Of Human Bondage

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

Of Human Bondage

 

 

What do you think is the grossest of indignities that can be heaped upon a

person? One may be abused, physically and verbally; one may even be punished

with fines or with imprisonment. Worse than all these is the use of Fetters.

Denial of liberty though incarceration is bad enough: but worse is

immobilisation through fetters, severely curtailing the movement of one's limbs.

Though prisoners are normally kept in locked cells, the application of fetters

to their hands and feet eliminates any possibility of escape. These days, when

human rights are the watchword, the use of fetters has been forbidden by various

courts, except where hard-core criminals and terrorists are involved. However,

whether or not one has been tried and punished by courts, would it surprise you

to know that all of us are severely immobilised by irremovable fetters? Do read

on, to know more about these fetters and how we can get out of them.

 

 

 

Putting people in shackles so that they don't escape, appears to be quite an

ancient practice. We thus hear of cruel Kamsa clapping both Devaki and Vasudeva

in irons, so that they did not escape with the eighth child, which was predicted

to be the king's nemesis. Such was Kamsa's fear of the yet-to-be born Krishna,

that not content with merely imprisoning his sister and brother-in-law in a

maximum security jail, he also bound their hands and feet with manacles. It was

one of the Lord's principal missions in the Krishnavataram to rid His parents of

their fetters, says

 

Sri Poigaiyazhwar-

 

 

 

" Pettraar talai kazhala perndu or kural uruvaai

 

settraar padi kadanda Senkan Maal "

 

 

 

If this were so, should not the divine parents been set free the moment Sri

Krishna was born? Why did they have to wait for their release from their

" vilangu " till Krishna grew up, arrived at Mathura and killed Kamsa?

 

 

 

The answer is that the bonds of Karma are stronger than any other. It was thus

their accumulated sin that kept Devaki and Vasudeva in chains, even after they

gave birth to the Supreme Being. This also strengthens our faith that the Lord

is indeed an impartial arbiter, displaying absolutely no favour or nepotism in

rewarding or punishing people as per their own Karma, be they His own parents or

sworn enemies.

 

 

 

Speaking of the bonds of Karma, Sri Nammazhwar calls them the strongest

available, stronger even than those of iron, to tie a person hand and foot,

imprisoning the Atma in the maximum-security prison of the body, from which

release is just not possible. Even if one were to escape the constricting

confines of one body, it is only to be imprisoned in another body-from the

frying pan into the fire, so to say. " Tinnam azhunda katti pala sei vinai van

kayittraal " says the Azhwar, describing our plight as victims of our past deeds,

good and bad.

 

 

 

" Good and Bad " ? I am almost able to see the questioning frown on the reader's

face. We can equate our sins or bad deeds to shackles, but does the same apply

to Punyam or good deeds? How would one's meritorious acts form fetters?

 

 

 

Just as our sins deny us emancipation, Punyam also requires its fruits to be

experienced, either in this world itself or in the exalted ones above, such as

Svargam. Even if one were to attain the lofty status of Brahmaa the Creator,

through one's good deeds, after the effects of Punyam have been exhausted, one

has to return to this mundane world of sorrow and suffering. It is only when we

are rid both of Punyam and Papam, that we attain eligibility for Liberation,

says the Shruti- " Punya paape vidhooya niranjana: paramam saamyam upaiti " . Thus,

if we wish to get rid of our bodily shackles, we have to be free of both sin and

merit. If sins can be equated to iron manacles, then Punyam can at best be

called a golden handcuff, a " Pon Vilangu " , says Swami Desikan in Sri Varadaraja

Panchasat-

 

 

 

" kasmai svadeta sukha sancharana utsukaaya

 

kaaraagrihe kanaka shrinkhalayaapi bandha: "

 

 

 

All of us know that Sri Krishna allowed Himself to be tied up by Yasoda with the

shortest of ropes, displaying His Soulabhyam. However, it is a little known fact

that Sri Rama too was tied up. Though we do not find this episode in Sri

Valmiki's magnum opus, we have it for a fact, from an equally impeccable source.

 

 

 

Hanuman, in his effort to prove his identity to a suspicious Sita Devi, recounts

various intimate episodes from Her life with Raghava, to convince Her that he

was indeed Rama's messenger and not Ravana come in disguise. One of these is the

story of Rama being tied up with bonds, made, however, of Jasmine garlands.

 

 

 

.. Once during their happy days at Ayodhya, the divine couple were engaged in

playing Chaturangam (Chess). Having won the game, Sri Sita tied up Her dear

Prince with strands of fragrant jasmine, as a token of Her victory. As none else

could have known this unless confided in by Chakkravartthi Tirumagan, this

romantic titbit generates confidence in Sri Janaki's heart about the bona fides

of Hanuman. Here is Periyazhwar's beautiful pasuram, describing this episode-

 

 

 

" alliam poo malar kodaai! adi paninden vinnappam

 

sollugen kettarulaai tunai malar kan mada maane!

 

elliam podu inidu iruttal irundador ida vagayil

 

Malligai maalai kondu angu aarttadum or adayaalam "

 

 

 

We see in some households the plight of the hapless husband torn between his

wife and mother, each indulging in one-upmanship to demonstrate who wields

greater power over the poor fellow. We wonder whether it is not the same case

with Emeperuman too. Finding His wife tying Him up in the Ramavataram, perhaps

the mother (Yasoda) indulged in the same game in the Krishnavataram, to display

her superiority! Jokes apart, the two episodes, where Emperuman was effectively

tied up, demonstrate that He is indeed susceptible to be immobilised by

devotees' bonds of love and affection.

 

 

 

Speaking of being tied up, we hear of the great Anjaneya being immobilised by

the Brahmaastram let loose by Indrajit, when the Rama doota indulged in

destruction and arson, reducing Lanka to shambles. Though no power could put

fetters on the irrepressible Hanuman, he submitted voluntarily to the bonds of

the Brahmaastram as a tactical measure, so that he could meet Ravana and give

the rakshasa a piece of his mind.

 

 

 

The peculiar nature of the Brahmaastram is that after its use against a person,

if other restraints are also applied, then the Brahmaastram loses its potency

and the arrested person becomes free from its crippling effects ( " Astra bandha:

sa cha anyam hi na bandham anuvartate " ). The stupid Rakshasas, in their

eagerness to secure Hanuman in a fool-proof manner, bound him further with

whatever they could lay their hands on-jute ropes, tree barks, etc. Instantly,

the Vaanara Veera was automatically rid of the fetters imposed by the

Brahmaastram. Still, he pretended to be bound, so that he could meet Ravana.

Though the other rakshasas hardly realised that Hanuman was now free, Indrajit

did and was filled with wonder as to why the monkey did not spring free from its

captors and resume its spree of destruction.

 

 

 

Another bond, which is dreaded by everyone and spells instant death, is that of

Varuna, the Deity of Waters. We find numerous references in the Shruti to the

" Varuna paasam " and its deleterious effects and impassioned prayers to spare one

from its rigours.

 

 

 

Bonds and Fetters need not always be physical. When one feels powerless to act

due to constricting circumstances, then too one is bound hand and foot. Such was

the case with Dasaratha, when he felt powerless to stop the march of events

culminating in the banishment of Sri Rama to the forests. Having given two boons

to Kaikayee, the Emperor felt powerless to go back on his words, as not only his

credibility but that of the entire lineage of Ikshvaakus was at stake. He would

have loved to tell Kaikayee to go to hell and retracted his earlier promises,

but since he was bound by the fetters of Satyam (truthfulness), he felt

incapable of doing so. " Sa satya vachanaat Raaja Dharma paasena samyata: " says

Sri Valmiki, describing Dasaratha's plight.

 

 

 

Coming back to our own unbreakable bonds of Karma, which bind us fast to

Samsaara, we wonder whether there is no way out of it. Are we doomed forever to

be fettered, bound hand and foot, unable to exert ourselves in any measure

towards freedom from this eternal bondage?. Because, even if we were to take

thousands of births, it would be difficult for us to wipe off the accumulated

grime and gristle of our good and bad deeds. And we are told that only when the

slate is clean would we be eligible for emancipation.

 

 

 

Our compassionate Acharyas have shown us the strategy to rid ourselves of these

terribly painful shackles. They have shown us the path of absolute surrender to

the Lord, that of Saranagati, which, once performed sincerely through an

Acharya, frees us forever from the fetters of Samsara. All our sins (and merits

too) are destroyed in a trice, leaving us pure and untainted, eligible in every

way to the eternal life of blissful service to the Lord and His devotees. Thus,

Saranagati or Prapatti ensures that-- " Poya pizhayum pugu taruvaan nindranavum

teeyinil doosaagum " -all our Karma is destroyed like mere dust by a raging fire.

Once we perform Saranagati at the lotus feet of the Lord, these twin fetters of

sin and merit drop off automatically, leaving us free to ascend to Paramapadam,

says Swami Desikan-

 

 

 

" Mukta: svayam sukrita dushkrita shrinkhalaabhyaam

 

achirmukhai: adhikritai: adhivaahita adhvaa

 

svacchanda kinkaratayaa bhavata: Kareesa!

 

Svaabhaavikam pratilabheya mahaa adhikaaram "

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

dasan, sadagopan