Dharma Vahini - Post 31

Dear Readers,

Continuing on the puranic age, Swami writes,

"Once, Krishna told Uddhava thus: “Austerity, wisdom, renunciation (tapas, jnana, vairagya),  yoga (communion), dharma, vow-keeping ritual (vratha), pilgrimage — the merit acquired by these is acquired by My devotees with even greater ease." Realize how great true devotion is! 

By it means, an outcast can excel even a brahmin! A

devotion-less brahmin is inferior to an outcast endowed with devotion. This is elaborated in the Puranas. That which is described in the Vedas as simply, “Not this, not this (nethi, nethi)”, that which is declared as “beyond the reach of the words, far out of the grasp of the mind”, that which is unreachable by the senses, the mind, or the intellect — such an entity is capable of being felt and experienced by those immersed in meditation. Devotion brings it into the consciousness easily and fills the devotee with bliss.

First, 

·       aspirants have to practice the spiritual discipline related to the with-qualities aspect of God;  

·       this will endow them with concentration and, 

·       later, according to the law of procedure from the gross to the subtle, they can merge their minds in the quality-less Brahman itself. 

The mirage leads the thirsty person far away from the tank; the person then turns away and returns to the place where water is available; reaching the tank, the person becomes competent to drink and slake the thirst (sthula-souram-bhika-anyaya). 

So too, aspirants after liberation (moksha) get the desire for meditation and worship of the formless Supreme (nirgunopaasana); the Lord, who is attached to the devotees, takes up the forms that the aspirants and great souls seek. Out of His bounty, He grants all four goals of human life (purushaarthas). "

Author's note:

As a prelude, as though, to the aspect of Devotion and how Swami has described that a sadhaka can evolve through devotion to meditation on the formless Brahman, Swami willed and the author has already posted on " From Form to Formless", only a few days before. You may read to align that post with Swami's words in today's post easily.

Love.

Dharma Vahini - Post 30

Dear All,

After taking us through the Vedic and the Upanishad eras, Swami goes on to elaborate on the Puranic age thus:-

The Puranic age

The seeds of devotion found scattered in the Vedic texts sprout in the Upanishads and begin to grow with many a blossomful branch in the Puranas.

Well, many are yet confused when it comes to deciding what exactly devotion (bhakthi) is, what the nature of the attitude called devotion is! It is impossible for anyone to demarcate what exactly devotion is and what it is not. 

Devotion has infinite facets. Only pure, tender, tolerant, calm

and loving souls, the very cream of spiritual aspirants (sadhus), the swans (hamsas) sporting ever in the company of kindred devotees, can understand its purity and depth. 

Others will find it as difficult to discover devotion in a person as discovering softness in rock, coldness in fire, or sweetness in the margosa (neem) tree. Devotees hold the Lord dearer to themselves than life, and the Lord is attached to them in equal measure.

Some great people even declare that the devotee is superior to Bhagavan; the farmer loves the clouds more than the ocean, though the clouds only bring the ocean waters to their fields. 

The ocean does not come directly over their crops. This is how Tulsidas describes the relationship between the devotee and God: The clouds bring the mercy, the love, the grandeur of the ocean, and the fragrance of the atmosphere and shower them over the entire land; so, too, devotees carry these great traits wherever they go. Just as gold is dug out of mines, these virtues are part of the divinity in humanity.

The sage Durvasa arrived one day in the court of Ambarisha to test the efficacy of devotion to God. For this purpose, he created out of his anger a demoness, Krithya, for his destruction. 

But the Lord’s discus (chakra), which demolishes the fear in the hearts of devotees, destroyed Krithya and started pursuing Durvasa to the ends of the earth. He fled over hill and dale, lake and stream, and leaped across the seven seas; he tried to take asylum in the heavens, but the foe of a devotee could get asylum nowhere. 

At last, he fell at the feet of God (Narayana) in Vaikunta, an exhausted penitent. However, the Lord declared that He was always on the side of His devotee and that He would never give up the devotee who relies on Him as his only refuge. “I follow the devotee as the calf follows the cow, for the devotee gives up for Me all that is considered desirable by the worldly-minded.”

Continued...

Love.

Dharma Vahini - Post 29

The Upanishadic Age

Swami writes,

"Meanwhile, the Upanishad Age dawned.

The Upanishads rejected material objectives as devoid of permanent value; they condemned them as inferior. In fact, the ritual portion (Karma-kanda) of the Vedas was transformed and revalued in the Upanishads as vehicles for the liberation of people from the bondage of birth and death and as vessels for crossing the ocean of worldly existence (samsara). 

The vision of the Upanishadic aspirant (sadhaka) breaks through this “external sensory objective world” and centres itself on the “inner world”. The Upanishadic sages (rishis) collectively confirm the nature of the highest Principle thus:

In the basic depth of this name-form world of change (nama-rupa jagath) there is the One eternal permanent being (Sat). That is the Absolute, the Highest Brahman (Para- brahman). The Highest can be grasped by means of the wisdom of yoga (jnanayoga).

Therefore,

Inquire into That; That is Brahman (Thadhvijijnaasasva; thadh Brahma).

This is knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya) taught by the Upanishads (the Vedanta). 

Besides, the Upanishads also declare:

The Vedas, though mainly concerned with the human objective of attaining heaven, also provide the basic training for achieving liberation (moksha). 

The attainment of the Absolute does not depend entirely or solely on mastery of this knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya). It is beyond the reach of study, scholarship, or intellectual conquest. Only by devotion (upasana) it can be realized.

If the scholar, with all the weight of learning, also gets immersed in devotion, his life is indeed sanctified!

 

Before such aspirants, the Lord will be manifest in His real glory. This is the meaning of the following declaration in the Brihadaranya Upanishad about the bond between the individual and the Universal (jivi and the Paramatma):

The Universal is the individual’s highest goal, highest wealth, highest elevation, deepest joy.

Eshosya parama gathih-Eshosya paramaa sampath; Eshosya paramo lokah-Eshosya para- manandah.

The Taithiriya Upanishad proclaims thus:

The Highest Atma (Paramatma) is the source of contentment, for He is the embodiment of the purest emotion (rasa). Attaining Him, the individual (jivi) can be immersed in joy. If the Highest Atma is not shining in the firmament of the heart, who is to taste, who is to live? He feeds all, with bliss (ananda). "

Author's note

Dear All,

Right from post 1 in the first theme "Purpose of Human birth" till now and also all future posts have one underlying essence which is the essence of that supreme God without name, without form, without attributes who is the essence / the subject of the entire upanishads. 

If readers can go back to posts 13 to posts 18 in the theme "Vedas and Vedanta", they can read through one single question raised by the author from all themes posted in the blog and then the author has tried to give you the ONE answer to all questions, all the curiosity as to "WHAT GOD REALIZATION IS ALL ABOUT'.

The answer to the above question is what Upanishad is all about.

The answer is pregnant in the following verses

The Isavasya Upanishad says that the whole Universe is pervaded by Isvara or God, who is both within and without it. He is the moving and the unmoving, He is far and near, He is within all these and without all these.

The Kena Upanishad says that the Supreme Reality is beyond the perception of the senses and the mind because the senses and the mind can visualize and conceive only the objects, while Reality is the Supreme Subject, the very precondition of all sensation, thinking, understanding, etc. No one can behold God because He is the beholder of all things.

The Kathopanishad has it that God is the Root of this Tree of world existence. The realization of God is regarded as the Supreme blessedness or Shreyas, as apart from Preyas or temporal experience of satisfaction.

Love.