Slokam 11

The Paramathma thinks one day that the moon is a fruit and wants Yashoda and Nandagopa to get it for Him. They in turn tease Him by asking Him to reach out with His Hands and try to grab it. Sri Bhattadri goes on to say that the Paramathma reaches out to the Moon with His little Hands. The Moon is said to descend into His Hands and add to the infinite effulgence and self lumniscent form of the Paramathma.

The slokam conveys to us that all objects of this universe including the lamination,  emanate only from the Paramathma.  The Paramathma is beyond all dimensions of this universe such as space, size, light, distance, gravity, physical strength, pleasure/pain etc. 

To Him there are no barriers,  no limiting factors, no constraints.  He has no personal work or objectives assigned.  He has transcended all evolution.  So the Paramathma’s state is one of an unlimited nature. All manifestations are from within Him and exist solely at His will. All change happens only under His command and guidance.

It is hard for us to imagine as to how one without needs, motivations and inducements can act to create, sustain and destroy something as wonderous as this universe. The question arises only because of our ignorance of the nature of the Paramathma.  We will never know the answer until we ourselves are able to transcend our limitations.  The answers will be revealed only as we ourselves go up the evolutionary ladder, and as we gain complete self control.  Spiritual power is bestowed only on those who have attained complete self control.  The progress on the path of self control is the medium and the means that the Paramathma uses to reveal aspects of  His supreme self to us. 

The Paramathma reveals himself to Yashoda and Nandagopa,  many many times by His apparently superhuman qualities.  In this slokam, the revelation takes on the form of Himself as a Child that reaches out and holds the Moon in His Hands.   Yashoda and Nandagopa,  attribute all of the good occurrences to the “unseen” Paramathma’s compassion towards them.  They do not see that the Paramathma is right before them.  There is a clear difference between attributing the good occurrences to an unseen Paramathma and realizing that He is right here with us, trying to talk to us every moment.  Being thankful to the unseen Paramathma for the good in our lives is certainly an excellent acknowledgment that the fruits of this life belong only to Him. However it is only a first step on the path to Bhakthi. An unseen Paramathma becomes “an option”, or one of many possibilities. Doubts linger in our minds as to the source of our well being.  Our ego compliments us for our gratitude.  Our acknowledgement is tinged with the ego of our self perceived “humility”.  Over time, we will forget the incident and along with it the gratitude to the Paramathma. On the other hand,  when we visualize the Paramathma in everything that we perceive,  there is no need for humility or gratitude. We consciously and subconsciously realize that our actions and their consequences happen only by the will of the Paramatha.  There is never any other thought in our minds, other than the Paramathma.  In that state of mind,  there will never be an ego or conflict or doubt within us.  That state of constant awareness of the Paramathma will come only after significant progress is made in the spiritual path. Until that state is attained, may we ever continue to assign all rewards at the feet of the Paramathma.

May we make every effort to see the Paramathma’s hand in every object,  and most importantly in our inner self,  as an eliminator of all ahankara.