Tattva Bodha - Post 2

INVOCATION

The first verse of any text is called an Invocation, i.e. making a start of beginning the project.  

That which fills us with confidence, which removes all Obstacles, is called a Mangalacharan. Mangala means “auspiciousness”. Acharan means “the practice or form” used to bring about the auspiciousness. 

Auspiciousness is invoked at the very outset of this book - project, in the form of a Prayer to remove all obstacles. 

 The Obstacles to be removed are of three types: 

i) Adhyatmika: Those arising from within oneself, due to illness, lack of capacity, weak will, procrastination, etc. These arise from the Microcosm or individual. 

ii) Adhibhautika: Those arising from things and beings around one, eg., People who interfere needlessly, criticize or try to harm the work are in this category. The prayer is offered to keep away such people by whatever wise and appropriate means that exist. 

iii) Adhidaivika: These arise from God’s hands, and we have no control over them, eg., floods, natural calamities, earthquakes, epidemics etc. 

The three Shanti Mantra chanted by us are to protect us from the three kinds of obstacles given above.

The silence which follows each Shanti is very important. 

This silence is representative of true peace.  For the spiritual seeker, peace is the goal. For an Enlightened One, peace has been realized as his very nature. To be equipoised in every situation in life verily is realization.

Invocation Prayer

Vaasudevendra Yogindram Nathva Jnaana Pradham Gurum

Mumukshunaam Hitharthaaya Tattva Bodhobhidhiyathae

Having prostrated Vaasudevendra Yogindram who is the embodiment of Knowledge, this work of Self-knowledge (Tattva Bodha) is expounded to the seekers.

Vasudevendra means “one who resides as a Deva – effulgent, bright and luminous – is the Lord who controls.” He rules over all functions, under whose command everything functions. If not for Him, there would be no action, no knowledge. He makes the insentient sentient. 

Yogindra is the Yogi who has united with the Lord. The Indra or king of Yogis is being addressed, referring to the Guru. He is the Brahma Nishtha Yogi. 

That Lord of the Yogis has become embodied in the Guru. Lord Krishna, who is addressed here, was also called Govinda, and Sri Govindapadacharya was the name of Sri Sankaracharya’s Guru. The meaning can therefore be taken that the Lord and the Guru are being addressed at the same time.

Gurum  

The Advaitic tradition lays great emphasis on the need to have a Guru when following the path of Jnana Yoga. The Guru is one who guides us to God-realization, having himself done so. This section explains the Guru tradition as enshrined in Hindu scriptures. 

AVATARAS 

Firstly we outline the various ways in which God makes Himself available to mankind. When He comes down in human form the Lord is called an Avatara. There are several types of Avataras, and we list them first: 

i) Purna Avatara: The Lord descends in His complete form, with all facets of His glory vividly expressed. Sri Krishna is recognized to have all 16 rays of Divine Glory. 

ii) Amsa Avatara: This is a partial Avatara, displaying a facet of the full glory of the Lord. When the work to be accomplished is smaller, and His full manifestation is not required, He comes as an Amsa Avatara. Examples of these are Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Vamana. 

iii) Avesha Avatara: A sudden and overpowering manifestation of high impact, such as Narasimha Avatara. 

iv) Nitya Avatara: As Sadhus and Mahatmas, the Lord is always available on earth. It is said, “God, could not be everywhere, so He made mothers.” Similarly, in saints and sages we find all His aspects. God comes for a purpose in all these great beings. They provide direction and guidance to man so that he may strive for liberation. 

v) Guru Avatara: And finally He comes down in a special form to bless “me”. This is a special Avatara of the fourth type just for “me”. 

Out of compassion, He takes the form of a Guru – specially “customized” to the disciple's requirements. This concept shows us how much God takes responsibility for finding the right Guru for us. 

For this reason, in the Invocation, the Guru is invoked for His blessings. There can be nothing more auspicious than to invoke His blessing at the outset. 

Anubandha Chatushtaya

The Invocation also serves a second purpose. The verse mentions that this work is for seekers (of Self Knowledge). 

The requirement related to such seekers is given here.

Anu means “after knowing which”; Bandha means “getting connected”; and Chatushtaya means “fourfold”. 

There are 4 such considerations for a seeker and his Master, while spiritual knowledge is to be transferred from the Master to His disciple. 

i) Adhikari: This is the eligibility of the student to become involved. He should have the proper qualifications. In the case of this book, the qualification requested is a burning desire to attain liberation. In the next post, this aspect would be dealt. 

ii) Vishaya: This is the Course content being offered. In the case of Liberation, the subject that will give this is Brahma Jnana, knowledge of the Self. This is the subject one should be studying for the purpose of Liberation.

iii) Prayojanam: This gives the benefit that is to be obtained from the Course. The fruit of the study of Tattva Bodha is to lead us towards our goal of liberation. It leads us to the complete cessation of sorrow, or the attainment of Supreme bliss.

iv) Sambandha: This word means “connection”, and here, it refers to the connection between the work (Tattva Bodha in this case) and the goal of liberation. Is there a connection between these? The Sambandha states that connection explicitly.

Tattva Bodha makes it clear that it will reveal the Knowledge leading to liberation. 

Once this intrinsic connection to the goal is established, the student has all that he needs to decide on whether he will pursue the study of the book.

Love.

Tattva Bodha - Post 1

                                                    Adi Sankara

Born in Kalady, Kerala

Born in 8th century A.D., Adi Sankaracharya was the only son of a devout brahmin couple, Sivaguru and Aryamba. 

He grew up in Kalady, Kerala. The couple, childless for a long time, had prayed for a child at the Shiva temple. 

It is said that Lord Shiva appeared in the couple’s dream and promised them a brilliant son who would be short-lived or many sons who would be mediocre at best. The couple chose to have a brilliant son who would have short life.

Legend holds that one day Aryamba, the widowed mother of Sankara, fainted after walking three kilometers for her daily bath in the Periyar, then known as Purna river. 

Feeling helpless, Sankara prayed to Lord Krishna. The tears of the child moved Krishna, who blessed him thus: "The river will flow where your little feet marks". The Purna river took its new course in the place marked by the little boy's feet. That place came to be called Kalady. 

The Purna river began flowing through Sankara's home garden. Sankara then installed Krishna into the present temple, and marked the occasion by reciting his famous Achyutashtakam.

Took Sanyasa at young age

So great was Sankara’s thirst for the Truth that He took Sannyasa when He was eight years old. By age 16, He had not only mastered but also written commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita and other prominent Vedic texts. These commentaries known as Bhashyas stand at the pinnacle of Indian philosophical writing.

Four Mathas established

Sankara established Mathas in the four corners of India to carry forward the wisdom of the Vedas. 

Sringeri in South India, 
Puri in the East, 
Dwarka in the West and 
Badri in North India. 

These Mathas exist even today as proof of the invaluable contribution Sankara made to Indian culture.

Sankara represented truths of Vedanta

He presented the timeless truths of Vedanta so that every man, woman and child would appreciate and live its high values. His contribution to Indian philosophy, in fact humanity, is so great and lasting that all the later philosophers have only tried to refute or elucidate His ideas. All over the world, Indian philosophy has come to be identified with the Vedanta that Adi Sankaracharya spoke of. He symbolizes the great Rishi-culture, prevalent in India, whose foremost exponent He was.

Acharya prostrated before Lord Shiva  

On his way to the Vishwanath temple in Kashi, the city of God and spirituality He came upon an untouchable and his dog. 

When asked to move aside by Sankara’s disciples, the untouchable asked: “Do you wish that I move my soul, the Atman and everlasting, or this body made of clay?” 

Seeing the untouchable as none other than Lord Shiva, Adi Sankaracharya prostrated before Ishwara the God, composing five shlokas (Manisha Panchakam).

The three categories of  Sankara's Works :

   

1) Bhasyas:

Acharya Sankara wrote Bhasyas on the 10 Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. They are indeed masterpieces. Today, study of Upanishads & Brahma Sutras is never considered complete without their study. 

The Upanishads on which He wrote his classic commentaries are:

Isavasya Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Kena Upanishad,  Mundaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad, Tattiriya Upanishad, Prasna Upanishad,  Chandhogya Upanishad  & Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Besides the above, Sankara also wrote the Bhasyas on the following:

Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu Sahasranama,  Hastamalakyam, Sanat-sujatiya

2) Prakarana Granthas:

Prakarana Granthas are writings that explain complex concepts in a simple manner, in an easily understandable language/manner and explain the terms and terminologies employed in the Shastras (Shastras are primary texts like Brahma Sutras, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita etc.)  

Some of the Prakarana Granthas composed by Sankara are:-

Upadesha Sahasri, Vivekachudamani, Atma Bodha, Tattva Bodha, Aparokshanubhuti, Atma-anatma Viveka,  Prabodha Sudhakar, Prasnotarmallika, Brahma-gyanavalli, Vakya Vritti, Laghu Vakya Vritti, Drg-drshya Viveka, Shata Shloki, Swatma Nirupana, Sarva-vedanta-siddhanta-sar Samgraha

 3) Stotras:

Sankara also composed numerous Stotras, i.e., Hymns, in praise and worship of God in various forms.

Following is the list which has most of the Stotras composed by Sankara. 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram, Bhaja Govindam, Dasa Shloki, Nirvana Shatakam, Manisha Panchakam, Hari-meede Stotram, Sadhana Panchakam, Sadachara Stotram, Pratah Smaran Stotram, Dhanyashtakam, Shat-padi, Veda-rajastava, Yoga Taravali Stotram, Ganga Stotram, Narmada Ashtakam, Ganesh Ashtakam, Guru Ashtakam, Saundarya Lahari, Tripura Sundari Stotram, Annapurna Stotram, Kashi Panchakam, Shiv Panchakshar Stotram, Shiv-aparadha-kshmapana Stotram, Devi-aparadha-kshmapana Stotram, Meenakshi Pancharatna Stotram, Bhavani Ashtakam, Govinda Ashtakam

Teachings

Sankara teaches that from a non-dualistic, deep state, bondage and liberation from bondage are illusory. That state of highest emancipation (liberation, freedom) is had by yoga-meditation (higher yoga). He stands for a thorough knowledge of reality through direct realization, which is an actual experience. In it, the individual soul perceives the Supreme Self as itself, and this great insight is the highest goal, called Moksha (Sanskrit : freedom) or liberation.

Samadhi at young age of 32

Sankaracharya is believed to have attained the Sarvajnapitha in Kashmir. After a while, He withdrew to Kedarnath and attained samadhi at the age of thirty-two.

Tattva Bodha

Tattva Bodha is a work in prose form that has been attributed to Sankaracharya. 

Tattva Bodha is a fundamental and important work in understanding higher texts of Vedanta like Upanishads and Brahma Sutra. 

Tattva Bodha introduces us to important terms used in Vedantic scriptures which every ardent student of Vedanta should be aware of. 

We will take up this work from the next post onwards, verse by verse.

Love.

Upadesa Saram - Post 37

ESSENCE OF UPADESA SARAM

Dear Readers, 

Though the Upadesa Saram theme ended with yesterday’s post where it is mentioned that the theme posts end with that post, still, a thought came to summarize the essence of the Essence where, Upadesa Saram itself is the Essence (Saram = Essence).

Hence one more concluding post on Upadesa Saram is given today.

What is the ultimate reality???

There is only one reality here. That reality is Self, of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. There is no separate reality other than this. One may call this by different names of Bhagavan, Ishwara, God, Brahman, Atman etc., but all these mean the one same Consciousness alone.

This Consciousness is not something different to be attained or achieved either here or here after (in the other worlds). But it is one’s own nature. Everyone is Consciousness alone. A person is already Consciousness alone. Some people who are aware of this are called realized people and those who are unaware of it think that they are the body and the mind.

  

The various paths lead only to this final step of knowing that ‘I am the Self' because that alone is realization or liberation or Mukthi or Moksha or freedom.

Now with the above concepts in mind, let us try to analyze the various paths that lead to the end of non-dual Knowledge.

1. Karma Yoga – The path of action

Action has its cause in desire and desire arises out of ignorance of one’s own real nature (AVIDYA-KAMA-KARMA). 

Therefore, action has its cause in ignorance. Since ignorance is the obstacle for realization, action cannot give realization. 

  

However, as Maharshi says in Shloka 3,

ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृतम् |

चित्तशोधकं मुक्तिसाधकम् || 

Easwara arpitam na icchayaa kritam

Chitta shodhakam mukti saadhakam

Work done as an offering to the Lord and without any expectation purifies the mind & thereby leads to realization. 

This is the path of action wherein an individual performs action but remains unattached to it. 

Thus, when a person does all actions and remains unaffected by it, he becomes neither the doer nor the enjoyer – this is the nature of the Self – thus unknowingly he identifies himself with the Self (which is his real nature). 

Thus, to sum up – Karma yoga is doing action without expectations and as an offering to the Lord.

And such actions purify one’s heart, reduce the level of ego and thus lead to the next level/stage in Spiritual path.

2. Bhakthi Yoga – The path of devotion

Bhakthi yoga or the path of devotion is that in which the individual becomes a devotee of the Lord. He forgets everything and remembers just the Lord. Not a single moment passes by without remembering the Lord.

  

There are two types of Bhakthi – lower devotion or Apara Bhakthi, higher devotion or Para Bhakthi. In lower devotion, the devotee feels the difference between himself and the Lord whereas in higher devotion the difference vanishes & only the Lord alone exists. 

As Krishna has said in The Gita that God resides in the heart of all beings. God is the very nature of all human beings. When that God who is present in the heart is prayed upon, then the devotee knows nothing but the Lord alone. Thus, everything becomes the Lord alone. Thus, slowly the difference of devotee and Lord vanishes & Lord alone remains behind, of the nature of Self or Consciousness.

3. Raja Yoga – The path of control of mind

In this path the seeker gains control of the mind through control of the breath. The breath and the mind are interrelated – when the breath is controlled, the mind becomes controlled.

But here also the mind only becomes dormant at times of Samadhi (Mano Laya) whereas after some time it creeps up again. Thus, the only way to remove the mind is to destroy it (Mano Nasha) through the thought of One Self. 

Only when the mind is destroyed, the Self or its Source is realized. This is what the path of Raja Yoga does. Even in this path, after control of mind, the mind has to be destroyed through contemplation on the ultimate reality of 'I am the Self' or ONE ULTIMATE REALITY alone.

4. Jnana Yoga – The path of knowledge

In this path, the seeker studies the ultimate reality put forth in the scriptures. He realizes that the world is an illusion in the ultimate reality of Self or Consciousness. The world is nothing but Consciousness alone with names and forms. The names and forms are mere illusions in Consciousness. 

The example for this is the dream world where the dreamer sees a world and the objects which are nothing but the dreamer alone. 

Exactly, in waking state also, the objects seen/experienced are all illusions, i.e., it is like dreaming in a waking state, where, all the objects perceived in the waking state are also non-existent (exactly as they were non-existent in the dream).

Only one who/that exists is the eternal Knower, eternal Chaitanya, eternal and changeless, which were explained through the Pancha Kosha and the three states of consciousness talk posted in the group.

Maharshi, thus, in this small work of Upadesa Saram has propounded beautifully all of the above four paths and asserted that all these different paths lead to the non-dual knowledge, the non-dual reality that ‘I am the Self’ – one without a second.

Let us all try to implement whatever Ramana Maharshi has explained in this work of His so that it leads us to the real and natural state of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss Absolute.

  

Kayena Vaacha Manasa indriyer va buddhi atmana va prakrite svabhavaat

Karomi yad yad sakalam parasmai naaraayanaaya ithi samarpayaami

Whatever I do through action, words or thoughts with the Ego or the Intellect & out of inbuilt nature/tendencies, I offer all those to Narayana (the Supreme Lord who resides in the heart of all beings).

In a brief talk/post in a group, it was explained that not only our thoughts, words, actions but our mind, our intellect, our Vasanas or impressions - if these things are surrendered to the Lord, then, a day is bound to come when, like we take extra care to offer purest naivedyam to our Lord, our mind, intellect, senses - all these things which are being offered to Bhagawan, also are rendered pure. 

Mujhe Shakti do mere Sai Shiva, mujhe Bhakti do mere Sai Shiva, mujhe Mukhti do mere Sai Shiva!!!

Love.