You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Oct 2002

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00038 Oct 2002

 
Oct 2002 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


 
(continued from Part 7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After a man has become a "vivEki", he is beset with an emotion called
'nirvEdam'. This emotion is the next stepping-stone, the next
'pariankam' Desikan describes in the "parama-pada-sOpAnam". 

After attaining the power of wise discrimination, a "vivEki" becomes
aware of what is really worth pursuing and what is undeserving of
pursuit in life; what will serve his spiritual end and what will
hamper it. While this knowledge is, no doubt, cause for great
happiness and spiritual advancement, the 'vivEki' however cannot help
a feeling of "utter regret" for the foolish ways of his past. He
begins to recollect all the folly and profligacy of youth spent
chasing the trivia of the world, in the mistaken belief that they
were the true sources of enduring happiness.

Such a man further reflects upon the petty ways in which he used to
behave, the cheap earthly things he had hankered after and the
herculean efforts ('asAdhya-sramam') he had exerted to attain them
all. When he recollects the time and effort lost in chasing such
unworthy things in the past, the "vivEki" cannot help a feeling of
utter self-revulsion. It is this state of mind, filled as it is with
intense self-revulsion, which is described by Desikan as 'nirvEdam'.

In the 4000 Tamil verses of the "divya-prabhandham-s' we notice that
several Azhwars had been inspired by the strong emotion of "nirvEdam"
to expressions of utter regret for the many days of folly that had
filled their past. Out of abject ignorance of Truth and of the Glory
of the God, they wail again and again, they had pursued and embraced
nothing but the falsehood of earthly life ('anartham'), .

The most poignant of such "nirvEdam" verses have been sung by
Tirumangai-AzhwAr in the opening decad of the "peria-tirumOzhi":

"vAdinEn vAdi varundinEn manatthAl
perun thuyar idummpayil pirandhu
koodinEn koodi iLayavar thammodu
avar tharum kalaviyE karuthi?" 
(tirumangai-AzhwAr "periya-tirumOzhi" 1.1)

"aaviyE! amudE! ena ninainthu urugI
avar-avar paNai mulai thuNaiyAyp
pAvIyEn uNarAthu etthanai pagalum
pazhuthupOy Ozhinthana nAttkkal?" (ibid. 1.2)


Such 'pAsuram-s' of immense and heart-rending self-revulsion give one
a fair idea of the nature of the 'nirvEdam'-emotion as it envelops
the soul of the "vivEki" and the self-inflicted suffering he
undergoes as a result in his sincere quest of God.

None of us are 'AzhwArs' and will never get anywhere near being even
a bit like them. But then we too, from time to time, in moments of
personal travail or tragedy, do undergo and experience what may be
called "dark nights of the soul", don't we? In those moments we
become acutely aware how rapidly Time has slipped away from us... and
we suddenly begin to see then how far behind we have fallen back in
attaining the true and cherished purposes of our lives. In such
sombre moments, like the English poet, Longfellow, we too ae moved to
mutter sadly to ourselves in deep and utter "nirvEdam":

"Art is long, Time is fleeting,
Our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave." 

(to be continued)

dAsan,
Sudarshan














__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site
http://webhosting.yahoo.com/



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list