Yaksha Prashnam Questions 97 - 100

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/yaksha-prashnam-questions-93-96.html

Who is truly happy? What is most wonderful? What is the path? And what is news?

Who is truly happy?

Yudhishtirar answered that a person who lived a simple life will always be happy. A person who is satisfied with whatever he/she has and doesn’t seek material things will be very happy. Any person who owns a home even if it is a small hut and uses the vegetables growing in the vegetable patch will be happy. The person does not have to worry about making rent payments nor about purchasing food. A person should be happy with whatever is available in the vegetable patch. If only spinach is available, such a person will cook the leaves as a vegetable side and use the spinach stem in soup. The person will also take food only after praying to God and have only one meal during the 5^th or 6^th period of the day. A day commences at around 4:30 am. 90 min make one period. By this calculation, 5^th or 6^th period is from noon to 1:30 PM. Such a person leading a simple life has no necessity to borrow money. A person who hasn’t taken any loans will be happy as he/she doesn’t have to worry about repaying the loan. A person who lives in his native land is also very happy as he/she does not have to adjust to the rules of a foreign country.

What is most wonderful?

Yudhishtirar answered that the most amazing thing is the behaviour of people. Even when people know that death cannot be avoided and watch their family and friends make their way to the netherworlds, they think that they themselves will continue to live forever.

What is the path?

To answer to the Yakshan’s question on which is the way, Yudhishtirar used Purusha Suktam. Purusha Suktam is present in all the four Vedas. The word “panthaha” is repeated twice in the Purusha Suktam. Panthaha in Sanskrit means the way which leads away from samsaram and takes a person to Moksham. Yudhishtirar understood the Yakshan’s question as, which is the right way to reach Moksham.

Yudhishtirar answered that realizing the concept (tatvam) of dharmam is the right way. Dharmam refers to that activity which leads to good destination.  Our Lord is called Sanatana Dharmam because He is eternal and He is also Dharmam. The Vedas tell us that the good deeds performed to obtain good fruit are called as dharmam. The best fruit is obtaining the divine feet of Lord Narayana. The means to attain this fruit is through bakthi yoga and saranagathi. According to the laws of Saranagathi He is the means as well as the end. Even if we surrender to Him, He has to accept our surrender making Him the means as well as the end. Hence He is Sanatana Dharmam. A person who realizes that our Lord is the means as well as the end and performs Prapatti at His divive feet will experience moksham in this world itself. The divine feet of Perumal could only be attained by bringing our mind as well as senses under control. The person should follow the rules prescribed by the shastras in order to develop a healthy body so as to be able to perform Bakthi Yoga. Yudhishtirar answered that the way used by “mahajanangal” is the correct way. Mahajanagal are our Sages, Azhwars and Acharyans. The way followed by these people is Saranagathi. In our Sampradayam, Swami Nammazhwar is called as Mahajanam. Nammazhwar is fondly called as “Periyan” i.e. “greatest”. Swami Nammazhwar told Perumal that he is greater than Perumal Himself; while Perumal contains the entire Universe in Him, Swami Nammazhwar is greater because he bears the Lord in his heart.

The great Swami Nammazhwar is the only one who told us about the way to reach Sri Vaikuntham. Therefore the proper way is to follow the way indicated by Swami Nammazhwar by performing Prapatti at the divine feet of Lord Narayana.

What is news?

Yudhishtirar answered that the world we live in, is a huge pan. The sky acts as the lid and the Sun is the fire. Day and night are the fire wood used as fuel. Time in the form of seasonal changes acts as the ladle used to stir food. We are the food being cooked. This is the best news.

The shradha manthram chanted during the pinda prathanam also states that the earth is a vessel on which the offerings are placed and that the vessel is covered by the sky itself. It is said that Shantanu came in person to accept the offerings made in the Shradham by Bhishmacharya. He asked Bhishmacharyar to place the offerings on his hand but Bhishmacharyar refused stating that for pitris (departed ancestors) only the earth should be used as a vessel. He further added that he need not obey Shantanu as Shantanu’s request is against the shastras.

We are under the control of this World and time. Time slowly cooks us. Time changes our perspective and attitude. A person who is very angry calms down after a period of time. Similarly our hurts are healed by time. Anything can happen to anyone at any time since we are all under the control of time. If we know this piece of news we will never be disappointed.

Ithihasas like Mahabharata are news. By listening to news we learn to avoid the mistakes made by other people. Mahabharata is not a book of war as believed by many since it teaches us to avoid vendetta and that vengeance only leads to ruin.

Yudhishtirar’s answer starts with the phrase “Earth is a vessel”. This is similar to the

Poigai Azhwar pasuram shown below which also starts with the phrase “Vaiyam Thagaliya” i.e. the earth is a vessel.

"Vaiyam Thagaliya, Var kadale Neiyaga,
Vaiyakkathiron Vilakagachheya,
Sudaraazhiyaan Adikke soodinen sonn malai,
Edarazhi Neengugave endru!!"

We will introduce additional questions found only in the Tamil Mahabharatam written by Villiputhur Azhwar in my next post.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/03/yaksha-prashnam-questions-101-102.html

*****************************************************************************************

Based on, Yaksha Prashnam - A discourse in Tamil by Sri U.Ve. Karunakaran Swamy
(Any errors or inconsistencies in the following series are due to the mistakes I made while taking notes. ) 

Copies of the CDs can be obtained from Sri Karunakaran Swami’s website http://www.nadadoor.org/ . This series is for the benefit of people who do not understand Tamil. Those of you who understand Tamil very well must definitely obtain a copy of Swami’s Upanyasam. You can do so by contacting Nadadoor.org. Swami also renders discourses in English but I am not sure if Yaksha Prashnam discourse is available in English.  The experience of listening to Swami’s upanyasams could never be obtained by reading the following series. I have done my best to take notes with due diligence. I apologize for any errors that I have made while writing this series.