Verse 46
तत्वस्वरूपानुभवादुत्पन्नं ज्ञानमंजसा ।
अहं ममेति चाज्ञानं बाधते दिग्भ्रमादिवत् ॥ ४६॥
TATTVA SWAROOPA ANUBHAVAAT
UTPANNAM JNAANAM ANJASAA
AHAM MAMA ITI CHA AJNAANAM
BAADHATE DIG-BHRAMA-AADI-VAT
[As a result of the experience of the Truth, Self-knowledge
is gained, and instantly the ignorant notions of “I” and “mine” are
destroyed, just as wrong notions of directions (are destroyed by right
information).
To attain something that is not with us
requires three things: knowledge, time and space. We need
the (secular) knowledge of when and where to get it, the time to get it and to
cover the space that separates us from it.
But the attainment of the Self is not in this
category. It is already in us. To get it we need only Self-knowledge – no
secular knowledge, no time and no coverage of space.
These two categories are given technical
terms in Sanskrit by Indian Philosophers (these are not terms exclusive to
Vedanta):
Apraaptasya Praapti: The
former belongs to this category, which means “attaining that which we do not
possess.” For this category, Action is required. The results of an action
always come in the ‘future’ of the actual action, whether that may be just
seconds away or centuries away.
With action comes the accompaniment of the
whole train consequential to action, namely, the creation of merit or demerit
(Punya or Paapa), the time when it will fructify, the actual fructification and
the experience of the joy or sorrow.
This is the cycle of Karma which, when looked
at compositely and over the long term, is the same as the cycle of rebirth, of
endless repetition.
Praptasya Prapti: This refers to the
category of attaining “that which is already with us, but concealed from us.”
Self-realization falls in this category.
Here Karma is not necessary. We do not need
to go through an endless cycle of births and deaths to acquire it. We simply
need Knowledge to destroy the ignorance that conceals it. No action is
required.
“Digbhramadivat”: Wrong Notions
About Directions
An Acharya takes great pains to
illustrate why he considered this simile to be of outstanding quality. It is
listed out so that the application can be compared to it thereafter. As usual
it had its entertaining side:
1.
Patika: There is a traveler, who is journeying at night.
2. Nagta Andhakara: He gets lost in the dense darkness and cloudy conditions.
3. Dig Bhrama: He loses his sense of direction completely.
4. Raja Marga: He loses the main road on which he was.
5. Yatra-Tatra: He roams or wanders about here and there as a result.
6. Kantaka: He
gets hurt by the sharp stones, he hits against trees, thorns, etc.
7. Duhkham: He
experiences great sorrows as a result of these.
8. Surya Tejo: In the morning, at the coming of the dawn,
9. Dig Bhrama: He is able to see his way again, and gets the proper directions.
10. Raja Marga: He finds the main road which he had lost.
11. Anandam: He is
ever happy that he has found his way once again.
The application of this simile, stage by
stage, as laid out above is as follows:
1.
Jiva: The individual soul is also on a similar
journey.
2. Avidya: He
gets lost in the dense darkness of Avidya or ignorance.
3. Aham-Mama: He loses his true identity and gets identified with “I” and “mine”.
4. Brahma Marga: He loses his path of going along the road to Brahman.
5. Janma-Marana: So he gets knocked about and goes through endless rebirths.
6. Vighna: These
cause him to go through many a hardship or obstacle.
7. Duhkha: He
experiences great sorrows as a result.
8. Jnana Tejo: Then at the right time he comes in touch with the spiritual teaching.
9. Sadhana: He
does spiritual practices in earnest according to his Guru’s guidance.
10. Brahma Marga: He gets established on the spiritual path once again.
11. Moksham: He
finally attains liberation and enjoys everlasting bliss.
One may view this as follows: Those aspects
of the spiritual journey which require action are connected to the aspect of
spiritual unfoldment needed to reverse and nullify the Karma accrued from the
first category of Action.
In this Shloka, Acharya Sankara says when
you experience your own form which is like the divine / Absolute (Tattva),
there is knowledge that you are joy. The ignorance of “i” and “mine” is
released.
Pay attention to your own experience that
your happiness is from the Self. The more we reflect on this, the more we
become independent of people’s words, success / failure and stress does not
touch us.
With Right thinking (realizing that source of
joy is myself), there is experience of joy and the more experience I have the
more insight there is to the source of that experience. This can be reversed
and understood as — with right
thinking there is insight and with insight comes experience.
With enough reflection, contemplation becomes
natural. “i” and “mine” is wrong thinking. Ignorance such as “i” and “mine” is
released with right thinking, experience and insight just like being
directionless is rectified when you are given one direction.
When we start to have Vairagya then we start
to become independent of “Ahamkara” or ego. Renunciation of ego (“i”), and
realizing that there is a deeper, higher “I” makes one free.
Love.
