Which are Beautiful Eyes?

By B.E.Sampath Kumar, Sri Ramachandrji Seva Trust, Kadapa.

Eyes are organs of the visual system and are blessings of God to humans.  Everybody has different types of eyes.  Some people have brown and some have black and many other colors.  Round, monolid, hooded, downturned, upturned and almond are the six main eye shapes and all are fabulous in their own way.  They are more  than just windows to the outside world. God gave us eyes to see the beauty in nature. Eyes can express sadness, anger, joy, fear, jealousy and surprise.

In humans,  male and female have different facial characteristics caused by the hormone-testosterone levels which they possess. Facial beauty plays a crucial role  in social interactions. Eyes and hair are more important for the beauty of the face.  Eyes are considered as one of the most wonderful things we have. With our eyes, we could see the beauty of God’s creation.  Sometimes, we can also presume how a person feels through his /her eyes which indicate anger, sadness, happiness, or sometimes disgust. Eyes reflect emotions and inner being.  It is said that the eyes are the mirror of the soul and there is a lot of truth in it because some changes occur around the eyes when we express some emotions, and these changes, in turn, communicate to others how we think and feel.

Here is a story of a wrestler Danurdasa, who finds something special in Hemamba’s eyes which he blindly believed that they are very beautiful, most loveable, attractive and powerful.

Once Sri Ramanuja (one of the most important exponents of Srivyshnavism tradition within Hinduism) attended a grand Brahmostava festival at Lord Ranganatha temple at Srirangam. Lots of devotees also attended from different places. After the function was concluded, Ramanuja was returning to his Ashram by keeping his hands on the shoulders of one of his disciples. All of a sudden his attention was drawn towards a well built young man who was walking backward with his eyes and attention focused on the charming eyes of a young lady who was walking along with him. The young man was so engrossed in enjoying the beauty of the lady’s eyes,  that he was unaware of his surroundings and was shamelessly admiring her beauty. 

Ethiraja( Ramanuja was also called by this name, which means king of Saints) was too shocked to see the shamelessness of the young man. He asked one of his disciples to bring the young man to him. Though Danurdasa was reluctant to go, he could not say no because of the greatness of Ramanuja. So he followed and went to Ramanuja’s presence and offered his obeisance to Ramanuja and stood with folded hands. Ramanuja said  “Who are you and why you shamelessly looking into the eyes of that young lady without caring about the people around you.  How can you be so fascinated towards an ordinary female and shamelessly admiring her like that”.

The young man said, “I am, Danurdasa, a wrestler from Nichulapuram and I had come here to witness the Garuda Seva of the Lord. She is Hemamba and I am madly in love with her. The beauty of her eyes is such that  I cannot take my eyes off her and her eyes  can captivate anyone.

Ramanuja was stunned at the reply given by Danurdasa and said, “What will you do if I show you a pair of eyes that are many times more beautiful and captivating than the eyes of Hemamba”.

Danurdasa said “If you can show me  eyes that are more beautiful than hers, I will spend the rest of my life in their service because I have not come across the eyes that are more beautiful than that of Hemamba”. Then Ramanuja decided to reform Danurdasa and asked him to meet him in the evening at the Lord Ranganatha temple. Accordingly, Danurdasa came to the temple along with Hemamba. 

Ramanuja asked the chief priest to take the lamp closer to the eyes of Lord Ranganatha during arati  and said, “Observe  the most beautiful  eyes in the entire creation. 

Danurdasa saw the beautiful eyes of Lord Ranganatha and became overjoyed and  speechless for some time. He was so captivated by the eyes of the Lord that he totally forgot Hemamba and  decided to dedicate the rest of his life to serve the Lord.  Danurdasa thanked  Ramanuja  for opening his eyes and  requested Ramanuja  to  accept him as his disciple. Both Danurdasa and Hemamba got married with the blessings of Ramanuja. Ramanuja initiated Danurdasa and Hemamba by performing the concerned ritual and they both served Lord Ranganatha during their lifetime. 

In Ramayana (an Indian Epic) in Ayodhya Kanda,  it is stated that Rama once  went  to worship their deity Lord Ranganatha.   His wife Sita Devi,  accompanied Him.  As Rama performs pooja, Sita was watching  Him.  Sita Devi  surprised on seeing the  eyes of  Lord Ranganatha,  which she thought that they are very  very beautiful.   She then looked at Rama’s eyes and changed her mind that Rama has the most beautiful eyes in the world. Thus, she looked from Rama to Ranganatha and as she kept looking, Her eyes widened in surprise.  Why because the eyes of both were most beautiful and lovely and  in fact, Rama was the incarnation of Lord Ranganatha.

God has given us beautiful eyes to see the truth and beauty of nature which really exists and  not to insult others who are inferior to us in some aspects i.e., richness, education, knowledge etc.,  A healthy eye gives light to the whole body, but a diseased eye keeps the whole body in darkness.  Therefore when one’s eyes are filled with kindness, his whole body is full of light.   The body that lacks spiritual sight is full of darkness and is full of light when it is spiritually sighted. It is therefore said that the eyes are the open windows to the soul of a person.  The easiest and one of the most effective ways to beautify ones eyes is to simply smile and kind to others.  When a compassionate person smiles, it is not just the lips but the whole face is in action and eye muscles that react naturally give the eyes a more appealing and inviting look. This makes others around him friendly and  also makes them  more approachable to him.  

As age advances, we may suffer from many ailments. So, before our good looks from our beautiful eyes fade away, eyeballs sink back or bulge forward, lower eyelids turn inward,  and eyelids droop, etc., we must try to see God in this life itself, to make achieve the real goal of human life. If we look at Nature around and take the time to meditate on things going on i.e., how it all works together, we may  be able to see God everywhere.   We may not see God with our physical eyes but with spiritual eyes, we can see God himself in His original form.

Lord Krishna’s beautiful eyes are always filled with His merciful glances and smiles towards His devotees who seek His shelter. The most beautiful eyes are those which are spiritualized with love and devotion and can directly see Him face to face. 

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