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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00075 Jul 2004

 
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--- In tiruvenkatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Sudarshan K Madabushi" 
<mksudarshan2002@xxxx> wrote:

Dear Sri Sadagopan Iyengar,

Thanks. Looks like there is no other Sanskrit word for Memory other 
than "smriti".

It's interesting you bring up the word "vismriti" to denote 
Forgetfulness. When one reflects deeply, "vismriti" seems to be the 
true and universal condition of Man, isn't it? We are all 
entirely 'forgetful' of our past lives -- 'janmA'. We have no 
recollection of our past "karma" nor how and why it has brought us to 
our present state and condition of existence. We must ask ourselves 
if this 'forgetfulness', this 'vismriti', is it a blessing or a 
crippling handicap? 

IN one way, it is a blessing because if the Almighty had not erased 
the memories of our past 'janmA' before sending us to our present 
one, imagine how heavy and oppressive would be the burden of carrying 
with us a stock of painful recollections of past folly, failings and 
flaws? So great would be such a burden that we would, I fear, simply 
lose all hope of redeeming ourselves in the present life. Instead, 
having had our memory erased by God, we all start, each one of us, 
our respective present lives on a clean, shining slate (on a "tabula 
rasa", as the Latin phrase says) with the hope still strong in us 
that, this time around, we will somehow prove worthy and redeem 
ourselves in the eyes of our Maker...

Looked at from that point of view, there is no doubt that our 
Forgetfulness, our condition of "vismriti", is truly the source of 
all fresh human hope. Ironic though it may seem, in Forgetfulness 
there is indeed great spiritual opportunity for the Redemption of 
Man. 

>From another point of view, however, our state of Forgetfulness is 
unmitigated curse too. It is 'vismriti' that makes us 'forget' who we 
are, where we come from and where we are really going. It is because 
we are 'forgetful' that we mistakenly think our present life and 
existence is a new one and the only one we shall ever have. 
We "forget" all the past 'janmA-s', and all the past opportunities 
that were afforded to us in those, and to which we must be beholden 
to the Almighty. It is the same 'forgetfulness', thus, that also 
results in our frittering away our lifetime and yet another 'janmA'.

I was reading last week a brief biography of the life of 
the 'nAyanmAr', the Tamil saint Sundararar, as narrated in the great 
Saivite 'purANa' called "peria-pUrAnam". (Let me hasten to add here 
that I am a firm SriVaishnavan by birth and belief, but I also 
entertain a healthy interest in the rich bhakti traditions of the 
Saiva siddhAnta). Sundarar was a great spiritual soul, one who was a 
beloved of the Almighty. But he was born into the world in 
circumstances that made him "forget" his true nature and his 
great 'siva bhakti' and 'siva sambandham'. Sundarar was a handsome 
man and was hence soon set to marry a beautiful maiden. 

Destiny was about to drag the saint into the life of a worldly 
householder when at the last minute, on the wedding altar, as it 
were, the Almighty appeared on the scene disguised as an old 
venerable Brahmin and claimed Sundarar as his own slave -- "Have you 
forgotten you are my slave, O Sundara? How can you enter into 
marriage and seek to lead your own life?". Sundarar and the rest of 
the wedding assembly were shocked at the claim of the old Brahmin 
stranger who seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. 

The wedding ceremonies were aborted and the assembled guests demanded 
proof of the fact that Sundarar was a bonded servitor of the old 
Brahmin. The Brahmin told the gathering, "Follow me, and I will give 
you the needed proof!". Thus, leading Sundarar and the assembly, the 
old Brahmin led the procession through the streets of the town and 
into the temple of Siva. Entering the sanctum there, the Brahmin 
vanished into it, leaving the whole assembly aghast!

It was then that Sundarar was able to recollect who he really was, to 
whom really he owed his soulful allegiance in life. All of a sudden, 
the recollections of his previous 'janmA-s', in which he had been a 
slave of God in His own Kingdom, all the recollection came rushing 
back to him with the force and intensity of an epiphany...

Sundarar's 'vismriti' vanished, so to say, and 'Forgetfulness' was 
replaced with the one true memory ('smriti') that, although remaining 
ever clouded in the consciousness of Man, is yet never erased out of 
his soul -- the Memory of the Almighty. 

"vismriti" is truly such a beautiful Sanskrit word indeed...

Thanks and regards,
dAsan,
Sudarshan        



--- In tiruvenkatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, sadagopaniyengar 
<sadagopaniyengar@xxxx> wrote:
> dear shri sudarshan,
> 
> "Smriti" appears to be the appropriate word for Memory. 
> 
> this can be seen in
> 
> the Varaha Charama slokam, where the Lord undertakes to remember 
His bhakta, even when the latter is no position to think about Him--
"aham smarAmi mat bhaktam"
> 
> the Mukunda Mala slokam--"smarAmi nArAyaNa tatvam avyayam"
> 
> the Ramayana slokam, "na smarati apakArANAm satamapi AtmavattayA".
> 
> and "Vismriti" appears to indicate forgetfulness, while the total 
loss of memory is probably called "Smriti bhramsam" (as in the Gita 
sloka, "smriti bhramsAt buddhi nAsa:")
> 
> thanks and regards, dasan, sadagopan
--- End forwarded message ---




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