“A wise man wanting nirvana without worship of Ramachandra is like an animal missing a horn or a tail.” (Dohavali, 138)

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रामचंद्र के भजन बिनु जो चह पद निर्बान।
ग्यानवंत अपि सो नर पसु बिनु पूँछ बिषान।।

rāmacandra kē bhajana binu jō caha pada nirbāna.
gyānavanta api sō nara pasu binu pūm̐cha biṣāna..

Those who are compassionate, who have a heart, who try to empathize with the situations that others face, are saddened at the thought. They realize that nothing can be done to reverse the situation. Time will have to play out. In the same manner that time created the situation, the same time will one day provide resolution.

The situation of which we speak is the vision of a deformed animal. Maybe a beautiful four-legged creature which roams the jungles. Perhaps an adorable cat that serves as a trusted companion within the home. Maybe the bird which makes a regular visit to the backyard.

Something is missing. Perhaps a horn. Maybe a wing. The tail is no longer there. The animal is without something which is otherwise automatically provided by nature. Through some misfortune or another, the separation occurred.

Goswami Tulsidas uses this situation to compare to the wise man who wants something important. They are considered wise based on having jnana. This is the Sanskrit word for knowledge, and the connotation is knowledge of lasting value.

Not just how to put together a vehicle. Not only the methods for finding sense enjoyment. Not only how to administer a local municipality or emerge victorious in a military conflict. This knowledge is about everything important to the individual.

The knowledge begins with defining the individual. They are spirit soul, part and parcel of Brahman. They are not identified by the temporary covering. Only jnana can provide this understanding. We might come close to reaching the same conclusion through our speculation, but we are never entirely sure. This is because we lack perfect perception through the time continuum, either reversing to the past or fast-forwarding to the future.

देहिनो ऽस्मिन् यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा
तथा देहान्तर-प्राप्तिर्
धीरस् तत्र न मुह्यति

dehino ‘smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.13)

From this starting point, the wise person, who can be described as jnanavanta, eventually reaches the conclusion of finishing material existence. For themselves, specifically, they no longer wish to spin on the wheel of suffering, known as the samsara-chakra.

End the cycle of birth and death. Stop accepting material bodies. Eliminate the original source of miseries. If you prevent birth, you put a blocker on the onset of illusion, on perpetually living within what can be described as shokadhama, or the abode of grief.

The Sanskrit word nirvana refers to this end. Completing material existence. Finishing this business of accepting and rejecting, bhoga and tyaga. Putting an end to dualities, which are created through lines as if drawn by random choice.

Tulsidas says that to try for nirvana without worshiping the Supreme Lord is foolish. It would be like the deformed animal. They are still potent, in a sense. It is a living being within a particular species. There is the natural, God-given ability, as exhibited on the respective playing fields.

At the same time, something vital is missing. That is why we consider the animal to be deformed. The jnanavanta wants nirvana, but they refuse to worship the source of the material and spiritual worlds. They want the kingdom of God without acknowledging God. They think they can hack the system, to somehow reach the pinnacle without assistance.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada refers to this condition as the last snare of maya. In the first snare, I think that I can enjoy on my own, that my body identifies me, and that I will never die.

This last snare has accompanying jnana. I should know better. I have an idea of the difference between matter and spirit. I set the target as nirvana. I want to end the misery, but I am still within maya because I think that I can do it on my own, without the help of a higher being.

The potential will never meet the reality. There has to be worship of the highest being of all, who is worshiped as Ramachandra by saints like Tulsidas. That Ramachandra can give life to the lifeless and He can give nirvana, an end to the miseries of a material existence, to even those who are not specifically seeking it.

In Closing:

God as Ramachandra known,
Through worship shown.

That nirvana easily to attain,
Like entire world to gain.

Without which impossible to see,
Jnanavanta in last snare is he.

Like the animal missing a tail,
Endeavor hopelessly to fail.

Categories: dohavali 121-160

Tags: bhagavata dharma, bhakti, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, yoga