Swamy Desikan's SubhAshitha neevi : Part III

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SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Let us continue with the Second of the 12 chapters of

SubhAshitha Neevi of Swamy Desikan : Thruptha paddhathi

DESCRIBING THE STATE OF AN EGOTIST , who is excessively

proud of his family name , his position (sthAnam), ALPA jn~anam

 

and is easily satisfied with his little attainments and does not

have a sense of proportion about his attainments versus

the great ones , who excel him and yet are modest about their

distinctly SUPERIOR achievements .

 

There are 12 slOkams that describe the mind set of the egotist.

 

2.1 : tadhEva gruhyathAm naama Saaka-MaNdUka-raasabhai:

thisrooNAm thAvathaa hantha mUrtheenAm kimihAgatham

 

(meaning): We see the goat , frog and the ass . They have the names of

Brahma , VishNu and Sivan respectively .Will they become famous and

respectable because of having those names ? Will there be any dimunition

in the glory of the Thrimoorthys as a a result of sharing these names ?

The name "Aja/ Saaka " denotes both a goat and Brahma; the name

"MaNDUka" denotes both a frog and Hari; the name " Raasabha" is used

to denote both Siva and an ass according to Amara Kosam .Thrupthan is one ,

who uses the names of the exalted ones and thinks that he has become

equal as a result of that action in gaining the stature equal to those

noble ones .

 

2.2: aNDajaa: PuNDareekEshu samudhrEshu janardhnaa:

SithikaNDaa: parvathEshu nivasanthy natE na tE

 

(Meaning): Here Swamy Desikan refers to those , who become proud

about their SthAnams ( positions ) and get egotistic. Let Swans reside on

the Lotus flowers! Let crocodiles live in oceans! Let peacocks roam

on the hills ! Because the sthAnams and names are similar , swans wont

become (morph into) Brahma dEvan . Crocodiles will not become

Lord JanArdhanan either . The peacocks would never become

NeelakaNDan.Brahma is known as ANDajan . The bird (Swan) is born

from an egg (ANDam ). Both Brahma devan and the bird have the same

name (Andajan) .The name JanArdhanan denotes Sriman Narayanan .

The crocodile that destroy the people (Janam) is also known as

JanArdhanan. The name NeelakaNDan is that of Lord Sivan , who lives

in mountains. He has a blue hue aroud HIs neck; the peacocks also

have a blue hue around their necks and live in the foot hills .

These commonalities however do not transform a Swan into Brahman ,

the crocodile into VishNu and the peacock into Sivan. Swamy Desikan

points out that the egotists can take on the name of the great ones

but they will never become equal to their name sakes in Vaibhavam.

 

2.3: Kaamam likathu samsthAnam kaschith roopam cha BHAsvatha:

aBhiddhi vihithAlampam aalOkam vilikEth katham ?

 

(Meaning): One can draw the form of the Sun but can not depict its lustre

on the wall . Swamy points out that an egotist will take pride from his name

and postion in life . He can not however gain loftiness through his vesaham

( form) . For instance , one can draw the picture of Sun as a round object on

the paper or wall but can not draw its radiance . One can dress like righteous

one , wear urdhva PuNDrams but can not become an AchAryan through

those acts alone . Jn~Anam can not be obtained through the external

appearance ( VeLi Vesham).

 

2.4: api sathpadhanishtAnAm aaSA: poorayathAmapi

Agasthya vrutthir mEghAnAm hantha maalinya kaaraNam

 

(meaning ): Thrupthan is one , who gets egotistic through the execution

of an act done by the noble ones. He may do some of these acts performed by

the noble ones but can not however reach the status of the noble ones

by sheer copying of their acts . For instance , Sage Agasthya consumed

all the waters of the ocean with one sip (Aachamanm). The Clouds imitate

the noble sage by descending down to the level of ocean , consume

the limited amount of water and ascend to the sky.They end up having

the dark bluish hue as a result of their act of imitation and do not become

laudable thru their act . They gain apa-yasas instead of Yasas as Sage Agasthya

gained. By acting with vanity and attempting to execute what is beyond their

power , the Trupthan only gains apa-keerthi ( ill fame).

 

2.5: asthu thAvathakasthyasya jahnhOr mahima nanhava

kaa kathaa tasya bAlasya viSvagrAsEapi atrupyatha:

 

(meaning): Swamy Desikan points out that winning over solitary person

will not make a Trupthan (egotist) winner over all . He will reach his end ,

when he takes on those who are far superior to him in skillsand power .

Examples are : (1) Sage Agasthya swallowed the entire waters of the seven

oceans in one sip . Sage Jahnu drank up the entire waters of Ganga river,

when it entered his Aasramam and attempted to destroy it . Sage Jahnu

may feel proud of drinking the entire Ganga waters in one sip but what about

the grand act of Sage Agasthya , who drank the waters of all seven oceans ?

Jahnu can never become the equal of Agasthya in stature in this matter .

Further , Sage Agasthya drank up all the salt waters of the oceans ,

where as Jahnu only drank the clear water of Ganga. (2)When the egotist

thinks of the little child floating on the waters of PraLayam after swallowing

the entire world and stays unsatiated , that egotist can come to grips with

his lowly status in the hierarchy of achievers .

 

2. 6: dhashta sAranga yoothOpi dhamshtrA nakaravAnapi

bhubhruthkatakasamsthObhisaaramEyO na simhathi

 

(Meaning) : Swamy Desikan asks a rhetorical question : Can the lowly dog

attain the lofty status of the king of the forest , the Lion .Both have some

similarities .They both can kill and tear a deer apart .Both have sharp teeth

and nails. The dog would be in the king's palace and the Lion will be

in its montain palace ( the moutain caves). The similarity ends here.

They will never ever be equal in power or majesty . Swamy Desikan uses

cleverly the words with double meanings to describe their acts :

Saarangam means either deer or elephant ( the dog will tear the deer apart

and the Lion will tear the elephant apart ) ; bhUbhruth means both

the mountain and the King ( One stays as a hunting dog in the palace

and the other stays inside the caves as the king of the forest );

SaaramEya means a dog. Swamy concludes " SaaramEyam ( dog)

na simha ithi " ( the dog would never be the lion) inspite of some

of their commonalities .

 

2.7: sathpathE saadhayan mithramapi vyAnas tamOmaya:

atheetha parvaa jagathAm adhrusya: sahasaa bhavEth

 

(Meaning): If one with dark guNams ( tamO guNams) hides the sathva

guNams of his friend out of jealousy , then that evil person will be destroyed

and will become immediately invisible to the world of the world of the righteous

( jagathAm adhrusya: sahasaa bhavEth).

 

2.8: dhuryANamapi sathkArya guNaSaali vimarthinAm

anAgama vinAm yuktham apaneethEr nivAraNam

 

(Meaning): Swamy Desikan says here that it is not enough to have

superior administrative skills but one should have righteousness

behind their acts to guide them . Otherwise they are dhushtAs

( ThrupthAs or self-contented ones leading empty lives wallowing

in the mud of pride ) .

 

The chiefs of the village , city and the Nation may be expert administrators .

Inspite of this , if they get filled with pride about their skills and insult

the righteous ones engaged in their auspicious kaimkaryams , these

experts are nothing but ahankAris ( egotists).These officials should be

removed from their positions since they are ignorant ones , who do not

know the importance of Sruthis or smruthis and sadAchAram.They can not

comprehend the consequences of their harmful acts. One should try

to correct them by pointing out their mistakes.If they do not learn and

persist in their ways , it is better to remove them from their official positions.

It is not enough to have managerial skills but it must be backed up

by a sense of justice and righteousness in conductance of their duties .

 

2.9: phalOttharENa HariNA naakamalla-vibhEthinaa

SruthAla: saamyam aakAnkshan souryAthikyam na vindhati

 

(Meaning): The lion is indeed powerful. It can break the skull of

the elephants with its paws.The lowly fox wants to be the equal of

that strong lion . Is it possible ? No. The equality is valid only this far :

(1) Both live in the forest (2) both have sharp claws and (3) both eat

the flesh of the killed elephant . It is impossible however for the fox

to consider itself to be equal in strength to the king of the forest .

This situation is similar to the situation between a Mahaa VidhvAn and

an uneducated man . Both may live in the same village ; they may dress

alike ; they may be present in the same ghOshti but the simpleton can not

equal the Mahaa vidhvAn in his Jn~Ana sakthi .

 

2.10: Sudarsanabhruthaa kaschith ajahath keerthi mathsara:

mahAsAntha paTaa karshee jala janthur nigruhyathE

 

(Meaning) : Here Swamy Desikan gives sadhupadEsam on

the perils of BhAgavathApachAram . There are those , who are

jealous about other's achievements and they steal the positions

and the wealth of the righteous ones . Swamy Desikan points out

that the most tranquil Mahaans rooted in sadAchAram will correct

these apachAris at the appropriate time and lead them away from

their dangerous paths. This is the nature of these Mahaa Saantha

Moorthys. It is appropriate to remember in this context about what

happened to the aggressive crocodile , which grabbed the foot of

GajEndhran in a lotus pond and intended to harm that Bhaagavathan.

The holder of the Sudarsanam cut off the head of the offender ,

who committed the Mahaa apachAram of causing grevious hurt

to the Lord's dear one.

 

2.11: gathir vyOmnaa kim tath GarudamapiDeekEtha sataka:

pipathvambha: kshAram na kalu kalaSeesoonuralasa:

kala; kaNDE naatha: ka masaka: kinnarapathi:

kadanchith saadharmyam vahathi vaidharmya niyamam

 

(Meaning): Here , Swamy Desikan describes the extent of equality and

difference between the insignificant ones and the truly great ones .

He discusses the Saadharmya and Vaidharmya niyamams and concludes

that these two classes of people will never be equal to each other

inspite of the superficial similarities . Swamy Desikan gives the examples

of the mighty Garudan and a small bird. Both fly in the sky. Yet , the little bird

can never become the equal to the nithya Soori , Garudan in strength

or Vaibhavam . A man suffering from indigestion might drink ocean(salty)

water. He would however not become the equal of the mighty Agasthyar ,

who drank the water of all the seven oceans through a single Aachamanam .

The little mosqito might have a sweet voice but it can never pretend to

rise to the heights of the Lord of the celestial singers ( Kinnara Pathy).

Even if there are some similarities between the little ones with alpa jn~Anam

and those with superior Jn~Anam , the huge differences between them

will not disappear .

 

2.12: nimeelayathu lOchanE nahi tiraskruthO Bhaaskara:

Srava: sTakayathu sTiram parabhrutha: kimu thvAnkshathi

svayam pramathu paalisO na kalu pambrameethi kshithi:

katarthayathu mushtibhi: kathaya kim nabha: kshupyathE

(Meaning): Here Swamy Desikan instructs us that the intention of

an egotist (wishful thinker) may be one thing but the end result

would be another thing (totally different) . Egotist might close his eyes

and think that the Sun does not exist.One can close one 's ears but

the harsh sounding crow will never be the equal of the sweet-singing

nightingale. The little boy can whirl himself ad infinitum (tattamAlai

suRRal) but the earth will not whirl with him. The angry wrestler can

send his punches to the sky but there is no pain inflicted on the sky.

 

Thus ends the second chapter of SubhAshitha Neevi , where the advise

is given to the king avoid the ways of the egotist .

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam .

Oppiliappan KOil V.Sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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