Sadhana Panchakam - Post 17

Sankara commenting on this mantra explains that the wise one is like a swan which drinks the milk separating it from the water whereas a person of little wisdom, due to the lack of discrimination, chooses the pleasant for the sake of bodily wellbeing.

 

Bhagwad Gita says "Sin" is mistake committed by an ignorant individual ego against its own divine nature as the eternal soul.  

 

"Pati iti Papam". That which protects our ignorance and ignorance created wrong notions and negative tendencies is sin, the result of which is agitations and sorrow in the end. When we do prohibited actions, do not follow scriptural injunction, do not keep our resolve, compromise with our ideal it is 'sin'. 

 

In our mind, a deep liking for pleasure is created, so even though we want to get rid of that inclination, secretly we keep enjoying it. As long as we 'secretly enjoy it' it can't go away. Desire pushes us to commit that sin. 

 

The seats of desire are senses, mind and intellect. Desire first veils our knowledge and then makes us commit sin. We are not open to any reasoning once that happens. 

 

In the present, desires arise through sense perceptions e.g. when we see/hear/taste/smell/touch, it creates desires. 

 

Bringing to memory 'enjoyed objects in the past' can also create desires. Another way we sustain desires is through our intellect, by imagining, daydreaming and planning about future sense pleasures. 

 

To wash away the sins, we have to first control our sense organs. By a higher goal, we can conquer lower urges. By emotions like love to God, respect to elders, we can control sense organs. 

 

By noble ideals of intellect we can control our mind. However if we make Atman, which is superior to intellect, as our goal, then we can kill desires and wash away sinful tendencies. 

 

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares the general proposition that as one acts, so does one become. Performer of good actions becomes good and of bad actions becomes bad. 

 

Since human beings perform acts according to their attributes (guna) and inclinations (svabhava) born of nature, enlightened persons perform acts as ordained by scriptures and unenlightened persons perform acts as influenced by the senses. 

 

With determined mind and resolve one can change performance of one’s actions from negative to the positive, accepting the fundamental proposition that entire human race having been born from Prajapati have equal opportunity to become enlightened devas without being unenlightened asuras. 

 

Sankara explains that devas and asuras are nothing but the organs, like the speech and the rest. How can the organs become devas and asuras. 

 

They becomes devas because they  are shining under the influence of thoughts and actions taught in scriptures’ and asuras because ‘they are influenced by their natural instincts and actions, based on perception and inference and directed to visible ends’. 

 

The bench mark is performance of actions, paapa and punya being within the reach of every one, the position of the Lord being only that of Saakshi, Witness, dispensing justice according to the performance of enlightened and unenlightened actions.

 

Karma is the aggregation of the luminous actions as well as non-luminous actions, it being accepted that the cause-effect syndrome does not cease with the death of the body, balance of the aggregation of previous life being carried forward to shape the future life. 

 

Till the cycle is terminated by performing desire less actions, without giving rise to results, the self continues to seek gross body to work out the effect of the previous Karmas. 

 

Enlightenment is the natural state of the Self and the moment the unenlightened obstacle on mind ceases to obstruct the vision, the Self shines in its own luminous light, even as the space reveals the deep and vast extent, once the clouds intervening the vision are removed.

 

Cleansing one’s Mind of the impure sensory influences and supplemented by ethical and moral actions, one becomes enlightened to the Brahman, which is the Source of all effulgence. 

 

Sankara says, the auspicious and in-auspicious results caused by ignorance can only be destroyed by Wisdom along with daily purificatory rites and rituals. The important purpose being termination of taints in one‘s mind.

 

In a session on “Vasanas”, the author concluded thus:

 

Egoism is the first Asuric (demonic) son of avidya (ignorance). Egoism has two Asuric daughters - raga and vasana. 

 

There is an intimate connection between Vasana and Raga. 

 

Raga is attachment. Mamata (mine-ness) is due to raga. If you want to kill raga and vasana, you must annihilate egoism. If you want to kill egoism, you must first kill avidya. Focus on destroying avidya; raga and vasana will die by themselves.

 

Just as a washer man removes dirt through dirt, just as a traveler removes the thorn in his foot through another thorn, so also the impure mind should be slain by the pure mind.

 

He who has annihilated the lower or the impure mind, drives away rebirths to a great distance from him. The pure vasanas with which the sage performs actions cannot produce rebirths for him.

 

All impure vasanas are fried when you get knowledge of the Self or Brahma Jnana. Meditation, japa, kirtan, practice of pranayama, Brahma vichara, study of religious books and satsanga generate pure vasanas.

 

When the mind is freed from the desires for objects and when it rests in the Self or atman, you will enjoy eternal bliss. 

 

When the mind is freed from all cravings or longing for objects, when it is controlled in the heart, when it attains the reality of the atman, a jiva attains moksha or the final beatitude of life.

 

Love.