Kaivalliya Navanītham
P.N. Parasuraman. Images:
Nataṉam
The next-door neighbor bought a T.V., about half the size of a movie
screen. At one time, out of
eight live channels on the TV screen, a mere touch of one icon will
bring it to a full view.
Āhā!
…
Āhā!
Just like that, I should have one.
Cash crunch! What to do. If there is a will, there is a way. The
neighbor tells him all about the TV from the price to the operational
details and the laptop integration.
He bought the TV and secured it to the wall. He sits before the TV with
the remote in hand and feels ecstatic as if he just realized the goals
of his present birth.
As the waves of ecstasy reach the shores of his mind…
The man in the opposite house bought a brand-new car. Even a child can
drive it with ease. Flip a
button. The car parks itself.
Upon hearing it, the erstwhile ecstasy turns sour and vanishes.
Now waves of despair hit the lake of his mind and he wonders how he can
buy a car just like the one the man across the street has.
Chasing the electronic goods and buying them in surfeit did not stop
lamentation and lack of peace and tranquillity.
These gadgets are seductive and make us chase them. We forget we own a
superb machine ourselves. Besides that, we remain ignorant of the fact
we are the owners of that machine.
The wonderful machine has many parts.
One part speaks; one hears; one sees; one keeps us alive; one
carries us around to wherever we want to go. A control room activizes
and modulates the functions of all these parts.
That most wonderful machine is the human body. The scientists to this
day cannot design and manufacture such a machine as the human body.
We should have done Tapas to be born as humans instead of taking birth
as other lower life forms. Sankara
says that human birth is rare among all births. Avvaiyar declares
proudly in Tamil “Rare is birth
as human.”
Why is there so much suffering, having been blessed with the envious and
the highest human birth? Is the human birth meant to be a throbbing
affliction, misery and withering end?
Multiple people, having taken human birth, indulged in joyous excesses.
For instance, there was the illustrious Agasthiya Muni. Recently Variyar
Swāmigaḷ made us realize the greatness and pride of Tamil and Kandan.
They have shown and lived the greatness of human birth. That being so,
why are we are suffering hardship unable to swim in the ocean of
metempsychosis?
Vedas tell us the ways to reach the shore of liberation. There are
endless number of Vedas, of which the most important are
Ṛg,
Yajur, Sāma,
and Atharvaṇa.
There are several Dos and Donts in their pursuit, so much so
ordinary people cannot study and realize them.
A thought may arise in the mind whether there is any chance to reach the
shore of liberation. Thāndavarāya
Swāmigaḷ assures us there is a way to reach that destination.
As in the instance of giving fresh butter from the churning of the milk,
he gave us by diving and delving into the Vedic Ocean, the butter of
experiential wisdom.
That experiential hoard is ‘Kaivalliya
Navanītham.’
It was a treatise in the form of Q & A
giving instructions by a
Gurunāthar to an ardent pupil.
Come on in. Let us enjoy together the sweetness of the butter.
Will Continue.