Saturday, February 25, 2017

Kandhar Anubhuti : Verse #14 - Destroy the Desires



கைவாய் கதிர்வேல் முருகன் கழல்பெற்று
உய்வாய், மனனே, ஒழிவாய் ஒழிவாய்
மெய் வாய் விழி நாசியொடும் செவி ஆம்
ஐவாய் வழி செல்லும் அவாவினையே (14) 

Kaivai kadhirvel Murugan Kazhal Petru
Uyvai Manane Ozhivai Ozhivai
Mei Vaai Vizhi Naasiyodum Seviyam
Aivai vazhi sellum avaavinaiye (14)


கைவாய் - Holding in Hand
கதிர்வேல் - Spear of Light
முருகன் - Lord Murugan
கழல்பெற்று - Reaching His Feet
உய்வாய்மனனே - Oh Mind, May you be Salvaged
ஒழிவாய் ஒழிவாய் - Destroy (repeated twice for emphasis)
மெய் - Body
வாய் - Mouth
விழி - Eye
நாசியொடும் - Nostril 
செவி ஆம் - Ear
ஐவாய் - Five pathways
வழி செல்லும் - Traveling
அவாவினையே - Desire

Short Meaning
Oh Mind, May you be saved by the Holy Feet of Lord Murugan, who wields the Spear of Light by destroying desires that travel to by the five sense organs of body, mouth, eye, nose and ears. 

Gloss
Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi bluntly states 'Mind is Maya'. Maya cannot be defined, and hence Mind can't be defined too.

Mind can be roughly characterised as a 'wanting engine'. Sri Eckhart Tolle beautifully puts it as 'Mind - wants to want - more than - it wants to have' - That's a very hard to digest statement, so, feel free to read it a couple of times to understand its import. 

Haven't we always felt - 'Only if this happens...' (get some thing / experience) then I'll be super happy (forever). For some people more often and for some less often, we have achieved those goals. But once reaching the goal, it only appears that the mind says it will be happy 'only if...' (some other goal).

Mind can NEVER be satisfied. In Yoga Vashishta, Lord Rama says to Sage Vashishta that trying to satisfy the mind by getting things it wants is like trying to fill a sieve with water. Both are not possible.

Mind wants other things / experiences only because by nature it feels it is not complete. Unfortunately, by the power of Maya, we identify with the mind. But our nature is not the mind. Our true nature is non-different from the Supreme Parabrahman. Brahma Satyam - (God alone is True), Jagan Mitya (This experiential Universe is only a relative reality) - Jeevo Brahmaiva na Para: (The individual soul is not different from the Supreme Brahman)

And by nature we are full (Purnam) - Purnam-ada Purnam-idam Purnaat Purnam Udachyate (Shanti Pata:) - "That is complete. This is Complete. From That which is Complete, This which is complete arose"


But, due to the primal error, we started identifying with something less like the body and mind. The only way to go back to immortality is by stop identifying with lesser things like mind and body and identify with the Self. 

For this, mind has to be destroyed. So, in this verse, Sri Arunagiri says Uyvaai Manane (உய்வாய்மனனே) - Oh mind, may you be salvaged. But how? By destroying the desires (ஒழிவாய் அவாவினையே)

Here Sri Arunagiri wants to emphasise the destruction of mind and desires by repeating 'May you be destroyed' (addressed to the mind) - ஒழிவாய் ஒழிவாய்

Mind is blind. It needs inputs to work. The inputs for the mind are the sense organs. Without the sense organs mind cannot work. They are the only sources of inputs to the mind. 

So, He says desires travel to the mind using the five sense organs of body (skin), mouth, eyes, nose and ears. These desires have to be vanquished for the mind to be won over. 

Mind is a very interesting construct. It can hold only one thought at a time. Though we keep shifting multiple thoughts in the mind, mind has capability to hold exactly ONE thought. 

In Bhagawat Geetha, Chapter 3, Lord Krishna deals with this exhaustively. (Unjustified / Adharmic) Desire and Anger are discussed as two key reasons for one's downfall. Lord then says that Desire and Anger are same and not different. Only unfulfilled desire expresses itself as anger. 

So, by meditating on the feet (கழல்பெற்று) of Lord Murugan, the peerless one who wields the spear which is non-different from the Supreme Knowledge, the desires can be won over and hence the mind can be vanquished too. 

When mind is vanquished, and the individual can experience Lord Murugan in His true form, which is non-different from Self.