WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN
Date uploaded in London – 6 August 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
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tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
https://www.pustaka.co.in/home/author/london-swaminathan
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World is a drama theatre; we are all players in the drama- is a popular saying used by great people.
Saints used this to teach us great Truths like the nature of Brahman (God)
Following are some slokas from Viveka Chudamani (VC) of Adi Sankara
(aadi sankara, viveka choodaamani)
World is a stage; we are all players.
शैलूषो वेषसद्भावा भावयोश्च यथा पुमान् ।
तथैव ब्रह्मविच्छ्रेष्ठः सदा ब्रह्मैव नापरः ॥ ५५५ ॥
śailūṣo veṣasadbhāvā bhāvayośca yathā pumān |
tathaiva brahmavicchreṣṭhaḥ sadā brahmaiva nāparaḥ || 555 ||
555. As an actor, when he puts on the dress of his role, or when he does not, is always a man, so the perfect knower of Brahman is always Brahman and nothing else.
यत्सत्यभूतं निजरूपमाद्यं
चिदद्वयानन्दमरूपमक्रियम् ।
तदेत्य मिथ्यावपुरुत्सृजेत
शैलूषवद्वेषमुपात्तमात्मनः ॥ २९२ ॥
yatsatyabhūtaṃ nijarūpamādyaṃ
cidadvayānandamarūpamakriyam |
tadetya mithyāvapurutsṛjeta
śailūṣavadveṣamupāttamātmanaḥ || 292 ||
292. That which is real and one’s own primeval Essence, that Knowledge and Bliss Absolute, the One without a second, which is beyond form and activity – attaining That one should cease to identify oneself with one’s false bodies, like an actor giving up his assumed mask.
Notes:
[False bodies—the gross, subtle and causal bodies, which are superimpositions upon the Atman.
Like an actor etc.—When the actor has played his part, he is simply a man. So the man of realisation is one with Brahman, his real Essence.]
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Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita
iisvarah sarvabhuutaanaam hrddase’rjuna tisthati
bhraamayan sarvabhuutaani yantraaruudhaani maayayaa _Bhagavad Gita 18-61)
Arjuna, God abides in the hearts of all creatures, causing them to revolve according to their karma by His illusive power as if they were mounted on a machine.
I think this is a reference to Puppet show. Puppeteers mount the puppets on a wheel or a circular disc and show them dance. In Indian puppet show the operator sits behind a white curtain on which the shadows of the puppets are projected from behind the screen.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say Ami Yantram and You are Yantri (I am a machine, You (god) are the operator.
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Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Q. Why is that worldly men do not give u everything to find God?
Ramakrishna’s answer: Can an actor coming on the stage throw off his mask at once? Let worldly men play out their part, and in time they will throw off their false appearance.
In another quote, he says “the person who plays the part of Krishna pays no heed to the noise and goes on chatting and smoking in the green room. But as soon as the noise ceases, and the pious sage Narada enters with the stage with sweet music and sings, Krishna hurriedly enters the stage. The Lord cannot tarry when his devotee calls on Him from the depth of his heart with profound love.
Chinmayananda explains in his commentary,
The actor when on stage is called king, soldier, hero etc according to the part he plays. When his make up is removed he is just an ordinary man. Similarly, the best among the knowers of Brahman, even while living in the world and playing his part on the stage of life, never does he identify with the role of the flesh.
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Sangam Tamil Literature
In Purananuru verse 29, Mudukannan Sattanar says, “Oh King, our life is like dance drama where the actors come and dance and go. (The life is so impermanent)”
புறநானூறு – 29. நண்பின் பண்பினன் ஆகுக!
பாடியவர்: உறையூர் முதுகண்ணன் சாத்தனார்.
அழல் புரிந்த அடர் தாமரை
ஐது அடர்ந்ற நூற் பெய்து,
……………………………………….
உதவி ஆற்றும் நண்பின் பண்புடை
ஊழிற்று ஆக, நின் செய்கை! விழவின்
கோடியர் நீர்மை போல முறை முறை
ஆடுநர் கழியும்இவ் உலகத்துக், கூடிய
நகைப் புறனாக, நின் சுற்றம்!
இசைப்புற னாக, நீ ஓம்பிய பொருளே!
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Tiruvalluvar, author of the Tamil Veda Tirukkural refers to the drama in three couplets:-
கூத்தாட்டு அவைக்குழாத் தற்றே பெருஞ்செல்வம்
போக்கும் அதுவிளிந் தற்று.–குறள் 332:
“Fortune coming to one and its departure are likened to the assembling of a crowd to witness a drama and its dispersal respectively” (332)
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நாண்அகத் தில்லார் இயக்கம் மரப்பாவை
நாணால் உயிர்மருட்டி அற்று–குறள் 1020:
“The men who do not possess sensitiveness to shame in their hearts are like the wooden dolls operated by strings (puppets)” (`1020)
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இரப்பாரை இல்லாயின் ஈர்ங்கண்மா ஞாலம்
மரப்பாவை சென்றுவந் தற்று.குறள் 1058:
“The great cool world will be moving like a lifeless puppet show if none asks for help” (1058)
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In later Tamil and Sanskrit literature, we have lots of similes for puppets shows.
Manikkavasagar’s Tiruvasagam
Tamil saint Manikkavasagar who lived 1500 years ago also used the Sanskrit word Nataka (drama) in three places:
In the Tirusatakam song of Tiruvasagam, he refers to drama in three places (verses 11, 15 and 99)
முழுவதும் கண்டவனைப் படைத்தான் முடிசாய்ந்து முன்னாள்
செழு மலர் கொண்டு எங்கும் தேட அப்பாலன் இப்பால் எம்பிரான்
கழுதொடு காட்டிடை நாடகம் ஆடிக் கதி இலியாய்
உழுவையின் தோல் உடுத்து உன் மத்தம் மேல் கொண்டு உழிதருமே. 11
நாடகத்தால் உன் அடியார் போல் நடித்து நான் நடுவே
வீடு அகத்தே புகுந்திடுவான் மிகப்பெரிதும் விரைகின்றேன்
ஆடகம் சீர் மணிக்குன்றே இடை அறா அன்பு உனக்கு என்
ஊடு அகத் தேநின்று உருகத் தந்தருள் எம் உடையானே. 15
வான நாடரும் அறி ஒணாத நீ
மறையில் ஈறும் முன் தொடர் ஒணாத நீ
ஏனை நாடரும் தெரி ஒணாத நீ
என்னை இன்னிதாய் ஆண்டு கொண்டவா
ஊனை நாடகம் ஆடு வித்தவா
உருகி நான் உனைப் பருக வைத்தவா
ஞான நாடகம் ஆடு வித்தவா
நைய வையகத்து உடைய விச்சையே. 99
– திருச்சதகம் –மாணிக்கவாசகர்
In verse 11, he sings about the dance of Siva n the crematorium with the ghosts.
Amidst your devotees, I acted like one of them
to gain entrance (to get liberated) –15
and in 99
Thou Whom the lords of heaven themselves know not!
Thy source and end the Vedas cannot trace!
Thou Whom in every land men fail to know
As Thou hast sweetly made me Thine hast called
This flesh to dance on stage of earth
me to enjoy Thyself with melting soul
in mystic drama, too, hast caused to move
pining on earth, Thou Lord of Magic power.
Of virtue void, of penitential grace
devoid, undisciplined, untaught
As leathern puppet danced about, giddy,
I whirling fell, lay prostrate there!
-643
(Souce: The Tiruvacagam by Rev. G U pope, Oxford, 1900)
Dhammapada
Buddha says in Dhammapada (147), “Consider this body! A painter puppet with jointed limbs, sometimes suffering and covered with ulcers,full of imaginings, never permanent, forever changing.(147)
Last but not the least is Shakespeare whose quotation on world as a drama theatre has become a very popular quote:-
Seven Ages of Man
Shakespeare divided a man’s life into seven stages or seven ages.
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
–As You Like It
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A funny poem puts our life this way:
At ten, we have just fun
At twenty, we are still naughty
At thirty, we think lofty
At forty, we get shifty
At fifty, we confront reality
At, sixty, we seek serenity
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There are lot of thought provoking sayings by our saints. They have divided our life into different stages. Hindu sages divided a man’s life in to four stages:
Brahmacharya (Student Life)
Grahasthasrama (Married life)
Vanaprastha (Secluded/ Forest life)
Sanyasa (Renouncement)
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Appar and Adi Shankara
“பாலனாய்க் கழிந்த நாளும் பனிமலர்க் கோதைமார்தம்
மேலனாய்க் கழிந்த நாளும் மெலிவொடு மூப்பு வந்து
கோலனாய்க் கழிந்த நாளும் குறிக்கோளிலாது கெட்டேன்
சேலுலாம் பழனவேலித் திருக்கொண்டீச்சரத்துளானே.” (அப்பர்)
(same meaning as in Bhaja Govindam)
Two thousand years ago saints like Appar/Thirunavukkarasu and Adi Shankarar also divided the age of a man roughly in to Infant, Married and Old Man.
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Great Philosopher Adi Shankara in his Bhaja Govindam sings:
“Balas tavat kridassaktas
Tarunastavat tarunisakthah,
Vrdhastavac cintasaktah
Para brahmani, ko pi na saktah” (Bhaja Govindam in Sanskrit)
बालस्तावत्क्रीडासक्तः
तरुणस्तावत्तरुणीसक्तः ।
वृद्धस्तावच्चिन्तासक्तः
परमे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्तः ॥ ७॥
(sanskritdocuments.org -भज गोविन्दम्)
The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness. Youth is
lost by attachment to woman. Old age passes away by thinking over
many things. But there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in
parabrahman.
—subham—
Tags- World is a stage, We are actors, Sankara, Shakespeare, Ramakrishna, Viveka Chudamani, Valluvar, Manikkavasagar Research Notes on VC- Part 33, Sangam Tamil Poet
Tamil and Vedas 