Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?

this article with necessary mutilation was published in a magazine recently;

Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?
By  ananthanarayanan vaidyanatan

Aapadi Kim Karneeyam? Smaraneeyam padyayugalam ambaayaah, tat smaranam kim kurute ? brahmaadeenapi kimkareekurute

॥आपदि किं करणीयं  स्मरणीयं पदयुगळमम्बायाः तद् स्मरणं किं कुरुते ब्रह्मादीनपि किंकरीकुरुते॥

When one faces real threat to his existence, the only way out for him is the worship of the lotus feet of Ambaa Sree Lalithaambika. And even if one remembers her for a fleeting second, the entire world including the Brahmadeva Himself wait on his side prepared to obey his orders.

The worship of a male god, as the fountainhead of all virtues and strength and a female counterpart as the source of beauty, wealth and fertility is a common thread that runs throughout almost all the ancient civilizations in the world. The greatest ever civilization in the world, that of India also has the same tradition.  In tribal worship we can find the presence of this, either as Sakthi and Siva, Prakriti and Purusha or whatever format and name that appealed to the ancient mind. The remnants of Mohanjadaro and Harappa, which according to some schorlars is the starting point of our Hindu Tradition, and by some others is a separate culture has left the remnants of a fatherly male god  the protector with a prominent phallus and a mother goddess, the mother from whom springs all living beings, whose symbol is yonimudra.  Whether that culture was a separate one which went into ruins by some serious and shortlived calamity, or which gave us the prototype of the prime Indian religion in its present form,  the worship of linga and yoni representing Shiva and shakti remains for ever.

In the beginning of Vedic culture the prominence was for the male gods under the commandership of Indra with goddesses like Ushas, Medha, etc getting only fleeting reference. Even in those periods the names of Goddesses like Swaahaa and Swadhaa were prominent in connection with agni (fire) and aryamaa (the god of pitrus).  However may be out of human experience that one's own mother was the greatest source of energy and protection for each of us and also the fact that the woman as the wife alone can make the life of a male worth living, people started giving prominence to the female as a deity. Through passing ages, in some cults, the mother goddess gained ascendancy over the male counterpart. The tendency was germane even in Vedas where great mantras were always considered as representing a female deity.  Gayathri is the most prominent example.

The prominence of Devi became unquestionable because life was never easy for any members of an evolving culture, especially when it was subjected to a great extent by non democratic controls by stronger constituents of the society,  and the suffering  human being always craved for some mercy and tenederness and the woman was always the embodiment of these virtues while the strong male was always domineering.

In our country the fusion of the male and female divine forces is really wonderful.  Every great thinker and philosopher has underlined the mutual complimenting of the male and the female forces.
Maybe the evolution is like this.  The Lord Parameswara carried the entire universe on His head in the shape of a crescent representing the upper worlds.  In his matted hair he carried the entire  resources for the existence of humans, in the form of Ganga. He carried the the two most potent natural sources of energy, the Sun and the Fire, in his two eyes and the moon took his third eye. When concentrated evil oozed out in the form of the poison Halahalam he gobbled it up and kept it as a concentrated lump in his throat so that it cannot harm anyone.  All the demonic forces, he kept under his feet in the form of apasmaara. Then he burned of Kamadeva who created mutual attraction between male and female, which represented happiness and fertility.  This was too much.  The Sakthi, the prakriti, challenged this. She burned herself using her own yogic powers. The world came to a standstill. Siva the purusha could not suffer the pangs of separation. He carried the body of the burning Sakthi and ran amuck across the whole country running and crying  half in anger and half in anguish all the time.  The diplomat that is Mahavishnu, saw the catastrophe   overtaking the universe and hence he followed the  Rudra at a safe distance and tactfully cut off one part after another of the burning body of Sakthi. The pieces fell in one hundred and eight places in our sacred country and each place became  Sakthi Stala and the presence of Siva the great and Vishnu the protector could be seen everywhere.
The things took a beautiful turn when the Sakthi again took birth as Parvathi and adorned the  Siva with the marriage garlands and the latter, realizing that it was too difficult for himself to bear the brunt of maintaining the whole world all alone,  gifted half of his body to Shakthi, to become Ardhanaareeswara.

Adi Sankara, who is Lord Shiva himself. knew this well and so he proclaimed in the Soundaryalahari....Sivah Sakthya yuktho yadi bhavati sakthah prabhavithum, na ched evem devo na khalu kushalah spandithumapi.... Shiva when in the company of Shakthi is capable of performing all the functions of creation, maintenance and destruction, but the same God, if Sakthi is not with him will have the capacity even to move. a little ॥शिवः शक्त्या युक्तो यदि भवति शक्तः प्रभवितुम् न चेदेवं देवो न खलु कुशलः स्पन्दितुमपि॥

To express our gratitude to the mother who is the source of  knowledge, wealth, energy and all that is great  we celebrate the Navarathri.  The greatness of the celebration is in its uniqueness that it is the one festival which is observed all over the country in all the temples or households irrespective of what is the favourite deity of that temple or the househlod.

May we place our pranaams at the lotus feet of   the mother.
Sree Maatre Namah  ॥श्री मात्रे नमः॥


--

Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?

Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?

Aapadi Kim Karneeyam? Smaraneeyam padyayugalam ambaayaah, tat smaranam kim kurute ? brahmaadeenapi kimkareekurute
॥आपदि किं करणीयं  स्मरणीयं पदयुगळमम्बायाः तद् स्मरणं किं कुरुते ब्रह्मादीनपि किंकरीकुरुते॥

When one faces real threat to his existence, the only way out for him is the worship of the lotus feet of Ambaa Sree Lalithaambika. And even if one remembers her for a fleeting second, the entire world including the Brahmadeva Himself wait on his side prepared to obey his orders.

The worship of a male god, as the fountainhead of all virtues and strength and a female counterpart as the source of beauty, wealth and fertility is a common thread that runs throughout almost all the ancient civilizations in the world. The greatest ever civilization in the world, that of India also has the same tradition.  In tribal worship we can find the presence of this, either as Sakthi and Siva, Prakriti and Purusha or whatever format and name that appealed to the ancient mind. The remnants of Mohanjadaro and Harappa, which according to some schorlars is the starting point of our Hindu Tradition, and by some others is a separate culture has left the remnants of a fatherly male god  the protector with a prominent phallus and a mother goddess, the mother from whom springs all living beings, whose symbol is yonimudra.  Whether that culture was a separate one which went into ruins by some serious and shortlived calamity, or which gave us the prototype of the prime Indian religion in its present form,  the worship of linga and yoni representing Shiva and shakti remains for ever.

In the beginning of Vedic culture the prominence was for the male gods under the commandership of Indra with goddesses like Ushas, Medha, etc getting only fleeting reference. Even in those periods the names of Goddesses like Swaahaa and Swadhaa were prominent in connection with agni (fire) and aryamaa (the god of pitrus).  However may be out of human experience that one's own mother was the greatest source of energy and protection for each of us and also the fact that the woman as the wife alone can make the life of a male worth living, people started giving prominence to the female as a deity. Through passing ages, in some cults, the mother goddess gained ascendancy over the male counterpart. The tendency was germane even in Vedas where great mantras were always considered as representing a female deity.  Gayathri is the most prominent example.

The prominence of Devi became unquestionable because life was never easy for any members of an evolving culture, especially when it was subjected to a great extent by non democratic controls by stronger constituents of the society,  and the suffering  human being always craved for some mercy and tenederness and the woman was always the embodiment of these virtues while the strong male was always domineering.

In our country the fusion of the male and female divine forces is really wonderful.  Every great thinker and philosopher has underlined the mutual complimenting of the male and the female forces.
Maybe the evolution is like this.  The Lord Parameswara carried the entire universe on His head in the shape of a crescent representing the upper worlds.  In his matted hair he carried the entire  resources for the existence of humans, in the form of Ganga. He carried the the two most potent natural sources of energy, the Sun and the Fire, in his two eyes and the moon took his third eye. When concentrated evil oozed out in the form of the poison Halahalam he gobbled it up and kept it as a concentrated lump in his throat so that it cannot harm anyone.  All the demonic forces, he kept under his feet in the form of apasmaara. Then he burned of Kamadeva who created mutual attraction between male and female, which represented happiness and fertility.  This was too much.  The Sakthi, the prakriti, challenged this. She burned herself using her own yogic powers. The world came to a standstill. Siva the purusha could not suffer the pangs of separation. He carried the body of the burning Sakthi and ran amuck across the whole country running and crying  half in anger and half in anguish all the time.  The diplomat that is Mahavishnu, saw the catastrophe   overtaking the universe and hence he followed the  Rudra at a safe distance and tactfully cut off one part after another of the burning body of Sakthi. The pieces fell in one hundred and eight places in our sacred country and each place became  Sakthi Stala and the presence of Siva the great and Vishnu the protector could be seen everywhere.
The things took a beautiful turn when the Sakthi again took birth as Parvathi and adorned the  Siva with the marriage garlands and the latter, realizing that it was too difficult for himself to bear the brunt of maintaining the whole world all alone,  gifted half of his body to Shakthi, to become Ardhanaareeswara.

Adi Sankara, who is Lord Shiva himself. knew this well and so he proclaimed in the Soundaryalahari....Sivah Sakthya yuktho yadi bhavati sakthah prabhavithum, na ched evem devo na khalu kushalah spandithumapi.... Shiva when in the company of Shakthi is capable of performing all the functions of creation, maintenance and destruction, but the same God, if Sakthi is not with him will have the capacity even to move. a little ॥शिवः शक्त्या युक्तो यदि भवति शक्तः प्रभवितुम् न चेदेवं देवो न खलु कुशलः स्पन्दितुमपि॥

To express our gratitude to the mother who is the source of  knowledge, wealth, energy and all that is great  we celebrate the Navarathri.  The greatness of the celebration is in its uniqueness that it is the one festival which is observed all over the country in all the temples or households irrespective of what is the favourite deity of that temple or the househlod.

May we place our pranaams at the lotus feet of   the mother.
Sree Maatre Namah  ॥श्री मात्रे नमः॥

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I

Fwd: that rogue krishna

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ananthanarayanan Vaidyanathan <kvananthanarayanan@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, May 23, 2010 at 8:22 PM
Subject: that rogue krishna
To:

That rogue Krishna.

 

There is a very interesting story about the nineteenth ashtapadi  in Jayadeva's   Geetha Govindam

It is in the tenth Sargam, Chathura Chathrubhujam.  The Ashtapadi starts with "Vadasi yadhi kinchidapai .."

 

The devotee poet Jayadeva was spending the morning visualizing the amorous deeds of his Master for ever Krishna.  He has reached a stage in the lyric where the crafty Krishna has managed to mollify Radha's   love laden anger towards him  after somehow persuading her to come to his presence along with her Sakhi.  The girl (Radha) is excited,  full of love for the black scoundrel but is indeed displeased with him for his amorous forays with other girls.  The fellow with the glib tongue to control the entire world with Geetha, finds it indeed very difficult to capture back the endearing mood of Radha.

 Jayadeva is observing the conversation in the screen of his mind. The master lover is pleading with his dearest love, ' Radha please abandon your anger which has originated out of some misunderstanding(?),  please give me a smile to make cool my heart which is being burned by Kamadeva.  If you want to give vent to your anger you attack me with your teeth or nails, you  cause any physical injury to me but do put an end to this anger." Ultimately  it flashes to jayadeva that his master and the rogue, Krishna  is offering to his love that she should place her  beautiful leg which are so beautiful and capable of curing him of the poison inflicted by cupid,  on his head  as if it  is an ornament.( What a rogue! he is ready even to be kicked on the head by Radha to gain her favours..terrible fellow..it will be difficult to see a person like this in  any literature of the world). 

Yes, such words flashed in the mind of Jayadeva   but his pen will not move.  How can he write such a thing about his darling Krishna. For Jayadeva everything else in the world, be it Radha, or himself or anything is  only subservient to Krishna.  How can he digest the idea of a puny  cowherd girl place her legs on the head of His master.  He stopped his writing.  He raked his brain  again again  to compose another padam to substitute this.  But even after many attempts he simply failed to go ahead.

An idea struck  him.  His head would become more clear if had had a bath  and calling  his wife Padmavathi to keep the  palmleaves  and the  pen aside, he went for a bath. 

How could Jayadeva guess that the crafty fellow with four hands ( the world cannot suffer him even with two hands)  was just waiting outside the house and was watching the scene.  The sweet sorcerer  just waited till Jayadeva was away safely  near a stream taking his bath.  He entered the house  in exact disguise of Jayadeva.  The  amazed wife Padmavathi  asked why he had  returned without taking bath ( the fellow is such a consummate actor that even the wife of Jayadeva  could not divine the disguise).  He explained to her that he had forgotten to put on words some flash ideas  which he could not wait till he finished his bath.  He called for the Ashtapadi Script and coolly wrote

'Smara garala ghantanam mama sirasi mandanam dehi padha pallavamudhaaram,

Jwalathi mama daaruno madhanakadhanaanalo harathu tadupaahitha vikaaram,

 Priye  charuseeley…

After finishing writing this,  the false jayadeva said,  I have applied oil on my head now for a long time and a few drops have trickled down to my lashed.  Show the tip of your dress, I want to wipe the  oil away.  Padmavathi obliges lovingly and the impersonator leaves.

In due course, the poet Jayadeva came back from the bath and saw the palmleaves and pen all spread out  and to his utter dismay he saw the words which he had avoided recording for a thousand times were neatly  recorded  in his manuscritpt.  He was enraged.  He demanded Padmavathi how this happened.  She recalled his sudden  return from bath  and the  hurried scribbling and quick departure again for bath.  To indicate his  temporary return and departure, she showed him the spot on her dress where he had wiped his eyes  off to clear the dripping oil.  What they saw there was not  marks of oil drops but the beautiful mark of the Divine eye of Krishna. 

Jayadeva was overwhelmed with remorse.  He was  serving the  vagrant rogue Krishna all the time in his life but it was given to Padmavathi  to have a darshan and conversation with the eternal parabrahmam.

And the  verse penned by the rogue himself is retained in the ashtapadi.  Krishna  has really offered to be kicked by Radha  for his adulterous behavior  and he really got it recorded. 

 

What an impossible rogue he is…  But can any of us help it?  We will go on loving him.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan

blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan

blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/

कृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"

Fwd: dont be a eunuch

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ananthanarayanan Vaidyanathan <kvananthanarayanan@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, May 23, 2010 at 8:48 PM
Subject: dont be a eunuch
To: kanfusion blogger <kannan54.karthik@blogger.com>

kanfusion blogger <kannan54.karthik@blogger.com>

Do not be a eunuch ,  Arjuna

                                                                                                                                K.V.ANANTHANARAYANAN

Here my treatement of the subject  requires a digression, I feel.   As we see Arjuna's present state of Impotency and mental breakdown started  when he collapsed on the floor of the chariot telling  his friend, "I do not intend to fight, Govinda" .  The statement comes first and the concocted justifications follow one by one.  

It is for the consideration of the psychiatrists and counsellors of all ages whether the much touted brave warrior Arjuna was  prone to occasional impotency and emotional breakdown all through his life. First , we have to consider his  pedigree for that.  In puranas and Itihasas , creation of complications and resolution of such  catch 22 positions both would be credited to the account of some handy  sage who passed by.  Arjuna's  father Pandu was the most unwanted child for his mother.  After being snatched away from a decent life by Bheeshma, another madcap who would not marry, she was engaged in wedlock with a tuberculosis patient by name Vichitraveerya,  an  apparent  eunuch who could not sire a progeny  in spite of having two beautiful wives and innumerable women in the harem who were all meant for his use as per the day's custom.  He died,  thank God ,  but the old hag Satyavathi who destroyed the Kuru   Race by demanding that Bhishma should not marry ,  was now shedding tears of a crocodile to have some heir to the throne fully knowing that only the childless widows of her deceased son and the eccentric Bhishma were alive and  there was practically no way out.  Then the pundits dusted out some old law books and declared that the widows could beget children through either Bheeshma or a noble Brahmin.. Bheeshma would have nothing of it. So the search was for a noble Brahmin. The noble Brahmin recruited for the job was Vyasa, the Krishnadwaipayana,  the fellow who was impossibly black and ugly, and he sprouted out of the illegitimate affair between Parasara and Satyavathi, who did the act together  in a dweepa or island,  in fog.  Vyasa was duly summoned and  he tried his luck first with Ambika the first wife of his half brother and as she would not open her eyes to see the ugliness of her studbull,  she delvered  Dhritarashta the eternal  blindman.  The next turn was availed by Ambalika, the second wife of Vichitraveerya, and seeing the ugly dwaipayana  she received him with her face and body devoid of any lively colour and the product  was Pandu, the one afflicted with leucoderma.  In time Pandu, married Kunthi and Maadri, but had not  yet tried to have a baby but it is described that Pandu and his two wives  went on rampage in a mountain range where some sage was also doing some business.  Pandu got cursed that his head will bread into thousand pieces if he tried to have any relation with his wives.  Then the wonderful boon received by Kunthi  from Durvasa came in handy.  What a boon!  She could call any celestial being for copulation with a mantra  and she had tried it once already while quite youngs  with the sungod with disastrous effect of delivery a bastard child Karna whom  she stealthily disposed off.  Now, to oblige Pandu(?)  she called the death god  Yama and begat  Yudhitira.  The next to oblige was the wind god and  Bheemasena was the product.  Finally she wooed the most promiscuous of the devas, the Indra himself and he gifted her with Our Arjuna.  By now she might have got bored by her promiscuity and she passed on the mantra to Madri, who achieved a double with the Ashwini  twins  and there stood Nakula  and sahadeva. 

The first question is whether it was the effect of a curse or the natural impotency of Pandu  which led to this situation.  Then we have to admire the chastity of Kunthi who could sleep with anyone  to beget a child.  The character of Indra who never missed a chance to ensnare a female--see the Ahalya episode or the  Damayanthi episode--and one need have no doubts about the credentials of Arjuna either on the paternal side of maternal side.

While growing up into manhood, Arjuna had to suffer another trauma.  He had won Yagnaseni or Draupadi as his wife in a tournament of prowess but with a view not to split the family, the wily hag Kunthi  hatched out the plan that the girl should be shared by all the five brothers taking turns.  This must have been the first major  mental shock to Arjuna  who was already bearing the brunt of illegitimacy of generations.  What right any of the Pandavas or Kauravas has to the Kuru  throne.  The dyanasty has  become a dried stump with Bheeshma.

This diffidence and uncertainty of his credentials always nagged Arjuna.  True, he was very bold and virile on occasions.  He is said to have travelled all over India and sired at least one child through a woman of any race….uppermost to the lowliest.   But there was always the very apparent swing in the psyche. Once he went  to his fathers abode , the heaven on a visit and there one of the paramours of Indra, Urvasi started to cast lustful eyes on him and finally he received an open invitation.  It is described that he declined the offer because the  prostitute in his fathers custody was like a mother to him.  He was cursed to become a eunuch for this, by Urvasi, and  the period of impotency was later on amended and restricted to the period he spent  as the  ajnatavasam . It was during  this period that   Arjuna enacted the role of the eunuch Brihannala teaching dance to Uttarakumari  the Virata  princess   The reality may be that Arjuna experienced the impotency of his race on the face of such a beautiful woman and judging by the nature of Indra and Arjuna neither would have hesitated to share the same woman if they were in normal health.  Maybe it is that Arjuna suffered a bout of impotency during his stay in heaven,  for which he might have even been treated, so that his potency was extended upto the period of ajnatha vasam. 

Even while living as a eunuch in the harem of Virata, may be due to another bout of depression,  Arjuna was triggered into action when the Kauravas attacked the  kingdom  the prince Uttarakumara was incapable of protecting the  Country. 

From the above background it would transpire that Arjuna was  a person susceptible to occasional mood swings  and  unbearable depression coupled with impotency.  This would be evident from the fact that when Dwaraka was attacked by enemies after the demise of Krishna,  Arjuna could only watch in impotency, even unable to lift his celebrated Gandeevam.

It was with such  a person with morbid depression that the Blessed Lord had to content with and drag him  to normalcy  to win  the war.  And the inimitable Krishna achieved it is syle.   For this alone he has to be worshipped for generations as the greatest psychiatrist  history has ever produced.   The methods adopted by him will unravel in subsequent editions.

dont be a eunuch

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan

blog http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/

that rogue krishna

That rogue Krishna.

                There is a very interesting story about the nineteenth ashtapadi  in Jayadeva's   Geetha Govindam

                       It is in the tenth Sargam, Chathura Chathrubhujam.  The Ashtapadi starts with "Vadasi yadhi kinchidapai .."

                      The devotee poet Jayadeva was spending the morning visualizing the amorous deeds of his Master for ever, Krishna.  He has reached a stage in the lyric where the crafty Krishna has managed to mollify Radha's   love laden anger towards him  after somehow persuading her to come to his presence along with her Sakhi.  The girl (Radha) is excited,  full of love for the black scoundrel but is indeed displeased with him for his amorous forays with other girls.  The fellow with the glib tongue capable of controlling the entire world with Geetha, finds it indeed very difficult to capture back the endearing mood of Radha.

                        Jayadeva is observing the conversation in the screen of his mind. The master lover Krishna  is pleading with his dearest love, ' Radha please abandon your anger which has originated out of some misunderstanding(?),  please give me a smile to make cool my heart which is being burned by Kamadeva.  If you want to give vent to your anger you attack me with your teeth or nails, you  cause any physical injury to me but do put an end to this anger." 
                   Ultimately  it flashes to Jayadeva that his master and the rogue, Krishna  is suggesting  to his lady  love that she should place  her  beautiful leg which are so beautiful and capable of curing him of the poison inflicted by cupid,  on his head  as if it  is an ornament.( What a rogue! he is ready even to be kicked on the head by Radha to gain her favours..terrible fellow..it will be difficult to see a person like this in  any literature of the world). 

                        Yes, such words flashed in the mind of Jayadeva   but his pen will not move.  How can he write such a thing about his darling Krishna. For Jayadeva everything else in the world, be it Radha, or himself or anything else  is  only subservient to Krishna.  How can he digest the idea of a puny  cowherd girl place her legs on the head of His master.  He stopped his writing.  He raked his brain  again again  to compose another padam(phrase)  to substitute this.  But even after many attempts he simply failed to go ahead.

                           An idea struck  him.  His head would become more clear if had had a bath  and calling  his wife Padmavathi to keep the  palmleaves  and the  pen aside, he went for a bath. 

                             How could Jayadeva guess that the crafty fellow with four hands ( the world cannot suffer him even with two hands)  was just waiting outside the house and was watching the scene.  The sweet sorcerer  just waited till Jayadeva was away safely  near a stream taking his bath.  He entered the house  in exact disguise of Jayadeva.  The  amazed wife Padmavathi  asked why he had  returned without taking bath ( the fellow is such a consummate actor that even the wife of Jayadeva  could not divine the disguise).  He explained to her that he had forgotten to put in words some flash ideas  which he could not wait till he finished his bath.  He called for the Ashtapadi Script and coolly wrote

'Smara garala ghantanam mama sirasi mandanam dehi padha pallavamudhaaram,

Jwalathi mama daaruno madhanakadhanaanalo harathu tadupaahitha vikaaram,

 Priye  charuseeley…

                           After finishing writing this,  the false Jayadeva said,  I have applied oil on my head now for a long time and a few drops have trickled down to my eye-lashes.  Show the tip of your dress, I want to wipe the  oil away.               
Padmavathi obliged lovingly and the impersonator leaves.

                                 In due course, the poet Jayadeva came back from the bath and saw the palm-leaves and pen all spread out  and to his utter dismay he saw the words which he had avoided recording for a thousand times were neatly  penned   in his manuscript.  He was enraged.  He demanded Padmavathi how this had happened.  She recalled his sudden  return from bath  and the  hurried scribbling and quick departure again for bath.  To indicate his  temporary return and departure, she showed him the spot on her dress where he had wiped his eyes  off to clear the dripping oil.  What they saw there was not  marks of oil drops but the beautiful mark of the Divine eye of Krishna. 

                      Jayadeva was overwhelmed with remorse.  He was  serving the  vagrant rogue Krishna all the time in his life but it was given to Padmavathi  to have a darshan and conversation with the eternal Parabrahmam.

                    And the  verse penned by the rogue Himself is retained in the Ashtapadi.  Krishna  has really offered to be kicked by Radha  for his adulterous behavior  and he really got it recorded. 

What an impossible rogue he is…  But can any of us help it?  We will go on loving him.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan

blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/

That rogue Krishna.

That rogue Krishna.

There is a very interesting story about the nineteenth ashtapadi in Jayadeva’s Geetha Govindam

It is in the tenth Sargam, Chathura Chathrubhujam. The Ashtapadi starts with “Vadasi yadhi kinchidapai ..”

The devotee poet Jayadeva was spending the morning visualizing the amorous deeds of his Master for ever Krishna. He has reached a stage in the lyric where the crafty Krishna has managed to mollify Radha’s love laden anger towards him after somehow persuading her to come to his presence along with her Sakhi. The girl (Radha) is excited, full of love for the black scoundrel but is indeed displeased with him for his amorous forays with other girls. The fellow with the glib tongue to control the entire world with Geetha, finds it indeed very difficult to capture back the endearing mood of Radha.

Jayadeva is observing the conversation in the screen of his mine. The master lover is pleading with his dearest love, ‘ Radha please abandon your anger which has originated out of some misunderstanding(?), please give me a smile to make cool my heart which is being burned by Kamadeva. If you want to give vent to your anger you attack me with your teeth or nails, you cause any physical injury to me but do put an end to this anger.” Ultimately it flashes to jayadeva that his master and the rogue, Krishna is offering to his love that she should place her beautiful leg which are so beautiful and capable of curing him of the poison inflicted by cupid, on his head as if it is an ornament.( What a rogue! he is ready even to be kicked on the head by Radha to gain her favours..terrible fellow..it will be difficult to see a person like this in any literature of the world).

Yes, such words flashed in the mind of Jayadeva but his pen will not move. How can he write such a thing about his darling Krishna. For Jayadeva everything else in the world, be it Radha, or himself or anything is only subservient to Krishna. How can he digest the idea of a puny cowherd girl place her legs on the head of His master. He stopped his writing. He raked his brain again again to compose another padam to substitute this. But even after many attempts he simply failed to go ahead.

An idea struck him. His head would become more clear if had had a bath and calling his wife Padmavathi to keep the palmleaves and the pen aside, he went for a bath.

How could Jayadeva guess that the crafty fellow with four hands ( the world cannot suffer him even with two hands) was just waiting outside the house and was watching the scene. The sweet sorcerer just waited till Jayadeva was away safely near a stream taking his bath. He entered the house in exact disguise of Jayadeva. The amazed wife Padmavathi asked why he had returned without taking bath ( the fellow is such a consummate actor that even the wife of Jayadeva could not divine the disguise. He explained to her that he had forgotten to put on words some flash ideas which he could not wait till he finished his bath. He called for the Ashtapadi Script and coolly wrote

‘Smara garala ghantanam mama sirasi mandanam dehi padha pallavamudhaaram,

Jwalathi mama daaruno madhanakadhanaanalo harathu tadupaahitha vikaaram,

Priye charuseeley…

After finishing writing this, the false jayadeva said, I have applied oil on my head now for a long time and a few drops have trickled down to my lashed. Show the tip of your dress, I want to wipe the oil away. Padmavathi obliges lovingly and the impersonator left.

In due course, the poet Jayadeva came back from the bath and saw the palmleaves and pen all spread out and to his utter dismay he saw the words which he had avoided recording for a thousand times were neatly recorded in his manuscritpt. He was enraged. He demanded Padmavathi how this happened. She recalled his sudden return from bath and the hurried scribbling and quick departure again for bath. To indicate his temporary return and departure, she showed him the spot on her dress where he had wiped his eyes off to clear the dripping oil. What they saw there was not marks of oil drops but the beautiful mark of the Divine eye of Krishna.

Jayadeva was overwhelmed with remorse. He was serving the vagrant rogue Krishna all the time in his life but it was given to Padmavathi to have a darshan and conversation with the eternal parabrahmam.

And the verse penned by the rogue himself is retained in the ashtapadi. Krishna has really offered to be kicked by Radha for his adulterous behavior and he really got it recorded.

What an impossible rogue he is… But can any of us help it? We will go on loving him.

Investigation of accounts

This is what I contributed to a publication on investigation of accounts. It is published in a CD which forms part of the all India Curricula in our IRS training Institute But I never got any acknowledgemnts


Kuri companies of Kerala
The chit fund companies of Kerala operate differently from the chit fund companies functioning in the other parts of the country. The Government of Kerala has passed the Kerala Chitty Act, according to which the auction amount is restricted to 30 per cent of the total prize amount. When there are more than one contender for the auction, the winner is decided by a lot. Thus, effectively the auction also turns out to be based on taking the lot. Majority of the chit fund companies in Kerala conduct kuri business by starting a branch in either Jammu or Faridabad thereby extricating themselves from the regulations of the Chitty Act. Only the government-owned Kerala State Financial Enterprises is conducting chitty business as per the provisions of the Chitty Act.
There are no restrictions on auctioning in respect of kuris started from branches in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. Hence, most of the kuri companies functioning in Kerala have a namesake branch in these places. The entire business activities are carried out in Kerala and there is only a name board in Faridabad or Jammu. As per the provisions of the Act if the Kuris are started from the Faridabad branch the prizing and auctioning also has to be done in that branch. But this is not observed by any of the chit companies although they are debiting travelling expenses and stay expenses once in a month resulting in generation of unaccounted income to that extent. Some of the kuri companies even claim plane charges for going to Faridabad and Jammu. The charges so debited though actually not incurred are shared among the directors of the kuri companies.
The kuris in Kerala have got total prize amount varying from Rs. 10,000/- to even Rs. 50 lakhs. The kuris are either monthly kuris or quarterly / pooval kuries in which subscriptions are to be paid once in a quarter or once in four months respectively. In kuris of bigger prize amount, called 'sala', the monthly subscription is as high as Rs. 25,000/-. For example; a kuri with monthly subscription of Rs. 25,000/- running into 200 installments (pooval kuri once in four months) the total sala is Rs. 50 lakhs. Out of the Rs. 50 lakhs the prize amount is Rs. 40 lakhs. The balance amount of Rs. 10 lakhs is divided into foreman commission of Rs. 4 lakhs, bonus for prompt payment to subscribers Rs. 2 lakhs and the balance amount of Rs. 4 lakhs is to be divided among non-prized and non-bid subscribers. The same scheme holds good even in kuris of smaller subscription.
The incomes derived by the kuri companies are chiefly the following -

Foreman Commission
Interest on delayed payment of monthly / quarterly subscription
Premium on forfeited kuris These incomes are invariably recorded in the books and reported for tax purposes. However, there are certain other incomes which go unreported. Expenses are sometimes inflated and a part of the income taken away from taxation.
Some of the ways in which concealment is attempted in these cases are-
Profit on transfer of prized / auctioned kuris - Most kuris started from Faridabad/ Jammu branches have got the system of prizing and auctioning simultaneously. In the case of prized subscribers the company offers premium for transfer of the prize amount to needy customers. This premium is shared between the company and the prized customer totally outside the books. If a kuri of prize amount of Rs. 1 lakh is prized by a subscriber during the early stages of the kuri, premium of upto Rs. 50,000/- is available. Even for auctioned kuris some kuri companies give premium and transfer the prize amounts to needy customers.
Subscription in company's own name - Usually, kuri companies subscribe to a large number of tickets in their own names. Some of the companies resort to unfair means in taking lots with the result that the winners of the lots are the company tickets. These are then transferred to needy customers on their paying hefty premiums.
Bogus liability claim - In almost every kuri there are a number of defaulters. As per the rules of the company, if there is continuous default for more than 3 months, the subscribers forefeet their subscription. At the closure of the kuri these amounts are supposed to be returned to the subscribers. In actual practice, the company claims the amount as liability but never returns it. After some time, it may show the amount as paid without making any payment at all.
Interest on passbook loans - Generally kuri companies grant loans on the security of non-bid / non-prized passbooks. The loan amount may be as much as 60 per cent of the actual amount remitted by the subscriber. The company charges interest on such loans at high rates. The books reveal only a nominal interest. Through enquiries the truth can be culled out.
Interest on advance payment of kuri prize / bid amount - As per the kuri rules, the prized / bid subscribers are entitled to profit the amount after ten days of the next installment, i.e. after 40 days in the case of the monthly kuri, 100 days in the case of the tri-monthly kuri and 130 days in the case of pooval kuri (kuri conducted once in four months). This period is provided for in the kuri rules in order to give time to submit adequate security by the subscriber, verification and acceptance of the same by the foremen and for executing necessary bonds. The traders who join the high denomination kuris are often in need of funds for their business purposes. Waiting for such long periods may not suit their business needs. They approach the foreman to realise the bid / prize money ahead of the due dates. Usually, the foreman allows the subscriber to draw the prize / bid amounts but charges interest @ 18 to 30 per annum for the period from the date of payment to the due date. Such interest is rarely offered for assessment. Hence, all cases of advance payments should be checked for the interest collection.
Profit on terminated kuri - The prized / bid subscriber loses the benefit of auction, discount, fixed discount and bonus when he fails to remit the subscription on due dates. In a case of three consecutive defaults, the ticket is treated as forfeited and such subscriber is entitled to get only the amount paid by him as reduced by the foreman's commission. All benefits accruing to his ticket are denied. All these discounts / bonus forfeited are the income of the foreman. However, in most cases no such income is disclosed. This is on the plea that under the scheme of the kuri, profit or loss can be ascertained only at the time of its termination. Even after the termination, the profit is not offered for assessment on the plea that large amounts are due from the subscribers and the profit can be brought to tax only after all the dues are collected. The final accounts filed along with the returns of income seldom disclose the fact of termination during the relevant year. The financial accounts are made by the companies usually in three parts -

Profit and loss account
Kuri statement and
Balance sheet The kuri statement depicts the assets and liabilities of all chitties conducted. The statement is tallied with an item called 'company account' This item is brought to the balance sheet. On a perusal of the kuri statement one can see liabilities of crores of rupees under auction discount payable account, fixed discount payable account and bonus payable account. The statement never gives an item wise tally as to which kuris the payable account relates. If these payable accounts are analysed, one can see that a good portion of the credit balances of these accounts pertain to terminated kuris and are non-existent liabilities which should have been offered for taxation much earlier. After the termination of the kuris the foreman is not legally bound to give any discount or bonus and such liabilities cease to exist. They are his income.
In kuri business inflation of expenses takes place in the following ways –
Inflation of travelling expenses - As already mentioned, the kuris are shown as run from branches in Haryana and Jammu. To give a semblance of reality, the companies debit travelling expenses for their employees and directors which are not actually incurred. The bogus nature of the claims of the directors / shareholders that they have attended the kuri auction in Jammu or Faridabad can be exposed by a mere verification of the minute book. In all probability the board meeting of the company would have taken place in Thrissur on the date on which the directors / shareholders were supposed to have travelled to or on camp at Jammu or Faridabad. Besides, the director / shareholder may be engaged in other businesses or professions. The record of his activities vis-a-vis such business / profession may reveal that he was present in Thrissur on the date of his supposed tour.
Kuri canvassing commission - Whenever a kuri is started, commission is paid to the agents who canvass subscribers. Although it is claimed that the commission is paid to outsiders it is generally paid to the employees and directors of the company. Usually upto 20 per cent of the monthly or quarterly subscription is allowed as commission. A few companies may claim upto 40 per cent. The excess commission debited in the P & L account is shared among the directors and employees. Investigations done in kuri companies have exposed this practice which prevalent in most companies. In some cases where the subscribers directly join the chitty, canvassing commission is claimed under bogus names and appropriated by the employees.
Daily collection commission - Kuri companies generally sent their staff members called collection agents to collect kuri subscriptions from customers. A good number of subscribers remit subscriptions by way of cheques / drafts. For this no effort on the part of the company is necessary. Many subscribers remit their subscriptions in the company's counter directly. The collection agents need to contact, if at all, only a small number of customers. However, in its accounts, the company claims that all collections were made through the collection agents. It claims upto 2 per cent as collection commission. This is bound to be inflated. The extent of inflation can be checked with reference to the cheque / DD register, cashier's scroll and the records of the collection agents.
Business promotion expenses - Whenever kuris of bigger prize amounts are announced the company also announces cash incentives, gold coins, bumper prizes like Maruti car in order to attract more subscribers. Huge amounts are debited under the head 'business promotion expenses'. While a good chunk of the expenditure may be genuine, the remaining portion may not be so. This portion is appropriated by the directors. During some surveys conducted in kuri company cases this practice was detected. The genuineness or otherwise of the claim can be verified with reference to the pamphlets / leaflets published at the time of commencement of the chit.
- Certain expenses in the nature of incentives are stated to have been incurred as prizes to subscribers who remitted subscription in time. This outlay is supposed to induce all subscribers to remit installments in time. Such a claim should be viewed with suspicion. Non-bid / non-prized ticket holders who fail to remit subscriptions on due dates lose the bonus element and attract penal interest / fine. The prized / bid subscribers lose all discounts and bonus and attract fine / penal interest if they default. Thus, it is evident that no further inducement to subscribers is necessary, and in fact paid, to ensure timely payment. Moreover, the kuri rules printed in the chitty pass book do not provide for such inducement.
- There are no specific rules as to the periodicity of meetings of the directors. Some companies conduct meetings weekly, some fortnightly and some monthly. The directors are paid large amounts as sitting fees, but in the accounts only much lower amounts are recorded. The 'sitting fee' so paid is more a sharing of unaccounted money collected during the earlier period. The sitting fee apart, the director is paid conveyance allowance also. Sitting fee and conveyance allowance are but one item divided and called by two names. This artificial division is made to reduce the tax liability of the directors.
Inflation of other expenses like office expenses, kuri preliminary expenses, commission, etc. - Most of the companies inflate expenses under these heads with a view to reduce the profit. Proper vouchers are not kept in support of the expenditure claimed under the above heads. Due alertness on the part of the AOs will help greatly in checking and finding out the inflation in expenditure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MY SISTER

You are just eleven months younger than me, so we were great friends as tiny tots.
One day when our mother was doing domestic chores after entrusting the care of you to me, a three-year-old elder brother, my brief was that I should be careful that you should not cry. So, when you started crying and the cry increased in crescendo and turned into a scream, I was at a loss as to how to keep you quiet, a fiery two-year-old girl. The young innovative brother pushed the cap of a talcum powder tin into your mouth so that you cannot cry and reported gleefully to our mother that I have stopped you from crying. It was only fortunate that mother came to the scene and removed the cap from your mouth. Otherwise it would have been eternal silence from that moment onwards.
You are the best friend I have ever had. As children, with scanty clothes, putting our hands on each other’s shoulders we used to run round and round our rented house in a remote area in Malappuram district.(Kerala, India)
Our thatha (grandpa) used to take us for long walks, the old man carrying the small girl and the elder brother walking in tow. We had hundreds of questions for him. He used to fill us with the stories of Ramayana and Krishna and you used to repeat those things with élan. I was often jealous of you because the granddad never carried me, as you were younger. I was black (and I am) and you are as red as an a tomato, a cute little girl.
I know you carried a lot of love for your only anna (elder brother) in your little heart. One Chockalingam Pillai, a government driver, parked once a jeep in our compound. The vehicle was a rare sight those days and in that area. Curiosity drew the three year old that was I, near the jeep. You, the timid little girl was afraid to go near. And I remember the little girl crying her heart out and complain to mother that I had gone near the jeep, and Chockalingam Pillai will drive the vehicle and I will be crushed to death. I was forcibly called back home.
We had our own pranks. Our neighbours were beedi(country cigarettes) smokers and the yard used to be littered with beedi stubs. We have picked those stubs in the sly, kept them on our lips and tried to take puffs and got thrashings from mother.

That was all fifty years ago. When you were three years old we were on a visit to our native agraharam(Brahmin settlement) at Palakkad (Kerala, India). It was 1957 or 1958. The village was infested with smallpox. It did not spare our house also. You were the favourite of Mariamman (the goddess believed to be the dispenser of this disease). On a Friday you started feeling feverish and in a couple of days you were covered with the boils. You were not vaccinated and within a week everything was over.
For fear that I may also be infected, they never allowed me to be anywhere near you. But once I saw you, clandestinely, your entire body covered with the pearls of…
Then on a morning when I woke up they said, Radhakkutty Poyachu…( The child Radha is gone for ever). Yes, you must have shrugged off your mortal body in the night and they must have buried you in the night itself.
I have never seen you other than alive. You are living and live in my fondest memory forever. Your have gone away on a long visit… How beautiful you would look today as a fifty year old…. perhaps grandmother.
I am eager to meet you, but how?..
I wish you a happy Birthday. Father is gone; thatha (granddad) is gone. We have no photos of yours. Only mother and I will be remembering your tiny beautiful form even today.
Happy Birthday to you, my dearest sister.