The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Path to eternal bliss

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Friday, Aug 13, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Path to eternal bliss

CHENNAI, AUG.13 . Man creates many avenues for enjoying sensory pleasures and in the process gets caught in their snare without knowing that they will not be enduring. From the most underprivileged to the wealthiest in society every individual is busy from morning till night in the pursuit of material pleasures with the belief that they will derive happiness from them. In the process the majority of people fritter a lifetime away. Sometimes the object, which gives one immense joy initially, becomes the source of great sorrow later. Does this mean that human beings should not seek worldly joys? Scriptures do not condemn pursuit of worldly joys but only caution that one should be able to discern their nature and seek that which will give lasting joy.

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri Kesava Dikshitar said it was essential to understand why man instinctively seeks joy. This innate urge is due to the fact that man has sprung from the Supreme Being, who is of the nature of infinite bliss. This experience is embedded in his consciousness even though he is not consciously aware of it and hence wishes to experience it again. Spiritual yearning is thus inborn and every individual whether consciously or unconsciously strives towards this end only. The objective of scriptural texts is to show man the path to eternal joy.

Sage Suka was always immersed in a state of bliss and it was out of concern for others that he shared his knowledge and experience. His exposition to King Pareekshit is embodied in the Bhagavata Purana. The Narayaneeyam of Narayana Bhattatiri is a masterly condensation of this Purana. He has summarised the 18000 verses of the Bhagavata in 1034 verses divided into 100 cantos. Bhattatiri who lived in the 16th Century was a great scholar and the circumstances that made him compose this exquisite devotional hymn wrought a transformation in him.

According to tradition he composed the hymn before the Lord of Guruvayur and he who was at home with the Upanishadic description of the formless Absolute Reality envisioned Him in the image of the Lord there. His rapturous depiction of the divine form in the beginning and the concluding portions of the hymn was that he beheld. It is this lived experience that distinguishes this poem as an exceptional devotional work capable of transporting a devotee from the mundane to the spiritual plane.

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