The Two Birds and the Two Friends
Introduction
During Gita Mananam, we discussed the The Two Birds and the Two Friends. So here is a short contemplative reading oppurtunity for the same.
The Muṇḍaka
Upaniṣad gives us the well-known image of two birds on the same tree:
dvā suparṇā
sayujā sakhāyā samānaṃ vṛkṣaṃ pariṣasvajāte |
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṃ svādv atty anaśnann anyo
abhicākaśīti ||
Two inseparable companions of beautiful plumage perch on the
same tree. One eats the sweet fruit, while the other, without eating, merely
looks on.
The next mantra explains the metaphor:
samāne vṛkṣe
puruṣo nimagno 'nīśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ
|
juṣṭaṃ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya
mahimānam iti vītaśokaḥ
||
On the same tree, the jīva, immersed and helpless, grieves
in delusion. But when he sees the other, the Lord, and recognizes His glory, he
becomes free from sorrow.
A beautiful parallel occurs in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the
Purañjana Upākhyānam, in Skandha 4, Chapters 25–29. The following passage is an
abridged retelling of the same. This forms part of the Prācīnabarhi Upākhyānam,
in which Śrī Bhagavān Nārada Muni tells this allegorical tale to Prācīnabarhi
to awaken him to a deeper spiritual life.
Purañjana Upākhyānam (Bhag. 4. 25 – 29)
Remember that we are hearing the following passage through
the grace and voice of Śrī Bhagavān Nārada Guru Muni:
atra te kathayiṣye 'mum itihāsaṃ purātanam |
purañjanasya caritaṃ
nibodha gadato mama ||
āsīt purañjano nāma rājā rājan bṛhac-chravāḥ
|
tasyāvijñāta-nāmāsīt sakhāvijñāta-ceṣṭitaḥ ||
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.9–10
“I shall now tell you this ancient account. Listen as I
narrate to you the story of Purañjana.
O King, there was a renowned king named Purañjana. He had a
friend named Avijñāta, whose ways were unknown.”
(i.e. The allegory begins with two friends. One is
Purañjana. The other is Avijñāta, literally “the unknown” or “the unrecognized
one.” )
Purañjana and Avijñāta were old and inseparable friends.
Avijñāta means one who is not known. Purañjana, however, became restless and
went away seeking a place where he could enjoy the pleasures he desired.
After wandering from place to place, Purañjana discovered a
magnificent city with nine gates. There he met a beautiful young woman
surrounded by ten attendants and guarded by a serpent with five hoods. When
Purañjana asked her who she was and who had created the city, she replied that
she herself did not know. She knew only that she lived there and that the
serpent guarded the city.
Purañjana fell in love with her and married her. She came to
be known as Purañjanī. He gradually became completely identified with her. What
she desired, he desired. When she drank, he drank. When she ate, he ate. When
she laughed, grieved, spoke, walked, or rested, he followed her. His own nature
became forgotten as he simply imitated the movements of Purañjanī.
Time flies…. and as always….
Years passed without his noticing the passage of time.
Then came Chandavega, the Gandharva chief, accompanied by
360 Gandharvas and an equal number of Gandharva women. They represent the days
and nights that steadily consume a person's lifespan. The five-headed serpent
guarding the city fought them for many years, but gradually became exhausted.
Jara, old age, also entered the city. The forces of decay
and death gradually took possession of it. Purañjana became weak and helpless.
The city that had once given him so much pleasure now became the source of
suffering. Finally, the serpent could no longer protect it, and Purañjana was
dragged away from the city.
At the time of death, Purañjana's mind was absorbed in his
wife. As a consequence, he was born again as the daughter of the king of
Vidarbha.
His final thought determines his next birth... but life spent in holy company
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.28
tām eva manasā gṛhṇan babhūva pramadottamā |
anantaraṃ vidarbhasya
rāja-siṃhasya veśmani ||
“His mind clinging to that woman alone, he was next born as
a beautiful woman in the household of the great king of Vidarbha.”
In that birth she married Malayadhvaja, the king of the Pāṇḍyas, and they had one
daughter and seven sons. Malayadhvaja eventually renounced worldly life and
undertook intense tapas. Through knowledge and contemplation he recognized the
Self as the witness of the body and mind, distinct from their activities. He ultimately
became established in the Supreme Brahman.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.40–42
sa vyāpakatayātmānaṃ
vyatiriktatayātmani |
vidvān svapna ivāmarśa-sākṣiṇaṃ virarāma ha ||
sākṣād bhagavatoktena guruṇā
hariṇā nṛpa |
viśuddha-jñāna-dīpena sphuratā viśvato-mukham ||
pare
brahmaṇi cātmānaṃ paraṃ brahma tathātmani |
vīkṣamāṇo vihāyekṣām
asmād upararāma ha ||
“He came to know the Self as all-pervading and as distinct
from what is experienced within, as the witness of mental experience, just as
one is the witness of a dream. Thus he ceased from identification with those
experiences.
O King, through the lamp of pure knowledge, shining
everywhere, directly imparted by Hari as Guru, he saw the Self in the Supreme
Brahman and the Supreme Brahman in the Self. Giving up the vision of
difference, he became completely established in that realization.”
(i.e., First comes recognition of the witnessing Self. Then
the culmination is:
pare
brahmaṇi cātmānam paraṃ brahma tathātmani
The Self is seen in Brahman and Brahman in the Self. The
verse also strikingly speaks of Hari Himself as Guru, guruṇā hariṇā. Thus the company of a
devout spouse, who was also a jnāni, became a blessed satsaṅga)
Avijñāta returns and reminds Vaidarbhī of their ancient friendship
After thus the jnāni Sri Malayadhvaja gave up his body,
Vaidarbhī (who was Purañjana in previous birth) was overcome with grief and
prepared to enter the funeral pyre.
At that moment an old brāhmaṇa
appeared and spoke to her:
"Who are you? Whose daughter are you? Who is this man
for whom you are grieving? Do you not recognize me, your old friend?"
He reminded her of inseparable eternal friend named ~ Avijñāta.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.52–54
kā tvaṃ
kasyāsi ko vāyaṃ śayāno
yasya śocasi |
jānāsi kiṃ sakhāyaṃ māṃ yenāgre vicacartha ha ||
api smarasi cātmānam avijñāta-sakhaṃ sakhe |
hitvā māṃ padam anvicchan
bhauma-bhoga-rato gataḥ
||
haṃsāv
ahaṃ ca tvaṃ cārya sakhāyau mānasāyanau |
abhūtām antarā vaukaḥ
sahasra-parivatsarān ||
“Who are you? To whom do you belong? Who is this man lying
here for whom you grieve? Do you recognize me, the friend with whom you
wandered before?
O friend, do you remember yourself, who once had Avijñāta as
your companion? Leaving me, you went in search of a dwelling and became
absorbed in earthly enjoyments.
O noble one, you and I were two haṃsas, friends dwelling in Mānasa, remaining
together for a thousand years.”
(Drawn by Sri Sunitha Akka, for the occasion)
(i.e., This is the closest Bhāgavata parallel to the two
birds of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad.
The imagery here is explicitly of two inseparable haṃsas).
Then comes the central teaching.
The brāhmaṇa
tells Vaidarbhī that she is neither the daughter of Vidarbha nor the former
Purañjana. These identities arose from ignorance.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.60
na tvaṃ
vidarbha-duhitā nāyaṃ
vīraḥ suhṛt tava |
na patis tvaṃ purañjanyā
ruddho nava-mukhe yayā ||
“You are not the daughter of Vidarbha. Nor is this hero your
true friend. Nor were you the husband of Purañjanī, by whom you were confined
in the city of nine gates”
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.28.62
ahaṃ
bhavān na cānyas tvaṃ
tvam evāhaṃ vicakṣva bhoḥ |
na nau paśyanti kavayaś chidraṃ
jātu manāg api ||
“I am you, and you are not other than me. You are indeed I.
Understand this, O friend. The wise never perceive even the slightest
difference between us.”
(i.e.,: The distinction between the two friends is finally
sublated through knowledge).
(The Bhāgavatam compares this apparent difference to a
person seeing himself reflected in a mirror or reflected in the pupils of
another's eyes. The appearances may seem different, but the person is one.
Hearing this teaching, Vaidarbhī awakens to the memory of her original nature. The
result of the teaching is punaḥ
smṛti,
recovery of the knowledge that had been forgotten).
Sri Bhagavān Nārada then explains the entire allegory.
Purañjana is the jīva. Avijñāta, the forgotten friend, is
the Puruṣa, the Paramātman.
Purañjanī is the buddhi through whose identification the
jīva develops the notions of "I" and "mine." The ten
attendants are the ten organs of knowledge and action. The five-headed serpent
is prāṇa with its five
functions. The city with nine gates is the human body. Chandavega represents
the passage of time. His 360 male and 360 female attendants are the days and
nights. Jara is old age.
Particularly important is Avijñāta:
tasya puruṣasya sakheśvaraḥ
He is simultaneously the jīva's sakhā, friend, and īśvara,
Lord.
Chandavega is the year, by which the passage of time is
marked. His Gandharvas are the days, and the Gandharvīs are said to be the
nights. The three hundred and sixty, revolving in their course, take away one's
lifespan.
The daughter of Time is old age itself. The world does not
welcome her. Mṛtyu, the
lord of the Yavanas, accepted her as his sister for the destruction of beings.”
The apparent attack upon the city is simply life itself
passing, one day and one night at a time. Jarā and Mṛtyu complete what kāla has steadily been doing
What is true karma and true knowledge (i.e. Hari is the Self) ?
The crucial concluding portion of 4.29.49 is:
tat karma hari-toṣaṃ
yat sā vidyā tan-matir yayā ||
“That alone is karma which pleases Hari. That alone is
knowledge by which one's understanding is directed toward Him”
Then:
harir deha-bhṛtām
ātmā svayaṃ prakṛtir īśvaraḥ |
tat-pāda-mūlaṃ śaraṇaṃ yataḥ
kṣemo nṛṇām iha || 50
sa vai priyatamaś cātmā yato na bhayam aṇv api |
iti veda sa vai vidvān yo vidvān sa gurur hariḥ
|| 51
“Hari is the Self of all embodied beings and Himself the
Lord of Prakṛti. His feet
are the refuge from which comes the true welfare of human beings.
He indeed is the dearest Self, from whom there is not even
the slightest fear. One who knows thus is truly a knower. The true Guru is
Hari.”
Reflection: These verses are very important for our
contemplation and assimilation. As students of Vedānta, we often hear of sākṣī-caitanyam,
the witnessing consciousness. This is not some abstract or distant witness. It
is the very principle of life and awareness, without which nothing is known.
Śrī Bhagavān Nārada teaches us that this sākṣī-caitanyam,
the svarūpa of all beings, is none other than the one Hari.
The culmination is Hari as the very Ātman of all
embodied beings:
harir deha-bhṛtām
ātmā
Hari is the Self of those who inhabit bodies.
The final instruction: see the whole universe as Hari
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.79
atas tad apavādārthaṃ
bhaja sarvātmanā harim |
paśyaṃs tad-ātmakaṃ viśvaṃ sthity-utpatty-apyayā yataḥ ||
“Therefore, for the removal of that bondage (of ignorance),
worship Hari with your whole being, seeing the entire universe as having Him as
its very Self, for from Him arise its creation, sustenance and dissolution.”
Reflection: This Īśvara whom we worship, who is
revealed through Brahmavidyā, in whom the worlds arise, are sustained,
and finally dissolve, is non-different from the Ātman, the Self, the nitya-śuddha,
nitya-buddha, nitya-mukta sva-svarūpam of the reader of this blog, here and
now.
·
nitya-śuddha - ever pure (as consciousness can never
come in contact with anything)
·
nitya-buddha , ever aware (as consciousness it
illumines everything)
·
nitya-mukta , ever free (as consciousness is
never limited, defined or bound, by any thought, word, or deed or body, mind, etc.,
or this entire saṃsāra,
all of which are mere appearances in consciousness)
·
sva-svarūpam , one's own intrinsic nature, not
something newly attained or produced.
Reflect deeply upon the key expression:
tad-ātmakaṃ
viśvam
The entire universe has Hari as its very Self.
Hari is the Self of all embodied beings:
harir deha-bhṛtām
ātmā
That Hari, present as the very Self in this body-mind
complex, is none other than Īśvara. And that very Hari is the Guru:
yo vidvān sa gurur hariḥ
The one who truly knows is the Guru, and that Guru is Hari.
Epilogue: The freedom comes through recognition.
The story is therefore very close to the two birds of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad.
For the specific connection with the two birds of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, the most
essential Bhāgavata verses are, in my view, 4.28.52–54, 4.28.60, 4.28.62–64,
4.29.3, 4.29.50–51, and 4.29.79. These carry the movement from the two
friends, to forgetting, recognition, non-difference, Hari as Ātman, and finally
Hari as the Self of the whole universe.
One bird is absorbed in eating the fruits of the tree. The
other remains untouched, merely witnessing. Purañjana similarly becomes
completely absorbed in the body, senses, buddhi, relationships, pleasure and
pain. Avijñāta never abandons him. It is Purañjana who forgets Avijñāta.
The freedom comes through recognition of the non-difference.
This recognition is enabled by Brahmavidya and Guru Sampradhaya.
The Self that appears forgotten was never away. Hari, the
Paramātman, is the innermost Self, and the entire universe is to be seen in
Him.
To conclude lets listen to Swami Vivekananda who in
his inimitable style thunders forth building upon the two birds imagery from
Mundaka Upaniṣad [1]
………..again he looked up, again he went up a little nearer to
the calm and majestic upper bird. Many times was this repeated until at last he
drew very near the upper bird; the brilliancy of his plumage dazzled him,
seemed to absorb him, and finally, to his wonder and surprise, he found there
was only one bird — he was the upper bird all the time and had but just found
it out.
sat ekam eva advitīyam (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1)
Existence, Reality, is one alone, without a second.
manasā eva idam āptavyam, na iha nānā asti kiñcana (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.1.11)
This is to be known (i.e. recognized) through the purified mind. Here, there is no plurality whatsoever.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ..
Comments
Post a Comment