What is Paramapada?

What is Paramapada? Any new interpretation from you? 

Not from me. But from the Upanishads. 

From the Upanishads? What is that? 

It seems you are disturbed by the real meanings that are there told in Upanishads. 

No no it is all new to me. I thought that these terms carry the usual meanings of different worlds one attain after death and all that. For example , Sri Vaikunta, Maha Kailas and Brahma Loka and all that. 

It is the heart, that is, the limitless compassion, which is symbolically termed as heart, this very heart is called Maha Kailas. This very heart is called Sri Vaikunta. 

Oh Really.. your meaning or... 

Not mine. But from the Upanishads. If you go to Sri Ramakrishna Math stall you can get 108 Upanishads meaning by Sri Anna Subramanian. 

What is said there? 

"ருத்திரரே! (உள்ளமாகிய) கயிலையங்கிரியிலிருந்து கொண்டு உலகிற்கு இன்பத்தை ஊட்டுபவரே! சாந்த மானதும் , மங்களமானதும் , பாவம் நீங்கிய மோக்ஷ நிலையைப் பிரகாசப்படுத்துவதுமான உம்முடைய எந்த வடிவம் உளதோ அந்த உயர்நலமளிக்கும் வடிவால் எங்களுக்கு எங்கும் ஆத்ம தத்துவம் விளங்கும்படி. அருள்வீராக.” (ஸ்ரீஅண்ணா சுப்ரமணியன்) 

Meaning - Oh Rudra who resides in the heart which is otherwise called Kailas and gives happiness to the beings! Reveal thy form which will bestow on us the universal vision of Thyself residing everywhere in all beings. 

The mantra from Svetasvatara Upanishad - 

"yA tE rudra sivA tanU: aghOrA S pApa kAsinI | 

tayA nastanuvA santamayA girisantAbhichAkasIhi ||" 

"எல்லா முசுங்களையும் தலைகளையும் கழுத்துக்களையும் தனதாகக் கொண்டவனும் , எல்லா உயிர்களின் உள்ளக் கோயிலில் உறைபவனும் , அதனால் எங்கும் செல்பவனுமாகிய மங்கள வடிவினனாய் அந்த பகவான் விளங்குகிறான்." 

Meaning - All faces are His, all necks and all heads. He resides in the heart of all beings. He reaches everywhere. He is all blessedness. So shines that Bhagavan. 

Sri Vaikunta is this very heart. Says the Narayana Upanishad. 

"ஓம் நமோ நாராயணாய எனும் மந்திரத்தை உபாஸிப்பவன் வைகுண்ட லோகத்தை அடைகிறான். வைகுண்டலோகம் ஞானமயமான இருதய கமலமேயாகும். " (Sri Anna Subramanian) 

Meaning - One who chants Om Namo Narayanaya that person goes to Vaikunta Loka. Vaikunta is verily this heart which is Jnanamaya. (heart signifies love and compassion; when love is synchronised with Jnana it becomes Vaikunta) 

The mantra is - 

"Om namO nArAyanAya iti mantra upAsakO vaikunta bhuvanam gamishyati | tadidam pundarIkam vijnAnaghanam" 

When the desireless mind dissolves into the heart that is called Paramapadam. 

Where..? 

Wait. I am coming out with the mantra and its meaning from the Amrutabindu Upanishad. 

"விஷயப்பற்று முற்றும் நீங்கி எப்போது மனதானது இருதயத்தில் நன்கு அடங்கி நிலைபெற்று உன்மனி பாவத்தை அடையுமோ அதுவே பரமபதம் என்பதாம்.” 

Meaning - When the mind gets rid of all attachment and desires and begins to reside and resolve into the heart and completely becomes one with the heart that is called Paramapadam. 

The mantra is 

" nirastavishayA sangam sanniruddham manO hrudhi | 

yadA yAti unmanIbhAvam tadA tat paramam padam ||" 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

A dialogue on Thinking and Tradition

You see, all the Gods are in your heart. All devas in there, in the heart. What does that mean? It is simply your heart must begin to feel, to expand, be inclusive. You must feel empathy with others. This heart-activity combined with the awakening of your intelligence is all what is meant by spirituality. All religion is about this. 

What.. you will say something. Having read some English books, you people will talk big about this and that. Do you know what is said in traditional scriptures? 

My friend! what I am saying is from your traditional scriptures... 

What?.. Where is it said like that? Come on tell me. 

In Brahma Upanishad these mantras are there. 

"hridisthA dEvatA: sarvA hrudi prANA: pratishtitA: | 

hrudi prAnascha jyOtischa trivrut sUtram cha tadvidu: | 

chaitanyE tishtati ||" 

meaning - "All devatas are in the heart. All life forces are stationed in the heart. The whole life and intelligence is established in the heart. According to great Jnanis the heart is the actual sacred thread. The great Paramatma resides in the heart as the living God, Life and Knowledge." 

Not only that, it also says and lays stress on this point, that the actual and real wearing of sacred thread is developing God-perception, seeing all things as containing God and things as forms having their essence in God. This universal perception is what is really meant by wearing the sacred thread. 

It is just your interpretation... 

Here is the mantra occurring in the very same Brahma Upanishad. 

"bahi: sUtram tyajEdvidvAn yOgam uttamam Asthita: | 

brahma bhAvam idam sUtram dhArayEdya: sa chEtana: || " 

meaning - The external thread is merely symbolic and unimportant. But the real meaning is the Brahma Bhavana that must be developed in oneself. One who develops this Brahma Bhavana in himself he is the intelligent person. 

Is the Brahma Upanishad available, translated by whom, any western educated...? 

It is available even in Tamil, text and translation by the great Sri Anna Subramaniam published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. It comes under 108 Upanishads series. 

Sage Tirumular beautifully sings the whole concept in his Tirumantiram - 

"நூலும் சிகையும் நுவலில் பிரம்மமோ 

நூலது காற்பாசம் நுண்சிகை கேசமாம் 

நூலது வேதாந்தம் நுண்சிகை ஞானமாம் 

நூலுடை அந்தணர் காண நுவலிலே.” 

(காற்பாசம் (கார்ப்பாசம்) - பஞ்சு)

"The sacred thread and the Sika are physically just cotton and hair. They are just symbolic. The real meaning is Vedanta meditation and the Supreme Knowledge of the Divine that one should pursue. Whoever understands this really they are sages." 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

Belief System a conversation

A conversation with a friend. Helping me to clarify a few things to myself. 

What is your belief system? or in other words your faith position or to ask in the usual way your religious subscription? 

May be I can write a long essay in reply. But I would like to give an one word answer. - Sri Ramakrishna. 

That means you believe that he is God and you subscribe to worship him. 

May be if you want to carry away that opinion by yourself, I don't have any objection. But if you care to understand how I understand my position, I can explain it, nuancing on some points. 

Yea sure. But don't elaborate too much. Don't mistake me. 

Yea nops. I understand. To think of Sri Ramakrishna as one's spiritual answer involves four positional statements. 

Four? so precise? 

Yea. First to come to an understanding in life that desire is in not a supreme, deciding factor. What is good takes precedence over what is attractive. Of course no condemnation of desire as such. But one's position of understanding never takes into account the desire as any deciding or motivating factor, not withstanding appreciating the aesthetics of desire. 

Second, trying to choose always the best, the good, the great over what is bad or peevish. Being able to distinguish between good and bad sides of things, good and bad aspects and features. 

Third, to go in passionately for knowing more and more and never being snobbish about knowledge. 

Fourth, to develop more and more in loving, compassion, sympathy meaningfully. 

What about God worship? 

Yea God-worship in any form, in any culture which promotes these four positions is aesthetic and joyful practice of life perception. If not, it is not relevant. This is what Sri Ramakrishna means to me spiritually. I think this is what Swami Vivekananda felt about his master. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

Eight differences but one Unity

In grammar for nouns they talk about eight declensions. In Tamil we call it 'eight differences'. (vEttrumai).

Let us take the noun Rama. Just saying the name Rama is the first declension or difference (mudAlAm vEttrumai). 

Something we do on the noun Rama is indicated by the second declension or iraNdAm vEtrrumai. Suppose in the sentence 'Call Rama', 'rAmanai azhai'. 

Third declension or mUndrAm vEtrrumai is 'we got it by Rama'. rAmanAl kidaitthadu. 

Fourth is 'we give this to Rama'. rAmanukku kodu. 

Fifth is from Rama. Sixth is with Rama. Seventh is in Rama. 

Eighth is calling Rama. Inviting Rama. 

In all these eight declensions or ettu vEtrrumaigal some person has composed this sloka in the past ages 

centering around Rama. i.e. Rama, on Rama, by Rama, to Rama, from Rama, with Rama, in Rama, Hi Rama! 

"Let Rama reside for ever in my heart along with Seeta. (Ist)

I salute Rama along with his brothers (and also along with my brothers) (IInd)

Let all my sins be destroyed by Rama. (IIIrd)

All my actions done through mind, words or deeds I dedicate to Rama. (IVth)

I do not know anything different from Rama. (Vth)

And I do not know any word to pair with Rama Nama. (VIth)

I perceive all the  universe in Rama. (VIIth)

Oh Vira Rama! protect me every day." (VIIIth) 

Now the sloka - 

"rAma: sItAsamEtO nivassatu hrudayE 

sAnujam rAmamIdE 

rAmENa kshINa pApa: 

trividhamapi krutam karma rAmAya dadyAm 

rAmAt anyam na jAnE 

na kimapi vachO rAmanAmna: samAnam 

rAmE pasyAmi visvam bhuvanam 

anudinam pAhi mAm vIra rAma !" 

You see! how simply they have taught both bhakti and grammar in a single stroke! 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

A book born out of Bhakti

It was a palace. Badshah is hearing a recital, done by Vasudeva Bhava. Vasudev who is Tukaram's grandson is narrating how his grandfather ascended to Sri Vaikunta alive with his body. It is too much to believe, first going somewhere after death and that too going with the body just alive, as if traveling to some place else. Badshah refused to believe and refused to hear any further recitals. Now it is a test for Vasudev, not only about his own grandpa but the whole path of devotion which he has got in his family. His own mother, the daughter of Tukaram is still alive. She also told the same story. If it is not true, why any body that too one's own mother is going to spin a story regarding the end of her own father? He requested permission from the Badshah. He requested all the people in the senate to stay put as they are for a while till he returns back with a proof. 

What proof can he show? was the question in everybody's mind. But curiosity winning the toss, all the people were sitting on expectation. Perhaps it will end a big joke. Badshah may be angered enough to author a tragedy. let's see. 

Vasudev Bhava was running literally to his home. Behind, one shape which was standing in hiding in the senate hall was also running along calling Vasudev again and again. Vasudev stopped and turned to see his own, that very own Tukaram calling and coming to him and saying, 'here. take this Tambur and go back to the hall. Make a divine promise and calling out God throw this tambur to the sky, right before Badshah. You will get all the proof you want after that.' 

Shocked by surprise and shaked by the instructions from his sudden grandpa, Vasudev returned back and did as he was told and threw the tambur to the sky. Tukaram caught the tambur in midsky and ascended again back to Sri Vaikunta when everybody was looking and Badshah was lost in gazing at the whole scenario. Perhaps all the exclamations were lost in the high resounding bajan of 'Vittala Vittala Hari Vittala Panduranga'. 

But we have all forgot that everything started from the recital which Vasudev was doing before Badshah. From what was he reciting? It was a book called Baktasaaram. Baktasaaram was written by Nabhajisiddha in Hindustani, containing the narrations about the lives of some 700 devotees, Tukaram forming a part of that. This was in some 1660 CE. Nabhajisiddha taught this to Uddhavasiddha and others. Uddhavasiddha summarised all these 700 narrations and did it in Gwalior and called it Baktamala. Then Maipathi Bhavaji did it in Marathi, choosing some 109 lives to tell and called it Bhaktavijayam. He also composed different sets of lives as Sanda vijayam, Sandavijaya Lilamrutam. Then Deepadeva collected all the Jnanopadesas, sayings of wisdom, into a book called Deeparatnakaram. But how all these things got transferred and exposed to people from Tamilnad? There is a story as told in Sri MahaBhakta Vijayam, published by A Irangasamy Mudaliyar and Sons in 1938. 

There was a Sabha called ChaturVeda Siddhanta Sabha. Its head was Saidapuram Umapati Mudaliyar. Along with him Jothisha Sittrambala Mudaliyar, Arai maanagar Thiruvengadam Pillai and many more were involved in bringing these narrations, which they got during their pilgrimages when they went for Ganga bath to the north. The first edition was in 1864 CE. They say the most important narrations revolve around five great personages, Jayadev, Kabirdas, Tulasidas, Namdev and Jnaneswar. 

The charm of the book, its style of prose, Tamil, little colloquial and chaste, so many eulogies preambling - all these add to the vibrations. Especially this poem 

"அடியாரெங்குண் டெங்குண் டெங்குண்டென் றலையுமறுமா முககுகனே |
அரனார்கணிலுற் பவித்தவனே அமரர்சிறையைத் தவிர்த்தவனே
அடியாதியிலா வறிவுருவே அகஸ்தியர்க்கன் றருட்குருவே
௮ருணகிரிநா தரையாண்ட வருளேஞானப் பரம்பொருளே
படிமீதடியார் சரித்திரமாம் பக்தவிஜய மெனு நூலைப்
பக்தியோடு வாசகமாப் பண்ணுநாயே னாவதனிற்
குடியாயிருந்தோர் குறைவின்றிக் குணமாமுழுது முடித்தெனையாட்
கொள்வாய்தோகை வாகனனே கூவுஞ்சேவற் கொடியோனே,” 

(O Thou six-faced Guha! You sprang up from the eye of Hara. You liberated the Devas from prisons. You are one homogeneous form of Wisdom having no beginning or limit. You gave your grace to Agastya in the past. You saved Arunagirinatha. You are the very form of Grace. O Thee Transcendent principle of Jnana. And still you are always waiting as if for the devotees. Me, a low creature, out of devotion, wants to make a book called Bhakta Vijayam telling the lives of Adiyars. Kindly reside in my tongue, avoiding all hurdles and blemishes, fulfilling the  task with all qualities. And kindly accept me in thy service, O Thee who flies on a peacock and the Cock who calls to spirituality in your Flag.) 

Bhakti springs from this book, a book born out of Bhakti. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

Arguing Positively as a Hindu 02

Even at the outset a frequent retort hinges on the question of castes. Let me be plain here. Without social equality any arguing, whether positively or negatively or noncommitally, will all be a waste. And there is a technique people adopt when this issue of castes comes up in the argument. They say caste is an imported term. Whatever term is used, whether it is varna, jati or custom, to denote privileging on the basis of birth or depriving on the basis of birth, to accommodate that idea and at the same time to talk about social equality or social progress is simply a contradiction in effort. To state this plainly does not save us from questions but creates all types of questions. - 'If you do not accept varna dharma, then what will you do with umpteen places of reference in the Sastras, Puranas, the works of the founders of Siddhantas and a whole lot of subsidiary works?' 'Do you think you are better qualified to reject and pronounce it wrong what down the time great gurus have upheld?', 'If you think you can reject them at will, why not others reject your idea at their own will?'. - Yea. I do reject this idea of varna dharma, whoever might have told it. If you reject my ideas I am least bothered about it. As an ordinary Hindu, I want my society around to harbour progress and equality, well-being and enlightenment. As a common man in the society, I want to be among common human beings cooperating with each other. Human life and human welfare being top-most in my value list, I consider cultural aspects like religion, arts and literature as values that could be adopted and adapted towards enhancing the human life and human progress. Society forms the practical platform to do that. It is not the other way about. I do not want to adapt or adopt the human life or society to suit the ideas found in ancient books. Human life cannot be lived in the past anywhere by anyone. Human life has to be lived in the present. Wisdom is to adapt the suitable ideas from the past to supplement whatever we learn afresh in the present. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

Arguing Positively as a Hindu 01

You may react to the title in many ways. Why to argue? what is there anything positive? If you consider everything is already positive, where is the need for argument? If you are arguing then how can you call yourself a Hindu? Like this, the reactions may be varied. But if you are a person who is not thinking that being a Hindu is possible in only one way and that way is already fixed in books and mandated by tradition, promoted by personages with very little variations, then you are one who believes in arguments and arguing positively for betterment. But really speaking, if we understand our social history, Hindu itself signifies such a person who argues positively for betterment and updating oneself over time. As against this, the fixed type of person who abhors any change in tradition and discourages any argument on Sastras, that type is usually called  Vaidik or Sastric or Sampradayik person. The Hindu is one who is worried about the society as such, the social development and the social progress and the social unity. The Hindu wants to adopt and adapt ideas of the heritage towards betterment of the society. The Hindu wants to make the life more meaningful in the present reality of the world. Naturally the Hindu is one who believes in interpreting the books of wisdom dynamically towards social progress and unity. When the traditionalist worries about the literal meaning of Sastras, the Hindu is careful about the purport and the ultimate practical significance of Sastraic ideas. The Hindu is one who has learnt the lesson of time and has realised the necessity of being relevant in society and the world. And active interpretation is essential for one who realises the value of time, society and reality. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***

Why flowers are used in worship of God ..

Flowers are so lovely to behold. 

Earth seems to smile at us, being touched by the rays from the sky. 

Colours sing with a fragrance. 

The contours of petals wink at us with a violent goodliness of heart. 

We can ask the bee its opinion 

vagrant and sweet, 

like a king or differ from it 

like God. 

But a flower, the earthly smile at the divine, 

teases always our eyes 

and also our noses 

but teaches our mind 

again and again 

notes of divinity. 

I am musing on reading 

these lines of Havelock Ellis 

on flowers and God : 

' Flowers are of all things most completely
and profusely the obvious efflorescence
of loveliness in the whole physical
world. 

Gods are of all things the
most marvellous efflorescence of the
human psychic world. 

These two Lovelinesses,
the Loveliness of Sex and the
Loveliness of Creation, bring the whole
universe to two polar points, which yet
are in the closest degree resemblant and
allied."... 

And perhaps it is because
men and women are in function flowers
and in image gods that they are so
fascinating, even enwrapped in the rags,
physical and metaphysical, 

which sometimes
serve but to express the Flower-
God beneath.' 

Flower to the Divine... 

there flows my mind. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

***