Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Dear Chandrasekharanji, Nochur Venkataraman-ji says about Narayana Bhranthan-- I do not know whether it is about the same person-- He used to go about saying, " manassilaayilla'. One day suddenly he started saying, " manassilaayi, manassilaayi " . People asked him what he had understood. He replied, " manassilaakuvilla ennu manassilaayi " . What he meant was that he understood that the supreme Being cannot be known by the intellect. This is the essence of all vedanta. Best wishes, S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 I have heard another story. He used to spent his time in the cemetary. The guardian demons in the cemetry once told him to ask for a boon, and he immediately asked them to postpone his death by a day. They said it is impossible. Then he asked to advance his death by a day, for which too they said it is impossible to change one's death time. He answered them as they couldnt grant him what he wished, let them only change the 'mantu' in his right leg to the left. the book aithihyamala has stories about him. I will send them soon. Jai Sree Krishna Chandra Menon <chandrasmenon2002Guruv <guruvayur >Sat, January 30, 2010 4:11:52 AM[Guruvayur] NaaRaanath bhranthan Om Namo Narayanaya There was a write-up in our group sometime back about NaaRaanath Bhraanthan (നാറാണതàµà´¤àµ à´àµà´°à´¾à´¨àµà´¤à´¨àµâ€ ) and for sometime I was thinking about HIM. Few had branded him as a mad man and many had hailed him to be a "wise man". Since I am thinking about him, few may think that I also belong to the former category. This world itself is a "mad house" (à´àµà´°à´¾à´¨àµà´¤à´¾à´²à´¯à´‚) and we all are mad men occupying this world for a short duration. There are people "madly in love" and "hating madly" each other, and so on. I am just concentrating about NaaRaanath Bhraanthan, I do not what HE was thinking, but this is only my thinking. He used to take a big rock on his back, climbing a hill or mountain, and on reaching the top push it down and happily laughing and clapping hands as the rock rolls down. Lesson: (a) To reach the top, one has to take lot of troubles physically and mentally. (b) On reaching the top one is sure to fall down and the fall will be faster with "heavier" objects © With each fall the "Rock" with uneven surface will loose its "mass" (Rolling stone never gain mass), at the same time it will trim (shrink) and will be smooth and in good shape. (easy to handle) (d) Going up or traveling with "luggage" is problem and worrying about the luggage all the time since it could be stolen by some body. Most of the time we ourselves are "luggage" for someone else. We should "own" less luggage and we should not be luggage for others too. The old slogan of Indian Railways comes to my mind "Less luggage more comfort, make travel a pleasure" The following is from wikepedia about NaaRaanath Bhranthan or NaraNath Bhranthan. Naranath Bhranthan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Statue of Naranath Naranath Branthan (The madman of Naranam) is a character in Malayalam folklore. He was considered to be a divine person, a Mukhta who pretended to be mad. His chief activity consisted of rolling a big stone up a hill and then letting it fall back down. Unlike Sisyphus, he acted on his own volition rather than under the influence of a curse. There is a large statue of Naranath in Palakkad district of Kerala where he is believed to have lived. Naranathu Branthan was born as the son of Vararuchi, the famous astrologer who adorned the court of King Vikramadithya. Naranathu Branthan was one among the twelve offsprings or the Parayi petta panthirukulam, of Vararuchi and was brought up in the Naranathu Mangalathu Mana, situated at Chethallur in Palakkad. Branthan came to Thiruvegappura for mastering 'Vedas'. Thiruvegappura and the nearby Rayiranelloor Mountain, which is known as 'Branthachalam' , became his usual abode. Due to his strange behavior and odd activities, people perceived him as 'mad'. At Rayiranellor Mountain he had the vision of the Devi (Goddess), and later for the benevolence of the people he enshrined Devi in the Mountain and started his worship there. No clear descriptions have yet been received of Naranath's last days." Can anyone from our group provide any additional information and "think" what HE was thinking? Om Namo Narayanaya Chandrasekharan "live and let live" "They alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Om Namo Narayanaya Dear Sastriji Thank you and all rest Gurudevs for the contributions to this topic. I have not heard this one attributed to our famous NaraaNath bhranthan, "manassilaakuvilla" ennu "manassilaayi" which is the "essence" of all Vedanta. Thanks to you and Shri Nochur Venkatraman for enlightening this. There could be many other "truths" that came out from this Great Soul, and why HE was branded as "Bhranthan" by many, still baffles me. Om Namo Narayanaya Chandrasekharan "live and let live" "They alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive" Nilakantan sastri <snsastriguruvayur Sent: Sat, January 30, 2010 2:03:44 AM[Guruvayur] NaaRaanath bhranthan Dear Chandrasekharanji,Nochur Venkataraman- ji says about Narayana Bhranthan-- I do not know whether it is about the same person-- He used to go about saying, "manassilaayilla' . One day suddenly he started saying, " manassilaayi, manassilaayi" . People asked him what he had understood. He replied," manassilaakuvilla ennu manassilaayi" . What he meant was that he understood that the supreme Being cannot be known by the intellect. This is the essence of all vedanta. Best wishes,S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Namaste Chandraji,Naranathu bhrantan appeared as a madman to ordinary humans. We, listening to those stories, are appreciating his wisdom. Imagine a young man (20-25 yr old) pushing a stone all the way to the top of the mountain and letting it roll down. We probably might say " Can't he do something and make a living? Can't he study and get a job? " My cousin's son did not want to get married and wanted to renounce everything, Then everyone made a big issue because he was going away from the norm. We want everyone around us to be the average with probably above average material accomplishments. " A person from another family can be a sadhu or sanyasi and I will respect him and seek his advice. " Such thinking might have caused him to be called bhrantan. The description in Aitihyamaala of him is good and the story of " manassilayilla " which Nochur mentions does not seem to come from it. Hari Aum!Chith Puram On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Chandra Menon <chandrasmenon2002 wrote: Om Namo Narayanaya Dear Sastriji Thank you and all rest Gurudevs for the contributions to this topic. I have not heard this one attributed to our famous NaraaNath bhranthan, " manassilaakuvilla " ennu " manassilaayi " which is the " essence " of all Vedanta. Thanks to you and Shri Nochur Venkatraman for enlightening this. There could be many other " truths " that came out from this Great Soul, and why HE was branded as " Bhranthan " by many, still baffles me. Om Namo Narayanaya Chandrasekharan " live and let live " " They alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive " Nilakantan sastri <snsastriguruvayur Sat, January 30, 2010 2:03:44 AM[Guruvayur] NaaRaanath bhranthan Dear Chandrasekharanji,Nochur Venkataraman- ji says about Narayana Bhranthan-- I do not know whether it is about the same person-- He used to go about saying, " manassilaayilla' . One day suddenly he started saying, " manassilaayi, manassilaayi " . People asked him what he had understood. He replied, " manassilaakuvilla ennu manassilaayi " . What he meant was that he understood that the supreme Being cannot be known by the intellect. This is the essence of all vedanta. Best wishes,S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 Dear Chandraji and all other Gurudevs,Radhe Krishna!As I understand, Naranathu Bhranthan (short name--Na. Bhra) was an Avadhoota. He belonged to the " Parachi Petta pantheerukulam " family of the great astrological prodigy, Vararuchi, one of the nine gems of King Vikramaditya's court. There are so many stories about Na. Bhra. What Nochur said was really not attributed to Na. Bhra. He probably quoted that in some context to keep the listeners attentive,  It is a joke about a person who was regularly hearing spiritual discourses, but in spite of being able to understand anything, was still persistently attending all discourses.  One day, our friend got up from middle of the discourse and went out singing and dancing " Manassilayi, Manassilayee==== " etc. Somebody asked him, " Thirumeni, Enthu manassilayee? "   The person answered, " Enthu manassilayenno ? Ithu verey parayano ?  Ithonnum enikku manassilavukayilla ennu manassilaayi!!!! " Coming back to our friend Na.Bhra., he used to roam about all over the place, spending his mornings rolling up big boulders to the hill-top, and from there, let it go down by its own gravity. And he used to clap his hands and laugh looking at the boulders.  As brother Chandraji has pointed out, we have to understand the futility of unproductive jobs which we do everyday undertaking great pains, etc., etc, and the philosophy rightly explained by him/ Na.Bhra used to spend his afternoons in going about begging, and when he received sufficient rice to satiate himself, that would be his place to cook his food in the copper vessel and eat, and sleep in the same place.  One day, when he received sufficient rice fo fill his stomach, he was next to a smasaanam (a crematorium). He saw bodies being burnt, and fires burning. In the winter night, it was good source of heat to warm up himself, and he decided to cook his food on one of those fires. It was almost midnight and he saw the Chudala-Bhadrakaali accompanied by prethas and pisachas coming there. When bhadrakaali saw him, she asked, " Who is that " ? Na. Bhra answered, " Cant you see who it is, It is a human being! "  Bhadrakali replied, " Normally no human being comes to this place at this time of the night. this is the time for us to sing and dance. So please go away from here. " Na, Bhra: You may go ahead, singing and dancing. I will continue to stay here.Bhadra Kali: No human being should witness our dance. So it is better that you go away.Na. Bhra: I will not interfere with you. You may please go ahead. It is MY practice to cook and eat and sleep at the place I visit last, and today, this is the place. No amount of persuation will work on me. Bh. Kali. If you insist like that, we will frighten you.Na. Bhra. I will not get any frightened, whatever you try.Bhadrakali and Her entourage of prethas and pisachas tried their best to frighten him showing different grimaces and long damshtras and trying to bite him. Na. Bhra was undaunted and he stayed firm.  Then Bha. Kaali said, " It looks like you are not a normal human being, as you are not getting frightened.. I will now request you to go away after receiving whatever boons you want. " Na. Bhra: I do not want any boons. I am quite happy with whatever I have.Bh. Ka: Still please ask me for something. Then only i will be happy.Na. Bhra: What can you give me? At least, tell me when I will die. Bhad. Kali : After 36 years, six months, 12 nazhikas from now.Na, Bhra. Then please increase my life by one year.Bhad. Kali: This is something I cannot do,Na. Bh: Then decrease it by one year. Bhad. Ka: Even that, I cannot do, as it is already decided by Brahmadeva.Na. Bhra: Then why do you boast of giving whatever I want ? "  Okay, now, if you cannot do even that, please see my left leg. I have " manthu " .(elephantiasis). Please transfer it to my right leg. Bhadrakali obliged him and went away from there, postponing Her dance program for the next day. Na. Bhra carried on with the " manthu " on the right leg now.(Source: Kottarathil Sankunni's " AITHIHYAMAALA " ) There are many anecdotes which are all compiled by the great " Kottarathil Sankunni " . It need not be said that Kottarathil Sankunni was a contemporary of my father, and he has written an excellent note about the " Narayaneeyam " Bhaktaranjini commentary. RegardsKVG.   On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 2:41 AM, Chandra Menon <chandrasmenon2002 wrote:  Om Namo Narayanaya Dear Sastriji Thank you and all rest Gurudevs for the contributions to this topic. I have not heard this one attributed to our famous NaraaNath bhranthan, " manassilaakuvilla " ennu " manassilaayi " which is the " essence " of all Vedanta. Thanks to you and Shri Nochur Venkatraman for enlightening this. There could be many other " truths " that came out from this Great Soul, and why HE was branded as " Bhranthan " by many, still baffles me. Om Namo Narayanaya Chandrasekharan " live and let live " " They alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive " Nilakantan sastri <snsastriguruvayur Sat, January 30, 2010 2:03:44 AM[Guruvayur] NaaRaanath bhranthan Dear Chandrasekharanji,Nochur Venkataraman- ji says about Narayana Bhranthan-- I do not know whether it is about the same person-- He used to go about saying, " manassilaayilla' . One day suddenly he started saying, " manassilaayi, manassilaayi " . People asked him what he had understood. He replied, " manassilaakuvilla ennu manassilaayi " . What he meant was that he understood that the supreme Being cannot be known by the intellect. This is the essence of all vedanta. Best wishes,S.N.Sastri -- कृषà¥à¤£à¥‡à¤¤à¤¿ मंगलमॠनाम यसà¥à¤¯ वाचि पà¥à¤°à¤µà¤°à¥à¤¤à¤¤à¥‡ |à¤à¤¸à¥à¤®à¥€à¤à¤µà¤¨à¥à¤¤à¤¿ तसà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¶à¥ महापातककोटयः ||  കൃഷàµà´¨àµà´¨àµ†à´¤à´¿  മംഗളം  നാമ  യസàµà´¯  വാചി  പàµà´°à´µà´°àµâ€à´¤àµà´¤à´¤àµ‡        à´à´¾à´¸àµà´®àµ€à´à´µà´¨àµà´¤à´¿  തസàµà´¯à´¾à´¶àµ  മഹാപാതകകൊടയ:   . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Dear Chandraji, Chith Puramji, Satriji, KVG, Seemaji and all other respected Gurudevs,"NaaRaanathu BranTan" is a intriguing figure among all Vedantis for sure. His methods were non conventional and intriguing. I grew up not too far (10 Kms) from 'Raayiranelloor mountain', and he was much more than a mere folklore story to us. My parents and other elders regularly used to remind & explain us the 'MEANINGFUL' vedanta behind his otherwise 'MEANINGLESS rock and roll act. Every year, on the 1st of the Malayalam month Thulam, thousands of people climb the 'Raayiranelloor mountain' in respect to the vedanti. Isn't it interesting that even with all that knowledge we continue our futile 'pursuit of happiness' in material world. I was about to write more about 'Raayiranelloor mountain' when I thought of searching the web and came across this excellent travelogue to the abode of Naaranathu Branthan. It does not make any sense to write another article when someone has done written it so well and with rarely seen photos of the mountain. So, I abandon my plan to write and adding his blog entry as a PDF attachment after taking his permission to do so. The author is Shri. Niraksharan (he has requested to use his thoolika name) and let me thank him for his beautiful travelogue and his interest in such day trips (even on rainy days) that enabled people like me living thousands of miles away to climb the mountain virtually! Thank you, niraksharan.blogspot.com I apologize to our GuruDevs who can't read Malayalam as the travelogue is in Malayalam. I encourage all of you to learn the famous Malayalam folklore story about the 12 children of "Vararuchi", the famous member of the court of King Vikramadithya and how he got married to an untouchable woman (despite his knowledge and astrological prowess) and how the children ended up in 12 diferent families of 12 different castes and how they became famous in their own ways. Braanthan was one his sons. Om Namo Narayanaya:Sunil--- 1 of 1 File(s) naaranathu branthan.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Dear Chandraji, Sastriji, KVGji, Sunilji and other Gurudevs,I have seen a documentary movie entitled The Rock about Na. Bhr.  pushing the boulder up the hill and pushing it down.  If my memory is correct it was directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.  I saw it in the seventies when Adoor was mostly connected with Chitralekha film society and may be it was screened by them.  This was before Adoor became famous with Swayamvaram.  I thought it was wonderfully done. Hari Aum! CKPOn Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 2:07 AM, K.V Gopalakrishna <gopalakrishna.kv wrote:  Dear sunilji,Radhe Krishna!Thank you so much for sending us the attachment and the beautiful photographs.. I shall cover the Vararuchi story and the " Parachi petta panthiru kulam in one of the issues of Navaneetham as quickly as possible, after finishing the Narayaneeyam work at hand with my hands full of it, RegardsKVGOn Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:09 PM, Sunil Menon <menon_sunil wrote:  [Attachment(s) from Sunil Menon included below] Dear Chandraji, Chith Puramji, Satriji, KVG, Seemaji and all other respected Gurudevs, " NaaRaanathu BranTan " is a intriguing figure among all Vedantis for sure. His methods were non conventional and intriguing. I grew up not too far (10 Kms) from 'Raayiranelloor mountain', and he was much more than a mere folklore story to us. My parents and other elders regularly used to remind & explain us the 'MEANINGFUL' vedanta behind his otherwise 'MEANINGLESS rock and roll act. Every year, on the 1st of the Malayalam month Thulam, thousands of people climb the 'Raayiranelloor mountain' in respect to the vedanti. Isn't it interesting that even with all that knowledge we continue our futile 'pursuit of happiness' in material world. I was about to write more about 'Raayiranelloor mountain' when I thought of searching the web and came across this excellent travelogue to the abode of Naaranathu Branthan. It does not make any sense to write another article when someone has done written it so well and with rarely seen photos of the mountain. So, I abandon my plan to write and adding his blog entry as a PDF attachment after taking his permission to do so. The author is Shri. Niraksharan (he has requested to use his thoolika name) and let me thank him for his beautiful travelogue and his interest in such day trips (even on rainy days) that enabled people like me living thousands of miles away to climb the mountain virtually! Thank you, niraksharan.blogspot.com I apologize to our GuruDevs who can't read Malayalam as the travelogue is in Malayalam. I encourage all of you to learn the famous Malayalam folklore story about the 12 children of " Vararuchi " , the famous member of the court of King Vikramadithya and how he got married to an untouchable woman (despite his knowledge and astrological prowess) and how the children ended up in 12 diferent families of 12 different castes and how they became famous in their own ways. Braanthan was one his sons. Om Namo Narayanaya:Sunil--- -- कृषà¥à¤£à¥‡à¤¤à¤¿ मंगलमॠनाम यसà¥à¤¯ वाचि पà¥à¤°à¤µà¤°à¥à¤¤à¤¤à¥‡ |à¤à¤¸à¥à¤®à¥€à¤à¤µà¤¨à¥à¤¤à¤¿ तसà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¶à¥ महापातककोटयः ||  കൃഷàµà´¨àµà´¨àµ†à´¤à´¿  മംഗളം  നാമ  യസàµà´¯  വാചി  പàµà´°à´µà´°àµâ€à´¤àµà´¤à´¤àµ‡        à´à´¾à´¸àµà´®àµ€à´à´µà´¨àµà´¤à´¿  തസàµà´¯à´¾à´¶àµ  മഹാപാതകകൊടയ:   . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Om Namo Narayanaya Thanks Sriram for the youtube presentation. In case others cannot open that here it is again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka-4PkXAbPU Om Namo Narayanaya Chandrasekharan "live and let live" "They alone live who live for others, rest are more dead than alive" SRIRAM SUBRAMANIAN <abheriguruvayur Sent: Tue, February 2, 2010 11:55:08 PMRe: [Guruvayur] Re: NaaRaanath bhranthan Dear Sunil,Great Post! Thanks for the attached PDF. I casually opened Youtube and did a search - I found this video from Indiavision on Raayiranelloor Mala.http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=Ka-4PkXAbPUThanks a lot for excellent posts by KVG, Das and others.-sriram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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