Fw: A Prince in Distress

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Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:47 PM

A Prince in Distress

 

 

Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

A Prince in Distress

 

 

 

Of all emotions, sorrow and sadness are the most debilitating, as most of us

know from experience. They sap our self-confidence, breed self-pity, paralyze

our normal functioning and turn us into zombies. Distress begets dejection,

which turns into despondency, ultimately landing us in despair and depression,

from which it is difficult to recover. If you have any doubt about this, you

only have to remember Arjuna's plight, his sorrow (at having to fight and kill

relatives and elders) making him throw away the bow and arrow right on the

battlefield. Sri Krishna has quite a job, convincing him to fight.

 

 

 

Though sorrow may originate from several sources, that caused by the passing

away of those near and dear is perhaps the hardest to bear. And even in this

class, the death of a beloved son or daughter is especially hard on the

surviving parents, often driving them to a premature death. Dasaratha is a case

in point, his grief (Putra shokham) being shared by Dhritaraashtra, Kunti, the

Pandavas (who lost several of their offspring in the war and subsequent to that)

and so on.

 

 

 

What exactly is the reason for grief or sorrow? Attachment is the sole source of

sadness, says the Mahabharata-

 

 

 

" Sneha moolaani du:khaani snehajaani bhayaani cha

 

Shoka harshou tathaa aayaasa: sarvam snehaat pravartate "

 

 

 

Sorrow or Shokham appears to be an all-pervading emotion, afflicting not only

ordinary mortals, but even Deities. For instance, we find Sri Valmiki

chronicling several instances of Sri Raghava being affected by distress. When He

is told to leave for a jungle sojourn for 14 long years, though Sri Rama doesn't

immediately display any emotion, we find that His heart was indeed weighed down

with sorrow, not perhaps due to the loss of the Crown, but at the prospect of

His departure causing incalculable harm to His parents and subjects. We are told

that on His way to break the terrible news to His expectant mother, Raghava

locked up His sorrow within Himself and was externally the picture of iron

control- " Dhaarayan manasaa du:kham, indriyaani nigrihya cha " . After all, what

could be more saddening for the citizenry of Ayodhya, than the beloved Rama's

departure for the forest? And when they are sad, it would naturally affect their

ruler-to-be, who participates wholeheartely in their happiness and

sorrow- " Vyasaneshu manushyaanaam bhrisam bhavati du:khita: " .

 

 

 

Another instance where Sri Rama displayed sorrow is at the parting with Sita.

Finding the cottage deserted upon His return from the engagement with Maareecha,

Sri Rama is almost beside Himself with distress at Sri Sita's abduction,

tortured by emotions and memories of the beloved Mythily-

 

 

 

" Sa Raja putra: priyayaa viheena: shokena mohena cha peedyamaana:

 

Vishaadayan bhraataram aarta roopo bhooyo vishaadam pravivesa teevram " .

 

 

 

Rama cries out in torment, much like an ordinary mortal- " tam tathaa shoka

santaptam, vilapantam anaathavat " . It is left to His younger brother, the wise

Lakshmana, to console Rama, to point out the dangers of succumbing to depression

and to remind Him of His true stature. All that grief leads to is more grief and

none who succumbs to sorrow ever comes out of it, says Lakshmana, in a bid to

prise Rama out of the morass of depression into which He appears to be falling.

 

 

 

Again, the sight of the slain Jataayu prompts a fresh bout of self-pity and

despair in Sri Rama, who is reminded of His own late father and his recent

death.

 

 

 

The separation from Sita tells a lot upon Raghunandana and we find Him prepared

even to take His own life, were He not to be reunited with Her within a few

hours- " Muhoortamapi na jeeveyam tam vinaa asitekshanaam " .

 

 

 

Similar despair seizes Sri Rama, when He finds Lakshmana felled with the Shakti

Aayudham-

 

 

 

" Raaghavo bhraataram drishtvaa, priyam praanam bahischaram

 

Du:khena mahataavishta: dhyaana shoka paraayana: " .

 

 

 

To Him, it appears to be the last straw on the already heavy load of sorrow that

had been thrust on Him-Denial of the Crown at the last minute, banishment to the

jungle for 14 years, the loss of the beloved Mythily, all the inconveniences

encountered in the dense Dandakaaranyam and finally, the felling of Lakshmana,

who was verily Rama's life spirit- " Bahischara iva praana: " .

 

 

 

We thus find any number of instances in Srimad Ramayanam, where the Lord was

overwhelmed with sorrow, for some reason or the other. Even granting that all

these occasions would have generated the same emotions in any other person, we

are plagued by doubts as to whether the feelings should affect Rama, of all

people. We are so used to putting Him on a pedestal and worshipping Him as the

Model Man, the Magnificent Monarch and the personification of all virtue, that

any sign of weakness in Him tends to disturb us. Indeed, anyone would react as

Rama did, given the successive slings and arrows that a cruel fate had aimed at

Him-but what then would be the difference between we mortals, who are easily

susceptible to such emotions, and the Avataara Purusha? And if He Himself is

subject to sorrow, how capable would He be in dispelling ours? Further, Shokam

or grief is said to be the product of Raajasic and Taamasic temperaments.

 

 

 

( " Harsha Shoka anvita: kartaa Raajasa: parikeertita "

 

" Yathaa svapnam bhayam, shokam, vishaadam madam eva cha

 

na vimunchati durmedhaa: dhriti: saa Paartha! Taamasee "

 

 

 

This contrasts with the description of the Paramatma as being beyond Rajas and

Tamas.

 

 

 

The Cchaandogya Upanishad tells us that the Parabrahmam is without any sorrow or

sadness-

 

 

 

" Esha Aatma apahata paapmaa vijaro vimrityu: vishoko vijighatso apipaasa:

Satyakaama: Satyasankalpa: " .

 

 

 

The Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram reiterates this with the tirunaamam, " Vishoka: " ,

meaning the griefless. In another nama, " Ashoka: " , the Stotram tells us that He

is the remover of all sorrow, Himself being beyond the pale of any such

affliction- " Shokaadi shat oormi varjita:' says Sri Sankaracharya too, while

commenting on this name.

 

 

 

If all these citations are true and the Lord is truly without any sadness or

sorrow, how then would you explain the display of such base emotions during His

avataras? And if He were indeed subject to sorrow, how then could we look to Him

for removing ours? Is it not a case of " Physician! Heal thyself! " ? There can be

no two opinions that Sadness or Shokam is a debilitating emotion and those who

suffer from it can definitely not be elevated to the divine pedestal, which

belongs only to the Parabrahmam, which is bereft of all things

inauspicious- " Akhila heya pratyaneekam "

 

 

 

Swami Desikan comes to our rescue in answering this seemingly unanswerable

puzzle, which strikes at the very base of the Paramatma Tattvam. In the

Siddhopaaya Sodhanaadhikaaram of Srimad Rahasyatrayasaaram, the Acharya tells us

that such emotions, affected by the Lord during His avataaras, constitute an act

put on by the Sarveswara, to attract the devout and to deceive the

unholy- " Avataara vrittaantangalilum du:kha abhinaya maatrame ulladu " . These are

performances staged by the Paramatma, to gladden the hearts of the devout, who

find the Lord's grief heartening and are drawn to Him. Such play-acting also

serves to mislead the unholy, who naturally think that Iswara, being subject to

such feelings, is indeed no better than mortals.

 

 

 

 

 

If that be so, then is the Lord a hypocrite, feigning emotions to mislead

gullible mortals, whether they be devout or otherwise? No, says Swami Desikan,

telling us that such play-acting on the part of Paramatma is really an upshot of

His mercy- " adu taanum kripaa moolam " . In defence of his averment, Swami Desikan

cites the following Vishnu Purana slokam, which lays down that the Lord, during

His sojourn in the world of mortals, affects entirely human emotions and

actions, despite retaining all His incomparable attributes like Supremacy-

 

 

 

" Eesan api Mahayogi sarvasya jagata: Prabhu:

 

Karmaani aarabhate kartum keenaasa iva durbala:

 

 

 

Tena vanchayate lokaan mayaa yogena Kesava:

 

Ye tam eva prapadyante na te muhyanti maanava: "

 

 

 

Though He is the omnipotent Parabrahmam, the Lord poses at times to be a

helpless mortal, affecting emotions like grief, anger and sorrow, which ordinary

men feel on occasion. Those whose faith in Him is steadfast, are able to

appreciate the true purport of such actions, while the rest of the agnostic or

atheistic world takes such play-acting at face value and is led astray by the

Lord, in accordance with their accumulated baggage of sin. Would anyone in their

right minds believe that Sri Krishna was really in such dire need of dairy

products as to steal them and be punished therefor by being tied up to the

grindstone, begging His mother for freedom with tearful eyes? And why should

Krishna run away from facing Jaraasandha in battle? Did Rama, whom Valmiki

praises sky high right at the beginning of the epic, suddenly turn into a

helpless and lamenting mortal, midway through the saga, the moment He is parted

from Sita?

 

 

 

All these, you would agree, are totally inconsistent with the unbridled

supremacy, omnipotence and omniscience of the Paramatma and the only plausible

explanation therefor is that He acts in a certain fashion for purposes of His

own, which do not in any way detract from His stature as the Ultimate.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

dasan,sadagopan

 

 

 

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Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release 8/17/2005

 

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Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 267.10.12 - Release 8/17/2005