Slokam 3

Nalakubera and Manigriva,  were under intoxication and were indulging in “sportive pranks”.  They are said to be splashing around in the Ganga with their hands around the waists of naked damsels, who were themselves drunken.

This is the way that the world of maya works.  Once there is no need to work to earn ones living,  experiencing the physical “luxuries” becomes the primary objective. We begin to seek refuge in illusion.  Most importantly, we begin to project ourselves as the center of the universe.  This projection of the self is the dominance of the rajasic guna.  Nalakubera and Manigriva had no business to exploit the damsels for their pleasure.  So intoxicated do people become with wealth that they consider those around them as their pawns to be used for their personal pleasure and dominance. The next step in the intoxication process is to take possession and ownership of everything that is within their grasp. There is no end to this accumulation of wealth and the seeking of power.  Ones entire life will be expended in this useless pursuit. 

Sri Narada happens to pass by the Ganga and sees the brothers playing with the damsels. Sri Narada is described as the one who is ever in service at the feet of the Paramathma.

Sri Narada does not just pass by the Ganga accidentally. He knows what is happening without actually being at that location. If he arrives in a particular “location” that means he has a mission to accomplish and also deliver a message to the “hosts”.  He makes his presence known to the brothers and to the damsels.

The universe functions based on forces that are not known to us.  One thing we can be sure of is that we attract the rewards and punishments from this world based on the extent of our spiritual outlook.   We attract the events and tests and obstacles simply by the balance of the gunas within us.  Dominance of sattvic guna will not attract admonishment.  If the brothers had a sattvic disposition, they would not have accumulated wealth.  They would have engaged in distribution of what they do not need and placed their lives at the feet of the Paramathma.  They would not have performed tapas on Shiva Perumal for an endowment of wealth.  The three gunas within us alternate in dominance only to illuminate us on the correct path to follow in the long term.  The alternating dominance is induced by the changing events of our lives.  The ever changing events of our lives induce the alternating dominance of the gunas.  We pursue our livelihood and then the events of life work on us to “reward” us in many ways and “deprive” us also in many ways.  The alternating bouts of rewards and losses induce us to seek the path of rewards.  The Rajasic guna ascends.  Then the rewards are followed by dissatisfaction and then by failure. This pushes the tamasic guna into dominance. We want to completely disengage and not participate in anything.  We distance ourselves from the daily walks of life. Our tamasic guna then pushes us into remorse and life then puts in various needs that need to be fulfilled.  This propels us into action again. This time the Rajasic Guna is a bit subdued.  Sattvic Guna takes on a larger role in shaping our attitude.  Life shapes us by inducing needs in us.  These needs are generated based on these balance between the gunas.  If we are taught to be Sattvic in our approach to life, the events that we will be exposed to will not be severe. The imbalance is created by our desires, which are in excess of our needs for living this life.  Recognition, power, accumulation of wealth, are all desires that exceed our requirements.  When this happens, that is when life’s events shape up to bring us back to earth and reality.

How does the universe sense our imbalance, greed and desires which are seated deep in our minds? This is the all knowing power of Sri Narada, whose assignment is to traverse the universe looking for these imbalances, so that he can set them right and align us to the path that leads us to the Paramathma.

Sri Narada appears in all places where the physical manifestations of greed and excessive desires occur.  We think, like the two brothers, that these acts of vulgarity and exploitation are not observed and are not known to anyone.  So we think that these have no consequences. One of the first lessons that we learn in the spiritual path is that nothing in the universe belongs to us.  We are ever under the watchful eyes of the Gods (who are all various manifestations of the Paramathma).

We all may have so many inner desires.  Do not all of us want unlimited resources and sense pleasures to be at our disposal and demand?  Do not all of us desire our children to be the best in the world and be at the top of their chosen profession?  Most likely, these will not materialize.  Desires always lead to unhappiness when not fulfilled.  When fulfilled, they lead to desires for more and more.  Desires are infinite and provide only transient pleasures that disappear no sooner than the desire is fulfilled.  If we are set on the path of spiritualism early on in life, we are able to side step these desires, and wants that are in excess of our needs. We are then in a more Sattvic state of existence, which is conducive for progress on the path illuminated by the Paramathma. Of this there is no doubt.

Why cannot worldly desire generate sustained happiness on fulfilment? This is to make us learn that we are born into a transient world which has no endurance or permanence. Nothing lasts in this world of senses. Happiness is fleeting.  When this realization sets in our rajasic guna will subside.   Sattvic guna within us will slowly rise to the surface like amrutham from the ocean of milk. 

There is a strong reason for this. The perceived universe is meant to only deliver to us the preliminary lessons of life.  The more advanced lessons are delivered directly by the Paramatha. These lessons are being constantly delivered to us all the time.   If the rajasic guna within us dominates, we will not be in a listening mode or shravanam.  The rajasic guna will constantly be in the mode of projecting itself. So it does not listen to what is being said by the supreme.  Rajasic guna blocks shravanam.  There is no learning.  In the rajasic state the ego drives the mind into an all knowing state.  The rajasic guna needs to dominate.  So it tries to go one up on everyone else.  It likes to convince everyone else that it already knows everything and there is nothing for it to learn. 

Learning is hard work.  Learning the truth about the self is even harder. It involves a lot of sacrifices simply because learning is a process of transformation.  A learned person learns to distinguish between the “options” that life offers and the learned decision would always be to make the harder choice of renunciation and tyagam in order to gain the ultimate and lasting fruit of knowledge about the self.

The rajasic guna on the other hand induces us to take the path that offers immediate comfort for the mind.  This comfort is the reassurance of itself that it is all mighty and all knowing.  So there is nothing to pursue except more and more of the transient comforts.  In this state, there is no progress and there is no learning.

In order to learn, we have to admit to ourselves that we do not know.  We also have to accept that others may know.  So in order to learn we have to accept that there may be others around us that know better.   This is in direct contrast to the primitive survival instinct within us that wants constant inner reassurance of its superiority. This inner conflict consumes a lot of our productive energies. It creates an alternating state of “open and close” of the mind.  The dominance of the rajasic guna, throws the mind into a delusory state, which blocks all incoming traffic. 

This is why the Paramathma strongly and persistently advocates dhyanam as a means to subdue the mind and bring it to ground reality.  When the mind is calm, it is in a receptive mode.  The Paramathma then tries to slip in His lessons on the self through this temporary open gate!!!!!!

If learning is a process of transformation, there must first be a desire for transformation. The desire for transformation arises only when one is dissatisfied with one’s present state of existence.  One is dissatisfied with the present state only when something we think we absolutely need, is lacking.  This need is usually wealth, health, career and the resulting well being of the family. Life is designed to ensure that we will always have a need.  All our needs will never be met. Even if it all happens to come together,  it will be only for a very short time.  Everything will fall apart soon.  This juggling act keeps us in a perpetual state of uncertainty.  There is no respite.  So we are always in a state of seeking.  This is also the only way that we will actually surrender to the supreme.  If all that we need is served on a silver plate,  there is no need for us to seek.  If there is no seeking, there is no action. If there is no action, there is no learning about the self. If there is no learning about the self, there is no progress.

Right at the outset of the journey we have to take the right perspective and attitude on life. Otherwise we will be pulled like puppets in conflicting directions and end up going nowhere. We have to be clear that the only the objective of this life is to learn about the supreme self and all of His attributes and manifestations. In learning about the supreme self, we undergo an irreversible transformation.  We begin to transcend our physical existence. 

May we ever be on an inward journey towards realization, with the Paramathma’s guidance ever in our consciousness.