Vivekachudamani - Post 7

 

Vidvattvam

Even after gaining all these rare chances , to have steadfastness on  the path of spiritual activity as explained in Vaidika literature is yet rarer; much more so , to have a correct knowledge of the deep significances of the scriptures.

 

And after getting sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti, what is the next stage? Vidwatvam asmatparam. Vidvatvam means vedanta śravaṇam. Vedantic learning. So first line viprataḥ came, now vidvatvam has come now.

 

Viprataḥ means dharma sastra jnanam and vidvatvam means brahma sastra jnanam.. Viprataḥ if you follow sincerely, then they can come to vidwatvam. So vidwatvam corresponds to sravaṇam.

 

Sravaṇam requires a guru. Sravaṇam is not possible without a guru. How to find out who is a guru. Scriptures say “sthoriyam Brahmaniṣṭam”, one who has attained Brahma Jnana and is also capable of imparting Jnana to his disciple. The Lord alone has to send such a Guru  out of his infinite source. 

 

To get a guru and get an opportunity to do the Sravaṇam is still rarer. Manuṣyatvam and then viprataḥ then vaidika dharma margaḥ paratha and then vidwatvam and as you go higher and higher it becomes rarer and rarer.

 

When a man-man, having developed his powers of concentration through selfless actions, studies the scriptures properly, he gains discrimination between Spirit and matter, the Real and the unreal. Soon he comes to realise that the Self in him is the Self in all and ere long he gets established in his experience of godhood. 

 

Sankara in enumerating these stages of self-development gives us in a nutshell the unwritten chapter in Darwin's half declared theory of evolution. Here we have all the various stages through which man consciously, by right living and self-progress,  climbs on to the lap of the Lord, there to merge with Him, there  to become Siva. This is called mukti - the full and final Liberation of a mortal from all his limitations. 

 

Love.

 

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 6

 

vaidika dharma margaparata 

 

Even after gaining all these rare chances, to have steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity as explained in Vaidika literature is yet rarer; 

 

When one has a human body along with the serener qualities of the heart and the sattvika attitude of the intellect, one is indeed blessed with all the preliminaries for his evolution. 

 

But all these can run to waste if not properly harnessed and intelligently applied. So Sankara declares that even after gaining all the above qualifications, rarer still are those who will find the energy to apply themselves faithfully to the methods of integration as suggested in the literature of the Vedas. 

 

A person can become an academic scholar; he might know what is dharma; what is adharma; but is utterly useless, if a person does not follow the lifestyle prescribed in the sastras. 

 

Parata means commitment for pursuit of dharma margaḥ; righteous way of life; In Brahmacharya asrama a person studies the vedas and in grahastha asrama and vanaprastha asrama he is supposed to practice the veda purva bhagaḥ or dharma sastram. 

 

If a person follows that he becomes fit for veda anthaha. In short, he will attain jnana yogyata. Till that he has to follow. Study maybe over in 10 years or 15 years. But there afterwards he has to practice the religious life for a length of time until he gets sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti. 

 

Selfless karma, rituals and practices of devotion, japa, puja and so on, alone can purify the inner personality and bring more and more integration to it. Concentration increases through desireless actions and a person who has greater concentration (ekagrata), has necessarily a finer antahkarana. 

 

So, a steady      concentration must be the initial attempt of all seekers, especially those on the path of knowledge. Steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity is the culmination/ final fructification of Sadhana Catushtaya Sampatti, which is “Mumukshatva”!! 

 

 

Love.

 

Vieveka Chudamani - Post 5

Ataḥ puṃstvaṃ  

 

Much more difficult it is to attain full manhood It does not mean that Sankara said that women are not considered fit for contemplation or Self-realisation as per Vedanta.

 

At this juncture we must bring our discriminative capacity to understand that when these qualifications were given out, they were not given out with reference to the body. With the body, no sadhana can be undertaken as explained in Vedanta. The main practices in Vedanta are reflection and meditation, which are to be undertaken by a healthy mind and a keen intellect.

 

Woman is the symbol of softness, attachment, sentiments, and anxieties, she is essentially a mother. Wherever these qualities predominate, there we have a 'woman'. These qualities- Attachment, Sentiments, Anxieties, Emotions- they come in the way of Sincere, Dedicated Spiritual Sadhana.

 

A masculine inner personality, full of courage, discrimination, detachment, equilibrium, peace and cheer, is the fittest instrument for a quick march to the goal indicated by Vedanta.

 

In this sense, there are many 'women' among bearded ones and if firmness of determination, detachment, intellectual hardiness and steadiness of composure are signs of a better evolution, these masculine tendencies of head and heart are amply seen in many women.

 

Tato viprata

 

Rarer than this is a sattvika attitude in life. We must consider this qualification as indicating a special quality of head and heart. Santosa (contentment), samadhana (spirit of self-surrender) and santi (peace arising from right knowledge) are the special qualities (sattvika temperaments) of a well evolved man.

 

Man in any generation, when observed closely, can be classified into three distinct categories - the animal-man, the man-man and the God-man.

 

He who is ever a victim of his gross instincts and a hopeless slave to his emotions and impulses is classified as an animal-man.

 

When he has disciplined these instincts in himself, he is considered a full-grown, mature he-man.

 

Such a vipra, meaning a man-man has the necessary viprata to strive rightly and grow steadily into the last stage of his evolution the super manhood or godhood, when he becomes a God-man.

 

Swami Sivananda says, “The aspirant should give his full consent with all his being (Sarva Bhava) for the change of his lower nature into Divine nature. He must make total, unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to the Lord or Guru. He must have the true spirit and right abiding attitude. He must make the right persistent endeavours. Then only the real change will come.”

 

 

Continued….

 

Love.

 

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 4

Verse 2

 

                        जन्तूनां नरजन्म दुर्लभमतः पुंस्त्वं ततो विप्रता

                        तस्माद्वैदिकधर्ममार्गपरता विद्वत्त्वमस्मात्परम् ।

                        आत्मानात्मविवेचनं स्वनुभवो ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थितिः

                        मुक्तिर्नो शतजन्मकोटिसुकृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥

 

    jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabham ataḥ puṃstvaṃ tato vipratā

    tasmād vaidika dharma mārgaparatā vidvattv amasmātparam |

    ātmānātma vivecanaṃ svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṃsthitiḥ

    muktirno śhata janma koṭi sukṛtaiḥ puṇyairvinā labhyate || 2 ||

 

(For all living creatures, a human birth is indeed rare; much more difficult it is to attain full manhood; rarer than this is a sattvika attitude in life. Even after gaining all these rare chances , to have steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity as explained in Vaidika literature is yet rarer; much more so , to have a correct knowledge of the deep significances of the scriptures. Discrimination between the Real and the unreal, a personal experience of spiritual glory and ultimately to get fully established in the living consciousness that the Self in me is the Self in all - these come only later on and culminate in one's Liberation. This kind of a perfect Liberation cannot be had without merits earned in hundred crores of lives, lived intelligently.)

 

In the very beginning of the textbook, Sankara is emphasising the difficulty of awakening ourselves to the real communion with the Divine in us. In fact, there are innumerable specimens of living creatures in the universe. Truth is the substratum of all and, therefore, the real nature of all creation, even the inert and the insentient. There are many qualities dealt in this single verse. We will deal with all of them one by one. In fact, this one verse lays the very foundation for this entire text- Viveka chudamani and gives the pre-requisite for “Self realization through Sadhana”.

 

Human birth is rare. Here Sankara seems to emphasise that this text is meant only for evolved human beings since it explains and expounds a theory of spiritual perfection, which can be understood, practised, pursued and perfected only by men of certain mental calibre and moral character. Such perfect ones who are ripe for a sudden and immediate spiritual self-development are always rare in the world at any given period of its history.

 

Thus the Acharya says that to get a human birth is rare, having got a human birth to have a masculine temperament is rarer still.

 

"The traditional number of created beings is 84 lakhs, and man is the final item of the evolutionary procession; but, why did the number stop at 84 lakhs? It stopped because man is the zenith, the fullness; He is endowed with manas, buddhi, chiththa and ahamkaara (mind, intelligence, reasoning faculty and ego), all four, in an integrated personality, whereas the birds and beasts and all other species have mostly ahamkaaram (ego) alone. Man has the capacity to follow sathya, dharma, shaanthi and prema; man alone has it." (SSS Vol. 6-15).

 

"Man alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth and death, through the pleasant means of serving God. But as a result of ignorance, or what is worse, perversity, he lets the opportunity slip from his hands, and suffers grief and pain, fear and anxiety, ad infinitum." (SSS Vol. VI, page. 60).

 

“Embodiments of Love! Human life is the most sacred in the entire creation of God. Daivam Maanusha Rupena (God incarnates in the form of human being). Humanness is pure, unsullied and beyond attributes. Such a sacred human life is being polluted with evil desires and thus man is bringing disrepute to human birth itself. Jantu Naam Nara Janma Durlabham (human birth is the rarest and the noblest). It was God who created everything in the universe, right from the microcosm to macrocosm. In that case, why is it that He has attached utmost importance to human birth alone? Only man has the capacity to accomplish things which no other living being can.” Divine discourse -16.10.1999.

 

Let us believe in the above Sai’s words, believe in the sanctity and sacredness of our life, pour our infinite gratitude to God for having made us essentially so pure, so sacred, no matter what we are as of now.

 

 

Continued….

 

 

Love.

Vivekachudamani - Post 3

सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् ।

गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥

 

sarvavedantasiddhantagocaraṃ tamagocaram |

govindaṃ paramanandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato'smyaham || 1 ||

 

My salutation to Sri Sadguru Govinda who is of the nature of Bliss Absolute, who can be known only through the import of the essence of Vedanta and who is beyond the reach of the known instruments of perception.

 

Sankara begins the text with an invocation seeking the blessings of his Guru. Normally the invocation is in the form of Īsvara Namaskara. Here Sankara starts with Guru Namaskara to show that he does not feel any difference between Guru and Easwara.

 

Guru means the teacher of Vedanta. The one who does the upadesa is called guru; one who teaches anything can be called guruḥ; and be called guruḥ. Here what type of guru; Sat gurum. The word sat refers to pure existence Brahman. Therefore Sadgurum, the teacher of Brahman.

 

And then Sankaracarya describes that Guru; what type of guru he is? Paramanandam; the one who is an embodiment of Ananda. Supreme Ananda. Highest Ananda. Govindaṁ. Sankara’s guru's name is Govinda Bhagavad padcharya. And what is His real nature? He is not the mere physical body. That is superficial self. He is none other than Brahman itself.

 

In the first line: paramatmanam; who is none other than the Paramatma; he is not a person born on a day and dying another day. He is none other than paramatma.

 

Therefore paramatma swarūpam govinda bhagavadapadam ahaṁ praṇathaha asmi.

 

Paramatma is described here as agacaram.

 

Agocaram means what? Not available for any regular instruments of knowledge. Gocharaha means object; agocharaḥ means not an object of perception; not an object of inference; not an objection of scientific experimentation, not available for human instruments of knowledge. Why? because all the regular instruments of knowledge can collect data from matter only because matter alone is available for observation.

 

Your consciousness is not available for collecting data; therefore we can have varieties of hypothesis about consciousness, we can never arrive at a conclusive idea about the consciousness. Siddanta gocharaḥ means tatparyam viṣayaḥ.

 

And what is meant by tatparyam viṣayaḥ; the essential teaching. Of what? Sarva vedanta; of all the upanishads. So paramatma is that which is the essential teaching of all the upanishads. And why do you say the essential teaching.

 

For the Upanishads, there are many non- essentials; Annamaya kosa in the upanishads;

 

annaat vai praja a prajaai yante ... atho annenaiva jīvanthi. athai... (40.08)

 

The body grows because of food, body is sustained by food, body dissolves that into food; this idea is there in the Taittariya upanishad.

 

Suppose somebody asks a person; In Taittariya Upanishad, what is said; I have understood a very important thing; what is that; body grows by food. For that Taittariya Upanishad is necessary? If you eat more for some days, it is seen. So that is not essential teaching.

 

When the upanishad talks about Sr̥ṣhṭi, there is no tatparya viṣayaḥ. Therefore we should study the upanishad for the sake of cosmology; and try to compare it with the present day cosmology; that is not the thing. Vedanta does talk about cosmology; how the perception takes place. Vedanta talks about so many others. Therefore we should not focus on those things and waste our time, because they are all stepping stones; use them, arrive at consciousness; and drop everything. So the Paramatma is the tatparyam.

 

Spirit is the subject matter; and not matter. Upaṇiṣhad does not want to concentrate on matter because it will be discovered today or tomorrow; that mind is a matter.

 

Therefore tam agocharam means that it is not available for science; it is available only for vedanta. One is material science; another is spiritual science. Do not make use of one to prove the other.

 

The verse can be interpreted in two possible ways. As a mortal's physical act of prostration unto a finite Guru, it has already been interpreted. It can also be understood to mean the ’spiritual salutation’ of a Man of Wisdom to the supreme Truth. When thus interpreted, the word 'aham' meaning T, should indicate the subject as dissociated with the body, mind and intellect. This ego centre in the seeker comes to seek its identity with the Real and discovers for itself that the supreme Govinda, the essence in all literature of Vedanta, beyond the perception of the sense organs, human emotions and reasoning intellect, can be experienced as the ego's own real nature when contemplation takes place along the lines of discussion indicated in the scriptures.

 

Love.