INSTINCT FOR POSSESSION

NATIVE  CHARM

INSTINCT FOR POSSESSION

Some forms of life have a natural instinct for accumulating things. We thus see even ants seeking to accumulate grains or tiny bits of sugar . Even rats do gather. Bees collect honey, but man steals it and makes money out of it. But birds, lions and other wild animals, elephants do not accumulate. They live from day to day. But they are attached to their places. Ramana Maharshi used to point to the monkeys visiting the Asramam and advise his devotees who tried  to drive them away that it is they ( men) who  invaded the place of the monkeys and now attempted to drive them away. He would say that the monkeys were the real sanyasis: they had no place to stay ( they did not build a nest or den), they slept on any tree they found, they ate what they got- did not save anything for the morrow! They are our natural teachers.

Bhagavan feeding a monkey devotee. He was fond of animals. He always addressed them as 'he' or 'she' and never as it. He had observed the monkeys closely and knew how they lived under their 'king' and how their society was organised.
Photo copyright of Sri Ramanasramam. Thanks.


Though animals like dogs, tigers and lions, deer and elephants do not save any food for the morrow, they are constantly in search of food, except when they rest after eating. Thus, their situation too is not idealistic.

 So, Avadhuta Dattatreya  took the python as one of his 24 gurus. It just lies in its lair, where it is, and accepts whatever food it happens to get  there , without stirring from its place. This episode is described in the Bhagavatam, Canto 11. Sages take this as the ideal state of absolute dependence on God.  

Picture of the Indian python. From the San Diego Zoo, USA.
By Tigerpython (Own work) [GFDL (CC BY-SA 3.0 creative commons via wikipedia commons.)

Pattinathar Swamigal says the same thing, explicitly:

இருக்குமிடந்தேடியென்பசிக்கேயன்ன முருக்கமுடன்கொண்டுவந்தாலுண்பேன் - பெருக்க வழைத்தாலும்போகேனரனேயென்றேக மிளைத்தாலும்போகேனினி.	5

O Lord! I will eat only if someone  seeks me out and brings food and offers it to me with kindness, knowing that I am hungry. I will not go from here even if I am invited with great insistence. No, I will not go even if my body suffers.


Christ said the same things in his Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5.6

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

King James version. public domain.

 Yet, how many care for such teachings?Man at the pinnacle of creation is the most covetous of the whole lot. There is no limit to how much he would accumulate. The Isa Upanishad, the first of our top ten, reminds us the whole creation belongs to God and we should not take  more than what is necessary for our survival. We mug up the mantra, and ignore its message.

And just what are the things we desire? In the olden days ( say about 60 years ago) our homes were simple. We had no furniture in the European sense or style. A grandfather may have an easy chair or coir cot to sleep on. We all slept on mats on the floor.  No room was earmarked as the bedroom.Our elderly ladies who observed "aacharam" would lie down on the bare floor to steal a quick nap during the day, keeping their own hands or a small wooden block as the pillow- no hint of ease or comfort.  But we are more advanced, and we have stuffed every room with many items. Every room is marked for some purpose- bedroom, study, drawing room etc. And so much space is occupied by dead

things, and men complain of shortage of living space!

What are the things we accumulate in the house? As youngsters, we had dreams- influenced by films and advertisements. We thought  more things would make us happier- this was the American style. Then one could acquire furniture of various styles- this would make us modern!  And the more fashion conscious among us could go in for the branded clothes or shoes or anything. Yet a stage came invariably when the clutter annoyed us, and suddenly we realised what a waste of money it had all been over things, and what a waste of time pursuing the money to purchase the things! Our great friend Shailendra observed this in his own simple but elegant manner:

Kisi ko hare hare note ka nasha hai
Kisi ko suit boot coat ka nasha hai

Some are intoxicated about fresh currency notes. Some are mad after fashionable clothes- suit, boot, coat.
(Everyone is after something)

Yet, what happens in the end?

Albelae armaanon ka  toofan lekar laaye
Naadaan sau baras ka saaman lekar laaye
Aur dhool udhatha chala jaayere

Ik aayae, ik jaayae musafir.
Duniya ik sarai re....

We bring with us glorious ( big,vain) dreams , like a typhoon. And accumulate silly things required for a hundred years. And when we leave, we just raise the dust!

One traveller comes, one leaves, this  world is like a very shallow earthen vessel.

Poet Shailendra. Picture taken from https://shankerdaskesrilashailendra.worldpress.com.

This has been the message of all Indian sages and saints. Pattinathar, one of the great Tamil saints saw the lines inscribed on a slip : "Not even a needle with a broken head accompanies one when he leaves the world".# [Note] And this made him renounce the world instantly. Later, he sang:

பிறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுவந்த தில்லை, பிறந்து மண்மேல்
இறக்கும்பொழுது கொடுபோவ தில்லை; இடைநடுவில்
குறிக்குமிச் செல்வஞ் சிவன் தந்ததென்று கொடுக்கறியாது
இறக்குங் குலாமருக் கென்சொல்லுவேன் ? கச்சியேகம்பனே ! 7

O Lord! We don't bring anything with us when we come. We don't take anything with us when we die. What we get in between is what God has given us. How I pity those given to the life of luxury and glamour who die in vain,  not knowing to give in charity what God has given them!

Image from the cover of the book of the works of Pattinathar, published by Palaniappa Bros. Copyright position not known. Gratefully acknowledged.

Arunagirinatha, our great Master, said it even more tellingly. He sang:

வையிற் கதிர்வடி வேலோனை வாழ்த்தி வறிஞர்க்கென்றும்
   நொய்யிற் பிளவள வேனும் பகிர்மின்க ணுங்கட்கிங்ஙன்
      வெய்யிற் கொதுங்க வுதவா உடம்பின் வெறுநிழல்போற்
         கையிற் பொருளு முதவாது காணுங் கடைவழிக்கே.   ...     18 

Picture from murugan.org. thanks.

Vaiyir kadir vadi velonai vaazhthi varijnarkenrum

Noyyir pilavalaveum pagirmingal nungat ingan

Veyyir kodunga vudava vudambin veru nizhal pol

Kaiyir porulum udavadu kaanum kadiavashikke.

Just as your own shadow does not provide you shade against the sun, your own wealth will not avail you on your last journey. So, help poor people in the name of God, and share with them even the equivalent of  a  broken grain of rice.

And such acts of charity need not be big,grand affairs. They can be very small in scale, but significant in effect. Saint Tirumular, another great Jnani of the Tamil land, sang:


யாவர்க்கு மாம்இறை வற்குஒரு பச்சிலை
யாவர்க்கு மாம்பசு வுக்கொரு வாயுறை
யாவர்க்கு மாம் உண்ணும் போதொரு கைப்பிடி
யாவர்க்கு மாம்பிறர்க்கு இன்னுரை தானே. 

Everyone can offer a green leaf to God.  Everyone can offer a handful of grass to the cow. Every one can share a handful of food when he eats. And everyone can speak sweet words to others!

புண்ணியம் செய்வார்க்குப் பூவுண்டு நீருண்டு
அண்ணல் அதுகண்டு அருள்புரி யாநிற்கும்

One can earn merit by offering God water and flower. The 

Lord is pleased (even with that) and confers his blessings.

This is what Lord Krishna said in the Gita:

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति |
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मन: || 26||

patraṁ puṣhpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayachchhati
tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛitam aśhnāmi prayatātmanaḥ  9.26

Whoever with devotion offers Me  a leaf, a flower,a fruit, or water,that I accept - that devout gift of the pure-minded. 

National Portraits Gallery, London.

Shakespeare taught us how to live simply and enjoy grandly:

Who doth ambition shun

And loves to live in the sun,

Seeking the food he eats

And pleased with what he gets,

Come hither, come hither, come hither

Here shall he see no enemy 

But winter and rough weather.

Is it that man is not allowed to accumulate anything? No.Man can accumulate knowledge- without end, pursue learning all his life! It does not harm anyone, and one's accumulation does not lesson the chances of another! In fact, a learned man may help many others to become learned, like a lamp can light many more. 

An ancient Tamil poem called "Naaladiyar" - 'Four Liners' tells us that we should always look at those who are poorer than us and feel happy that we are wealthier. But we should always look at the more learned, and feel how poor are we before them in knowledge!

Worldly sciences teach us to accumulate wealth- tireless striving stretching its arms ever towards more accumulation. And Sages teach us to strive for wisdom and devotion.. Thus Christ:

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke,12.

Christ told a wealthy person who wanted to follow him to first go, sell his possessions and distribute the money among the poor, and then come to him. 

The Rich Young Man
…20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"21Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

22But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.…

Matthew 19:21

( Today's Christian evangelists ask us to wish for another car, TV, house and may be even a different wife or husband because, well, 'there is more where it comes from'.)

[ I have provided the quotations from the New Testament because churches in India are trying to convert, promising riches to people in the name of their religion, while  the Lord Jesus Christ asked people to renounce and follow him.]

Describing those who are dear to Him in the Gita, Lord Krishna counts among them:

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।

अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ॥ 12.19

Tulya ninda stutir mauni
Santushto  yena kenachit
Aniketa: stitarmatir 
Bhaktimaan  mae priyo nara:

One to whom  censure and praise are equal, who is silent, content with anything, homeless, and steady-minded, full of devotion- that man is dear to Me.

Image from ISKCON. Thanks.


NOTE:

PATTINATHAR  used this line in two of his poems later:

.Addressing his own mind, he exclaims: Think of and praise the lotus feet of the Lord  and spend your time. What is the use of the wealth which is not good for anything in the world? What is the use of all the wealth that is kept buried? In the end, not even a needle with the broken head will accompany you on the last journey. The inner teaching of the Veda is that we must give up attachment to women and wealth (possessions.)  Have you not understood this teaching of the Sadguru? One gets enlightenment, as a result of the merits of the previous births. Then one understands that not even a broken needle will accompany one on the last journey. வாதுற்றதிண்புயரண்ணாமலையர்மலர்ப்பதத்தைப் போதுற்றெப்போதும்புகலுநெஞ்சேயிந்தப்பூதலத்திற் றீறுற்றசெல்வமென்றேடிப்புதைத்ததிரவியமென் காதற்றவூசியும்வாராதுகாணுங்கடைவழிக்கே. 10 வேதத்தினுட்பொருண்மண்ணாசைமங்கையைவிட்டுவிடப் போதித்தவன்மொழிகேட்டிலையோசெய்தபுண்ணியத்தா லாதித்தன்சந்திரன்போலேவெளிச்சமதாம்பொழுது காதற்றவூசியும்வாராதுகாணுங்கடைவழிக்கே. Our Master Arunagirinatha too expresses this: கோழிக் கொடிய னடிபணி யாமற் குவலத்தே    வாழக் கருது மதியிலி காளுங்கள் வல்வினைநோய்       ஊழிற் பெருவலி யுண்ணவொட்டாது உங்களத்தமெல்லாம்          ஆழப் புதைத்துவைத் தால்வருமோ நும் மடிப்பிறகே.   ...     Oh ye senseless people, who think of living in this world without  bowing to the feet of the Lord with the flag of cock ( Subrahmanya)! Your diseases resulting from the past karma will not allow you to enjoy  your life. Will all your wealth that you keep safely buried accompany you when you die? The basic idea is that accumulation of wealth and its enjoyment are subject to past Karma - Destiny. This is expressed by Tiruvalluvar thus: வகுத்தான் வகுத்த வகையல்லாற் கோடி தொகுத்தார்க்குந் துய்த்த லரிது Even if one has amassed millions, one cannot enjoy except as ordained by the Ordainer. Therefore all our ancient sages asked us to spend our wealth in charity. The old sangam literature Puranaanooru lays down: தெண்கடல் வளாகம் பொதுமை ‘இன்றி வெண்குடை நிழற்றிய ஒருமை யோர்க்கும், நடுநாள் யாமத்தும் பகலும் துஞ்சான் கடுமாப் பார்க்கும் கல்லா ஒருவற்கும், உண்பது நாழி ; உடுப்பவை இரண்டே; பிறவும் எல்லாம் ஓரொக் குமே; அதனால், செல்வத்துப் பயனே ஈதல்; துய்ப்பேம் எனினே, தப்புந பலவே. Whether it a great king ruling the earth alone, or the the unlearned hunter combing the forests day and night in search of food, what can be eaten at a time is limited, and they can wear just two pieces of clothing. All else is the same. So, the fruit of wealth is charity. If one thinks he alone will enjoy, many (finer/higher) things are missed. Salutations to all our great gurus. Sarvebhyo Gurubhyo Nama:
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vudambin verunizhal pol

kaiyir 

GROWING IN UNDERSTANDING

NATIVE  CHARM

GROWING IN UNDERSTANDING

Learning is one of the chief pleasures of growing up. The modern age has mistaken schooling for education , and education for learning. But we of the older generation know better.  The inimitable Chesterton said education is what remains after we have forgotten all that we have studied. And when we properly digest our education, we really learn. If we keep our eyes and ears open, and the mind too, keen and open, there is no limit to what we may really learn.

Learning does not mean getting to know new information or facts or ideas. It is often a new way of looking at old 'knowledge'. It is a new insight suddenly gained.  We take so many  ideas for granted, we use words routinely; sometimes, someone opens our eyes and new understanding dawns. That changes the world, for us!

We learnt  while young ( not necessarily at school) Tamil National poet Subramanya Bharati's songs.

He was  revolutionary, but not like the modern loonies. He had a strong dharmic base. Classical poet Avvaiyar had written a few charming lines of moral instruction for children. Bharati took them up and modernised them- and how! 

Grandma Avvai  said: Desire to follow dharma (Aram seyya virumbu), Subdue anger ( Aaruvadu sinam) etc. Bharati said: Achcham Tavir, Aanmai tavarael! ( Avoid fear, do not slip from manliness.) Bharati was writing for a generation of Indians meekly submissive to foreign colonial looters and he was teaching their children to be bold and brave!

And what is this fear? The child  is afraid of the dark. Many people are afraid of ghosts and spirits.  Most people are afraid of the unknown. Most fear poverty and illness. Youngsters fear old age. Older people fear financial instability, ill-health,etc. Statesmen like  Roosevelt taught us that fear alone was to be feared. Our great celluloid poet Shailendra sang:

Apne saaye se bhi log dhar ne lage

Ab kisi ko kisi par bharosa nahi

( People are now beginning to fear their own shadows.. Now, no one trusts another.)

Thus we see that as we grow old, we don't grow out of fear, but catch hold of new things to be afraid of!

And yet, what is the greatest fear?  It is that great unknown- death. The subject is even taboo in western culture. Indians have a better way of stating it. We are not afraid of death- but birth! Yes- we are afraid of the repeated births in Samsara- which cause repeated deaths.  The Bhagvad Gita calls this 'Mahato bhayaat'= the great fear. It calls this world 'mrutyu samsara sagara', 'mrutyu samsara vartmani', etc. 

So, the Hindu Deities are always shown with an arm showing the sign of freedom from fear:  Abhaya hastam. The first thing they do is to assure the devotee  freedom from fear. But they also show the way. The second arm points to the feet of the Deity. Yes- the Lord's feet are our refuge, and there is no fear there. That is the only place which is free of fear!As we grow old and also in understanding, we traverse the lands of many fears and reach fearlessness. Once we have learnt to look death in the face, we lose every fear on earth!  

Lord Nataraja- symbolising the Cosmos.

Look at his lower right hand- it shows the Abhaya hastam= the sign of the assurance of freedom from fear. And the left hand points to his feet which is our refuge and source of fearlessness. Every aspect of Hindu iconography is symbolic.

John Donne wrote this sonnet which has been called the Holy Sonnet. 

Picture from Wikimedia.

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Some seek to overcome death ie attain immortality by leaving their name behind through great acts.  Again, Shailendra sings:

Ganga aur Jumna ki gehri hai dhaar

Aagey ya peechey sabko jaana hai paar

Dharti kahe pukar ke

Beej bichale pyar ke

Mausam beeta jaaye

Apni kahani chod ja

Kuch to nishaani chod ja

Kaun kahe iss ore

Tu phir aaye na aaye.

(The waters of Ganga and Jumna run deep. Early or late we all have to traverse to the other side.#

Earth demands that  you go along, sowing the seeds of love. The seasons pass away.

Leave your story behind.& Leave some marks before you leave.Who knows whether you will pass this way again)

# Ganga and Yamuna have been running deep. ( That is, before you were born, and will do so even after you are gone. Life is unfathomable)

& Give up your preoccupation with your own little concerns, and make some contribution to the world.

Really, 50 years after his death, Shailendra lives in his poetry, which lives in the memory  and mind of the people! His words still move us.

Our philosophy teaches us that to understand the true nature of life and death is the only way to overcome the fear of death, and death itself!

 Our Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi taught us:

Those who have intense fear of death seek refuge at the feet of Lord Supreme who is birthless, deathless. Then their egos and attachments die. Can they fear the thought of death again? They become deathless.

( Reality in Forty Verses- Invocatory verse 2. This is a very loose rendering of the exquisite and profound Tamil verse of Bhagavan himself. Who can translate it?)

(Picture from the cover of a publication from  Sri Ramanasramam)

Most of us must have read the poem 'The Brooke" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, at school or on our own

I come from haunts of coot and hern   I make a sudden sally, And sparkle out among the fern   To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down,   Or slip between the ridges By twenty thorps, a little town,   And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip's farm I flow   To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go   But I go on for ever. Picture from the National Portraits Gallery, London. There are of course ten more stanzas. While at school, we thought it was just about the stream. If we came from the countryside,we might actually have seen such streams (called Odai in Tamil), emerging suddenly from the hills yonder, and running with all noise, among the stones and pebbles.  The poem describes how the brook chatters,bubbles flowing through fields and fallows, how it winds about, in and out. But as it nears its destination, the chatter turns to a murmur, it glides and glances, curves and flows. All the initial noise and high spirit get subdued as it joins the river. That was all in the poem- so we thought when young. But later, the same words made us think again.  What is this 'I' business? What does joining the river mean? As men come and go, this 'I' goes on forever!  Everything in the world is impermanent; then how can this "go on forever"? So we are led to 'learn' that this poem is not about the earthy brook, after all! The brook is a symbol or metaphor for the eternal Spirit in man- his Atma- which is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. It  then joins its Source and/or Destiny- which is the river. Thus we see that Tennyson is talking about the indestructibility of the Soul (in the Western usage) and it joining the Maker. We Hindus are mightily pleased as it expresses the Vedantic idea that our final goal is Union with God, no less. The brook and  the river are of the same stuff- water. They appear separate due to name and form, but are one in essence. Realisation of this Eternal Unity brings to rest all the wanderings through hills and valleys, fields and fallows- the endless wandering of the mind! Our entire Vedic poetry is symbolic like this. Western idiots like Max Muller and mere academics like him could never understand  such poetry. It takes a poet to appreciate poetry. They get and give us a glimpse. Not that Tennyson is Vedantic, but the spirit is unmistakable. This is how we grow in understanding, as we keep learning. Salutations to all the masters who help us learn.