My daily dose of the Holy Gita came from Chapter 5 - Karma Sannyasa Yoga yesterday, May 20 2010. The chapter which talks about Action & Renunciation, with a generous sprinkling of tongue-twisters, is pure honey to chant.
Verse 18 puts forth the qualities of a Pandit - a learned person or a person filled with wisdom - who qualifies to attain Eternity or Moksha. Roughly translated, it means "One who has the equality of vision to see the existence of the Supreme Lord in everything and everyone - in a brahmin who is well versed in the Vedas, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog and in the animal-eating humans".
This verse took me to Puri instantly. During one of my official trips to Orisssa, I was fortunate to have a day at Puri. The moment I heard the schedule, I was all excited about having a darshan of Lord Jagannath. I also had a grim reminder of my previous visit to the Puri Jagannath temple a few years ago in the peak summer of 2002.
During the 2002 trip, I was not grown up enough to be appreciate the vibes of a holy place, even if it was horribly crowded and as a result noticeably unclean. And, Puri - I remembered - was very unclean, what with the path to the sanctum being slippery because of all the prasadam rice spilled generously. I do not remember anything about the beauty of the idol, but only the tricky walk to the sanctum sanctorum.
So, I programmed myself to fix my mind on the Lord's manifestation this time and not to bother about anything else at the temple. I was also contemplating if I could find enough time and peace to chant the Bhagvad Gita at the temple. Considering that a sampoorna paaraayan of the Gita takes a minimum of 3 and a half hours, if done at a decent pace of chanting, the idea in my head seemed to be a tall order. But I let it linger on.
I reached the temple early in the morning and it made me think if I had gone to a different temple in 2002. The temple is very well-kept and being a lean period of tourism, the crowd was so less. I had a wonderful Darshan, unable to take my eyes off the magnificent idols, with no one to shoo me away from standing right in front of the final steps leading into the innermost part of the sanctum sanctorum. But, I had to attend to office work too. Krishna was looking at me with His BIG eyes: 700 verses...mmmm?
A replica of the idols of Puri, ISKCON - Hyderabad.
I resolved to return back to the temple in the evening. But, by the time I finished all the work with a bit of touring, and made it to the temple, it was 8 pm. The temple closes by 10:30 and I had 2.30 hours for 700 verses. Another 30 minutes went by in finishing the circumambulation of all the deities. Finally, I reached the place (an open patio) outside the main sanctum sanctorum, specially marked for paaraayan, at 8:30 having made up my mind to chant as much as possible and as fast-paced as possible.
Though it was cold, not wanting to bundle up in my woollen scarf which lied on my lap, I had my silky duppatta over my head. There were a few others sitting nearby and doing various chants. A kitten was loitering around. Yes, kitten. I was not even 20 verses into His 700, this kitten found me. Trying to concentrate on chanting, my efforts in shooing the kitten away went in vain. The kitten kept climbing in out of my lap, making me wonder if its claws were ripping threads out of my silk-soft dress.
It was getting colder and the crowd inside the temple grew thinner. So, I decided to go inside and sit right in front of Him to continue the chants, free from the distraction offered by the kitten. There were about 50-60 people scattered inside and I sat near a huge pillar. Within a few minutes, the kitten found me among all those people, and continued to play around as before.
No, the kitten wouldnt settle for the woollen scarf I laid out for its sake, on the floor beside me. The smart kitten and me thus reached the 18th verse of the 5th Chapter. The moment I chanted verse 18, divinity dawned on me to appreciate His presence. I stopped chanting for a good long minute. The kitten is His manifestation too and will I be shooing Him away? By the time I finished Chapter 5, the kitten having done its alloted job of teaching me a lesson, pulled my scarf to the floor and settled down into a nap, nuzzling in my feet. Throughout Chapters 6 - 18, it kept shifting its position floor-lap-knee-lap-floor-lap..., but never moved away. The kitten was not distracting anymore but aided my concentration.
The temple doors started closing. It was 10.40pm when I finished Chapter 18. By the time I started my final prayers thanking Him for the day and for the 700 verses, THE KITTEN stretched its luxurious stretch in all glory, and moved away when I finished thanking my Teacher - Shree Gurubhyo Namaha. Harih OM !
No doubt that am going to remember THE KITTEN through out my life, for revealing the profoundness of Verse 5.18. And also the moment of revelation !
Divine Moments #2.
