mADu sikkadallA - munDige by Sri Purandara Dasaru

[Guest guest]

Hare Srinivasa,

Main questions/points to ponder in this

devaranama:

What is that which deludes a human being into a

state of complacency?

What is the permanent source of peace and

protection?

What is the caution necessary to be exercised

in order to avoid feeling disillusioned at the end ?

What is the main purpose of the mind, intellect

and chitta?

mADu sikkadalla mADina gUDu sikkadallA

mADu- ceiling or roof

mADina gUDu – a bower in a garden , a cosy enclosure in a

dwelling

gUDu- niche

 

In the Mahabharata, Vara parva there is an incident which is

worth recollecting in this context. It is referred to as Yaksha Prashne.

Yaksha asks: What is most wonderful?

Yudhishtira answers: Day after day countless

creatures are going to the abode of Yama, yet those that remain behind believe

themselves to be immortal. What can be more wonderful than this?

Sri Purandara Dasaru is highlighting this plight of a human

being. One in an embodied body thinks that the present state is a permanent

state. One feels that this body and the social situation we are in ,will

foreever be ours. One believes it will be the source of an expereince of peace.

Dasaru compares this to the ceiling or roof symbollically. When one says, “I

have a roof over my head.†One means that one is having the basic necessity for

survival, a place of dwelling where no one can come and vacate him/her.

Beware!

Dasaru says'mADu sikkadalla' This body is not of that type of

permanent dwelling and there is a time when it has to be vacated. Dasaru

compares the mADina guDu to the niche one has carved for oneself in this world,

by ensuring he/she has a family to be cared for during old age, has a house,

wealth etc etc. But Dasaru cautions us that this niche is just temperoary. One

should be aware that whatever one does towards the security of oneself

holds only if God wills and until He wills ,never permanently.

mADu sikkadalla mADina gUDu sikkadallA

Misplaced conceptions on the sources and avenues of peace and

happiness leads to disillusionment .

The same sentence can be interpreted as ' Oh! the permanent

abode of God will not be attained by me because I have misunderstood all along

the concept of permanence and its direct relationship to the eternal entity-the

Supreme Lord.â€

Dasaru kindles one's thinking to realise that the real mADu(source

of protection) is God. He is the roof over our heads meaning, He is the

saviour and protector. He is the Lord who places us in the world with all the

comforts of family, wealth, education etc. mADina gUDu is the Lord’s abode

which is the permenant abode-moksha. But because we never realise this and

never worked towards it,it is sure to be elusive.

Dasaru reflects on the possible causes for this and thereby

alerts the sadhaka not to fall into these fatal traps.

jODu heMDiraMji Odi hOguvAga

gODE biddu bayalAyithalla

Dasaru says, "When the embodied soul realises that it is

being attacked by the two brutal enemies of the human body-namely jarA and

vyAdi ie old age and disease, then the soul tries to run away from this.

Running away implies trying to do something which can form an escape route from

this suffering. But unfortunately, the time has run out.

gODE biddu bayalAyithalla

The walls fall and the space becomes a field.

A small hut is erected in a field. If the mud erodes or is

washed away the walls fall down becoming a part of the open field.

Here the walls are the human body which disintegrate back

into the panchabhootas when the soul leaves the body. The protective sheath for

the soul is the human body and it has the special tool called the mind and

intellect that enable the soul to amass the wealth of knowledge ,but when it

falls down the soul no longer has the means to do the sadhana. So the purpose

of life was not fullfilled.

echchara goLalilla manave huchchanAdenallA

achchinolage mechchu mechchinolage achchu

kichchu iddu hoyitallA

achchu- impression,mould

mechchu- darling,beloved

Now Dasaru talks in a direct speech making the effect more

forceful as the sadhaka laments to himself/herself.

" What a deluded fool I have been! I did not become

consious ! O mind, I was an insane person. For who would waste away the chance

to make the effort to break away from the cycle of samsaara except a mad man. “

When the soul was given the chance by the Lord and pressed

into the mould of a human form along with the mind which is the beloved of the

soul, at that time the ability to do was there, the ability to think was there.

This is possible only as long as there is temperature in the body .

Dasaru indicates this by saying talking of the presence of the fire meaning the

temperature in the body ensuring that the person is alive,

In another devaranama Dasaru makes a direct hit-

narajanma baMdAga nAlige iruvAga krishnA ena

bArade

Another mundige ‘kuruDu nAyi tA

saMtege baMtaMte “ also deals with the issue of not using the human body

for its higher purpose.

muppu baMditalla pAyasa tappade uNaLillA

tuppada biMdige thippe mele dhoppane bidditallA

Now the old age has advanced. I have not eaten any pAyasam.

The jar of ghee has flumped down on the rubbish heap !

Dasaru is comparing the rama nAma to pAyasa. How so? It is

because Sri Purandara Dasaru himself says so in another devaranama 'rAma nAma pAyasakke..." Payasa is

relished when eaten and digested by the young and healthy. Even if the old or

infirm want to eat it, they may have health reasons which forbid them to eat it

..The point made here is that the time for doing sadhana is limited because even

if the soul is in the human body it cannot do much sadhana when the body

becomes old and infirm.

Sri Kanaka Dasaru says in Haribhakthi saara:

varusha nUruAyushyavadaraola

girilu kaledaivattu mElaivattarali

vArdhika bAlya koumAradali muvattu

irade saMdudu balikavippa

thorusharOLagAdudaMtaH

karaNa ninnoLu tOri rakshisu nammana anavarata

"O Lord, You have designed the human body with 100 years

of ayushya. Out of it 50 years are spent sleeping, 30 years out of the

remaining 50 yrs are spent in the old age, boyhood and youth. The remaining are

just 20 years which should be utilised for seeking You. Please bestow Your grace

on me and make me realise in my inner being that Your are the object to be

sought after . Make me devoted towards You always."

The devaranama 'mADu sikkadalla' continues...

The thuppada bindige is synonimous to the chitta which has to

be used to store divine knowledge through the porcess of shravana,manana etc.

Thuppa has Lakshmi sannidhana and she is the Vedamanini. Now when one wants to

fill it, at the time there is no way to to as the bindige has fallen meaning

the soul has departed and therefore the chitta cannot be filled now. In fact it

has fallen in the rubbish heap , implying that the chitta has been filled with

unwanted rubbish collected over the lifetime.

Echchatu iru kaMDya manave

Namma achchUta aMgriya nene kaMDya manave

is another devaranama which cautions the soul to be ever

vigilant and use the mind to think about the glories of the lotus feet of the

flawless Lord Achchuta.

yogavu bantalla baduku vibhAga vAyitallA

bhOgi shyana puraMdara viTTalana Aga neneyalillA

When the maraNa yoga arrived, the jiva departs from the body

.. Now, what is the use of lamenting! When the opportunity was given , one did

not use it to seek the grace of the Lord Purandara vittala within

oneself, who lies on the kuMDalini.

Another way to look at this : When the yoga for sadhana came,

ie when the human body was given at that time instead of concentrating one

pointedly on the Lord, one divides one's life on various useless

activities(jiva vhibhAgavAyitalla) . As a result one never realises the Lord

within. The kundalini shakthi can be awakened using the yoga practises. This

shakthi lies dormant and if it rises then one moves towards spiritual

upliftment and self realisation by God's grace and then by further sandhana,

impelled by God's grace to aparOxa. This is indicated by Dasaru using the

word 'bhOgi shayana' -The Lord who lies on the snake.

In another devaranama Sri Purandara Dasaru says

kaNNinoLAge nODO hariyA

oLagaNNindali nODo murjagadODeyana …….

………………………………………………………………………..

kuMDalini tudiyalli iddAne shrI puraMDara

viTTala pAlisutAne. It describes Yoga.

There are 3 prominent

nADis out of a total of 72000 in our body. They are the iDa, pingala and

sushumna. Of these sushumnA is in the centre and takes a straight path from the

base of the spine to the top of the head where the baby's soft

spot(sahasrAra) is usually located, right along the spinal column. All

the six chakras or energy centres inside the body are located along this nADi.

In order to awaken the kuNDalini energy lying dormant at the base of the spine

which enables the yogi to reach samAdhi when is can hear the anahata dwani or

Nada which is soundless to the outer ear. This energy should move upwards and

reache the 7th chakra called sahasrAra. For this it is essential to have Lord

Narasimha's grace. The jeeva which is in its charma shareera and is ready to go

to moksha traverses through this nADi while leaving the body. The Lord

Narasimha is the controller of this nADi .

All this is possible

for a soul in human body.

 

Recalling Kanaka Dasaru’s words from

Haribhakthi saara

oDeyA nIneMdaritu nAni

mmaDiya bhajisade maruLanAdenu

maDadi makkaLa mOhadali mana silukutaDigaDige

maDadiyArI makkaLArI

oDaligoDeyanu nInu nI kai

piDidu mudadali biDade rakshisu namman anavarata

“ Instead of learning and understanding that You

are my Lord and protector, and spending my time on earth to sing Your great

glory, I have been deluded. I have been enmeshed in the bonds of samsaara so

tightly without moving beyond that immediate fulfillments of the body, I have

failed to see that You are the Lord who bestowed the family and wealth on me.

Please don’t forsake me. I seek Your grace. Please hold my hand and protect me

always.â€

sri krishnArpaNamastu

I am not the doer,Lord Hari is

the doer

Whatever He makes me do is His

worship by His grace

Parimala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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