Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 28

With the previous post, Dakshinamurthy stotram or Ashtakam (8 verses) actually ends.

The remaining two verses are ancillary to the text. The first aims to assist the Sadhaka to raise his level of eligibility for the Ashtakam; and the second tells us about the fruit of studying the Ashtakam. 

 

Verse 9

 

Earth, water, fire, air, space, sun, moon and man, (the individual soul),

Thus, shining everywhere are the movable and immovable (sentient and inert) objects of His Eightfold Manifestation,

Other than this, there exists nothing else, to those who reflect well. From that One Supreme Cause arise all manifestations,

To that “Supreme Cause”, the Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation. He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti!

The usual technique of Upasana is prescribed for those diligent students who, even after a deep and careful study of the Ashtakam (verses 1-8), are not able to appreciate the import of them all. 

Lack of integration within will make students unfit for such subtle flights to the lofty heights of Vedanta when it discusses the ultimate theme. To help them gain the necessary integration, this stanza prescribes an Upasana.”

The “Ashta Murti” Upasana to Develop Bhakti

The 5 elements of the universe are also the constituents of the body.

The sun and the moon are the two eyes.

As Eswara rules the external world, so too, the Jiva rules the inner world. Thus, all the eight components listed in the verse are seen within the body.

The Upasaka feels that whatever is done by the body is worship of Eswara.

A saint says, “A saint who used to feel that when he slept, he was prostrating to the Lord; when he bathed, he was bathing the Lord; when he ate, he was feeding the Lord. In this way, he took his whole body to be the temple of God. Such practices enrich Indian culture and spirituality. 

They take the practice of religion to the highest pedestal. There is no superstition in such practices. They arise from a sincere love for the Lord, and a strong desire to please Him and serve Him in every way possible.”

We have come across this eightfold manifestation of the Lord’s material nature in Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Saram, where it is used for the same purpose – as an Upasana to broaden the devotion of the Bhakta. 

The same is enumerated here as the five elements, sun, moon and the Jiva (man/individual soul).

Aharnaatha: This means “God of the Day”; it stands here for the sun. 

Himaanshu: This means “having cool rays”; it stands here for the moon.

Pumaan: is the individual soul or Jeeva, the living being, that is bound in Samsara.

All movable and immovable objects are covered by these 8 items. 

A verse in Ganapati Atharva Upanishad says,

You (Eswara) are earth, water, fire, air and space.

Typically, five elements are enough to represent God of the Cosmos. However, poetic representations usually include the Sun and the Moon. 

There are many hymns in the Vedas that commonly expresses Eswara as the one who has the Sun as his right eye and the Moon as his left eye. 

So this representation gives you that vision of Eswara having not just five elements but the Sun and the Moon. It poetically represents the cosmic perspective. 

The universe is also a conscious, intelligent living thing. So, the Consciousness is the eight element presented here with the word Puman, which is the man or individual soul or consciousness.

The 8-fold manifestation is a simplification of 36 components given below.

5 elements,

5 Pranas,

5 Karma Indriyas,

5 Jnana Indriyas,

4-fold Antahkarana,

Jeeva,

Time,

Prakriti,

Maya,

Vidya,

Purusha,

Bindu,

Nada,

Shakti,

Shiva,

Shanta and

Ateet.

Everything in this Cosmos is included in the eight-fold representation. There is nothing left out. So, this is absolute, fully encompassing expression.

Brahman 

All that exists is Brahman, is the reality because of which material things exists.

Brahman is also the reality because of which Consciousness itself exists. 

Even experience exists due to Brahman. So, Brahman manifests not only as material inert things, but manifests as sentient things and sentiency itself, Consciousness itself, experience itself. Other than that Brahman, supreme all pervasive being, nothing else  exists.

This is a poetic way stating the same fact that ancient rishis declared,

 

Continued…

 

Love.

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 27

 Verse 8

 

 

He who is the Purusha (Brahman), (seeing / witnessing these) when whirled in Maya,

to that “Ultimate Seer”, the Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation;

He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti!

This Drishti-Srishti model is the “Uttam Siddhanta” of Vedanta. The Mandukya Upanishad takes it up almost from the very outset, when it insists on taking the letters of Om to mean the objects of the respective states, and when it lumps together the waking and dream states in the very first chapter.

Drik Drsya viveka is all about Drishti-Srishti, Seer and the Seen.

In Dakshinamurthy Stotram also, this verse consciously drives us to become aware of this model. The very first verse referred to the world as “a reflected city in a mirror” and we said that the mirror is Maya. This Maya manifests in us as our mind. Transcending mind is equivalent to transcending Maya.

This is the model that will suit the full-time meditator. It is the model for the spiritual outlook on life. It is the model where the only Sadhana to be done is to go beyond the mind. No other external Sadhana is needed. 

Therefore, it stands to reason that only the most qualified ones are able to benefit from this model. The pre-requisite for this model is to have detachment, dispassion and a mind that is very meticulously trained to reason and think. Hence, this model is not so popular among the majority of people.

There are no unknown objects in this model. What one sees, that alone exists. That which is not seen simply does not exist as far as the person is concerned.

The Sadhaka’s whole world is in his mind. Everything becomes within his control. He takes full responsibility for any changes to be made in his life. This is the direct path.

The Truth About Relationships

Having understood the two theories relating the world to the mind, we now come back to the verse and explain its message in terms of the latter theory. If the Drishti-Srishti model is used, then all the relations mentioned are considered to be delusions.

The no.1 delusion is cause and effect. Since there is no creation in the Drishiti Srishti model, there is no need for a system of cause and effect to explain the origin of objects. From this primary delusion, are born the other delusions: the possessor and the possessed; the teacher and the taught; and father and son. 

However, as we have seen, the verse may be interpreted using the Srishti-Drishti model. In this case it can be reconciled with the Truth by saying that all these relationships are superimpositions on the Self. Being superimpositions, they have relative reality, but in relation to the Absolute, they are unreal or false. It is admitted that their relative reality does have some purpose.

For example, the teacher and disciple relationship is of great value, even though it exists on the relative plane, because it promotes the growth of understanding. Most relationships will exist purely in the realm of unreality. 

All relationships which do not lead one to an understanding of the Truth are of no worth at all. This applies to the majority of cases which are based on worldly interchanges without any reference to the Truth.

In addition to what we experience, there is the Time element which determines when we experience them. Deep sleep, dream and waking follow each other on a time-axis. Deep sleep is omitted here because there is no mind available to experience anything.

The above experiences of the Srishti-Drishti model are experienced by Brahman, as the Atman within man when “whirled” or tossed about by Maya. Relative reality is given to all the experiences encountered in the world.

Sri Ramana says,

Quote

“I do not teach only the ajata doctrine. I approve of all schools. The same truth has to be expressed in different ways to suit the capacity of the hearer. The ajata doctrine says, “Nothing exists except the one reality. 

There is no birth or death, no projection or drawing in [of the world], no sadhaka [no seeker], no mumukshu [no one seeking liberation], no mukta [no liberated person], no bondage, no liberation. The one unity alone exists ever.”

‘To those who find it difficult to grasp this truth and who ask. “How can we ignore this solid world we see all around us?” the dream experience is pointed out and they are told, “All that you see depends on the seer. Apart from the seer, there is no seen.”

‘This is called the drishti-srishti vada, or the argument that one first creates out of his mind and then sees what his mind itself has created.

‘To those who cannot grasp even this and who further argue, “The dream experience is so short, while the world always exists. The dream experience was limited to me. 

But the world is felt and seen not only by me, but by so many, and we cannot call such a world non-existent,” the argument called srishti-drishti vada is addressed and they are told, “God first created such and such a thing, out of such and such an element and then something else, and so forth.” 

That alone will satisfy this class. Their mind is otherwise not satisfied, and they ask themselves, “How can all geography, all maps, all sciences, stars, planets and the rules governing or relating to them and all knowledge be totally untrue?” To such it is best to say, “Yes. God created all this and so you see it.”’

unquote

How does  a Brahma Jnani sees this creation?

For Him, consciousness is a reality because of which everything exists. He will see everything in the world as Himself (Pure SELF).  

Everything in the world such as cause, and effect is seen as nothing but the manifestation of His own Consciousness. 

He sees everything in the world as manifestation of His own consciousness,  including cause and effect ,  master  and His  connection to His master, a student  and  his teacher,  a father  and  his son  etc..

In simple words, if you have attained Brahman, then everything is manifestation of the same divinity. 

The divinity is present in yourself as yourself, the same divinity manifests as the entire world, as every person, as every tree, as every rock. 

The same divinity manifests as your Consciousness. The same divinity manifests in all forms.

The last line salutes the Guru in the context of this verse as the “Ultimate Seer”, known as Sri Dakshinamurti.

The one who is Brahma Jnani, who sees the oneness of all; unto that , this salutation , who is in the form of my guru  as well as in the form of Dakshinamurthy.

Love.

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 26

 Verse 8

 

He who sees / witnesses the World of cause and effect, related as

i) possessions and possessor, 

ii) taught and teacher,

iii) father and son,

in Himself as Atman; these being further differentiated into the dream and waking states,

He who is the Purusha (Brahman), (seeing / witnessing these) when whirled in Maya,

to that “Ultimate Seer”, the Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation;

He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti!

The main topics discussed here are Jagat, Atman, Brahman and Maya. Brahman is experiencing the Jagat as Atman under the influence of Maya. Whatever and whenever He experiences, He remains unaffected by them all. For in the ‘Seen-seer’ chain, Brahman or Purusha is the ultimate Seer. There is no Seer higher than Him. All else is seen by Him.

Initially, these lines may not mean very much unless we introduce two concepts well-known in Vedanta philosophy. These are 2 different outlooks on life. They are: 

A. The Srishti – Drishti Model “As is the world, so is our vision.”

B. The Drishti – Srishti Model “As is the vision, so is our (own) world.”

 

The Srishti – Drishti Model:

In this verse all the varieties mentioned are from this view of life. This is the conventional view of the world. The world is transactional reality (Vyavaharic). 

Relative to it, on one side we have our dream world which is unreal (Pratibhasic) in comparison.

On the other side we have Absolute Reality (Paramarthic) or Brahman, which is transcendental.

This is the model most of us are used to and which we find ourselves quite comfortable with. 

Here, the essential feature is that Creation is posited first, and our Drishti follows to suit what is created. There is one Creation and many individual Drishtis.

It is a world of relationships, with people and things, all being related to each other by the law of cause and effect. What is spoken of in these two lines – the possessor and the possessed, the teacher and the taught, father and son, etc., are all experienced from this view of life.

The Drishti – Srishti Model

Now we look at the alternate view, and one might say that philosophers favour this view. Being uncommon, there is not much written about this view, except in Vedantic literature. Hence, it remains a realm within philosophy that is of little interest to the common man. 

In this model, no creation is posited. Everything originates with knowledge, in the world of thought, in the MIND. This is in accordance with one’s own Drishti or vision. Everything is happening in the mind. There is no world out there.

The immediate result is that the Vyavaharic world is cut out. Only two planes of reality exist: the Absolute Reality and the Mental (or dream) reality. The waking state is incorporated into the dream state, which has Pratibhasic reality. 

In this model, knowledge is creation, and thoughts are the main objects of reality. By now, the student will already be noting that there is a huge shift in the vision of such a reality.

What else is there that is mind-boggling?

If “Mind is World”, there is no need to have any cause-and-effect relationship. There is no need for any transactional relationships of the previous model. This means no possessor or possessed, no teacher and taught, no father and son, no husband and wife – in other words no cause/effect relationship. 

There are two key principles in this model:

i) One’s experience is considered as a ‘Dream’. Like any dream, this Dream, too, exists only whilst one is dreaming. It ends as soon as the dreamer awakes! Beware, this is a huge shift in thinking.

ii) Knowledge and the object of knowledge arise together. One sees a thing as soon as the thought of it arises. In fact, thought has replaced the physical object. No action is needed; thoughts are the action!

These are two powerful principles which radically alter the way we look at life. 

 

Continued......

 

Love.

 

 

Dakshinamurthy Stotram - Post 25

Verse 7 

 

In all stages such as childhood, etc; in all states such as waking, etc; and in all other conditions also;

Through all these constantly changing manifestations the feeling of “I am” persists,

Remaining ever as the illuminating Presence within, 

To that “Silent Teacher”, the Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation; He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti!

 

This verse focuses attention on the Atman, the Pure Consciousness within the individual, whose Presence is there within us under all the varying conditions through which we pass. It is present within from birth till death, and is there even beyond them.

 

The Different Passing States

Baalya Aadishu: “in childhood, etc”. The states referred to here, occur over the whole life cycle. As we move on in age, we pass certain identifiable stages. 

The Charvakas, specialists as they are on the body, identify these as babyhood (0-3 years), childhood (4-15 years), youth (16-30 years), adulthood (31-45 years), middle age (46-60 years), seniors (61- 75 years) and old age (76+ years). All these modifications are included under this category.

In each of these we feel that we are the same person who has experienced all the stages. It does not change. Through all changes in life, the Atman remains changeless.

Jaagrat Aadishu: “in waking, etc”. The three states mentioned here – waking, dream and deep sleep – occur over a daily time-cycle. There are some other states which we pass through as well. Moorcha (unconsciousness or coma) is one of them.

Then we have sub-states for each of these three states. In the waking state, there are walking, talking, eating, drinking, working, playing, etc. In dream we can include day-dreaming and ruminating. All these states are falsified because they come and go – i.e. they are subject to Vyavrittan. As one state passes, the next one is ushered in automatically.

Vyaavrittan: This is the constant change from one state to another that has just been described so thoroughly above. In the midst of all this change, there is something that remains ever constant. That is now described.

Aham Iti: “I am”. The sense of “I am” was mentioned in the last Pada under deep sleep to prove a point. However, it is there in the other two states as well. This Pada cuts across the trend of the previous verse by introducing the constant element in all our experiences, the “I”-sense in us.

Life gives us a clue as to who we are in reality; the clue is available at every moment in life. If we only pause and ponder over our past we will pick up the clue: No matter what has changed in our life, no matter how old we have grown, no matter whether we are waking, dreaming or fast asleep, it is the same person who is experiencing all this.

And we can safely say that it was the same person even in the previous life and the life before that; and it will be the same person for the rest of this life and in all future lives, too. There is no change in the real “I”; everything else may change, but the sense of “I-ness” never changes at all, birth after birth.

This is the Truth being held out in this verse. The Atman is birthless and deathless.

Here is another aspect of Vyaavrittan. The mind can hold one thing only at a time. As we call the name of one object, all others recede from our conscious mind and only that one object comes forward. 

Similarly, the three states are also mutually exclusive; we can experience them only one at a time. It is the same with childhood, youth, etc; again, we experience them in the right sequence one at a time. So, they all fall into the same category – as temporary states. However, the “I” is the same in them all.

This “I” is not the ego. It is referring to the true self – Consciousness. It refers to the conscious being.

The one who knows your mind, your experiences now and the one who knew when you were one month old is same. However, there seems to be discontinuity in life.

Your picture at the time of one month old and now are quite different. Not just the body, but your mind, emotions are all different. Yet you say that was you at the time of one month old.

Body is not the same. Mind is not the same. But you are the same person. What is it that persists between one month old and who you are today?

The Consciousness by which your one-month-old experience was known and the Consciousness by which today’s experience is known, is the same.

There is experience even in pre-natal state. It is still the same Consciousness due to which you know the experience before and after the birth. Your memory would not recollect your experience. But experience is present and because of Consciousness it is known to you.

Therefore, Sri Sankara says in all these states childhood etc., there is something shining within that is always present thus known as “I”, the true Self (Consciousness). That Consciousness, which is real “you”, persists throughout all the states.

The three states of consciousness and then the turiya, the fourth state or in fact, the one state which illumines all the other three states, is the core subject of Mandukya Upanishad.

A sage makes it crystal clear when He says about the three states of consciousness in simple equation

Waking state = waker + Aham (Turiya)

Dream state  = dreamer + Aham (Turiya)

Deep sleep state = Deep sleeper + Aham (Turiya)

Turiya = Transcendental state upon transcending the earlier 3 states. 

Waker can never be a dreamer or a sleeper at the same time, dreamer can never be a waker and/or a deep sleeper at the same time, Deep sleeper can never be a waker and/or a dreamer at the same time. But the one witness of all the three states exists in all the three states.

Aham or Atman is the eternal witness in all three states of consciousness, the one which is changeless, which is pure Chaitanya even when all the three states of consciousness keep changing in a day/in all days. 

Love.