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Lessons for life

CHENNAI : To Adi Sankara's advent is attributed the reinstatement of scriptural truths and the rejuvenation of basic human values at a time of decadence when people were caught in the web of ignorance and confusion. The teachings of this great thinker and philosopher have been influential in turning mankind's gaze towards the ultimate goal of life.

The hymn Kanakadhara Stotram was Adi Sankara's prayer to Goddess Lakshmi to alleviate the poverty in a woman's house where he once sought alms as a young lad. He was moved by her sincerity for she had offered him the single amla fruit available in the house with a heavy heart (due to her inability to offer anything better). The shower of gold that followed is an affirmation of God's grace that is always present in the attitude of selflessness devoid of any self-interest, said Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse on Sankara Vijayam.

On another occasion, young Adi Sankara is said to have requested the Poorna river to change its course and flow near his house so that his old mother would not have to walk a long distance to the river for her daily ablutions.

Adi Sankara renounced worldly life for the life of a Sanyasi at a very early age. The Vairagya (dispassion) and Vinaya (humility) that characterise the spirit of his renunciation if emulated can easily dispel Avidya (ignorance). The truth of the evanescence of worldly life has to take root in one's consciousness if one is keen to overcome desires. The awareness that all objects of desire are impermanent dawns when one starts to analyse their nature, and this itself will lead one to renounce them along with the desire and yearning for them.

Anger, greed, infatuation and jealousy can be kept under check by understanding that life is but a dream. Contentment is synonymous with great wealth. One has to rest assured that what is destined for one will automatically come to him. In life one cannot ignore or write off one's baggage of Karma.

Humility that eschews one's sense of I and Mine is heavily underscored in the path of Bhakti. The intensity of Prahlada's faith that did not wilt at the most fearsome threats and tests or the humble devotion of Hanuman stand as extraordinary examples of Bhakti serving to inspire humility and devotion.

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