Acharya vaibhavam - 12 - Doctor and medicine for all our karmic diseases...

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

 

So… we are all suffering in samsaaric afflictions; We are all suffering in

karmic diseases

We are accumulating karmas and are committing knowingly and unknowingly many

paapms, and sometimes [without our knowledge] puNyam also:-)

 

What is the remedy for all this suffering? Is it our destiny that we need to be

born again and again like this? With the karma getting piled up and accumulated

to the tons that are already stored.

Who will remove? Who will cure our disease? Who has the meicicne? Who is the

Doctor? How will we know?

 

Here is what our Sri Sadagopan Iyengar swami of Coimbatore wrote on Divine

Doctor… and divine drug..- amazing and brilliant write up- as usual from the pen

[nay, fingers] of Sri Sadagopan Iyengar Swami. I thank him profusely for his

permission to refer to this here.

 

Quote:

Doctors (with due apologies to the bhagavatas who belong to the profession) are

not a species one loves. One goes to them reluctantly, when one can’t help it.

This dislike is perhaps ingrained in us right from childhood, when, in a bid to

ensure our obedience, parents often hold out the Doctor as a bogey, who will

punish us with bitter pills and painful injections.

And when we grow up, we find nothing endearing about Doctors, whose avocation

has become as commercial as any other. The Doctor we shall be considering in

this essay is quite different- He is eminently lovable, His love and concern for

our well being know no bounds,

His fees are never exorbitant, and His cures permanent. Eager to get

acquainted Please do read on.

 

We tend to patronize a doctor only if our friends or relatives recommend him, as

no one would like to entrust their health to strange hands. The Doctor we are

about to consider comes quite highly recommended, by none other than Sage VyAsA-

shareerE jarjaree bhootE vyAdhi grastE kaLEbarE

oushadham JAnhavI tOyam, vaidyO NarayanO Hari:

When the body is weak and old, or beset with innumerable diseases, the only

medicine to make it well is the water of the Holy GangA, and the only Doctor to

go to is Sriman Narayana., says Sri Krishna

DvaipAyanA Vyasa. This is his considered opinion, after analysing the import of

all Vedas and other Shastras, not once but repeatedly

(Alodya sarva shAstrANi, vichArya cha puna:puna:- idam Ekam sunishpannam ). The

name Hari: appended to the word Narayana: in the

sloka is significant- it means destroyer ( Harim harantam says the Taittiriya

Aranyaka too)- Hari destroys disease.

The treatment we obtain at the hands of human Doctors provides relief, which may

or may not be permanent. Not infrequently, the treatment one

undergoes for a disease will, by itself, give rise to quite another disease (in

what is euphemistically called a side effect ). But Doctor Hari destroys the

root of disease, making it impossible for that disease or any of its clan to

raise its ugly head again. No wonder the Vishnu Sahasranamam calls Him, Vaidya:

and again, Bhishak.

Some doubting Thomases are not satisfied with a single opinion- they will

inquire with at least a dozen people, to satisfy themselves that the Doctor they

have chosen is indeed efficient and effective. So, for

those who are not content with the well-researched findings of Sage Vyasa, here

is corroboration from Sri Periazhwar-

erutthu kodi udayAnum Piramanum Indiranum matrum

oruttharum ip piravi ennum nOikku marundu aRivArum illai

marutthuvanAi nindra MamaNi VaNNA ! maRu piRavi tavira

Tirutthi un kOil kadai pugappei, TirumAlirum SOlai endAi

The disease Azhwar seeks relief from is indeed a chronic one, considered

incurable by other famous Doctors, with a considerable practice, like Rudra,

Brahma and Indra.

Sri VishnuchitthA seeks a cure for the unending cycle of births and deaths,

which afflicts us throughout our sojourn on this earth, in various incarnations-

a permanent cure, so to say, from disease of all types. Convinced of the

inability of other physicians to offer a cure for this endemic affliction, Sri

Periazhwar chances upon the

Physician of all Physicians, KaLvan of TirumAlirumSOlai, and prays to Him for

everlasting cure. Here, though it is heretic to tamper with

Azhwar s sreesookti, adiyen would like to slightly realign the third line of the

aforesaid pasuram to MA MarutthuvanAi nindra MaNivaNNA , (shifting the

position of the adjective MA ) which indicates

Emperuman s supremacy in providing cures to incurable ills.

Once the Azhwar finds refuge at the Lord s lotus feet, he is emboldened to cry

out to diseases, Oh Diseases! Don’t you dare come near me! Entry into this body

is banned for you. The mighty Lion God Nrsimha, capable of destroying you all

instantly, resides in this body.. So don t you ever dream of troubling me again.

 

mangia valvinai nOigAl umakkum Or valvinai kaNdeer

ingu pugEnmin pugEnmin- eLidu andru kaNdeer pugEnmin

SingappirAn avan emmAn sErum tirukkOil kaNdeer

Azhwar s conviction is reflected in the thrice-repeated admonition to maladies-

PugEnmin (Enter Not ).

Emperuman s fame as a peerless Physician is brought to the fore in His avatara

as Dhanvantari , the preceptor of AyurvEdA. Vaidya Veeraraghavan Of Tiruvallur,

and several other divya desa Emperumans

have a huge practice, in whom people afflicted with even life-threatening

maladies have found solace.

Such curative powers accrue even to the Lord’s true servants. The sight of Sri

Periya Tiruvadi, with the Lord ensconced on his shoulders, is reported to be a

sure cure for several diseases. This is borne out by

the way even the sick and infirm throng the temple environs on the day of the

GarudOtsavam. Sri Sudarsana, the Lord s discus, is reputed to be another curer

par excellence, as is Sri Anjaneya. Enough of the Divine Doctor. Ok.. what is

the drug?

 

Ugh! - The feverish child turns her face away from the hand proffering the

medicine that would supposedly make her well. She knows that the medicine would

be bitter and unpalatable, and has a feeling that the

fever would be much easier to endure than repeated dosages of the potion that

the doctor has prescribed. Our own reactions to drugs are much similar. We do

try to swallow pills (untasted) with a large drink of water. Despite this

precaution, if the pill touches our tongue, its bitterness sticks to our palate

for quite some time. This is why Ayurveda prescribes several drugs to be taken,

duly camouflaged in a

medium such as honey or sugar. Even after enduring all this, one is never sure

of a cure. Some of the drugs, instead of, or in the process of providing relief

for a particular malady, give rise to quite a

different ailment, as a side effect. All this makes us long wistfully for a

Wonder Drug-, which would be sweet, which would offer a sure-cure and would have

absolutely no harmful side effects. And how wonderful would it be, if this drug

were to be a panacea to cure all possible maladies! And, apart from curing

maladies of the physique, if the drug were to cure us once and for all from the

greatest of all diseases-the unending cycle of births and deaths!

This may appear to be a far-fetched Technicolor dream or science fiction. You

can take it on good authority that it is indeed real.

 

Ages before the advent of modern science, our Sages were very much aware of the

existence of such a Cure-All, and were in fact using it to insure against all

sickness, physical and otherwise.

 

Sri Kulasekharazhwar gives a clarion call to the world

 

Oh Inhabitants of this world of disease! Hearken. I shall disclose a Secret

Drug, which will release you from the vicious whirlpool of births and deaths,

and will afford you eternal bliss. This is none other than Krishna RasAyanam ,

which shines singularly inside you, if only you care to look inwards. Drink of

this Elixir that is Krishna and be delivered of all your diseases, including the

chronic ones. If you don t believe me, then listen to Sages like Sri

YagnavalkyA, who have derived the benefit of this Wonder Drug.

 

As this translation sounds a bit hackneyed, adiyen quotes the original Mukunda

MalA sloka here-

hE lOkA! ShruNuta prasooti maraNa vyAdhE: chikitsAm imam

YogagnyA: samudAharanti munayO yAm YagnavalkyAdaya:

AntarjyOti: amEyam Ekam amrutam KrishNAkyam ApeeyatAm

Tat peetam paramoushadham vitanutE nirvANam Adyantikam .

Azhwar goes on to describe what else this Krishna Oushadham (medicine) is

capable of-

VyAmOha: prasamoushadham, muni manO vritti pravruttyoushadham

daityOnmoolakaroushadham bhava bhaya pradhvamsanaikoushadham

BhaktAtyanta hitoushadham tribhavanE sanjeevanaikoushadham

ShrEya: prApti karoushadham piba manO Sri Krishna Divya Oushadham

 

This is a Powerful Potion indeed- it destroys RakshasAs, is ever in the thoughts

of Saints and Rishis, annihilates fears caused by this dreadful SamsArA, ensures

the well being of devotees, is a rejuvenating Elixir for the three worlds, and

confers upon the partaker all that is good and desirable.

Sri Kulasekhara Perumal is only concurring with Sri PEyAzhwar, who declares that

Emperuman is indeed the medicine that saves us from the inexorable fires of

Hell-

MannttuLLAn mAkadal neeruLLAn MalarAL

danattuLLAn tanduzhAi mArban-sinatthu

Cherunar uga chetr uganda tEngOda vaNNan

Varu narakam teerkkum marundu .

 

The MudalAzhwar reiterates this in the very next pasuram thus- marundum poruLum

amudamum tAnE SengaNmAl .

 

Sri Vishnu Sahasranama too confirms that the Lord is indeed the Divine Drug,

BhEshajam . One might think that Sage VyAsA differs, when he declares, oushadham

JanhavI tOyam (The water of the Holy Ganga is indeed a panacea for all ills)-but

we must remind ourselves that Ganga originated after all from the Lord s

Tiruvadi. As is well known, during

TrivikramAvatAram, when the Lord s feet, in their quest for the second measure

of land, reached BrahmA’s abode SatyalOkam, Brahma performed tirumanjanam to the

Lord s feet, and the bath water, so to say, became the Ganges, the Holiest of

Holy Rivers. Thus the waters of the Ganga are acclaimed as medicine by Vyasa,

only due to their sacred origins.

 

Speaking of Sri PAda teerttham, it is no wonder that water sanctified by

association with the Holy feet of Bhagavatas is equally potent in destroying

sins of the most virulent kind. Due to misfortune, Sri Kandadai Tozhappar, an

Acharya Purusha, unwittingly committed an apachArA to Swami Desikan. Ever since,

Sri Tozhappar lost his health, fell prey to a debilitating disease, and was

without an issue for long. When he analysed the reason for the sudden loss of

health, he found out about the injustice done to Sri Vedanta Desikan, and,

realising the dreadful nature of BhAgavata apachArA, rushed to the latter,

seeking his pardon. After imbibing Sri Desikan s sri pAda teerttham, Sri

Tozhappar regained the full bloom of health and also begot a son, whom he named

Teerttha PiLLai , in memory of his association with Sri

Desikan. This Teerttha Pillai later became one of the illustrious disciples of

Sri Desikan. This episode shows that not only the Lord, but His devotees too

qualify as Wonder Drugs.

Similarly, the prescriptions of another of the Lord’s devotees, Manu, (the

predecessor of Sri Rama in the IkshvAku Vamsam, and the author of the famous

Dharma Shastra which has guided mankind from time immemorial), are hailed by the

Vedas as good medicine - yet vai Manu: avadat tat bhEshajam (Whatever Manu

opines is good medicine).

 

Our Doctors prescribe any number of drugs-Gentamysin, Streptomysin,

Erithromysin, Chloromysin, and what not: but none of them are real cures for the

greatest of diseases- my sins.

The Divine Drug Store has but a single drug in stock-Narayanocillin-which,

however, can combat any disease, whether of the body or of the soul, (like

ahamkArA and MamakArA) however virulent they are.

Predictably, this different Drug Store doesn’t do much business, as people who

visit it once have no need to come back.

 

If anyone needs the address of this wonderful pharmacy, one may contact one’s

Acharyas, who are the pharmacists manning this Drug Store, and

dispense the drug in adequate dosage, after due assessment of the patient’s

need.

Unquote:

asmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE Guru paramparAm

Regards

Namo narayana

dasan

 

 

 

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