Thus Spake the Divine - The Third Route

Thus Spake the Divine

The Third Route

In this Chapter, Pujyashri Maha Periyava elucidates the two ways of reaching Paramatma which are Marjala kishora nyaya and markata kishora nyaya.

In addition, Periyava also throws light on the “third route” propounded by our Acharya which says “Tie this monkey mind with the strong rope of Bhakti and keep the rope in Your custody”. Maha Periyava suggests following the footsteps of Acharya in espousing Bhakti.

There is a right and appropriate way of doing everything. If we deviate from that way, it will only result in hardships for us. While walking on the road, if the rule is to keep left, then everyone should keep left. Our ancestors have set some general guidelines for each and every activity. It is always better to follow the guidelines in the manner prescribed by them.

The term “Nyaya” also refers to an appropriate or fair way. Our ancestors have prescribed two routes to reach God. One is known as the “Baby Monkey Route” and the other “Kitten Route”. They called them “Marjala kishora nyaya” (marjala in Sanskrit means cat) and Markata Kishora Nyaya” (markata means monkey). Kishora means baby or the little one.

When a mother cat delivers a baby, it will hold the kitten in its mouth and carry it along till the kitten is capable of moving by itself. Even a tiger does the same thing as tiger belongs to the cat family. It is said that the cat taught all tricks of hunting to the tiger, such as jumping, crouching and lunging, except the technique of climbing a tree or wall. May be, it felt that being a small creature, teaching everything to the tiger may render her own self unsafe! Generally, tigers and cats are very much attached to their little ones.

God, who is an Enchanter Himself (Mayavi) has endowed all children with the power of enchanting their mothers. Only then can the children survive. We need a body to extinct our Karmas; we need food to nurture this body. Unconscious of this, we keep feeding our stomachs. The body grows. There is a tongue in our body that stimulates taste for, without taste, we would not like to eat any food. God gave a tongue that can taste so that food will be eaten, which will nurture the body that can then take up actions for making the impacts of Karma extinct.

God has actually created an illusion by endowing children with the power to enchant their mothers. But this deceptive tactic works only on ordinary human beings. God cannot deceive

Jnyanis. A Jnyani, instead, is capable of deceiving God Himself! Shiksha Shastra (refer to the chapter on Shiksha: Nose of Veda, for detailed pronunciation rules) prescribes the grammar for Vedaksharas (scripts of Veda), so that the syllables of Veda can be correctly pronounced while learning the Veda.

It says one should pronounce syllables as how a mother tiger holds its cub by its mouth to safeguard the young one from dangers. The mother tiger holds its cub between its teeth, so that it does not fall. At the same time, it ensures that the cub is not hurt by its sharp teeth. Moreover, sometimes, the mother tiger may have to run fast to safeguard its cub from danger. Just as how a mother tiger handles its cub so carefully and watchfully, similarly, the syllables of Veda should be pronounced with utmost care. Similar is the case with the cat too. Cat is known as the “village tiger”. That is why the grammar rules prescribe that Veda should be pronounced the “marjala kishora nyaya” way.

Similar to Marjala and Markata Kishora Nyayas, there are two ways of espousing Bhakti towards Paramatma. One is similar to Marjala Kishora Nyaya. Some devotees are totally stress-free and fall at the feet of God as a kitten. The kitten leaves all its stress to its mother. It does not make any efforts and remains totally dependent on its mother with the trust that she will take care of it. Likewise, the Marjala-type devotees remain inactive and surrender to God with absolute trust that God will protect them from any perils. They will just praise God with utmost humility seeking His grace. They will remain inactive as kittens and leave all responsibilities at His Feet.

Baby monkey is exactly opposite to a kitten. It clings to its mother’s stomach with a tight grip even while the mother monkey jumps from tree to tree without bothering at all about the baby monkey. It is the responsibility of the baby monkey to hold on tightly to its mother to save itself from falling. God has endowed the baby monkey with great power to hold on tightly to its mother. God is said to have given a boon to monkeys: “Whatever you bite is sugarcane and whatever you grip is iron”.

Therefore, monkeys have a strong grip on objects. There is even a term called “Monkey grip”.

The second-type devotees are like baby monkeys, coming under the Markata Kishora Nyaya. These devotees cling tightly to the Feet of God. They do not wait for God to confer Anugraha

on them. They continue holding the Feet tightly even if God chooses to shake them off. Manikyavachagar sings in praise of Shiva as “Chikkena Piditthen”, which in Tamil means: “I held on to Him tight”. He, in his Shivapuranam, says: “God is caught in the net of Bhakti”. A question arises here. “Are devotees holding on to God or is God caught in the grip of devotees?” It is God Himself who gets caught in the grip of devotees. God is unable to escape just as a trapped fi sh cannot escape a fishnet.

The division of Vaishnavism into two sects, namely, Vadakalai and Tenkalai emerged based on these two forms of surrendering to God. Those who follow Sri Vedanta Deshika, the Vadakalai sect, embrace the Markata Kishora Nyaya. They strongly believe that they should fi rmly hold on to the Feet of God for His grace. The Tenkalai sect that follows Sri Manavala Muni and Pillai Lokacharya adheres to the Marjalanyaya way.

They strongly believe in remaining inactive and trust that God will absorb them into Him of His own volition. (What we see today between these two sects is just the difference in applying the Namam. If the Namam is in the U form, they are Vadakalai and if in the Y form (with an extended leg below), they are Tenkalai. The differentiation between these two sects also lies in the philosophy of Sharanagati that they follow. Here, Sharanagati or Surrender is known as Prapatti). Okay, leave for now all philosophies and Siddhantas. How do we behave in our day-to-day life? Are we stress-free, leaving everything to God with absolute faith? Do we possess such level of Bhakti and determination? Not at all! At least, are we able to hold on to Him tightly forever, so that we forcibly get His grace? This also does not seem to be happening.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Specialty Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.