Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tyagaraja at his awesome best


My brother kalyan found this rendition of one of the awesomest Tyagaraja kritis I ever heard till date by Prince Rama Varma . Loved it!

The story of Kakabhushandi and the Path of Bhakti

I glanced upon an interesting character recently while reading about maha bhakt Goswami Tulasidas. I am always fascinated about Tulasi das's meeting with Hanuman near Varanasi. Another very important character who moulded Tulasi das's life by explaining the truth about Rama is Kakabhushandi.

Kakabhushandi is an enlightened soul in the form of a crow residing near Manas Sarovar Lake.  He is an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. Importance of Kakbhushandi can be understood by looking at these two deeds :
(i) He explained to Garuda the greatness and true meaning of Rama avatar( More on that little later).Garuda was doubtful if Rama is Vishnu after Rama was tied and rendered motionless by the Nagapashas(Sons of Khadruv) shot by Meghanadha,
(ii) He is one of the five teachers(reciters) of  'RamaCharitmanas' to Tulasidas and thus helped in the spread of Bhakti Shakha ( Remember Surdas and Tulasidas are pioneers of Bhakti movement).

His Previous life:

In the Kaliyuga of an older kalpa, Kakabhushandi was born as a Sudra in Ayodhya. He was a devotee of Siva but he used to intentionally denigrate vishnu and other forms of supreme. Later, facing a famine in Ayodhya, he moved to Ujjain, where he worked for a brahmin. The brahmin took pity on him and taught him Shiva maha mantra. Kakbhushandi grew proud of this and started insulting the other forms of supreme even more. The brahmin tried to explain kakbhushandi and asked him to refrain from such acts. One day kakabhushandi abused the brahmin for correcting him. Lord Siva got angry on Kakabhushandi for he insulted his guru (brahmin taught Kakabhushandi the Siva maha mantra) and cursed( as akasa vani) him to take birth in lower forms than a venomous snake for 1000 lifes. Brahmin also heard the curse and prayed to siva to show mercy on his pupil. Siva pleased by the karuna of the brahmin blessed kakabhushandi that he will not be touched by the pain of birth and death during these 1000 lifes and he will forget his past while his soul migrates bodies. He also blessed him with Rama bhakti.

After migrating through 1000 lifes without the pain of birth and death, with awareness of all his previous births and with great devotion towards Rama, Kakabhushandi took the life of a brahmin. He went to sage Lomesha and asked him about the ways to reach Lord Rama. Lomesha explained the virtues of Rama but stressed that supreme has no attributes. Kakbhushandi entered into a long discussion with lomesha and emphasized his need of finding the tangible form of God. Distraught with arguments and counter arguments, Lomesha cursed the brahim that he will become a crow. The brahmin humbly accepted the curse without any sign of vengeance. Lomesha took pity on the brahmin and taught him the Srirama mantra and also gave the boon of 'Ichha Mrityu' ( Death by wish).  The brahmin was so attracted to the form of crow as he got the SriRam mantra immediately after he got the shape of a crow that he continued in that form. That brahmin turned crow is Kakabhushandi.

Another important thing to note here is why Kakabhushandi is interested only in the 'Saguna' form of the supreme ( the tangible form or the form with which one can associate himself with)?. The answer to this question is key to - What kakabhushandi could have told to Garuda to clear his doubt on Rama ?.

Rama is the human form of supreme. If humans were just preached of a nirguna parabrahman( one without attributes), it will be very difficult for the human mind to hold on to that form, let alone concentrating and praying on that form. If this will be the case the how can souls be liberated from this ocean of birth and death. The merciful lord came down as Lord SriRam to teach the content of vedas in a easily understandable way. He dwelled as human and faced all the problems any human might face but never left the path of righteousness. He showed way for other humans - the rightful path to trod. The way Rama trodded - Rama Aayana - gives the word Ramayana. My dear friend and fellow blogger Anand Kunde has many pieces on hidden meanings of Ramayana.

The preachings of kakbhushandi about Lord Ram as Saguna parabrahma show us the way to Lord through the easiest way of Bhakti or complete devotion.