SIVAPARADHA KSAMAPANA STOTRAM-1

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SIVAPARADHA KSAMAPANA STOTRAM-1

 

By Adi Sankaracharya

(Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda)

 

Introduction

 

Man is essentially a being full of love and in his life he is often highly

emotional. In fact, no purely intellectual being exists. If there were one, he

would be an abominable devil of a man, no doubt perniciously efficient and

diabolically competent. There would be no sweetness of culture in such an

individual. In fact, he would be shattered personality, disabled from living

joyously because of his lopsided development.

 

In Sankara’s life and works, we find a man lovingly intelligent and

intelligently devoted to Truth. One of Sankara’s famous and popular invocations

to the Lord is his “Appeal for Forgiveness”, sent out from his heart, melting in

deep devotion, to the sacred altar of Truth, consecrated here as Lord Siva, the

great Jagadiswara (Lord of the Universe).

 

While giving a running commentary upon the pain-ridden march of an individual

from the womb to the tomb, Sankara makes, as it were, twelve stops to fall down

in prostration and beg forgiveness of the Lord for all the wretched sins of

one’s past, known and unknown, born both of commission and omission. Sankara,

the father of Advaita Vedanta, who spent his lifetime propagating the theme of

the Upanishads, is here demonstrating to his followers that with devotion alone

can the rubbish heap of our gross, sensuous Vasanas (tendencies born out of our

past thoughts and actions, our ‘hang-ups’ which determine the colours of our

present personality.) be trucked out and burned down. This is the only way to

purify our impure minds, which are dancing endlessly in lustful agitation and

running about in sensuous fields of endeavour, vainly seeking therein total

satisfaction.

 

The wise student of Vedanta, who has studied the Upanishads and the Gita and

who is striving to become established in spiritual sadhana (any discipline

undertaken for the purpose of spiritual growth). Has no demand for any worldly

gain through the grace of the Lord. The student only seeks the Lord’s help in

rendering his vasanas null and void through an act of His divine forgiveness.

The Lord neither judges nor forgives. But when a student realizes the folly of

his false expectations and ardently expresses his wish to come out of their

strangulating grip, the poignancy of his own powerful thoughts – sankalpas –

blesses him; the negative vasanas, products of his past actions undertaken in

ignorance, automatically whither away from his personality composition.

 

In his ‘Appeal for Forgiveness’, both the philosopher and the poet in Sankara

have merged with the ardent devotee that he evidently was.

 

 

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to be contd…

 

Pranams

 

Vanaja Ravi Nair

 

 

 

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