“aham atma gudakesa sarvabutasayasthith
aham adis ca madhyam ca bhutanam anta eva ca”
(I, O Conqueror of sleep (Arjuna) am the self seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the cause, the existence and the very end of beings)
-Bhagavad-Gita
Great sages have said that there are four requisites necessary for the realization of the Self
- viveka (discrimination between the real and the unreal)
vairagya (renunciation)
mumuksutva (longing for liberation)
sadhana satsampatti (the six treasures of practices namely sama or calmness,dama or self-control,uparati or self-settledness and relinquishment of worldly duties,titiksa or forbearance,samadha or complete concentration,sraddha or faith)
Of these four requisites , viveka is a very important qualification for a serious student of Vedanta. It is because Vedanta is sometimes very dangerous. Some people use this knowledge as a weapon . In Baba ,the latest film that was produced and acted by Rajinikanth, though his focus is to explain the concept of viveka , he has touched on the other 3 requisites. But the question is : did he do justice to it? Was he successful in explaining it clearly? Let us see…
At the time of his birth, the sages predict that Baba(Rajinikanth) is going to be special and they will take him to the Himalayas when the time comes.Baba grows up as an atheist and starts to question about the existence of God. He has all sorts of vices: drinking, smoking etc . When Ramasamy , a minister tries to occupy the land of his people, he objects to it and clashes with him. Meanwhile,Chamundeshwari(Manisha Koirala) falls in love with Rajini. But ,when their parents were about to discuss marriage, she rejects him. That sets him thinking. A beggar(Sayaji Shinde) takes him to the Himalayas and he is being blessed with a mantra and a powerful mudra by his Guru. The interesting thing is he can use this mantra 7 times in order to get what he wants.Initially,he is skeptical about the mantra but then he later realizes that it is really powerful .Meanwhile, the Chief Minister comes to know of this mantra and wants him to use it for his own good. When Baba refuses, the CM creates trouble. The rest of the story deals with how he handles the problems he faces..
Two guys , Sankar and Sanadhan discuss this movie after seeing it in a theatre.
Sanadhan : What a horrible movie! I expected a typical masala movie from Rajini.But ,instead of playing to the gallery, the movie changes course in the second half .I wonder what his real intention is!?
Sankar : It is interesting you ask this question…I loved this movie.Rajini's main idea is to explain what he has learnt in his life ,what he has read in books and what he is practicing under his Guru so that it will reach some people and would benefit them. But then, if it is just sermons, people will reject it. So the movie starts in a typical Rajini-movie fashion and changes its course in order to explain his beliefs and then returns back to typical Rajini movie ending..
Sanadhan : First of all , the story is stupid. It seems some old beggar(Sayaji Shinde) takes him to Himalayas …!!!! And he expects us to believe all this !? Come on…
Sankar : Aha..I understand what you are saying. But then, there is a deep meaning to it.Actually,do u remember the scene? Chamundeshwari (Manisha) rejects him and he starts to contemplate…He starts to think about things deeply. That is when he realizes the concept of Maya (illusion) ..The rest of the stuff that happens ( meeting the saints, talking to his Guru, getting the mantra ) is all in his mind! When he starts to cultivate dispassion and discrimination , he is gifted with the mantras .Actually, it is a test for him ,whether he is still behind worldly things. If he asks for anything for himself ,then he is still stuck in the cycle of birth and death..Also,he is being asked not to smoke or drink while invoking the mantra. This is to test his self control (dama) .
Sanadhan: So are you saying that the 7 wishes are just to test him in his path of realization?
Sankar : Exactly,Sanadhan ! The 7 wishes in the story represents the test to see whether he has conquered his desires! It is very similar to this : During the path of enlightenment, one will be gifted with many siddhis.If you still have desires, then you develop the ego-sense because you think you are powerful because of the siddhi and so, you end up being stuck. The man who realizes everything would have conquered his desires and would be a samardarsinah – a very balanced person or a man of right perception He is able to transcend the attachments since he is in a different level of consciousness which enables him to live in bliss. These 7 wishes test whether Baba is a samardarsinah !!!!!Do you know why Manisha’s character is named as Chamundeshwari ?
Sanadhan : No. Do you think there is any meaning??!!!
Sankar : Yes, surprisingly .Goddess Kali is called Chamundeshwari because she cuts the head of Chanda and body of Munda..She is the destroyer of evil .On a positive note, she helps her devotees to surrender and realize that the world is Maya :illusion. The character that Manisha plays helps Baba to destroy the Maya that clouded him and realize the concept of Maya(illusion) and develop dispassion and discrimination(viveka)..That is why, she is named after Goddess Kali as Chamundeshwari !!!
Sanadhan : You are saying that Baba is learning to be dispassionate and discriminate the real from the unreal. But then ,why does he waste 2 wishes for just bringing the kite down? How stupid …he could have at least used it for a different purpose..
Sankar : Sanadhan …Remember that he was first an atheist. So it takes time to develop shraddha(faith) .So he starts with disbelief and first wishes for the first kite to come down. When it comes down, still his atheist beliefs prevent him from believing in it. So he tests again…This is any person’s natural tendency…Doubts…You need to confirm it again. So ,that is exactly what Rajini wanted to show when Baba wastes the 2 wishes..
Sanadhan : Ok ..Ok..But then ,he wastes some of his wishes in the beginning for frivolous things .Why does he do that?
Sankar : Hmm..Good you noticed that ..That is when the character played by the veteran actor,Nambiar comes forth and says this : “Baba ,You are testing the power of mantra..fine..but whether you test it twice or thrice, the effect of the mantra is the same…Why can’t you understand this ? “ …This makes him realize his folly and strengthens his faith.
Sanadhan : Ok..but I have this question. Of all the people in the world, why is it that only Baba has been gifted with 7 wishes. Why not others???
(Cntd in Comments Section..)
