Guest guest Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 Njanappaana 41 Pashchathapam oru ellolam illathe Viswasa paathakathe karuthunnu Vitthathil aasha pattuka hethuvayi Sathyatthe thyajikunnu chilaraho! With out feeling a speck of remorse or repentance (first line), some consider breaching the trust bestowed on them (second line). Alas! (aho!) due to desire for wealth (line three), some people give up on truth (sathytthe thyajikkum chilar). Let us look at the word Pascchaatthaapam. It can be broke into :Pascchaath + thaapam . This means remorse (thaapam) after (pascchaath) committing the sin. This pascchatthaapam or remorse demands a specific attitude of the mind. Mind should feel sorry for the sin one committed and should be eager to compensate or make a difference through atonement. So we can see that pascchatthtaapam or remorse is the first step of atonement. Poonthaanam says that some people do not have even an iota of remorse. They do not repent after ridiculing and hurting sajjanaas when they ask for help. In addition to this attitude, they cheat people left and right to reach where they want to reach. Some are vicious enough to resort to any crooked ways to meet their goal and do not hesitate to step on anybody to climb up their ladder or rope of desire. They do not know the meaning of " pascchaatthaapam praayascchttham " or feeling remorse is atonement. There is no apt word in English for the sanskrit word " sathyam " because the vedic definition of " sathyam " is " sathyam bhoothahitham priyam " or words that bring benefit to all living beings are called sathyam. What we usually use is the English word " truth " and this actually is the correct translation for the Sanskrit word " rutham " . " Rutham " or " truth " is describing things exactly as you see them. Here Poonthaanam says that because of the extreme desire for wealth, some people are not hesitant to give up sathyam or they resort to harsh words and actions that are harmful to all living beings or they become adharmic. (If we take the regular meaning for sathyam, Poonthaanam means that due to extreme greed some people give up on truth to achieve their goal.) The word " aho " or " alas " expresses Poonthaanam's sympathy for the unending desire and ajnaanam or ignorance of some people around him. There is a saying " the servant of desire or asha is the servant of all. But all are his servants whose servant is asha or desire.' At this context I want to share what I read about King Yudhishtira's " arappoli " or " half-truth " . Bhima killed the elephant called Aswatthaama that belonged to King Indravarma. All Pandavaas acted as if Dronaachaarya's son Aswatthaama was killed. Then Drona asked King Yudhishtira who is dharmam or righteousness personified, to confirm his valiant son's death. First King Yudhishtira told " Aswatthaama hatha " (ashtaama is dead) loudly and then he said " kunjara " (elephant) in a low voice. Because of the noises of all the conches and other loud noises in the battle field Drona could not hear the last part " kunjara " or elephant and he believed that his beloved son was dead. Then Drona sat on the floor and meditated Krishna with with this manthra: Anaayaasena maranam, vina dainyena jeevanam Dehi mae krupaya Vishno! thvayi bhakthim achanchalam. " A life with out hardships and an end that is peaceful, this is all I ask of you, Krishna and unswerving devotion for you. " It is said that Yudhishtira did not break sathya when he said the first part " " Aswatthaama hatha " because he had to say that to win the war and establish dharma. But when he said with a calculated mind " kunjara " in a low voice with the intention of misguiding Drona which was against dharma, he and his ever floating chariot touched the ground. Even though technically he did not tell a lie, it was adharma to make Drona believe that his son was dead. So it became asathya. This is one interpretation of the incident. Poonthaanam is very observant of all the people around him and he explains the characteristics of them to warn us. He advises " beware of all these kinds of people I mentioned above who are not sajjanaas and do not ever belong to those groups " . Because he experienced the power of naamam, he is an advocate of Naamam and begs us to start Naamasankeerthanam with out a moment's delay to make desire our most obedient servant. Let us chant Bhagavaan's divine names along with Shri Poonthaanam and millions of other devotees around the world: Krishna! Krishna! Mukunda! Janaardana! Krishna! Govinda! Naarayana! Hare! Achtyuthaananda! Govinda! Maadhava! Sachidaananda! Naarayana! Hare! Samsthaaparaadham kshamaswa. Sreekrishnaarpanamasthu. Regards an dprayers Savitri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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