Two saints....separated by more than a thousand years, two completely different works and yet, the more we look at them, the more alike they seem...both in content and in wording.
Adi Shankara has a written a prakarana grantha (preliminary text) on Vedanta called Atma Bodha. In this work of 68 verses, there is one verse (verse 50) where he has used the metaphor of the Ramayana.
Sadashiva Brahmendra was a saint and composer who lived in the 18th century. One of his famous compositions, which is often sung in Carnatic music concerts is the piece "khelati mama hridaye". This composition too uses the analogy of the Ramayana.
I
khelati mama hridaye raamah,
khelati mama hridaye.......
moha mahaarnava taaraka kaari
raaga-dvesha mukhaasura maari
shaanti videha suta sahachaari
daharaayodhya nagara vihaari
paramahamsa saamraajyodhaari
satya gnyaanaananda shareeri
khelati mama hridaye.......
Rama dances (khelati) in my heart (mama hridaye).
He is the one who helps me cross (taaraka kaari) the huge ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnava).
He is the one who helps to destroy asuras in the form of my own raaga-dveshas.
With this, I regain peace (shaanti). Here, Sita is equated with peace. A special epithet is used for her- She is Vaidehi, "videha suta", princess of the Kingdom of Videha. (Sita's father Janaka was well known as a grihastha gnyaani. And as videha suta, Sita is an inheritor of that peace.)
There after, I shall live happily (vihaari) in Ayodhya, that city which can never be destroyed (yoddhum ashakyaa ayodhya). Where is this Ayodhya? It is in my own heart/mind (hence, dahara ayodhya).
And what kind of place is this Ayodhya? It is a heart/mind where dharma flourishes. An empire (saamraajya) where noble people (paramahamsas/sanyasis/noble thoughts) are protected.
Finally, Rama, who helps me accomplish all this, and who dances in my heart, what is his nature? How does he look? He is "satya-gnyaana-aananda shareeri". That Rama is my own Self, my Higher Nature, Atma whose swarupa is "satyam-gnyaanam-anantam" as the Upanishads declare.
Teertvaa moha mahaarnavam
hatva raaga-dveshaadi raakshasaan
yogi shaanti samaayuktah
Aatmaaraamo viraajatey
This verse presents the journey of a spiritual aspirant using the metaphor of the Ramayana.
"Crossing (teertvaa) the ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam), and having destroyed (hatva) the raakshasaas in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga dvesha), the yogi (the qualified spiritual aspirant) gets united (samaayuktah) with peace (shaanti) and shines/enjoys (viraajatey) as the Self (aatma raama)".
The imagery is self explanatory. The jeeva (the individual) is the Self in reality (atma-rama). Peace (shanti) is his very nature, his better-half (Sita), as it were. Ravana comes in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga-dvesha) and loots this peace away. Peace recedes even further...and lies imprisoned beyond an ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam). Alas! The individual gropes for peace in the forest of samsara.
How must he regain his exalted, pristine status? Every seeker has to go through the story of the Ramayana as a personal, subjective journey.
It is easy to see how similar these two poems are. Sadashiva Brahmendra seems to have had this Atma Bodha verse in mind and he has embellished it with a few more ideas. In keeping with this presentation of the Ramayana as a personal journey.
Adi Shankara has a written a prakarana grantha (preliminary text) on Vedanta called Atma Bodha. In this work of 68 verses, there is one verse (verse 50) where he has used the metaphor of the Ramayana.
Sadashiva Brahmendra was a saint and composer who lived in the 18th century. One of his famous compositions, which is often sung in Carnatic music concerts is the piece "khelati mama hridaye". This composition too uses the analogy of the Ramayana.
I
khelati mama hridaye raamah,
khelati mama hridaye.......
moha mahaarnava taaraka kaari
raaga-dvesha mukhaasura maari
shaanti videha suta sahachaari
daharaayodhya nagara vihaari
paramahamsa saamraajyodhaari
satya gnyaanaananda shareeri
khelati mama hridaye.......
Rama dances (khelati) in my heart (mama hridaye).
He is the one who helps me cross (taaraka kaari) the huge ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnava).
He is the one who helps to destroy asuras in the form of my own raaga-dveshas.
With this, I regain peace (shaanti). Here, Sita is equated with peace. A special epithet is used for her- She is Vaidehi, "videha suta", princess of the Kingdom of Videha. (Sita's father Janaka was well known as a grihastha gnyaani. And as videha suta, Sita is an inheritor of that peace.)
There after, I shall live happily (vihaari) in Ayodhya, that city which can never be destroyed (yoddhum ashakyaa ayodhya). Where is this Ayodhya? It is in my own heart/mind (hence, dahara ayodhya).
And what kind of place is this Ayodhya? It is a heart/mind where dharma flourishes. An empire (saamraajya) where noble people (paramahamsas/sanyasis/noble thoughts) are protected.
Finally, Rama, who helps me accomplish all this, and who dances in my heart, what is his nature? How does he look? He is "satya-gnyaana-aananda shareeri". That Rama is my own Self, my Higher Nature, Atma whose swarupa is "satyam-gnyaanam-anantam" as the Upanishads declare.
Teertvaa moha mahaarnavam
hatva raaga-dveshaadi raakshasaan
yogi shaanti samaayuktah
Aatmaaraamo viraajatey
This verse presents the journey of a spiritual aspirant using the metaphor of the Ramayana.
"Crossing (teertvaa) the ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam), and having destroyed (hatva) the raakshasaas in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga dvesha), the yogi (the qualified spiritual aspirant) gets united (samaayuktah) with peace (shaanti) and shines/enjoys (viraajatey) as the Self (aatma raama)".
The imagery is self explanatory. The jeeva (the individual) is the Self in reality (atma-rama). Peace (shanti) is his very nature, his better-half (Sita), as it were. Ravana comes in the form of binding likes and dislikes (raaga-dvesha) and loots this peace away. Peace recedes even further...and lies imprisoned beyond an ocean of delusion (moha mahaarnavam). Alas! The individual gropes for peace in the forest of samsara.
How must he regain his exalted, pristine status? Every seeker has to go through the story of the Ramayana as a personal, subjective journey.
It is easy to see how similar these two poems are. Sadashiva Brahmendra seems to have had this Atma Bodha verse in mind and he has embellished it with a few more ideas. In keeping with this presentation of the Ramayana as a personal journey.
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