Verse 21
रथ्याचर्पटविरचितकन्थः पुण्यापुण्यविवर्जितपन्थः ।
योगी योगनियोजितचित्तो रमते बालोन्मत्तवदेव ॥ २२॥
rathyā carpaṭa viracita kanthaḥ
puṇyāpuṇya vivarjita panthaḥ,
yogī yoganiyojita
citto ramate bālonmattavadeva
The yogi who wears
but a quilt made of rags, who walks the path that is beyond merit and demerit,
whose mind is joined in perfect yoga with its
goal, revels in God consciousness, and lives thereafter as a child or as a
madman.
The previous verse ended with the two
essential qualities an aspirant has to possess to tread this path - Mumukshatva
and God’s grace.
This verse, though appearing quite simple,
goes very deep, indeed, and sets apart the goal of Liberation from other goals
offered by various religious practices.
i) The Path of Renunciation
The Vedas are a body which provides the
knowledge by which one may achieve his desired goal.
That goal may be different, for different
beings who read and practice vedas.
Some of them may desire worldly prosperity,
Some others may desire to attain a heavenly
existence and,
Very few may desire Liberation from Samsara
itself. This is the highest goal beyond which there is nothing further to
attain. They renounce this world and intensely pursue sadhana so as to attain
Liberation.
The first and second goals have desire as
their basis. The third is unique in that its basis is renunciation. This
is depicted in the first line by the simile of a Godadi.
Such men of renunciation radiate peace and
love in the world. In return, they do not expect anything from the world.
Though they dedicate their whole life for the world, they do not demand / expect
even a single piece of cloth in return, to protect themselves.
So long as there are rags thrown on roadside
by someone, they are satisfied wearing such discarded rags, stitch them
together and wear them, that too, for protecting their body from vagaries of
nature on one side and to maintain the social norms and accordingly, not roam
around naked, though they have no body consciousness and hence, they do not
even need that piece of cloth.
The spirit of Renunciation is the first
essential feature of the Sadhana that leads one to Liberation. This path is to
be trod by one who has the sole desire for God alone, not for anything created
by Him such as available on earth or in heaven.
ii) The Path Beyond Dharma
Good deeds bind a man with a golden chain
whereas evil deeds bind him with an iron chain. In essence, both are chains
only and both bind a man. He has to enjoy for his good deeds and suffer for his
bad deeds.
A man of renunciation has no desire for
any outer object and so there is no need for earning merits in its case. Hence,
it does not require any actions to be performed to attain it. It needs only
knowledge of the Lord’s nature to “attain” it.
Karma earned as a result of merits demerits
in previous births is called prarabdha karma or Praptam in Tamil.
In Ashtavakra Gita, Janaka roars and says, “I
have no prarabdha Karma”.
It is not that a man of realization does not
have prarabdha karma to exhaust. Sages like Ramana or Ramakrishna have
suffered from cancer even after Self-realization. If that be the case, how
Janaka can say, I do not have any prarabdha karma??
It means, "Janaka has gone beyond the prarabdha karma caused / left
over, as a result of his karmas upto the moment of my realization".
So, whatever effects of merits / demerits
left over is not cognized by a man of realization as He flies higher
and higher in Brahma Ananda, with no mind to suffer for past demerits and to
enjoy for past merits, though, physically, the body might be undergoing
suffering.
And, after realization, he exists only for
the welfare of the world and hence, there is no way that his actions can fetch
him any merits or demerits.
iii) Abidance in the Self:
The spiritual practice resorted to by the
aspirant of the third goal, i.e. Liberation, is also very different from that
of aspirants of the other two goals. The seeker of Liberation devotes himself
to meditation on the Supreme Lord. This is called Nidhidhyasana in
Vedanta.
The Attainment of the Goal
The reference to a child or a madman is to
reflect the mental state of the realized sage.
A verse from Jivanmukhtananda lahari
explains the child like nature of a realized yogi thus:-
"He may at times play with innocent
children who smile and dance, clapping their hands in unison in devotional
rejoicing; sometimes he may be with
grown up men and women in the prime of youth, participating in their gay talks
and sports; sometimes he may be wailing and lamenting along with the old and
the decrepit given to their habitual brooding and agitation. Although he
accepts all of them alike for his company, his mind, illumined and naturally
peaceful as it is, will not be the least duped or disturbed on any account due
to the blessing of his benign Teacher."
Another example is that of a madman. A madman
acts contrary to all social norms or expectations; hence he is called “mad”.
The sage also acts from standards that are not accepted by people! His
actions appear to ordinary men to be similar to a “mad-man”. An example will
help to clarify what is meant here:
Our concept of enjoyment is wealth, woman and
fame. But the saint’s joys are of a different kind. Hence, he appears to us as
a child or a madman.
A madman is merely one who sees what you
don’t and you see what he does not – that is the only difference. We do not
have a visa into his world; nor does he have one into our world!
Also, in the Avadhutha Gita, such nature of
an Avadhutha (the one who has cast off everything in the world) is described.
The irony is that, whereas world looks
at them as mad, for them, all others in the world appear to be mad (mad
after money, mad after power, mad after woman, even mad / fanatic over God / religion
etc. etc.)
A Brahma Jnani thus moves around in the
world, beyond sins and virtues, beyond good and bad, beyond liberation and
bondage, beyond all possible duality which a human mind can comprehend or
imagine.
He exists verily as God!
Love.
