[Advaita-l] 'Hari Chitta Satya' - The Infallibility of Divine Will

[V Subrahmanian]

SreeHaraye NamaH

The Kannada song ‘Hari Chitta Satya’, a beautiful composition of Sri
PurandaradAsaru, is quite familiar to many  of us.  Taking a close look at
the composition, some thoughts flowed and these are presented in the sequel.


You can hear the song (rendered by Bombay Sisters) in this link:

http://player.pz10.com/api/?song=251068

 In our religion there are four purushARtha-s specified: dharma, artha, kAma
and Moksha.  These are called purushArtha-s because they are sought after by
humans.  Scriptures allow the seeking and experiencing  of all these
purusharthas.  When they are  within the framework of dharma, the artha and
kAma purusharthas will not lead a person to pApa.  Dharma is a unique
purushartha that when sought after and practiced will lead to a lot of punya
to be experienced in this as well as other worlds.  But it has the
limitation of being finite.  Once the stock of dharma (punya) is over, the
enjoyment ends and one will have to take another birth.  It is to be noted
that it is dharma alone that enables one to have the other three
purusharthas of kAma (sense pleasures), artha (wealth to enjoy sense
pleasures and engage in noble activities of dAna and donating for good
causes in the society).   Needless to say that dharma is essential to take a
person to the path of Moksha too.

The uniqueness of this song of Sri Purandara dasaru is that all the
purusharthas are covered in the various stanzas and the inviolable law that
'whatever may be  our efforts, the giver of the fruit of our efforts is the
Lord alone' is graphically portrayed.

The First stanza  depicts the kAma purushartha.  A person desires to have a
happy family life. This is human desire. But he might end up without getting
married.  This is Divine Will.

The Second stanza depicts the artha purushaartha (horse, elephants OR
possessions like vehicles, house, etc that give happiness) A man desires to
have all comforts in life.  This is human wish.  But he might end up without
any vehicles, etc. and become a pedestrian.  This is Divine Will.

The Third stanza portrays  kAma again, of  tasty food.  This is human
longing.  But he might have to starve.  This is Divine dispensation.

 All these three desires revolve around artha, kAma and dharma.  Dharma is
essential in order to get the other two.

The Fourth talks about the Moksha purushartha.  Having no craving for the
other three but desiring the Lord alone is called Moksha icchA.  This
Supreme PurushArtha (Highest Goal) demands not wealth, not learning or
physical features but a pure mind.  A pure mind is the one that is freed of
all sinful tendencies.  These are collectively called ‘durita’.

Only a rare person seeks this Purushartha. However much an aspirant might
try, it is only when the Lord’s Grace descends that the mind is cleansed of
durita.  It is only this qualification that takes one to the Lord, never to
return to samsara.  Sri Dasaru concludes the song saying: ‘Purandara
Vitthalana bayasOdu narachitta, duritava kaLevudu Hari chittavu..’ 'ಪುರಂದರ
ವಿಟ್ಠಲನ ಬಯಸೊದು ನರ ಚಿತ್ತ, ದುರಿತವ ಕಳೆವುದು ಹರಿ ಚಿತ್ತವು..’

We, as humans, can put forth the best efforts to attain our goals.  But the
success of our endeavors depends on the Lord’s Will.  It is He who knows
whether we deserve what we long for and whether we are destined to get it.
SreeHaraye NamaH