The Coveted Birth

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

The Coveted Birth

 

 

If there is something all scholars agree upon, it is the need to get out

of the unending cycle of SamsAra. Everyone is born, lives out his or her

lifespan, accumulating more and more of merits or sins through their good and

bad deeds, and when the time comes, passes away. The matter, unfortunately,

doesn't end there. The person is reborn with another body, name and ambience, to

experience the fruits of his earlier Karma. In the process of deleting some

portion of the Karma, we perform actions which lead to a fresh accretion of the

benumbing baggage, thus entangling us interminably in a cycle of births and

deaths, out of which there doesn't appear any way. Caught in the bewildering

catacombs, we keep going round and round in the maze, lost forever and wandering

without direction.

 

 

 

It would be interesting to find out when and where it all began, to discover

which particular act of ours, shrouded in the distant past, was responsible for

our taking the initial birth, that has in turn led to a million others. And any

such act or abstinence could have been done only by an embodied soul. If we

already had a body when we performed the initial and entangling act that formed

the very first millstone in the crippling baggage that we now carry, then what

was the act that brought our very first body into existence? In other words,

which came first-the body which performed the Karma and led to more births, or

the Karma, which forced us into the maximum-security prison that is the body?

Without a body, no Karma would have been possible: equally, no praAkrita

sharIram would have been there, had it not been for some Karma, which

necessitated it. This is akin to the famous question, which came first, the

chicken or the egg, the seed or the sprout?

 

 

 

Shastras tell us that both Karma and Births are timeless- " anAdi " -without a

beginnning and an end. Swami Desikan speaks of the " anAdi karma pravAham " ,

likening the baggage of deeds, good and bad, to a swift-flowing river,

apparently without an origin, which sweeps us all inexorably away in its

torrents. Sri Bhashyakara too mentions the " anAdi avidyA sanchita ananta asakya

visramsana Karma pAsa pragathita: " , likening Karma to an eternal bondage that is

impossible to unravel. And it is the aim of all religions, all sects, to show us

a way out of this apparently interminable entanglement.

 

 

 

The Scripture, which is but the luminous signpost set up by the Lord to guide us

on to the right path, lists no less than 32 Brahma VidyAs, most of them

difficult if not impossible to practice, as a way out of this morass of SamsAra.

Our Acharyas, in all their mercy, have shown us the NyAsa vidyA or Sharanagati

as the panacea for all ills hounding us from time immemorial and as a way out of

the not-so-merry go-round of Janma-MaraNa chakram.

 

 

 

There is thus no difference of opinion that Liberation represents freedom from

births, deaths and attendant Karma pAsam. All Azhwars and all Acharyas have

fervently prayed to the Lord to rid them of the crippling and constant SamsAra

chakram. Sri Nammazhwar terms this " pirandum setthum nindru idarum pEdamai " . Sri

Tondaradippodi calls this an absurdity- " avattamE piravi tandAi

arangamAnagaruLAnE! " . Considering that life, though it appears long, is in fact

too short for us to undertake any serious endeavour for emancipation, Azhwar

beseeches Emperuman to spare him any further births- " AdalAl piravi vENdEn aranga

mA nagaruLAnE! " . And relief from such births is considered to be the ultimate

fruit anyone could aspire for. The Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram, for instance,

tells us that none who recites the Stotra with sincerity and devotion, would be

subject to births, deaths and attendant maladies- " janma mrityu jarA vyAdhi

bhayam na Eva upajAyatE " . Sri Nammazhwar is in a hurry to leave these mortal

coils and to attain the state of birthlessness- " koovi koLLum kAlam innum

kurugAdO! " . The Lord is equally eager to rid Azhwar of mundane

shackles- " viNNulagam taruvAnAi viraigindrAn " . Sri Kulasekhara Perumal too

expresses extreme distaste for births, even if blessed with robust health and

unimaginable wealth- " oonEru selvatthu udal piravi yAn vENdEn " .

 

The unanimous chorus from all those in the know of things thus appears to be to

rid them of the phenomena of births and deaths.

 

 

 

Amidst all the voices praying in unison for Liberation and freedom from further

births, we hear a lone voice raised in dissent, which seeks to be born in this

world again. No, it is not the voice of a philistine who seeks to return time

and again to this earth to immerse himself in the puerile pleasures this world

has to offer. When you look up to see who it is that prays for a birth, when all

other devotees of distinction crave freedom from SamsAra, we find that these are

the dulcet tones of no less a personage than Sri Kulasekhara Azhwar. It is he,

of all people, who insitsts on being born in this despicable world. " AdalAl

piravi vENdum " appears to be his refrain, in total disagreement with the rest of

the elite club of divine minstrels.

 

 

 

It is not only that this Azhwar craves mundane births, but the things as which

he wishes to be born are also extremely trivial-a tree, a fish, a bird and so

on. We are quite surprised-first of all, no one in their right mind would seek

to be born again in this world of sorrow and sadness, which has nothing to offer

anyone except pain and punishment. Secondly, even if a birth here were

inevitable, one would choose an exalted janma like that of an Emperor who would

never lack anything, a beautiful damsel with all the world at her feet, a

scholar of repute with the masses looking up to him for enlightenment and so

on-never as inanimate objects like trees and rivers or lowly life forms like the

fish and the bird. We wonder why Azhwar should crave for birth as such humble

beings, when he was already a King of no mean bravery and accomplishments

( " SEralar kOn " ).

 

 

 

When we go through the fourth decad of Perumal Tirumozhi, we find that there are

indeed reasons, and verymuch valid ones at that, for the lowly births that

Azhwar craves for.

 

" " VEnkatatthu KOnEri vAzhum kurugAi pirappEnE "

 

 

 

" MeenAi pirakkum vidhi udayEn AvEnE "

 

 

 

" SheNbagamAi nirkkum tiru udayEn AvEnE "

 

 

 

" Venkata malai mEl tambakamAi nirkkum tavam udayEn AvEnE "

 

 

 

" KanArAi pAyum karutthudayEn AvEnE "

 

 

 

" neriyAi kidakkum nilai udayEn AvEnE "

 

 

 

" padiyAi kidandu un pavaLa vAi kANbEnE "

 

 

 

We find that all the births that Azhwar craves for are connected with the

glorious Tirumala, where the Lord reigns supreme as the VEnkatEsa, venerated by

mundane mortals and the immortal celestials alike. Azhwar is so enamoured of

this king among hills which forms the abode of the Lord of the Lords, that he

would prefer any odd birth, as even the lowliest of low beings, on Tirumala,

rather than being the most exalted Emperor elsewhere. He deems it his eminent

good fortune to be born in the divine hills as a mere fish, which would keep the

" KOnEri " (the Lord's tank) clean of moss and algae, clean for the Lord's

tirumanjanam and for the ablutions of His devotees. He considers himself to be

blessed to be born as a flowering shrub on Tirumala, so that he might contribute

to the Lord's floral adornments. He would similarly prefer the janma of a step

right opposite Emperuman's sanctorum, so that the holy feet of all the devotees

leave their imprints on him. He would deem it a huge favour if he were permitted

a birth as the pathway across the seven hills, sanctified by the stepping of

millions of devotees.

 

 

 

The common thread running through all these births the Azhwar seeks is therefore

Tirumala-he considers any birth on Tirumala, however lowly it is, to be the

highest of prizes. He doesn't really mind what the janma is, as long as it is in

the hills of VEnkatam- " Emperuman pon malai mEl EdEnum AvEnE " . And as we already

saw, it is Azhwar's kainkarya ruchi, that insatiable appetite for service to the

Lord, that makes Kulasekhara Perumal seek all these births, while other Azhwars

seek a relief once for all from the Janma Chakram.

 

 

 

And when we look hard enough, we find other Azhwars and Acharyas too refusing to

leave this world, with all its failings, for the incomparably greener pastures

of Sri Vaikuntam. Sri Tirumangai Mannan would rather stay on in this mundane

morass and perform kainkaryam to the arcchA moorthies at various divyadesams,

than hanker after the distant and unseen Sri Vaikuntam and ParamapadanAtha

( " ErAr muyal vittu kAkkai pin pOvadE! " ).

 

 

 

Sri Alavandar, for instance, prefers a birth as a mere worm (below which one

possibly cannot go, in the totem pole of existence) inhabiting a crevice in the

household of mahAtmAs whose only delight is in kainkaryam to the Lord-vis-à-vis

such good fortune, he spurns a birth even as the Chaturmukha BrahmA, renowned as

the Creator-

 

" tava dAsya sukhaika sanghinAm bhavanEshu astvapi keeta janma mE

 

itara AvasatEshu mAsma bhoot api mE janma ChaturmukhAtmanA "

 

 

 

Not to be outdone, Sri Bhattar deems it a privilege to be born as a lowly dog

living off the streets of Srirangam, rather than being an exalted celestial

steeped in pleasure-

 

" na jAtu peetAmrita moorcchitanAm nAkoukasAm nandana vAtikAsu

 

RangEsvara! Tvat puram AsritAnAm rathyAsunAm anyatamO bhavEyam "

 

 

 

And we have Swami Desikan swearing to the Lord of Hastigiri that he would much

prefer to stay on in this world and SamsAra, witnessing the Lord's utsavams to

his heart's content, rather than ascend to Sri Vaikuntam-

 

" Satyam shapE VaraNa saila nAtha! Vaikunta vAsEpi na mE abhilAsha: "

 

 

 

A poet of more recent times too follows the foot steps of the great ones

mentioned above, by praying to the Lord for a birth as a mere blade of grass in

the hallowed BrindAvanam ( " pullAi piravi tara vENum,BrindAvanam adil oru pullAi

piravi tara vENum " ), so that Sri Krishna's tiruvadi or atleast that of one of

His cows or calves, steps on the grass to make it more fortunate than the

celestials.

 

 

 

We therefore find that Azhwars and Acharyas are not very particular about a

birthless berth at Sri Vaikuntam and all that it stands for, if they are able to

attain the infinite pleasure of kainkaryam in this mundane world itself, with

all its maladies. They were prepared for births as lowly as those of a fish, a

dog or even a worm, if it meant opportunity for performing incessant and

intimate kainkaryam to the Lord or His devotees. When Sri Nammazhwar seeks

ceaseless service at the tiruvadi of TiruvEnkatamudayAn for all time to come

( " ozhivil kAlam ellAm udanAi manni vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum nAm " ), he

doesn't incorporate a stipulation limiting the duration of the kainkaryam till

the time comes for ascent to Paramapadam. Left to himself, Azhwar would have

perhaps lived on in this leelA vibhUti itself, delighting in continual service

to Tirumalayappan, rather than be elevated to the Promised Land. It was the

ParamapadanAtha, who couldn't bear separation from the Azhwar anymore, who took

the latter to His own abode.

 

 

 

We thus find as much rationale in the fervent prayers of some, " AdalAl piravi

vENdEn " , as in the diametrically opposite demand of some other devotees- " AdalAl

piravi vENdum " .

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan