T Ram Sewak

NAR TANA

In Shri Ramcharitmanas 7.121, Kakabhushundiji answers Garuda's first question, 'What is the most difficult body form to attain?'.

nar tana sama nahin kavaniyu dehi

"There is no better form than the human body (Nar Tana); all creatures, animate or inanimate, crave it. It is the ladder to hell, heaven, or liberation (moksh). It bestows wisdom (gyan), dispassion (vairagya), and devotion (bhakti). Yet those who fail to adore Him even after obtaining it and wallow in sensual pleasures are trading away a touchstone (Paras Mani) for a piece of glass."

Within the cycle of birth and death, the human body is the most extraordinary and challenging form to attain because it is the only form endowed with vivek (discernment) and mumukshutva (yearning for liberation). It provides a rare opportunity for spiritual evolution that leads to moksh.

This possibility is unavailable to other sentient or non-sentient life forms, and not even to the celestials (devas). It is the only life form that allows us to accumulate our karma (sanchit karma). Of course, it is entirely up to us whether we indulge in satkarama (righteous deeds) or dushkarma (unrighteous deeds).

However, while eulogising the human form, Kakabhushundiji also provides a wake-up call that this rare opportunity could be squandered if we remain enmeshed in satisfying carnal and sensual pleasures. Therefore, we should not waste this birth but work earnestly to attain Divinity.

This assertion reverberates throughout our spiritual literature. In the Gita, it echoes in shlokas 2.7, 3.8, 4.9, 6.40-44, 10.10-11, and 14.14-20, where it underscores humans' unique potential for self-realisation, righteous action, devotion, liberation, discernment, spiritual practice, etc., implicitly elevating it above other forms.

Similarly, Shrimad Bhagavad Puran 11.9.29 declares that the human body is durlabh (rare) and uniquely capable of arthadam (granting the highest goalmoksh). In Vivekachudamani 3-4, Adi Shankaracharya gives us the Paras Mani triad: Human form + Desire for moksh + Guidance (Guru) = Moksh! / DAILY WORLD /

The author is a former electrical Engineer and resides in the Himalayas. He can be occasionally reached at ramam.namami@gmail.com