Spiritual movies- Adipurush and more

 Hari Aum.

As many of us would have experienced, spiritual movies and serials can be a source of inspiration, of devotion and joy. The written word has its own beauty, however, there is something special about bringing the characters described in a book into a three-dimensional form. 

Over the years, various spiritual television programmes have been made to bring to life the Lilas of God described in the ancient scriptures. These have centred around different forms of God, such as Krishna, Rama, the Divine Mother, Shiva and so on.

Some have related the stories of famous epics such as the Mahabharata. Like many other spiritual seekers, I too have my own taste in spiritual serials and movies and enjoy watching these from time to time. Some of the serials I liked in the past include 'Devon ke Dev Mahadev', 'Mahabharat' (2013 version) and Siya ke Ram.

Creating a spiritual movie or television serial about the Lilas of God is surely no easy task. The Lilas described in the books may be lengthy and detailed. Furthermore, the powers of God may not be at all easy to convey on a mere screen. The might of Lord Vishnu's sudarshana chakra, the power of Lord Shiva's trident, the sheer strength and glory of the Divine Mother can be very difficult to convey on a screen. The mighty powers of good and also of evil are not easy to convey on a screen.

The actors and actresses in such cases would therefore have a tremendously difficult task. To play Vishnu or Shiva or the Mother, is not easy. Yet there are some extraordinarily talented individuals who seem to pull this off almost effortlessly. They are truly blessed by God with the talent required to achieve this. 

I do not generally write reviews about movies on this blog, even spiritual ones. However, I thought I would write a little about my impression of the newly-released movie 'Adipurush' here, mainly because it seems to have generated a lot of controversy. This is a movie that attempts to depict the essence of the Ramayana.

I note that this movie seems to have offended a number of devotees and non-devotees alike (not everyone is offended but many seem to be). Some are upset by the graphics, others are disappointed by the actor playing Rama. Some people are appalled by some speeches of Hanuman, while yet others are angry at the depiction of Ravana. A number of people are offended by the tattoos sported by the son of Ravana (Meghanath). One country is so upset by a phrase in the movie that apparently refers to Mother Sita as a 'daughter of India' that they have taken steps to ban a number of Bollywood movies from their cities. All this is really quite extraordinary.

Sri Rama inspires love and also activism in today's India. His name is deeply connected with the freedom movement of the past century (Gandhi is said to have repeated His name and derived tremendous strength from this practice during his greatest trials). In Northern India, particularly within and near the city of Ayodhya (which was the ancient kingdom of Sri Rama), many greet each other even today with the phrase 'Jai Shri Ram' or simply 'Ram Ram'. 

Gurus and disciples alike adore the name of Sri Rama and recite this regularly. This name is also a powerful mantra that can grant both spiritual and material benefits. Tulsidas, the great saint and poet from a few centuries ago, famously said that one who ever keeps the lamp of the name of Sri Rama on one's lips will be illuminated both internally and externally.

And the numerous devotees of Sri Rama will each see Him in their own unique way. To some He will be a master, to others a friend, to some He will be their beloved, to others their child. The nine ways of devotion are practiced by various devotees all over India and the globe.

Therefore to bring that Sri Rama, beloved of so many, to life in a movie, to do justice to the numerous aspects of His persona, to depict His many valiant deeds, to express His joy, sorrow, anger and justice is an absolutely extraordinary task. Some will say it has been done in the various serials and movies made in the past. Some will disagree and say that nobody can ever do justice to Him in a movie.

I saw the movie, 'Adipurush', last weekend. I went to see it with an open mind without knowing much about it at all (I had not read anything about the controversies surrounding its making etc).

And, I will admit, that despite all that has been said about it in recent days, I absolutely loved it. Each one of us has the right to our own taste, our own views. I found absolutely nothing seriously offensive or upsetting about the movie. I found myself thoroughly enjoying every moment and was only sorry that it ended (it had been nearly three hours though!). 

I will write a little about the movie here. The movie seems to attempt to convey the essence of the Ramayana, the story of the eternal battle between good and evil, the battle that goes on all the time within our hearts and minds, and within the universe. It gets straight to the point, there is no gradual build up explaining the birth of Sri Rama etc (it would be very, very long if it attempted to tell the entire story of the Ramayana in full!). 

The movie opens with Ravana getting a boon from Lord Brahma. It conveys his greed, lust for power, his selfishness, sadism and cruelty very well. It shows him as a devotee whose devotion goes horribly wrong. The extraordinary fact is that Ravana too, like Sri Rama Himself, is a devotee of Lord Shiva. He ardently worships the Lord but only for material gains, for power and pleasure. His 'devotion' is only for self-aggrandisement, to make himself great, to secure material power for himself to enjoy. 

Although he claims to worship Shiva and appears to do so, in truth, he worships only himself, his lower ego. He is so in love with himself that he cannot see the dangers of his own foolish actions, how his ignorance brings about his own destruction. The character of Ravana is symbolic of the lower self, the ego, in its fullest and worst manifestation. It is a warning to all spiritual seekers of what not to do on the path of worship.

The movie conveys the essence of Ravana as this sort of a negative character very well. But I am surprised to see that many people are focussed only on his outer appearance in the movie; they are upset by his hairstyle, his clothes, his vehicle and other externalities. Creative freedom is surely permitted in these things. Why demonise the entire movie because of Ravana's hairdo? I am unable to understand this.

Similarly, a number of people are upset by the acting of the man who plays Sri Rama. He has been criticised for appearing 'wooden'. However, he is attempting to portray an avatar of Narayana (not Romeo in the Shakespearean play!). Had he shown extremely dramatic emotions, many would have been offended by that too. I actually think he did a very creditable job given the challenging task at hand. I feel he portrayed a balanced representation of Sri Rama.

Then comes the criticism of the dialogue of Lord Hanuman. Many are furious that some of the language in the movie does not seem fitting for an avatar of God. Lord Hanuman is a great devotee of Sri Rama. He is an avatar of Lord Shiva Himself and plays a vital role in this Lila. In the Ramayana, there is a situation where Lord Hanuman allows Himself to be captured by the enemy so that He can then teach them a suitable lesson. In the movie, there is a scene where Ravana's side devise a sadistic and cruel plan to harm Lord Hanuman, and the latter gives a short and pithy reply. 

The controversial words in the dialogue seem to be an attempt to convey the scathing contempt that Hanuman has for the extremely evil and sadistic individuals that He faces. However, many devotees are apparently infuriated by the language saying it is inappropriate (it may not be to everyone's taste, but it is not so terrible as to merit so much criticism and boycotting of the entire movie!). 

Mostly, the movie succeeds in depicting the remarkable wisdom and devotion of Lord Hanuman, His tireless work in serving Sri Rama (He is both a master karma yogi and a great bhakti yogi) and His humility. Again, I must confess that I feel the frenzied criticism of this portion of the movie is excessive and blown out-of-proportion.

Then there is controversy over the depiction of Mother Sita. One particular country's officials are apparently deeply offended and upset that She has been called 'India's daughter' i.e. 'Bharat ki beti' in the movie. However, the word 'Bharat' is a Puranic word for the ancient land that includes a large part of Asia including both modern day India and their own nation (Modern 'India', whose current borders were only formed in the past century, did not even exist at the time of the Ramayana so many centuries ago). Their anger therefore seems rather misguided and based on a somewhat superficial understanding of the subject.

Having said all that I have above, I will say that I fully respect everyone's views on these matters (even if I do not necessarily agree with them all). Everyone has a right to their own opinion and personal taste when it comes to spirituality, movies and so on. I would, however, like to respectfully say that I feel that, while this movie is certainly not perfect, it can be enjoyable to watch if one can ignore the minutiae and look at the bigger picture (no pun intended), if one can see this as a depiction of a powerful story of the victory of good over evil. 

I personally found the movie both wonderful and inspiring. So many things were good about it. Above all, I feel it created a devotional atmosphere-- this felt all the more remarkable as I saw it in a city far away from India. I am glad that this movie is being shown all over the world and I very much hope that people benefit from watching it, that they are inspired to study the original Valmiki Ramayana as a result (I am actually in the process of reading this myself currently; started a few months ago and progressing slowly. I hope to write about some sections of it here in the coming months).

May Lord Rama and Mother Sita bless us all. May They give good sense and devotion to us all. 

Om Sri Sita-Ramabhyam Namah.

Om Sri Hanumante Namah.

Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Narada and Narayana: the egodectomy

 Hari Aum.

Sage Narada is regarded as one of Lord Narayana's greatest devotees. He is a slightly atypical sage in that he is not only known for his seriousness and devotion but also for his humour and tendency to create mischief in the universe in order to further the cause of the Divine. 

He is regarded as a divine musician (player of the beautiful stringed instrument known as the 'veena'), a great philosopher and a Guru to many (including Valmiki, Dhruva and Prahlada) who themselves went on to become ardent devotees of Narayana.

However, while on his spiritual journey, Narada too had his own falls. Despite being a sage, he too periodically needed rescuing from that most dire enemy of the spiritual aspirant, the ego. 

The Guru regards the ego, as a doctor might regard a particularly deadly virus. 

Unlike many other disease-causing organisms, the virus has a unique capacity, an ingenious skill that makes it particularly hard to defeat. It enters cells and commands them to carry out its own agenda, rather than the original purpose for which they were designed. It forces the cell to turn against its own, to become an enemy of the very body to which it belongs. When this happens in large numbers to several cells, the very life of the individual may be at risk. 

Viruses are also famous shape-shifters, they change their molecular appearance to look different as they multiply thus enabling them to evade detection and destruction by our immune systems. Due to these two potent powers, viruses can pose a significant challenge to defeat.

The ego has strangely similar qualities to a virus. Like a virus, it takes over our inner being, turning us against our own Higher Self. Not only this, it is a master shape-shifter, ever changing its expression, making it virtually impossible to detect and defeat. 

The Guru or God is the only one who truly has the capacity to detect and defeat the ego. By their grace alone, can this formidable task be accomplished. Sivananda (being a doctor before he became a monk) used to call the removal of the harmful ego by the term 'egodectomy'.

Just as a patient suffering from a severe viral illness must receive suitable medical care to recover, so also the human soul suffering from the influence of the ego (we can call this 'egoitis') must approach God and Guru for a solution. The first step is insight-- we have to first recognise there is a problem, only then will we be open to a solution. 

The most deadly manifestation of the ego is to deny its very existence. 'I have no ego' we may say smilingly. If that were true, we would all be enlightened already. It is very much there, only it appears in different guises and sometimes hides. We need to take it by the ear to God and Guru and have it cured (this involves doing spiritual practices such as mantra japa).

As I was saying above, even great sages such as Narada require rescuing from the ego sometimes. I will narrate one such story here. I heard this recently during an online conversation with a Swamiji from the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh. He was telling me about spiritual obstacles and how God creates situations that may be troublesome so that we can be saved from our very own spiritual virus, our ego.

The story he told me goes like this. It is from the Puranas.

Once upon a time, Narada was meditating quietly in a cave. His mind had become very still by the grace of God. He enjoyed the bliss of the Self. 

Indra, the king of the demi-gods (devas in Sanskrit) was greatly perturbed by Narada's success at meditation. 

'Why is Narada conducting such an intense worship of God?' he wondered anxiously. 'Perhaps it is for material reasons, perhaps he wishes to ask God to grant him my position as King of devas. After all, my position is so exalted, anyone would want it!' 

'I must do something to break his meditation and thus minimise any risk of losing my status'. 

'I know!', he thought, brightening. He then called out to other celestials, 'O gandharvas! O apsaras! O Kamadeva! Come hither, I need your help!'.

The gandharvas (divine musicians), apsaras (heavenly dancers) and Kamadeva (the demi-god of romantic love and desire) all dutifully appeared before their leader. 

'How may we serve you, my Lord?', they enquired.

Indra replied:

'Go quickly to Narada and see to it that you break his meditation. He must experience worldly desire, he must feel longing for the world, not for God. You know what to do!'

The celestials bowed, knowing exactly what they needed to do (they had been sent on similar missions to trouble other sages many a time before by their leader; their actions often represented a spiritual test for the seeker).

They then went to the spot where Narada was deep in meditation. Kamadeva, using divine powers, transformed the bare cave into a place of celestial beauty. Fragrant flowers bloomed, heavenly scents filled the air. Charming birds with exquisite voices began to sing. 

In the midst of all this natural beauty, the gandharvas took up their musical instruments and began to create the most enchanting music. The apsaras began to dance to the music and their grace and beauty were most mesmerising.

Kamadeva then smiled and took up his famous bow. He fitted a divine, flowery arrow, designed to create desire, and aimed this at Narada. He released his arrows and waited for them to produce the usual result-- mental agitation and breaking of meditation.

To his shock, nothing happened. He was astounded. Completely crest-fallen. 'How could my powers fail?' he wondered. 'What is the reason?'.

Realising the greatness of the sage, all the celestials present went and fell at his feet to ask pardon. 

Narada, who had been blissfully unaware of all these events, now opened his eyes. He was astonished to see the celestials at his feet. They told him of the reason for their visit. They then humbly begged for forgiveness, saying they were completely awed at the extraordinary control he had over his mind and senses. Narada was surprised to hear that he had managed to stave off the effects of Kamadeva's arrows.

'Goodness, I didn't realise that I had developed such spiritual capacity', he thought. 'I have conquered worldly desire, really quite extraordinary!'. (He was so busy admiring his conquest of worldly desire that he did not even notice the pride this had generated in him).

He quickly pardoned the celestials and sent them off (they returned to Indra and reported what had happened; he was also suitably astonished and impressed).

Narada then recalled that Kamadeva had once shot his flowery arrows of passion at Lord Shiva. On that occasion, Shiva had opened His third eye and destroyed Kama deva (who was later restored back to life to continue his duty in the world!). He reflected that, unlike Shiva, he had not even noticed Kamadeva or opened his eyes. Unlike Shiva, he thought, his meditation had not been broken in the slightest by the demi-god of desire.

This was most wonderful, he thought, and felt that he should tell Lord Shiva about his accomplishment immediately. Shiva should know, he thought, that his own meditation was of a superior quality.

Narada therefore went to Mount Kailasa where Shiva resided with His consort, Mother Parvati. Upon arrival, he was greeted by the Divine couple who (though knowing why he had come) then enquired as to the reason for his visit.

Narada proudly told them; he had managed to conquer all worldly desire! What an achievement! He had done what even Lord Shiva had not!

Lord Shiva looked at him without saying anything. After a period of silence, He uttered only the following words-- 'Do not tell Narayana what you have told Me.'

Narada was most indignant. He privately thought: 'Do not tell Narayana! Whyever not! He would be happy at the success of His devotee surely!'. Thinking that Lord Shiva was merely jealous, he bowed and left Kailasa.

He decided to go to see Narayana immediately but thought he would share his good news with his beloved father, Lord Brahma, on the way. He stopped off at Brahmaloka and, upon meeting his father, was dismayed to see that he too had the same reaction as Shiva. There was not much praise, only silence and the advice not to inform Narayana. Feeling disappointed in his father, he shrugged and set off for Vaikuntha, the abode of Narayana.

Upon arrival at the divine realm of Vaikuntha, he found Narayana and Lakshmi who greeted him affectionately as their beloved devotee. They then asked him what had brought him there (again, despite knowing of this already). Narada told them everything. 

He explained how he had been completely unaffected by the assault by Kamadeva and the other celestials, how his mind remained immersed in the bliss of the Self and had risen above all sensual enjoyments. He said that he was simply delighted to have experienced such a wonderful, spiritual state and felt gratified by his exceptional achievement.

When he looked at Narayana for a response, He smiled but did not say a word. Mother Lakshmi too looked kindly at him but said nothing. Narada was disappointed. As their devotee, he had really hoped for a bit more enthusiasm! He bowed and departed, thinking he would now share his good news with the mere mortals who inhabited the Earth.

Upon arrival on Earth, he was astonished to discover a new and very beautiful kingdom that he had strangely never seen before on previous visits. He entered the gates and made his way to the palace of the king. The king, feeling blessed by the arrival of the sage, asked him to bless his daughter. She had attained the age of marriage and was soon to have her 'svayamvara' (groom-selection ceremony where many princes and other suitors would present themselves in the hope of marrying her).

The sage said that he would certainly bless the princess. When he met her, he was quite taken aback by her divine appearance. She appeared to be an Earthly incarnation of Lakshmi Herself. As he gazed upon her, he felt a strong desire to have her as his wife. The arrows of Kamadeva, which had previously failed to affect him, now found their mark and disturbed his mind greatly. The king invited Narada to attend the svayamvara to bless the ceremony and the sage agreed, privately thinking that he would win the hand of the princess himself!

He then hastened back to Vaikuntha to ask for Narayana's help in achieving this task. He told the Lord that he had met a girl, an extraordinarily lovely and charming young lady, whom he ardently wanted to marry. As a devotee of Narayana, he requested His help saying that he wanted to be made more handsome than anyone else so that she would choose him alone as her husband. 

Then, declaring that there was none more handsome than the Lord Himself, Narada asked Him for a special blessing-- "I wish to look like Hari", he said indicating that the Lord should grant him His own appearance (Hari is a name of Narayana, which means 'the remover of all sins'). Narayana smiled in assent and Narada went off rejoicing.

On the day of the svayamvara, Narada arrived at the palace accompanied by two attendants of Shiva (who had been told to serve him for the day). He joined the many suitors who had gathered there eagerly awaiting the arrival of the princess. At last, she appeared, looking divinely radiant and holding a lovely flower garland in her hands. She would place this around the neck of the one she wished to marry. 

As she walked past the many lines of suitors, Narada held his breath (he was the last in line). He rejoiced as he saw her walk past everyone and approach him. 'I knew she would choose me!', he thought joyfully. However, to his great dismay, she walked past him too. 

He noted that, as she had gazed at him, there had been a sharp intake of breath, as though she had been shocked. He then heard the two attendants of Shiva, who had been standing respectfully behind him, sniggering. He turned and, glaring at them both, asked for the reason for this most improper conduct. They continued to laugh helplessly and only pointed to a decorative pool of water nearby.

Narada looked at them in confusion and made his way to the pool and had a look inside. There he saw his own reflection. To his horror, he saw not the face of Narayana whose appearance he had demanded, nor even his own face. The face that looked back at him from the pool was that of a monkey! He suddenly realised that the word 'Hari' also meant 'monkey' and was not only a name of Narayana (Sanskrit words can be complex and have more than one meaning sometimes)!

Tears of pain and rage coursed down Narada's face. In fury, he turned and faced the two attendants and pronounced a curse upon them, declaring that they would be reborn as demons to pay for cruelly mocking him! The attendants stopped laughing and begged for forgiveness.

But Narada had no time for them. He turned away, looking for the One who he felt was truly responsible for his plight, the One he had worshipped so fervently-- Narayana. He also had an awful feeling about whom the princess had married.

Narada's prediction turned out to be true. Narayana had now appeared at the svayamvara as Himself, and the princess had placed the garland around His neck. As he saw them together, the sage was filled with tremendous anger and grief. 

This anger and suffering led him to do what would normally be unthinkable-- to curse Narayana Himself. Seeing Narayana looking at him, Narada walked up to Him and said:

"You betrayed me, O most cruel of Gods! For this vile and low act, I curse You! Just as I have been condemned to be separate from my beloved forever, so too shall You one day, be separated from Your beloved forever. You too shall weep and shed bitter tears even as I do now!" 

"And, furthermore, the one who shall help You when You are in that wretched state, shall have the face that I have now-- that of a monkey! If I have any spiritual merit at all, then let these words come true!"

Narayana looked compassionately at the sage and said "O Narada, you are My devotee. I accept your curse. Your words shall soon come true during My avatar on Earth as Rama".

As He spoke these words, it was as though a cloud was lifted off Narada's mind. The intense waves of desire left him, the strong and turbulent emotions were gone. A wave of great peace and calm descended upon him (his appearance too changed back to his usual form). He was a sage and devotee once again.

He looked at Narayana and the princess, who in the meantime, had transformed into Lakshmi. Realising that all this had been orchestrated to remove the ego that had veiled his experience of God within, he felt enormous regret and remorse at all that had he had said and done.

He fell at Narayana's feet, thanked Him and begged for forgiveness. He said that he had not realised the extent to which his spiritual pride had grown. He had not recognised that it had threatened to rob him of the very thing he that he had been seeking-- spiritual wisdom and devotion. 

He expressed his gratitude to Narayana for being relieved of the burden of the ego and the turmoil that it had created. He realised that the control that he had acquired over his mind, and the freedom from worldly desires that had previously occurred, was not due to his own power, but entirely due to the grace of God.

He then blessed the attendants of Shiva and mitigated the effects of the curse that he had previously pronounced upon them.

Thus, in this way, the 'egodectomy' of Narada was performed by Narayana. 

The ego, the child of Maya (or illusion), is that which makes us forget the God within. It is that which makes us feel separate from God, that which makes us ignorant of the presence of God everywhere, in all beings and things. Its children are the six infamous enemies of the spiritual seeker, namely lust, anger, greed, pride, jealousy and delusion. 

To slay the ego, the sword of Divine grace is needed. And this grace, the yogis say, is most easily attained by recitation of the names of God which are one with Him/Her. Other yogic practices such as abstract meditation, yoga asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises) are useful adjuncts to japa; but if one practices these as the main spiritual path, one has to be very careful about the ego. The ego is destroyed by humility, by surrender to God. 

One can succeed in attaining God through abstract meditation and yogic exercises, but it is harder and more fraught with spiritual dangers such as egoism. Krishna Himself declares in the Gita that the safest spiritual path is that of devotion to God. In this situation, God Himelf ensures that the devotee does not suffer a great spiritual fall, that the devotee remains upon and progresses on the spiritual path.

May God bless all of us who seek Him/Her, with a suitable egodectomy. The Gurus say that there can be no Self Realisation without this; this is the very essence of spiritual attainment.

There is no doubt that the egodectomy is painful (as it was for Narada) and understandably we may not exactly enjoy it; we too may shed bitter tears of pain and rage at God from time to time as we go through life. 

But the yogis say that, in truth, this pain is the greatest gift that this world gives us, as it turns our minds Godwards, it helps us in the attainment of God Him/Herself. 

Om Namo Narayanaya, dasoham tava Keshava.

Om sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamastu.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.