" upavAsam" - "upa"/"vAsam" means by means of your mind, you are being close to the bhagavan. Read more about this below...
Whatever be the religion, there is a book that is fundamental to that religion. When we go to a lawyer for an injustice, the lawyer, in order to determine what is right or wrong quotes a certain case law. In the law, according to a certain section this is wrong or right, the lawyer says. The lawyer cannot by himself quote an opinion. For people living in the world, there is a law and this changes from country to country and even within a single country, there are laws that vary from state to state. But an eternal law is the Vedam.
If we take God for example, there cannot be several Gods in the world. If there were several Gods, then there would arise a question as to which God is currently holding a position. There should be cooperation within the Gods, one creating and another destroying will only create confusion. Therefore there is only one paramAtma, "EkO vishNur mahatbhUtam", "sa EkaHa", say the upanishads. Who is the ONE? Say, I like someone very much and I cannot say he is my God. Likewise if he does not like me I cannot say he is not a God either. To say who is God, it the sastras which have the authority. Has anyone seen the existence of rebirth or the existence of another world or has anyone known about "pApam" (bad deed) or "punyam" (good deed) or seen the God himself. But all these are existing and which is a belief we have and the basis of this belief is the sastras. Therefore in the brahmasutras, Vyasar himself told "sastrayonitvA".
I myself have said that in the sastras, mention of the atom, rocket and science is present but the general opinion is that in the vedam and the sastras, whatever that can be seen by our eyes is not what the sastras have been meant to speak about. For me in order to say this is a desk or mike which is in front of me, vedam is not needed to prove it. vedam need not come to tell us what we can easily see with our naked eyes, it is indeed needed to describe what we do not know. To tell us what we cannot know or understand using our five senses, sastras or vedas are needed as a support. We may go to a teacher to learn something, but after ten days we will not go if we find that he knows nothing more than what we already know. We will feel it is a waste of time. So if the other person knows something more than what we know and in order for us to know what we do not know, there is a gain in going to the other person for learning. Therefore vedam is meant for knowing that thing which our five senses cannot reach or know about.
Whom does this vedam call as the paramAtma? Does this vedam mention the saguna or the nirguna? Vedam indeed tells about both the sagunam (with attribute / qualities) as well as the nirgunam (with no attribute / qualities). Both the sagunam as well as the nirgunam must co-exist, says the brahmasutram itself. Even in the normal world, without sagunam there is no srishti (creation). Without sagunam there is neither srishti, sthithi (protection) or samhAram (annihilation). How then can both sagunam and nirgunam exist at the same time is a question. If you asked someone to bring you a paper, but that paper should have only one side. How can one get such a thing? Just as the paper cannot be without two sides to it, for the paramAtma both sagunam and nirgunam must be present. This cannot be just understood by your brain having read from this book or that book and it will not work for you.
ONLY IF YOU HAVE DELVED DEEP INTO THE SASTRAS AND REACHED OUT TO THE BOTTOM OF IT, WILL YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND THIS. NOT JUST SASTRAS, ONE NEEDS DHYANA, ABHYASA AND ANUBHAVA AS WELL.
Any sastras without Iswara cannot be accepted at all. If one says there is a religion without bhagavan, which religion can one accept? So leaving the bhakthi, dhyAna, smarana, seva and the leelas by way of listening to the stories of the bhagavan, if one says I will fast, not sleep, stand continuously then it is of no use.
In the Srimad Bhagavatham, it is mentioned "srama eva hi kevalam". If one fasted for ten days and did not think of the bhagavan, then it is not a fast and yields just nothing. Just the difficulty he underwent. Without bhagavath bhakthi, he abstained from sleep, what is the use? It is "srama eva hi kevalam". We can only feel for his difficulty in doing this. Even during ekAdasi fasting, it is no use if you just fast on this day. With fasting, you should chant bhagavannamakeerthanam also on this day. One must perform the shravanam. On ekAdasi day, if one does not sleep in the night but watches a movie, then that is no use. By sacrificing his sleep, he must indeed perform namasankeerthanam. The meaning of upavAsam, like "upa"nayanam - "upa" means being close to something. How can one be like that. In a temple, when we are very close to the perumal, mind is thinking of what the wife is doing at home, so although you are physically present, yet you are far indeed. On the other hand, even if you are far but the mind is always on the bhagavan, you are indeed close. Thus "upa"vAsam means by means of your mind you are being close to the bhagavan.
Therefore,
"VeRuppodu samaNar muNdar vithiyil saakkiyarkaL,
ninpaal-poRuppariyanakaL pEsil pOvathE nOyadhaahi
kuRippenak kadaiyum aahil koodumEl thalaiyai aaNGgE,
aRuppathE karumam kaNdaay araNGgamaa naharuLaanE!"
says Azhwar.
On which deivam, will one get bhakthi. If, for the mind, a thing looks very beautiful then it will definitely get attached to it very much. The mind will keep telling on about a thing that has been seen yesterday and how beautiful it was. Beauty can trap the human mind. In the flower garden at Ooty, there would be mention of the rose as "What is the most beautiful thing that you can buy greater than this rose?" Beauty is something that the mind attracts. The other thing everyone likes is the one who is simple and very soft person. Just like in a home of ten people and a child, we see that the attention of everyone is on the child, likewise a swami should perform the upAsana in the same manner. The home itself will change for the sake of the child. If the child is sleeping, they will not switch on the TV, will worry if the child has eaten, they will say to the child don't go there! and they will lift it up. Like that the attention of all the ten members of the household will be taken up by this single child just by virtue of it being a child. The child need not be beautiful to look at or be intelligent, just the fact that it is a child is enough. Just so to bring up the child and let it grow, the bhagavan has given to the child such an attraction power. Towards a child, a beautiful object and a very simple and soft thing, the mind by nature gets attracted. If all these three qualities are there with someone, why will our mind not go towards them.
That is why, Azhwar says
"maTTrum Or deivam uNDE madiyilA mAniDangAL
uTTrapOdu anri neengaL oruvan enru uNara mATTeer
aTTramEl onru ariyeer avanallAl deivam illai
kaTTrinam mEitta endai kazhaliNai paNimin neerE
What Azhwar says is, say for example someone says "Sir, I believed him and trusted him and did not know that he will cheat me like this. I asked him money for marriage but he did not give and it became very difficult. Though he maybe a good man, it is my bad time as that man wanted to give but he did not get the money from another place in time so what can he do", isn't this what we see so often in this world. Whomsoever says he will help you, the moment he gets into any trouble he will slide away. So Azhwar says "uTTrapOdu anri neengaL oruvan enru uNara mATTeer", just at the time when you need to be saved, wait and see if the deivam will help you. Draupadi is in the sabha, there are all the elders out there including Bhishma, Drona, the king himself is performing a heinous act, the people are all watching and those present in front of her did not come to save her. But the bhagavan being somewhere else came as her saviour. Neither Drona, Bhishma, Vidura, Dharmaputra, Bhima, Arjuna and all these people are sitting with hands folded. The king Duryodhana himself is performing this sinful act, the people are watching this happening as if it is a cinema show. Who in this moment came to save Draupadi? It was none of the people present there but Lord Sri Krishna in Dwaraka. Just one call "Govinda" was uttered by Draupadi. In villages, when one asks where the school is, they would say it is at a calling distance. What this means is the distance that can be heard by someone. So where is bhagavan, he is indeed at calling distance. If you just call Krishna from here and that is the distance he is away from. The moment she cried out to "Govinda" he came. How?, the sarees kept coming continuously to protect her. For Gajendra, being in prAna sankatam with the crocodile catching its leg, all the surrounding elephants deciding that Gajendra will no longer survive left him. After fighting over a thousand years and not losing his life yet, crying "Narayana akila gurO bhagavan namastE", who came? Who gave all the great wealth to kuchElan? For Arjuna in the war, who drove the chariot for him? Who went as an ambassador trying to prevent the war? There is this Delhi today which was Indraprashtha and who indeed got this back for Dharmaputra? All this was done by Sri Krishna. In small villages, for those kids who dont get to study well, they would say that he is only fit for tending cows. They would tell the kid that they would buy two cows for him to tend. No one would come for such a job as tending cows, but the sarvasakthan bhagavan is tending cows. Such is the simplicity. He is tending the cows, like a child, an Apathbhandava, anAtharakshaka and a dheenabandhu. When Draupadhi called for help as an Apathbhandava he indeed came to help. Being supportive to the pandavas and helping Kunti, he came as an anAtharakshaka to the pandavas giving them wealth, clothes, food, protected the foetus in the womb of uttara by sending his sudarsana chakra. When the flood of rain hits the GokulavAsis, lifting the whole mountain, he saved the people.
What can then be said of the greatness of the bhagavan.
"uTTrapOdu anri neengaL oruvan enru uNara mATTeer |
aTTramEl onru ariyeer avanallAl deivam illai", who performed the ten avatars, it is not vasudeva who came as meena, kurma, varaha but our Lord Sri Krishna. Krishna is the paramatma, "poornam brahma sanatanam", "sakshath bhagavan purusha parAha", that Krishna paramAtma is the "poorna bhagavan" and this poorna bhagavan performed the ten avatars. The deivam is one who will come in time of peril. Who else will come so quickly as Krishna in time of danger or peril. Bring thousands of photos of various Gods and place before a foreigner, who has no bhakthi or distinction for any Gods or Goddesses, he would go and stand only in front of the photo of Krishna, why because of its beauty. "Jaganmohana sundarakaran, bhuvana sundara" is bhagavan krishna. If we take all the beauty found in this world it is his beauty that is most beautiful. Being beautiful, at the same time being simple, he tends the cows and goes as a messenger. Normally one would not want to do such things, but here the lord himself goes as the messenger on behalf of the pandavas. One would like to sit in a chariot but not drive the chariot as a charioteer. No one would like to drive but mainly to sit and ask someone to drive. As Parthasarathy he is a charioteer. Such a deivam will save his devotee on his own account. He brings to life the dead child of sandipani, the child who has gone upto vaikunta brings him back. The lord protects the child, parikshith who is about to get destroyed in the womb itself. He gives such a great wealth to kuchElan. We should not just think that Krishna helped the residents of Gokula, sandipani, Draupadi, Gajendra alone. We should think why Krishna has performed all this and shown.
Even if you perform my namakeerthanam, for you also I will do is what Krishna is showing by all this. With great nishtai, think of HIM alone, with surrender and perform keerthanam, not just the people who he has saved but he will save all. Those who perform namakeethanam are indeed the same as the GokulavAsis, Gopar, Gopi and just like how he protected all of them, he will indeed protect those who perform namakeerthanam. This is what through all the charithram, the bhagavan shows us.
Radhe Radhe
