The Secret of Sesha

When 17 is divided by 4, you get a remainder 1. Remainder in Sanskrit is called se:sham or se:sha. The remainder(1) is a part of the whole(17). You can see it separately but it is part of the whole. It does not expect any recognition for itself other than being an associated part of the whole.

This is the intrinsic nature of A:di Se:sha, the divine serpent on which the Lord Vishnu ‘rests’. A:di means foremost. Se:sha means part. A:di Se:sha is the foremost soul who positioned the divine Lord in his heart with complete servitude as being an integral part of the Lord. Thus he is called A:di Se:sha.

If he is A:di Se:sha, what am I?

You are also a se:sha by nature, an integral part of the Lord. However, you may not believe that you are a part of the whole. You may feel you are independant.

When you free yourselves from this false perception, you will then see yourself as a se:sha where the Lord ‘rests’ in your heart on the waters of love for Him (devotion).

But, how can He be on A:di Se:sha and in me at the same time?

Upanishad states, a:si:no: du:ram vrajathi saya:no: ya:thi sarvagaha

…though sitting at one place, Parama:thma can be at a far distance in a moment. Though reclining, Parama:thma moves about everywhere…

When the Lord is ‘resting’, He is in the mode of ‘thinking’ on the better ways to protect and uplift us from our current state. This is called Lord’s Yo:ga Nidra.

The duration of Yo:ga Nidra is four months (tholi e:ka:dasi to ka:rthi:ka e:ka:dasi) every year. The rest of the time in the year, Lord implements what He had thought of during the Yo:ga Nidra.

The first two of the four months are quite critical for the birth of several species being the rainy season. It is God’s way of balancing the universe unlike several of us who try to make this world a concrete jungle.

Let us align our lifestyle to allow that balance to happen. It is thus recommended not to travel much, think well and do the right things useful for society.

pra:ye:na pra:vrushi pra:ni sankulam varthmadrusyathe:
athasthe:sam ahimsa:rdham paksha:nvai sruthi samsritha:n

I want to learn about A:di Se:sha and his work…

It is said that A:di Se:sha took the form of Lakshmana when Lord Narayana took ‘birth’ as Sri Rama. As Lakshmana, he led his entire life in serving Lord…

aham sarvam karishya:mi ja:grathaha swapathasya che:

Then, Lord decided to serve him back out of love and so he took ‘birth’ as Krushna, the younger brother to him, Balara:ma.

Later, Lord’s order was that he come down as jagada:cha:rya Ramanuja who took part in God’s mission to alleviate people from sorrow by delivering the right messages to everyone in the form of 9 scriptures, practiced the path he preached, and enabled the others to do the same….

a:chino:thi hi sa:sthra:rdhani
a:cha:re: stha:payathi
swayam a:cha:re:

Learn to be a se:sha, the part of the Lord taking part in His mission as His instrument, like the remainder 1 in the division of 17/4…

– From the discourse of HH Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– 13th July 2022, Divya Saketham, JIVA asramam
– Swamiji’s 43rd Chathurmasya Deeksha Begins

HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji released a book, a freeform poetic translation on Gadya Thrayam. Swamiji said, “Gadya Thrayam is full of deep philosophical concepts but it is also an example of beautiful outpouring of emotion by Sri Ramanuja and this present work by Smt. Nina Nanda captures that aspect of this important work of Sri Ramanuja.”