Vivekachudamani-Post 90

 

For a student seeking Liberation, infatuation with the body and so  on, is a 'tragic death'. He who has totally conquered this attachment  deserves the state of Liberation. (85)

To him who is aspiring to rise above the fascination of the sense organs for the sense objects and the calamitous confusions of  emotions and thoughts, it is indeed a dire tragedy, if he were  to allow himself to be tempted, by the fields of immediate pleasures which the body experiences in the midst of objects. 

Sankara emphasizes that deha abhimana is equal to spiritual death. So mohaha eva mahamr ̥ tyu; here mohaḥ means deha abhimanaḥ, is not ordinary mr ̥ tyuḥ; but mahā mr ̥ tyuḥ; because it leads to spiritual death of a person; because he will not be allowed to attain spiritual knowledge. 

For a materialistic person, this discussion is not relevant at all; because he does not believe in spirit or Brahman or atman or heaven or hell and nothing; he leads an animalistic life; his only belief is that as long as he lives, he should enjoy maximum. To such a materialistic person, we have nothing to talk; but if a person is a spiritual seeker, we would like to give him a statutory warning; that deha abhimana is spiritual death.

Therefore, the more abhimana a person has, the greater is the fear and frightened man dies several times and therefore, even in that sense, it is figurative death; whereas in spiritual sense also, it is death because, he dies to his original spiritual nature, because of his pre- occupation with the external body.

Suppose a person conquers this delusion by his clarity of understanding that the body is a medium; it does not deserve raga; equally it does not deserve dveṣa also; because dveṣa is as much dangerous as raga; because if I neglect the physical body and physical health that is also dangerous because, even spiritual sadhana requires a healthy body. Therefore, negligence of the body is as much a problem as pampering the body.

Therefore, it is like rope-walking; neither should I have attachment, nor should I have hatred. This middle path is extremely difficult; but if a person manages to transcend both raga and dveṣa; moha eva vinirjitaḥ; saha, here also the word mohaḥ means deha abhimana only

To turn our attention away from the sense world and to seek diligently the experience of the Transcendental is the path by which  the Higher can be unfolded. 

He who has won a victory over his  own delusory misconceptions (moha) and is not tempted by the  outer world, discovers in himself a steadiness of contemplation  with which he can certainly learn to withdraw himself from the whirlpools of matter and come to experience the pure Self. 

This is the condition of utter liberation from the entanglements and fascinations of one's matter vestures.

The one who has conquered, saha mukthi padam arhati; for him mokṣa is easiest because physical mortality he will not look upon as his mortality. 

Just as the destruction of a medium; destruction of the spectacle is not my destruction. Thus, conquering the fear of physical mortality itself is a great mystery for a human being; so saha mukti padam arhati; he deserves liberation.

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 89

Whoever seeks to rediscover the Self by devoting himself to the care  of the body is like one who proceeds to cross a river , holding on to a shark  which one has mistaken for a log of wood.(84) 

Sankara here strikingly brings out how dangerous and suicidal is  the attempt of the individual to perfect himself through physical indulgences and enjoyments. Anxiety for the body is an expression of our identification with it. This can come only when, in our  delusion, we have totally forgotten our essentially divine nature. 

Dealing with anatma, Sankara  has first taken up the stula sariram; as the first anatma for the study. He talked about the source of the physical body, in the form of five elements, and incidentally while talking about the physical body, he talks about the physical universe also, because both the body and the world are also born out of the five elements alone.

And he said that the physical world is called visayi; because it has the potential of binding a person. pointed out that one has to be extremely careful while handling the world, because if a person is not alert, he may easily develop powerful raga or dvesa; either of this is a big bondage. Not only raga-dvesas are direct bondage, indirectly also, they become a big obstacle for liberation. 

And having talked about the binding nature of the external world, now Sankara  talks about the binding nature of the very physical body itself; one's own physical body, because that is also as much a viṣaya as the external world.

Just as one can develop raga-dvesa towards the external world; one can develop raga-dveṣa towards one's own body; and therefore one should be careful and of these two rāga and dvēṣa; the generally pre-dominant weakness is raga or attachment; 

Therefore Sankara criticizes here deha abhimana or raga towards the body and he says, as long as a person has got deha-ragah; then he is never going to cross the ocean of samsara; because once there is a deha-raga; attachment to the body; he will be more and more interested in physical nourishment, physical decoration; physical entertainment.  

The whole time and energy will be dedicated to this alone, there will be no time for higher pursuit at all. 

If such a Jiva  has got two-fold desires, one is nourishing and entertaining the body or bodily attachment and simultaneously he has spiritual desire also; he says it will never work together; because it is like what? 

sa nadi tartum gacchati. He is attempting to cross a river with the help of what; ragam graham; by taking hold of a crocodile, assuming the crocodile is a log of wood, he wants to cross over the river holding on to that; and how it will not work. 

Not only he will not reach the shore, at least without the log of wood, he could have survived in the river for sometime, but with a crocodile, his death will be sooner. Similarly, dēha abhīmāna will only cause only imminent spiritual death; it can never take a person across saṁsāra; and therefore dēha abhīmāna has to be handled.

Ignorance and knowledge cannot exist at the same place and the same time. Where the ghost is recognized, there the post is non-existent, and one who recognizes the post, to him the ghost is not available at all. Similarly, one's beloved in a dream is non- existent in the waking state. 

So, he who is attached to his body and is wasting his time  and energy nourishing and fattening it is indeed a fool. He is as  far removed from the goal as the recognition of the rope is from  one who is dying in delusion of being bitten by a serpent. 

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 88

This body is essentially an instrument for realizing the Paramatman. He who does not constantly use it for liberating himself from the bondage born of beginning less ignorance but struggles to nourish it, is destroying himself (83)

Every physical sheath, be it in the human, plant or animal life, is an instrument for its 'mind and intellect' to eke out from the world of situations a definite quota of experiences. The body provides for the time being, as it were, a locus for the mind and intellect to function from. 

Identifying oneself with the body because of ignorance, one may behave as if one was the doer and the enjoyer  and use the physical body to its own damnation. 

Sankara thus reminds the students that the body is not meant merely for gross activities and indulgence in sensuous enjoyments but having experienced the imperfections of the world, it is also meant for striving hard for self-redemption. Having gained this wondrous instrument, if a person does not make use of it properly, he is, in effect, committing suicide. 

The meaning of the verse pivots around the crucial word, ‘pararthah'. This word can be milked to yield two different and distinct meanings of which the nobler and more spiritual has already been discussed. From the same word we can coax out another meaning, 'an object that is meant for others to enjoy', is also pararthah. In this sense, we get in the single term, a beautiful summary of the biography of the body. 

Mahata puṇya-panyena kreeteyam kaayanou stvaya |

Praptum bhavambudheh param tara Yaavat Na Bhidyate||

The sloka  says: you have purchased a ship (your body) after paying a fortune (your excess Puṇya), with a goal of crossing this ocean of Samsara. Therefore, dear son, hurry up and cross over soon! The ship might wreck at any moment!

You have bought this wonderful physical body-boat after gaining lot of punyam; and this body-boat is meant for crossing the ocean of samsara. Therefore, make sure that you cross the ocean of samsara before the body-boat disintegrates.  The body is a means, not an end; body is a means not an end. 

In the womb the body grew, nourished by the mother's assimilated food; the body born in the world was fed by the milk of the mother and it grew to childhood. Till its death it is being fed, from within and without, with various nutritive diets and oil massages. 

But after death the very same body, so laboriously tended, so carefully nourished, so lovingly fattened, becomes a substantial meal for the worms of the earth, if it is lucky to be buried deep enough! Else it becomes food for the wolves and dogs, the vultures and crows. 

This is a timely reminder for discriminative spiritual students to realize the futility of paying court to their bodies and living a life dedicated to the health and comforts of this disgusting bundle of matter. 

yatparihr ̥ tya; yat means sariram therefore one should transcend the body. Transcending the body is transcending the obsession with body. Over-worrying about the body and its looks. Parihr ̥ tya means literally giving up; here giving up of the body should not be taken literally; giving up of the obsession with the body.

And when should you do that? anuksaṇam; every moment, you have to remind yourselves; this is a means; this is a means; let me not be over-worried. And if I am not obsessed with that, I have got lot of inner freedom; mind is available for something higher as they nicely say: simple life and high thinking.

Therefore, you have got time for higher thinking and what do you accomplish by higher thinking? 

Anadi avidya krita banda mokṣanam krityam; 

one should commit himself to; one should dedicate himself to moksanam. So the removal of, destruction of all bandah; all the inner shackle is struggled to get rid of; that is that should be the obsession. Let body obsession be replaced by Sastra -obsession; self-knowledge obsession; moksha obsession. 

Therefore banda moksanam krityam; he has to commit himself to release of the bondage. And how is this bondage caused? 

Anaadi avidya kritam. The bondage is caused by anadi avidya- beginningless ignorance. Avidya means atma avidya; self-ignorance. So therefore, replace body-obsession with self- knowledge obsession.

Love

 Dear All,

A talk on Janmashtami is given below. listen and experience the bliss of being with Krishna

Jai Sri Krishna

Love

 

SHIVA RAHASYA - TALK 15

 Dear All,

Please find the YT link of the Shiva Rahasya - Talk 15, delivered at the "Kutir" on Aug 8th, 2025.

https://youtu.be/-jyRVkRG76E

Yoga Sutra- 1.36

Dear All,

Please listen to the audio satsangh talk on yoga sutra- 1.36 

The sutra goes like this

            विशोका वा ज्योतिष्मती ॥ १.३६ ॥

            viśokā vā jyotiṣmatī || 1.36 ||

            Or (by the meditation on) the effulgent one which is beyond all sorrow

 

Love

Vivekachudamani- Post 87

If you have indeed a craving for Liberation, avoid sense objects from  a distance, just as you avoid things known to be poisonous; and with  respectful reverence, daily cultivate the nectarine virtues - contentment, forgiveness, straightforwardness, calmness and self-control. (82)

So far, Sankara (through the Guru) was advising the seekers in Vedanta on what they should do in order to realize the Self, and thus end their misunderstandings and sorrows in life. He has, so far, insisted upon the importance of viveka and vairagya. 

Now he is slowly coming to a discussion to encourage the development of the noble qualities of the head and heart which, as we have earlier discussed, is the third item of adjustments to be  made by a student before a guaranteed success in Self-realization is assured to him. 

Having known a thing to be poisonous, however thirsty you may be, you will not be tempted to drink it: so too, however  tempting the sense objects may look, an individual who seeks  liberation should totally renounce the idea that they contain even  a trace of potency to supply joy. 

By withdrawing the sense organs from their field of activity, we conserve a tremendous amount of energy which would otherwise be wasted. 

If this newfound energy is not immediately harnessed to do special work, the chances are that we will spend this dynamism in mentally dreaming of sense indulgence. This brings about an ugly deformity in our personality. 

To remain physically inert but mentally sensuous develops a distorted personality, drained of all brilliance and beauty through suppressed desires  and unseen mental dissipations. 

It is to avoid such dangerous consequences at the mental plane that we should have the guidance of the Teacher. Fresh fields have been discovered where the energy so conserved  could be used up to raise smiling crops of beauty and profit. 

We are told how an individual who has learnt to shun sense objects must immediately take up the constructive scheme of developing the positive qualities such as, contentment, compassion, forgiveness, straightforwardness, calmness and  self-control. 

These are the six fold inner wealth Sankara gives here. It is not the six alone, many are mentioned in the Gītā 16th chapter.

Abhayaa satva samsuddhi; jnana yoga vyavasthih; etc.; all of them we should acquire. In fact, if you plan to earn them, in fact, it is a life long pursuit. And not only that, you will enjoy acquiring them so much; that you do not consider worldly acquisitions as a very big thing at all.

Therefore, bhaja; bhaja means acquire them; adarat; means diligently, with commitment, with involvement, wholeheartedly.

And when should I work for that. Nityam; nityam means regularly, consistently; start the morning with auto suggestion and end the day with introspection. Auto suggestion-introspection; it is a most beautiful life. 

When we analyze  all the above virtuous qualities,  we find that each one of these qualities is in itself an attitude of the mind which will not suffer even the least disturbance. 

As we diligently practice them, necessarily will we seek and establish our identity with our fellow beings and enjoy the intimate brotherhood of man and the divine fraternity of the soul.

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 86

Know that mortality soon overtakes a foolish man who walks the dangerous path of sense pleasures. Whereas one who sticks to the path of divinity, according to the instructions of well-meaning and noble Guru, constantly walks the path divine helped by one's own reasoning faculty, one achieves the end; know for certain this is true. (81)

In Vedanta, meditation is the technique for gaining the final experience of self -rediscovery but meditation can be successful only when the mind is not agitated by desires. In a sensuous life, 

One is never without some desire or the other. Thus, an individual cannot have success, both in the life of meditation and in the world of sensuousness. 

The human mind is disintegrated because of its desires, and  it cannot be brought back to its state of healthy integration without its renouncing the very germs of its present disease. 

So, in Vedanta, great stress has been laid upon the necessity of avoiding the mind’s running amok with its uncontrolled appetites. 

This idea is explained again in a very powerful style. Sankara crisply repeats what the rishis have been continuously saying in the  pages of the scriptures that the path of sensuousness leads straight to mortality while the path divine leads to immortality.  

Thus, sensuous activities with motives of pleasure and indulgence harden the animal impressions in our minds and thereafter, thoughts begin to flow in that direction increasingly powerfully. Such a stupid man becomes increasingly daring in his criminalities, until at last he becomes irredeemable and slips down the ladder of evolution to be ultimately destroyed. 

On the other hand, the way up the evolutionary ladder is also open to man by climbing which he can slowly ascend to the very pinnacles of total fulfillment. 

This path has been beautifully described in the third line of the verse which insists that he must follow the instructions given by reliable guides, the Gurus, on the path of spirituality. 

Even if there be a sacred Guru and the disciples surrender unto him, this in itself cannot bear any fruit unless they are ready to actively cooperate with the Teacher and cultivate for themselves the perfection indicated to them by him. 

This verse  contrasts the paths of "preyas" (pleasurable) and "shreyas" (beneficial) and emphasizes the importance of seeking guidance from a guru to attain liberation. It highlights that the path of fleeting pleasures leads to suffering and mortality, while the path of self-knowledge, guided by a wise guru and one's own reasoning, leads to true liberation. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

The Path of Pleasure (Preyas):

This path is characterized by attachment to sensory enjoyments and worldly pursuits. It is portrayed as a dangerous and ultimately destructive path that leads to suffering and death. 

The Path of Benefit (Shreyas):

This path involves seeking self-knowledge and liberation through the guidance of a qualified guru and the application of one's own intellect. 

The Role of the Guru:

The verse stresses the importance of a guru who is not only knowledgeable in scriptures but also free from desires and deeply rooted in wisdom. Such a guru can provide the necessary guidance and support to navigate the path of self-discovery. 

The Importance of Discrimination:

The verse implicitly emphasizes the need for viveka (discrimination) between the real and the unreal, the transient and the eternal. This discrimination is essential for choosing the path of shreyas and avoiding the pitfalls of preyas. 

The Goal of Liberation:

The ultimate goal of the path of shreyas is liberation (moksha), which is freedom from the cycle of birth and death and the realization of one's true nature (Atman). 

In essence, this verse serves as a call to action, urging the seeker to renounce the allure of fleeting pleasures and embark on the journey of self-realization with the guidance of a true guru.

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 85

He who has destroyed the shark called 'sense objects' with the sword of mature dispassion crosses the ocean of samsara unobstructed. (80)

Continuing the idea, it is said here that he alone, who has destroyed the shark of desire lurking in the ocean of samsara, can safely cross to the other shore. In order to kill the enemy we have no other instrument save the sword of discriminative knowledge. 

Suviraktyasina; powerful vairagya

what is the powerful vairagya?  I do not want to hold on to anything in the world for the sake of my security and happiness. If I will be around them; it may be giving security to them; I may give them security; that is different thing; I may love them; that is different thing; but I do not want to take anything from them; the moment I hold on to anything; I am in trouble. 

Either hold on to yourselves or next option is hold on to God; other than God or yourselves, holding on to anything else, is risky. And not taking that risk is called suvirakty. suvirakty asi; asi here means sword or knife.

Visayakhya grahaha ataha; the crocodile of viṣaya. So here visaya should be taken as visaya asa. The crocodile called visa asa should hataha; be destroyed, if you want to be strong; if you want to avoid risk; if you want to be independent psychologically, it should be destroyed. And ena; whoever accomplishes this, whichever person accomplishes this; this means what? 

The destruction of viṣaya asa  by the sword of vairagya; whoever accomplishes, saha param gacchati. He alone can cross over; he alone can reach the shore; param means shore. Of what? bhavambhodheḥ- Bhava means samsara; ambodihi means sāgara; he alone can reach the shore of samsara.

That means he alone can attain moksha . How, pratyuhavarjitaḥ; without any obstacle. pratyuhaha means pratibandah; vignaha is called pratyuḥ varjithah; without any obstacle; he alone can attain mōkṣa.

With viveka alone can we end our desires. Desires can come and sabotage our happiness only when the discriminative faculties in us have, as it were, gone to sleep. So long as the pure intellect is awake, the whims and fancies of the mind cannot emerge to loot and plunder the peace of the inner kingdom. 

Only in the darkness of the bosom, when the illuminating intellect has disappeared behind the cloud of ignorance, can the temptations and desires of the heart walk out of their hideouts to steal the wealth of peace and tranquility which the individual enjoys. 

Once in the grasp of these minions of the moon, the person identifying with desires gets choked and drowned in the stormy sea of plurality. 

To live intelligently with discriminative analysis,  ever conscious of the fallacies in each thought and not getting  victimised by fanciful desires, is to live in viveka. Where viveka is  steady, the desires, however strong they be, will not dare to attack. 

So if we ultimately see all these verses are only commentary upon the word vairāgya; which is one of the sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti .

Love

Vicvekachudamani- Post 84

Those who have only an apparent dispassion and are trying to cross  the ocean of change are caught by their throats by the shark of desire  which violently dragging them along, drowns them in the middle of  the ocean. (79)

Suppose there is a person; who wants to cross a river or a lake; a water, water pool he wants to cross. And he is a swimmer and somehow he has struggled; and he has almost crossed the river; 75% over; but what happens? there was a crocodile; this crocodile pulls him back, catching hold of his neck; the crocodile pulls him back and again immerses him into the water.

Similarly, a person by the study of scriptures etc. is trying to cross the river of saṁsāra; āśā is a crocodile; which we do not know when it will come; again it will catch without our knowledge; if you are complacent, it will just catch and pull a person down.

And therefore, let a person be alert with regard to āśā or vairāgyaṁ. Therefore he says: mumukṣun, so there are some mumukṣus who are interested in spirituality.

With regard to materialistic people, we need not discuss at all, because they never attempt to cross the river; like the buffalo; they are enjoying the dirty pool of wateritself. So we are only talking about those people who have felt that this water is a dirty pool and I want to cross.

Therefore, mumukṣun, they want to cross over; but what is their problem. Āpātavairāgya vataḥ; so they have got vairāgyaṁ but it is not intense enough.

A spirit of detachment and a craving for dispassion may be generated in us as a result of repeated tragedies. A tragic bereavement, a shocking disappointment, a painful failure, an agonizing physical pain, all these have been found, either individually or collectively, capable of creating a temporary sense of vairagya, termed in Sanskrit as 'smasana vairagya' - an aversion to life and its finitude which is usually generated when one has occasion to visit a cremation ground.  

True dispassion is a wise condition of the ego created from a deep intellectual conviction, which in its turn, has its roots in perfect discrimination. Only in the maturity of an individual's spiritual florescence, can one hope to gather the fruits of wisdom. 

False vairagya has ruined more men than even atheism has ever done. Hundreds and thousands of indiscriminate people, in almost all the religions of the world, reach the sanctuaries of their respective monasteries. 

In the long run, however, they discover that they are not fit for a life of total renunciation and perfect self-  control. Many of them who find sufficient moral courage return to the marketplace and the world of contentions to fight for and acquire and enjoy material wealth. 

But some come to live a choking life of frustrations and sorrows, with neither the capacity to live the life of renunciation nor the daring to return to the world of cut-throat competition. 

Sankara has briefly pointed out these dangers by comparing men of insincere vairagya to those who are ship wrecked on the 'ocean of change' which is infested with ravenous sharks of sensuous desires. 

These desires jump at the throats of the poor victims and drag them down and drown them midway on their pilgrimage to the Beyond.

How, kaṇṭhē nigr ̥ hya; catching hold of this person by his very throat; like some of the sharks which catch their prey by their neck. When the neck is caught; you cannot even think. 

Similarly when the attachment is powerful; then this person's thinking power is also gone and if somebody wants to give an advice; he says who are you to be an advice; I know what I am doing and I am very sure about what I am doing. 

Vinasakale viparitha buddhi; like our Ravaṇa who never listened to anyone; he was very sure what he does is right; nobody can help. Only thing is let him perish and come back again.

Rama could not change Ravaṇa; Krishna could not change Kamsa; we also end up as Ravaṇa and Kamsas; does not mean that we should become raksasas; materialistic itself is raksasatvam.

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 83

He who has liberated himself from the terrible bonds of desires for sense objects, (indeed), very difficult to renounce , is alone fit for Liberation;  none else , even if he is well versed in all the six schools of philosophy. (78)

Sankara says vishaya asa is maha pashah; attachment to the vishaya and remember Vishaya does not mean objects only; all the physical bodies in the world also come under vishaya. Any pancha baudikam vasthu is vishaya; whether it is an inanimate thing or living physical body which includes my own physical body. From vedantic angle my body is also a vishaya; because it is pancha baudika. Vishaya asa is not an ordinary shackle but it is very very strong bondage.

And yaḥ vimuktaḥ; suppose a person transcends that weakness; he is able to detach from the physical body; that means he gives the physical body the importance that it deserves. Here giving up is not destroying; but he does not want to give up more importance than it deserves; that he puts it in its appropriate place.

We have been told again and again that vairagya is an essential and salient factor in the study of Vedanta. So, without total and  complete vairagya, the energy in us which is being spent in wrong pursuits will not be conserved for greater purposes of self-culture and ultimately of Self rediscovery. 

Indeed, the Masters of Vedanta were not impractical men, being ignorant of the ordinary man's sense attachment. They certainly realized that to control the sense organs and to avoid their gushing forth into their respective sense objects is very difficult for an ordinary man. 

And yet, where viveka has come, vairagya is natural, and he who has gained a certain amount of freedom from the charms of sense objects is fit for Liberation. 

The idea is that so long as the individual thirsts for anything, his entire energy will be consumed in its acquisition and possession and there will be nothing left in him to supply him with the required dynamism for listening, reflecting and meditating upon the contents of the scriptures. 

That such a one alone is fit for Liberation' is a very positive statement denying sensuous people any hope of success in spiritual life. Not even men who are erudite scholars in all the six schools of Indian philosophy are recognized by the sastras as fit for total Liberation from ignorance and ignorance-created misunderstandings in themselves. 

With mere book learning, without the purity of the heart, tranquility of the mind, the application of the intellect and body's self-denial, no progress in spiritual life, which can take us towards complete Liberation from our limitations is ever possible.

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 82

Sense objects are even more venomous in their tragic effects than cobra poison. Poison is fatal to one who swallows it, but the sense objects  kill him who even looks at them with his eyes. (77)

At this juncture, Sankara discusses how dangerous it is for a seeker to be attached to the enjoyment of sense objects. 

In order to emphasize  the virulence of sense poison, Sankara gives yet another verse,  which is very famous, in as much as, we often hear it being quoted from all pulpits. 

Explaining the dangerous intensity of this poison, the Acharya compares it with the venom of the cobra. 

Vishayaḥ dosena tivraḥa; in terms of his harming capacity; pulling down capacity; the viṣaya is tivrah; more intense; more powerful than vishadapi; even poison. That too what type of poison? 

Krishna sarpa; the black cobra; Krishna here means black or dark ones; the black cobra visham; and the viṣaya is more harmful than that.

How does Sankara say so? To give a logical proof also; he gives the logical proof; what is that; visham boktharam eva hanthi;

Poison will kill only a person who consumes the poison. By hearing about or by seeing, the poison does not kill; only when it enters the system and is absorbed in the system; only then it will kill. 

Therefore boktharam vishaṁ hanti; whereas what about viṣaya; cakṣuṣa drastaram hanti; even that person who sees the viṣayaḥ.

If there is some distance between a cobra and an individual, the poison in  the cobra cannot affect him. Nobody is known to have died of poison because he merely saw a cobra in a zoo. 

The venom can be fatal to a person only when he is bitten by a cobra. Compared with this, sense objects are more virulent because they can annihilate the individual who just looks at them. 

The organ of vision mentioned in the verse, represents all the other four sense organs and indicates a similar end when all other sense  organs, individually or collectively, run after their sense objects, bringing about a total annihilation.

So here what is the idea conveyed? That if a person does not have a discriminative power; then the very sight can cause attachment; and then he goes on thinking about that

In the  second chapter of Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says,

While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger.(2-62)

Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.(63)

Most intelligent and moral personal can drop all the ethics and morality and go to adharma and once dharma goes away, moksha is farther. 

And for that viṣaya dhyānam, what is the cause? Vishaya darsanam is the cause for viṣaya dhyanam. Viṣaya dhyanam is the cause of spiritual death.

A person should be careful with regard to the external world, until he learns to manage his rāga dveshṣa; which is called samaḥ; learning to manage raga-dveṣa is sama.

once the mind is mastered, then whatever the sense organs perceived; no problem; but because he knows what is attachment and what is freedom from that. 

Love

Vivekachudamani-Post 81

The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and the honeybee - these five are annihilated because of their slavery to one or the other of the senses such as sound and so on, through their own attachment. What then is the condition of a man who is attached to all these five? (76)

We are now discussing how attachment to the senses bind, enslave and destroy the peace of mind and freedom of true living. At this moment Sankara very appropriately, reminds us of the various examples provided by nature where certain species meet their death due to extreme attachment to one or the other of the five senses. 

The deer is always fascinated by melodious sound and the deer hunter sings to charm the deer. Attracted by the melody of sound, the deer has no awareness of the danger it is in and turns in the direction of the music, the hunter soon makes it his target. Therefore kuranga stands for sabda asa.

The elephants, especially in the mating season, become extremely attached to the sense of touch, rubbing against each other and walking without caution, they fall into the pits got ready to  catch them.  Therefore, elephant stands for sparsa asa, weakness for skin.

The moth is enchanted by form and attracted by the brilliance of the flame. It flutters towards it with an agonizing impatience and gets burnt. What we are taking advantage of is its weakness for bright light/lamp. Therefore rupa asa or rupa ragah.

The fish, ravenously hungry at all times, in its gluttony, swallows the bait, is caught and thus meets  its end in the stomach of fish-eaters. And therefore, minam has got rasa asa, or rasa ragaḥ. 

And then finally bhr̥ngaḥ vandu, the honey bee;  it t is attracted by the smell of the flowers; and because of that it is captured by certain flowers; it closes during the night; when it is attracted, especially in the evening time; goes and sits there; and the flower closes and it gets trapped and the commentator says, 

Again we do not know, we have to verify; that certain strong smell, like the smell of champaka flower that is so strong; that the bee will die because of the intensity of the smell; that the smell itself directly destroys that insect. Again, it has got what? gandha asa or gandah raga.

And therefore, each one of these animals dies because of its bondage caused by one guna; sabda guna; sparsa guna; rupa guna; rasa guna or gandha guna; that is said in the first line. pancha pancatvamapuh; 

Pancha means these five animals; so these above mentioned five animals; pancatvamapuḥ; gets destroyed; they perish; because of what? svagunena baddhaḥ; and bound by their own weakness for one one guna only. 

Now come to the fourth line, panchabhirancitaḥ kim; what to talk of the human being who has got all the five weakness? So ancitaḥ, ancitaḥ means associated with the panja asas. The five-fold attachment.

And this is not his mistake. Remember, this is not his mistake; these are all five natural instinctive weaknesses. So we have this weakness we need not feel guilty about their presence; the arrival is not because of it; it is instinctive. We are to be blamed if we are going to keep that weakness going. So therefore, perpetuation of the weakness is the mistake; the presence of the weakness is not our mistake.

If the weakness is there; we need not feel guilty; but we allow them to continue; we have to feel the guilt. Therefore, the presence is not weakness; perpetuation is the weakness. More in the next class.

When a man of ignorance, having neither discrimination nor detachment, vulgarly runs after sense objects for his temporary nerve tickling, he becomes a sad victim of his delusion and meets a calamitous end for he has allowed himself to be bound by the five strong ropes.

Love

 

Vivekachudamani- Post 80

Having united with parts of one other, they become gross and become the cause for the formation of the gross body. Their subtle essence constitutes the sense objects, five in number such as sound and so on, which contribute to the enjoyment of the experiencer, the individual ego.(74)

Tanmatra/ Panchikarana etc. are adequately described in the posts under the theme Tatwa Bodha. Readers are requested to go through the relevant posts in Tatwa Bodha for better understanding of  these terms.

75. Those thoughtless ones who are bound to these sense objects by the stout ropes of attachment, so very difficult to cut asunder, come and go, carried up and down by the compelling force of the convoy of the reactions of their own past actions. 

A samsarin is under the persecution of sense objects  because of his attachment to them. These attachments are so strong  that they become almost unbreakable. Thus bound to the gross, the ego ekes out its experiences and yearns for more. 

Every moment, it perpetrates endless activities each providing its own reactions to be enjoyed or suffered by the same ego. Thus repeatedly, the same ego visits different fields of activities and in a variety of environments. 

It again and again enters and leaves the arena of existence, reaping its reaction and sowing new seeds through desire prompted activities, which in their turn, compel it to come again to reap the fruits of the new harvest. 

Sankara says mudah; majority of humanity is mudah. So totally deluded; they think their physical body themselves; this is the first attachment. This is to their own physical body; by which they become a physicalized personality. 

Even their emotional and intellectual personality are forgotten; they reduce themselves to a physical personality; and through this physical attachment; it is extended to all other attachments.

Attachment to my body is called ahamkara; attachment to the world is called mamakara. Ahamkara mamakara moha, makes a person mudah; 

ya esu mudha viṣayesu baddha; they have lost their freedom; they are imprisoned by various sense objects.

When the reactions of the past actions tend neither towards  too much enjoyment nor too much suffering, that is, they are  almost equibalanced, then such an egocentre, with its slightly  predominant tendencies to be either good or bad, presents itself  in a human form. 

Thus a chance is given to everyone to consciously move either  up or down, or towards the infinite freedom of pure godhood.  Spiritual endeavour however, is possible neither in the heavenly  planes of experiences indicated by the term 'up' nor in the fields of sorrows covered by the term 'down'. 

Each of us comes to gain the required field, appropriate  and forming a perfectly logical sequence with the motives, thoughts  and desires entertained in the past. Guided by the very instincts  created in us as a result of our past karmas, that is, ordered by our  own karmaduta, we reach our destinations sought by ourselves. They are nothing but frozen past intentions now beginning to thaw.

Love