Guest guest Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text may need to change their encoding to UTF-8. ------------ srI: SrI upakAra sangraham – 61 --- adikAram – 1 poorva upakAra paramparai (The Foremost Series of Favours) --- SECTION – 5 (18) (27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for MOKSHAM) ----- In the previous sub-section, SwAmi Desikan described the favour conferred on the sAttvika jIvas by inducing them to approach a sadAchArya in a proper procedure, i.e., to prostrate at his feet, to be with him, to serve him with devotion and putting questions to him on the spiritual matters to receive the knowledge. There is always a possibility of our mind not concentrating on the discourses delivered by the AchArya due to sensual distractions. Here also the Lord steps in to make us attentive. SwAmi Desikan says this is yet another favour done by the Lord: (18) upadEsha kAlatthil nAm anavahitar AkAthapadi, hriShikEshanAn tAn cikkEna manasai niRutthi cevi tAzhppitthathuvum; “upadEsha kAlatthil nAm anavahitar AkAthapadi,” --- During the discourses by the AchArya, we, the disciples, should not remain inattentive. While sitting before the AchArya and listening to his discourse, our attention sometimes gets distracted due to uncontrollable senses. In the process, we may miss some very important points. SwAmi Desikan says, here also the Lord comes to our help. This may be either through the AchArya himself or from within ourselves. Normally, it is the custom for the preceptor to call our attention whenever an important fact he is going to make. Sometimes, because of his deep involvement in the subject matter of the discourse, he may forget to do it. So, on both the sides this lapse is likely. At all these moments, the Lord steps in to ensure that our attention is not distracted. Such distraction occurs only because of the failure of our sense-organs of knowledge, i.e., ears and eyes, and the mind, which is the main culprit. Why should the Lord take upon Himself the task of pulling up our senses? Because, SwAmi Desiakn says, He is: “hriShikEshanAn tAn” – One of the names of the Lord is: “hriShikEshah” – the Lord of our senses. What does He do? “cikkEna manasai niRutthi cevi tAzhppitthathuvum;” --- Promptly, He holds our mind and firmly links it to the sense of hearing. This He does out of compassion; and due to the invocation recited by the AchArya and the disciples at the beginning of the kAlakShEpam. To understand this, we must know the process of such special, exclusive discourses which our preceptors follow without fail: 1) As soon as the disciples assemble in the hall, the AchArya enters in. As soon as the disciples see him approaching the platform where his seat is placed, they rise up and prostrate in front of him quite a number of times in all humility seeking his blessings, until the AchArya says “enough”. 2) Soon after the Acharya takes his seat, the disciples recite the Thaniyan (a sloka in praise of the AchArya), followed by prostration several times till AchArya says “enough”. 3) Then, AchArya gets up from his seat and stands along with his disciples and the entire gathering then recite the Thaniyans of poorvAchAryas starting from the AchArya of the present AchArya, his AchArya’s AchArya , his Acharya and thus continue the lineage of preceptors up to the Supreme Lord, preceded by a sloka on His Consort, SrI. These include the thaniyans of the authors of the commentaries, which are the recordings of the discourses of the poorvAchAryas. 4) This order is reversed from the verse on the Supreme Lord Who is the first Acharya, till the last AchArya of the present one, followed by special slokas about the Scripture which is going to be the subject matter of the day’s discourse. 5) During this process of reciting the thaniyan of each AchArya, the entire gathering, headed by the Master, prostrate and get up again and again before going to the next AchArya’s thaniyan. This is to invoke the blessings and grace of the poorvAchAryas as well as the Suprme Lord, SrImaN nArAyaNa and His Consort. 6) After finishing this recitation of the thaniyans, the AchArya and the disciples sit on the legs and recite certain Vedic mantras and the shAnti slokas from the Upanishads. 7) After finishing this, the AchArya and the disciples take their respective seats to start the class. 8) At the end of the KAlakShEpam, the process is repeated in the same order in a spirit of thanks-giving to the poorvAchAryas, the Supreme Lord and His Consort. This is done before they disperse. The pre-discourse Vedic recitation starts with this Mantra: “Ohm saha nAvavatu / saha nau bhunaktu / saha vIryam karavAvahai / tEjasvinAvadhItamastu / mA vidviShAvahai // Ohm shAntih shAntih shAntih // ” (May He protect us (Master & student) both together (by revealing knowledge). May He protect us both. May we attain vigour together. Let what we study be invigorating. May we not hate each other. Peace! Peace! Peace! “Ohm ApyAyntu mamAngAni vAkprANashcakShuh shrOtram athO balamindriyANi ca sarvANi / sarvam brahmaupaniShadam mAham brahma nirAkuryAm mA mA brahma nirAkarOt anirAkaraNam astu anirAkaraNam mEstu / yadAtmani niratE ya upniShatsu dharmAh tE mayi santu tE mayi santu / Ohn shAntih, shAntih, shAntih // (May my limbs, speech, vital airs, eyes, ears, as well as strength and all sense organs become well developed. Everything is Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no denial of me by Brahman. Let there be no discarding of Brahman by me. May all the virtues taught in the Upanishads happen to me who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May those virtues rest in me. Om Peace! Peace! Peace!) By this invocation the Lord is pleased and he guards our sense-organs and mind from being distracted from the listening of the knowledge provided by the AchArya in the discourse. Because, He is the Ruler of our senses, “hriShikEshah”. This is the 47th Name in the SrI ViShNusahasranAma StOtram daily recited by us. In his commentary, Bhagavad-GuNa-darpaNa, SrI ParAshara Bhattar, gives the meaning of this Name: “BhagavAn is called HrishIkEsah because He controls the sense-organs of ours and the gods as well. He quotes an authority in support of this meaning: “HriSheekAni indriyANyAhuh tEShAm Isho yatO bhavAn / HriShee-kEShaH tato ViShNuh khyAtO dEvEShu kEshavA //” (SrI Harivmsa) (They say that HriSheekas are sense-organs. Since You are their Controller, You are known as HriSheekEsha. Among the gods, ‘VishNu is known as Kesava.’) The name, HriSheekEsha, is mentioned several times in the Bhagavadgita. Being the Controller of the sense-organs and the mind, the Lord ensures that His devotees learn the spiritual knowledge from their AchAryas keeping their minds concentrated on the words uttered by them. So says SwAmi Desikan here: “cikkEna manasai niRutthi cevi tAzhppitthathuvum;” -- This is yet another favour conferred by the Lord on us. HriSheekEsha is a thought-provoking name. Since He is the Lord of the senses, it is because of His blessings that each sense organ functions in the specified way, and so also the mind. They are all under His sway, ‘vasha’. KEsha means rays. The cool rays of the moon and the rays of the sun are His forms. Hrshta means joy. So, He is also the giver of joy. The sense organs being under His control, what can the jIva do if they go astray when he is attending the AchArya’s discourse? The Lord Himself teaches how to control the sense-organs and the mind. In His upadEsha to Uddhava, SrI KriShNa teaches his disciple-friend how to practice the control of the senses. (SrImad BhAgavata-mahApurANa, 11th Skandha, Uddhavagita) The Lord says: “When the mind, while being concentrated, begins to wander and is unsteady, the individual should bring it within his control in the following way: 1) He should not lose sight of the course of the mind, but holding his prAna (breath) and sense-organs under control, he should bring around the mind by exercising his sAttvika intellect. 2) It is like the control of an unruly horse by its driver. He has to run some distance with the horse, holding the reins tight in his hands, and finally take control of the animal. Similarly, the aspirant should allow the mind to wander a little, keeping a strict vigil on its movements, and then little by little gain mastery over it. 3) He should reflect through discrimination on the origin and the end of all things in their forward and the backward order, till the mind comes to rest. 4) He, who has understood the teachings of his AchArya, gives up identification with things other than his self – Atma. 5) He should think of the ParamAtman with Whom union is sought, through worship and meditation. 6) So, possessed of an intellect fully attached to Me, he should control the mind perfectly. This is the gist of Yoga. After a serious discussion, it would always be welcome to have a lighter look but it is also a process of learning. SrI MahAviShNu, the HriSheekEsha, took the incarnation of a very charming lady, namely, MOhini. It was when He helped the churning of the milky ocean by both devas and asuras for getting the nectar out of it. We can compare the milky ocean to the vast Vedic scriptures. The sense-organs are divided into two sets – those with the benign qualities represented by the devas, and the other set with the malign qualities represented by the demons. The AchArya with the divine knowledge is the churning-staff represented by the mountain, Manthara. Thus, the ocean of scriptures is churned by the Lord using the two sets of the sense-organs and took out the essence, represented by the nectar. There was a stiff competition between the two sets of sense-organs for the nectar. In order to allow the benign sense organs to get the benefit of it, the Lord appeared as an attractive woman from whom the malign sense-organs could not turn away. In the process, they could remain only attracted by the beauty of the temporary appearance of the woman, losing the highly beneficial nectar, which went to the benign sense-organs and the mind attached to them. Only a person of sAttvic nature can attain the Ultimate Reality, that is, the Lord, through concentrated intellect with all the sense-organs under control. Those who cannot develop control over their sense-organs and the mind will never succeed in attaining the Ultimate. The Lord helps those who are of sAttvik nature to keep their mind under control and to get the necessary spiritual instructions from a sadAchArya. This is another favour of the Lord revealed by SwAmi Desikan in this sub-section. [books consulted: 1) Principal Upanishads, Vol I, Edited & translated by Dr.N.S. Anatha Rangacharya, Bangalore. 2) SrI ViShNu SahasranAma with the BhAshya of SrI ParAsara Bhattar – English Translation by Prof. A.SrInivAsarAghavan. 3) ViShNu SahasranAma - Commentary by SwAmi DayAnanda Saraswati. 4) Uddhava Gita –English Translation by SwAmi MAdhavAnanda, Advaita Ashrama. (To continue) dAsan Anbil S.SrInivAsan ----------- ______________________________\ ____ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search. http://tools.search./newsearch/category.php?category=shopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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