Happy New Year, dear readers, and every good wish. Before we plunge into another cycle of time, I thought it might be interesting to look at those who defy time and worldly attachments with their attendant pains and pleasures, and look for something within. They explore an inner landscape that has its own discoveries, awards and rewards. Things that may mean nothing to other people, but are personally very meaningful to these seekers. Seekers are of many kinds, and in the space available here, you might like to check out an intriguing type of seeker who is not widely known about—the Avadhuta.
The word Avadhuta is apparently from the Sanskrit root ‘to shake’. It denotes a kind of mystic or sage who is cut loose from the usual human bondage of attachments and anxieties. There are four recognised kinds of Avadhutas in tradition.
The Brahmavadhuta is an Avadhuta from birth who appears in any class of society and is completely indifferent to the world or worldly matters. A Shaivavadhuta has taken total sanyas or renunciation of normal worldly life, and dresses like a Shaiva mendicant with a jata or matted locks. The Veeravadhuta is an impressive figure who wears saffron robes, has long, flowing hair, and smears red sandal paste on his body. Veeravadhutas wear rudraksha garlands and hold a rod. Additionally, they always carry a parashu (ritual axe) or a damaru (small hand drum). The Kulavadhutas are the most secretive. They are said to have been initiated into the Kaula sampradaya, a Tantric tradition, and are held to be adepts in Kundalini Tantra, in awakening chakra energies. It’s said of them that, “It is very difficult to recognise these people, as they do not wear any outward signs designating them as Avadhutas. The speciality of these people is that they look and live as ordinary people do. They can show themselves in the form of kings, warriors, householders or beggars.”
An Avadhuta’s behaviour may at times seem wholly eccentric. Scholars say they belong to a category of beings whom they name “the ‘holy fool’ or ‘saintly madman’ (and madwoman), who has long been recognised as a legitimate figure in the compass of spiritual aspiration and realisation”.
A story heard in Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s spiritual discourses concerns a certain man. Let’s call him Pranay. He is a spiritual seeker approaching the state of Avadhuta or cutting loose from earthly desires. Of the four types of Avadhuta, he aspires to be a Kulavadhuta or one that shows no outward signs of being a seeker. But something holds him back; that mental ‘click’ isn’t happening. One day, he sees a kite with a fish caught in its talons. A flock of crows chases it relentlessly from place to place. It is only when the fish drops that the exhausted kite can come to rest on a tree.
Pranay knows the language of birds and hears the kite say, “That fish was the cause of my troubles. Now I am rid of it and am free.” Pranay learns this lesson from the kite, that as long as a man clings to the fish of worldly desires, he must perform actions and consequently suffer from worry, anxiety and restlessness. No sooner does he let go of these desires than his activities fall away, and he enjoys peace of soul. He is on his way now to Avadhutahood.
We cannot say “Avadhuta’’ and not think of the famous Avadhuta in the Srimad Bhagavatam. That Avadhuta has observations on the five senses that operate in us all. Consider the person who is driven by bodily needs, he says. He or she needs tasty food and clean drinking water. He wants someone to hold and be held by, good music for his ears and sweet scents for his nose. His eyes want to see beautiful things.
A human being is impelled to satisfy all these cravings. The Bhagavatam compares this condition to that of a man with many wives and concubines, who must please them all. Consumer culture and the goods and services sectors are driven by the demand to cater to the five senses. In today’s terms, if you’re an MBA, for instance, you may spend the next thirty years of your life selling coffee, clothes or chocolates. You may get to play golf, join a wine club, and go on exotic foreign holidays, but you also burn yourself out to survive in a brutally competitive world.
So, look at the lessons contained in the natural world, says the Avadhuta. The fish is tempted by its sense of taste and is caught and killed when it takes the bait. The moth cannot resist a bright light, which kills it. When just a single sense leads to doom, what can one say about the plight of a human being who is beset with the clamour of all five senses? Nor can he resist them unless his mind is the boss, not his body.
The cure, says our culture, is to cultivate some inner detachment, a ‘me space’ that won’t let us take it hard if met with disappointment, that lets us tune in to our inner Avadhuta.
And how may we do that? This is where the Bhagavad Gita says the secret lies in nishkama karma, or desireless action. Let’s do what we have to do. But let’s not allow a disappointing result to crush us. We are more than that, which is a firm assurance that will sustain us as we enter a new year.
Renuka Narayanan | FAITHLINE | Senior journalist
(Views are personal)
(shebaba09@gmail.com)