Purnam

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं

पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णश्य पूर्णमादाय

पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Transliteration:

Om purnam adah, purnam idam,
purnaat purnamudachyate,
purnasya purnam aadaaya,
purnam eva vashishyate,
Om shantih shantih shantihi


Meaning:

That (YOU) is full, This (you) is full,
From that fullness, comes this fullness,
When infinite is taken off from the infinite,
The Infinite indeed remains,
Peace peace peace.

You must have come across this hymn (from one of the Upanishads), which is regarded to hold a deep meaning, elucidating the ways of Universe. If you haven't, already, I will allow you to explore the meaning on Internet, but here are some links I like, which I have browsed just now for the purpose of this post. (Before immersing yourself in this exploration, you may want to listen to this first here) Otherwise, I too didn't know these metaphorical meanings...not until now.

All that I grasped from this mantra before, were:

1.This mathematical equation: Infinte - Infinite = Infinite (Like, Natural Number Set - Odd Number Set = Even Number Set, all of them being Infinite, some of them parts, but each of them a whole in itself)

2. And this understanding that any Cause-Effect sequence deduced from a human (a finite one that is!) perspective is bound to be incomplete in reality, yet we are forced to deem it complete for a limited frame of reference, we have access to.

Of course, it is not that I agree with everything mentioned in those links. I just like them, not that I agree with them. For instance, it is often brought up that there is absolutely no difference between the Absolute and the Miniscule...that every living being is not different in nature from the Infinite. That Advaita is the real reality. That non-duality is all that is! I don't really agree with it. The very human birth has its limitations, I myself am so different every time. I would most probably react in a very different way from what a cosmic being would react in a given situation, all other conditions being the same.

If we are not different from the Absolute, then we should not behave so stupidly! Like, I get so impulsive at times for no reason. If the Absolute or any other responsible being were to be so impulsive, then this Universe wouldn't be so orderly. If the Creation and the Creator are one and the same, if they are inseparable, then why the bloody hell is God so crazy as to behave so irresponsibly within His/Her own creation, tell me? No, it isn't like that for me. For me, the Creation IS separate from the Creator, most of the times, when there ought to be some growth. That is duality! Dvaita! Yet the Creation and the Creator unite and become one and the same, at times, when there ought to be some balance. That is non-duality! Advaita! Both of them are real for me. It is this churn between these two schema of Universe so as to bring out the most optimized Universe, more real for me than any other possibility. And that is Dvaitadvaita! The first para here under the heading "Purport", paraphrases this well, albeit from a different perspective. Growth and Balance are again like those two ends of the lever, that is our Universe, which is always held in a delicate and dynamic equilibrium. Or maybe, I should say two ends of a spring balance always showing a Zero reading, pulled by equal weights, but in opposite directions.

***************************************

One day, some time towards the end of November 2014, as I was watching an episode of the Hindi serial, "Devon Ke Dev Mahadev" here, my brother was asking, "Idi eppatiki avvadaa? Leka pothe nuvvu chusinde chuusthuu untaava?" (That's Telugu. It means, "Is it never over? Or do you watch the same content again and again?").

I replied saying, "Vaalla story eppuduu nadusthuune untundi. Kaani manam daanni eppataki andukunee sakthi ledu avasaram ledu". (Their story is eternal. We have neither the power nor the need to catch up with it)

As expected, he had this "What the hell?" look on his face tagged with his usual mode of reciprocation - silence.

Again I replied (much to his irritation, when he really did not want to hear anything more from me), "Mari! Naakela telusthundi eppudavuthundoo. Naaku teleedu eppudu avuthundoo!" ("What then? How the hell would I know when will it end? I don't know when it's going to end!" with a "Don't you ever bother me while I watch this!" tone in my voice answering his second question.

This time, he did reply...not so usual with him, "Neekivanni telusthuntaayi kadaa" ("You tend to know these things right!")

This time silence was my turn, because I was already irritated enough. In this aspect, he never understood me. Nor did I understand him!

But very surprisingly, this serial on LifeOK ended on Dec 14, 2014. It was indeed very sudden for me. Just saying, as a matter of fact, it started on Dec 18, 2011 almost exactly 3 years ago. I must tell you this, I did inform my brother, "You know! That's finally over!"

When I wanted to start my blogging again, it was about this serial and this episode with my brother that I wanted to write. But you know how that song on Dec 26 and another 'Daily Digg' update distracted my attention. I did talk about the episode now, but about the serial, maybe some other day.