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Avvaiyar and Adi Sankara :My Research Notes on Viveka Cudamani-2 (Post No.13,405)
जन्तूनां नरजन्म दुर्लभमतः पुंस्त्वं ततो विप्रता
तस्माद्वैदिकधर्ममार्गपरता विद्वत्त्वमस्मात्परम् ।
आत्मानात्मविवेचनं स्वनुभवो ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थितिः
मुक्तिर्नो शतजन्मकोटिसुकृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥
jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabhamataḥ puṃstvaṃ tato vipratā
tasmādvaidikadharmamārgaparatā vidvattvamasmātparam |
ātmānātmavivecanaṃ svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṃsthitiḥ
muktirno śatajanmakoṭisukṛtaiḥ puṇyairvinā labhyate || 2 ||
2. For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain, more so is a male body; rarer than that is Brahmin-hood; rarer still is the attachment to the path of Vedic religion; higher than this is erudition in the scriptures; discrimination between the Self and not-Self, Realisation, and continuing in a state of identity with Brahman – these come next in order. (This kind of) Mukti (Liberation) is not to be attained except through the well-earned merits of a hundred crore of births.
(Sloka taken from wisdomlib.org)
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(pronunciation guide : aadi Sankara, avvaiyaar, viveka choodaamani, maanikkavaasagar)
Part two of my research notes
“Narajanma durlabathah”
I compare this with the greatest Tamil poetess Avvaiyaar’s poem and the Tamil hymn of Saint Manikkavasagar.
Tamil literature explains the same thing in a beautiful way. One of the five Tamil epics is Jeevaka Chintamani which gives the story of Udayana and Vasavadatta. The author Thiruththakka devar says human birth is rare. It is like one yoke floating in southern sea coming next to another yoke floating in northern sea and a pole is inserted into it. Human birth is rarer than this.
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Avvaiyar answers Lord Skanda’s question
Another famous episode in Tamil is about the grand old lady of Tamil literature Avvaiyar meeting Lord Skanda. Skanda asked her several thought-provoking questions just to enjoy her beautiful Tamil. He asked her what is bigger, sweeter, crueler and rarer. When she answered his question about rarer things in the world she says human birth is rarer. Let us look at the beautiful Tamil poem in full:
“ Rare is human birth, Vadivel (Skanda/Subramanya)! Rarer is birth as a male with perfect limbs and with full use of all the senses. Rarer still is attainment of knowledge and wisdom. Rarer than this is the tendency to give and serve; and rarest of all is a life dedicated to spiritual enlightenment, for when one reaches the end, the heavens will open to welcome that person—the perfect of all human beings”.
Avvaiyar’s poem in Tamil
அரியது கேட்கின் வரிவடி வேலோய்!
அரிதரிது மானிடர் ஆதல் அரிது
மானிடராயினும் கூன் குருடு செவிடு
பேடு நீக்கிப் பிறத்தல் அரிது
பேடு நீக்கிப் பிறந்த காலையும்
ஞானமும் கல்வியும் நயத்தல் அரிது
ஞானமும் கல்வியும் நயந்த காலையும்
தானமும் தவமும் தான்செயல் அரிது
தானமும் தவமும் தான்செய்வராயின்
வானவர் நாடு வழிதிறந் திடுமே.
I consider this as an echo of Adi Shankara’s three slokas 2, 3 and 4 of Viveka Cudamani. It is not uncommon to see the same thoughts in all saints of India whether they speak Tamil or Sanskrit. Great men think alike. We see the same thought in all the hymns of Thevaram, Thiruvasagam and Divya Prabandham.
Seven types and Four Types of living beings
Even before Darwin gave the world the Theory of Evolution, even before the Linnaean classification of botanical species came into practice, even before Aristotle gave his theory, Hindus divided the living beings in to four types and seven types in two different classifications:
Type 1
1.Andajam: that which came from the eggs
2.Jarayutham: mammals
3.Udbhijam: that which comes out of seeds, roots
4.Swethajam: that which grows from sweat like liquids, i.e. germs etc
Type 2 Classification
1.Devas: supermen
2.Human beings
3.Animals
4.Birds
5.Reptiles
6.Fishes and other marine animals
7.Plant kingdom
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Great Tamil saint Manikkavasagar gives a list of all the births one can get before realising God:
“Grass was I, shrub was I, worm, tree,
Full many a kind of beast, bird, snake,
Stone, man and demon. ’Midst Thy hosts I served.
The form of mighty Asuras, ascetics, Gods I bore.
Within this immobile and mobile forms of life,
In every species born, weary I have grown, great Lord!
புல்லாகிப் பூடாய்ப் புழுவாய் மரமாகிப்
பல்விருகமாகிப் பறவையாய்ப் பாம்பாகிக்
கல்லாய் மனிதராய்ப் பேயாய்க் கணங்களாய்
வல்லரசுராகி முனிவராய்த் தேவராய்ச்
செல்லா அ நின்ற தாவர சங்கமத்துள்
எல்லாப் பிறப்பும் பிறந்திளைத்தேன் எம்பெருமான்
–சிவ புராணம், திருவாசகம் (மாணிக்கவாசகர்)
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Swami Vivekananda on Human Birth
Man is the highest being in creation, because he attains freedom.
Man is the nearest approach to Brahman (God).
Man is the best mirror, and the purer the man, the more clearly he can reflect god.
Man is a compound of animality, humanity and divinity.
The perfect man sees nothing but God.
Manushya is a being with manas/mind. Man is a creature who thinks.
Man is the only animal that naturally looks upward; every other animal naturally looks down
We are all called man, because we are all progeny of Manu .
Man alone attains to perfection, not even the Devas. Angels or gods, whatever you may call them, have all to become men, if they want to become perfect.
Know it for certain that there is no greater tirtha/ holy spot than the body of man.
(There are more quotations on man in the book Pearls of Wisdom– Swami Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata)
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Also note the number1000 million births in the Sloka. Hindus only know highest numbers and use them. This shows that they have good idea of Universe and living beings . One must also know that Hindus say these things after counting the number of different living beings on earth. They say 84 lakh different living things are on earth.
அப்பரி செண்பத்து நான்குநூ றாயிரம்
மெய்ப்பரி செய்தி விரிந்துயி ராய்நிற்கும்
பொய்ப்பரி செய்திப் புகலும் மனிதர்கட்
கிப்பரி சேஇருள் மூடிநின் றானே.- Tirumanthiram
He Pervades All Creation as Life Within
And so,
Through creations four and eighty lakhs of species
He filled as life within;
Then men who in doubt ask: How is it?
Are verily to enveloping darkness condemned.
(From Tirumnathiram of Tirumular)
–subham—
Tags- Avvaiyar and Adi Sankara , My Research Notes on Viveka Cudamani-2 , Manikkavasagar, living beings, Tirumular, 84 lakh, Types of births, “Narajanma durlabathah”
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