Verse 29
(Continued…)
बन्धमुक्त्यतीतं परं सुखम् |
विन्दतीह जीवस्तु दैविकः || २९ ||
bandhamuktyatītaṁ paraṁ sukham |
vindatīha jīvastu daivikaḥ || 29 ||
Beyond
bondage and liberation, the Supreme happiness,
He finds here that the jiva is certainly
the Divine.
Beyond bondage and liberation
Maharshi
adds in this shloka that the Self is beyond bondage and liberation because the
Self is ever-realized. There is no liberation for the Self.
Both bondage
and liberation belong to the 'Aham Vritti' or the ‘I-thought’. Bondage and
liberation are only at the level of the mind. They are from the standpoint of
the ordinary mind. The impulse to strive for happiness in the ordinary man is
also mind-driven.
That is not
the impulse that drives the sage. The sage has seen that the mind itself is an
illusion, and has raised himself beyond it to the Divine Consciousness. His joy
is therefore beyond the ideas of bondage and liberation.
Divine state
An Acharya of
Chinmaya Mission explains the state of such a sage / saintly person /
Jivanmukhta as ‘Divinity on two legs’, thus:
A person who has experienced the pure Self becomes a Divine
person with divine qualities. Divinity pulsates through such a person, flows
right through him without any obstruction. All noble virtues become part and
parcel of him.
There is not a trace of hatred for others in him, as there
is no ‘other’ for him! He has a purity that
transcends worldliness. His actions are spontaneous, not artificial.
The personality of the sage has a special beauty that is not
seen in ordinary humans. When we do not find the usual human weaknesses in a
person, we call him Divine.
The entire Cosmos takes care of him. Everything is taken
care of for him. His needs are met in a mysterious manner. His work is taken
care of by the Lord Himself. One observes a remarkable co-operation from cosmic
forces which seem to lie at his disposal, eagerly waiting to be at his service.
It is as though the whole universe is working in his favor.
To understand what divinity is, the only way is to see it in
action in such a saintly person. He stands as ‘Divinity on two legs’.
The state of
such a Jivanmukhta, liberated while alive, has been explained vividly in many
treatises. Swami Dattatreya has dedicated a Gita itself, all about such a
sage, titled “Jivanmukhta Gita”. Swami Sivananda has written beautiful
commentary on the verses of Jivanmukhta Gita.
