They call my friend ...bhagavan

That is what Villacheri Mani Iyer would have told.  He was a classmate of Ramana Maharishi. It made me wonder...what kind of internal struggle would have been in the hearts of people who have friends/acquaintances of mahaans. Of course, this is just my reflection.

So, going back to the story (as quoted from tattvaloka, January 2014 edition), Mani Iyer often joked to people that he would get Ramana Maharishi back to his worldly life. I can imagine. Often, when such rishis are in our midst, we tend to dismiss their spiritual ascent. After all, they seem like us. The live, talk and walk like us, why they are in our midst. After several years, mani iyer's mother visited arunachala to see bhagavan.  Mani Iyer thought he would visit his friend and also get his mother back. Those days, Bhagavan used to stay in virupaksha cave.

So, the scene shifts to the first encounter of bhagavan and mani Iyer in the cave. Now, something profound must have happened. Mani Iyer prostrated before the bhagavan and his heart did not let him leave the place. So, what would have been the state of mani iyer's heart. He must have thought, "the bhagavan is just his old classmate. He was not accomplished in the worldy sense. He did not have any money. He lived in a cave. He dressed in a kaupeenam. The world calls him a mahaan. He seems to have a glow about him. He seems to have a sense of calm that is unseen among worldly accomplished people. But, he is the same person whom I went to school with? How did he achieve this?"

Now, once this thought is transcended, he would have thought,"now, what do I do? I have 2 choices. I let go of my worldly life and ask my friend to help me experience the same spiritual grace. But, how can I be sure. Maybe all this is just a hoax. Can I let go of my worldly assets to pursue something, that I really do not comprehend? What if I end up a the wrong end of the bargain? I make no spiritual progress and I also lose my worldly assets?  But then, here is my friend, whom the world calls bhagavan..maybe is the best person to help me make any spiritual progress? Will I get another chance? What if this was the best chance for me to make any spiritual progress" 

Letting go is always tough. The world is ever so enticing. When confronted with such profound choices, it must be really tough. So, mani Iyer postponed his trip by a month. I presume each day, these feelings must he tugging his heart. After a month, on day he prostrated before the bhagavan and cried, "please save me". Bhagwan said , "vidu vidu, siva sivanu iru (leave leave, keep chanting siva siva). Mani Iyer took this as his mantra deems has and spent the rest of his life chanting the holy name of lord shiva.

Now, back to the question, how would one have reacted if he/she had been in mani iyer's place? Firstly, I believe that mahaans are all around us in their subtle forms. They are ever compassionate and would understand the pain of worldly followers. A newborn baby cries when it is hungry. It does not have to explain the pain to its mother. A mother knows the pain and feeds thaw child. I believe that mahaans also know the pain that their children face in the world. Hence, at right time, they will feed spiritual knowledge after hearing the cried of their spiritual children. All we can pray is, let my intelligence create the craving for spiritual progress. Let my hunger increase :)

Kamala Nayana? Why?

It was an interesting week on upanyasams :) The upanyasakar was talking about Kamala Nayana (soulfully rendered by O.S Arun), one of Bhadrachala Ramadas' wonderful kritis . There were some nice attributes of the Lord that were expounded by the upanyasakar from the song. They are worth mentioning.

Firstly, why Kamala Nayana? Why did the poet not use any other flower as a tribute to the lovely eyes of the Lord? First explanation is from the Ramayana, during the incident when Rishi Vishwamitra asks Dasaratha to allow Lord Rama and Lord Lakshamana to come with him :) Here, King Dasharatha deftly mentions his beloved son as "Rajeeva Lochana" to his advantage. He hints to Rishi Vishwamitra, that he young boy's has eyes like the lotus, which blooms during the day and rests at night. He is tender and not exposed to violent ways of Rakshasas, who operate by the night. Dasharatha thus argues that it is not proper for Lord Vishwamimtra to ask such a tender boy to protect the ashram from asuras.

There is another interesting observation. Lord Vishwamitra argues his way with Lord Dasharatha, and then takes Lord Rama and Lord Lakshamana along. The princes are fatigued after such a long and arduous journey. They fall asleep in the forest. Lord Rama is most charming even when is he is sleeping. Think of the Lord who is the personification of Lavayam and Soundaryam. How beautiful would the lord have been in his yoga nidra :) Now, Vishwamitra wants to wake the young children from their blissful sleep. How many of us have the divine fortune to see Lord Rama and Lord lakshamana in yoga nidra? (absolute bliss) Who would have the heart to wake such wonderful children from their sleep? So, he addresses them with suprabatham and then he addresses Lord Rama as "uthista kamala kantha" (wake up, O lotus eyed one) :) I am sure, he must have realized how right Dasharatha was, when he addressed his son as Kamala kantha :)

Secondly,  there are so may flowers like Sunflower (Supatra, Varada in Samskrit). Why did the poet not use these names in this context? After all, the Lord was from Surya Kula, he could have pick sun flower in this context. The upanyasakar had a wonderful observation. The Lord's eyes are brimming with Karuna for his devotees. Hence, the poet wanted a flower that grows on water and conceals the water, just like his eyes are representation of the Karuna that wells in his heart from the bhakatas. Hence, the flowers that grow on land are no good :)

Another section of this poem, the poet uses the word "Kama janaka" for Maha Vishnu? How is this relevant? The upanyasakar has 2 wonderful observations on this  !!

Firstly, Kama is the source of all desires and represents all things beautiful :) So, if Lord Krishna is addressed as Kama Janaka, or father of Kama, how beautiful must the Lord be :) After all, Lord Rama is endowed with both Lavanyam and Soundaryam :)

Secondly, lets take an example of a son, who is naughty. Who do you go to complain and correct the  behavior? Of course, you go with the legitimate complaint to his father and say that his son is disturbing you. The righteous father will ensure that he takes corrective measure. Here, in this world, we are all tormented by various desires or kaama. Who do we take refuge in? Take refuge in the lotus feet of Lord Vaasudeva, whos is Kama Janaka and he will protect as all :)

Divine Con(ch)siousness

Recently, was listening to Sri Hari Sharanaashtakam, a devotional composition that expounds Sharanaagati to Lord Hari. The interesting point to note was that Lord Vishnu is addressed as "ShankaPani". I wondered about the specific choice of the name of the Lord. Some points come to my mind.

The first incident that comes to my mind is Dhruva Charitram. The divine child and bhakta meditated on the Lord to reclaim the affection of his father. The blessed child meditated on the Lord for several months on end, without food or water. He was blessed with the inner vision of Maha Vishnu. How fortunate to retain the vision of the Lord and be immersed in that joy !!! Contrast this experience with my visits to Tirupati. Each time after the visit, the only feeling that I am left is "Asai Mugram Maranthu Poche". Coming back to the story, Dhruv maharaj was immersed in infinite bliss, when Swami wanted to get Dhruv Maharaj out of his meditative experience. Lord Vishnu disappeared from the inner vision of Dhruv Maharaj and showed his glorious form in the external world. Having been in deep meditation for months on end, Dhruv Maharaj was unable to speak and express his joy on seeing the Lord. So, Lord Vishnu touches the right cheek of Dhruva, which his conch, to give him the gift of speech. I recollect another joyful interpretation of this incident from one of the upanyasams. So, it goes that Lord Vishnu was so dazzled by the tejas of his divine Bhakta after months of penance, that he wanted to compare it with the most dazzling object in his immediate possession. The only such object was his Shankha or Conch. So, he touched the divine child with his conch to compare if the dazzle of his Shankha matched the tejas in his divine bhakta's face. Now, its our guess on what was more dazzling, the tejas on Dhruv Maharaj's face or the divine Shankha :)  One thing is apparent, when it comes to granting Bhaktas, the gift of Bhakti or Gyana or Vairagya, the merciful Lord will use his conch and hence, its justified to address him as Shankhapani in Sri Hari Sharanaashtakam.

The second is the leela of the Prabhu as Vithoba, or Panduranga in Pandarpur. The soulabhyam of the Lord and his immense mercy is seen in this avatar, where he appears with 2 hands, one holding the Shankha. The chronicles in Mahipati's Bhakta Vijayam, amply illustrates the infinite mercy of the Lord in Kaliyugam. He is not standing there in the Yoga peetam with his mutlifold astras to punish. He is standing there as a Karunaa moorthi, with the conch in hand, to bless his bhaktas just like he bless Dhruv maharaj. Here, he is no mood to punish :) His leelas in Bhakta Vijayam, shows how accessible he was to bhakta's and will help his Bhakta's tide over their problems just by nama samkeertanam.

So, Shankha paani it is :) it seems well justified to the address the Lord by this name, when we approach him with our multiple paapa punya accounts and ask for redemption :)

Mahaperiyava and Panduranga

Well, there is always something divine and inspirational to write about Mahaperiyava :) Rencently, came across divine experiences shared by Muralishara Swamigal in his program Veedu Thedi Varugiran Vittalan, about Panduranga and Mahaperivaya

The first incident is about the Maha Periyava's Hatha Yoga expertise. So, the legend goes that there was a bhakta who wanted Maha Periyava to visit his home. He was a devout bhakta, but had a secret desire. He wanted sit in an asana (posture) higher than Maha Periyava. On the appointed day, Maha Periyava comes to the Bhakta's residence with his mutt officials. They all lay out his peetham (seat). The Bhatka was waiting to take an asana higher than the guru, but Maha Periyava made an unusual change. He did not sit in his designated asana, but chose to sit in Kukkutasana and conversed with the Bhakta for hours. This asana is very complicated asana, but apparently, paramacharya could sit and converse in this posture for hours on end. Such was maha periyava's knowledge of Hatha Yoga. Now, what is the link to Pandarpur and Panduranaga? So, Pundalika was a sant who was on a pilgrimage to Kashi. On the way, his parents were unwell, so, he halted in Pandarpur, so that he could take care of his old parents and young child. He was still longing to go to Kashi. One day, on the banks of Chandrabhaga is where is met Kukkutaka maharishi, who advised him to stay in Pandarpur and take care of his aged parents. The guru mentioned that the punya of visiting Kashi would accrue from his service of aged parents. Pundalik lived according to his Guru upadesha and served his parents. This was a time when Lord Krisha was king of Dwaraka. Lord Krisha felt that he had missed the opportunity of serving his parents and hence wanted to experience the same through his Bhakta. Legend has it that he walked with Maa Rukmini and waited on a brick to meet his beloved bhakta, Pundalik. Such is the prowess of Mahaans and their blessings.

There are 2 more incidents. Maha Periya was instrumental in setting up the Uttara Chidambaram Sri Nataraj Mandir at Satara, Maharashtra. The most sacred aspect of the Nataraja temple is the Chidambara Rahasyam (secret of Chidambaram), which is privy to a prevailed few. When the time came to install the chidambara sahasyam, Maha Periya taught this to a Mutt Devotee. The rahasyam was inscribed on the leaves, protected with a Thailam (sacred oil) and installed in the Nataraja temple. The devotee felt happy that he was among the few who knew the Rahasyam. He prostrated before the acharya after the installation of the rahasyam in the satara temple and Acharya said "the purpose of your rahasyam learning is over and may you forget the rahasyam". The devotee could not recollect it anymore.

On a visit to this temple, a couple came and prayed to the acharya that they beget children. Acharya blessed them. As per the blessings of the Acharya, the couple had a son, but they came to the Acharya later with a concern. The child had a strange impression on his head and they were concerned that it might impact the health of the child. The acharya asked them to visit the Panduranga temple and request the priest to let them touch the head of Panduranga. The couple found a similar impression on Panduranga's head. Paramacharya explained that when the couple asked for his blessings, he was worshipping Pandu Ranga and hence, the child had the features similar to Pandu Ranga. Thus, people came to know about the impression on Pandu Ranga's head :) This incident is explained by Muralidhara swamigal in his lectures. Such is the power of Mahaan and how fortunate are we to live in the land where he lived and prayed to Ishwara..

Tribute to teachers and process of learning

The following mantra, quintessential part of school prayers...

ॐ सह नाववतु ।
सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3t7ivQ3A3g)

Must have said this mantra like a zillion times, but never understood the beauty of this mantra... till today... Read the meaning of this shloka in a book on Kathopanishad... 

So, here goes the meaning (as taken from the book - http://www.chennaimath.org/estore/katha-upanishad)

"Aum. may Brahman protect us both, the teacher and the student, equally. May the Brahman enable us to share the benefit of learning equally. May we be equally strong to grasp the meaning of the learning. May the learning be equally fruitful to us. May we never be jealous of each other. May there be peace  to oneself, peace to the environment and peace for the entire world. The study if the upanishads is search for truth. It is a joint enterprise, where both the teacher and student should work vigorously with mutual trust and goodwill. The purpose in not scholarship. The purpose is to discover the Truth and be blessed in the process. To achieve this, the spirit of togtherness between the teacher and student is underscored". 

What caught my attention is the loftiness of the thoughts. Firstly, its about teacher coming down to the level of the student in stating that this is a "joint effort". What an amazing thought :) I have been blessed to learn from teachers who have actually lived by these principles. It makes learning such a blessed and enriching experience. This according to me is avataranam, where the teacher comes down to the level of the student to teach.

Secondly, it talks about the teacher asking that the fruits benefit both the teacher and student equally. Isn't that a moving idea? Its not about pedagogy, its about sharing the fruits of learning together. Students like me are blessed to have teachers who practiced the above approach.

Thirdly, it asks the supreme brahman to give strength to both the teacher and the taught to grasp the nuances of what is taught. Focus, concentration and strength of perseverance to learn what is being taught. How I missed this in my earlier days of study. Thanks to my teachers in later days, I atleast know what I missed and am able to appreciate the need. 

Fourth, What a nice catch .. just loved this bit where the teacher and taught pray that they may not fall prey to jealousy. Oh.. my my ... I cannot name the number of people I have been jealous because of their scholarship during my school/college days. It just preys and feeds on you. And in hindsight, it destroys the joy of learning. Such an important point, that let us not be jealous of each other during the learning process. Dear brothers and sisters, whom I had been jealous of, please forgive me :(

I think once you have imbibed the essence of this mantra, learning would be such a joyous experience :) and such peace :) 

Why is it relevant today? Well, as I see it, our education system has always rated scholarship higher than learning. I have always felt the strain of One-up manship, jealousy, rat-race for the limited quality education resources in our system. In some sense, this has been pushing a few us in trying to excel in our chosen (??) pursuits. What I have seen is the legacy of such training process lingers in for a long time. It manifests in our relationships, our actions, in our workplace long after the spirit of competition has served its need :) 

The essence of the shloka also comes out nicely brings out the section of "Maitreem bhajata.." (Maitreem Bhajata - Text, Maitreem Bhajata - MS), specifically in the context of "Spardham tyajata" ...."Give up competition and jealousy", especially in the context of learning :) So, its time to enjoy the meaning of such lofty ideas :) 


Salutations to all my teachers and the wonderful people I had as companions in my journey as a student :)

The everyday Sugriva

So, whenever we talk about Lord Rama, one of the contentious issues is Lord Rama's killing of Vaali, while being hidden. Though that is separate topic to be studied in detail, I was more fascinated with Lord Rama's initial interactions with Sugriva, that seems to reflect in my behavior.

The scene shifts to where Lord Rama and Lakshmana are introduced to Sugriva and the Lord offers to retrieve Sugriva's kingdom from Vaali. Now, Sugriva is hardly convinced in the prowess of the Lord. Most likely will be the case, if Lord Rama, in his most merciful mood, offers darshan to a person like me. Lack of real Bhakti would certainly not make me accept that this is the Lord that I hear and pray on a daily basis. So, as I would do, do did Sugiva. He decided to TEST the Lord. He asks Lord Rama to lift the skeletal remains of Dundhubi, the demon killed by Vaali. Lord Rama, the karuna moorthi, accepts to being tested by a monkey king in exile :) He nudges the huge remains of the demon and that is sent like a missile across several yojanas :) So, what would I do in such a situation. I would say, Oh, that was not the real test, it was only the screening test ! And lo and behold, so says Sugriva, well. "that was the dead remains, and so, doing is a necessary and not sufficient condition to prove that you can protect me". Just like in today's world, pseudo-devotees like me, would consider all the miracles that the Lord does for me as a "necessary, but not sufficient condition" to accept him as the form of sat-chit-ananda. So, the next test is for the Lord to piece a mighty tree with an arrow. The lord's arrow pierced through 7 mighty trees, with the same ease as he removes the hurdles in our lives. Well, is that enough? In this case Sugriva accepts Lord Rama, atleast in his outer demeanour. Very similar to how I accept the superiority of the merciful Lord when I pray, its more outward than inward !

Now, moving to the crux. Lord Rama asks Sugiva to invite Vaali for a fight and promises to kill Vali from his hiding place. In the first round, Vaali beats Sugriva to pulp and makes him run to Rshya mookam mountain. Now, this is the important question. Is it really true that Lord Rama could not differentiate between Vaali and Sugiva? For starters, Rama was watching Sugriva calling Vaali. So, he could have killed him after he came out. After all, Sugriva was the one calling Vaali? Well, if we argue that it was unfair to kill Vaali before giving him a chance at peace, Lord Rama could have discharged the arrow when Sugiva was being chased to Rshya mookam moutain or on the way back, the Lord could have easily identified Vaali. So, its a trifle baffling as to why the Lord let Sugiva get beaten up in the first place before giving him abhayapradanam. After all, that is his vratam.

Now, there is an interesting interpretation, I heard the other day. Like many of us, when good things in life come easy, we attribute it to our superior intellectual and physical skills. In all good things and profit making ventures, the Lord is a minority shareholder :) Sugriva had still not done complete sharanaagati to lord Rama. So, if the Lord had killed Vaali before Sugiva got beaten up, he would have behaved like me. "Well, I would have killed Vaali anyways, after all I had practiced fighting all this while in the Rshya Mookam mountain. Lord Rama was just incidental, Vaali's time was anyway over", would have been the likely words of Sugriva. Now, beaten, bruised and ego grounded, shaaranagati comes easier. Something similar to my college experience. Sometimes, its good to get beaten to bring down one's ego make learning possible.

Finally, when that hurdle is surmounted, the Lord's infinite mercy shines like the glorious sun from behind the clouds :) What a nice way our rishis use to describe the Lord, being of the hue as the water laden rain clouds. Once the rain of mercy shower, the bright sunshine of Sat-chit-ananda will shine through. All we need to do, is to plant the seeds of Bhakti and nurture it with good thoughts and deeds. The karuna-bearing blessings of the Lord will automatically shower bliss and reveal the joy and glory of Sat-chit-ananda. But, till the day that the bhatki tree grows strong enough to attract the merciful Lord's attention, the everyday Sugiva lives on !!!

Go for the bronze @ Government Museum - Egmore, Chennai

So, mission accomplished. Government Museum Chennai- Egmore. Value for money @ Rs. 15. And all that money goes to the bronze gallery (one of the 6 galleries), though I must say there are 2 more that I need to visit. For starters, the bronze gallery is air conditioned, so it certainly has a head start, but there are some interesting parts of the bronze gallery that deserve credit.

Now, the bronze gallery was very well lit. Glass enclosures, with neat mirrors and focus lighting helped appreciate the intricate art work. The link to the gallery - (http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/b3.htm).


It was good to start with the first gallery, which has stone sculptures. The notes there are crisp and small. So, without really bogging the visitor, it tells how to differentiate among Pallava, Chozha and Vijayanagar art forms. For people like me who have lost touch with all this, it is pretty informative. Just a look at the sacred thread (number of strands, where the sacred knot in the thread is) worn by the Lord/ Divine mother can help identify the period of the sculpture. The stone sculpture gallery is just 2 floors.


The bronze gallery starts with wonderful sculptures of Lord Tripurantaka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripurantaka). Lord Shiva is seen wielding a bow (and a smile) before he embarks on the destruction of Taarakaaksha, Kamalaaksha and Vidyunmaali (and the ego of the gods, who think its because of them that the Lord will be able to defeat these invincible demons).

Now, Vishapaharana is one form of Lord Shiva that I had not known before. Here, the Lord is in a seated position with a snake in his palm. The snake is facing the Lord. Looks like the Lord will ensnare the poisonous snake of Maya for devotees who seek refuge in him.

There is a nice sculpture of Kannapa Nayanar. The details of his sword and Sandal show the intricacy of the art work.

There are a couple of sculptures of Goddess Durga, just as it in Patteswaram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patteeswaram), complete with the shankam, chakram and the parrot on her palm. The details are striking.


The second floor of the bronze gallery is entirely dedicated to Lord Nataraja. Here is an idol, with the Lord standing on his right foot, just as in madurai, just that here there are only 4 arms. The sculptures differentiate Natesa and Nataraja. Natesa, i think, refers to the Lord of Dance (as an art form) while Nataraja refers to the Lord of Cosmic Dance. Nataraja is generally depicted with the encircling arc of divine fire, while Natesa shows dance mudras and is devoid of the encircling divine fire arc.

There is an entire section dedicated to Maha Vishnu. There is a wonderful sculpture of the Lord with four arms, shankam, charam and gadha. Wonderful to see such an image at close quarters.

There is Maha Vishnu in seated form, quite unlike that I have seen before. Here, the Lord is seen with 2 arms, with the shankham in the left palm and charam in the right palm. You have to strain your eyes to see both these, but is very pleasing to the eye.













The best was reserved for the last. There are 2 wonderful sculptures of Lord Hanuman. Firstly, he is seen with Lord Rama, Lakshamana and Sita. Here, he is seen in the pose of a disciple, with hand covering his mouth. Another idol is a shiny valiant form with hands folded.




You need a good 2 hour window to spend in the bronze gallery, but one occasion where bronze is better than gold :)