Cricket & Vedanta

(The following write up is inspired by the discourse of Srivatsa Jayarama Sarma, the great Upanyasaka & Samskrit scholar.)

Cricket is a classic game revolving around the batsman. Batsman is part of the team, yet at any point his innings alone is under his control. Batsmanship is a skill honed by long hours of training and practising. A batsman is expected to establish himself slowly and progress by scoring runs amidst hostile forces constantly attempting to get him out.

This picture of the cricket field clearly resembles the life of an individual in the arena of the world. The following equation makes the picture clear:

Field             – World

Batsman       – Individual

Bat               – Intellect

Ball               – Mind

Bowler          – Time (Kaala-purusha)

Runs            – Evolution

Stumps         – 3 Qualities (Gunas)

Bails             – Life-force (Prana)

Runner         – Good company (Satsang)

Crease         – Spiritual discipline

10 Fielders    – Sense objects corresponding to ten senses

Umpire         – Self (Brahman / Atman)

Boundary      – Terrestrial perfection

Pavilion         – Heaven / Hell

The batsman enters the field with the bat. The bat is his only strength with which he not only defends himself, but also scores runs. Initially he studies the situation, gets his eye in properly and plays more defensively. His strike-rate at this point could be low. Once he co-ordinates with the runner and settles well, he starts confidently middling the ball, freely playing his strokes. Boundaries are scored more often and his strike rate increases.

It is the ball that pervades the game and keeps it alive. The bowler constantly plots the fall of the batsman using the ball. The ball seems insignificant, yet it is consistently directed towards the batsman with the aim of getting him out. The ball is sometimes fast, sometimes slow; sometimes spinning, sometimes swinging; sometimes straight, other times deceptive.

A human being enters the arena of this world to play the game of life. His only strength is his intellect, the faculty of discrimination. A strong intellect protects him from the onslaughts of life, enables him to tide over the challenges and move towards evolution. In the first phase of life, he strengthens his intellect in the company of good people (satsang). Then he becomes well-equipped in his journey of life.

It is the human mind, in the hands of time, which sits as a devil within oneself and constantly plots the downfall of the individual. The desires of the mind are deceptive and subject themselves to various modifications. The six-ball over is comparable to the six-fold modifications of the mind viz. desire (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), envy(matsarya), arrogance (mada) & delusion (moha). Whereas, disciplining the same mind towards higher values of life results in evolution. Growth is faster if the thoughts are directed towards the transcendental Reality with greater frequency.

Means of getting out:

1. Bowled: The three gunas in an individual are sattva, rajas & tamas. If the mind eludes the grasp of the intellect and attaches itself to even one of the three gunas, then an individual is bowled out. The pranas fall off.
2. Caught: The world abounds with temptations in the form of sense objects corresponding to the ten senses of the human being. A misdirected mind is susceptible to be caught by any of the sense objects.
3. Run-out: A human is forced to act in this world by the pressure of his desires. But if he does not withdraw himself into the spiritual discipline in time, the sense objects of the world waste no time in getting him out.
4. LBW: If out of fear of getting caught, a batsman deliberately pads the ball instead of contacting with the bat, he is declared out LBW. Similar is the fate of a person who deliberately denies himself contact of the world because of the fear of getting caught. Resulting frustration is spiritual suicide.
5. Stumped: Owing to lack of constant awareness, confidence may slip into over-confidence. A complacent person then takes chances and fails to contact the mind at the right place. Gets stumped.
6. Hit-wicket: Dry intellectualism bereft of devotion leads to ego and arrogance. Such an egotistic person causes his own downfall without the aid of any external factors.

Heaven / Hell: After death, an individual is supposed to pass through the states of heaven or hell depending on the quality of life he has led in the world. Heaven refers to a happy & peaceful state of mind whereas hell refers to an agitated & worried state of mind. Just as in cricket, the pavilion proves to be a heaven for a batsman who has got out after scoring a century and hell for one who has scored a duck!

Umpire: Umpire is the detached witness (Sakshi) of the entire game of cricket. He controls the whole game by enforcing the laws of the game. No ball is bowled, no wicket is taken or no run is counted without his sanction. He is neither happy when a boundary is scored nor sad when a batsman is out. He remains ever neutral and objective.

Similarly Self or Atman in the individual, which is referred to as God, is a detached witness of his experiences – perceptions, actions, emotions and thoughts – in the world. He controls all the laws of cause and effect which govern the world. Not a minute movement is possible without His grace. Yet He remains neutral to all pleasant and unpleasant outcomes in a life of the individual.

Life is a big sport between you and the world. Take up the challenges of life just as a sportsman does. Sometimes you win; sometimes the world wins. But then, be a sportsman all the time. Smile and shake hands at the end of the game with a resolve of better performance next time. Play up! play up! and play the game!

Namah parama rishibhyo namah parama rishibhyah