Pearls from Pasaayadaan: Part 8
Pearls from Pasaayadaan: Part 8
किंबहुना सर्वसुखीं
पूर्ण होऊनि तिहीं लोकीं
भजिजो आदिपुरुखीं
अखंडित
Kimbahunaa किंबहुना what’s more
Sarva sukhi सर्वसुखीं fulfilled with happiness
Poorna पूर्ण complete
Hovuni होऊनि becoming/ being
Tihi तिहीं in all three
Loki लोकीं worlds
Bhajijo भजिजो meditates upon/ devotes to
Aadi Purukhi आदिपुरुखीं The Primordial Being or Brahman, the Source of the Universe
Akhandit अखंडित uninterrupted/ undeterred/ unfailingly
In the earlier verses Dnyaaneshwar has, very thoughtfully, prayed for all beings to avail of the company of saints. He is exuberant in showering praise upon these perfected souls. After having exhausted his words in laying down the merits of true saints he is resting his case and asks “what more can I say ? Kimbahuna ! “
He continues,wishing all beings to be sarva sukhi or fulfilled with happiness. Then adds in the next line: Poorna hovuni or Becoming complete! It is important to understand here what is suggested in these terms. What does fulfilled mean? How is one to define or measure happiness? What it means to become complete?
Our instruments for grading or measuring happiness are our sense organs and their objects of gratification. Family, home, food, physical health, material wealth are measures of our happiness. Subtler/ non-physical entities that also constitute our sense of happiness include praise, honor, recognition, fame, success. Yet all of these are as finite as our mortal bodies. In fact even more short lived are these toys of happiness than our physical body.
A man who is homeless wishes to have a roof above his head. If he finds a hut he feels lonely there. So he wants to marry and have a wife. Once married he wants children. When there are a few children in the hut they feel need for more space. A bigger home, car and other comforts are successive desires. There is no end to needs. One wish fulfilled brings happiness only until the next wish arises in the mind. With such fleeting experience of happiness there is no peace. Often times we see people turning to God or a spiritual teacher(Guru) in search of that elusive peace. Many times they don’t know how to recognize a Guru. More often they are attracted to a Guru who promises to fulfil their worldly desires. The paradox is however that a true Guru ( Sadguru) is one who frees one from desires, not fulfills them.
The happiness that the saints envision for us is neither small nor short lived. Indeed their instruments are different from those of the common man. They look at joy from the seat of self realization, the core of Being which is beyond the reach of sense organs.
The saints are well versed in and live the Vedic teachings. The Vedic texts describe the nature of this Being as Sat-Chit-Aanand(Truth Consciousness Joy). These qualities of the Pure Being are also perfect and constant like the Being Itself. They do not fluctuate or diminish with time, place or circumstance. This is what Dnyaaneshwar is referring to as sarva sukhi.
A very well known prayer from the Ishaavaasya Upanishad is perhaps most pertinent to understand Dnyaaneshwar’s definition of Poorna.
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om Poornam-Adah Poornam-Idam Poornaat-Poornam-Udacyate |
Poornasya Poornam-Aadaaya Poornam-Eva-Avashissyate ||
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
Meaning:
1: Om, That (Outer World) is Poorna (Full with Divine Consciousness); This (Inner World) is also Poorna (Full with Divine Consciousness); From Poorna is manifested Poorna (From the Fullness of Divine Consciousness the World is manifested),
2: Taking Poorna from Poorna, Poorna indeed remains(Because Divine Consciousness is Non-Dual and Infinite),
3: Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
Meaning:
1: Om, That (Outer World) is Poorna (Full with Divine Consciousness); This (Inner World) is also Poorna (Full with Divine Consciousness); From Poorna is manifested Poorna (From the Fullness of Divine Consciousness the World is manifested),
2: Taking Poorna from Poorna, Poorna indeed remains(Because Divine Consciousness is Non-Dual and Infinite),
3: Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.
This Aatman or the Pure Self or Source from which the entire universe has arisen is complete (whole or infinite). Whatever (manifest universe) comes out of it is also complete. And even after the whole universe comes out of the original unmanifest Being, that Being still remains complete or whole in itself!
Ordinarily one cannot get the taste of this brand of happiness or pure joy. Besides “ becoming complete” can be misleading. Surely Dnyaaneshwar would not mislead us or wish something that is impossible to achieve.
To get past any misconception let us go back reflect on the previous verses. Dnyaaneshwar envisions every man to reform. Which means they would make a conscious and sustained effort to turn from tendencies of ignorance (tamas) and passion(rajas) to those of purity(sattva). They would have walked the path of duty and devotion and through this risen above the whims and storms of their sense organs. Along the way they would have experienced the sufferings that inevitably arise when the source of joys vanishes and thus learnt the finite nature of these smaller joys. Why then would they bother to turn outwards in search of the temporary sources for their happiness and invite the risk for disappointment and sorrow?
The logical outcome, as Dnyaaneshwar foresees, of a life lived in the company of and guidance from true saints is “bhajijo Aadi Purukhi akhandit ! “
The legitimately earned wisdom would naturally incline them to meditate upon that which is a permanent dependable source of joy. And that is the Adi Purush! The Primordial Being! The Vishweshwar, the Lord of the Universe who dwells in all hearts and is the substratum for all visible and invisible universe. The aatman! Or what the Upanishads refer to as Brahman!
Last but not the least, an interesting term that Dnyaaneshwar has snucked into this verse is tihi loki ( in the three worlds! )
If the evil changed their ways, the good people continued on the path of devotion and saints see both these groups with equanimity and grace, the end result would be such that not just the human race but all three worlds ( divine beings, humans and demonic beings) would attain a fulfillment that would be complete and lasting. In this state of joy they would continually meditate upon the Primordial Supreme Being ( Adi Purush). In fact by resting in the thought of the Adi Purush they “become” ONE with HIM for that is their own natural state. This state of Poorna was ever present. They were just not aware of it earlier being entangled within the world of sense organs and objects.
Thus Dnyaaneshwar essentially has prayed for a universal achievement of pure joy and perfection! In other words he has wished Self Realization for all beings.
While writing this my mind is reminded of a popular Marathi poem by Narayan Muralidhar Gupte ( pen name Kavi Bee). This song is set to a memorable tune by director Vasant Pawar and made immortal by the voice of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar. This poem deserves a separate post for itself but here I will say this much that in essence it speaks of the same subject matter of finding pure joy within the innermost sanctums of our being. It uses the metaphor of the fragrant flower chaafaa (plumeria) to represent the mind and about turning inwards to find lasting happiness and oneness with the universe!
Chaafaa bolenaa chaafaa chaalenaa
Chaafaa khant kari kaahi kelyaa khulenaa
हे विश्वाचे आंगण, आम्हा दिले आहे आंदण
उणे करु आपण दोघेजण
जन विषयाचे किडे, यांची धाव बाह्याकडे
आपण करु शुद्ध रसपान रे
चाफा फुली आला फुलून
तेजी दिशा गेल्या आटून
कोण मी चाफा, कोठे दोघे जण रे
More about this poem in a future post.
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