How is Brahma?
sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tat sarvatokṣi-śiro-mukham ।
sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati ॥BG 13.14
“Its limbs are everywhere, as are its eyes and heads. It ’sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati’ — pervades everything”. Here, we are reminded of the line “sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ” from the Puruṣasūkta and the eleventh chapter of the Gītā.
ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳ ಪೌರಾಣಿಕ ಪರ್ಯಾವರಣವನ್ನು ಪುಷ್ಟಿಗೊಳಿಸುವಂತೆ ಅನೇಕ ಪ್ರಸಂಗಗಳು ರೂಪಿತವಾಗಿವೆ. ರುದ್ರಸಾಕ್ಷಾತ್ಕಾರ, ಆಪೋದೇವಿಯರ ದರ್ಶನ, ತ್ರಿಶಂಕುವಿನ ದಿವ್ಯದೇಹನಿರ್ಮಾಣ (‘ಮಹಾಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ’), ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆಯ ಪಾಪವನ್ನು ವೃಕ್ಷ, ಸ್ತ್ರೀ, ನದಿ ಮತ್ತು ಭೂಮಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚುವುದು ಹಾಗೂ ವೃತ್ರಾಸುರನು ಪಂಚಭೂತಗಳನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು (‘ಮಹಾಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯ’), ಆದಿತ್ಯನು ಕುದುರೆಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾಜ್ಞವಲ್ಕ್ಯನಿಗೆ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು, ಪಂಚಭೂತಗಳ ಸಾಕ್ಷಾತ್ಕಾರ, ಕುಲಪತಿ ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನರಿಗೆ ಶ್ರುತಿಭಗವತಿ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಕ್ಷಳಾಗುವುದು (‘ಮಹಾದರ್ಶನ’) ಮುಂತಾದ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳು ಕಲ್ಪಿತವಾದರೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ನಡೆದಿದ್ದಿರಬೇಕೆಂದು ಓದುಗರಿಗೆ ತೋರುವ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಅಧಿಕೃತವಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡಿವೆ. ಇವುಗಳ ಸಾಂಕೇತಿಕ ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯವೂ ಹಿರಿದು.
While discussing about mārga and deśī, the author has brought much clarity in drawing the lines of distinction between the two, and at the same time showing their merging points. Clarity on these major concepts will throw much light in the works on re-construction of techniques. Also, the realisation that mārga becomes a vocabulary with which many languages as Deśī forms may emerge (all with respect to dance in this context), will be a big revelation. The following sentences are significant for this reason.
The next morning, the brothers woke up, bowed down to the confluence of the rivers Sarayū and Jāhnavī and arrived at the region of Maladā and Karūṣā – the regions that were formed when Brahma-hatyā-doṣa which Indra had acquired upon killing Vṛtrāsura, was washed away. In the region lived a yakṣi named Tāṭakā, the wife of Sunda and the mother of Mārīca. Blessed with the strength of a thousand elephants at birth, she was cursed along with her son by Sage Agastya to become rākṣasas. Viśvāmitra instructed Rāma – “Have no compassion for this woman, Rāma!
When there is someone who isn’t a beggar in the vicinity one beggar shouldn’t beg from another beggar! When there are wealthy and charitable patrons the beggar should ask from them. What use is asking another beggar who lives on other people’s mercy?
The import is, A dependent should relate himself to someone who is independent rather than to another dependent who is in a similar situation.
When Viṣṇu was about to take birth as the sons of Daśaratha, Brahmā addressed the devas – “You should create powerful beings to assist Viṣṇu. Beget vānaras who are as capable as you, through the wombs of apsarās, gandharvīs, kinnarīs, vānarīs, and the women of yakṣas and pannagas.”[1] The devas did as instructed. Upon their birth, vānaras were ruled by the brothers Vālī and Sugrīva, the sons of Indra and Sūrya respectively.
ekam-evādvayam-arūpaṃ brahmam-avyayam-akriyaṃ
svīkarisi nijabhogakèṃdu śarīra-vividha-sahasramaṃ ।
prākṛtāsvādyagaḻa madhuviṃ tannane tāṃ maretavol
lokajīvana-sīṃdhu-vīciyoḻ ātmadī ḍolotsavaṃ ॥
Brahma is the One, without a second, formless, changeless and without action
Takes, a myriad varied forms, for its own pleasure
Seems as if it is lost in worldly pleasantness
This is the surf-fest of the ātma in the waves of the ocean of worldly life.
