Atma Bodha - Post 43

Verse 33

अमनस्त्वान्न मे दुःखरागद्वेषभयादयः ।

अप्राणो ह्यमनाः शुभ्र इत्यादि श्रुतिशासनात् ॥ ३३॥

AMANAS-TVAAT NA ME DUHKHA

RAGA-DVESHA-BHAYA-AADAYAH

APRAANAH HI AMANAAH SHUBHRAH

ITI AADI SHRUTI-SHAASANAAT

(Because I am not this mind, thus not for me is sorrow,   attachment, malice, fear and so on.  The Self is without Prana, and even without mind. “It is Pure” – thus declare the Shrutis (Upanishads). 

We now deal with the second aspect of our Upadhis – the mind. This step is Manana on the mind. It is more subtle reflection than that described in the previous verse. It is much more difficult to negate the mind than to negate the body.

The abstract is always more elusive than the concrete. 

Why is this negation being done? Is it because the Guru said so?

No, it is because that is the firm conviction that is arising in our mind of the limitations incumbent upon these Upadhis.

It is from our own intellectual conviction that we make the resolve to raise ourselves above these limitations, and not because anyone has told us to do so. 

This is the deep personal conviction which Vedanta imposes upon us, and from which springs the energy for the Sadhana.  

The mind here has to be taken as the entire Antahkarana or inner equipment, i.e. the mind, intellect and ego-sense. All these together form the mental Upadhis. 

Each one of them is associated with the full baggage of attachments, fears, likes and dislikes, emotions and feelings, and the joys and sorrows that are the effects of these thoughts.

We notice that from verse 31, the text begins to use the first person. ‘I’ am the subject of the actions. This is because the negation process is a process that concerns only ‘me’ in my relationship with all these Upadhis. 

It is an individual Sadhana to overcome the individuality. No one else need even know about this Sadhana. It is a personal practice, done for self-purification, not for acquiring any accreditation from others. 

It must not end up as an achievement for which the ego will be expecting to be applauded.

Swami Chinmayananda compares this step (of bringing the mind under scrutiny) as one would view or analyse one’s own dream. 

Once the dream is seen as a dream, it ceases to carry with it all the associated feelings and emotions it may have carried while it was still being dreamt. Upon awakening from one’s dream, the child that died in the dream does not bring sorrow.

Similarly, the seeker does not lament that he has to give up all the feelings that he once associated with his experiences. He now sees his mental encounters dispassionately as a witness. 

The ‘death’ of all the good or bad emotions and thoughts is not a cause for mourning, any more than are the termination of the sorrows and joys of dream upon awakening.

The logic of Vedanta is simple; we need not complicate it. Complications invite impurities to set in. The process is seen simply as this: “I am not these emotions. I am free from sorrow or pain. I have no attachment, malice or fear.” 

This practice, if carried out in simplicity, which means with purity, is sure to bring the result of peace of mind.

In other words, we should be very happy to be free from the mind! For it is the direction given by the Srutis (Upanishads) themselves. Handling of the mind in this way should bring us joy, not regret in having to lose something.

This negation of Mind, i.e., the Antah karana, is the first verse given by Sankara in Nirvana Shatakam

Mano budhi ahankara chithaa ninaham,

Na cha srothra jihwe na cha grhana netre,

Na cha vyoma bhoomir na thejo na vayu,

Chidananda Roopa Sivoham, Sivoham.

Our existence is perceived through Sareera Thrayam – the gross body, which is visible to us, the subtle body which runs the gross body in different ways from inside and the causal body which causes the existence of these two bodies but remains more or less dormant later with very less functions. These are Micro level bodies. At Macro level, the five great elements cause the existence of all the three micro bodies in each of us.

Sankaracharya is first negating that part of the causal body which feels as the ‘I’, the perceiver, then the sense organs (indriyaas) which act as the medium of transactions between this perceiver and the external world and then the external world, which is perceived by this perceiver.

The negation process is contained in the first 3 lines of the verse and is followed by the assertion process in the last line in strict adherence to the Nidhidhyasanam process. The meaning of the verse is explained below:

“I am not the emotional mind, the manas, which vacillates between thoughts and remains indecisive.

I am not the intellect, the Buddhi either, which is involved in decision taking.

I am not the ego, the ahankara,   which is responsible for the ‘I’  feeling.

I am not the Chittam, which indulges in deeper thinking and storing of all memories.

I am not the ears which hear the Sounds from external world, or the tongue which tastes, or the nose which smells or the eyes which see.

I am not the earth or the sky or the air or the light, the great elements of the universe.

I am the all pervading, universal consciousness and eternal bliss. I am the Siva, I am the Siva.”

Love.