4R ఇన్నియుఁ జదువనేల యింతా వెదకనేల
(inniyu jaduvanēla yiṃtā vedakanēla)
Human life unfolds amid movements that often seem contradictory. The
conflicts we see in the world are reflected in our own minds. What do we want,
and what do we reject? What should we accept, and what should we let go of?
What binds us, and what liberates us? The mind keeps moving between these
choices. To resolve this confusion, we turn to theories, read books, and search
for truth.
Yet Annamacharya questions the very nature of this search when he asks, “How
much must we read? How far must we search?” Can truth be known through
reading and searching? Do we really want to discover truth, or are we merely
trying to understand it through what we already know? He immediately follows
this with another striking statement: “Opening the eye and closing the eye
are one and the same.” He sees events such as birth and death, which appear
distinct to us, as one. What is he seeing? Why can we not see what he sees?”
In the following stanzas, the inquiry moves through such pairs as wanting
and refusing, being born and passing away, this world and the other world.
Are these separate problems? Are these divisions created by the mind? Or is our
sense of existence, centred on the body, together with our attraction to this
world and the other world, influencing the underlying movement?
We should not be too quick to conclude that we have understood this song.
Its words are simple, but the observations behind them are profound. This
commentary can only point towards the direction in which Annamacharya's words
lead us. The song should therefore be approached as an opportunity to observe
the actual movements taking place in our own lives. We must ask ourselves the
question with which Annamacharya begins: “How much must we read? How far
must we search?”
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అధ్యాత్మ సంకీర్తన
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రాగి
రేకు: 311-4 సంపుటము
- 4-64
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ఇన్నియుఁ జదువనేల యింతా వెదకనేల కన్ను దెరచుటొకటి కనుమూయుటొకటే ॥పల్లవి॥ వలెననే దొకమాఁట వలదనే దొకమాఁట సిలుగులీ రెంటికిని చిత్తమే గురి వలెనంటే బంధము వలదంటే మోక్షము తెలిసే విజ్ఞానులకు తెరువిది యొకటే ॥ఇన్ని॥ పుట్టెడిదొకటే పోయెడిదొకటే తిట్టమై యీ రెంటికిని దేహమే గురి పుట్టుట సంశయము పోవుట నిశ్చయము వొట్టిన విజ్ఞానులకు నుపమిది యొకటే ॥ఇన్ని॥ పరమమనేదొక్కటే ప్రపంచమొక్కటే సిరుల నీ రెంటికిని జీవుఁడే గురి యిరవై శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డిహపరములకర్త శరణాగతులకెల్ల సతవిూతఁ డొకఁడే ॥ఇన్ని॥
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Philosophical
POEM
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Copper
Plate: 311-4
Volume: 4-64
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inniyuṃ̐ jaduvanēla
yiṃtā vedakanēla kannu deracuṭokaṭi
kanumūyuṭokaṭē ॥pallavi॥ valenanē
dokamāṃ̐ṭa valadanē
dokamāṃ̐ṭa silugulī
reṃṭikini cittamē guri valenaṃṭē baṃdhamu
valadaṃṭē mōkṣamu telisē
vijñānulaku
teruvidi yokaṭē ॥inni॥ puṭṭeḍidokaṭē pōyeḍidokaṭē tiṭṭamai yī
reṃṭikini dēhamē guri puṭṭuṭa
saṃśayamu pōvuṭa niścayamu voṭṭina vijñānulaku
nupamidi yokaṭē ॥inni॥ paramamanēdokkaṭē prapaṃcamokkaṭē sirula nī
reṃṭikini jīvuṃ̐ḍē guri yiravai śrīvēṃkaṭēśuṃ̐ ḍihaparamulakarta śaraṇāgatulakella satavitaṃ̐ ḍokaṃ̐ḍē ॥inni॥
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Details and Discussions:
Chorus
(Pallavi):
ఇన్నియుఁ
జదువనేల యింతా వెదకనేల
కన్ను
దెరచుటొకటి కనుమూయుటొకటే ॥పల్లవి॥
inniyuṃ̐ jaduvanēla yiṃtā vedakanēla
kannu deracuṭokaṭi kanumūyuṭokaṭē ॥pallavi॥
Meaning Table:
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Poem phrase
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Literal Sense
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Philosophical Sense
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ఇన్నియుఁ జదువనేల
యింతా వెదకనేల
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Why study so much? Why search so extensively in this visible
world?
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Are study and searching the only means by which we can make an
effort to know the truth?
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కన్ను దెరచుటొకటి
కనుమూయుటొకటే
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(understand that) Opening the eye (birth) and closing the eye
(death) are one and the same.
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We ordinarily see opening and closing
the eyes as different events. But Annamacharya says, “కన్ను దెరచుటొకటి
కనుమూయుటొకటే.” What is he pointing
to? Unless we see what, the poet sees, can our search for truth go beyond our
present understanding?
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Deep
Notes:
“ఇన్నియుఁ జదువనేల యింతా
వెదకనేల”— Annamacharya questions our very effort. All
our study and searching take place within the manifest world. The manifest has
emerged from the unmanifest. What can we achieve by investigating the manifest,
a remnant of the past? Is there another way to discover the truth?
In Bhagavad Gita 2.28, we
have seen that the manifest emerges from the unmanifest. The manifest remains
perceptible to us for some time and then returns to the unmanifest. What comes
within our perception is only this intermediate state—the manifest world. What
lies on its either side remains imperceptible to us.
Therefore, in the second
line, Annamacharya says: “కన్ను దెరచుటొకటి కనుమూయుటొకటే” We experience this world not as a continuous
reality, but fragmented into many pieces. Consequently, birth and death appear
to us as two separate events. We see opening the eye and closing the eye as
different events. But Annamacharya asserts that these two are one and the same.
From what state does he speak? Why are we unable to see what he sees?
Truth is not like a
currency note that we can keep in our pocket and produce whenever we want to
prove that we possess it. Truth cannot be pinned down to a fixed definition.
Knowing about truth is one thing; seeing it directly is another.
Here, Annamacharya is not
offering us a theory. He is questioning whether the effort we make to know the
truth is appropriate? What can take us beyond our limited understanding of the
manifest world? Until we understand what the poet sees, where does our search for truth leads to?
First Stanza:
చ|| వలెననేదొకమాట వలదనేదొకమాట
సిలుగులీ రెంటికిని చిత్తమే గురియౌను
వలెనంటె బంధము వలదంటె మోక్షము
తెలిసి విజ్ఞానులకు తెరువిది యొకటే ||ఇన్ని||
valenanē dokamāṃ̐ṭa valadanē dokamāṃ̐ṭa
silugulī reṃṭikini cittamē guri
valenaṃṭē baṃdhamu valadaṃṭē mōkṣamu
telisē vijñānulaku teruvidi yokaṭē ॥inni॥
Meaning Table:
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Poem phrase
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Literal Sense
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Philosophical Sense
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వలెననే దొకమాఁట
వలదనే దొకమాఁట
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“I want” is one expression; “I do not want” is another.
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“I want” and “I do not want” are two
frames revolving around desire. Desire is the basis of both.
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సిలుగులీ
రెంటికిని చిత్తమే గురి
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(సిలుగు = trouble, sinister, dilemma)
The mind gets entangled in these choices.
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Both these movements arise from the
same troubled mind.
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వలెనంటే బంధము
వలదంటే మోక్షము
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To want is bondage; to reject is liberation.
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We generally regard desire as bondage and rejection as
liberation. But both arise in the very mind that makes these choices.
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తెలిసే విజ్ఞానులకు తెరువిది యొకటే |
The intelligent who understand this, there is only one way. |
Intelligence
lies in recognizing the trick the mind plays through these opposing positions—
“I want” and “I do not want.” For those who see this, there is only one way
forward. |
Deep
Notes:
సిలుగులీ రెంటికిని
చిత్తమే గురి: In any situation, we
are faced with the choices of “I want” and “I do not want.” Both arise in the
same mind. And it is the mind itself that gets entangled in them. Notice that
both the arising of these movements and the entanglement take place within the
mind. Looking a little deeper, we can see that “I want” and “I do not want” are
movements within the turmoil created by desire. In the first two lines,
Annamacharya reveals the instability of our inner world.
వలెనంటే బంధము వలదంటే
మోక్షము: We generally regard
desire as bondage and giving it up as liberation. But when wanting and not
wanting both arise in the same mind, how can one lead to bondage and the other
to liberation? Perhaps choosing one over the other does not resolve the problem
at all.
తెలిసే విజ్ఞానులకు
తెరువిది యొకటే: Those who truly
understand this can see clearly that the movements arising in the mind do not,
by themselves, resolve the problem. They may simply keep us occupied without
bringing clarity. Such understanding opens the way beyond the divisions created
by “I want” and “I do not want.”
Second Stanza:
పుట్టెడిదొకటే పోయెడిదొకటే
తిట్టమై రెంటికిని దేహమే గురియౌను
పుట్టుట సంశయము పోవుట నిశ్చయము
వొట్టి విజ్ఞానులకు వుప మిది వొకటే ||ఇన్ని||
puṭṭeḍidokaṭē pōyeḍidokaṭē
tiṭṭamai yī reṃṭikini dēhamē guri
puṭṭuṭa saṃśayamu pōvuṭa niścayamu
voṭṭina vijñānulaku nupamidi yokaṭē ॥inni॥
Meaning Table:
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Poem phrase
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Literal Sense
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Philosophical Sense
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పుట్టెడిదొకటే
పోయెడిదొకటే
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Looking at all the evidence available to us, పుట్టెడిదొకటే — we are born into this very world; పోయెడిదొకటే — we slip back into
this world.
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The Vedas proclaim that Truth is one. We belong to the Truth
that sustains this entire moving and unmoving universe. If so, what is the
state of mind that makes us see birth and passing away as separate events?
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తిట్టమై యీ
రెంటికిని దేహమే గురి
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(తిట్టము = the rough outline drawn before making a picture; a basic plan
or pattern.) While this physical body is subject to birth and passing away,
what is it that resists this course?
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Is it because we see through the body as our centre that ‘we
regard ourselves as separate from the world?’ What is the basis for this
division?
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పుట్టుట సంశయము
పోవుట నిశ్చయము
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Rebirth is uncertain; passing away is certain.
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Although the inevitability of death is known, the mind does
not wholeheartedly accept this certainty. What is it that tries to postpone
the inevitable and extend its own existence?
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వొట్టిన విజ్ఞానులకు నుపమిది యొకటే
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(ఉపము = means, skill, or method; వొట్టిన = having nothing else; వొట్టిన విజ్ఞానులకు = those whose understanding is free of other opinions.) Those with
absolute clarity there is only one means for crossing this doubt.
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What is that means which considers nothing else apart from
Truth?
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పుట్టెడిదొకటే
పోయెడిదొకటే / తిట్టమై యీ రెంటికిని దేహమే గురి: We are born out of this world and
eventually slip back into it. Yet we have a strong sense of being separate from
the world. The physical body is subject to birth and passing away. Although we
know that the body is not permanent, our identification with it drives the
mind's efforts to prolong life, influencing how we see things. In such a state,
can we see truth as it is? Annamacharya directs our attention not merely to the
body, but also to the relationships the mind has constructed around it.
పుట్టుట
సంశయము పోవుట నిశ్చయము: Although
death is inevitable, what is it that refuses to accept this change? What
resists it? Is it merely an instinctive response associated with survival, or
is there a deeper desire for continuity?
వొట్టిన
విజ్ఞానులకు నుపమిది యొకటే: (ఉపము = means, skill, or method; వొట్టిన విజ్ఞానులు
= those
whose understanding is free of other opinions.) We have opinions about
everything. Our certainties and uncertainties are our own. But truth cannot be
pinned down to a definitive description. Neither defining its form nor
establishing it through the standards available to our perception can make it
certain. Could it be that our very opinions—whatever they may be—create
obstacles and conflicts?
Having
many opinions about truth is one thing; seeing truth without the interference
of those opinions is another. The expression వొట్టిన విజ్ఞానులు draws our attention to this distinction.
But how is such clarity possible? Can the mind, which takes the body as its
centre, recognise the limitations it has imposed upon itself?
This
stanza connects birth, death, the body, the mind, and the desire for
continuity, questioning the very assumptions we rarely examine. The words are
simple; the insight they reveal is anything but simple.
Third
Stanza:
పరమనేదొకటే ప్రపంచమొకటే
సిరులనీ రెంటికిని జీవుడే గురియౌను
ఇరవు వేంకటేశుడిహపరముల కర్త
శరణాగతులకెల్ల సతమీతడొకడే ||ఇన్ని||
paramamanēdokkaṭē prapaṃcamokkaṭē
sirula nī reṃṭikini jīvuṃ̐ḍē guri
yiravai śrīvēṃkaṭēśuṃ̐ ḍihaparamulakarta
śaraṇāgatulakella
satavitaṃ̐ ḍokaṃ̐ḍē ॥inni॥
Meaning Table:
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Poem phrase
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Literal Sense
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Philosophical Sense
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పరమమనేదొక్కటే
ప్రపంచమొక్కటే
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పరము (the Other World) and ప్రపంచము (this world) are one and the
same.
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There is no boundary separating this world from the other
world. However much the idea of another world may offer security, a mind
waiting for it remains caught in the concerns of this world.
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సిరుల నీ
రెంటికిని జీవుఁడే గురి
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(సిరులు = fairs, attractions.) The living being is the target of the
attractions in both worlds.
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The attractions of both worlds target the living being. Even
the slightest inclination towards them can draw one into their trap.
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యిరవై
శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డిహపరములకర్త
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(ఇరవు = stability.) Sri Venkateswara, the abiding one, is the sole
doer of both this world and the other world.
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There is only Sri Venkateswara who runs this complex world. He
is the source of its many movements. Those who surrender know HIM directly;
others feel HIM indirectly.
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శరణాగతులకెల్ల సతవిూతఁ డొకఁడే
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For all those
who surrender, HE alone is the enduring truth.
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In genuine
surrender, there is nothing else, but Truth remains.
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పరమమనేదొక్కటే
ప్రపంచమొక్కటే: The fact that there are no separate worlds called
this world and the other world does not mean that we can live recklessly in
this world. In the preceding stanzas, Annamacharya has shown how elusive truth
is—how it escapes ordinary understanding and our usual perspective.
The living being is the target of the
attractions of both worlds. Even the slightest inclination towards them can
draw one into their trap. These attractions make the living being forget its
actual condition and wander into a world of imagination. Thus, the very inquiry
into this world and the other world can become an expression of delusion.
The idea of another world may offer
great psychological security. Religions often use the concept of the other
world to suit their own purposes. What then emerges is not something a person
must examine directly, but a destination to be reached through belief.
Annamacharya questions this very division. Is it not the mind that presents
these two worlds as separate? How, then, is the mind—which is meant to serve as
an instrument for the human being—actually helping us?
Are we limiting ourselves to this world
because we mistake the limits of the mind for the limits of our own existence?
What prevents us from directly recognising the truth expressed in the line, “యిరవై శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డిహపరములకర్త”?
The unity underlying this vast world is not hidden. But what is the instrument
through which we can recognise it? This is the fundamental question.
I now invite readers to look carefully
at René Magritte’s painting The Key to the Fields (La clef des champs).
Looking at these fragments, we can infer
that, before the glass broke, we were seeing only the painted image of the
landscape on the window, rather than the actual landscape itself. Once the
glass breaks, we can see the real field. The painted image, in this analogy,
represents our inner consciousness. Ordinarily, we mistake the image painted by
the mind for reality itself, and live accordingly.
It is difficult for us to recognise what
influences our perception. Every experience leaves a trace in the mind, and
these traces accumulate. Just as particles of dust in the atmosphere scatter
sunlight, the traces of memories and opinions in the mind influence what we
see. What appears before us, then, reveals not simply reality, but also how the
mind has interpreted it. How can the barriers between reality and our
perception of it be removed?
Here, we may recall Jiddu Krishnamurti’s
words:
“It is the truth that liberates the
man.”
These words suggest that recognising the
movements of the mind that obstruct our perception of truth is more important
than the efforts we make to acquire truth. Even the determination to attain
freedom can become another effort constructed by the mind. What is necessary,
therefore, is to observe what obstructs our seeing.
The mind, burdened by the accumulated
traces described above, is like muddy water. As long as the mind remains in
motion, the muddy water continues to swirl. For the water to become clear, the
mind must become still. As long as this activity continues, clarity does not
emerge. Yet, as we have discussed several times, the mind cannot simply be
brought under control by an act of will.
Stillness and concentration are not
separate operations that can be calculated and applied independently. They are
something extraordinary that brings the body, mind and nature into a unified
movement. In that state, all these movements are integrated, and the eternal
truth may become perceptible. This, the commentary suggests, is surrender and
unity.
X-X-X THE
END X-X-X
