[[Mohan K.V 2014-09-06, 04:48:57 Source]]
सदास्वादः
65
जानामि धर्मं न च मे प्रवृत्तिः
(jānāmi dharmaṃ na ca me pravṛttiḥ)
Meaning
“I understand Dharma, but cannot get myself to apply it.” How come?
Context
This chapter’s verse is from a very difficult work called the Pāṇḍava-gīta (also called the Prapanna-gīta). It is a devotional anthology of unknown authorship, and is probably a few hundred years old. As with most Sanskrit anthologies, many of the original sources of the verses are untraceable. We label it ‘difficult’ not because of any linguistic challenge, but a poetic one: out of its 80-odd verses, barely a couple are mildly interesting, and only one solitary verse truly has poetic beauty. When starting out to read a work, one hopes to find many gems to add to one’s collection — and it is an especial feeling of exasperation to find only one. We’d discussed a similar problem in the chapter on Cāṇakya, where we agreed that in most such cases, ‘eko guṇaḥ khalu nihanti samasta-dośān’ ‘One good quality makes up for all the faults’!
The Pāṇḍava-gīta has a curious structure — each verse is in praise of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and is presented as if it is uttered by a different character in the Mahābhārata. For example, Droṇa says in one of the few good verses:
ये ये हताश् चक्र-धरेण दैत्याः
त्रैलोक्य-नाथेन जनार्दनेन ।
ते ते गता विष्णु-पुरीं प्रयाता
क्रोधोऽपि देवस्य वरेण तुल्यः ॥
ye ye hatāḥ cakra-dhareṇa daityāḥ
trailokya-nāthena janārdanena |
te te gatāḥ viṣṇu-purīṃ prayātāḥ
krodho api devasya vareṇa tulyaḥ ||
“All those demons who were killed by Kṛṣṇa’s discus attained Salvation; even his anger is as beneficial as his grace!”
A very cute idea. The Kannada poet DVG writes in a famous verse in his Manku Timmana Kagga:
ನಂಬದಿರ್ದನು ತಂದೆ, ನಂಬಿದನು ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದ
ನಂಬಿಯುಂ ನಂಬದಿರುವಿಬ್ಬಂದಿ ನೀನು |
ಕಂಬದಿನೊ ಬಿಂಬದಿನೊ ಮೋಕ್ಷವವರಿಂಗಾಯ್ತು
ಸಿಂಬಳದಿ ನೊಣ ನೀನು - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||485
naṃbade irdanu tande, naṃbidanu prahlāda |
naṃbiyuṃ naṃbade iruva ibbandi nīnu ||
kaṃbadino biṃbadino mōkṣavu avaringe āytu |
siṃbaḷadi noṇa nīnu - maṃku-timma ||
“The father didn’t believe [in the Lord], but Prahlāda did.
You, on the other hand, are neither here nor there.
They both got Salvation,
while you’re like a fly stuck in muck.”
The reference here is to the story of the demon Hiraṇya-kaśipu and his saintly son Prahlāda. Hiraṇya-kaśipu attained liberation when Viṣṇu appeared in his Narasiṃha form and killed him, whereas Prahlāda attained liberation by worshipping the same form. The poet rues to himself that he neither has the conviction of the demonic father, nor the devotion of the saintly son. Who knew that the ‘middle-class squeeze’ is a problem not just with liberalization, but Liberation too!
This chapter’s verse appears later on, and is said by Duryodhana:
जानामि धर्मं न च मे प्रवृत्तिः
जानाम्यधर्मं न च मे निवृत्तिः ।
केनापि दैवेन हृदि-स्थितेन
यथा नियुक्तो ऽस्मि तथा करोमि ॥
jānāmi dharmaṃ na ca me pravṛttiḥ
jānāmi adharmaṃ na ca me nivṛttiḥ |
kena api daivena hṛdi-sthitena
yathā niyukto asmi tathā karomi ||
“I understand Dharma [I know what is right], but can’t get myself to practice it.
I understand Adharma, but can’t get myself to refrain from it.
Some force in me drives me —
I do what it goads me to do.”
Back in the Pāṇḍava-gīta, Duryodhana goes on to ask forgiveness for his sins:
यन्त्रस्य मम दोषेण क्षम्यतां मधुसूदन ।
अहं यन्त्रं भवान् यन्त्री मम दोषो न दीयताम् ॥
yantrasya mama doṣeṇa kṣamyatāṃ madhusūdana |
ahaṃ yantraṃ bhavān yantrī mama doṣo na dīyatām ||
“Please forgive the faults of this instrument, O Lord!
I am no more than an instrument, you are the true wielder — may I not be blamed!”
Is this a fine observation of human nature, of the times when we seem compelled to act by a force beyond ourselves? It need not even be supernatural — just our ego and circumstances where we paint ourselves into a corner would be sufficient. Or is it simply Duryodhana post-justifying his misdeeds, and trying to cast away responsibility for his actions? Our answers will depend on our own most innate features, and our beliefs about them: how much control do we exert on our actions? How much freedom do we have, and how much do we think we have? And how much do we want to have? It would take a lifetime of knowing oneself to answer these!
Whatever our responses are, the genius of Vyāsa allows for his characters to accommodate them. The hallmark of a great poet, as for a great leader, is to give space for the creative potential of others to develop and contribute. For example, the Kannada epic poet Kumāra-vyāsa is an out-and-out Bhakti poet, and believes Kṛṣṇa to be the all-controlling God, guiding absolutely everything in the Mahābhārata. In Kumāra-vyāsa’s mind, every character is a mere instrument for Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa arrives on his mission to propose peace, Duryodhana refuses to accept, giving a fascinating reason:
ಎನ್ನ ಹೃದಯದೊಳ್ ಇರ್ದು ಮುರಿವನು
ಗನ್ನದಲಿ ಸಂಧಿಯನು ರಿಪುಗಳೊಳ್
ಇನ್ನು ನಿನ್ನೊಳಗಿವರೊಳಿದ್ದಾ ಹದನ ತಾನರುಪಿ .
…
enna hṛdayadoḷ irdu murivanu
gannadali saṃdhiyanu ripugaḷoḷ
innu ninnoḷage ivaroḷ iddu ā hadana tānu arupi .
…
“From within my heart, He commands me to break [the peace proposal].
But from within yours [the elders in the Court], and the vile Pāṇḍavas, he speaks something else.”
ಹಳಚುವುವು ಹಾಹೆಗಳು ಸೂತ್ರವ
ನಲುಗಿದೊಡೆ ತತ್ ಪುಣ್ಯ-ಪಾಪಾ-
-ವಳಿಗಳಾ ಹಾಹೆಗಳಿಗುಂಟೇ ಸೂತ್ರ-ಧರನಿರಲು ?
ಕೊಲುವನ್ ಅನ್ಯರನ್ ಅನ್ಯರಿಂದವೆ
ಕೊಲಿಸುವನು ಕಮಲಾಕ್ಷನಲ್ಲದೆ
ಉಳಿದ ಜೀವ-ವ್ರಾತಕೀ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲೆಂದ ..
haḷacuvuvu hāhegaḷu sūtravan
alugidoḍe tat puṇya-pāpā-
-vaḷigaḷā hāhegaḷige unṭē sūtra-dharanu iralu ?
koluvan anyaran anyarindave
kolisuvanu kamalākṣanu allade
uḷida jīva-vrātakī svātantryavilla enda ..
“Puppets dance when their strings
are pulled – do vice and virtue
accrue to them, when the puppet-master is elsewhere?
He will make us kill one another —
what choice do we have?”
ನಾವು ಸಂಧಿಯನ್ ಒಲಿವೆವೆಮ್ಮಯ
ಭಾವದಲಿ ಹುಳುಕಿಲ್ಲ ಸಂಪ್ರತಿ
ದೇವನಭಿಮತವಲ್ಲ ಬಲ್ಲೆನು ಮುರಹರನ ಮನವ .
…
nāvu saṃdhiyan olivevemmaya
bhāvadali huḷukilla saṃprati
dēvana abhimatavu alla ballenu muraharana manava .
…
“I would agree to this peace,
certainly — but
He in my heart doesn’t want me to, I know it. ”
This may seem like it’s too clever by half, but we’ll note that some of the most memorable lines of Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-Gīta are ‘kālo’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt’ ‘I am Time, destroyer of worlds’ and ‘nimitta-mātraṃ bhava savya-sācin’ ‘You are merely an instrument, Arjuna’. If that was true for Arjuna, can’t Duryodhana also claim so?
For now, as long as we haven’t figured out the secrets of Free Will, it appears that kindness is our best bet. DVG writes,
ರಾವಣನ ಹಳಿವವನೆ, ಜೀವವನೆ ಬಿಸುಡಿಸುವ
ಲಾವಣ್ಯವೆಂತಹುದೊ? ನೋವದೆಂತಹುದೊ? |
ಬೇವಸವ ಪಟ್ಟು ತಿಳಿ; ತಿಳಿದು ಹಳಿಯುವೊಡೆ ಹಳಿ
ಗಾವಿಲನ ಗಳಹೇನು? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||283
rāvaṇana haḷivavane, jīvavane bisuḍisuva
lāvaṇyavu entahudo? nōvu adentahudo? |
bēvasava paṭṭu tiḷi; tiḷidu haḷiyuvoḍe haḷi
gāvilana gaḷahēnu? - mankutimma ||
“You rush to scold Rāvaṇa, but what do you know
of the beauty he saw that made him stake his very life? What pain did he suffer that drove him to do what he did?
If you have felt what he did and still wish to pass judgment, do so.
But if not, don’t be too quick!”
After all,
ಅಡಿಜಾರಿ ಬೀಳುವುದು, ತಡವಿಕೊಂಡೇಳುವುದು
ಕಡುಬ ನುಂಗುವುದು, ಕಹಿಮದ್ದ ಕುಡಿಯುವುದು |
ದುಡುಕಿ ಮತಿದಪ್ಪುವುದು, ತಪ್ಪನೊಪ್ಪೆನ್ನುವುದು
ಬದುಕೆಂಬುದಿದೆ ತಾನೆ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || 345
aḍi-jāri bīḷuvudu, taḍavikoṇḍu ēḷuvudu
kaḍuba nunguvudu, kahimadda kuḍiyuvudu |
duḍuki mati tappuvudu, tappanu ‘oppe’ ennuvudu
badukeṃbudu ide tāne? - manku timma ||
“Falling smack down, and clumsily rising back up,
eating a delicious sweet, then swallowing bitter medicine [to repent],
Erring in haste, and refusing to accept one’s error:
Isn’t that all Life is, my friend?”
:-)
Parting Thought
The Prime Minister recently mentioned this verse in a speech in Parliament, castigating the previous government with it for their gross inaction even on unanimously agreed-upon issues. The real force behind its invocation, that which gives it its ‘sting’, is that it highlights ignorance and apathy towards a very fundamental human aspect: most often, people respond quicker to one incentive than a thousand charters of Rights and Obligations. A Kāśmiri poet of about 1100 years ago, Jayanta Bhaṭṭa put it more colourfully:
चपेटा-परिहाराय मोदक-प्राप्तये ऽपि वा ।
प्रवर्तते बटुर् नासौ जुहुधीति नियोगतः ॥
capeṭā-parihārāya modaka-prāptaye api vā |
pravartate baṭuḥ na asau juhudhi iti niyogataḥ ||
“A boy will act far quicker to escape a slap or get a snack, than he will to a solemn call to worship!”
The use of words like ‘capeṭā’ (slap), ‘modaka’ (sweet) and ‘baṭu’ (young student), together with the much-more formal sounding ‘juhudhi’ (‘Thou shalt worship’) adds to the humour of the verse.
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