Reference for Lord Rama as kutastha?

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praNAms Advaitins,

 

This is about a word kutastha (transliterated as kuuTastha) that appears

in Bhagavad Gita. Many scholars consider it to be an important keyword

in Bhagavad Gita in the sense of characterization of the perfected soul.

(It is my humble opinion that the word is very good for nidhi-dhyasa

(meditation).) Here is some notes on the word and some related thoughts.

 

The textual meaning of this word itself is very subtle. Shri Ranade

writes the following in his book " Bhagavad Gita as a Philosophy

of God Realization " (p 194) in the section titled " characteristics

of an Equanimous man (sthithapragnya) " :

 

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The Bhagavad Gita goes to the length of calling a sthita-pragnya a

kuuTastha himself (kuuTastho vijitendriyaH from B.G. 6.8). Now what is

the meaning of the word kuuTastha? It is a very peculiar and important

word. My own Vedantic teacher used to explain the word kuuTastha as

meaning unmoving like an iron anvil (kuuTavat tishThatiiti). In that

sense it occurs in Vedanta Paribhasha (IS THIS THE V.P. THAT IS THE

CURRENT TOPIC NOW?); but kuuTastha also means the soul and very

peculiarly God in the head as kabira put it:

 

dasave dware taali lagi

alukh puurukh

gaako dhyaan dhare

Paramartha Sopana Part I.5.16.

 

The topmost part of the brain is a very famous meaning of the word

'kuuta'. It is the summit or the pinnacle. Now when the Bhagavad Gitas

speaks about sthitapragnya, or kuuTastha, it implies automatically that

he is the individual soul, the soul in the head, or the soul above the

head or the soul all-governing. Many people have known from Bhagavad Gita

what are the characteristics of such a sthitapragnya.

....

 

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There are three occasions when the word appears in Bhagavad Gita. In

verses 6.8, 12.3 and 15.16. Respected scholars in this group have

explained how actionlessness and other qualities (like equanimity) take

are the qualities of sthita-pragnya, a state of perfectness.

 

In the beginning of Valmiki Ramayana, there are around 18 verses when

the sage Valmiki asks Narada about the existence of a perfect man and

Narada replues. (They are well known and are highly recommended for

meditation too.) The questions that Valmiki asks are very similar to the

questions that are raised in the mind of sadhakas (aspirants) when they

are reading Bhagavad Gita. Pretty soon the sadhakas start wondering if

there is anyone in the world, who fits such a description of perfectness

as described in many places by Lord Krishna.

 

It is common parlance in Hindusim to refer to Lord Rama as a perfect

being, and who (alone) is called purushottama (the best of men). It is

also very interesting to note that the chapter 15 of Bhagavad Gita is

usually called (the Mahabharatha does not have names of chapters of

Bhagavad Gita) as purushottama-yoga.

 

I have the following question to the elders of this group:

Is there a occurance of the word kuuTastha in Ramayana (preferably in

Valmiki Ramayana) when Lord Shri Rama is referred to as kuuTastha?

 

Such a reference would be interesting in many ways, as it may provide

a link between Valmiki Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita. Not that they

are non existent, as Lord Krishna explicitly says in B.G 10.31 that He is

" Rama among the wielders of weapons " .

 

praNAms to all advaitins,

Ramakrishna