala-advaita'.

 

(To be continued)

=====================================================================

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought

Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the

site.

 

--

Krishna Prasad

 

.. Yad yad aacarati sreshtah, tad tad eva itaro janah. As the Gita puts it,

consistency of purpose and a spirit of dedication and, if necessary,

sacrifice, should characterize the new spirit.

We Must

THE CULTURED GIVES HAPPINESS WHEREVER THEY GO, THE UN-CULTURED WHENEVER THEY

GO!

- Swami Chinmayanada