Tallapaka Annamacharya was a 15th-century Hindu saint and composer of over 1000 songs, known as Sankeertans. There is great knowledge in every song and there is great spiritual wisdom in every Sankeertana.
tegadu paapamu teeradu punyamu
nagi nagi kaalamu natakamu
yeguvale shree venkateshvaru de nijja
gaganamu neekidi kaivalyamu
Nanati Brathuku Natakamu
Naa – four; Nati – days ; naanati – Four Days of Life. Every individual’s life goes through 4 stages; infancy, childhood, youth, old-age. These four stages in the four days of life are the same for everyone. Everyone is born the same way and goes through all stages, similarly.
This life of 4 days is a Drama. There is no other meaning to it. We play whatever role we want. When we think there is more meaning in this Drama, that is when we fall into the trap of Maya‘, illusion, due to which we experience suffering.
Seeing things as they are, is knowledge. Seeing things as they are not, is ignorance.
To see this life of 4 days as a Drama is the first and foremost, basic principle; basic understanding.
When a man has the right understanding, he has a happy and healthy life. When a man does not have the right understanding, he has sadness and illness.
What is the Right Understanding? To know that human life is a 4 days Drama. As told to us by Annamarcharya. In the same way, William Shakespeare also told us, “All the world is a stage, we are all mere actors. We strut and fume, do our part and depart.”
Then, what is not a drama “Naatakamu”? Annamarcharya through his tremendous ‘Sadhana‘ (practise” of meditation), learnt what truth is and has rendered it in the form of this wonderful Sankeertana, beautifully answered what is not Drama.
Kanaka Kannadi Kaivalyamu
Kanaka Kannadi – that which has not been birthed/ born, that which is unseen. That which we cannot see with the naked eyes.
Kaivalyamu – that is Satyam. Living in truth.
That which is seen, created with the third eye, that is the truth.
Believing that “this is my mother, my son, my father” and living as if that is your truth, is bondage and the cause of unhappiness for you. To know that “I am playing the part of a mother, son, father. I’m acting a role in this drama”, is the truth. And knowing this truth is the right understanding.
Kaivalya orginates from Kaival– which means only.
In our meditative state, we close both eyes and we move away from creating the worlds. When we don’t create our worldly reality, we see the other realities. We see soul level realities, that is the truth. We see our soul purpose and journey, that is the truth. And to know that truth is the Kaivalya state, the truth state.
Everywhere there is soul fragments, which is what we are. Knowing that is the Kaivala state; knowing everything is you and you are everything. We learn this when we close both our eyes and we are not creating through our worldly eyes.
Puttutayu Nijamu Povutayu Nijamu
Elaborating further on the dualistic nature of reality and the true nature of truth.. he continues in the first charanam as:
puttutayu nijamu povutayu nijamu
natta nadi mee pani natakamu
We come from the higher worlds to the current world and go back from here to the higher worlds.
To arrive, be born, is the truth and to exit, death, is also the truth. All that is in between, life, knowing that it is a drama, living it as such, is truth. Living this in between, life, as the ultimate reality, is untruth, a lie.
What then are you supposed to do in the between?
To play your role is your job, i.e. of a mother, father, husband, friend, enemy. Perfectly.
jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur dhruvam janma mrtasya ca
For one who has taken birth, death is certain; and for one who is dead, birth is certain. Anyone will have to end the drama that are playing and keep coming back. In a role that they themselves choose.
Just like the characters on the screenplay many varying roles, the same way, in our life we play many such roles. When we leave this stage, this life, we realise we were never anyone’s mother, father, sister, brother.
You have only to play a role in your life as a friend, enemy. To know this, will cause your happiness. To live without knowing this, will be cause of suffering.
To play your role well is your job. To get 100% in action. To become completely immersed in your role is your job. Our life is a play. Every lifetime is a wonderful play. Like a King, like a prime minister, like a bus conductor. Each lifetime we grow leaps and bounds, there is no regression. To come out of the relations and understanding the role play is the real task at hand.
For e.g. Ravana had abducted Sita because that was his role, to play the role of an enemy that was predetermined before he took birth. He was a Brahmajnyani (Enlightened One), who knew everything and he played the role of an villain perfectly. Before the war between Ram and Ravana, Ram went to Ravana to get his blessing to win the war, which Ravana graciously obliged..because that was how this drama was meant to be. He had to play the role of an enemy; but in reality, he knew who Rama really was. Even Rama knew who Ravana was. But they played their roles. One like a hero, the other like a villain.
Life is a stage, not a competition arcade. We were not born to win over someone, or kill others.
Once our role is done, we exit. Meet all other role players on the other side. Because there is no death. We come and go. We must be here and live in the kaivalya state. And the way to get to that state, is through kanaka kanandi, closing our eyes and going into meditation.
Yetta Yeduta Galadi Prapanchamu
He explained the path of liberation, Moksha, wonderfully in this beautifully written next lines of the charanam:
yetta yeduta galadi prapanchamu
katta kada patidi kaivalyamu
yetta yeduta = that which is front of us ; Pra- panchamu – opposite of the pannchamu/ that which is made of the 5 elements (Agni/Wind/Water/Earth/Akash).
That which is viewed and seen with our naked eyes is nature and the viewer is man.
That which we see with our open, naked eyes is the prapancham, physical reality, nature. That which we see when we close our eyes, is man’s true nature, soul, kaivalya, the truth state.
Kattakada patidi: towards the end of his days, reach.
Every individual must in his ending days, whether in this lifetime or other lifetimes, must earn kaivalaya state. He must move from the understanding that he is separate and everything is separate to knowing that everything is same. That is the last state. That is the soul journey.
It is the nature of the soul; It first separates itself from the whole and then transforming, growing and evolving, through lifetimes of lows and highs, it comes to the eventual state of “Kaivalya”, of Oneness. Do not imagine it as the state of a droplet joining the ocean, but is complete understanding theoretically, that you are everything, and practically, they maintain their individuality.
The individual experience earned through many lifetimes does not get destroyed, that is not kaivalya state. You just lose the individual selfishness and realise that you are everything; that is kaivaya. It comes into your experience, through your meditational practise.
Sri Venkateshwara Swami is a great Yogi. 1500 years ago, he went up to the mountains to carry on his intense meditative practise and stayed back there. He is still there, his body is still there and he is still meditating there. The way Raghvendra Swami, since 500 years has been meditating in Sanjeeva Samadhi, the same way Sri Venkateshwara Swami also resides there, hence there is so much attraction and glory, in that divine haven, where he is.
While playing our roles perfectly on one hand, we must keep attempting to reach the kailvamyam state on the other. We must do both. They are not independent, but rather mutually dependent. The first state influences and enables the other state. They are not conflicting. If we play our role perfectly, we can reach the state of kaivalya state faster and if we have achieved the kaivalya state, we are able to play our roles perfectly.
As rightly said by Nagarjuna, Samsara is the way to Nirvana.
All the world is a stage and we must play our part. But from time to time, we must come out of this drama and work towards our way to truth. To attain peace. And display that truth state.
Tegadu Paapamu Teeradu Punyamu
Continuing further to elaborate on the nature of this timeless truth, Sri Annamacharya explains:
tegadu paapamu teeradu punyamu
nagi nagi kaalamu natakamu
paapamu = sins, punyamu = good deeds
Nagi nagi – In fact
No matter how many sins we have committed, we will keep committing more and more sins. No matter how many good deeds we have performed, there will always be more and more good deeds to do. But in fact, the sins and our good deeds are all part of the grand play.
Explanation: We do some many sins without every realising it. For e.g. We are driving on the road and so many ants are killed on the road. Can we stop it? There is no end to it.
In the same way, we do good to so many people. But there will always be more people who will need our help. We can do infinite good.
No matter how many sins we have committed, we will keep committing more and more sins. No matter how many good deeds we have performed, there will always be more and more good deeds to do.
So what should we do? To go beyond the cycle of sins and good deeds? To reach the jnana state
Is to stop worrying about them. As said by Sri Krishna, “subhasubha-parityagi”
Because in truth, that ant never died. It just came out of its body. In the same way, the help that you have extended to others will not in fact help him, as only he can truly help himself. Just like a lecturer can only reach all the students. But the success of students can only be achieved when they put hardwork and earn it for themselves. So where is the good deeds?
To think that you have committed sins, is a false belief. To think that you have committed good deeds, is also a false belief.
Play the drama as it is. Don’t try to find any other meaning in it.
The ultimate conundrum demystified, Annamacharya explains:
yeguvale shree venkateshvaru de nijja
gaganamu neekidi kaivalyamu
yegu= at the sahasdhara state, is the real life, to live in the highest state.
Only those living in the highest state like Shree Venkateshwara, like Jesus Christ, are living the real life. Because that is where complete knowledge exists. We must achieve complete freedom from the cycles of birth/rebirth in this realm, in this lifetime itself. We should live in the sahasdhara state at all times.
gangnamu – akasham/ space the most subtle element of all the elements, the highest element of all elements, is the space element. What lies on the other side of these elements is the field of consciousness. And that is you. We are not the subtle elements, not the mental elements, astral elements, causal elements. We are the pure consciousness, that lives in all these elements.
There is only pure conscisouness, there is only I, not i. There in the highest state, there is no you or me. There is only oneness, Kaivalya.
We must sit in meditation, close our physical eyes and open our third eye. Everyone must first do meditation to know about Truth. To know that this world is stage. If you don’t understand that, how will you play your role properly. In the soul’s journey, not knowing our past lives, we do so many goods deeds and commit sins without even realising it and bear the fruits of those actions and again & again, we fall into a trap of cyclic cause & effect patterns. But in the ending lifetimes, we learn what the truth is through meditation, removing the effects of our past causes and only living in the current moment, removing the I from the everyday actions, there by balancing the past actions which is then is the doorway to freedom. The sins and good deeds, when we commit the actions removing the I (me) emotion, such as “I am doing this” and move towards performing actions as if you are playing a role, that is detached emotion, no causes will affect you.
Ravana knew that he wasn’t doing any karma, hence no causes affected him.
Duryodhana thought he was performing his action and hence, got caught in the cycle of cause & effect.
Ravana did Meditation, Duryodhana did not.
Once you know the truth, the life you live will only be a role play and hence no Karma will get added unto you.
How should we live our lives then?
Live your life, performing the actions without thinking of any desired outcome of those actions; not being a non-doer, but tirelessly, living selflessly.
There is joy in truth. There is leisure in truth. There is health in truth
There is sorrow in lies. There is ill health in lies. There is uneasiness in lies.