Vivekachudamani - Post 16

 Verse 10 

 

संन्यस्य सर्वकर्माणि भवबन्धविमुक्तये ।
यत्यतां पण्डितैर्धीरैरात्माभ्यास उपस्थितैः ॥ १0 ॥

 

saṃnyasya sarvakarmāṇi bhavabandhavimuktaye |
yatyatāṃ paṇḍitairdhīrairātmābhyāsa upasthitaiḥ || 10 ||

 

(May the wise and learned man give up all actions which are motivated by desires and start the practice of rediscovering the Self and thereby attain freedom from the bondage of birth and death.) 

 

A sage says,

 

“Here is a piece of advice given to a man who has all the necessary theoretical knowledge of the science of self- perfection. He is told to renounce all activities motivated by self-aggrandizing hopes or disintegrating desires. 

 

This renunciation of the activities of the world is not to be over-emphasized and misunderstood, as is generally done, to mean that Vedanta is calling man to a life of eating only fruits and leaves. It is only asking us to reduce overexcitement in life and to curb the wasteful expenditure of our mental and intellectual energies born out of our unintelligent desires and lofty expectations.”

 

Sarvakarmaṇi samnyasya. After renouncing all the karmas; if the karmas are formally renounced, it is called sanyasa asrama. So literally saṁnyasya sarvakarmaṇi means caturta asram swekritya; but if a person does not take to sanyasa asrama, we can do the enquiry in Grahastha asrama also; but reducing the karmas to some extent, and developing detachment. In fact finding time is easier. But getting a withdrawn mind is more difficult. 

 

For a grahastha's attempt is more than finding time, finding a quality mind, because the mind can, when time is available, efficiently do the worrying. Therefore time is not a problem but the mind, committed mind, a withdrawn mind is difficult to attain. Therefore detachment becomes more important for a grahastha than even reducing the activity. If detachment is there, minutes available would be quality time. 

 

That good and sincere work will yield noble fruits should be a sufficient direction to guarantee us a peaceful passage for our pilgrimage here. But we  expect the impossible, a noble return from a vicious or ill-planned  action instead of the painful returns of sorrow, that will yield to us  many a terrible hour of unproductive anxiety and suicidal worry. 

 

In the Bhagwad Gita, Lord says,

 

kamyanaṁ karmanaṁ nyasam sannyasam kavayo viduh, 

sarvakarmaphalatyagaṁ prahus tyagaṁ vicaksanaḥ (18.2). 

 

Sannyasa is that kind of behaviour by which the actions that are connected with desire of some kind or the other are abandoned. A person may be said to be in a state of sannyasa the moment that actions which are motivated by desire are abandoned. 

 

That is to say, sannyasa does not mean abandonment of action as such. It means abandonment of actions which are connected with a desire of some kind. If we can think of an action without any desire attached to it, that is a different matter. It is up to us to imagine if such an action is possible at all: an action with which no desire is associated, and from which we expect nothing.

 

Here, the reference is to another kind of action. Action which is charged with a motive, any kind of motivated action, is kamya karma; and the abandoning of kamya karma, or motivated action, is sanyasa. This is the definition of sannyasa given by great ancient learned ones. 

 

We also learnt in the Manas Buddhi Chitta Ahankara blog posts that actions pushed by Ahankara or chitta are bound to add to our Karma further whereas, Actions performed purely due to the instructions received by our pure intellect do not fetch us further karmas.

 

The second part of the verses insists on a seeker who is striving to integrate himself is advised to walk  the path of intelligent living. 

 

Our aim is to clearly understand this consciousness is not part of matter; it is an independent entity which is my nature. And when I have to assimilate this, the intellect raises lot of questions and therefore to answer the question and to make the intellect clearly understand, lot of thinking is involved. Therefore Sankara  says Panditah; Panditah means a logical thinker is required.

 

Pandithyam is important; dhiratvam is important. Then what is the next? Atmabhyasa upasthithai. And one should become dedicated; committed to atma bhyasaha; Self-enquiry. Atmabhyasaḥ is another beautiful word for Self-enquiry. Here abhyasaḥ means shravaṇa manana nidhidhyaśana. Thus being committed to this one should work for mokṣa. 

 

The renunciation of false values is only a negative aspect of self-making. Man-making fulfils itself in God discovery and this spiritual art of perfection is not to be gained by a negative endeavour. Sankara specifies the positive aspect by saying, 'Let him practise the various means of self-discovery.”

 

If carefully examined, this one verse is all about  Sadhana chatushtaya.

 

The first part of the verse is giving up actions motivated by desires. This is is covered in Viveka, Vairagya and the intial part of Shad Sampat - Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha

 

The second part of the verse is rediscovering the Self and thereby attain freedom from the bondage of birth and death. 

 

This is all about Shraddha, Samadana and Mumukshatva.

 

 

Love.

 

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 15

 Verse 9 

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं मग्नं संसारवारिधौ ।
योगारूढत्वमासाद्य सम्यग्दर्शननिष्ठया ॥ ९ ॥

 

uddharedātmanātmānaṃ magnaṃ saṃsāravāridhau |
yogārūḍhatvamāsādya samyagdarśananiṣṭhayā || 9 ||

 

(Having attained the state of yogarudha through continuous and well established discrimination, one should lift oneself from the ocean of change and finitude wherein one has come to be drowned.) 

 

When an individual has realised his limitations and feels that he must by some means redeem himself from his weaknesses and gain mastery over himself, it is not sufficient that he surrenders to his Master no matter how great, or runs away from the world into a quiet jungle or even makes a thorough and complete study of all the scriptures. Practices such as these, may somewhat help the individual but he can lift himself from the mire of his inner weakness only by dint of sustained self-effort. 

 

All these slokas are talking about jnana sadhanam. Previous sloka, this sloka; jnana sadhanam is vedanta sravaṇam; otherwise called vedanta vicaraḥ. So the same idea is repeated in all these verses in different ways.

 

Before entering scriptural enquiry; scripture based enquiry, one should develop fitness for that enquiry; which Sankara calls yogaruḍhatvam. In a way, sadhana catushtaya sampatti is called yogarudhatvam.

 

In Bhagavad-Gita - 6.4, we have a description of the yogarudha state. When a man is not attached to sense objects or to actions and has renounced all thoughts, then he is said to have attained to Yoga. 

 

Yoga in its right sense is only that state of mind, in which the mind having recognised its weaknesses attunes itself to a greater and more perfect ideal, which the intellect has shown it. Any attempt of the mind to rise from the low values of its present existence to a healthier and diviner scheme of living is Yoga. 

 

To get established in Yoga is to make it a habit to strive sincerely to rise above one's known weaknesses in order to attain the ideal.

 

After attaining yogarudastvam; what is the next thing; samyak darsana nishta. Nishṭa means commitment. In what? Samyak darsanam; self-knowledge or self-enquiry. Samyak darshana niṣṭaya one should be committed to self-enquiry; otherwise called vedanta vichara.

 

Through study, following of the sastra instructions, practices  of self-control and various other spiritual sadhanas,  one can expect to develop the  subtlety of one's inner instruments for experiencing the world as it  is, uncoloured by any personal prejudices, attachments or hatreds. 

 

This perception of the world as it is, in perfect detachment and discrimination is called 'samyag darsana'. 'Darsana' in Sanskrit also means 'philosophy' and, therefore, the term can also be interpreted as the vision of the world through the eye of philosophy. 

 

There are two stages; the first stage vedanta vichara yogyata prapthi; next stage is vedanta vichara. The whole life is only for these two. 

 

First three asramas, brahmacārya, grahastha, vanaprastha, all these asramas are vichara yogyata prapthihi; 

 

Sanyasa asrama is vichara. And having done this; through this; what should one do; uddhared atmana  atmanam; by following this one should uplift oneself by oneself.  

 

That is the importance of self-effort is highlighted. The importance of proper use of free will is highlighted.

 

Esvara's grace is important; guru's grace is important; sastra's grace is important; vedanta accepts grace very much; what we emphasise is grace can never replace self-effort. Grace can never replace self-effort; however, big and powerful the grace may be. And therefore Sankara says: uddhared; better you work.

 

“One should lift oneself from the ocean of change and finitude wherein one has come to be drowned.”, says Sankara in this verse.

 

For lifting oneself from the ocean of Samsara, self-effort is required through Yoga, vichara and  Samyug Darsana, as explained in this verse. The final and climax or the fructification of such intense effort is the grace of Eswara when He lifts such a deserving Sadhaka from ocean of samsara, saves him from being drowned and takes the sadhaka to His abode wherein the sadhaka merges with the supreme.

 

Love.

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 14

 Verse 8 

अतो विमुक्त्यै प्रयतेत्विद्वान्
संन्यस्तबाह्यार्थसुखस्पृहः सन् ।
सन्तं महान्तं समुपेत्य देशिकं
तेनोपदिष्टार्थसमाहितात्मा ॥ ८ ॥ 

ato vimuktyai prayatetvidvān
saṃnyastabāhyārthasukhaspṛhaḥ san |
santaṃ mahāntaṃ samupetya deśikaṃ
tenopadiṣṭārthasamāhitātmā || 8 ||

(Therefore, the learned seeker who is striving to gain this freedom within and who has renounced all his desires for pleasures in the sense objects should duly approach a good and generous Master and must live attuned to the true significances of the words of the Master.) 

 

We have here a positive declaration of what exactly a seeker should  do in order that he may be well-established on the path of Truth. 

 

A seeker in Vedanta is not a nonentity who has walked into the sanctum of a temple or has casually thought of sitting in prayer or visiting a sacred place. These constitute but the very primary steps in spiritual life. 

The word Vidvan' is used here to indicate a  rue seeker. When, therefore, a student having a cursory knowledge  f life and its meaning realises the futility of running after sense  objects, he comes to a certain amount of renunciation of desires and  thus he approaches his Master. 

Sankara in this verse also lists the special qualifications necessary for a seeker on the spiritual path. 

 

santam - The word 'santa' is often used in vernacular to indicate a  sannyasin, but rarely does one realise what exactly the term means. 

He is a santa who is firmly established in the consciousness of pure Existence (Sat). A Guru must not only be a Man of Realisation and experience but he should be a 'mahanta', a large-hearted, sympathetic, kind person. One can be a Guru only if one has the required magnanimity, intimate personal experience of the Divine and great familiarity with scriptures. 

 

A competent teacher's   qualification is given in Mundaka Upanishad as,  

"stotriyam Brahmanishtam".

Brahmanishtah means the one who abides in Brahman. That is what he preaches and what he is, both are not different. What he teaches is Brahman and he himself is Brahman. If the teacher has to reveal that Brahman as yourselves, as not something of an object to be realised in later time, then alone the student would be able to say Ahaṁ Brahmasmi. Only if it is Ahaṁ Brahmasmi for the teacher, then alone he can be a Tat Tvam Asi, then alone the student would also say Ahaṁ Brahmasmi. Therefore he is called Brahma Nishtah. Brahma Nishta is one for whom the subject matter and himself are identical.

 

And the second qualification is stotriyaḥ; he should have the methodology of communication; which is uniquely designed and developed in the scriptures. A particular method of communication, in which you introduce a concept and go to the next higher concept and negate the previous concept; then go to the next one and then negate the previous one and when everything is  finally negated; and what should be left behind? I, the negator, alone should be left behind, the unnegatable-I; which is unobjectifiable; that unnegatable; and unobjectifiable consciousness alone will be left behind; this is designed and developed in the scriptures alone.

 

Even if a seeker discovers such a perfect Master, he will not be able to react favourably in the Master's presence or even to his discussions, if he has not the necessary mental attitude, denoted by the word 'samupetya'. 

The divine attitude of full receptivity is the aroma of a heart, which has reverence for and surrender to, faith in and love for the Guru.

Again, even with all the prescribed qualifications, if a seeker were to reach the feet of a perfect Master, the transferred knowledge cannot take root in the student, unless he is himself ready to strive along the path. 

The major part of the work depends  upon our own efforts to rehabilitate ourselves. Thus, it is said, the individual should try to live the deep significances of the precepts  of the Master. 

 

Swami Sivananda says,

“He alone who sits at the lotus feet of a preceptor, who has knowledge of the Self and who is also well-versed in scriptural knowledge is able to grasp the Truth. In the Gita also, Chap. IV-34, Lord Krishna says: "Know it by means of prostration to the Guru, interrogation and service. The wise who have cognised the Truth will instruct thee in that knowledge of the Self."

Initiation into the mysteries of Brahman will fructify only in that disciple's mind who is desireless and will produce Jnana in him.

It takes a long time for the charcoal to catch fire but gun powder can be ignited within the twinkling of an eye. Even so, it takes a long time for igniting the fire of knowledge for a man whose heart is impure. But an aspirant with great purity of heart gets knowledge of the Self within the twinkling of an eye, within the time taken to squeeze a flower by the fingers.

Unless you are pure, you will not be able to realise the true greatness of a liberated sage. When he appears before you, you will take him for an ordinary man only, and you will not be benefited. You will try to find out defects in him on account of your fault-finding nature (Dosha Drishti). Even if Lord Krishna or Sri Sankara remains with you, He will not do anything for you, unless you are fit to receive Him, unless you are ready to receive the spiritual instructions.”

 

Love.