THE CYCLE OF BIRTH AND DEATH-- Punarapi jananam Punarapi maranam

THE CYCLE OF BIRTH AND DEATH..Punarapi jananam Punarapi maranam..

“Jatasya maranam dhruvam”  says the Sanskrit adage! For one who is born death is certain and inevitable. Soon after death once again there is birth! Is there any end for this interminable repetition of life and death? Obviously no! What prompts Sankara to declare that samsara is “bahudustare”, that which is very difficult to cross? It was born out of his own bitter experience  during the course of his wanderings. Family life is full of trials and tribulations. It leads to several unshakable attachments and relationships like father, mother, brother, sister, and various other connections!  This attachment or ‘mamakara’ weighs heavily on man and leads to his downfall! It is the same attachment that made Arjuna despondent and throw down his bow Gandiva on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Caught in the inescapable meshes of maya man thinks that the world is real and all his relationships and associations are everlasting! He forgets the prime purpose of his existence on earth namely realization of his own Self! He becomes the slave of the bundle of desires and his insatiable thirst for things continues to the very end of his life! Why should there be birth followed by death? What is the secret behind this eternal principle?

Our birth is determined by the Karma-- our deeds good and bad, done in our innumerable previous births! The accumulated effect of our past karma is so dense and voluminous that  it cannot be wiped out in a single birth! So man has to take birth again and again to reduce the quantum of his accumulated karma till it is totally annihilated to achieve birthlessness! This is practically impossible because man cannot exist without performing karma! Whatever action he does, good or bad, has an equivalent and opposite reaction! He has to enjoy or suffer according to his karma! Finally when he achieves a nil balance of karma he is granted mukti or salvation  by the grace of God! Prarabda karma is that that has started yielding results even as you are born. Sanchita Karma is the one that you accumulate during your life on earth. Agami Karma is the effect that you get in future! Thus man’s life is inextricably interfused with the actions that he undertakes in his life! So samsara- family life is a vicious circle that none can escape! That is why Sankara warns mankind through this sloka that samsara is a combination of repetitive birth and death from the womb of the mother to the womb of mother earth!

Why should the celibate and great exponent of Advaita Adi Sankara speak of samsara to which he had no connection? It is born out of his own experience during his travel.Those were the days of Buddhism and Mandana Misra, the disciple of Kumarila bhatta was famous for his Mimamsa exposition and insistence of Karma and rituals. He rejected the Upanishad statements saying karma will definitely bear fruit and that there is no need for God or any other thing! Sankara differed from his view of the Vedas and Upanishads. He wanted debate on these points with Mandana Misra and met him at his home.The bets were made! If Mandana Misra lost he would become a sanyasi and Sankara’s disciple. If Sankara  lost he would marry and become a grihasta- a family man. Battle lines were drawn and the debate went on for a number of days with arguments and counter arguments witnessed by great men and even Gods. Slowly Mandana Misra’s arguments flopped and he was about to lose. The garland on his neck faded while that on Sankara’s glowed brightly indicating his victory!

Mandana Misra was the incarnation of creator Brahma while his wife Bharathi was the avatar of the Goddess of Knowledge, Saraswathi! She challenged Sankara by saying that his victory cannot be accepted till she, the 'ardhangi’, the better half of Mandana Misra is vanquished. Knowing that Sankara is not familiar with the intricacies of family life or Samsara, she cornered him by putting delicate questions on that subject! Sankara was helpless as he could not answer them! But he wanted sufficient time to answer those questions on family life. Time was granted and he left. Sensing that the king of the country was dead, Sankara directed his sishyas to protect his body till his return and transmigrated into the king’s body to get a knowledge of Samsara! Meanwhile the dead King woke up as if from sleep to the shock and amazement of the royal family!

 The conduct of the king was totally different from that of the original king.The body was that of the king while the soul was that of Sankara! Suspicion grew and the smart minister, knowing that some noble soul should have entered the body of the king, ordered the soldiers to search every nook and corner of the country for any dead body and burn it off! Within the short time available Sankara grasped every detail of family life needed for the debate and decided to return to his body! But the soldiers had spotted Sankara’s body being guarded by his disciples and were ready to burn it in spite of resistance from Sankara's disciples! They immediately sent the message to their master Sankara who instantly left the body of the king and came back to his original body! But it was a little too late! The limbs of his body were partially burnt! Sankara had drunk deep the essence of Samsara, it's plus and minus points and was ready to answer any question by Bharathi!

It is at this juncture that Sri Sankara composes  the famous “ Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Karavalamba Stotram” describing the terrible debilitating effect of samsara on him! It is indirectly the warning for all humanity! He prays emotionally to the Lord to extend “His Helping Haveand” --”Karavalambam" and save him from the deleterious effects of Samsara. He uses a number of metaphors to explain what family life, samsara, is! Samsara- family life is a fathomless ocean full of terrible crocodiles! It is dense forest infested with wild beasts that can prey upon you any time! It is a deep well from which you can never get out of the ups and downs of life! It is similar to the terrible blow of the king elephant from which there is no escape! Samsara is like the bite of the terrible poisonous snake which is fartal and destructivel It is like the wily net in which man is caught like the fish! It is a tree, sin is it's seed, endless karma it's branches,‘karana’ it's leaves and love it's flower! “It is the 'davanala’ the terrible fire that has burnt my limbs, O Lord! Lakshmi Nrusimha, offer me your helping hand” prays Adi Sankara! Lo, Behold! his partly burnt limbs were restored in perfection! Hence Sankara’s bitter personal experience of Samsara, though for a short while, made him wise and shun it completely!