Vivekachudamani - Post 38

  Verse 32   

स्वात्मतत्त्वानुसन्धानं भक्तिरित्यपरे जगुः ।
उक्तसाधनसंपन्नस्तत्त्वजिज्ञासुरात्मनः
उपसीदेद्गुरुं प्राज्ञ्यं यस्माद्बन्धविमोक्षणम् ॥ ३२ ॥

 

svātmatattvānusandhānaṃ bhaktirityapare jaguḥ |
uktasādhanasaṃpannastattvajijñāsurātmanaḥ
upasīdedguruṃ prājñyaṃ yasmādbandhavimokṣaṇam || 32 ||

 

(Others say that 'bhakti' means a constant enquiry into the real nature of one's own Self one who has the above-mentioned qualifications and is anxious to know the Self must, therefore, devotedly serve a Teacher, well-established in Knowledge, for redeeming himself from bondage)

 

Continuing the definition of bhakti, Sankara quotes some other great writers who had declared before him that true devotion lies in a constant awareness of one's real nature. There is a subtle difference between the previous definition and the present. 

 

The previous definition prescribes the path by which devotion is gained, and this one declares love as its own goal. One is said to be devoted to his profession when he is constantly aware of his duties in his profession. A full-time dedicated life towards any activity is called, even in everyday life, as devotion. 

 

Examples of devoted wife, devoted son, devoted husband, devoted student and so on, are not uncommon usages in our language. To live as the Self and to meet others in life, standing upon this solid foundation of the true nature of the Self, is the culmination of knowledge and this is termed by Sankara as 'bhakti'. That is, he defines bhakti as both the means and the end, love is the means to gain love. The path of the seeker is to love through love. 

 

 

In thus hinting at the glory of devotion, the author continues prescribing other practices necessary for a seeker of Vedanta during his evolution. A seeker who has the necessary  qualifications, in order that he may be redeemed from his  inner weaknesses, attachments, animalisms and false values is  advised to serve with devotion a Teacher who is well-  established in the experience of the Self. 

 

Sankara says gurum upasidet; one should go to a Guru. Who should go to a guru? Ukta sadhana sampanna, the one who has gone through the previous preparatory step. Previous preparatory step means you should remember, basic intellectual qualification and the sadhana chatuṣṭaya sampatti. 

 

Upasana of the Guru is not a mere servile attendance upon him in an attitude of growing disgust or in a mood of melancholy dissatisfaction. 

 

The disciple, out of sheer love and reverence for the Master, forgets himself and serves him at all times and in all possible ways thereby the student is made to remember constantly, the glories and the noble qualities of the Master. 

 

This constant mental awareness of the ideal through the person of the Guru slowly and steadily raises the moral tempo and ethical goodness in the neophyte who finds himself well-established in his inner purity which would otherwise have taken him painfully long years to develop. 

 

When suggestive words of deep import are given out by a Teacher in his moments of inspiration, the student at once understands the Teacher. It is for this reason that Sankara is compelled to declare that as a result of Guru upasana, the disciple becomes capable of liberating himself from his limitations. 

 

On serving one’s Guru, a saint writes,

“In the spiritual world, it is only by the grace of Guru that we will attain knowledge, not solely by our own efforts. So, to receive his grace, we will have to serve him. What is the meaning of seva? Seva means to continuously feel that one has no capability of serving the Lord. Secondly, doing seva with complete surrender of the mind and increasing the feeling of ‘giving’ and not ‘receiving’. Lastly, we should not have any pride in having served him or having done a lot of seva. Now, only a God-realized Saint can perform this type of seva, whose heart has been completely purified. 

 

Those who are under the influence of Maya cannot have this kind of servitude.  So, God says: “In the preliminary stages, you will not get seva of God but you will get the opportunity to serve a Guru. If you serve your Guru to the best of your capabilities, you will then receive the seva of God.”

 

Swami Sivananda writes,

“Just as the iron filings are magnetised in the presence of a magnet, so also aspirants are magnetised when they are in close contact with their masters or Gurus. Just as iron is transmuted into gold by the touch of philosopher's stone, so also persons with evil tendencies are transmuted into veritable saints when they come in close contact with sages and Yogins.

 

When a Guru is in the physical body, he can help the aspirants and disciples more. If the disciple has faith in his Guru, he will help him even after he has abandoned his physical body. Sri Sankara, the propounder of the Advaita philosophy, Sri Dattatreya, Sri Jnana Dev of Alandi even now bless the aspirants who have devotion unto them. 

They have no body on earth but yours, no hands and feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which they behold this universe. They move about through your feet and do good to the world.

 

Love.

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 37

  Verse 31   

मोक्षकारणसामग्र्यां भक्तिरेव गरीयसी ।
स्वस्वरूपानुसन्धानं भक्तिरित्यभिधीयते ॥ ३१ ॥

 

mokṣakāraṇasāmagryāṃ bhaktireva garīyasī |
svasvarūpānusandhānaṃ bhaktirityabhidhīyate || 31 || 

(Among the instruments and conditions necessary for Liberation, bhakti alone is supreme. A constant attempt to live up to one's own real nature is called single pointed devotion.) 

 

So here Sankara is introducing another important sadhana.  In addition to sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti; another sadhana or preparatory step is introduced, and that is Bhakti; and the word Bhakti is the most confusing word because it has got so many meanings, so many interpretations. 

So we have to understand the word Bhakti clearly. One meaning which is the popular meaning is that Bhakti is love of God, which is generally called devotion; which is perfectly alright. So Bhakti is love of God.

But here Bhakti is presented as a, that means something you practice. I have to do something. Bhakti as a sadhana does not refer to a particular action but it refers to a series of spiritual disciplines.

 

Sankara wants to say that Bhakti in the form of jnana yoga is very important sadhana. Bhakti in the form of karma is important. Bhakti in the form of upasana is important. 

But here Sankara focuses the highest level of Bhakti which is scriptural study, consisting of sravaṇam, consistent systematic study under a guru. Mananam is dwelling upon it until I am convinced. Nidhidhyasanam is assimilating the teaching; transforming my life style. 

There should be a change in my life. Therefore, assimilation leading to transformation in life. It is called vedanta sravana, manana, nidhidhyasanam. 

In English, scriptural enquiry, which is also called Bhakti. What level of Bhakti? The highest level of Bhakti.

What is Bhakti here; sva svarupa anusandhanam. Dwelling upon. Anusandhanam means dwelling upon. Which indicates shravanam, mananam, and nidhidhyasanam.

This Bhakti alone, in the fourth chapter of the Gītā Bhagavan calls as  jnana yajnaḥ. All other yajna like puja, various yagas, and various pilgrimages are also called yajnas, which are expression of your Bhakti; but among various expressions of Bhakti, Krishna includes jnana yajna; hence it is a puja, but he also says sreyan dravyamayad yajna jnanayajnaḥ paraṃtapa. The scriptural study is the highest form of worship.

Assuming that the seeker has a large share of intelligent detachment,  a conspicuous amount of anxiety to liberate himself from his inborn  weaknesses and also a fully developed moral and ethical life, the  question comes to one's mind, 'What practice should one adopt  in order to integrate oneself into a proportionately beautiful,  divine existence?' 

According to Vedanta, the means of self-integration on the path of knowledge is atma-vichara or constant meditation upon the nature of the eternal Self, but Sankara makes use of a popular word to indicate the subtle practice of meditation, resulting in a constant awareness of the Divine in us, which can be maintained only if we maintain in ourselves an unbroken stream of divine thoughts. 

So anusandhana  when it is unbroken, it increases the frequency of divine thoughts  in us and when the frequency of such thoughts comes to the degree  of frequency with which the ego-idea now persists in our hearts,  we shall be able to experience the Divine as intimately and freely  as we experience now our egocentric life. 

Therefore, when we re-read the verse with a correct understanding of the practical implication of atma-vichara and the suggestions of bhakti-marga, we find that Sankara is only too right when he says that for those who want to walk the path of knowledge and reach the Ultimate, the most efficient technique is bhakti, restated in its correct meaning.

It is appropriate to go through few sayings of Sri Ramana on “Bhakti", 

"Bhakti is not different from mukti. Bhakti is as being Self (svarupa). One is always That. He realizes it by the means he adopts."

"What is bhakti? To think of God. That means only one thought prevails to the exclusion of all other thoughts.

That is of God which is the Self or it is the self-surrender unto God; When He has taken you up, nothing will assail you. The absence of thoughts is bhakti. It is also mukti."

"The Saguna merges in the Nirguna in the long run. The saguna purifies the mind and takes one to the final goal. The afflicted one, the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of gains are all dear to God."

"To know God is to love God. Therefore the path of bhakti and of jnana are same. "

 

Love.

Vivekachudamani - Post 36

  Verse 30   

एतयोर्मन्दता यत्र विरक्तत्वमुमुक्षयोः ।
मरौ सलीलवत्तत्र शमादेर्भानमात्रता ॥ ३0 ॥

 

etayormandatā yatra viraktatvamumukṣayoḥ |
marau salīlavattatra śamāderbhānamātratā || 30 ||

 

(Sama and so on, become as ineffectual as the mirage in the desert for him who has a weak detachment and yearning for freedom.) 

 

Sankara is talking about the preparation required on the part of the student before the pursuit of moksha or before the pursuit of self-enquiry. 

First, he talked about certain general intellectual qualifications, like the knowledge of the language, the capacity to think and analyze, etc. because this involves knowledge or understanding. After talking about certain general intellectual qualification like medhavi, panditah, etc. he talked about spiritual qualifications consisting of sadhana catushṭayam, viveka, vairagyam, satka sampatti and mumukshutvam, discrimination, dispassion, discipline and desire.

 

And there afterwards he wanted to arrange these four qualifications in terms of their importance and pointed out that mumukshutvam he will give top importance and next to mumukshutvam he said is vairagyam. So in the three verses 28-30 Shankaracharya underlined mumukshutvam and vairagyam as the important qualifications.

 

So here while reading the three verses, especially the 28 and 30, there is a seeming contradiction, which you should carefully understand. In the 28th verse, Sankara pointed out that even a feeble mumukshutvam would produce phalam. 

 

In the 30th verse, he says, etayor yatra mandata marau salilavat. Feeble mumukṣutvam cannot produce result; it is mirage water; you know mirage water is useless for drinking, taking bath etc. 

 

So the question comes, how Sankara can contradict himself in these three verses.

 

For that we say there is no contradiction, if you see closely, the 28th verse he has put a condition for the feeble mumukshutvam to be feeble and in the 30th verse that condition is not mentioned. 

 

So feeble mumukshutvam is fruitful if the condition is fulfilled; otherwise, it is futile. And what is that condition in the 28th verse? He has used the word pravr̥ddha, that is the crucial word; pravr̥ ddha means what? When it is nourished. 

 

In the 30th verse, the word pravr̥ ddhā is not mentioned. Therefore, it means what; it is a apravr̥ ddha; that it is not nourished. 

 

So now what are the two statements?

 

Feeble mumukshutvam is fruitful when it is nourished and made tīvraḥ mumukshutvam. 

 

30th means what; feeble mumukshutvam is worthless if it is unnourished and kept feeble. What is the final lesson. When feeble mumuksutvam comes, be happy; but do not be complacent; do not be relaxed; allow the feeble mumukshutvam to grow, nourish it like a plant sprouting; 

 

Be happy that the seed sprouted; but do not be complacent and therefore mumukshutvam is important and that too when it is nourished it will take you to the self. Up to this we saw in the last class.

 

In those, who have, neither the spirit of detachment from the unreal, nor a consistent aspiration to evolve, true calmness and so on, cannot flourish. The Acharya says that in such people self-control, self-restraint, joy and happiness are all mere delusion, they are only a similitude of Reality, and they do not thrive well and flower forth to bear fruits. 

 

This, we can observe even in present day world  among  few  who  declare their detachment and mumuksutva and yet, in their life,  they seek to enjoy no calmness and so on, to experience no joy, to  practise no self-control. In such individuals where true vairagya and mumukshutva are absent, sama, dama and so on, can never bear fruit or grow or even germinate.

 

Love.