GITA 1.22

GITA 1.22

srivatsa chinna misrEbyO nama ukthima dhImahE:

yadhukthayas thrayi gantE yaanti mangala sUtradhaam:

This is a sloka on one of the great disciples of Sri Ramanuja, Sri Koorattalwan. Sri Ramanuja had many disciples and we can find many noble qualities in everyone of them. We are in the house, where Sri Koorattalwan lived. It is known as Koorattalwan Tirumalikai. It is situated  in East Chittirai Street, Srirangam, near the Chittirai Ther (chariot or rath) shed. What is the relation between Koorattalwan and Gita? Sri Krishna has taught us how to live in many slokas of Gita. Though it may be in slokas, don't we need at least one person who has followed all the tenets of Gita, so that we could follow? Books alone can not impart knowledge. To make our book knowledge blossom, we have to follow our elders, who have practiced them. Sri Koorattalwan practiced every preaching in Gita. Near Arakkonam, Tamilnadu,  Kooram is a small village. Sri Koorattalwan was born in that village, some years before Sri Ramanuja was born. In the year 2010, in the Tamil month of Thai and in the star Hastham, his 1000th birth anniversary would be celebrated. In Gita, Sri Krishna preached that one should face happiness and sorrow, profit and loss with the same feelings. He was well read and very rich. In one moment, he relinquished all his wealth and surrendered at Sri Ramanuja. 

He had so much knowledge that at times he was able to correct Sri Ramanuja. Sri Ramanuja selected this house for Sri Koorattalwan. East Chittirai street is famous as Sri Periya Nambi's house was just in front of this house. All these details are available in Guru Parampara, which also throws insight into how these great persons lived, in spite of many hardships. After paying our respects to this Acharya, we will proceed to the next sloka in Gita. 

We saw in sloka 23, that Arjuna told Sri Krishna that he desired to see all those who had assembled to please the evil minded Duryodana. The next 24 th sloka is what Sanjaya told Dridarashtra. Sloka 24:

sanjaya uvaca 

evam ukto hrsikeso 

gudakesena bharata 

senayor ubhayor madhye 

sthapayitva rathottamam

Sanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, being thus addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krsna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.

This sloka gets completed only with the next sloka. Evam ukto = thus addressed by, gudakesena = Arjuna (gudaka =  sleep, esa = controller). We are used to sleep in our own beds and in particular surroundings. Also, sometimes if we keep awake for long time in night, we will have overhang of sleep. It is very difficult for us to resist sleep. Arjuna had succeeded in controlling sleep. Sleep is a natural property, to give rest to our organs. After sleep, all these organs get refreshed. There are Three stages in sleep. The First is the wake up stage. It is called jagrada dasha in Sanskrit, when all our organs, including mind, are active. The next stage is just when we sleep, when all the external organs are resting, but mind is active and we get dreams. This is called swapa dasha. The Third stage is called sushupti dasha, when the mind also is rested. Arjuna was able to give refreshing to all his organs, even without a formal sleep. Even now, there are yoga taught to give fresh energy to our organs, without sleeping. The 6 to 8 hours sleep no doubt gives fresh energy to our organs. But going to sleep with many worries in our mind, will not give that result. Good sleep is when we are able to sleep within ten minutes after hitting the bed! Arjuna had the power to control sleep by controlling his mind. There is a reason, why Arjuna is named gudakesa here Because he is going to refuse to fight, and Sri Krishna is going to advise Arjuna in about 700 slokas. We may think that Arjuna was dull headed and that is why so much persuasion was needed! But we should know that Arjuna was very intelligent and can not be compared with us. He could resist temptation even when most beautiful women like Urvasi tried to entice him. He had conquered his senses and mind. Bharata = O! King (Dridarashtra), rathottamam = very special chariot, senayor ubhayor madhye = in the middle between the two armies, sthapayitwa = parking, hrisikesa = by Sri Krishna. The sentence continues into the next sloka 25. 

It appears Sri Ramanuja used to sleep for very little time. But Sri Koorattalwan would not sleep even that much! Though we can not avoid sleeping, we should know that controlling sleep will be advantageous for us. Sleep is also the result of our Rajo and Tamo qualities. We will see more in the next lecture. 

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