Interview

Interview (Interviewer Sreekumari Ramachandran)

Sr : It is heard that you are the only woman who has commented upon Prasthanathraya.What is Prasthanathraya?

S Nalapat: Prasthanathraya is the greatest Philosophy of India. The word Prasthaana designate a journey as in Mahaprasthana in Mahabharatah which means the great journey of Pandava to Himalayas.Thraya is three. The internal journey of mind and intellect and Athman .The internal journey of Sankaracharya into the greatest philosophy of India gave us commentaries of Bhagavad-Gita ,Ten Upanishads and the Brahmasuthra.This is the three great journeys .When someone’s mind ,intellect and Athman undertake this internal journey and successfully completes it he/she becomes sarvagna and a Guru in spiritual sense. This journey makes one jeevanmuktha .Usually sanyasins and very rarely householder males only have done this .Probably by the numerous household duties, and lack of time and interest women does not undertake this spiritual journey into the prasthanathraya.Even sanyasini women have not done it. Probably the internal journeys might have happened with Maithreyi and Gargi.But their oral or written evidences of such journeys we do not have. Therefore I can say that I have got the great luck of being a woman to achieve this successfully in history of philosophy. This fact was pointed out to me first by Guru NityaChaitanya Yati.
Sre: When and how did you become interested in this ?
S Na:- May be a continuation of my previous Janmavasana.Or may be the infancy in which I had the luck of playing in the vast library of Nalapat Narayanamenon.Even while was a young child I had been interested in such books though I don’t claim that I understood anything at that stage. The internal journey might have been predestined and started at an early age. The genes and circumstances of growth –both nature and nurture in equal balance-might have allowed my tendencies of previous janma to prosper.
Sr:- Can you tell about the commentaries you done for Prasthanathraya?
S Nal:-souvarnam is the commentary on Bhagavad-Gita .Sudhasindhu is commentary on 12 Upanishads and Brahmasindhu is the commentary of Brahmasuthra.The first 4 sloka of Brahmasuthra was published as Padmasindhu earlier.
Sr: even after finishing such a great feat at a young age ,do you feel that enough recognition and publicity was not obtained for it ?
S Na:- there are two sides to this. One is that what I write is not something that is sold as hot cake .It is very subtle and deep subjects .The garlands I offer to Saraswathy is a combination of pearls of Indian sciences and corals of Modern science in a philosophical view .Only people who are having a basic knowledge of both will be able to understand the worth of it .The people love me and respect me wherever I go, but I don’t think that it is because they have read my works ,but because they love my speeches. And about the publicity-The media people are interested in hotcakes and not in intellectual works. That is only a law of the world. So there is no need to get cross. When I came for the first time to Ernakulam ,Amyoppu told me to stop writing science and philosophy and start writing about love affairs and then I will become as popular as herself. But for me love is a very internal and private state and it is not different from Gnaana and I don’t want to get popular by selling that sacred feeling .I have taken my writings as a serious responsible inner urge within me .That is my nature from infancy and it will have to continue till my last breath. Both gnaana and prema are not for popularity or award but it is a sort of total surrender before God.
Yet I have sometimes felt that the media have failed in their duty to bring such messages to the middle of people and by that have shown the signs of a disease called decline of social values .
Sr :- Is this because you are a woman?
SN: May be it is one among the many reasons. But it is not the sole reason. Our society has a general belief that a woman who speaks the subjects of a man ,is not feminine .In fact the brain of man and woman have no difference in function. Only biological sex is different .The right and left brain and their functions are same as well as neuronal channels too. There is a feminine aspect in every man and a masculine aspect in every woman and it is always a Ardhanareeswara .Both art and science is learned by women and she is not given a “Backward” brain .In western countries, especially in Astronomy ,women were used for making them do more work for small salary ,in 16th and 17th centuries. And those women’s name never appeared in the history of western Astronomy .I don’t know whether such an agenda exists here also .Even if it exists ,I haven’t bothered about it and so it doesn’t exist as far as I am concerned. At times some people have said things like that ,and I felt it as their personal opinion only and not that of entire society.
Sr: Is it because you are not included in any special coccus?
S N: Sreekumari,To tell you the truth, I had too many responsibilities in my entire life and 24 hours often seemed too short to fulfill them .So I never had time to think of what a coccus is and to make coccus or groups. If that is the reason for nonrecognition I would only be happy for not being recognized. Moreover for a mind that had gone through Prasthanathraya ,such a thought will never occur .I would prefer to be a Tyagaraja who bent head only in front of God and not a person who bends in front of powerful and wealthy persons to get awards.
Moreover my literature is something which is written for not this short present alone, and it is for timeless generations and beyond spacetime.Probably the recognition may be posthumous .Even Sankara was not properly recognized during his lifetime except by a few intellectuals and I too am recognized intellectuals in various fields .That is God’s will.
Sr: What are the other contributions other than Prasthaanathraya?
To go through Prasthanathraya one has to go through the Indian intellectual history ,its scriptures and six darsana,Jyothisha,Ayurveda,Aesthetics,Music and Thanthra manthrasasthra and mathematics .Unless we know the basics of these we cannot comment upon Prasthanathraya.Therefore my mind traveled through all these sciences, arts etc and also through modern western philosophy and sciences for a comparison. This journey made me write some books on such varied aspects of cultural heritage .
Moreover I had done a book as a comprehensive study of Nalapat Narayana menon ,his life and works and also a commentary on his philosophical poem Chakravaalam.I have also wrote an appreciation on Ujjaini of O.N.V .There are four books on music and musicology comprising music therapy one of them is on life and work of Jesudas as my Manasaguru in musicology. The book Amrithajyothi written in 1977 was a comparative study of four religion and a integration of sciences and spirituality for educating the children and alike so that a feeling of Advaitha is created .
Sr: Among these which is the greatest achievement?
S N: Every book when we write it is our own Athmamsa.The peace and bliss and satisfaction as we write the book is what the book gives us. That alone is the achievement as afar as a book is concerned. For me I take it as a blessing of God. Because of that blessing wherever I go ,people accept me as one among them and love me .That love and recognition is my greatest achievement .The ability to love all is my achievement .
Sr: What about your professional life?
SN : I have been working in Medical field as a pathologist. It is a field which requires lot of intellectual acumen ,observational power, analytical skills,synthesis,problem solving and final decision making for a correct diagnosis. Therefore it is a very responsible profession. Moreover working in a Teaching Institution (Medical college where both undergraduates and postgraduates are trained) teaching ,research etc are also part of the profession. A pathologist’s brain has to travel from one diagnostic problem to the next at the speed of a mouse click and has to store lot of memory for practical problemsolving.Taht is cognition and memory (part of wisdom) is used day by day and this practice had trained me to use it in other fields of research also .Thus my professional work had given me the acumen to sharpen my logical powers when doing comparative study and commentaries and integration of various subjects.
Sr : Do you think that because of your professional involvement ,your contributions to literature and music had been affected?
SN :- I do not think that it has reduced. Probably my contributions have become more scientific because of my training in my profession. Especially for my literary contributions to philosophy and science and music. In this busy professional life I have lost precious time to enjoy music which had been my greatest passion right from infancy. The loss is only a personal loss ,not a loss to field of music .
Sr :- What is the research you have been doing in music? What is the contribution?
SN :-I had a desire to do something useful for humanity through integration of medicine and music. That desire has given rise to the project of music therapy. The project I have planned is connected with the Value based educational programmes for peace .And on the creative side of it I could devise a scheme of Melakartharaga in Malayalam language. This has not happened before in the history of Malayalam music. We have Tamil,Sanskrit and Telugu Melakartharagamalika .Mine is the contribution to Malayalam music. May be that too will be recognized posthumously.
Sr :- family ?
SN:_Parents K.G.Karunakaramenon and Nalapat Ammini Amma.We are five children. Two sisters and two brothers .I am the second daughter of my parents.
Husband Dr Udayabhanu belongs to Kariyattil family from Cherpulassery .Ours was a love marriage. He is no more. I lost my husband at the age of 48 .Only one son. He is Abhilash .He has taken MA MPhil and PhD in English literature .Has worked in the Andhra Pradesh Times, The week and the Hindu before joining the Press Association (PA Sports) .His also is a love marriage .
Sr:- Did the marriage in any way prevent your literary activities?
SN: No. I could always find time for my reading and writing and music .The family never made any problems with that .In fact my husband helped me to continue that giving enough private space for my activities. He was not interested in spirituality or intellectual pursuits in which I am interested. But he was interested in my social ideas and in my love for music. Our profession, and the education of our son also were our common interests. There was one field which I had no interest and he was interested .That was sports (especially cricket and football and tennis).Bhanu was the doctor of the poor people of Calicut Medical college .We gave enough private space for each other –he for my literary pursuits and I for his sports love. We never encroached that private space .
Sr :- Who are the people who influenced you ?
SN ;- Through my grandmother Srikrishna and through my granduncle Sankaracharya .These two people are the ones who have influenced me from beginning to end. They still continue to influence me. One is the Householder of the three worlds and who always wear his wife on his chest and lie with his hands on the breasts of his wife as said in Thiruppavai of Andal.The other is the Brahamcharin who say the woman’s organs detrimental to sanyasa and totally deny such householder life. For him except in the Thanthric dhyana of Tripurasundari ,the feminine form is not to be seen or meditated upon .These two personalities have influenced my life and work most .
Then there are Gandhiji,Einstein,Varahamihira,Kalidasa,Tyagaraja,Meerabai,and Ilankovadikal etc etc.
Sr :-Who are the living people who influenced you ? Or people who in the present augmented your growth?
SN:- Nalapat Narayanamenon and Nalapat KochuAmma (my grandmother) till my 8th year had given me a base on which to grow .They are my Gurus in Gnana and Bhakthiyoga respectively. My father and mother had shown the selfless way of serving society and the Karma yoga .Father had also been an influence in the audiovisual media. I have seen my grandmothers mother being thirsty of knowledge even in her 100th year .From Balamani Amma I observed the basic of meditative thoughtful dhayna .Not that these people taught e anything. I observed these and internalized them on my own. The simple life and high thinking of these people have always been a influence on my personality development.
In music I was influenced first by Subbulaxmi Amma and Chembai Swami and then P.Suseela,Lataji,P.B.Sreenivos and Jesudas .
In Practical Vedantha Swami Ranganathananda .In Jyothisha Edappal Soolapani Varrier.
In the Literature of Sri NarayanaGuru ,Guru Nityachaithanya Yati .-These people I have admired and have given me insight into my own personality and growth .
Sr:- Havent you written novels, short stories and poetry ?
SN ; - I started with poetry .The first poetry collection appeared while I was only 10 years .Two more poetry collections were published. Several of my poems and short stories appeared in periodicals while I was young but none of them are collected and published.Three Novelettes written during my youth are published. One came out as a book through M.M Publications ,Kottayam. The other two in Kumkumam Vaarika.These two are written as sociopsychological environmental problems and its outcomes (one in background of medical college and the other in the background of Chaliyar and environmental pollution) .These allow me now to view my own mind’s activities and ways during childhood and adulthood. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Sr :- What is the work now undertaken?
SN ;- I am doing research in music therapy and comparative studies of Astronomy .And also trying to collect the previous articles, speeches written and collect them as an organized collection .This is done because I don’t want the manuscripts to be lost.
Sr : -What are the important manuscripts among them?
SN :- The book titled Krishna Karunyasindho is on Bhakthimarga and is getting published soon by DC Books. Then there are astronomical works, the history of India ,the Sindhu script ,the samkhya and Vaiseshika,Yoga of Pathanjali with Vyasabhashya and the bhashya of Vachaspathimisra.I collect as many as possible and sent them to publishers and don’t know when they will come out .All works contain comparison with modern thoughts and is devised so that it is useful for the present and future generations.
Sr :- When you see the commentary of Sankara in in the light of 21st century science will that be a loss of the identity of Sankara’s Bhashya ?
SN;- When a science is interpretd by a person in a new era, that has to be an inner urge whether it is me or you. The knowledge systems upto that period and its comparison and its good and bad aspects has to come into the study for the study to provide original and innovative messages suited for the new era. The process ahs to be scientific and done for removing the doubts in the present generation’s minds and for their future to be peaceful and useful for entire humanity. Without that Gurusamkalpa if someone just do a translation of an 8th century work ,that will not be original and useful for present and future humanity. Ankara became original because he didn’t hesitate to codify knowledge upto his period and to negate which is logically and experience wise impossible. The same process if a person does in 21st century it cant be a 8th century codification, but it must be a 21st century codification of knowledge .In 8th century science was only Indian .No western science existed at that time. Only after the Europeans came to India they developed something which deserves the name of science and that developed within a short time into technology. The history of 400 years of science in western world is mainly technologically different from Indian sciences upto 16th century .The theoretical science of India is still heads and shoulders above modern science and 8th century Sankara is a classical example of that high grade scientific acumen. Thus interpreting Sankara in that light does not reduce his originality but augments it .If Sankara was alive in 21st century,I am sure he would have done what I am doing now. Because his Prathibha was always Navanavonmeshasaalini and that Prajna had made him sarvagna.Analysing knowledge available till date,comparing,and removing doubts and discarding nonlogical ideas and those not proved by observational experience is what science is and Sankara was a great scientist in that respect .His Advaitha was suitable for 8th century. Now we need a modified Mahaadvaitha which unifies all sciences, arts and humanity together .that is attempted. That is my inner voice speaking to me to do. And if at all there are flaws I can wish for their corrections since as human beings we are not above faults. But ,not to obey my inner voice is equal to deny presence of God within .
Sr ;- The accepted tactics of the present day world is to make controversies and become famous through them.What do you think of such processes?
SN:- Fame is a sign of growth ,I do agree. But for normal healthy growth a embryo has to live minimum 10 months in mother’s womb and after that from newborn state to reach adulthood it has to wait patiently for several years. When we sow a seed of a tree we have to wait for years to see it as a fully grown tree. This type of natural growth is healthy and preferable. The growths which happen suddenly are called Cancerous growths. They are the cancers of society .Grass and weeds grow quickly but a tree grow slowly .The growth and fame has to come slowly in time. Not by manipulations. I don’t have any interest in becoming famous by making controversy. If I deserve fame by my knowledge for which I have spent an entire lifetime, let me get it . Making controversies is making the pond dirty to catch fish. I love to see the image of sun in the pure lake. And do not like making dirty water for catching big fish.
And since my topics and their depth being different ,in each field ,the intellectually inclined people (though they haven’t seen me ) know me through my books.Jyothisha,Ayurveda,Philosophy,Literature,Musicology –there are so many fields to which I have contributed my writings and intelligentsia of these fields do know me even without making any controversy .So why go for controversies just to get cheap popularity ?
Sr:- Are you generally contended with your life?
SN:- If one understands that one can live happily with whatever is available and Bliss is within and not without ,life becomes happy and satisfied. The people who has unending desires will never find satisfaction in life.Sreekumari,Have you read a poem by Valiyamma? It is titled Rajayogam.In the horoscope of grandmothers who live in the kitchen with blackened dresses ,the poet see Rajayoga and wonder how is that possible.Then she understands that when a person is not too selfish and knows how to sacrifice for the happiness of others ,then only Rajayoga happens. My life has given me a Raja yoga .All fortunes right from loving family members, a very good profession and the greatest Yogamarga and a very sharp intellect and cognition power and above all the ability to love the entire world as God .I thank God for whatever He had given me. I have learned that lesson from my ancestors. And lived it too.