[Advaita-l] SAINT GOSWAMI TULASIDAS

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Friends,
                    Kakabhusuṇḍi is an exalted devotee of Rama, narrator of the first Ramayana called Bhusuṇḍi-Ramayan,much before the Adhyatma Ramayana, Valmiki and Tulsidas Ramayana. Lord Shivatold Garuḍa to take instructions from a crow, normallyconsidered the lowest (inferior) among birds to remove Garuda's pride. He heardfrom him the glory of Sri Rama for many years and all kinds of doubts wentaway. The fact that Garuḍa goes to a crow for spiritualinstruction is profoundly symbolic. Aseeker of wisdom must be prepared to learn from any qualified source, and ateacher must not be judged by outward appearance or social status. It is thecontent of the teacher's wisdom and spiritual enlightment that matters. The dialoguebetween Garuḍa and Kakabhusuṇḍi focuseson the nature of God, and the path oflove. His questions deal with the value and purpose of humanexistence, the greatest pain, the highest pleasure, the differences betweengood and evil, the highest virtue, the worst sin and the diseases of the mind. These questions and answers must be analyzedand discussed thoroughly in the path of self-realization,Garuḍa – Kaka Samvada: (fromSri Ramacharitamanasa, Uttarakaṇḍa, Chopai120, Verses 1-19)     
   - Out of all the forms, which is the highest to obtain?:    
 There is no other embodied form as good as the human body: every living creature, whether animate or inanimate, craves for it. The human body is the ladder that takes the soul either to hell or to heaven. Only this human body provides the opportunity to attain Self-Realization, Renunciation and Devotion and is the bestower of blessings in the form of wisdom, dispassion and final Salvation. Men who fail to adore god even after obtaining this human body, and wallow in the basest sensual pleasures, throw away the philosopher’s stone from the palm of their hand and take bits of glass in exchange for the same
   - What is the highest form of pain, one can feel?    
 There is no misery in this world as terrible as poverty and no blessing as great as communion with saints. Beneficence in thought, word and deed is the innate disposition of saints. A Saint always does good to others in his thoughts, deeds and words and this is their natural habit. The saints undergo suffering in the interest of others while impious wretches (sinner's) do so with a view to tormenting others. Tender-hearted saints, like the birch tree, submit to the greatest torture (even allow their skin to be peeled off) for the good of others. While the wicked, like the hemp, have their skin flayed off and perish in agony in order to be able to bind, like the rat and the serpent, the wicked injure others without any gain to themselves
    
   - What is the greatest form of joy one can feel?    
 There is no blessing as great as communion with saints and sages. A reviler of Lord Hara and his own preceptor takes the form of a frog (after his death) and his birth in that form is repeated a thousand times. A reviler of the Brāhmaṇas, after suffering tortures in a number of hells, is born on earth in the form of a crow. Those conceited persons who revile the gods and the Vedas are cast into the hell known as Raurava. They who delight in vilifying the saints are reborn as owls, who love the night of delusion and for whom the sun of wisdom has set. The fools who censure all are reborn as bats. Note now, venerable Garuḍa, the diseases of the mind, from which everyone suffers.What are the characteristics, between good and bad? .Beneficence (charitable) in thought, word and deed is the innate disposition of saints. 
   - What is the highest merit one can achieve?    
 A vow of non-violence (ahiṁsa) is the highest religious merit known to the Vedas, applicable to all living entities, plants and animals.
   - What is the greatest form of sin?    
 There is no sin as grievous as speaking ill of others, especially God, the saints and sages, the brahmins and devotees.
   - What are the diseases of the mind? Infatuation is the root of all ailments and from these again arise many other troubles. Lust is a counterpart of wind (air/gas) and inordinate greed corresponds to an abundance of phlegm; while anger represents bile (pith), which constantly burns the breast. Moha (illusion) is the root cause of all maladies and it generates many other troubles like kama, krodha, lobha, mada and matsarya—lust, anger, greed, pride and envy. The feeling of mineness corresponds to ring worms, envy represents itches while joy and grief correspond to a disease of the throat marked by an excessive enlargement of its glands. Grudging contemplation of others happiness represents consumption, while wickedness and perversity of mind correspond to leprosy. Egotism is a counterpart of the most painful gout; while hypocrisy, deceit, arrogance and pride correspond to the disease known as Dracontiasis (which is marked by the presence in the body of a parasite known as the guinea-worm). Thirst for enjoyment represents the most advanced type of dropsy; while the three types of craving (those for progeny, riches and honour;) correspond to the violent quartanague. Jealousy and thoughtlessness are the two types of fever. There are many more fell diseases too numerous to mention.

SriGuru Padaravindarpana MastuKameswara

   On Thursday, 29 March 2018 9:31:36 pm IST, Shashi <raghavadasa at gmail.com> wrote:  
 
 I would also add that the poetry is just sublime. It's at one time a North Indian scholarly masterpiece of verse and philosophy and at the same time the unlearned North Indian's most sacred scripture. 

Shashi 

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