Sumathi Sataka - Its relevance to modern living (10)

“Udumudade nurendlunu
Badiundade bermi baamu padinurendlun
Maduvuna gokkera undade
Kadu nila burushardhaparudu kaavale Sumathi”

This can be translated as

“A monitor lizard lives for a hundred years
A snake lives for a thousand years
like a heron in water waiting for its food
An individual should be for attaining the supreme being”

This poem talks about the importance of patience as a virtue. A monitor lizard can live for a hundred years in the same habitat where it lives. These lizards were earlier used by armies as a part of their campaigns. These lizards have a habit of attaching itself to a surface. It is very difficult to dislodge it once it attaches to a surface. A solider used to attach a rope to its tail and make to crawl up the fort wall and attach itself to the wall. A soldier used to go up the wall using the rope and make way for others. The lizard despite being in pain due to the heavy weight of the solider will not get itself detached from the wall. Though it is poetic exaggeration that a monitor lizard can live for a hundred years without detaching it shows its patience to avoid danger by going into crevices and attaching itself to the rock or waiting for the food. Similarly a snake can wait for a thousand years without taking food / waiting for food or to avoid danger. Another example is the heron. This is a bird which gets into water and stands immobile for hours together. An unsuspecting fish thinking that the legs of the heron are reeds may go near them to be immediately gobbled up by the bird.

In the same way a human being should show immense patience and perseverance to attain the supreme being (which is known as purushardha). Purushardha means the meaning of a human being. According to Hindu mythology, a spirit (aatma) goes through several cycles of births and deaths before taking the birth as a human being. A human being is taken as the highest form of life. The aatma once gets a chance to take a birth as a human being should attempt to go for a still higher form which is nothing but attaining moksha or merging into supreme being. An aatma which attains such moksha will not take a birth again. Hence this is known as purshardh.


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