Saturday 12 November 2011

Kaupeena Panchakam Of Adi Sankaracharya

Signs of extreme VAIRAGYA !!,
charecteristics of AVADHOOTHA !!

{This is a very short poem with five stanzas which glorifies the
 life of a sannyasi (Ascetic). An ascetic in India is supposed to 
give away all his wealth before entering in to renunciation and 
get a loin cloth (kaupeena) from his teacher. That would be his 
only property.}

Sri Shankaracharya Bhgavathpada

SWAMY NITHYANANDA WITH KAUPEENA
(LOIN CLOTH ONLY)


A police inspector arrested Swami Nithyananda 
on doubts of forged currency dealing, as he was 
getting roads made from his own money.The 
inspector put him in lock up,next moment he was 
outside.He questioned him how he is getting 
money to execute road work ? Swami asked him 
to rub his elbow,bundles of money dropped down
Inspector let him off,became his bhaktha !! Still 
Avadhootha Swami Nithyananda was having only 
kaupeena on him !! He could have lived like a 
king !! To show to the world extreme VAIRAGYA 
they don"t bother even to live naked! 

First he was found on this earth on the
roadside as a child protected by a cobra on a
rainy day at Kanjengad, Kerala, by a servant lady.

Ramana Maharshi
in loin cloth

Another saint who lived with Kaupeena was 
Ramana Maharshi at Thiruvannamalai. I am 
impressed with his Philosophy, clarity of 
explanation, so much that I have visited his 
ashram & Samadhi more than Fifteen times !! 


Samartha Ramdass(Shivaji's Guru)
In loin cloth


Akkalkot Maharaj in Loin cloth



Our sincere thanks to P R RAMACHANDER whose 
translation from Sanskrit to English, we have used
below. 
Kaupeena Panchakam

Vedantha Vakhyeshu Sada ramantho,
Bhikshannamathrena trishtimantha,
Vishokamantha karane charantha,
Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha  1

         
Always thinking about words of philosophy,
Always getting satisfied with food got by begging,
And always without trace of sorrow, thinking of the
inner self,
The man with the loin cloth is indeed the lucky one.



Moolam tharo kevalam ashrayantha,
Panidhvayam bhokthuma manthrayantha,
Kandhamiva sreemapi kuthsayantha,
Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha  2


Always depending on only roots and plants,
Always taking only two hands full of food,
And always thinking of wealth as a torn piece of cloth,
The man with the loin cloth is indeed the lucky one.



Swananda bhava pari thushti mantha,
Sushantha sarvendriya vruthi mantha,
Aharnisam brahma sukhe ramantha,
Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha  3


 Always getting elated in his own thoughts,
Always peacefully controlling all his senses,
And always drowned in the pleasure of Brahman,
The man with the loin cloth is indeed the lucky one.



Dehadhi bhavam parivarthayantha,
Swathmana athmanyavalokayantha,
Naantha na Madhyam na bahi smarantha,
Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha     4

Always witnessing his own changes of the body,
Who is seeing himself as his soul,
And who never thinks of ends, nor middle, nor outside limits,
The man with the loin cloth is indeed the lucky one.


Brahmaksharam pavanamucharantho,
Brahmahamasmeethi vibhavayantha,
Bhikshashano dikshu paribramayantha,
Kaupeenavantha Khalu bhaghyavantha   5

Always reciting the name of Brahman with devotion,
Always thinking that he himself is Brahman,
And who wanders aimlessly depending on alms obtained,
The man with the loin cloth is indeed the lucky one.












  







8 comments:

  1. THis translation was done by me. It would have been great if you had acknowledged it ,P.R.Ramachander

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear P.R.RAMACHADER Sir,
      We should have definitely acknowledged it
      at the time of posting itself. Please
      excuse us for the slip.There may be other
      postings also where such errors are there.
      Once again please excuse us for such
      mistakes.Necessary acknowledgement has
      been done.
      We wanted to publish our postings under
      the name 'ATHMA'. As GOOGLE insisted on
      usage of real name, we are using it,
      otherwise we would have been happy with
      the name 'ATHMA'

      Thanking you.

      Delete
    2. I am of the firm opinion that Sri P.R.Ramachandar is doing a yeoman service through the translations of our Stotras which verily are the spiritual wealth of our country. But with utter humility and utmost respect I wish to submit that, I feel, the translation above, perhaps dilutes the spirit of the verses in some places – maybe it is my own ignorance in which case I seek pardon beforehand if I am wrong. For example what I think here when Adi Shankaracharya says “..dehadhi bhavam...”, He meant one who differentiates between the body & Atma and has realized that the body is not the soul for Dehadhi literally means "body and other".

      Delete
  2. Mr. P.R.Ramchander what is the use of translating Kaupeen Panchakam and then fighting over copyright issues ? Next time you translate a spiritual poem please also try and imbibe its spirit of renunciation to some extent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Absurd argument Mohaneesh. Let us not use mindless parameters to judge life. Mr. Ramchander's work is priceless. He takes responsibility for his work, which goes with the turf.

      Delete
    3. Unfair, mindless comment. The work of Shri Ramchander is tremendous. Instead look at the dignity and humility of Sudhakar ji's response. Acknowledging is honesty.

      Delete
  3. I am of the firm opinion that Sri P.R.Ramachandar is doing a yeoman service through the translations of our Stotras which verily are the spiritual wealth of our country. But with utter humility and utmost respect I wish to submit that, I feel, the translation above, perhaps dilutes the spirit of the verses in some places – may be it is my own ignorance for which I seek pardon beforehand if I am wrong. For example what I think here when Adi Shankaracharya says “..dehadhi bhavam...”, He meant one who differentiates between the body & Atma and has realized that the body is not the soul for Dehadhi literally means "body and other".

    ReplyDelete