Excerpts : As it is
January 20, 2020
Arjuna’s flag is known as kapi-dhvaja,
as it has the image of a monkey (kapi)
on it. Monkeys have long represented the human mind, as like the mind they are
restless, dominating and territorial, clinging to the source of comfort, their
mother, until they grow up. Another word for kapi is va-nara, meaning
less than human. It is derived from vana-nara,
meaning forest (vana) people (nara).
But
the monkey atop Arjuna’s flag is no ordinary one. It is Hanuman, the mightiest
of monkeys, whose story is told in the epic, Ramayana. He is always visualized
at the feet of Ram, who appears human (nara)
but is actually God (Nara-yana, the
refuge of nara). Nara and Narayana also
refer to a pair of inseparable Vedic sages, avatars of Vishnu. The inseparable
Arjuna and Krishna are considered Nara
and Narayana reborn.
Va-nara, nara and Narayana
represent three aspects of our existence: animal, human and divine. Scientists
now speak of how the human part of the brain is a recent development and sits
on top of the older animal brain. The animal brain is rooted in fear, and
focusses on survival, while the human brain is rooted in imagination, and so
seeks to understand itself by understanding nature.
Between survival and understanding comes judging—the state when
everything and everyone around is evaluated based on imagined benchmarks, in
order to position oneself. The animal wants to identify the other as predator
or prey, rival or mate. The judge wants to classify the world as good or bad,
innocent or guilty, right or wrong, oppressor or oppressed, based on his or her
own framework. The observer wants to figure out what exactly is going on.
The journey from animal to judge to observer is the journey of va-nara
to nara to Narayana. It involves the uncrumpling of aham, the frightened mind, and the eventual discovery of atma, secure mind. This is what it means
to be a Brahmana.
Excerpts is a
series where we post thoughtful passages from different books that provide for
a quick and easy reading
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