Dakshnamurthy Stotram - Post 23

                                                          Verse 6

 

 

(Just Like the Sun and the Moon are Eclipsed by Rahu, the Pure Consciousness is Eclipsed by Maya (for a spiritually ignorant person),

A Spiritually Elevated Soul can enter that state of Unborn Deep Sleep (i.e. Pure Consciousness) by Withdrawing His Sense Organs to such an extent that Only the Real Essence remains,

That state (i.e. Pure Consciousness) is experienced during Spiritual Awakening whereby one clearly Perceives that "Before I was Sleeping" (by being eclipsed by Maya),

Salutations to Him, the Personification of Our Inner Guru Who Awakens This Knowledge through His Profound Silence; Salutation to Sri Dakshinamurthy.)

This verse describes one of the three states of mind called deep sleep. The verse that follows after this (seventh verse) refers to the remaining two states – dream and waking.

Eighth in the category of beliefs on Reality in the last verse was the Shoonya Vadin. This verse provides the logical grounds for refuting this belief, since it comprises the strongest opponent of Vedanta. They believe that it is not Brahman at the root of Existence but an utter Void.

One may ask: What is the urgent need to disprove this philosophy?

If this philosophy is left unchallenged, it means Void is God! What sort of morals and values would that philosophy engender in our society? It will lead to a complete breakdown of all worthy values which uphold life. Hence this extra effort is considered worth spending in meeting the challenge of the Shoonya Vadins at the philosophical root level.

The state of deep sleep is the battleground or venue for the tournament. Deep sleep brings our minds to focus on the root of the matter. 

We can say that in deep sleep the opposition is in the very goalmouth of the Vedantins, and they are closest to scoring a goal! So the Vedantins have to defend to the utmost.

In deep sleep all the superficial variables are eliminated. The mind is not there, which greatly simplifies the analysis. We are in a state of root ignorance, we are merged into our causal state. The supreme Consciousness is the Truth of our being, but we cannot recognize the Supreme because there is a major obstruction – the veil of Maya – that covers it from our view.

A well-chosen simile is used to explain this veiling. In the very choice of this simile we see the truth that Vedanta stands for. It is the eclipse, of the sun or the moon, it does not matter which. 

These two events occur when the sun, the moon and the earth lie in one straight line. The sun is eclipsed when the moon is in the middle, or the moon is eclipsed when the earth is in the middle. 

This perfectly symbolises the situation where Brahman (Existence) is eclipsed from the Jeeva due to the intervening presence of Maya (Avidya). It tells us that the light is there, but it is just eclipsed. 

The Shoonya Vadins contend that there is no light there at all, and darkness is the basic state of the universe.

An eclipse of the Sun and the Moon is the metaphor used here for the deep sleep.

When you can’t see the Sun or the Moon during an eclipse does it stop shining?

You can’t see it shining, but it still shines. In deep sleep, there is a total eclipse, in the sense that there is absolute darkness on the screen of your mind. Yet the shining continues. The illumination of the mind continues. Consciousness shines unabated, unimpeded, unchanged.

 

Love.