Verse 1
The Blessed Lord said:
Fearlessness, purity of
heart, steadfastness in Yoga and knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses,
sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness.
Abhayaṁ is an inward feeling of
fearlessness born of inner contentment. People with wants of every kind are
afraid of so many things. Fearlessness is a quality of desirelessness.
It is the state of freedom from
concern for present and future miseries. Inordinate attachment of any kind
causes fear. Attachment to wealth leads to dread of impoverishment, attachment
to social prestige causes fear of infamy, attachment to vice leads to anxiety
about the consequences of sin, attachment to bodily comfort causes the fear of
ill-health, and so on. Detachment and surrender to God vanquish all fear from
the heart.
The author used to teach few:
“Total surrender=Total fearlessness=Self
realized state"
Sattva saṁśuddhiḥ is
the manifestation of the sattva guna, resulting in clarity of
perception, radiance in the face, and inward satiety.
This is the state of inner
cleanliness. The mind generates and harbors thoughts, sentiments, feelings,
emotions, etc. When these are ethical, wholesome, positive, and uplifting, the
mind is considered pure.
Jñāna yoga vyavasthitiḥ is an
intense aspiration to get established in the yoga of the wisdom of God.
It is said: tattva vismaraṇāt
bhekivat. “When human beings forget what is right and what is wrong
they become like animals.” Thus, the path of virtue is forged by remaining
steadfast in the awareness of spiritual principles.
Dānaṁ is a charitable nature, a
giving nature, large-heartedness, not a selfish nature.
Material charity, done for the
welfare of the body, helps others temporarily. Spiritual charity, done at the
platform of the soul, helps eliminate the cause of all suffering, which is
separation from God. Consequently, it is considered higher than material
charity.
Damaḥ is the restraint of the
organs of knowledge as well as the organs of action.
The senses are notorious in their
ability to drag the mind deeper into material illusion. They tempt the living
being to seek immediate gratification. However, walking the path of virtue
requires forsaking the lower sensual pleasures for achieving the higher goal.
Thus, restraint of the senses is an essential virtue for treading the path to
God.
This is one of the 6 virtues (shad
sampat) taught to all aspirants in the initial stage, in the Sadhana Chatushtaya
session by the author.
Yajñaḥ ca is a
daily consciousness of it being necessary for us to adore gods, the divinities
superintending over the cosmos, by external ritualistic sacrifice as well as
internal sacrifice that is described in the Fourth Chapter, to which you may
revert for brushing up your memory.
Svādhyāyaḥ is daily sacred study of the
Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita or any holy scripture in order to enable lofty
thoughts in the mind—without which, the mind will think of dirt and stink and
very low things of the world on account of the strength of the activity of the
sense organs. To prevent one’s subjection to sensory demands and the evaluation
of things in terms of the sense organs, the study of sacred scriptures—which
are the words of the saints, sages, prophets and incarnations—will be of great
assistance.
Tapaḥ means austerity. It also
means mental and sensory control—the ability not to allow the energy of the
system to leak out through the apertures of the sense organs, and conservation
of energy in oneself. This, essentially, is tapaḥ.
Ᾱrjavam is
straightforwardness. We should not say something, do another thing, and think a
third thing altogether; that is crookedness. Actually, we should speak what we
think, and behave in that manner. That is what is called straightforwardness—ārjava.
Simplicity in speech and conduct
unclutters the mind and engenders the sprouting of noble thoughts.
For those who have been fortunate
to be in Sai fold, to visit Puttaparthi, to see Swami, to read about Swami’s
stories, only they would know, even as Lord, when He descended in human form,
how simple, how straight forward Swami was, to teach the lesson to all His
devotees, this unique quality.
Out of personal experience, the
author can say, this quality cannot be planned, pursued and got.
This is a virtue which a true
Bhakta/Sadhaka gets as a grace, when he takes up sadhana sincerely and follows
the instructions of Lord/ Master to the minutest level.
Straight forwardness is a reward,
a grace which an aspirant gets when his thoughts, words and deeds are perfectly
aligned.
When a master teaches something,
when the same is not taken as it is without bringing in any past vasanas,
any unnecessary intellect, when the thoughts are filled with the teachings,
when the lips utter only the truth in the teachings, when all actions are in
alignment with the teachings, then the gift a sadhaka gets is straight
forwardness. When one of the three explained here is missed, then
Straight forwardness is not achieved.
Love.
