[Advaita-l] what is in the name?

[Ravi Kiran]

On Sat, Jul 25, 2015 at 12:44 AM, Venkata sriram P via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> After seeing the post on naming ceremony (yOga-paTTa) of Acharya Sankara,
>

If there is a genuine doubt on tattva, it is said, the answers do get
revealed through the grace of Guru paramparA

However, the intent is of questionable, sans respect or devotion to one's
own Guru paramparA and engages in kutarka, Ishvara alone save such..


I am reminded of an upAkhyAna called "madAlasa-upAkhyAna" which
> is my favourite one apart from "nala-damayanti" episode and
> "sAvitri-satyavAn"
> episode.
>

Its nice to see lots of patience, wisdom and compassion in this forum  who
share their knowledge, to awaken, even to such misguided queries
...elsewhere (in non-advaita forums), fate is surely sealed, even if it is
anywhere mere indicative, not deliberate as seen here :)


>
> The "madAlasa upAkhyAna" which is an episode of a King KuvalayAswa (also
> ritadhwaja)
> and his consort queen madAlasa (a brahmvAdini and yOgini). This couple, in
> due
> course of time, give birth to 4 children namely 1) vikrAnta 2) subAhu 3)
> shatrumardana
> 4) alarka, respectively.
>
> The first 3 names were selected by the king himself whose meanings run as
> 1) one who
> possess great valour and courage 2) one who possess powerful and beautiful
> hands
> & shoulders 3) one who conquers the enemies.
>
> When the king used to select the names, the queen madAlasa used to laugh
> as if
> she is making fun.  Irritated by her behaviour, the king asks the queen to
> select the
> name herself for their 4th son.  She purposefully names the 4th son as
> "ALARKA"
> and laughs again.
>
> Her husband Kuvalaswa questions the naming method of the sons and says
> that the meaning of the name "alarka" is "mad dog" and says why such
> meaningless name was christened to the 4th son whereas rest of the three
> have
> beautiful and meaningful names.
>
> Thus, begins the upAkhyAna.  Infact, when the three sons were born, the
> great
> brahmavAdini and yOgini madAlasa used to sing lullaby (jOla-pATa in telugu)
> which is a set of 9 slokas which starts with :
>
> shuddhO(a)si rE bAla na tEsti nAma
> krutaM hi vai kalpanayAdhunaiva
> panchAtmakaM dEhaM idaM na tE(a)sti
> tvaM cha asya rE rOdiSi kasya hEtOH ....1
>
> O my infant ! Don't cry. Thou Art Ever Pure and art Nameless &
> Formless. The sorrow is related to your physical body which is
> made of 5 gross elements.  Thou Art beyond these are are That !
> So, don't Cry.
>
> Like this, there are 8 more slokas that are pregnant with vairAgya.
>
> The three kids, got vairAgya, leaving the kingdom, parents behind,
> went to forest for tapasya.  Hence, the King Kuvalayaswa got
> annoyed and tell his queen not make the 4th son alarka a virakta.
> So, alarka was initiated into pravrutti-mArga by his mother madAlasa.
> That said, later, with the grace of jagatguru dattAtrEya, the 4th one
> also gets the brahma-jnAna.
>
> Now, the reason behind my typing this entire episode is that
> when the King Kuvalayaswa asks his queen that when I have named
> my 3 sons so beautifully that has a meaningful name why you have
> chosen a queer and meaningless one for my 4th one.  The queen madAlasa
> laughs and quotes extempore as :
>
> kalpanEyaM mahArAja krutA samvyAyahArikI
> tvatkrutAnAM tathA nAmnAM shruNu bhUpa nirarthakaM
>
> The name is for the sake of vyavahAra only which has been coined by
> we mortals. Realistically speaking, the Omnipresent Self, is beyond
> names and forms. To Him, what name can we propound and by which
> name do we have to address?
>
> So, my dear kuvalaswa ! don't be under the false impression
> that the names you have chosen for your 3 kids are meaningful.
>
> yadi samvyavahArArthaM asannAma prakalpyatE
> nAmni kasmAt alarkhyE nairarthyaM bhavatO mataM ?
>
> When the vyavahAra is an illusory by nature, one can call
> by any vyavahAra-nAma to this gross body which is a
> combination of 5 elements. So, your thought that my
> naming of 4th son as "alarka" is absurd is meaningless.
>
> For vyavahAra, which is by itself mithyA, any same would suffice.
>
> This was the level of vEdAnta taught to the King Kuvalaswa
> by his wife Queen Madalasa, who was a brahmvAdini and yOgini.
>
> Hail to our bhArata-bhUmi which was tread by such yOginis and
> brahmavAdinis !
>
> jayatu bhArataM...
>
> regs,
> sriram
>
>
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