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UG - the sober 'raging sage' ! |
UG and
the Vedic hymns - I
“What have you done
to me?” UG used to exclaim
after a recitation of Sri Rudram, a Vedic Hymn that he very often mentioned transported
him to a trance-like state. Definitely Sri Rudram was foremost among UG’s
favourites.
Chandrasekhar Babu, one of
the longstanding associates and a few others were indeed witness to UG’s responses to the chanting of some Vedic hymns.
During his final days in Vallecrosia,
UG had sent word for Mahesh Bhatt to join him for one last time. Myself and Kamal
met up with Mahesh late in the evening just before his departure to Italy and
handed him an audio CD. The CD had all the audio tracks, UG ‘favourites’. It
contained some famous Sanskrit hymns – Sri Rudram, Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam,
Aditya Hridayam etc.
The chanting of hymns and
also singing of bhajans happened at many UG portals in India but it was more sincere
and regular in Bangalore. UG would never disappoint people who wanted to chant
or sing before him and sometimes he would even prompt people to shed inhibitions and render the chants or songs. When chants began, often UG would squat
on the floor and slip into a trance-like state.
Recently when someone called my attention to this favourite
hymn of UG’s, I was reminded of Babu’s recollection ( Stopped In Our Tracks) of
how UG could indeed 'see' the seers or sages who were the original composers of
this extraordinary hymn.
****
What indeed was the magic of these hymns that held UG’s
attention?
Here is a humble attempt to capture the essence of one of those famous
hymns - Sri Rudram from the Yajurveda
that UG held in such high esteem.
Sri Rudram consists of two parts - Namakam and Chamakam.
Namakam forms the first part where the salutation ‘NAMO’ (
or Namaste) is attached at the beginning and end of every verse. Namo, Namo… can be heard innumerable times.
[ The second part of Sri Rudram is famously known as Chamakam - where the end of each line has a CHA-ME ( ‘cha me’ means ‘let me have’ - ‘let
me have this’ , ‘let me have that’ and so on. In this part one can hear Chame,
Chame innumerable times.
In Chamakam, the sage is making an uncompromising
appeal for robust health and all necessities of life to function with vigour
and vitality and to discharge his duty towards family, proteges and the world.
Here the Vedic Seer is praying for everything
that we might want to possess in our life sojourn - health, happiness, progeny,
welfare of family, of servants, fun, sport, fame, name, success etc. The Seer
does not compromise on his demands or settle for anything less, he wants the best
- the very best of everything that life can offer!
Chamakam, in a way, is a
'laundry list of human aspirations' in the words of the sages! This part of the
hymn is also quite long.]
****
When it comes to the first part, the Namakam, the Vedic Seer seems
awestruck. He is overwhelmed by the infinitude and magnificence of Life, encompassing
the whole of Universe with multiple dimensions and forms. The Seer, much like
Arjuna in Bhagwad Gita, is overwhelmed, humbled and spellbound at the grandeur of
Reality and can’t stop extolling, singing, heaping praise and respect and
prostrating at every juncture! The delightful, revelatory outburst at the sheer
spectacle of Life takes the shape of Namakam!
Namakam is therefore a salutation to Life in all of its
infinite forms - the human aspect being just a teeny weeny part of creation.
This Hymn salutes the Lord or the animating Life Force in a
zillion forms...the hymn salutes the 'illiterate' milkman, the water bearer,
servants, labourers, farmers, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, horses, horse trainers, even
the dogs and their masters, the soldiers, the Generals, the charioteers, the
chariot makers ( carpenters), the traders, the ministers (especially the sages
handpick the Commerce or Finance Ministers) as it is the Treasury and Economy
that guide the destiny of the state and its people. The sages see the Universal
Intelligence of the Lord behind the brilliance, strategy, economic wisdom of the
sagely, egalitarian ministers of the state who run the lives of its people by overseeing
proper distribution of wealth etc.
The Namakam flows on and salutes those holding lowest of lowly
vocations, saluting the bird catchers, the fishermen, the hunters, smallest of
the small, the biggest of the big, the infant, the aged…No one individual or no
one form however tiny is inferior or unimportant. Every form is an expression of Life!
Then the hymn suddenly
explodes , its scope suddenly expands by leaps and bounds and encompasses everything
that we behold, everything that we see, salutes everything that provides support,
nourishment and sustenance to living forms.
Salutations are now offered to huge water bodies, streams,
rivers, small ponds, rain, clouds, wells, lakes, (the mineral-rich, nutrient
rich, fertile) soil as well as marshy, dry and barren lands for all these play a role and are
essential to support forms of life peculiar to each eco-system.
Salutations are also offered to various rock formations including
mountains and valleys that sustain life on the planet (by stopping rain bearing
clouds), salutations are offered to the Divine spark that is unseen but
manifest in the brilliance of robbers, looters, smooth talkers,
gangsters....this vista vision of the Vedic Seer is all inclusive and non-judgemental
about the function of each and every creature recognising its role, its worth
and its value in the grand scheme of things , recognising the invaluable,
individual contribution of every creature to the maintenance and sustenance of
the world.
In the closing verse, salutations are offered to our
dwellings, habitats, every tiny atom, every speck of dust - everything that is seen
or unseen in the Cosmos!
[An Indian
pundit who went to the old Soviet Russia to do his research on
Communism was snubbed by his professor that Russia could
never ever offer a model to Indians even remotely matching the ideal of Sri Rudram. Seems he reiterated that the Catholicism or the Universalism that is the bedrock of Vedic literature formed the basis of all forms of ‘isms’ in the world including
communism, socialism etc.
Of course there has been a steady deterioration of this grand vision of the ancients over time on the subcontinent and is nowhere to be seen today.]
****
Note:
The blogger humbly stands corrected for any omissions or
commissions on his part in daring to do this write-up. This has been culled
from many sources, discourses, treatises on the wonderful, lofty hymn that upholds
the Spirit of Humanity and the Oneness of Life.
I am grateful to all those speakers, writers and contributors. They are innumerable to enlist here, my salutations to all!
