Vivekacudamani : Slokam -36. Sri Swami Adi Sankaracharya.

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Saturday, April 13,  2022. 06:00. 

“The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination" 

VOLUME : 1. The PURPOSE of Human Life

PART 1: (Sloka-s 1-66, 66 No.)

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Slokam - 36 : His Painful Encounter in the World

1 "durvaara samsaara davaagnitaptam

2 dodhooyamaanam duradrishhtavaataih;

3 bheetam prapannam paripaahi mrityoh

4 sharanyam anyad yad aham na jaane."

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Translation :

1 durvaara samsaara davaagnitaptam = I am being roasted in this changing world  as though by a blazing inferno;

2 dodhooyamaanam duradrishhtavaataih; = I am being tossed about  by the cruel storms of misfortune;

3 bheetam prapannam paripaahi mrityoh = I am terrified and I seek refuge in thee;  O Lord! Save me from the throes of death;

4 sharanyam anyad yad aham na jaane. = Thou art my safe refuge for shelter – a safer  abode I know not.”

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Commentary :

Owing to the urgency of the call for help, this verse is recited at almost twice the normal speed to match the spirit of the disciple’s desperation. It also has a pulsating 3 rhythm to it.

1-4 Most significant to all aspirants is his cry for help. He sends out an S.O.S. signal. He sees himself hurled in the midst of an ocean. He is lost. There is a surge of fear in his words. The only thing that will help his struggle is a compassionate glance from his Guru.

The disciple’s state may be compared with that of a person who has just suffered from third degree burns being hastened to the emergency department in a hospital. There is no time to waste. Such is the intensity of the disciple’s feeling to be liberated.

Acharyaji’s account tried to capture the poetry, too. “Misfortunes are rattling me, they are violently shaking me. It is as though Fire is picking me up and hurling me back into the fire! Now I am getting frightened. I surrender completely to thee. Save me! Another refuge I do not know. I seek refuge in thee to free me from this blazing fire.”

Now we can understand why he described, in the previous verse, the Guru’s glance as being ‘nectarine rain’. Feeling worldly existence as a blazing inferno in which he is roasting, a Monsoonal rain of Grace alone would bring relief to him. Poetry alone can express this.

The Guru is held in the highest esteem here. The disciple is not begging him for anything selfish. He seeks liberation – that which the Guru is most delighted to deliver, for it is that alone which has brought Guru and disciple together by God’s mysterious Hand.

Acharyaji prayerfully ended with a line brimming with gratitude: “May the Guru help us, too! How can we leave such a teacher? Leave him and know that spiritual death is certain.”

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Next

Slokam - 37 : Acknowledging the Goodness of Saints

To be continued ....

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