Vivekachudamani - Post 13

 Verse 7 

अमृतत्वस्य नाशास्ति वित्तेनेत्येव हि श्रुतिः ।
ब्रवीति कर्मणो मुक्तेरहेतुत्वं स्फुटं यतः ॥ ७ ॥

 

Amrtatvasya nasasti vittenetyeva hi srutih, 

Bravlti karmano mukterahetutvam sphutam yatah. 

 

(It is clear that Liberation cannot be the effect of good works, for Sruti herself declares that there is no hope for immortality by means of wealth.)

 

Moksha cannot be attained through wealth, If moksha cannot be attained through karma, what is accomplished through wealth? Shruti refers to karma as not a means of giving liberation, as being capable of giving liberation. 

 

One line in the verse says no moksha through money. Another line says there is no mokṣha through karma.  All the karma phalams are the end product of a process or a series of processes whether it is physical process or mental process; it is an end product. If it is an end product, it has got a beginning. If it has got a beginning it will certainly have an end. 

 

And that is why word phalam is split as phalgutaya dhiyate iti phalam. That which rots and perishes is called phalam. From that very derivation it is very clear that whatever karma phalam you acquire, they will get rotten. 

 

A sage says,

“Amrtattvam is the goal indicated in all the Upanisads. When it is translated as merely immortality, readers are apt to misunderstand it to be a profit that can accrue to a man only after his death. 

This misunderstanding then must take away the edge from religion and dry up all enthusiasm for spiritual living, especially from the modern man who wants immediate gains. He is not ready to invest even a thought in a proposition that will yield to him a great profit only at a future time. 

 

Correctly interpreted, the 'immortality' promised  by the Srutis is not a state or condition that comes to us after our  departure from this world. It is a perfection that can be lived here and now. By the term 'immortality' the rishis indicate a state of continuous existence, which has in it no experience of finitude. 

 

All Acharyas, irrespective of their philosophical beliefs accept the declaration of the scriptures as absolute and as having unquestionable authority. This attitude is not acceptable to the modern youth, who, in his colossal ignorance thinks himself daring enough to question even the rishis. 

 

The Acharyas accepted the declarations of the Srutis because of the bonafide character and temperament of the rishis who declared them. They lived in complete contentment and happiness in their self-discovery and it was for the seekers to make a footpath and reach them with their questions and doubts upon life and its meaning, the goal and the path.

 

To those seekers, out of sheer kindness, these Men of Realisation declared the Truth of their own experiences, in a burning spirit of inspiration and love. They had no intentions to misguide these precious young hearts of the generation.”

Immortality is impossible with any action. Avidya, Kama Karma - Actions are born necessarily out of ignorance of one's real divine identity and hence, when the source of actions is ignorance, such acts can never get immortality or liberation, says Sankara in Atma Bodha.

Immortality is possible only when there is death of "Avidya", when one's ignorance or Ego is transcended. Ignorance has to die, for one to exist as Immortal SELF.

 

Love.

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 12

 Verse 6 

वदन्तु शास्त्राणि यजन्तु देवान्  

कुर्वन्तु कर्माणि भजन्तु देवताः ।

आत्मैक्यबोधेन  विना विमुक्तिः न

र्न सिध्यति ब्रह्मशतान्तरेऽपि ॥ ६॥

 

Vadantu sdstrdni yajantu devan 

kurvantu karmani bhajantu devatah, 

Atmaikyabodhena vina vimuktih na 

sidhyati brahmasatantare'pi. 

 

(Let erudite scholars quote all the scriptures, let gods be invoked  through sacrifices, let elaborate rituals be performed, let personal gods be  propitiated - yet, without the experience of one's identity with the Self,  there shall he no Liberation for the individual, not even in the lifetime  of a hundred Brahmas put together.)

 

A sage says,

 

“A disciple who has come to the feet of a Master of Vedanta, is expected to already know some of the traditional techniques of the religious world wherein, for purposes of training the animal-man into the man-man, various methods of discipline have been advised such as study of the scriptures, performing sacrifices, making offerings, worship of a personal God and even selfless seva. 

A devotee, who has been through kirtana, puja, japa and dhyana, developing his devotion for a personal God for a number of years, will not leave his daily routine, even if he were asked to do so by the greatest living Master in the world. 

Just as one gets addicted to a false way of living, so one can easily become habituated to whatever is accepted as a good way of living. To live in a routine will never yield the secret of living in inspiration. 

To get habituated to any method is to get into a rut and baulk at all progress. We must have the freedom, at every moment, to change our pattern of living and seek new methods of keeping the mind and intellect occupied in lively warmth of love and cheer. Else, even our worship becomes mechanical and in the end, stultifying.”

 

For one who has not got glimpse of Self, Sankara says brahmasatantarepi; he shall not attain. Liberation even in 100 Brahmas put together.

 

For Brahma, one calendar day is supposed to be 2000 chatur yuga; One chatur yuga is supposed to be 4320000 years. Like this, imagine 100 Brahma days!!

 

Sankara does not condemn all rituals, prayers, worships etc. But, with all these things followed to perfection, if desire / mumukshatva for liberation is not there, if intense nidhidhyasana is not taken up by a seeker until he gets subjective experience of SELF, Sankara says, all other rituals are of little use.

Generally, in a congregation of devotees/ human beings, if it is asked , “ What is the purpose of  your Life? “, then hardly anyone would be able to answer.

Further, if one is asked, Why do you do all these rituals, these yagnas, pujas etc? 

Answer could be- “this is followed in our home for hundreds of years”, or, it could be “I do them for my inner peace”

So, for 50 years, one has been doing all the rituals for peace and still he has not got peace??

Inner peace, inner tranquility, inner bliss is only possible if one gets the glimpse of SELF within. 

A little peace/ happiness derived from all other actions, even spiritual pursuits, will come and go.

Sankara roared the same essence in Nirvana Shatkam in the line, “ Na Mantro Na Teertham Na Veda Na Yagna:” and then declared what he really is, “ chidananda roopah Sivoham, Sivoham”

After realizing SELF, even if one engages in kirtan, in puja, in yagna, there is no duality between him the SELF and the God on whom he sings, for whom he does puja etc.

 

Love.

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 11

 Verse 5 

 

इतः को न्वस्ति मूढात्मा यस्तु स्वार्थे प्रमाद्यति ।

दुर्लभं मानुषं देहं प्राप्य तत्रापि पौरुषम् ॥५॥

 

Itah konvasti mudhatma yastu svdrthe pramadyati, 

durlabham manusam deham prapya tatrapi paurusam. 

 

(Is there a greater fool than the man who, having got the rare chance of a human birth and there too, the masculine qualities of the head and heart, falls short in his efforts to rediscover himself?) 

This is an extension of previous verse where Sankara talks about (spiritual) suicide which was explained in detail in the last post.

A sage wrote

“All creatures must wait for millions and trillions of years until nature takes them up step by step and moulds them into greater evolutionary equipments. In all the lower strata of existence, evolution is not a conscious development on the part of the individual but an involuntary thrust up received by him from the course of nature. 

 

Millennia of growth, change and decay must pass before a rock becomes soil, the soil anchors a tree, the tree bears fruit and the fruit contributes towards the making of a human being. 

Man alone, of all the species of the living kingdoms, can hasten his own evolution by cooperating with the great eternal scheme of things around him. Physically, he has evolved to perfection and nature has nothing more to improve him.  His next lap of evolution awaits him at the level of his mind and intellect and this is a process in which nature cannot help him at all. 

With this conclusion of the sastra in mind, when the Acharya takes up his pen to guide the generation, he must necessarily exclaim and conclude that there can never be a greater fool than the one who, being blessed with a human birth and the necessary mental and intellectual capacities, does not intelligently invest them for the higher purpose of self-redemption and self-rediscovery.”

 

yastu svarthe pramadyati 

A man does everything else in his life and he misses the most important thing; what is that. tva arthe; artha means purushartha.

 

Sva arthe means sva puruaharthe. With regard to the accomplishment of one's own purushartha, pramadyati, this person is negligent.

First a person squanders his health in search of wealth; then he squanders his wealth in search of health and ultimately loses both. So even being negligent with regard to health is the greatest foolishness called; health is the basic foundation on which dharma artha kama maksha all the four are resting. 

Therefore this person pramadyati; negligent with regard to dharma, with regard to artha, with regard to kama; and above all with regard to moksha. 

Swami Chidananda says,

"Hindu philosophy speaks of the four purusharthas that every human individual strives to attain — purushartha chatushtaya. And all of you also know that they are summed up in the words dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

In whatever sense these words are used, there is one thing that it ultimately brings home, namely, ends are obtained by endeavour. Worthwhile attainments and goals are the fruit — note that I do not use the word “result”— they are the fruit of endeavour. They are the fruit of effort. 

Gurudev (Swami Sivananda) sang a song: “Do real sadhana, my dear children.” He said, “Do real sadhana.” Doing is there, it means effort. It means action, it means dynamism. It means well directed, intelligent, purposeful rajas, a rajas that does not direct you, but that is directed by you."

"Purushartha is the key to realisation. You may know only a little, but you put it into practice. Gurudev said Twenty Spiritual Instructions are enough to grant you Self-realisation, and when he said that he knew what he was saying. And he was saying the truth. Not that he discouraged studies, but he wanted to emphasise action, not dry studies.

If you want to become a professor, a lecturer, then studies are very necessary, absolutely indispensable, very important indeed. But if you want to become a dynamic Yogi, more important than tons of knowledge is practice, action, purushartha, sadhana, yoga abhyasa. Spiritual life means engaging in active spiritual endeavor, it means purushartha."

 

Love.