Book conversations: Sky-clad (including interview with author, Mukunda Rao)

Mukunda Rao, author of Between the Serpent and the Rope, presents the extraordinary life-story and message of one of India's most charismatic female saint-poets, Akka Mahadevi.  

Apart from Akka, Sky-clad provides the accounts of illustrious female saint-poets of India: Meera, Andal, Lalleshwari, etc.  It also provides a historical glimpse of the foundation of Virashaivism by Basaveshwara and the movement's probable guiding force, Allama Prabhu.

This unique form of bhakti movement incorporated the worship of Shiva in an impersonal and/or Linga form, whilst striving against varna/jati restrictions.  While Basavanna's personal god was Kudala Sangamadeva, Allama Prabhu's was Guheshwara, and Akka's Chennamallikarjuna - all different manifestations of Lord Shiva.  The ultimate goal of these and other sharanas was the same: aikya, anubhaava, sunyata, moksa, nirvana, enlightenment or the natural state.  

Rao writes about Akka's early life, her struggle with the unnecessary marital bond that she is forced to accept due to the machinations of a smitten Jain king, Akka's flight from the bondage when her husband is unable to observe her conditions of marriage, her trial at Kalyana by Allama, her spiritual quest, and her attainment of aikya at the Srishaila caves.  Sky-clad ends with a collection of Akka's vachanas.

*****

A major part of the book is dedicated to the agony of separation and yearning for ultimate dissolution with the god-principle that is inherent in bhakti philosophy.  Even though Akka's nakedness when she exits the marital bond and wanders in search of her istadevata is looked down upon by some of her contemporaneous saint-poets, we find through Rao's writing, that the transcendence of gender limitations and social strictures is a common theme in the writings of even male saint-poets of the time, including Basavanna.

Sex, gender and sexuality are assumed to be fixed.  This notion of fixity may pertain to the physical sex, but gender roles and sexual orientation are very fluid and characterized by wide variations in their expression.

Other writers (referenced below) have pointed out that regardless of the physical sex of the vachanakara, in madhurya bhava form of bhakti, the androgynous nature of these saint-poets is evident in their vachanas.  Consider these examples from  male vachanakaras (ibid.):

When I saw him,

I forgot the eight directions, O mother,

O mother, mother

When I got him to speak to me

My entire body broke into sweat

What next O mother?

Today when Mahalinga Gajeshwara

Is embracing 

I have forgotten

To embrace him...

What next, O mother?

And:

In my great rapture

Of making love with my darling

I can't tell myself from the world.

While making love with my darling

I can't tell myself from my darling

After making love with Urilingadeva

The god of the burning member

I can't tell whether it is me, him

Or something else.

Further, this fusion, confusion and inversion of gender roles is also dramatized in Jayadeva's Gitagovinda in which Radha is shown dominating Krishna (ibid.):

Driven by love's fever

Radha rode her lover

Trying to dominate him...

This theme is also reflected in female vachanakaras' works: Remavve, the spinner saint-poet is quoted as saying, 'Other husbands are above; Mine, below.'  And Akka herself wrote (ibid.):

I will capture 

The Foe of Kama

O Basava

Thanks to your grace

I will capture 

The Moon-wearer

O Basava

Thanks to your grace

I will create obstacles

For the extremely licentious lord

Channamallikarjuna

And mate with him

As if we are not two.

*****

I asked the author about these and other topics of interest covered in Sky-clad.  Here are excerpts from the email interview with Mukunda Rao:

1. To begin with, I was a bit unsure of some of the dates mentioned in the book.  Firstly, in the introductory pages, the date of Bhagavad Gita is given as 100 CE.  Is this the date the Gita was first documented?  Because the date of the Mahabharata war has been variously given as 950-3102 BC, and if the Gita is part of Mahabharata, it would be much older than mentioned.  Secondly, in page 35, the Aihole temple is credited as the first Jain temple, pre-dating Hindu temples.  I am assuming this is only in Karnataka?  Because elsewhere in India there have been much older temples dedicated to Hindu deities.  Even within the Aihole temple complex, which has Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples, the date of the Jain Meguti temple is given as 634 CE, whereas the Ravanaphadi cave temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is said to be constructed in 55o CE.

MR: Dates or 'origins' are always controversial.  However, the truth of the matter doesn't necessarily get enhanced because it's older.  I am not a scholar, nevertheless I do necessary research and try to be careful in what I say.  The Mahabharata was in oral form for centuries before it was written down.  The time frame traditionalists offer is suspect; Mahabharata, I think happened after the Buddha period, also its composition.  Statues, figures and paintings of the Buddha and Mahavira seemed to have appeared centuries before the Hindu temple culture grew and spread widely.  Perhaps 'Linga' was much older, not Lord Shiva with a crescent moon in his hair.  Anyway, I don't want to hold on to these dates; tomorrow there may be new findings and we stand open to corrections.

2. Regarding Meera's bhakti there is mention of viraha - the pangs of separation, which is expressed in her numerous songs.  You have written that in this type of bhakti, the bridge of separation between the devotee and deity is never crossed.  However, according to the recorded biography of Meera, she is said to have merged into the image of Lord Krishna in the temple at Dwaraka.  Meera's sari is said to have appeared on the Lord's idol, indicating the final union.  Can this then be taken as proof of the ultimate dissolution?

MR: It is said even Andal merged with the deity.  This only indicates the intensity of their bhakti.  Bhakti is relational, thought it has within it the great urge to transcend the duality.  Only a few lucky ones cross the bridge.  This is not to privilege some bhaktas over others, but only to point out the nature of bhakti and its spiritual consequences.  I have tried to follow more their poems rather than legends.

3. In the sections on bhakti, and body and gender, you mention about gender issues and feminine beauty as impediments to spiritual progress.  While the Freudian theory of penis-envy has been rejected by later day female psychotherapists, I was wondering if there could be an opposing theory at play in male sharanas who identify their gender as feminine when it comes to expressing bhakti towards the male God.  Could the male spiritual aspirants be envious of women's Janani status, and therefore yearn for fulfilment from a higher male power?  It is also interesting to note (from the book referenced below) that Maya, the evil that separates the devotee from the deity is mostly construed as female by almost every seeker, but Akka Mahadevi has described it in the masculine gender in one of her verses (ibid.).

MR: You have a point and an interesting one.  Sexuality and its experience seem to play a significant role in shaping the language of bhakti.  Male bhakta could be envious of female bhakta.  Vagina is a receiver, so male bhakta may want to be that receiver receiving love, grace and jnana!

4. We tend to have a hypocritical attitude towards matters of sex, in that we act as though it does not exist, and brush all matters related to sex under the carpet, even though our growing population suggests otherwise.  Sex is certainly considered to be an impediment to spiritual progress by almost all religions.  In this context, it is very interesting to note the explicitly sexual connotations that are present in Akka Mahadevi and her fellow sharanas/sharanes' poems.  Akka talks about going "cuckold my husband with Hara" and "fornicating with Shiva" (ibid.).  Are these sexual connotations to be taken literally?  Did the bhaktas really aspire to have actual physical contact with their chosen deity?  Are the erotic carvings on some of our temple walls giving us a message of some sort, perhaps relating to the importance of sex in spirituality, something that we have failed to realise?

MR: How is actual physical union possible?  Only the yearning for union, which is the yearning to transcend duality, is expressed in sexual terms.  As I say in the book: 

The strong sexual imagery in the last vachana is actually indicative of the deep yearning for mystical union - the expression of this ultimate union, or the great urge to self-transcendence, is in physical terms.  The physical becomes the heart and soul of the metaphysical.  In the way of bhakti, the poet joins the bodily experience with the transcendental so that the spirit speaks through the flesh.  For, the body, as Akka would say, is not only the 'house of passion' but also the 'home' of the Divine.  So the physical continues to be the base, even when, at some point during this journey, her Lord Chennamallikarjuna, with 'white teeth' and 'matted curls,' metamorphoses into nirguna, or the aniconic one, who has no attributes; and finally, into the nirakara, one with no name or form.

5. In page 75, you talk about Allama Prabhu, Jiddu Krishnamurti and U G Krishnamurti's pathless path, wherein they reject the notion of accumulation of knowledge and performing sadhana to attain enlightenment.  Is there no meaning in seeking guidance from a guru, which is considered to be an essential prerequisite to progress on the spiritual path?  How does on conduct oneself in life if one is a spiritual aspirant desirous of attaining enlightenment?  Is luck the only factor that results in one progressing from anubhava to anubhaava?

MR: The need for gurus, sadhana and jnana is quite necessary, or at least the necessity is there in every quester's life.  We need all these tools when we start the journey, but somewhere along the line, they drop off one by one and one is on one's own.  A genuine quester cannot be dependent on a guru forever, and a genuine guru would certainly want to release such people from the circle of his influence.  In other words, what we know is that that state of being cannot be brought about by an act of will, or engineered, or replicated, through any method or sadhana whatsoever.  At best, sadhana can prepare the ground and yet there is no guarantee.  The search cannot bring it on, only the end of search, if at all.  But then of course, there has to be a search for it to be abandoned, the search which ceases with the realization that the very search is the barrier.  It is the realization of the mind that it cannot solve the problem it has itself created in the first place. 

Intense anubhava takes you thus far but no further; for anubhaava to happen we let go all anubhavas!  Rest is luck or grace or whatever that is, we have no clue.  I called it the 'second missing link,' that which catapults one into the natural state of being.

 

*****

To me, the overarching message of Akka's life is this: one has to transcend norms and remain resilient until the goal is achieved.  Akka transcended physical inhibitions and social strictures as she set out on the spiritual path, and demonstrated amazing resilience in standing up to societal barbs and naysayers until she achieved her ultimate goal of aikya.  This is something each of us can learn from, whatever the nature of our individual goal.  

Rao's account of Akka Mahadevi's life and message is highly recommended reading for spiritual aspirants in general, and for those seeking to know more about one of the most fascinating female saint-poets of India.





Reference:

Androgyny and Female Impersonation in India: Nari Bhav, T. Mukherjee & N.R. Chatterjee, Niyogi Books, First Edition, 2016.  Chapter title: The Soul In-Between: Gender, Androgyny and Beyond in Bhakti Poetry, The Example of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Tradition, H.S. Shivaprasad, pp. 71-82.


Image source: 

https://www.amazon.in/Sky-clad-Extraordinary-Life-Times-Mahadevi/dp/9386850850

Book conversations: The Dhoni Touch

I had said that Dhoni must be the avatar of Cricketing God after he tormented RCB throughout IPL 2018 - CSK's comeback year.  

This book by Bharat Sundaresan tells us exactly why he is that avatar.  

While the Dhoni biopic gave us details about his personal and cricketing journey, this book by Sundaresan is less about Dhoni's cricketing acumen and more about him, the person; his enigmatic personality, character and mental state.  In effect it is a nice case study of a very different kind of cricketer, one who has given us his own brand of cricket.  

However, Dhoni the person, remains elusive throughout the book since he never grants the author the coveted one-on-one interview.  Instead, what he grants is access to some of his close confidantes that he has allowed into his inner circle over the years; his bosom pals, army colleague, ad director and selector.  Just these, not even his family members.  So Sundaresan has the unenviable job of piecing together Dhoni's personality traits from third person accounts, so that a cohesive picture emerges, however incomplete it is due to the non-participation of the man himself.

Nevertheless, what emerges is no less fascinating.  We learn that Dhoni is a self-made man, who never really set out to be a cricketer, but excelled in it nonetheless.  He is supremely confident in his own abilities and decisions, which he makes with a full sense of personal responsibility.  

He keeps thing simple, in the sense that he only controls the controllables, and understands that not everything can be fully achievable.  This leaves him free from mental clutter that can cloud his decision making ability.  It also helps that Dhoni has an uncanny ability to observe everything and everybody that is in his peripheral vision.  Apparently, he can also accurately read situations, and people and their intentions.  In that respect, he is an able if unconventional leader of men - a quality that has made him - thus far - India's greatest captain in all formats of the game.  

I also gleaned from the book that Dhoni possesses an outgoing and active type of personality, in that he is very much a movement kind of person and is fascinated by motion: that of the body, or anything that moves the body.  This might explain his deep interest in football, the rigours and manoeuvres of the army, his lightning quick reflexes behind the stumps, and riding bikes: 'Do you know the feeling of riding at 225 miles an hour and the breeze hitting your chest?' as the man himself asks.  

Dhoni also enjoys taking risks, which explains his penchant for leaving the run-chase till the last over when he seals it off with a six over long-on - leaving us breathless and squirming in our seats.

This is not to say that Dhoni is extroverted in any way.  Indeed, he is known to be a very private person who is relaxed only with his inner circle of close friends and relatives, and absolutely abhors media interactions.  

This is what I have gathered from The Dhoni Touch: even though Dhoni's first love was football, it is hardly surprising that cricket ended up being his prime vocation.  Cricket, as we know is a complex, complicated, unpredictable and enigmatic sport, and so, it emerges from this book, is Dhoni's personality - cricket and Dhoni probably attracted each other.    

This is implicit in Sundaresan's summing up of the Dhoni personality towards the end of the book:

A man who was not born to be a cricketer but became one.

A man who was not born to be a captain but became one.

A man who was not born to be a legend but became one.

A man who was born to be an enigma and will always remain one.

Let's hope that this enigma will continue to don the India blues for a long time to come and give us many more breathless moments.  

Picture source: https://www.amazon.in/Dhoni-Touch-Unravelling-Enigma-Mahendra/dp/0143440063

God's own country? Not for this Hindu God

Swami Ayyappa, Swami Ayyappa...

Neene gatiyappa, nanage neene gatiyappa...

[O Lord Ayyappa... You are my only refuge...]

Thus sings Kerala's living legend Yesudas in an old Kannada film.  (It would be very interesting to know the legend's views on the chaos unleashed by the Supreme Court's recent verdict on Sabarimala.)

First of all, let's cast a glance on the mytho-history of the place.  Lord Ayyappa, born of the union of Shiva and Vishnu (as Mohini), is also called Hari-Hara Putra for this reason.  He was borne specifically to bring an end to the demoness Mahishi.  After her annihilation at the hands of the Lord, Mahishi was released from her curse and was transformed into a beautiful maiden.  She proposed marriage to the Lord.  The Lord refused, but relented later by stating that he will marry her if and when His devotees stop appearing at his doorstep.  

Malikapurathamma, as Mahishi is called today, is said to be waiting in a separate temple in the Sabarimala complex for such an eventuality to occur.  As a mark of respect for her patience and sacrifice, women in the childbearing age voluntarily refrain from entering the sanctum of Lord Ayyappa. 

Besides, the bhaktas of Lord Ayyappa are required to observe brahmacharya - complete celibacy for a period of 41 days before the Makara Sankranti (in mid-January every year) when they congregate at Sabarimala for the ensuing worship and festivities.  The male bhaktas are required to wear the mala and black dress throughout the period of abstinence.  They are to follow strict rituals and changes in lifestyle: not smoking/drinking, not consuming non-vegetarian diet, and crucially, abstaining from sex.  (I have seen several patients, severe alcohol-dependents who have turned teetotalers during this period.)    

A male bhakta is to look upon others as his brothers and sisters, and address his fellow bhaktas as 'Swami'/'Sami'.  Basically, an average male follower transforms himself into something of a living saint during this period of purity and abstinence.  Therefore, for the male bhaktas, contact with women in the reproductive age-group is strictly prohibited.

These, as far as I am aware, are the only reasons why women in childbearing age are disallowed from entering the holy sanctum at Sabarimala.  And mind, the women in this age-group have been following this dictum voluntarily; they are not being oppressed or excluded from worship due to any patriarchal reasons.   

Having said all that, do we want the status quo to continue?  Do we want women to be excluded from the sanctum, even due to the reasons cited above?  Clearly not.  We want them to enter the sanctum... eventually.  We want the perception of purity to undergo a transformation that does not look at the act of menstruation as necessarily evil or impure.  But such a change takes time.  

All through the history of Indian society, there have been examples of arrival and settlement of alien cultures and traditions that went through the dual process of conflict, and adjustment and assimilation, before the syncretism that we see today became a reality.  This is true of foreign invasion and occupation of India and the sociocultural changes thereof, the bhakti movement that originated from the need to negate ritualism and varna/jati system, the abolition of sati, the prevention of child-marriage, the laws against dowry system, saving and educating the girl child, decriminalization of homosexuality, etc.  None of these occurred instantaneously: they came about only after several hundreds and thousands of years of conflict, adjustment, and finally, acceptance.  

In time, with gradual change in opinions, through well-intentioned laws and acts, and altered public perception, the bigger transformation will come about.  So the key word here is, eventually... eventually change will occur; it is not easy to change firmly entrenched cultural and religious notions by the single stroke of a tipsy judge's pen.  

I say tipsy because the Honourable Judges of the Supreme Court seem to have acted on a whim - the kind that occurs to you after downing a peg or two.  I further wonder if the Honourable Judges of the Supreme Court got out of the wrong side of the bed on the day, and said, "Yo dude!  Let's do something rad today!"  And then 4 of the 5 Judges decided to strike off the sacrosanct 800 year old religious custom at Sabarimala.  (It is interesting to note that the one Judge who dissented was a woman.)  I would like to call these four assenting Judges, the 'Rad 4'.   

The present Keralite government is of course, chuffed, considering its manifesto appears to be aligned only against Hindu practices, and not any other religion's.  The government, in all likelihood, arranged for the surreptitious entry of women in childbearing age-group into the sanctum.  They also brought out a human wall of women in support of the Supreme Court's verdict.  It was howlarious to watch interviews of burkha-clad women who hadn't a clue what they were doing there; one of them confessed her husband asked her to be there!  Sorry mate, Irony, that's another death for you...   

Apparently the Rad 4 were concerned about "equality, freedom of conscience and right to personal liberty" of [Hindu] women, and the fact that "to treat [Hindu] women as the children of a lesser God is to blink at the Constitution," and "placing the burden of men's celibacy on women stigmatizes them, stereotypes them."  Noble... noble thoughts indeed!

I have added [Hindu] to the above statements since the Rad 4 appear to be concerned only about the welfare of Hindu women.  Dear Honourable Rad 4, may I draw your attention to the following non-Sabarimala examples where women are so stigmatized and stereotyped that their plight blinks at the Constitution?

1. Girls/women are not allowed into the sanctum of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir.  Yes, even infant girls are not allowed - I have experienced this first-hand.

2. Women are disallowed from attending Friday prayers in mosques.  

3. Churches of many denominations do not have female priests/pastors because "only a baptised man validly receives sacred ordination".

4. Women of a certain religion are required to wear redundant head-cloths and dress up like walking bank vaults.  They are considered to be the 'personal property' of their husbands with hardly any rights to property/divorce.

5. In a certain religion, polygamy is allowed, but polyandry is disallowed.

5. Preachers of a certain religion exhort their male adherents into carrying out certain acts that will get them a place in paradise where they will be served upon by virgins.  Yes, nothing short of virgins would do for our intrepid heroes, when, after a hard day's bombing, they go to claim their just reward.  

6. In certain religions, the inhuman and dangerous practice of female genital mutilation continues to date.   

One could go on, of course, but you get the point?  The legend of Sabarimala is a matter of faith - why target only Hindus' faith and not the faith of other religions?  Conversely, why not go hammer and tongs at the regressive religious practices of other religions as well?  In the absence of the latter, the question that begs to be asked is, does the Supreme Court possess the will, impartiality and courage to do so?

I am not holding my breath over it.  However, until the Supreme Court does so, we can seek succour from the song quoted above.  

Swamiye sharanam Ayyappa...!

Image sources:
https://www.hindugallery.com/lord-ayyappa-images/
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/unprecedented-security-in-sabarimala-trupti-desai-held-up-at-kochi-airport-due-to-protests-3187451.html

References:
https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/do-you-know-the-story-of-ayyappa/272129
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sabarimala-legend-women-lord-ayyappa-1351674-2018-09-28
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sabarimala-verdict-live-updates-supreme-court-women-temples-kerala-5377598/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women_and_the_Catholic_Church. (Vatican Canon 1024: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3P.HTM)

Now they want to break Akshaya Patra

Yudhisthira, saddened by the fact that he was unable to feed the sages during the Pandavas' vanavasa, prayed to Surya.  

Surya appeared before Yudhisthira and presented him with the Akshaya Patra: "This vessel will provide an inexhaustible supply of food every day..."

The Mahabharata

'Secularists' are at it again: they now want to break the great Bottomless Vessel that is Akshaya Patra, a gargantuan NGO endeavour that provides daily nourishment to 1.76 million children in 50,000 schools across 13 states of India. 

Akshaya Patra, run by ISKCON, provides satvik food that does not include root vegetables and non-vegetarian fare.  Already one state government in the South has terminated its contract with Akshaya Patra for not providing eggs in its mid-day meals.  Now another southern state government is up in arms over the fact that Akshaya Patra does not include onion and garlic in its meals.  Yes, seriously. 

The Akshaya Patra is the world's largest school mid-day meal program.  National Geographic has made a documentary on the hygienic and efficient manner in which meals are prepared everyday in Akshaya Patra's kitchens and delivered to schools in time for the lunch break.  

But the state governments are not satisfied.  Neither do these state governments provide quality meals, nor do they let a successful scheme continue.  They are doing what they are best at: making a meal of a successful program; just like they did with ICDS.  Now its the turn of mid-day meal scheme.  

If these state governments are so bothered by the "lack of nutritional value", in that the Akshaya Patra meals do not include eggs, onions and garlic, why don't they provide these "essential nutrients" on their own?  That is, in addition to what Akshaya Patra is providing, and to those children who want to eat these food items.  

Even better, these state governments can infinitesimally enhance the nutritional value of school mid-day meals by investing in raising, killing and distributing animal meat such as chicken, mutton, fish, seafood, venison and bacon.  And even beef, why not?

If you thought the state governments were meddlesome, wait till you hear what a 'doctor' from 'Right to Food' campaign had to say about Akshaya Patra.  According to her, Akshaya Patra is run by a Brahmin organization that misleads people into believing that non-vegetarianism is bad.  

She believes that Brahmins are behind the evil public policies enacted in India.  She says they hamper the development of the country with their unscientific practices.  She welcomes the termination of contract with Akshaya Patra in one state, and goes on to suggest that "Brahmins should be actively taken out of certain key spaces."

Say what, lady?  Brahmins exterminated?  Now, why does this sound familiar...?  Ah yes... WW2, Germany, Jews, Holocaust... yes, now I remember.

Perhaps the said 'doctor' belongs less to 'Right to Food' than to 'Right to Convert'?

Funny, she does not find what missionaries from her own religion are doing to the country objectionable.  How about stopping preaching faith in missionary schools and colleges?  How about giving up the practice of thrusting faith-healing prayers on hapless patients and their relatives in missionary hospitals?  How about not reaching out to the poor with the ostensible aim of providing healthcare, when the actual aim is to proselytize? 

[P.S.: I do not condone the beef-ban.  I believe it should not exist; governments should not be telling people what they can eat or not eat.  But personally, I am a believer in ahimsa and vegetarianism.  And I have busted the myth that vegetarian diet is not nutritious in this article.]

What's disgusting in this whole affair is that the shortsighted state government officials are heeding the advice given them by breaking-India forces such as the Right to Food 'doctor'.  As a result, India is about to lose yet another wonderful initiative that is worth its weight in gold.

So, here's hoping that Akshaya Patra continues to grow, and goes on to cover all the schools across India.  

References: 
https://jayarama.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/pandavas-receive-the-gift-of-akshaya-patra/
https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/perspective/physician-heal-thyself-711297.html
https://www.opindia.com/2018/12/activist-opposing-akshaya-patras-mid-day-meal-contract-thinks-brahmins-obstruct-indias-development/?fbclid=IwAR03lCj57M__Znd2kG-fi8Q6CFA3abLZsUHMp1UJcag9WUi9kFgWztauIqU

Image source: 
https://www.udayavani.com/english/news/state/142987/%E2%80%8Bakshaya-patra-initiative-aims-feed-5-mn-children-year