Through the navagunjara, Krishna teaches Arjuna that ultimate reality is One, but it appears different to different people, depending on their point of view and their own innate svabhava or nature, writes HARSHA V DEHEJIA
In the Oriya Mahabharata written by Sarala Das, there is an episode where Arujna in his wanderings comes across a strange animal which is a composite of nine animals. The Navgunjara as it is called, has the head of a rooster, the neck of a peacock, the waist of a lion, the hump of a bull, the tail of a serpent, the leg of an elephant, another leg of a tiger, yet another leg of an antelope and a human hand holding a lotus. Arjuna’s natural reaction is to take his bow and attack the monster before it attacks him. But suddenly Arjuna notices that navagunjara is holding a lotus. He lowers his bow and wonders what this creature is.
Ultimate Reality
Krishna then appears to him and says that the navagunjara is another of his forms, similar to the Viratsvarupa of the Bhagwad Gita. In the navagunjara, Krishna expresses the plurality of approaches to and the understanding of reality.Ultimate reality, Krishna teaches Arjuna is one, but it appears different to different people depending on their point of view and their own innate svabhava or nature. Remember the vedic injunction, ekam sat bahuda vipra vadanti, Krishna says. The Hindu tradition is neither monolithic nor unitarian, but instead plural and multifaceted, where multiplicity rather than uniformity is the watchword and, therefore, approaches to this reality have also to be varied. We have a number of gods and goddesses which lead to different sampradays or religious sects and, therefore, there are many and varied temples, festivals, rites and rituals.
Equally, we have various darshanas or philosophical systems which go from the frankly atheistic to the strongly theistic, from Advaita to Dvaita and every shade in between. Different darshanas and sampradays were part of the whole, not independent and at odds with each other; they were held together in harmony in the tapestry of Indic thought, just as different threads make a fabric, or many spokes support a wheel and many branches arise from the same trunk which finds its nourishment in the springs of water in the earth. Like the spokes of a wheel, all systems of thought meet at the centre, the bindu, the still centre of movement; it is the same water that they drink. It is the centre at which they all meet. That centre is Brahmn or sat, chit and ananda. We have a robust tradition of dialogue and debate where philosophers who championed different systems of thought would engage in public debates in arenas called Kutuhalashalas and those who won would be honoured and those who lost would gracefully accept defeat A story is told of Adi Sankara, an Advaitin who went to debate with Mandana Mishra who was a Mimamsak.
When Sankara asked where he would find Mandana Mishra’s home, he was told that as he kept on walking northwards he would soon come to a path where even the birds would sing hymns of the vedas.This was his sign that he had reached. The navagunjara motif is very popular in Odisha and is often painted on patachitras. It is sculpted at the northern side of the Jagannath Temple, Puri. Also, the Nila Chakra disc atop the Jagannath temple has eight navagunjaras carved on the outer circumference, with all facing towards the flagpole above. Navagunjara is also depicted in Ganjifa playing cards as the king card and Arjuna as the minister card. The navagunjara is perhaps the most interesting and evocative mythic animal in the tradition.
中文翻译：
加拿大籍印度裔教授HARSHA V DEHEJIA写道：克里希纳(Krishna)通过那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽向阿周那教诲终极现实虽然独一，但是不同的人因其观点和先天自性或本性看到的终极现实是不一样的。
在15世纪印度学者Sarala Das用奥里亚文/乌荼文撰写的《摩诃婆罗多》中有一集：阿周那在流浪时遇到了一头由九种动物组成的奇怪动物—那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽。那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽有公鸡的脑袋、孔雀的脖子、狮子的腰、公牛隆起的后背、蛇的尾巴、大象的腿做一只臂膀、老虎的一条腿、另一条腿是羚羊，还有一只人手拿着一朵莲花；阿周那出于本能反应取弓搭箭、准备先发制人射杀这神兽，但阿周那突然注意到那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽一手持莲花，就放下弓-箭心想这神兽是何方神圣。
终极实相
这时克里希纳(Krishna)显身并告诉阿周那：那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽是克里希纳(Krishna)的另一个化身，就像《薄伽梵歌》里的Viratsvarupa。克里希纳(Krishna)告诉他理解现实的途径很多，而终极现实，如克里希纳(Krishna)所教诲，是独一的，但是不同的人因其观点和先天自性或本性看到的终极现实是不一样的。克里希纳(Krishna)说：要记着吠陀禁令，真理是唯一的，尽管圣贤们对真理的认识大千世界（《梨俱吠陀（歌咏明论）》1.164.46）。印度教不是大一统，也不是一元论，相反是多元的、包罗万象的，格言是要多元多样不要大一统，因此面对现实的途径也必须多远多样。我们有诸多神祗和女神，他们和她们会引领不同的传系和教宗，因此会有百花齐放的庙宇、节日、典礼和仪式。
同样地，我们有各式各样的印度教哲学体系，从完全的无神论到热忱的有神论，从不二一元论到吠檀多二元论，以及介于二者中间的灰色阴影区域。不同的印度教哲学体系和传系已是个整体的部分，相互依托有彼此矛盾；他们被印度教思想的织锦和谐有机为一体，就像一片织物的不同股线，或者说像支撑一个轮子的许多轮辐，像同一颗大树生长出的不同枝条共同从大地的泉水中汲取营养。就像一个轮子的轮辐，所有的思想体系最终都汇集圆心，明点，运动中静止的圆心；大家同饮一井水。在这个圆心万佛归宗。这个圆心是婆罗门、是谛、是觉、是福乐。我们对话和辩论的传统生命力旺盛：各传系的大师们在被称之为Kutuhalashalasde 的竞技场公开交锋，胜出者荣耀无限，败北者也优雅认输。吠檀多不二论的大师商羯罗和弥漫差的大师Mandana Mishra的辩论就是典故。
商羯罗问如何能找到弥施拉的家，被告知一直向北走不远会有条小路鸟儿在唱《吠陀经》的赞美诗，那就意味着他到弥施拉的家了。那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽的图像在奥里萨很流行，经常印染在Patachitras画卷上。在普里的贾格纳寺的北面有其雕像。同样在贾格纳寺庙塔顶上的蓝月环外缘雕有八个那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽，都面向上面的旗杆。莫卧儿的波斯Ganjifa方牌上也常绘有那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽，作为大王（牌），阿周那是小王/大臣（牌）。那瓦衮加热瑜伽瑞兽大概是最让人回味无穷的传统神兽了。 |
发表于 2021-12-28 01:35
