Human life is a mercy gift through the generosity of the Creator. Yet the ungrateful and arrogant recipients often flaunt it as they are the exclusive authorities. And from time to time, they get teased, tested, and eventually taught a lesson by the Originator. The ongoing tirade using a minuscule microbe, is one of such naughty taunts, to alert, and to adjust.
In eight decades of my life, there has never been an entity that has engaged the attention of human beings as much as the Pandemic Covid-19. The global depression of the thirties, WW II and other wars, Hiroshima bombing, India’s Independence, 9/11, epidemics and tsunamis – the list is endless, but the ongoing escapades by the Corona Ribo Nucleic Acid have overwhelmingly incarcerated life on every imaginable facet.
There is a story from the archives of Treta-Yuga in the verses of Yoga-Vasishta, the philosophical discourse of Sage Vasishta to Prince Rama, distraught by human suffering and disdain for the world.
It is the narrative of demoness Karkati, a Rakshasi who lived in the northern slopes of Himalayas. ‘Vulcan-eyed, collyrium dark’, mountain-sized Karkati had a ravenous appetite and set out to consume all the people to quench her hunger. But as she realized that they are protected by the gods, she performed severe penance to Lord Brahma, who appeared before her. She expressed her desire to transform into a ‘Jeeva-suchika’, a living needle, that can pierce the bodies of people and consume them. Brahma granted her the wish and she was transformed into VishUcikA and penetrated her victims, subjecting them to terrible pain and diseases of the heart, lungs, and other organs. She even entered virtuous people and harming them regardless, and rejoicing in their sorrows, cruelty being her true nature. She was still restless, hungry for more, and started her penance again. Brahma was not happy and admonished her, warning her not to attack the righteous ones, and inflict only the wicked and sinful. She was instructed that in case of entry into Saguna (good) people, to rescue them chanting the following Mantra. If the story of Karkati aligns with that of Covid-19, ‘devout chanting’ of the Mantra, in conjunction with any medicinal treatment may be beneficial.
ॐ र्हां र्हीं र्श्रीं राम विष्णुशक्तये नमो भगवती विष्णुशक्ति एही |
एनां हर हर दह दह हन हन पच पच मथ मथ उत्सादय उत्सादय दरे कुरु कुरु स्वाहा।
विषूवचके त्वं हिमवन्तम च्छ गच्छ, जीवसार चन्द्रमण्डलम गतोसी स्वाहा ||
“Oh Vishnu Sakti, prostrations to you; please come here, take her, take her (Visoochika); burn her, burn her; kill her, kill her; cook her, cook her; churn her, churn her; destroy her, destroy her; drive her, drive her; Oh Visoochika, go away to the Himalayas; or to the sphere of the moon”. The microbe Covid has mercilessly encroached on humanity, entangling every facet of life like a jagged pretzel, with normalcy being postponed as a mirage in the mist. Globally, over 200 million have been infected, with the death toll reaching the 5 million mark as new strains are finding fresh masses as victims. Though vaccinations offer the only hope to contain the pandemic, fear, superstitions, anti-propaganda, lack of funds, politics, stupidity and a myriad of factors keep herd immunity, an unattainable goal.
Scientists worldwide are reporting new discoveries, opposing theories and conflicting guidance confusing the populace, as hospitals fill up, healthcare straining to their seams and families keep losing dear ones. Politicians dabble with own agendas, even capitalizing from its fall-outs, businesses folding or reaping, people losing jobs and possessions, disrupted schooling playing havoc with young minds, and every social fabric falling prey to the pandemic.
Perhaps the sane way to comprehend the cataclysm is through a philosophical approach. If one can conceptualize the entire existence as a balancing act, with its multitude of components having to align, and with an imaginary manager manipulating its equilibrium, the faraway galaxies to the tiniest bit in a living cell would have to be disciplined to behave. From the implosion of the black holes to the invasion by an RNA, from asteroids to eclipses, from quarks to tachyons, or from nucleolus to mitochondria, all would be austerely dictated by that authority and adjusted to disruptions, irrespective of how they happen. Ironically, the highest of His creations, the intelligent human species, are the culprits responsible for assaulting our planet earth, the most. The furies of nature like hurricanes, floods, forest fires or microbic invasions are all but tools of adjustments that bring balance, until He decides to dismantle and recreate.
That Highest Authority is the indomitable Entity that is in control of it all. For ones who believe in that Entity, there is peace, and comfort. And the contentment comes from a conviction that a speck of that Entity resides within each of us; the individual being part of that Absolute.
Tat Tvam Asi – ‘thou art that’ – you are That.
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa.
Dr. Venugopal K. Menon
Dr. Venugopal Menon's 'Thoughts of a Lifetime' 