Despondency and the Grace of Hari..

It’s a great wonder that Mahabharata, the nectar composed by the Great Veda Vyasa is available to Mankind. Dharma, Wealth, Pleasure and Liberation are the four main aspirations of man kind which is widely the subject matter of that great epic. All our aspirations fall into them as sub categories. From the time of birth to death every one acts as dictated by Svaratha (personal gain). Bhishma says the same to Dharmapurta that every one is guided by svartha. Even a new born child cries to get food and warmth. This cry doesn’t stop with childhood but continues till death. We all, knowingly or unknowingly, cry for various personal gains as desired by our mind which is under the control of three gunas namely Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Even great sages were often led by Svartha. When Lopamudra demanded ornaments and wealth Sage Agastya had to go begging kings and finally Ilava , gave him what Agastya wanted to gratify his wife. If Agastya can run after money no need to speak about us. Not every one gets the mind set of Shree Nigamantha Mahaa Desikan , who says” Dhananjaya syandhana Bhooshanam Dhanam”-Lord Partha Sarathy who adorned Arjun’s chariot is my sole wealth.
In pursuit of our personal gain, we perform action and in this process we reinforce desire, greed, anger and hatred upon ourselves and on others. The nature of mind is such that it is never satiated with a single goal and makes us wander from one goal to another. “Aaatmaiva hiaatmano bandhuh aatmaiva ripu aatmanah” – Mind when controlled is the friend of man and otherwise can be his sole enemy.
Desire by itself is not wrong. Desire should be directed along dharmic ways for pleasing and attaining Narayana. Shri Aandaal echos the same” Matrainum kaamamgal Maatreloor empaavaai”
Desire to please oneself along dharmic way also can lead to anger etc. the only desire that leads Man to heaven is the desire to please the Lord and his Bhaagavathaas. Even the desire for moksha should not be to simply attain bliss and escape from samsara but to be Sesha to the Lord and render service to please him , for that is the true nature of jiva. So even desire for Moksha is not Svartha but Paramatva preethiyartham. This is the height of selfless action & humility that Shri Vaishnavism- the voice of Vedas, demand from Mankind. It is our duty to see that we become eligible for Vaikunta and be ever engaged in service to the Lord and please him. This service in Vaikunta will not done by us because of our efforts but because of his will. This alone is the highest possible goal – to be used by Him for His own pleasure and experiencing the bliss with him as a Sesha –also called Moksha.

Abraham Maslov came up with a theory that Man always aspires towards different goals starting with physical and ending with self actualization. This was well known by Indian Sages since the Kritha Yuga( the first quarter of time). Like the ghee poured into fire, various pleasures make our cravings bigger. This becomes cyclic & most of us have been cycling like this for time immeasurable. So the pursuit of pleasures not sanctioned by scriptures , gives ,neither peace nor happiness that’s everlasting. Also all pleasures on earth are transitory and the same is true of a beggar and a king. Man cannot be a master of fate because the results of action are controlled by the divine Cosmic being also addressed as Naraayana in the Vedic literature .To make us realize this truth, the all pervading Hari, gives, out of his mercy, despondency to us, lest we would believe in these petty pleasures and would never rise above them. When ever we pursue goals for svartha the Lord mixes pain with results based on our previous karma often to remind us that these pleasures are transient. For a Bhakta like Prahalada there is no pain or despondency and only actions done to please the Lord rise above gain and pain and purifies our mind. Those Bhaktas are above the dualities like pleasure,-pain, gain-loss , heat-cold and are called stitapragnyain Bhagavat Gita. Prahalada says “mitra amitra kuta kutah” – I don’t see any friend or enemy but only the Lord residing in the hearts of all. Shri Krishna also says the same” Vasudevam sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabah” and also “ ….panditah sama dharshinah”. Becoming a Bhakta like Prahalada is impossible for a common man and hence the Lord in Gita states the sharanaagathi marga for ordinary mortals like Arjun.
The latest Global financial Crash is an example that brought many a rich back to the ground. Upanishads say that “Bhooma na alpe sukam asti” – Brahmam is Bhooma( infinite biss) and even the most attainable pleasure on earth is alpe sukam( petty). They also say that the jeevan on attaining infinite bliss with Brahmam gets fully satiated in the same and never craves anything more- “Aanandam Brahmano vidwan na bhibhethi kadachana” . thus the only destination worth pursuing is Shri Vainkunta where our Lord exists in Bhoga vibuthi or most pleasurable state. if this much is clear , we will only have Bhaktas in this universe which is not so . this is because the Lord himself deludes our mind by subjecting it to Material Prakrithi. This is his Lila vibuthi . this doesn’t mean he is biased or putting jeevas to trouble unnecessarily. Vedya Vyasa’s famous Brahma Sutra defends by saying”Vishamya Nairgrinye na” – He is disinterested in jeevas and their actions in general. He ,out of mercy creates a platform in the form of Prakriti for the jeevas to evolve and attempt reaching him. Infact he desires that all jeevas reach him. This Prakriti is a necessary platform for a jeeva since he has vaasanaas because of previous deeds. With such vaasanas even if we gives a ticket to Vaikunta , we are likely to reject it in exchange for a fortune of land, wealth and woman. This is the plight of us-creatures masked by ignorance. This is why the Lord himself out of his grace became the first acharya and preached the path of liberation. He gave the eternal Vedas and Acharyas to guide peope and to break the shackles of Samsara. In the last analysis , what ever he likes is dharma and what ever he dislikes is adharma.The Great Sukha Brahmam says “Krishnam Dharmam Sanatham”. This is how Shastras get their merit and authority in commanding actions. The lord himself says” Shruthir smrithir mamavair aagnya “ and “Aagnya cheedi mama drohi , mat bhaktah api Avaishnavah” – Vedas and smrithis are his commands and he who doesn’t respect them is a traiter and he is not a devotee and cannot be a vaishnavaite.. Also the Lord who is”Nishkalam Nishkriyam Shaantam Niravadyam Niranjanam “ , is the best to give guidance on action since he alone is the master of all-“Bhuta Bavya Bhavan Nathah”, “Buvanasya Goopta” and “Jagannathah”.
Mahabaratha records a scenario wherein Arjun was in despondency because he had to fight his kinsmen and his attachment to them created doubts in his mind about his pursuit of kingdom. Alavandar(Yamunaacharya) gloriously captures this sentiment” Astaana sneha kaarunya dharmaadharma diyaakulam partham prapanna mudrishya shastraavataranam kritam”. Attachment and actions as guided by dharma and niskaamya with the sole reason of pleasing the Lord would ever be dharmic way and Arjun being a warrior had to fight in accordance with his varnashrama dharma as ordained by the lord. Krisha had to shift his goal from Raajyam to Bhagavat Preetiyartham and Moksha and in this process he gifted to mankind the unparalled scripture - Bhagavat Gita.
Arjun tainted by this big grief surrendered to Lord to guide him and the Lord started teaching him tatva , sahdana and purushartham.
Ramanuja Praises the lord - “ Sarveshvareshvarah jagat upa kritimartya aatmanam sarathim partham cha rathinam sarva lokha sakshi kamchakaara”- the Lord of Lords – SriPathi , due of his inmeasurabe mercy ,who is nikila heya pratyaneeka kalyanaanaika tanah , apahatha papma, avaptha samastha kamah and sarva seshi, apart from descending to earth as Krishna and becoming the charioteer of an ordinary mortal like Arjun , did this in front of all the crowd . Even a king would not sit with his beloved servant in front of others whereas the king of universe sits as a charioteer in front of entire humanity …..This is the grace that the Lord shows. Ramanuja also praises Arjun as “Mahamanah” - Arjun , because of his excessive mercy lost the sight of dharma and not because of his low qualities.
The Lord gave Bhagavat gita not to just remove Arjun’s despondency but ours too……..(to be contd..)