“ രജ്ജുസര്‍പ്പന്യായം” (the illusion of rope and serpent)

കടപ്പാട് : Mr. Mohanan Sreedharan (http://msntekurippukal.blogspot.in)

                       

രാത്രിയില്‍ ഇരുട്ടത്ത് കയ്യിലോ വഴിയിലോ വെളിച്ചമില്ലാതെ, നാട്ടുവെളിച്ച( അമാവാസി പോലുള്ള ഇരുട്ടു രാത്രിയില്‍ നമുക്കനുഭവപ്പെടുന്ന നക്ഷത്രങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നും വലിയ ഗ്രഹങ്ങളില്‍നിന്നും ലഭിക്കുന്ന മങ്ങിയ വെളിച്ചം.)ത്തില്‍ നാടന്നുപോകുമ്പോള്‍ അതാ വഴിയിലൊരു പാമ്പ് വളഞ്ഞു കൂടി കിടക്കുന്നു, നടുറോട്ടില്‍ത്തന്നെ.സൂക്ഷിച്ചു നോക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അതിടക്കിടക്ക് തലപൊക്കി നോക്കുന്നതുപോലെ തോന്നുന്നു, ചീറ്റുന്നതായി തോന്നുന്നു. നമ്മൂടെ ഹൃദയം പടപടാ ഇടിക്കുന്നു, ശാസഗതി കൂടുന്നു,ശരീരം വിയര്‍ക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങുന്നു, പാമ്പുകളെക്കുറിച്ചു കേട്ട പഴയ കഥകള്‍ മനസ്സിലേക്കു വരുന്നു, വായിലെ വെള്ളം  വറ്റുന്നു, തിരിഞ്ഞോടാന്‍ പോയിട്ട് ഒന്നനങ്ങാന്‍ പോലും ശക്തിയില്ലാതെ നാം കുഴഞ്ഞു നില്‍ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അങ്ങകലെ നിന്നതാ ഒരാള്‍ ചൂട്ടും വീശി നമുക്കെതിരെ വരുന്നു.നമ്മള്‍ പ്രയാസപ്പെട്ട് അയാളെ അറിയിക്കുന്നു വഴിയില്‍ ഒരു പാമ്പുണ്ട് എന്ന്.അയാള്‍ക്കും ‌പേടിയുണ്ടെങ്കിലും അയാളുടെ കയ്യില്‍ വെളിച്ചമുണ്ട്, ആ വെളിച്ചത്തില്‍ സൂക്ഷിച്ച് അയാളാ പാമ്പിനെ നോക്കുന്നു.അപ്പോഴതാ ആശ്വാസത്തോടെ അയാളും നാമും അറിയുന്നു - അത് പാമ്പല്ലാ ഒരു കഷണം കയറാ(രഞ്ചു)ണെന്ന്.അയാളും നമ്മളും ഒരുപോലെ ആശ്വാസം കൊള്ളുന്നു, ശ്വാസഗതി നേരെയാകുന്നു, വിയര്‍ക്കല്‍ നില്‍ക്കുന്നു, വായില്‍ വെള്ളം തിരിച്ചു കയറുന്നു, നമ്മുടെ മണ്ടത്തരം ഓര്‍ത്ത് നമൂക്കു തന്നെ ഒരിളം വളിച്ച ചിരി വിടരുന്നു, നമ്മളും അയാളും യാത്ര തുടരുന്നു.

                                     ചുരുക്കത്തില്‍ ഇതാണ് രഞ്ചു സര്‍പ്പ ന്യായം.നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണുകള്‍ മായക്കാഴ്ചകള്‍  പലതും കാണിച്ചു തന്ന് കബളിപ്പിക്കും.നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണുകളുടെ പ്രത്യേകത മൂലം നാം കാണുന്ന   കാഴ്ച്ചകള്‍ പലതും മായമായിരിക്കും.അതില്‍ നിന്നും സത്യമേതാണ് ചീത്തയേതാണ് എന്ന് നാം തനിയേ കണ്ടെത്തണം.മായക്കാഴ്ച്ചകള്‍ പലവിധത്തിലുണ്ടാകാം.നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണിന്റെ പ്രത്യേകത കൊണ്ടുണ്ടാകാം,മനസ്സിന്റെ നിലവാരം കൊണ്ടുണ്ടാകാം, മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ പ്രേരണ കൊണ്ടുമുണ്ടാകാം.നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണിന് ഒരു പാടു പ്രത്യേകതകളുണ്ട്, ആ പ്രത്യേകതകള്‍ കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ സത്യമല്ലാത്ത മിഥ്യയായ കാഴ്ച്ചകള്‍ നമുക്ക് നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണുകള്‍ കാട്ടിത്തരുന്നുണ്ട്.പിന്നൊന്ന് നമ്മുടെ മനസ്സില്‍ അടിയുറച്ചു പോയ ചില ധാരണകള്‍ നമ്മെ അന്ധമായി ചില കാര്യങ്ങളില്‍ത്തന്നെ ഉറച്ചുനില്‍ക്കാന്‍ പ്രേരിപ്പിക്കും,അവന്‍ അഭിപ്രായസ്ഥിരതയുള്ളവന്‍ എന്നൊക്കെ നമുക്ക് പേരുകിട്ടുമെങ്കിലും നമ്മള്‍ ഏറ്റവും പഴഞ്ചനും കാശിനുകൊള്ളാത്തവനായി മാറുകയും ചെയ്യും.ഇങ്ങനെയൊരു മനസ്സിനെ രൂപപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ , ദൈവവിശ്വാസത്തിന്റെ കാര്യത്തിലെങ്കിലും, നമ്മുടെ അഛനപ്പൂപ്പന്മാര്‍ മുതല്‍ അമ്മയമ്മൂമ്മ വരേയുള്ളവര്‍ കിണഞ്ഞു പരിശ്രമിക്കും, പുരോഹിതന്മാരും  ജ്യോത്സ്യന്മാരും ഒക്കെ ഇതില്‍ മുന്‍പന്തിയില്‍ നില്‍ക്കുന്നവരാണ്. മാധ്യമങ്ങളുടെ കാര്യം പറയാനുമില്ല.സൂക്ഷിച്ചു നോക്കിയാല്‍ ഇവരൊക്കെ അധികാരത്തിന്, അധികാരികള്‍ക്ക് ദല്ലാള്‍ പണി ചെയ്യുന്നവരാണെന്ന സത്യം നമുക്ക് മനസ്സിലാകും, പക്ഷെ അതിന് മനസ്സിനെ  സ്വതന്ത്രമാക്കുകയും വേണം.

Osho on Adi Shankaracharya Discussion With Mandan Mishra

Osho - I remembered about the original Shankaracharya, Adi Shankaracharya. He is a predecessor of nearly fourteen hundred years ago. He died a young man, he died when he was thirty-three. He created a new tradition of sannyasins, he created four temples in all the four directions, and he appointed four shankaracharyas, one for each direction.

I remembered about him that he traveled all over the country defeating great, well-known philosophers -- that was in a totally different atmosphere. One great philosopher was Mandan Mishra; he had a great following. Still in his memory a town exists. I have been there many times. It is on a beautiful bank of the Narmada, one of the most beautiful rivers.

That is the place where the river descends from the mountains, so it has tremendous beauty. The city is called Mandala, in memory of Mandan Mishra. Shankara must have been at the age of thirty when he reached Mandala. Just on the outskirts of the town, by a well, a few women were drawing water. He asked them, "I want to know where the great philosopher Mandan Mishra lives."

Those women started giggling and they said, "Don't be worried, you just go inside. You will find it."Shankara said, "How will I find it?"

They said, "You will find it, because even the parrots around his house -- he has a big garden and there are so many parrots in the garden -- they repeat poetries from the UPANISHADS, from the VEDAS. If you hear parrots repeating, singing beautiful poetries from the Upanishads, you can be certain that this is the house of Mandan Mishra."

He could not believe it, but when he went and he saw, he had to believe. He asked Mandan Mishra -- he was old, nearabout seventy -- "I have come a very long way from South India to have a discussion with you, with a condition: If I am defeated, I will become your disciple, and if you are defeated, you will have to become my disciple. Naturally, when I become your disciple all my disciples will become your disciples and the same will be true if you become my disciple -- all your disciples will become my disciples."

Old Mandan Mishra looked at the young man and he said, "You are too young and I feel a little hesitant whether to accept this challenge or not. But if you are insistent, then there is no way; I have to accept it. But it does not look right that a seventy year old man who has fought thousands of debates should be fighting with a young man of thirty.

But to balance, I would suggest one thing" -- and this was the atmosphere that has a tremendous value -- "to substitute, I will give you the chance to choose the judge who will decide. So you find a judge. You are too young, and I feel that if you are defeated at least you should have the satisfaction that the judge was your choice."

Now where to find a judge? The young man had heard much about Mandan Mishra's wife. Her name was Bharti. She was also old, sixty-five. He said, "I will choose your wife to be the judge."

This is the atmosphere, so human, so loving. First Mandan Mishra gave him the chance to choose, and then Shankara chose Maridan Mishra's own wife! And Bharti said, "But this is not right, I'm his wife, and if you are defeated you may think it is because I may have been prejudiced, favorable towards my husband."

Shankara said, "There is no question of any suspicion. I have heard much about your sincerity. If I'm defeated, I'm defeated. And I know perfectly well if your husband is defeated, you will be the last person to hide the fact."
Six months it took for the discussion. On each single point that man has thought about they quarreled, argued, quoted, interpreted, and after six months the wife said, "Shankara is declared victorious. Mandan Mishra is defeated."

Thousands of people were listening for these six months. It was a great experience to listen to these two so refined logicians, and this was a tremendous experience, that the wife declared Shankara to be the winner. There was great silence a for few moments, and then Bharti said, "But remember that you are only half a winner, because according to the scriptures the wife and husband makes one whole. I'm half of Mandan Mishra. You have defeated one half; now you will have to discuss with me."

Shankara was at a loss. For six months he had tried so hard; many times he had been thinking of giving up -- the old man was really very sharp even in his old age. Nobody has been able to stand against Shankara for six months, and now the wife says his victory is only half. Bharti said, "But I will also give you the chance to choose your judge."

He said, "Where am I going to find a better judge than Mandan Mishra? You are such simple and fair and sincere people. But Bharti was very clever, more clever than Shankara had imagined, because she started asking questions about the science of sex.

Shankara said, "Forgive me, I am a celibate and I don't know anything about sex."

Bharti said, "Then you will have to accept your defeat, or if you want some time to study and experience, I'm willing to give you some time."

He was caught in such a strange situation; he asked for six months and six months were given. "You can go and learn as much as you can because this will be the subject to begin with, then later on, other subjects. It is not easy," Bharti said, "to beat Mandan Mishra. But that half was easier! I am a much harder woman. If I can declare the defeat of my husband, you can understand that I am a hard woman. It is not going to be easy. If you feel afraid don't come back; otherwise we will wait for six months."

This atmosphere continued for thousands of years. There was no question of being angry, there was no question of being abusive, there was no question of trying to prove that you are right by your physical strength or by your arms or by your armies. These were thought to be barbarous methods; these were not for the cultured people.

Source : from Osho Book “The Golden Future”

Bhaja govindam - by Adhi Shankaracharya

Adhi Shankaracharya wrote a number of vedantic works for imparting knowledge of the self and the universal spirit. He also composed a number of hymns to foster Bhakthi in the hearts of men. One of these hymns is the famous Bhaja govindaM. The way of devotion, is not different from the way of knowledge or gnyana. When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the mind, it becomes wisdom. When wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes bhakthi. Knowledge, when it becomes fully mature is bhakthi. If it doesnot get transformed into bhakthi, such knowledge is useless tinsel. To believe that gnyana and bhakthi, knowledge and devotion are different from each other, is ignorance. If Sri Adi Shankara himself who drank the ocean of gnyana as easily as one sip water from the palm of one's hand, sang in his later years, hymns to develop devotion, it is enough to show that gnyana and bhakthi are one and the same. Sri Shankara has packed into the Bhaja govindaM song: the substance of all vedanta, and set the oneness of gnyana and bhakthi to melodious music.
Bhaja govindaM is one of the minor compositions of the spiritual gaint, Adi SHANKARA. It is classified as a Prakarana grantha, a primer to the major works. Though sung as a bhajan, it contains the essence of vedanta and awakens the man to think, "Why am I here in this life ? Why am I amassing wealth, family, but have no peace ? What is the Truth ? What is the purpose of life ?" Man is thus awakened and gets set on a path to the inner road back to God.
The background of Bhaja GovindaM is worth examining. During Shankara's stay in Kashi, he noticed a very old man engaged in the early hours studying the rules of sanskrit by Panini. Shankara was touched with pity seeing the plight of the old man spending his years at a mere intellectual accomplishment while he would be better off praying and spending time to control his mind. Shankara understood that the majority of the world was also engaged in mere intellectual, sense pleasures and not in the divine contemplation. Seeing this, he burst forth with the verses of Bhaja govindaM.
In 31 (some cite 33) verses, he, like no other, explains our fallacies, our wrong outlook for life, and dispells our ignorance and delusions. Thus bhaja govindaM was originally known as Moha Mudgara, the remover of delusions.
Shankara explains, nay chides, us for spending our time in useless trivia like amassing wealth, lusting after (wo)men and requests us to discriminate and cultivate the knowledge to learn the difference between the real and the unreal. To emphasize that all knowledge other than Self-Knowledge is useless, Shankara makes the man realize how foolish he is in his conduct and behavior by these verses, and shows him the purpose of our worldly existence, which is to seek Govinda and attain Him.
Bhaja govindaM is divided into dvaadasa manjarika stotram and chaturdasa manjarika stotram. At the end of composing the first stanza, it is said that Shankara burst forth with the next 12 stanzas of bhaja govindam. Thus stanzas 1-12 are called dvaadas manjarika stotram. Inspired by the extempore recital by Shankara, each of his 14 disciples composed a verse and the 14 verse compendium is called chaturdasa manjarika stotram. Shankara added the finishing touches by adding five of his own stanzas at the last bring the total to 31. This edition shows 33 verses, though the last 2 are not given in all versions.
Bhaja govindaM has been set to musical tones and sung as prayer songs by children. It is divided into dvaadashapaJNjarikaa and charpaTapaJNjarikaa for this purpose. The former is a set of verses (verses 1,2,5,11,18,20,21,23,27,29,31) while the rest of the verses form charpaTapaJNjarikaa.
Anyone who listens to the music of Bhaja govindaM is attracted to it. However, the significance of the text goes much deeper and contains a well defined philosophy of attaining salvation. Shankara words here seem to be quite piercing and seem to lack his softness and tenderness often found in his other texts. The reason is that this was an extempore recital to an old man. His words can be compared to a knife of a doctor. The doctor's knife cruely removes the tumor with much pain, but removing the tumor ultimately restores good health in the patient. So is Shankara's words, which pierce and point out our ignorance. It is a knife into the heart of worldliness, and by removing this tumor of ignorance, we can attain everlasting bliss with the grace of Govinda.
May the acharayaa guide us from ignorance to truth and help us remember the song of Swami Vivekananda at all times :
Meditate, O my mind, on the Lord Hari, The stainless One, Pure spirit through and through. How peerless is the Light that in Him shines ! How soul-bewitching is His wondrous form ! How dear is He to all His devotees ! Ever more beauteous in fresh blossoming love That shames the splendour of a million moons Like lightning gleams the glory of His form Raising erect the hair for very joy Worship his feet in the lotus of your heart with mind serene and eyes made radiant with heavenly love, behold that matchless sight. Caught in the spell of His love's ecstasy, Immerse yourself for evermore, O mind In Him who is pure knowledge and pure bliss.
OM tat sat.

READ Bhaja Govindam Text & English Translation HERE.