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 (continued from Part 3)
-------------------------------------------------------

Type 2: "narAdhama"

The second type of Ignorant Man is the "narAdhama". He
is the spiritual "drop-out". 

In his magnificent commentary titled "gitAbhAshya", on
the Bhagavath-Gita, Sri RamanujAchArya describes for
us the second type of Ignorant Man in a single line:

"narAdhamAh: sAmAnyEna gnyAtE api mathsvarUpE
madhown~mUkhyAnarhAh:I"

("gitAbhAshya" of Sri RamanujachArya)

"The lowest class of men in this world are those
"narAdhamA-s" who are incapable of turning towards
God, even though they are generally aware of who He is
and what is His essential nature". 

The Sanksrit "nara" means Man and "AdhamA" means
"lowest" or "worst". The "narAdhamA" is the worst
specie of Man to be found on earth because he is
irresponsible: he condones his own Ignorance.

Many years ago when I was a graduate-student at Loyola
College, Madras (India), I knew an interesting
fellow-student. He hailed from one of the high-class
families of the city and many of whose members were
scholars and academicians of excellence in their
respective generation. When this fellow enrolled in
Loyola College, the whole campus, faculty and
student-fraternity alike, was naturally proud to
welcome him. Great things were expected of this scion
of one of the best families in town. He was
intelligent, handsome, of aristocratic background and
he knew only too well the pre-eminence of his social
standing... But the fellow turned out to be a
disaster. 

At the end of 4 long semesters, it was discovered the
fellow had simply not turned up for lectures, had not
taken a single exam and had failed to make the grade
in any subject. When the family investigated the
matter they found to their horror that their
illustrious ward had found his spiritual haunt
elsewhere than in the corridors of Loyola. He,
alongwith many a female companion, was spotted
regularly on the 'royal box' high above the lush lawns
of The Madras Race Club placing huge bets on horses! 

Now, the "narAdhamA" of the Bhagavath-gita is not
unlike this fellow-student of mine at Loyola. In a
university classroom, the worst students are those who
fail to make the grade because they are intellectually
deficient. These failed students often opt to
"drop-out" and then return to delinquent ways. But
there is another kind of student who is even worse
than the dumb 'drop-out'. He is the "privileged
drop-out". Like my famous fellow-student, he has all
the necessary requisites to achieve academic
excellence, has every privilege of family and society
at his disposal, and everyone expects he is a
distinguished scholar-in-the-making... and he knows it
all too very well... And yet such a man will choose to
"drop-out"! He will choose to be irresponsible and
willingly walk down the path to moral seed and
destruction. 

This is exactly the behaviour of the spiritual
"drop-out", the "narAdhama" of the Bhagavath-gita. 

Endowed with human birth, that rare gift of evolution;
blessed with reason and intelligence, the precious
gifts of nature; and possessed with moral sense and
instinct, the gifts civilized society gives unto every
man.... if, in spite of having all these God-given
privileges showered upon him, a man chooses to turn
his back on the Almighty, studiously ignores Him and
remains stubbornly indifferent to His presence; if
such a Man is not once curious to know about God or
unravel His "unseen, unheard, unthought" presence
(revealed as it was to young Shvetaketu in the
Chandogya); if such a man is not even once in his
lifetime moved by the urge to pick up a sacred
scripture or holy text and study it to inquire about
God... then what is to be said of such a one except
that he is the lowest possible class of 'privileged
drop-out' --the "narAdhama"?

A beautiful and thought-provoking verse in the
"Srimadh-Bhagavatham", the Vedantic "purANa" written
by Sage Vyasa, makes precisely such a point
contrasting the "gnyAni" (the Man of wisdom) with the
"narAdhama" of the 'Gita':

"labdhvA sudurlabhamidam bahusambhavAntE
mAnushyam arthadam anityamapi iha dhIrAh;
tUrnam yatEta na patet anumrthyu yAvat 
nihshrEyasAya vishayah khalu sarvatah syAt --

(srimadh bhAgavatham -- XI.ix.29)

"The human form is a perishable one, and is hard to
obtain;
Man attains it at the end of several births -- It is
capable of conferring on Man, in this very life,
The highest spiritual freedom.

Before Death overtakes him, a man of wisdom,
Instead of delighting in the sensual
As lesser bodies are wont to do,
He strives earnestly for the highest excellence
Which such Freedom is indeed!" 

***********

(to be continued)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan


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