Sunday, July 10, 2011

Universal man

Kuvempu

[who is universal man ?, what is his message ? what is Vishwa manava sandesha ? ]

[ O nanna chetana aagu nee aniketana   ಓ ನನ್ನ ಚೇತನ ಆಗು ನೀ ಅನಿಕೇತನ  to mean in english  "Be unhoused oh My soul, Only Infinite is your Goal" , aniketana Poem[kannada & English images are attached, and english version by  V K Gokak is put at the end in comments section. ]
Recent past i came across the term "vishwa manava” / "universal man "many times at different places.

1st instance

Every kannadiga knows the phrase "vishwa manava sandesha" which means "message of universal man" given by kuvempu [Kannada literary laureate a person of stature who can be easily matched to Rabindranath Tagore].
Kuvempu further says, you can destroy all my works even "Ramayana darshanam'[the only mahakavya that our country witnessed in 20th century] that fetched him "jnanapeeta award", but just make sure you retain the "message of universal man",

Kuvempu in Kannada "Aniketana"
2nd instance

Another instance that i came across the word "universe" wrto humanity is when i visited Pondicherry, Auroville [Its called universal city, i happened to carefully observe the auroville as i had less than 20 mins to spend at auro.
I could understand tht they claim and try to apply the techniques and teachings of Aurobindo in the upliftment of cultures that head finally towards universal culture]

An excerpt from auroville website

"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity"

The key statement is “above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities". Let’s see why these people came to this conclusion, why did Sri Aurobindo intend to propose this theory.

3rd instance

 swami Vivekananda , in his words.
No man is born to any religion; he has a religion in his own soul. let there be as many religions as there are human beings.

So it means that diversity should be to such and extent that it cannot be distinguished at all. Just like the pack of atoms that forms a single and solid substance .
Nobody is even aware of infinite amount of atoms and its nature, because they are able to witness a single substance say a stone. Each atom has its own existence but give us a feel they are all same...
Thus i feel diverse word can take the form of universe word.

4th instance.

This would surely be interesting especially to all kinds of Hindus :).
I am a random reader, when reading vinobha bhave’s commentary on adhyatma, he says "With science getting advanced, World is becoming small, peoples are getting closer. Thus it’s becoming one. In the process Boundaries, national conscious and the world can no more remain pieces, at some point they have to become one.

Bhave further says " Vishwa-manushaha:" is a term bestowed on us by Vedas meaning “All of us are one, we are all becoming one".

It occurred to my mind for a moment that what if we equate "Vishwa-manushaha:" to "Vishwa manava", then veda/shruti is trying to tell “human being is no ordinary, he is a universal man, and that his final goal is to become a universal man.

The modern think tank and philosophers have insisted upon the term "Vishwa manava" in one or the other way.To cite an example for universal men, Ramakrishna paramahamsa one of the greatest spiritual master of our era, even removed the sacred thread, all the clothes on his body before while he performed deep prayers. For that matter i have never seen any photo of Bhagwan Sri Ramana maharshi with any sort of symbol on his body .
Now my intro write up is over.
The below words are the translated words of Sri kuvempu.

/****************************************************************/
Every child, at birth, is the Universal Man. But, as it grows, we turn in into ‘petty man’. It should be the function of education to turn it again into the original “Universal man” [ I think this is said by some English author, bcos i had seen a video where kuvempu reads it from a book and say the name of the author, any way thats immaterial... ]

The child which by birth was the universal man is fettered by us with such constraints as country, language, religion, caste, race and color. To free it form all these limitations and transform into "the enlightened soul" that is to say, the universal man, - this should become the first and foremost function of our education, culture, civilisation, and what no. All children of the world should become "unhoused" beings. [Unhoused means, broadening in all aspects, Check the attached image to read the poem about "unhouse the soul’] if the word should survive, should continue to live, and advance.
In the course of human evolution great men arose at different periods to fulfill the needs of their times, and (then they) passed in to history. The message of some of them assumed the form of distinct religion, but eventually narrowed down into a creed. The voice of the great souls, which had sprung from the noble motive of bringing together all men and making them live nobly, degenerated into a mere creed, and thus became a pernicious opiate. There are instances of a religion turning into a mere creed in the course of time and becoming quite worthless in the process, thus giving rise to another – one more new religion. [Srikgn: this is what vivekananda stressed on, when a reporter at London asks him, swamiji what is your intention and your message, he clearly says "i don’t want to give any new message, i don’t want to create another religion the final goal is every human being should have his own religion coming out of all caste-creed]

In this manner, numerous creeds arose, broke up humanity into groups and schisms and have even ignited wars, almost as if they were root cause of all the troubles and turmoils of the world. To the experimental outlook of our scientific age, the superstition of religion is no longer acceptable. As vinoba bhave said some years ago, “The days of religion and politics have passed. The age of science and spirituality has now to dawn.

Not turning away and breaking off from one another, but reconciling and uniting in concord and harmony; and above all, not the partial view of narrow creed, not the dual outlook of the material and the spiritual , but the integral vision of seeing all the things with the eye of the divine.
Ideas which are applicable to all mankind do not relate to a single caste or creed, a single section of the country. Since they are of value of all time, these are basic human values which tend towards uniting all the men and enabling them to live in harmony. They give no room to groupism, which after all, is the sordid game of politics. While giving full scope for individual freedom, this view aims at collective uplift. On this view it is possible to have as many religions as there are individuals. And it’s possible to contribute towards the development of whole community. it is this vision which is proclaimed by the following poem, "The unhoused consciousness".

In essence i conclude that its our goal to become universal, what ever be our current state we should strive towards it.

The essence at highest level is in poetic form by Kuvempu
" Oh nanna chetana aagu nee anikaetana". Both kannada and English translations are attached as images.

key Words:
V K Gokaka : English Version
[Who Wrote Aniketana ?  Kuvempu wrote, kannada and its English translation is available here,  kuvempu and Vivekananda seen here ]

6 comments:

  1. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind. [J Krishnamurthi]. I think this could be the most succinct beautiful explanation o kuvempus Aniketana poem/ viswa manava sandesha..[ message to universal man]

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  3. English tanslation by V K Gokak...

    THE UNHOUSED CONSCIOUSNESS

    Be unhoused ,O my soul!

    Only the Infinite be your goal.

    Leave these myriad forms behind,

    Leave the million names that bind,

    A flash piercing your heart and mind,

    Be unhoused ,O my soul!

    Only the Infinite be your goal.

    Winnow the chaff of a hundred creeds

    Beyond these systems .hollow as reeds,

    Turn unhorizened to the Truth that leads;

    Be unhoused, O my soul 1

    Only the Infinite be your goal.

    Stop not on the unending way.

    Never build a house of clay.

    Endless the quest both night and day:

    No end, no end to you play!

    Be unhoused , O my soul!

    Only the Infinite be your goal.

    The Infinite cancels its end,-

    Diurnal seer , to descent.

    Endless the quest your apprehend

    And so , Infinite, you ascend,

    Be unhoused , O my soul !

    Only the Infinite be your goal.

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  4. Hi, thanks for sharing the above. I would also like to know if you have come across english translations of Kuvempu's poems? especially muchchu mare illadeye? could you please share it?

    thx

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  5. O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Grow beyond the myriad forms… Go beyond the countless names…
    From a heart overfull, inspiration bursts forth…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Winnow the chaff of a hundred creeds… Stretch beyond the stifling philosophies…
    Rise, immense and endless as the cosmos…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Rest nowhere on the unending road… Build never a binding nest…
    Touch never the boundary… O remain infinite and boundless…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Infinity's Yoga has no end… Endless is the quest you apprehend…
    You are that infinity… become that boundless…
    Ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend!
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Grow beyond the myriad forms… Go beyond the countless names…
    From a heart overfull, inspiration bursts forth…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Winnow the chaff of a hundred creeds… Stretch beyond the stifling philosophies…
    Rise, immense and endless as the cosmos…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Rest nowhere on the unending road… Build never a binding nest…
    Touch never the boundary… O remain infinite and boundless…
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit
    Infinity's Yoga has no end… Endless is the quest you apprehend…
    You are that infinity… become that boundless…
    Ascend, ascend, ascend, ascend!
    O my spirit… set roots nowhere… O my spirit

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  6. Nice translation let this message reach all

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