“DIGAMBER”

It was Oct 2006 when Shafat Ahmed copied to my computer a composition sung by Ustad Nusarat Fateh Ali Khan titled ‘Gorakhdhanda’. While doing so he cautioned me that this rendition could work either way. Turn me into an atheist or anchor me further in the belief of God.

This was half an hour of mystic romance. Subsequent charm and sense of exhilaration, surrender to the Almighty, which follows such renditions makes you feel closer to Him. The situation was ecstatic as the feeling of His overpowering presence was there but you could neither see Him nor touch Him. As has been very aptly described in the rendition, God is what He is only till the time there is feeling of His presence & He is beyond anyone’s reach for if you succeed in touching Him, He is no longer God but an idol. His Holiness & Greatness lies in our yearning for Him, more you yearn to come closer to Him further you are inclined to stay away from Him.

The words of Nusarat Fateh Ali Khan, their rendition, the magic of a smooth and seamless transition from one stratum of understanding and perception to another and references from where he has drawn his logic for making his point, very eloquently, left me and my family enthralled and consolidated our belief in God, thankfully.

It also brought me closer to the same old paradox as to how close we people are to each other in thought and in belief and yet how vehemently we deny this closeness. After all the Power that created this universe is One and absolute. This universe is one. The planets revolve around the same sun and in the same orbit. Our belief and point of view does not change the orbit of the moon on which it revolves around the earth. We are the inheritors of the same flora and fauna, rivers, lakes and oceans, mountains and forests and deserts, bequeathed to us by the same Universal Power, the God. We may name the Power differently but the Universal facts do not change. In our quest for the natural we normally resort to an uncharted un-natural path. And that is why the turmoil, dissatisfaction, trauma, rivalry and one-up- man ship comes to the fore.

Those who were able to understand the Universal Truth were normally men of peace and satisfaction was the natural outcome. They carried no material burden, neither for themselves nor for their ‘generation next’ but ultimately left an indelible mark on the society and the world at large. They were the saviours whom the world granted recognition subsequently and belatedly.

Isn’t it a paradox, referring to a couplet from ‘Gorakhdhanda’ that Messiah, who granted life to innumerable people had to die on a cross with God looking on the executioners without any immediate retribution? Grandchildren of the Prophet had to die in Karbala while God showed no signs of immediate mercy. And Lord Ram had to forgo coronation at Ayodhya and traverse the jungles of Bharat for fourteen long years facing insurmountable hardships and retribution. All these individuals are revered because they sought no material gains but stood by a philosophy and a principle. ‘Good’ was unqualified ‘good’ for them and ‘bad’ was an equally unqualified ‘bad’ for them.

As mentioned earlier, the ‘copying’ of ‘Gorakhdhanda’ on my computer by Shafat forced me to a quest of my own. A very minuscule step, but a step nonetheless.

I came across a composition called ‘Shiv Tandav Astotram’ written by none other than Ravana. Mention of Ravna does not arouse any feeling of surrender to God for he was the one who was considered to be the embodiment of all that was nefarious and evil. Ravana was highly educated and an intellectual in his own right knew all the four Vedas and was a staunch devotee of lord Mahadev. Shiv Tandav Astotram is a very valuable window into the mind of the person that he was.

Umpteen number of times, throughout the ‘astotra’, he has invoked the name of Lord Mahadev for providing him the material benefits of life. He implores Him to multiply his holdings and give stability to the possessions obtained by him – through means foul or fair. He ends the ‘astotram’ with the qualification that whoever recites this ‘astotram’ in the evening every day, he will be replenished with all worldly possessions of his time. Since chariots, horses, elephants and the like were the symbols of the elite of the time of Ravana he concluded that their number would increase manifold as well as his fixed assets will not only be protected but also enhanced with the blessings of Lord Mahadev.

However two stanzas stand apart from the rest. In these two stanzas a demon like Ravana also puts his hands up and surrenders to the Lord and wants to attain oneness with Him. Their translation, from Sanskrit – to the best of my ability, is reproduced here:

O’ Lord Mahadev, Give me strength and the insight:

Enabling me not to discriminate:

Between a rock on which I may have to sleep; or the royal bedding of my palace;

Between friends and foes; between kings and paupers;

Between valuable pearls and a pack of mud;

Between a snake and a necklace of precious stones;

(They should all be same to me;)

O’ Lord, my mind should stop these worldly discrimination while I am on my path to seek You.

O’ Lord Mahadev,

How I wish to forsake my perverted and negative thoughts; and come to a ‘nikunj’ (beautifully laid out & maintained gardens) on the banks of River Ganga;

With my hands folded over my head; with tearful & infatuated eyes seeking your ‘darshan’;

And pray Shiv Mantra so that I am able to achieve Bliss.

In the final analysis even Ravana was looking for peace and bliss. A paradox, considering that he had all bounties of life at his disposal, power to conquer people and nations at will as also a Palace, made up of gold, in Sri Lanka. Peace still evaded him.

Compare this with translation of a stanza from ‘Devya-Apradh-Khyamapan Astotram’ by Shankracharya:

O’ Mother; Graceful as the Moon;

Neither am I interested in Salvation, nor in the materialism of this world;

Science does not interest me; nor do I desire comfort;

Only request I have, and that may please be granted, is;

My life should pass with thy name on my lips – always.

Shankracharya did seek for anything for himself but was still at peace with himself. In fact he continued to propagate the new doctrine enunciated by Adi Shankracharya.

As already mentioned Ravana was a mighty king and had all comforts of his life but peace eluded him & on the other hand Shankracharya was a sanyasi, with no material possessions but even in his prayers he did not seek any material gains for himself. He was comfortable & satisfied with whatever he had.

This world is a mystery and more one tries to unravel it the more complicated it gets. It also brings us to the same initial point as to how this universe maintains its equilibrium and what is the Power that keeps it going day in and day out. How are we judged by the Power that is in our entire daily chore? How are we judged throughout 24x365xlife span days? There are no easy answers.

However, Mahatama Vashisth has summarized it very aptly. He summarized it to Bharat, the younger brother of Lord Rama, when he returned to Ayodhya from his maternal grandparent’s house to find that King Dashrath was no more and Sita, Ram & Lakshaman had already left for the jungles for fourteen years exile. Bharat and Shatrughan were inconsolable.

What Vashisth told Bharat, translated from Goswami Tulsi Das’s Ramayana is something like this:

“Listen O’ Bharat; Destiny has the final say and I am saying this with a very heavy heart; (very heavy heart because Ayodhya was in mourning after the death of King Dashrath & exile to Lord Ram, his wife Sita & Lakhshman);

Loss, Gain, life or death: fame or infamy is one’s own destiny – all in the hands God.”

These words from a saint, who only some time earlier had finalized an auspicious day for the coronation of Rama to the throne of Ayodhaya, laid bare the facts about the realm of the unknown.

Though lord Krishana, subsequently, modified it further and laid emphasis on the need and culture of good work for the betterment of ourselves as individuals and the society in general. He said that result of such work should be left to God for individuals don’t have any control on the outcome of an effort. For example: who would have been the victor if it had not rained at Waterloo during that famous battle?

Qawalli by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan emphasizes this paradox time and again. He refers to quest for the Ultimate Truth by people who gave up everything earthly for this quest and yet were not able to access the Reality or realize it. They found Him to be omnipresent but available only to those who could fine tune their body and soul. He is benevolent and is so large that He occupies all the space in the universe, yet is available in the smallest corner of the heart of the poor, meek and the downtrodden. He is also available in the corners of the dwellings of the people who have been rejected and persecuted by the materialistic world. He is there in your own heart if you are capable of listening to Him carefully.

It is again a paradox that this universe with forests, mountains and skies as also oceans, deserts and rivers as also flora and fauna, fruits, vegetables and corn as also herbs, shrubs and multitude of people has been created by Him to make His presence felt but He is still invisible and remains shrouded in mystery and stays aloof. Human being has been created by Him as a deputy of His own, in his own image, but when it comes to matters of execution of decisions of us the humans; it is His Will that ultimately prevails.

Hence a ‘Gorakhdhanda’

Shri Shankracharya in his composition ‘Shiv Panchakhsharya Astotram’ refers to Lord Shiva as a ‘Digambar’ meaning thereby that He is shrouded by the infinite limits of the universe. These are the limits that cannot be accessed or reached. I find this definition to be very interesting. This is such a unique shroud that can be stretched further & further based upon enlightenment one achieves. The boundaries are infinite. The closer one comes to the boundary, the further it extends.

These boundaries pose a challenge to the humans to understanding the Truth. We look at the earth, sky and the sun and the planets & galaxies and try to make an effort to understand the omnipresence of God & it is again a paradox that though we are looking for Him elsewhere He is available always with you – in your very heart.

However, ultimate surrender to Him and His will is the best and the only way to realize Him. That is the solution to the problems of this world as well as individuals. That is why I am bent on my knees with folded hands and eyes cleansed with tears & am pleading to Him to remove this thin veil that is keeping us apart. I beseech Him to remove this veil for not too long but only for an infinitesimal fraction of a second so that ‘Darshan’ / ‘Didar’ is possible and minuscule possible communication is established.

Thanks, Shafat, for providing ‘Gorakhdhanda’ to me.