Pranam
Birthrhari and Raagadwesha 3rd speech of Paramartha nanda RK mutt
1 वदाचळल वभायम्बां ळङ्कयािामभत ध्मभाभ ्
अस्भद् आिामत ऩमन्त ताभ ्लन्दे गुरु ऩयम्ऩयाभ ्
sadāśiva samārambhāṃ śaṅkarācāryamadhyamām
asmad ācārya paryantām vande guru paramparām
2 Nītihi means Dharmaha, a way of life or a path by which we have to
lead our life. “nīyatē anayā iti nītihi” or Nyāyaha or Dharmaha, a path by
which we have to lead our life. It is a path not prescribed by
Bhartruhari, but a path prescribed by the Shāstrās themselves. So,
Shāstrīya Mārgaha, Dharma Mārgaha is called Nītihi because as human
beings, we have got a free-will. Therefore, unlike animals, we can choose
any way of life according to our will. Animals cannot lead a life as they
want, because they have no will of their own and their life will have to be
governed by their own instincts. They have no choice in the way they eat
the food or the type of food or the way they built their houses.
3 A person, who leads such a life, doing whatever he feels like
doing, is called Prākruta Purushaha. He is governed by instincts -
Swabhāva. Kāmachāraha, Kāmavādaha, Kāmabhakshaha; Kāmachāraha means a way
of life that suits his will. Kāmavādaha means speaking any word that he
feels like uttering. Kāmabhakshaha means eating anything that he feels like
eating. Such a person is called Prākruta Purushaha.
4 There is another way of life which is possible. That is a life
governed by Shāstrā’s dos and don’ts, Vidhi and Nishēdha, Kāryam and
Akāryam. It is not based on Rāga-Dwēsha, but is based on Vidhi-Nishēdha.
तस्भाछिास्त्रं प्रभाणं ते कामातकामतव्मलच्स्थतौ ।
सात्ला ळास्त्रवलधानोक्तं कभत कतुतचभशाशतचव ॥ १६-२४॥
tasmācchāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ tē kāryākāryavyavasthitau |
jñātvā śāstravidhānōktaṁ karma kartumihārhasi || 16-24||
5 Krishna said to Arjuna - Arjuna, your life cannot be governed by
Rāga-Dwēsha. It has to be governed by what is proper according to Shāstra
and what is improper according to Shāstra. When a person’s life is
governed by Shāstric path, he is called Samskruta Purushaha, a refined
person, a cultured person, a mature person. (the word smaskritham is
combined in our fine way of life; well made out is the meaning of
samskritham; we write as sanskrit as English do where the word SANS means
WITHOUT; well made out and withouit are totally opposites}.Therefore,
Prākruta Purushaha and Samskruta Purushaha are the two possibilities that
we have. In the Nītishatakam, Bhartruhari presents a way of life based on
Shāstra which makes us Samskruta Purushaha, a cultured person. As I said,
the origin of this Dharma Shāstra, the Samskruti, or this culture is the
Vēda.
6 Nītishatakam concentrates on ethics and morals, rather than rituals
because rituals are not universal in nature. They vary according to the
Varna and Āshrama of a person. We cannot prescribe a ritual without knowing
the Varnāshrama designation of a person*. Varna* (varna is not Jati) stands
for Brāhmana, Kshatriya, Vyshya or Shūdra. Āshrama stands for Brahmacharya,
Grihastha, Vānaprastha or Sanyāsa. A ritual which is prescribed for one
Varna is prohibited for another Varna. { Prohibition is not total
rejection, but denial of duty as assigned to increase the efficiency; as
done for the general welfare, a brahmin neither gains individually, nor a
shudra lose in any manner}. A ritual which is prescribed for one Āshrama
is prohibited for another Āshrama. Therefore, if I talk about rituals, it
will not have universal application. It will depend upon the individual
whereas, the Dharma which consists of values, has got a more universal
application. Therefore, Bhartruhari chooses to deal with the value aspect
of Dharma or the value aspect of the Nīti Shāstra. If you analyze these
values, most of them are known values only.
7 As Dayānanda Swāmiji nicely says - any person with some commonsense
can easily derive most of the values. shrūyatām dharma sarvaswam
shrutvāchaiva avadhāryatām - a person condenses all the values in one
verse He says shrūyatām dharma sarvaswam - may you all listen. I am going
to tell you Sāra of all the values. In another quarter, he says -
shrutvāchaiva
avadhāryatām - don’t hear through one ear and loose it through the other
ear. You receive it, assimilate it and follow it. May you internalize this
essence. What is the essence?ātmanah pratikūlāni - whatever you consider
unfavorable to you. Pratikūlam means unfavorable. It is opposite to
Anukūlam. Anukūlam means favorable. ātmanah pratikūlāni - whatever you
consider unfavorable to you. parēshām na samācharēt - kindly refrain from
doing those action to others.
श्रूमतांधभतवलतस्लंश्रुत्ला िाप्मलधामतत ाभ।्
आत्भन् प्रचतकूराचन ऩयेऴां न वभाियेत्॥
- वेदव्मास
śrūyatāṁ dharma sarvasvaṁ śrutvā cāpyavadhāryatām |
ātmanaḥ pratikūlāni parēṣāṁ na samācarēt ||
- vēdavyāsa ( dalit according to distinguished member as Valmiki and
Tiruvalluvan)
8 िोकाधेन प्रलक्ष्ममाचभ मदक्तुं रन्थकोदटचब् ।
ऩयोऩकाय् ऩुण्माम ऩाऩाम ऩयऩीडनभ ्॥
ślōkārdhēna pravakṣyāmi yaduktaṁ granthakōṭibhiḥ |
parōpakāraḥ puṇyāya pāpāya parapīḍanam ||
slōkārdhēna pravakshyāmi yaduktam grantha kōtibhihi - I shall tell in half
a verse, what is said in crores of books on morals and ethics. I will
condense all of them and present in half a verse. What is the essence of
all values?parōpakārah punyāya pāpāya parapīdanam. parōpakārah punyāya -
whatever help you do to others is noble, Punyam. pāpāya parapīdanam -
harming others in any way (mentally, verbally, physically) is Pāpam.
Therefore, values and ethics are not unknown to us, but still they are
presented elaborately. The idea is that the more we dwell on them, the
more they will become ours.
9 If we should have a healthy body, they give us certain parameters.
Blood pressure must be between 120 and 80. Blood sugar must be this much
and cholesterol must be this much. If these few items tally reasonably,
then it is a sign of a healthy body. In the same way, if there should be a
healthy society, the scriptures point out that it should fulfill certain
parameters. Certain things should be there and certain things should not
be there. What are the parameters which should be there? - Dharma. Adharma
should not be there. What is the advantage? The society is healthy and
harmonious. Only when the society is healthy and harmonious, the
individual can enjoy peace. What is harmony externally, it is peace
experienced internally. External disharmony and internal peace can never
go together, unless he is a Gnyāni. Only when there is peace, there is a
possibility of any healthy pursuit. Whether it is pursuit of material
growth, whether it is pursuit of science, whether it is pursuit of art,
whether it is pursuit of spirituality, any pursuits requires a healthy
atmosphere. Therefore, Dharma is important for peace and progress. This
is for all the common people. More importantly, Dharma or Nīti is required
for a spiritual seeker. He might be not interested in material growth. He
might be a seeker of Mōksha. Even such person requires Dharma. Without
Dharma, the stepping stone, Gnyānam is never possible. The study becomes an
academic study. It can never be assimilated. This is given by both the
Upanishads and the Gīta.
न वलयतो दष्ुिरयतात्न ळान्तो न वभादशत्
ना ळान्त भनवोलावऩ प्रसानेनैनभाप्नुमात्॥
na viratō duṣcaritāt na śāntō na samāhitaḥ
nā śānta manasōvāpi prajñānēnainamāpnuyāt
If a person does not have a life of values, he cannot come to knowledge.
Even if he comes to knowledge, he cannot get knowledge. And even if he
gets knowledge, he cannot assimilate. Like oil and water, knowledge will
be somewhere and his personality will be totally different. In the Gīta,
Bhagawan clearly says - daivī sampad vimōkshāya nibandhāya āsurīmatā.
Krishna calls the values daivī sampath. He says daivī sampath alone
promotes Self Knowledge, whereas Āsuri Sampath (Adharma, Anīti) has got a
retarding effect. Therefore, even a seeker of Mōksha should give
importance to a life of values. Thus, whether a person wants peace of mind
or material prosperity or spiritual fulfillment, he requires the foundation
of Dharma.
10 Verse No. 72 श्रोत्रं श्रुतेनैल न कु ण्डरेन दानेन ऩाच्णनत तुकङ्कणेन ।
वलबाचत काम् करुणाऩयाणां ऩयोऩकायैनत तुिन्दनेन ॥ ७२ ॥
śrōtraṁ śrutēnaiva na kuṇḍalēna dānēna pāṇirna tu kaṅkaṇēna |
vibhāti kāyaḥ karuṇāparāṇāṁ parōpakārairna tu candanēna || 72 ||
Bhartruhari talks about the ornaments of various parts of the body. We may
wonder why Bhartruhari should talk about ornaments as we already know
them very well. We know that the ornament for the ear is an earring. The
ornament for the hand is the bangle. The ornament for the body is either
various ornaments or application of various perfumes. They are all
superficial ornaments. They are all perishable ornaments. Here, he takes
three limbs. The first one is Shrōtram. Bhartruhari says shrōtram
kundalēna na vibhāti - the ears do not really become attractive by wearing
earrings. It is a mistake or misconception to think so. People think that
ears become attractive through Kundalam Then, what is the real decoration?
shrutēna ēva. The real ornament is Shravanam, listening to noble things. It
will add charm not to our external body, but to our inner personality. Our
Sūkshma Sharīram gets refined, our personality becomes more refined and
ultimately, even Mōksha is attained through Shravanam. Therefore, the real
ornament of the ears is Shravanam. Here, shrutam means Shravanam. That is
why they say that at the time of the Upanayana initiation, a person
listens to Gāyatri Mantra through the right ear. Therefore, the right ear
is supposed to be a sacred one because it has heard the Vēda. Therefore,
it is supposed to be locus of even Ganga Devi. Therefore, when they do
the Prānāyāma, they have to hold the nose and have to breathe in and
breathe out. Their saliva comes out while chanting om bhuh om bhuvaha, etc,
and it will touch the hand. Therefore, the hand becomes non-scared because
of the saliva. They have to touch the Ganga. Every time you do Prānāyāma,
how can you go from Madras to Ganga? Therefore, they say the right ear has
got Ganga Devi. It is the Vēda Sthānam. Therefore, after every Prānāyāma,
they touch the ear. So, there is no ornament in the ear. That is Ganga
Devi.
11 What is the ornament of the hand? He says pānihi kankanēna na vibhāti
- the hands do not become attractive or they don’t shine because of
Kankanam, the bangle. . What is the true ornament of the hand? - Dānēna.
Therefore, giving charity or giving gifts is the true ornament which again
will add charm to the inner personality. He becomes great. Therefore,
pānihi kankanēna na vibhāti, pānihi dānēnavibhāti.Therefore, we have got
the second ornament.
12 The first ornament is Shravanam. Second ornament is Dānam. What is
the third ornament? kāyaha chandanēnatu na vibhāti.kāyaha means the
Sharīram, the body. chandanēnana - the body does not become attractive by
smearing perfumes. They are not the true ornaments or true decorations.
Then, what is the true ornament? parōpakāraihi kāyaha vibhāti. The body
becomes attractive, respected by people and people are after that body or
that person who has dedicated himself to help others. What type of people
are they? Karunāparānām. This Parōpakāra cannot come automatically. After
all, physical action is only an expression of the inner attitude.
Therefore, karunāparānām kāyaha - the true ornament of the body of those
people who are soaked in compassion, is their help to the needy people.
Therefore, the ornament of the physical body is Parōpakāraha. In this,
three values have been mentioned - Shravanam, Dānam and Parōpakāraha. In
the figurative form of ornaments, Bhartruhari presents the three values of
Shravanam, Dānam and Parōpakāraha. Here, you need not take Shravanam as
Vēdānta Shravanam. Even the Shravanam of any noble thing such as Dharma
Shāstra, Ramayana and Mahābhārata comes under Shravanam - bhadram
karanēbhi shrunuyāma dēvāh.
KR IRS 31522
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