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         The Conquest of ?kaama?: 3 Vedantic Solutions
 
        
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The ?Bhagavath-Gita?, as a text-book of Vedantic
Theory and Practice, is the best resource to rely upon
to address the most fundamental question of life: ?How
to conquer ?kaama??? ?How can Desire be tamed so that
it begins serving our higher goals in life rather than
enslaving us to our lower impulses??. The Gita
prescribes 3 practical means which, when expansively
delineated, constitute the entire sum and substance of
the vast body of Vedantic inquiry called ?hita?. They
are:

(1)?gnyAna yoga? ? the Way of Contemplation or true
Knowledge
(2)?karma yOga?  - the Way of purposeful Action in
life
(3)?bhakti yOga? ? the Way of Love and Devotion

Although in India, various schools of Vedanta follow
different commentaries of the Gita, with each
emphasizing particular doctrinal aspects or
theological themes consistent with or sub-serving
respective sectarian traditions (i.e. ?darsana? or
?parampara?), there is one thread of understanding and
broad acceptance, however, that is common to all of
them. What is it? 

It is found in a ?shlOka? from the fifth chapter of
the Gita:

"shak{}notiihaiva yaH soDhuM
praak{}shariiravimokshaNaat.h . 
kaamakrodhodbhavaM vegaM sa yuk{}taH sa sukhii naraH"
.. 5\.23.. 

(meaning): ?All through life, before the moment
arrives eventually when the mortal body must be given
up, if a man has well withstood the pulls and
pressures of the material senses, and has not
succumbed to the passions of either desire or anger,
such a man can truly rejoice: he has emerged
well-situated and happy in the world?.

All Vedantins, irrespective of doctrinal or sectarian
difference, are in agreement with the Gita ?shlOka?
above that  true happiness in this world --- leaving
aside for a moment the prized happiness of other
worlds whatever they are --- true happiness, here and
now, indeed lies at the other end of a long journey of
human struggle. It is the struggle involved in coming
to terms with the overwhelming power of Desire, Man?s
?kaama?, and ultimately getting the better of it.     

                
The 3 Vedanta ?mArga-s? of ?gnyAna?, ?karma? and
?bhakti? all reiterate that there is only one key
available to Man with which to unlock the great secret
of joy and happiness in life, the highest
?purushArtha?. It is Conquest of ?kaama? through
TRANSFORMATION. And that transformation is really
about just one thing: ?changing desires?. If we can
change our desires we can change our inner persona. If
persona is changed, the spirit within us can, at last,
begin to discover and experience (as  Sage
YagnyavAlkya did) true Joy and Pleasure, true "kaama"
and "purushArtha". Such ?change in desires? is exactly
what is signified in the TiruppAvai in the Tamil
expression ?maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu?.   
            
                ***************

According to Vedanta, ?change? in ?kaama? can be
effected in one or more of 3 different ways. They are:

(1) CHANGE IN THE DIRECTION OF DESIRES brought about
by deliberate exercise of the human Will --- a Will
that has grown ripe and enlightened through
Self-knowledge. This is called ?gnyAna-yOga?. The best
illustration of this "yOga" is in the example (we saw
in an earlier posting in this series - #13) of Sage
Yagnya-vAlkya in the "BrihadAranyaka Upanishad". We
are about to see a little later (in the next posting)
one more fitting illustration, also from the
Upanishads, of how "kaama" may be changed through
"gnyAna yOga".

(2) REDUCTION IN THE QUANTITY OF DESIRES through
?kArma-yOga?. This is essentially the idea of
?unification of desires? explained in an earlier
posting in this series (Post #10). To amplify on this
"yOga" once again, yet another example of a great
Tamil saint of the past will be narrated in the next
posting in this series. 

(3) IMPROVEMENT IN THE QUALITY OF DESIRES through
?bhakthi-yOga?. This is called ?sublimation of
desires? and it is, in fact, the central theme of the
whole of the TiruppAvai. It lies at the very core of
the expression ?maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu?. 

What is meant by "sublimating" desires? The word
'sublimate' is derived from the Latin "sublimarE". It
means "to direct the energy of an impulse (or desire)
from its primitive or gross aims to one that is
ethically or culturally higher" (Webster's Seventh New
Collegiate Dictionary). The idea of "sublimating" the
energy or power latent in human desire, by
re-directing it away from "primitive aims" towards
"culturally higher" ones in life, through undivided
Love and Devotion to a personal Deity, is at the core
of Vedantic ?bhakti-mArga?. This idea is not mere
lofty philosophy. It translates into a whole way of
life. It is a fine "Art of Living". 

The extraordinary life of one Tamil saint of the past
bears clear and glorious testimony to the efficacy of
this great Vedantic 'art-of-living'. In the following
posting that saint's life also will be briefly
recounted. But saints and spiritual-adepts are not the
only practitioners of this great 'Art-of-living'
called "bhakti-mArga". It is meant for ordinary people
like us too to practise and master it. As AndAl's
"tiruppAvai" shows us, the poor and simple-minded
pastoral maidens of the the "aaypAdi" too beseeched
the Almighty for mastery of perfection over precisely
such "Art" when in chorus they sang: "maRRai nam
kaamangaL maaRRu!". 

Over the centuries, "bhakti-mArga" --- the way of
sublimation of human "kaama" to reach God --- became
the undying living faith of the common peoples of
India. It is faith that neither "custom stales" nor
"age withers?. It is their pride and birthright and
their sole means of everlasting redemption... in much
the same way it was for the "aaypAdi" girls of the
TiruppAvai.  
 
                  (to be continued)   
Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan 







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