| SAPTHAGIRI - February 2003 | ||
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3. Jatam jatam khalu jagadaho citrametat samastam ksinam ksinam muhurapiparam drasyate yet prabhavat tasmai saksat svarasa paramanada vicimayayam brahma-akhyaya tribhuvanapate ! deva ! deva ! tubhyam namostu. |
O Deva! O Lord of all the Three Worlds ! At whose command does this visible and the invisible world in all its varied forms, is born and dies, and again born and dies; and thus wonderfully ever appear to remain involved in the cycle of birth and death; to that visible and unvisible power known by the name Brahman, the ever Blissful, I pay my humble obeisence.
This is a continuation of the prayer of the devotee to his Ishta Devata, Sri Rama, whom he says, is none other than the Supreme Brahman that has assumed a Form. He says that his Lord is in appearance the blissful wave in the ocean. There is no difference between water and the wave, they both belong to the same substance svarasa paramananda vicimayaya.
Thus to the devotee Sri Rama and the Brahman are the same. In short Sri Rama is the Supreme Brahman Himself. This then is also a prayer addressed to Sri Rama.
The poet here accepts that there is one reality that remains behind the manifest and the unmanifest, form and formless, visible and non-visible, tangible and intangible and that Supreme Reality is in the nature of Bliss. The poet names that as Sri Rama. In other words his Ishta Devata, Sri Rama, is none other than the Supreme Brahman, who has assumed a Form. There are two methods of reaching the Supreme one by contemplative method and the other by Upasana.
Sakshat svarasaparamananda vicimayaya - this shows the poet's concept of the true and real nature of the Lord who is of the form of Bliss.
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4. jivatma yat bhramati bahusocya atra samsaracakre tatvan mayavilasitamatah pranjnalih prarthaye aham ma ma maham janisi bhagavan janma sampadyate cet karmabhyr aham bhavatu bhuvanadhisa ! manusyam eva. |
For what reason does the jivatma get revolved in the lamentable wheel of samsara and take such a low birth (as in the womb of beasts and birds etc.); O Lord! it is all the play of your maya (mayavilasam). Therefore I implore and pray with folded hands O Lord! firstly I should not be born again i.e. free me from the cycle of birth and death; and if however I were to be born again, O Lord! may I be born as a human being capable of performing rightful karma.
According to the devotee, human birth is the best; for it is in that birth one enjoys the liberty of doing action which would help one in the process of evolution. Here by karma is not meant any action, but only such action that would help him in furtherence of his evolution. Man today stands at the top of evolution; he has to grow further in order to become divinised. To be born as a bird or beast, is a step backward and the devotee wants to avoid it. He wishes to move forwards in the process of evolution, for which action is inevitable and the world is karmabhoomi. In him stays intellect and discursive reason in council, directing right action pressing him forward towards perfection - a home going where every soul born has its everlasting neast.
To the author of the Stotra life is a two-way traffic for the jiva. It may move forward by rightful action and means, into the rightful place with the Supreme being, or by some other deed go backwards and enter into the wombs of birds or animals etc. The subtle body loaded with its prarabdha karma enters into the vital fluids i.e. blood and semen and depending upon the body it has assumed it becomes involved in the process of evolution. In the case of many animals, including human beings this means that it enters the semen in the womb. The devotee wants to avoid the retrograde step and go forward in his evolution to attain final liberation. To the author liberation from the cycle of birth and death alone constitutes the step forward and the rest are steps backwards or retrograde. Man alone is capable of performing actions which would liberate him from the lamentable state of being inevitably involved in the cycle of birth and death. The others simply exist and die.
pranjnalih prarthaye aham - I am praying with folded hands - thereby indicating the devotee's absolute surrender to the will of God. He accepts the position of Dasa of God, Sri Rama.
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4. caturvarnya prabhrtivibhida mudrite manusatve brhmanyaya sprhayati jaganatha ! nityam janoyam tatrakurvannaghamuta subham karma kurvannakamam bhakto bhuyat bhavati bhagavan margayan mukti margam |
O Jaganatha ! I have been ever desiring to be born in the class of brahmins out of the four classes into which mankind is divided. O Bhagavan, that by itself is not sufficient; one should not be committing sins; whereas one should be doing his karma without attachment or desire; and should always be a seeker of Truth, and striving for liberation; besides one should have unalloyed bhakti in you, O Lord.
The Gita in discourse IV - 13 divides the whole mankind into four classes, as in Purusha Sukta thus :
| caturvarnyam maya srashttam gunakarmavibhagasa |
The order of the four varnas was created by Me according to the different gunas and karma of each.
In spite of this division on the basis of guna and karma the Lord has not allotted any superiority to one over the other; nor is it even suggested or even attempted. Brahmanism is the culmination of other varnas just as the head is the culmination of the body. It only means capacity of superior service and not of status.
It cannot be doubted that the author of the Satakam is a great devotee of Sri Rama. A true bhakta would not mind about the class to which he belongs; his only concern is the love of God. But here the devotee says that it is his constant desire to be born always as a brahmin i.e. acquiring the qualities of brahmin (brahmanyaya sprahayati). Evidently he is a brahmin who does not wish to go down in the classification. Perhaps his devotion has not reached that maturity needed of a true bhakta, for whom class is immaterial. Or it may be that he is one who is a seeker of truth or lover of God who does not wish a retrograde step. Gita refers to the classification on a more fundamental basis. Gita refers to the classification on a more fundamental basis. The classification there is of the entire mankind, depending upon their spiritual evolution, generally. In fact there are a galaxy of Sudras who are great devotees ofthe Lord. Gold remains as gold whether it is placed on the throne or on the ground. Its intrinsic value is not affected by the place it occupies. The throne and the mud are same for it. And so is the love of God or bhakti. God does not see what mantle you wear whether it that of a brahmin or Kshatriya, Vaisya or Sudra or even that of a sinner, but only what stuff your are made of. He cannot be bribed or cajoled by outward expressions of personality, but only with the internal reality or purity, sincerity and selfless devotion to Him.
In short what the author prays for is "that transfiguration on the summit of the mountain, divine birth, divya janma, to which all those births are a long series of laborious steps. An involution of the spirit in matter and a spiritual assumption of divine birth which is the fullness of the evolution."
The author now proceeds to say what are the nature of the duties of the brahmins: He says they should be doing subha karma or that karma which leads to mukti. kurvannakamam bhakto bhuyat bhavati bhagavanmargan mukti margam.
He expects them to be doing good karmas without desire for fruit (selfless work nishkama karma of the Gita); and they should always be seekers of Truth which gives them moksha or liberation; and also having constant devotion to Lord. Here it is devotion to Sri Rama.
The author in these few lines epitomises the entire philosophy of Karma yoga. One who remains bound down to the apron strings of Prakrti remains involved in the cycle of birth and death. All work binds save that done for sacrifice. Sacrifice is the law of life, the law of all creation. "God whispered into the ear of man the message of sacrifice when He created him and said to him' by sacrifice shall ye grow and fructify'. Indeed as the Vedas put it, He sacrificed Himself in order that the world may be created. In sacrifice all creation starts, by sacrifice it is sustained, sacrifice is at once the cause and the consequence" - vide the Gospel of selfless action by Mahadeva Desai p. 62. Sacrifice implies selflessness; and therefore nishkama karma should be done as an act of sacrifice.
He who breaks the law of nishkama karma becomes a sinner, involved relentlessly and perpetually in the cycle of birth and death. He is besmeared with sin and enters into the human womb and there undergoes untold suffering. The author develops this concept in the succeeding verses in an elaborate way. He narrates in detail all the travails a jiva has to undergo lying helplessly in the womb of his mother.
This verse is a precursor to the exposition of that concept.
Evidently the author a devotee and pursuer of Truth wants to attain liberation by doing selfless work and in devotion to God as menifested. He is not a jnanin and jnana yoga is not his way. Karma yoga and bhakti yoga are the two foot stools he seems to rest upon for gaining Moksha.
"If we may call this many-faceted word yoga mysticism, the yogin will be a mystic. In the terms of work, the philosophic mystic will be a jnana yogi, the active mystic will be karmayogi; in the terms of devotion the Jnanayogi will be a Dhyanayogi (meditative mystic) and the Karmayogi will be a Bhaktiyogi, worshipper mystic. We shall have both these dichotomies, but we shall also see them coincide in the end" wrote Mahadeva Desai in the Gospel of selfless action - my submission p. 54. I would add, these yogas are all complementary and one yoga will not be perfect without the other, They all coincide to join at one Terminal.
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5. baddha karmanyatha bahuvidhe striguhayam pravistah pumso retah kanakabalite sonite varddhamanah vidpangotha ih krimibhirabhita stadhitah pidhitatma yavatsida myava samaravindaksa ! tavat prasida |
Whenever bound by karmas in various ways, I enter into the womb of a woman and there with the cluster of sperm uniting with the ovum, grow steadily with the blood of that woman, and thus lying there bitten by the worms that flourish in the faeces all around, I struggle in pain and my soul is disturbed, you O Lotus eyed (aravindaksha) be then pleased to bestow on me your grace.
Here the author traces back his consciousness to the time when he was first conceived in the womb of his mother. He then imagines his sufferings and pain while lying there in the womb. Or it may be he is visualising his future birth. Is a child lying in the womb covered by plasma and fed by the blood of its mother through the umbilical chord conscious of any pain ? If it is conscious it must be alive to pain as well as to pleasures and joy also. Consciousness is intrinsic in the knower, the thing known is bereft of it. Neither the mind or the body has consciousness inherent in them. Mind as well as the physical body is of the nature of matter. Mind belongs to different order of matter than the body. It is constituted of the finest and the purest type of material substance. The luminous self is the sole spiritual entity in the body. Man is a pure spirit ever shining. It is the radiance of the spiritual self that illumines the psycho-physical system, that is to say endows the mind, the organs, and the body, with the semblance of consciousness. The ultimate one which is known by investigating into the objective universe as pure being or existence is subjectively recognised as pure consciousness. Thus the Supreme consciousness is the one self of all. It exists in the psychophysical organism from the very beginning.
The author speaks of his first entry into the womb and his suffering there. This relates perhaps to his next birth. He has not perhaps exhausted his life's progress with the present life. Life to him is a continuous one, not ending with one life-existence but continuing thereafter also. Contaminated by action, he manifests himself life after life, until he gets freed from the consequences of his action. Life is thus the continuance of the consciousness. The author feels that he may not be in a position to pray lying helplessly in the womb. He therefore prays even now that he should be blessed by the Lord and free him from pain that he may be then subjected to. The grace of God alone can save him at that time.
It may also mean that the author is remembering his previous life of sin and while remaining in the womb he had prayed for atonement and sought the help of his Ishta Devata. Life begins for each person at the time of the fertilization of the sperm (male germ cell) and when it combines with the ovum (female germ cell). And this itself is a continuation of a previous life. Our author here seems to carry the memories of his past life into the present one, perhaps even in a limited way.
Probably the author now feels guilty for not praying earlier for the grace of God, when he was lying in the womb of his mother, before his present existence. He wants to avoid such omission in the future.
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6. ksarai usnai api ca kadubhir matur aharajatai rudyatbadho jatha rakuhare sankucat sankulangah savasocchvasesva aham attaram klesasali yadasyam govinda ! tvam prasamaya tada bhaktibhajo mam artim |
Whenever due to saltish, hot, and bitter food taken by my mother I, lying in the dark cave of the womb of my mother remain troubled, unable to move my limbs, and I find it suffocating and become extremely distressed, O Govinda!, please remove then my sorrow.
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7. pracinanam anusayavatam janmanam karmanamca smaram smaram manasi sahasalabdha bodhodayasya garbhagare rudhirakrimivinmutrapurnne sthitasya pradurbhuyan madhuvimathana ! tvatsvarupa smratirmme |
O Madhuvimathana (the slayer of the Asura Madhu)! when lying in the womb surrounded by blood, worms, faeces and urine, I become penitent of various sins committed in very many of my previous lives, and I become suddenly aware of my nature (acquire knowledge), I pray you O Lord! May you be then pleased to bless me with the remembrance of Thy Divine Form.
To this devotee, the child in the womb is not a mass of flesh and blood, but a sensuous being capable of feeling penitent for all the sins committed in his previous lives and feel atoned for it, and thus pray God for protection. He prays for the vision of the Divine Form of the Lord. For that is a concrete reality that the infantile mind can then catch hold. It is not contemplation that he aspires but something which his presently agitating mind aspires for. There is no sin which cannot be wiped out by proper atonement. This unborn child or baby remaining in the womb of his mother, has sufficiently developed his mind, will and intellect, as to discern the right from the wrong and thereby become penitent for all the sins committed before he entered the womb and pray for the Grace of God. By atonement, lying as he is with great constraints, he sets his conscience to the wave length of the Divine or the Universal consciousness and has therefore become fit for the Grace of God. Every man is an epitome of the whole cosmos.
Madhusudhanah He killed the demon called Madhu vide Maha Bharata Bhisms Parva 67-13-15. At the request of Brahma, Purushottama slew the mighty asura of the name of Madhu born of Karnamisra. It is because of this act Janardhana is called Madhsudana by gods, asuras, men and rsis.
According to Parasara the Lord is called Madhusudanah because He is the controller of all beings and because He bestows undisputed prosperity by slaying the Asuras. The Arsha interpretation is as follows: "He is Madhusudana because He guides all Tattvas and also because He is the slayer of Madhu" Or there is another interpretation. "He who always attracts the sense organs of ever-free souls to Himself without any obstacle. 'Madhu is the name of the sense organ. Since He draws them all to Himself He is Madhusudana' (vide the Vishnu Sahasranama with the Bhashya of Sri Parasara Bhattar Tr. by Prof. A. Srinivasa Raghavan p. 210).
The word is very appropriately used by the author of the Satakam, for as a child in the womb lying helplessly bereft of any liberty or independence he should only pray God to control all his senses and draw him towards Him. By this he forgets his wretched condition in the womb and with it all the pain and sufferings. It is to the Lord alone he prays for help. Because of his atomement he now remains at the mercy of the Lord.
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8. madhyegarbhsayam ata ito bhrantiman varttamano masi prapte tadanu dasame puryamanakhilamngaah vyasedhena vythitahradayo raktajambalsikto vaikuntta! tvam jananasamaya praptakhedah smarani |
O Lord of Vaikuntta! While remaining in the womb for some time, with the reach of tenth month, I having completed all my limbs, struggle to come out but being unable to do so and with a mind full of distress being in the midst of filth and blood, I pray that you may at the moment of birth, bless me with Thy remembrance.
The reference to Lord of Vaikuntta is a reference to Vishnu, who is said to be in control of Garbha; and it is to that Lord the devotee prays for help. The moment of birth, is crucial to both mother and the child inthe womb. It is thought of God and His remebrance that helps man to forget all his miseries and for relief from distress.
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9. bhuyo bhyahprasrmarakhatthora manasyardditayo- makrandyam prasavasmaye srasugatrayam jananayam yantrachidratapadi vivrata duhkhitah sutivatair unitam jatam bhuvanapatitam pahi mam artha bandho |
O Bhagavan! At the time of delivery, when my mother wrenching in excruciating pain all over her body and cries out alloud an opening in the placenta is caused and I get pushed out to fall on earth distressed. O Arthabandu (the helper of the distressed) ! May you then protect me.
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10. adbhih praksha litavapurapi svacchatam nopagacchan matustanyam galitamupajatarttir asvadya sadyah asvatantryadadhikavima nascestiteshva pravinah prapto moham muhurahamaho rakshaniyo asmi visno |
O Vinoh! Even though the body is washed well, and cleansed, I really do not become pure, for by suddenly drinking the breast milk of my mother, I get entangled in various diseases and remain without freedom; consequently without ability to act on my own, I greatly become distressed. It is regrettable. Becoming the victim of delusion (moha) again, I become eligible for thine help. O Lord! May you then protect me.
It has been stated that we carry the memories of previous life; and that remembrance is lost by the fever that occur at birth and at the time of death and thus we fall back to ignorance as before. In Ashtanga hridaya, Vagbhadacharia, has affirmed the same in the section relating to fever thus: janmantayommohamaya'. Both at the time of birth and death, consciousness leaves us and with it the memory or remembrance.
The author of the stotram, who had got himself sufficiently purified by proper atonement while remaining in the womb of his mother now feels, that he has suffered a relapse and has fallen back to a state of ignorance - into Samsara again by sucking the breast milk of his mother. From now on, he begins his life as before.
It is stated in the Sastras that there are two bodies viz. the gross and the subtle. The gross body is the material body and the subtle body is the non-material which takes inthe astral and the causal body also. The subtle (astral) body always lives with the soul, i.e. it lived with it in the past; it lives with it in the present; it accompanies it in the next life. It carries with it all the life's impressions in a seed form for the next life where they germinate and grow and fructify. It keeps company with the soul in all soul's journey through different births, till all the impressions of our actions are weakened and destriyed. In other words till such a time that the impressions of the actions are finally attenuated and lost. Gita in II-20 supports this view. Radhakrishnan in his commentary on this verse of the Gita states: 'The eternal does not move place to place but the embodied soul moves from one abode to another. It takes birth each time and gathers to itself a mind, life and body formed out of the materials of nature according to its past evolution and its need for the future. The psychic being is the vijnana which supports the triple manifestation of body (anna), life (prana) and mind (manas). When the growss physical body falls away, the vital and mental sheaths still remain as the vehicle of the soul. Rebirth is a law of nature. There is an objective connection between the various forms of life. Cp. Katha Up. I. "Like corn a mortal ripens and like dorn is he born again". vide also Katha Up. II. 18 and Chandogya Up. VIII. 1.5.
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