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Thread: Subramanya Bharati: The Jnani par excellence

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    Light Subramanya Bharati: The Jnani par excellence

    Subramanya Bharati (Dec 11, 1882 - Sep 11, 1921) is considered as the greatest and unparalleled Tamil poet of the 20th century. His patriotic songs formed the breath of the freedom movement in Tamilnadu. Bharati was also a great Hindu philosopher and visionary who fostered Bhakti and Jnana yoga paths to Self-Realization. Besides, he was a polyglot, who was fluent in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, French and English. He was a voracious reader and a prolific writer.

    To know more about Subramanya Bharati, please visit http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/bharathy/.

    Bharati was an advaita vedantist to the core. In this thread, I shall discuss some of his poems that reveal the Jnani par excellence in Bharati. The simplicity and grandeur of his diction is difficult to render in English, therefore I can only try to reflect the light of his thoughts and words.

    1. Bharati Talks to the World

    All that stands, walks, flies -- are they just dreams? Deceptive appearances?

    All that's learnt, heard, thought -- are they mere maya? They have no deep meanings?

    The sky, sunshine, dark foliage -- are they just mirage? Errors of vision?

    All that's gone, went like a dream, buried and decayed -- am I a dream? Is this world a lie?

    The singularity of Time, and the multiplicity of forms, and thoughts -- are they all lies? Their gunas are lies?

    The trees in a garden, if they are born out of a seed,
    Do they make the garden a lie? Should we add this to our diction?

    If the seen will disappear, then the disappeared will be seen!
    In the wasteland of lies we continue our daily life!
    We will surely see the Truth, and this is a certainty!
    What we see here is all shakti, and this is real for us now.

    2. I am

    I am the birds that fly in the sky.
    I am the beasts that roam the ground.
    I am the trees that make the forest.
    I am the wind, the flood, and the sea.

    I am the stars that are seen on the sky.
    I am the endless expanse of space.
    I am the worm that crawls on earth.
    I am the life forms of the sea.

    I am all that Kamban sung.
    I am the shapes that the painter paints.
    I am the wonderful palaces and towers of this world.

    I am in the music that a woman plays.
    I am the essense of all happiness.
    I am the totality of the lies of the nescient.
    I am the misery of causes that torture patience.

    I am the object of all mantras.
    I am the nature of all that lives.
    I am the author of tantras.
    I am the revealer of vedas.

    I made all the universes.
    I activate them in perfect harmony.
    I am the shakti of every moment.
    I am the cause of all causes.

    I conduct this lie of ego.
    I guide it to its source of knowledge.
    I am the primordial jyoti that stays inside
    and lights up all the forms.

    More to come...
    Last edited by saidevo; 15 September 2006 at 09:23 AM.

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    Re: Subramanya Bharati: The Jnani par excellence

    Bharati's meeting with Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry kindled the flame of meditation and yoga in him. Bharati, VOC Iyer, Srinivasachariar and Aurobindo met regularly and researched vedas, bhashyas and upanishads at Aurobindo's home. Bharati's second daughter Shakuntala Bharati writes that on some days the discussions would stretch through the whole night, so for dinner, sambhar and fried papad (two items Aurobindo relished) would be supplied from Bharati's house!

    Sri Aurobindo's study of Tamil, which he did with the help of Subramania Bharati, led him to discover that the "original connection between the Sanskrit and Tamil tongues was far closer and more extensive than is usually supposed and that they were two divergent families derived from one lost primitive tongue". (Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, op. cit., p 36). (Ref: http://www.infinityfoundation.com/EC...onialframe.htm)

    Bharati's quest for self-realization raised him to new heights of bliss and brought out a series of songs from him.

    3. Drums of Victory

    One of the first impediments a self-realized needs overcomes is fear. Bharati sings the fearless advaitic state of a Jnani in this song set to a popular tune:

    Play the drums of victory!
    Play the drums of victory!

    We flattened the ghost of fear.
    We drank the life of the snake of lies.
    In the nectar of heavenly bliss
    We have taken up a vedic life. -- Play the drums... 1

    We bathed in the light of the sun.
    We drank that nectar of light.
    We made Kala* shiver with fright,
    Who snatches lives in stealth at night. -- Play the drums... 2

    The crows and sparrows are our caste.
    The endless sea and hills our group.
    Wherever we see, we see nothing but us.
    The more we see, the more is the dance of bliss. -- Play the drums... 3

    *Kala is Lord Yama here

    4. Atma Jayam

    This song expresses Bharati's longing that we have all the knowledge of spirituality and self-realization heard from our rishis of yore, but still we are lowly in our spiritual status.

    Can't the hands snatch what the eyes see?
    Hey, the sky is seen on the earth,
    Can't it be in our hold?
    With thoughts and efforts for days together,
    Shall we tire in the end?
    Hey, in the sky and land and eye and thought,
    It is Parashakti that ingrains. 1

    What boons, fame, victories
    And excellence do we seek!
    When self is conquered, all these
    Things are sure to come thereby.
    Even after this knowledge of vedic truths
    Heard from our rishis of yore,
    We would still be lowly
    With no ability of self-conquest? 2

    More to come...

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