Tag: Life

Prologue for the Sloka 1 – Master Piece

The Master Piece

It is an oft-quoted saying that philosophy begins in wonder. The mystery of the Universe with all its changes strikes the reflective temper of human beings. Through this reflective temper, human beings constantly question their experiences. The Vedic philosophy grew out of a demand for the explanation of actual experiences of an individual.

One of the fundamental laws of Vedanta is “ I am different from whatever I experience”. In general, this whole world that I experience therefore, comes under the Category – “The experienced” or in other words “The object” and I come under the category “The experiencer” or “The subject”.

Now, start the reflective temper by dismissing the object and the subject only remains. In this world I interact with persons and I clearly say that “I am not like this person; I am not like these group of persons; I am not this animal; I am not this; I am not that, I won’t be like that, I am different etc.”….and the list goes on. This way you go on dismissing everything that you experience as an object different from you and finally dismissing the world itself as an object. This is the first level of reflection. The next level is to look at yourselves, since you ruled out the world.

I am not the world that I experience ; but then who am I ? To my limited knowledge, there cannot be any other question other than this simple question which evoked such a vast, deep and wide analysis of the individual experiences by the Saints & Philosophers of Hinduism/Sanatana Dharma. One lifetime to understand the material available may not be adequate. Yet from this ocean of information and knowledge I will venture out and reproduce what is quoted in the basic source book on Vedanta “Tattva Bodha”.

स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीराद्व्यतिरिक्तः पञ्चकोशातीतः सन् अवस्थात्रयसाक्षी सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः सन् यस्तिष्ठति स आत्मा ।

‘I’ (addressed as Atma) am the one who is distinctly different from the gross, subtle and causal bodies; who is beyond the five layers (kośas); who abides as the self-evident witness to the three states of experience (of the nature of existence/awake-awareness/dream-fullness/deep sleep).

Vedanta identifies the features of a human body-mind-intellect complex with three types of bodies, 5 types of sheaths/layers, 5 sense organs 5 action organs , the mind the intellect and the three states of the consciousness (viz, wake, dream and deep sleep). This means that the “Atma (“I”) ” is beyond all these 21 seamlessly integrated features of body-mind-intellect complex.

“I” am not the world; “I” am not the body, “I” am not the mind/intellect. If “I” am different from all these three; then “I” must be a conscious principle, because I am experiencing them.

Thus the entire object or anātmā consists of three factors, the world, the body and the mind; and “I”, the ātmā, the observer consists of the consciousness principle called chaitanyam. This is the fundamental concept that we are trying to grapple with in Vedanta

At this stage I am again reminded of this excellent poem “Master Piece” by “Author Anonymous” which I posted in my blog on June 12, 2020 (Masterpiece – Prabhu’s Ponder (prabhusponder.com)).  It simply moved me – what deep understanding of the subject and what an expression! The author wanted to remain Anonymous and clearly stated that “spirituality decreases when it is attributed to a person. I was but a scribe.”

This master piece is what “I” am and can only be experienced rather than be defined.

Now in the first Sloka, the subject matter is: What is the relationship between I, the consciousness principle, and the entire universe; the inert matter. What is the relationship between I the ātmā, the consciousness principle, and the world, the inert principle called anātmā.

So अत्म–अनात्म सम्भन्दः atma-anātma sambhandaḥ “ஆன்மாவும் அண்டமும்” “Jivatma and the Jagat” is the subject matter of the first verse; and Sankaracharya beautifully explains this with the help of two examples of mirror and dream, about which we will see in the coming blogs.

CAUTION 1:

Throughout the blogs, you will see fair mix of words in Sanskrit and Tamil. Wherever possible, I will try to use the transliterated/ words with verbatim letters in English for easy understanding based on my elementary knowledge.

CAUTION 2

As each Sloka brings out the essence of Vedanta, it is necessary that some basic concepts of the Vedanta is discussed first before dwelling into the Sloka. As such there will be introductory blogs which will cover the concepts before taking up the Sloka and its meaning. With my limited understanding I will try and make these conceptual blogs simple through day to day examples. If you find them too elementary, please bear with my ignorance. It will turn out that we may need a minimum of 4-5 blogs to cover each Sloka. Get ready for a long haul.

Siva Panchaakshara Stothram

The Panchakshara (पञ्चाक्षर) literally means “five letters” in Sanskrit and refers to the five holy letters Na, Ma, Śi, Vā and Ya. This is prayer to Lord Siva and is associated with Siva’s Mantra , OM Namah Sivaya of which is also called the Panchakshari Mantra.

Here is a translation in Tamil of the epic Sthothram by Adi Sankaracharya

We ate well Veggies

Today is the first day of the New Year for Tamils who follow the solar calendar. Festival means plenty of food to eat and enjoy apart from prayers and rituals. Vegetarians in India have no issues. What about our clans in the Western World ?

Veggies face the culinary trilemma of being vegetarian, trying to eat healthy and being a foodie.

Some common modern-day myths

  1. Being a vegetarian makes you healthy. Yes, we are practically immortal at this point!
  2. A vegetarian cannot be a foodie. Given we are limited to tofu and eggplant parmesan.
  3. A foodie by definition, cannot eat healthy. See above.

This Substack is an attempt to conquer the impossible trinity of vegetarianism. Please do visit for receipes.

https://v8well.substack.com/p/the-impossible-trinity

https://instagram.com/stories/v8well/2581746083203237433?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&utm_medium=copy_link

This is a blog specifically created for the Veggies by my relative.

ஆலமரத்தடி ஆசானின் அருள்வாக்கு – Dakshinamurthy Stothram

As I wrote last week, I have commenced my journey in understanding myself. Nothing works without a prayer and I am a strong believer in that life style. So, I will start with a prayer on who else except the one and only Lord Arunachala at Thiruvannamalai who through Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi kindled the enquiry “WHO AM I?” in millions of people in the Universe, me being the latest ignorant one , the “jada jana”. This will be a composition by Sri Muthuswamy Dikshithar. The blog will appear under Carnatic Musing in the Menu on 9th April 2021

An introduction to Dakshinamurthy will be presented in the blog that follows on 16th April. I am deeply obliged to Mr. Sreenivasa Rao for kindly permitting me to use his blogs where he has covered the subject in it’s entirety

This will be followed by a blog on the Dhyana Slokas (துதிப்பாடல்கள்) that will be published on 24th April 2021 coinciding with the Divine Wedding of Goddess Meenakshi with Lord Sundareshwarar at the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

After that I plan to take time for each of the Slokas as I am a learner. These blogs will be longer than usual, as these will include apart from the translation in Tamil, excerpts from the various commentaries that I tried to read for my understanding. The first Sloka is planned in the month of May

For kind information

WHO AM I – The baby steps

As a kid nearly 60 years back, Visalakshi Ammman Kovil (Temple is more than 300 years old ) in Batlagundu (Vattlagundu), situated in Nilkottai Taluk of in Dindigul District in Tamilnadu, on the bank of HARIDHRA RIVER (MANJALARU – no idea if the river exists today!) was the only place which I used to go regularly for prayers, not because I understood what a prayer is and the need for one; but that used to be the mandate those days for boys at the “Agraharam (an ungated community!)” from the family. Visalakshi Amman & Lord Visvesvarar are the principal deities and the temple included several Deities such as Ganesha, Subramanya, Chandikeshwarar, Dakṣiṇāmurty etc. For each of the Gods, we used to recite a specific Sloka and when it came to Dakṣiṇāmurty, we used to recite as a routine. Here is a short video of the temple (Photo Courtesy – My friend Muthunarayanan alias Muthappa)

https://videopress.com/v/k9wccZMr?preloadContent=metadata

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheswara

Guru sakshath ParaBrahma tasmai Sri Guruve Namah.

I did not know anything about either God or the Sloka except that I had to recite it at that particular spot where Lord Dakṣiṇāmurty was situated. All I knew was that He was a form of Siva. Never in my life subsequent to that period and even in my dreams did I imagine once, that one day I will be writing about the Sthothram on Lord Dakṣiṇāmurty by Adi Śankarācārya. Blessed I am indeed to even think of consolidating what is written and explained by legends and doyens of Spirituality and Vedāntaḥ.

But strange is the nature and power of “the Ultimate Reality”. Study of Vedāntaḥ and listening to Spirituality oriented Discourses is the most familiar route for spending time after retirement for most of us and I am no exception to this. One such lecture by Prof. Mahadevan of IIM, Bangalore was the spark I needed to dive into the Ocean of Vedāntaḥ Concepts brought out in Dakṣiṇāmurty Stotram.  Realizing that I am getting old and spending time on spirituality, my son presented me with a book titled “The Upanishads” by Sri. Eknath Easwaran. This added fuel to the fire. As I was exploring these two topics, I learnt that I can’t do either if I don’t know Tattva Bodha. Now this is the third dimension to my time management. My preoccupation with these three books and commentaries by Swami Paramarthananda, Swami Omkaranada and Swami Sravapriyananda drove my grandchildren (my daughter’s young boys) to the conclusion that their “Thatha” (grandfather) who used to spend lot of time playing cricket and organizing/fixing the place rendered as a “mess” by them is not doing it anymore and is lost. They even declared my room as “Thatha’s Corner “– The lost and found room. The fact is that as a “Thatha” I am lost; but I am trying to find out as to who I am instead of where I am. 

How can I find out the answer to the question “Who am I”? The legendary Tamil Saint Thirumoolar comes to my rescue in his epic Thirumandiram

“நரருஞ் சுரரும் பசுபாசம் நண்ணிக்

கருமங்க ளாலே கழித்தலிற் கண்டு

குருஎன் பவன்ஞானி கோதில னானால்

பரமென்ற லன்றிப் பகர்வொன்று மின்றே”.

மனிதர்களும்,தேவர்களும் பாசத்தில் அகப்பட்டு பல்வேறு வினைகளைச் செய்து அதனால் அழிந்து போகின்றனர். இதைக் கண்ட பின்பு ஒருவன் செய்ய வேண்டியது என்ன? ஒரு குற்றமற்ற ஞானியைத் தன் குருவாகப் பற்றிக் கொண்டாலே போதும். “பரத்துடன் கூடி நீயும் பரம் ஆவாய்” என்று உபதேசம் செய்வதன்றி அந்த குரு செய்ய வேண்டியது எதுவும் இல்லை.

As mortals like me, get trapped by “attachment” and perform actions which lead us nowhere, one has to look for a Guru who will make him understand that “You are That”. Fine; I need a Guru. How do I look for Guru at this Old age? Thirumoolar gives a response to my query.

“ஆட்கொண்ட வர்தனி நாயகன் அன்புற

மேற்கொண்ட வர்வினை போயற நாடொறும்

நிற்கின்ற செஞ்சடை நீளன் உருவத்தின்

மேற்கொண்ட வாறலை வீவித் துளானே”.

ஒரு குருவாக வந்து மாணவனை ஆட்கொள்பவர் ஒப்பற்ற ஈசனே ஆவார். அவர் தன் மாணவனின் வினைகள் அழியும் வண்ணம் நாள்தோறும் உபதேசிக்கிறார். அவர் நீர்மலிந்த நீள் சடையை உடைய சிவனே அன்றி வேறு எவரும் அல்ல. சிவனே மனம் இரங்கியும் கீழே இறங்கியும் வந்து மாணவனின் வருத்துகின்ற வல்வினைகளை அழித்து விடுகின்றார்.

Thirumoolar further states Lord Siva Himself comes in the form of a Guru to help us understand ourselves. It is with this confidence, that I am undertaking this journey, with Lord Dakṣiṇāmurty as my Guru and Adi Śankarācārya’ Stotramon on the Lord as the first leg of my journey.

To be honest, nothing that I will be writing in the months to come is mine, except the attempt to focus my understanding and in that process try to express the Sanskrit Slokas in my mother tongue – Tamil; it is only my limited understanding of the vast literature available in public domain. The purpose of documenting my understanding is with the hope that someday someone as ignorant as me (hopefully not when they become “the lost Thatha”), will take baby steps as a novice like me, into this delightful field of spirituality holding this piece of document as the helping hand. If that happens, that will be the biggest gift that I would be automatically passing on (without holding back) to all the people in the public domain whose works I have used extensively. There is no commercial interest whatsoever.

A word of caution here – Millions of pages have been written over centuries by “Subject” – “Matter” – Specialists to provide commentaries for the Slokas in these books. Summing them up into few lines is absolutely immature and childish; yet as a child I have started my baby steps on Vedāntaḥ. Pardon me for that. But Children have the right to enquire and ask questions. The child I am, I am asking questions to myself with the fond hope that someday I will find answers as to who I am.

Seeking your Blessings and wishes as I commence my journey. You are most welcome to join me in my journey. Looking forward to your wonderful and valued company. A broad based schedule for April & May will be posted in the next blog.

Infinity – முழுமை – पूर्णम्

In Tamil, we use the word கடவுள் (kadavul) to indicate God. நம்மைக் கடந்தும் (kada) நமக்கு உள் (ul) இருப்பதுவே கடவுள் (Meaning that the one which is away from us and yet inside us is God). A very simple word with very deep meaning. One can keep contemplating on this word alone. Deeper introspection will drive us to the concept of Infinity. Talking about infinity from a philosophical perspective will take us directly to this very famous Sloka (Hymn). This śloka is from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad and forms the mangalācarana mantra (Shanthi Sloka) for the Īśāvāsya Upanishad.

Excerpts from various commentaries on this sloka is summarised as understood by me in https://soundar53.substack.com/p/infinity

The day after vaccination

The dark days of COVID-19 combined with the cold winter could force anyone to be tugged under the comforter and lie down on the bed even when awake particularly on a Sunday. Well, I have a different story to tell.

Sunday 24th January 2021 – It was the day after I got “moderna-ized”. Wondering about the new English word coined here ! Yes, the previous day I got the first doze of the much anticipated COVID vaccine from Moderna, making me feel that sometimes getting old is helpful (Got the appointment because I was more than 65 years old – physically).

As typical of an old timer, I got up at 0600 hrs on a cold and frigid Sunday morning with temperature smoothly gliding down to 12 deg F (Remember that I am guy who spent all his life at around 32 deg C. !). I had a choice to make – a choice about how I feel.

In my life, whenever I had to make choices, I had the luck of having someone close to me to lean my shoulders on and pause before making the choice. This Sunday is no exception. As my “close someone” unfolded himself to me, I made my choice.

THERE IS HOPE; THERE IS A BRIGHTER SIDE TO LIFE. LOOK AT THAT AND START THE DAY.

I did. Here is what I looked at from my windows.

Winter Message 2

From around 8 pm on Christmas Eve, till 5 pm on Christmas Day, the thunderstorm that swept through left us at Southampton, Long Islands without Internet. When the storm left, there was a brief period of 10 mts when the sky opened up. I rushed outside to catch a glimpse. Here are some unedited shots from my iPhone. Message is clear – you can be without power or you can be unconnected with others socially; but you cannot disconnect yourselves from Nature.