Wisdom is the arrow
To smite my sin,
The bowstring is my love
For your lotus-feet,
And my iron-like mind
Is the strong bow,
The victorious one is he
Who meditates on the “I”.
(“En paapameyvathinorambaayidunnarivu
Nin paada thaarilezhumen
Anpaanu mourvi orirumbaam manam dhanur
Ahambhaaviyaanu vijayee”)
O Mother, I live in this world thinking that I have my own personality and objective freedom. So I decide what has to be done and what has not to be done. Whenever I do a work or service, I might have doubt whether it is right or wrong. If I think that I made a mistake, there would be guilty feeling and this is called sin. In this case, the result of my sin has to be suffered by myself and this would result in fear. Thus I become sin-filled person.
This feeling of sin is due to my perception that I have my own individuality. It is also due to my inability to see myself and my actions as a part of Supreme Truth. That inability is called ignorance. In fact, that ignorance and sin-feeling are not two. I have to get rid of it and need freedom from this dilemma. I have to totally chop that sin.
In order to eliminate this sin, there has to be an arrow. Only Wisdom can remove ignorance. Light removes darkness. Therefore, I accept Wisdom Consciousness as the bow for such war. That Wisdom is to be realized. You being the Supreme Knowledge form and I being the Consciousness are not two separate entities. Ignorance will be eliminated by itself, when such bow of Wisdom hits properly.
The target cannot be achieved simply by carrying only the bow in hand. There should be proper skill and method to do that. Similarly, the life cannot be wise for the people who know only principles. Instead there has to be an approach for practically applying the Wisdom in life.
In order to send the arrow, there should be a bow and the connecting bowstring. Here, I consider the bowstring as my loving devotion towards your divine feet. Sages state that my devotion towards you and the search of my self principle are not different.
For an arrow to reach the target the bowstring tied on the bow should be strong and long-enough to give adequate thrust. Similarly my devotion towards you should be very strong and consistent. This means self-integration should be continuous. The power of arrow will depend upon the strength of my pull. In the same manner, my life’s satisfaction will depend upon the strength of my self-integration.
Here the bow should be my mind with self-confidence. There are numerous people who understood the principle of truth cannot apply the significance of truth in their life. That is because they do not have a strong mind to adopt that Truth in life’s application. The knowledge of the person who does not have strong mind resembles to water poured in flowing sand. Therefore, I decide to have powerful and firm mind. In that firmness, I will be sending the Wisdom of arrow that is tied with the devotion of bow-string.
In this war, would there be win or lose? Indeed, it can be stated before its occurrence. If I am Self-affiliated, the win is assured. i.e. I should be meditated on the principle of I-Consciousness. This is termed as Self-principle. In this process, I would be focused on transcendental (meditative) search to realize the Truth in me. The success of devotion in your divine feet requires sincere search on Truth in my own Self. Other kinds of devotion will not give proper results.
(En paapam=my sin, Eyvathinu=to slash, Ambu=arrow, Arivu=wisdom, Nin paadam=your feet, Anbu = loving devotion, Mourvi=bow-string, Irumbu=strong as iron, Manam=mind, Dhanussu=bow, Aham=I-Consciousness, Bhaavi=meditated on, Vijayee=victorious)
And you are the one
Who gives the victory.
Taken all together,
The sin-stained “I”
Is but Consciousness become manifest;
This heavy body too is so.
The entire world is also likewise.
Everything indeed is
A manifestation of Consciousness!
(“Amba tharunnu vijayam papapankilaham
Bhaanamakum athinaal
Vanbhaaramaarnna thanuvum bhaanamam ulakavum
Bhaanamakum akhilam”)
O Mother, in this war, your blessings lead to our victory. In reality, my form is manifestation of yours. I consider my victory as the knowledge that you are eternal winner. When I realize that all actions are yours, then I would be free from the bondage of actions and sins.
Thus when I attain victory, what would happen? First of all, there would be a clarity that I am not polluted with sin, but I would experience realizing that I am pure knowledge. Then I would be totally free from sin feeling. Moreover, I would realize my Supreme Self.
It is due to the ignorance that I feel sinful. When that ignorance is gone, I understand that whatever I do would be part of Supreme Knowledge. The Wisdom power, the will power and the execution strength in me are all the actions of your divine sportive play. Here, there is no space for sin and purity. Differentiation of sin and purity is significant for the concepts devised by man in the context of wrong-act and right-act. O Mother, in your universal sportive dance, when you perform various expressions of acting, can anyone say which is right and which is wrong?
The feeling that I have a peculiar state of existence is due to several conditions of macro and micro- nature. My inner organs, five sense organs and the body belong to that. Such conditions are manifested light of unified knowledge that is yours. Even material aspects of the body to be thought of is nothing but the Supreme Knowledge.
Moreover, it would be realized that this whole universe is a sportive play of unified Supreme Knowledge. This universe is the Qualifying Substance for all innate qualities. Thus Qualifying Substance and all innate qualities are manifestations of that Supreme Knowledge.
(Amba=Mother, Tharunnu vijayam=gives victory, Papapankilam=sinful, Bhaanamakum=become luminous, Vanbhaaram = heavy, Thanu=body, Ulakam=universe, Bhaanam=light, Akhilam=the whole)
***************************************************************************************************************
Three-four young college students learning Modern Science asked to Guru “isn’t it wrong to say that the earth is supported by ‘Ananta the serpant’”? Guru smiled and asked to them “What your Science says about this”? “Sun, Earth, The Planet, Stars remain in its position by Inter gravitational force” the students replied. Guru: “That means it is an infinite force; this understanding is enough”.
From the book "Sree Narayana Guru Vaikhari".
Compiled and Edited by Dr. T. Bhaskaran. |