LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM
@ S. Subramaniam
[ 48 Nishkrodha Krodhashamani Nirlobha Lobhanashini ]
निष्क्रोधा (168)
Nishkrodha (168)
Meaning:
Devi is without anger.
Interpretation:
Nish means without and Krodha means anger. Therefore Nishkrodha refers to Devi who is without anger.
Nirgatah krodhah yasyah sa = Who is without anger. Devi has been described by Vaag Devi-s as the one without any anger. Devi is so called because She is devoid of hatred which is the root cause of anger.
Nishkrodha / Krodha in other Sanskrit Texts
Quote 1 of 3:- Manu Smriti
A reference to the word Krodham finds mention in the Manu Smriti. It lists out several items to be strictly avoided by the true followers of Dharma which include atheism, criticizing the Vedas, abusing gods, hatred, arrogance, pride, anger and hastiness.
नास्तिक्यं वेदनिन्दां च देवतानां च कुत्सनम् ।
द्वेषं दम्भं च मानं च क्रोधं तैक्ष्ह्ण्यं च वर्जयेत्
Nastikyam Vedaninda cha Devatanaṃ cha Kutsanam |
Dvesham Dambham cha Manam cha Krodham taikshnyam cha varjayet
Quote 2 of 3 Sri Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu
In the book Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu, Swami Rupa Goswami provides a very interesting meaning to the word Krodha. Instead of calling it in a Negative sense, he assigns a Positive meaning to it and calls it Raudra Bhakti Rasa. He calls Krodha a Sthaya Bhava and classifies it into three categories: Kopa - anger directed towards enemies, Manyu - anger directed towards friends and Rosha - women's anger directed towards Lord Krishna:
अत्र क्रोध-रतिः स्थायी स तु क्रोधस् त्रिधा मतः ।
कोपो मन्युस् तथा रोषस् तत्र कोपस् तु शत्रु-गः
Atra Krodha Ratih sthayi sa tu Krodhas tridha matah | Kopo Manyus tatha Roshas tatra kopas tu Shatru gah
Quote 3 of 3 Vishnu Sahasranamam.
The third reference is from Vishna Sahasranamam:
Na krodho Na cha Maatsaryam Na Lobho Na ashubhaa matih l
Bhavanti Krita Punyaanaam Bhaktaanam Purushottame ||
Neither anger nor jealousy, neither avarice nor unholy thoughts taint the minds of the true devotees of Purusottama, who have to their credit many a virtuous deed.
Author's Notes:
To err is human, says the famous proverb. It's again a basic tendency of humans to get angry. But it is extremely important to keep anger under control, insists scholars and literatures.
In Ramayana, Valmiki portrays the younger sibling Lakshmana to be of short temper and getting angry often and Rama as calmness personified. The only time Rama gets angry is when Samudra_Rajan the king of seas fails to respond to Rama's prayers seeking permission to build the bridge across sea to reach Lanka.
In various Sanskrit texts, Sage Durvasa is depicted as the one who gets angry and curses everyone. In fact the sage got the name Dur-vasa (difficult to live with) due to his constant anger.
Tamil literature too contain plenty of reference to Krodh or anger:
In Silapathikaram Kannagi, the very embodiment of virtue (karpu in Tamil) gets angry only when she is pushed to the extreme and curses and burns the city of Madurai. Even at that stage she spares the Brahmins, women, kids and the aged one from her curse. A wonderful depiction of controlled anger by Ilango Adigal.
While Avvaiyar recommends us to practice anger (Roudram Pazhagu) which was later portrayed and glorified by Bharatiyar, she also mentions the need to be restrained (Aaruvathu Sinam). In Thirukkural Valluvar warns that if anger is not destroyed, it will destroy the person. In Naladiyar, in one of the four-liner poems, there is a beautiful reference to the nature of anger. Anger has been compared to hot water and the way hot water cools down after some time so also does anger – insisting that anger is always a temporary, a short timed phenomenon.
Disclaimer: All matters contained in this article are the property of www.templesofasia.com. The opinions expressed in this article are purely that of the author. The author alone is responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, completeness and validity of all the information in the article.
Comments