(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.
Continuing on verse 5, we will delve on the
2nd, 3rd and 4th line today
(Taking to be Reality)
their body or even Prana, or senses,
or even the ever-changing intellect, or even a void, consider such ideas to be
effeminate,
childish, blind or idiotic, uttering “Thus I am” in ignorant innocence,
Deluded as they are,
they vigorously stick to their words, then follows the play of the power of
Maya, which gives rise to terrible misconceptions.
He who removes these
delusions at their root, to that “Remover of Delusion”, the Revered Form of
Guru, do I offer my salutation, He is the Revered Form of Sri Dakshinamurti).
This has become a controversial verse due
to the inclusion of Stree “woman”
among the other terms used.
The Rishis of the Vedic period did not
have narrow ideas regarding gender. In any case, this text is concerned only
with intellectual qualities, and the word means effeminate qualities which
could exist even in man. That is clearly intended.
i) Stree:
“woman” or “effeminate qualities”. Being too emotional, attached or highly
strung or having strong likes and dislikes are considered unsuitable for
knowledge of Self.
ii) Baala:
“child”. This really means one who is intellectually not developed fully. It
indicates immaturity, living in one’s own world, playfulness, childishness. In
the scriptures, ignorant people are often called ‘Baala’. Again, there is no insult to children intended here.
iii) Andha:
“blind”. This does not mean being literally blind, but refers to one who does
not adopt the right means or Pramana
to obtain knowledge. Those who look for God outside when He is inside are
adopting the wrong means. They may not be physically blind, but they are
intellectually blind.
iv) Jada: “inert”. It refers to an inert, dull intellect. It
is of no use in understanding the subtleties of a subject like Vedanta. A blunt
knife can never cut anything.
Bhraantaa Bhrisham: These are persons
being clouded firmly with gross delusion. They can never get to the truth of
things with such poorly equipped intellects.
Mahaa VyaaMoha: This is an unusual
word describing the degree of delusion.
‘Moha’ is
the basic word meaning delusion. All mental diseases are born of Moha. Everyone is deluded in some way or other.
When ‘Aa’
prefix is added to Moha, ‘AaMoha’ makes the delusion related more to one’s life.
From the general state, we are going to a more specific state. It indicates the
contagion of delusion has crept into our very life.
Then a further prefix ‘Vi’ is added, and we get ‘VyaaMoha’. This is even more deep and intense. The
delusion is now not just in ordinary superficial matters of life, but the very
principles of life are subject to delusion.
Our concept of right and wrong, our standards of
morality, are confused. There is no discrimination in adopting values in life.
We cannot decide properly which path to follow. There is no anchorage in life
and our boat is rudderless. These are fundamental delusions we are speaking of.
Finally, the adjective ‘Maha’ is added to all this, which takes it to another
level altogether. Now, not only this single life is affected, but life after
life is lived in a deluded state. There is something very fundamentally wrong
in our makeup that is dragged through every life.
This is the most intense form of delusion a
person can ever suffer from. It is the delusion that engulfs us endlessly birth
after birth. The very root of life is infected! That is the acute state which
is being treated here.
How have we got into all this mess? It is by
cumulative reckless living, excessive negligence of the thoughts we permit into
our minds. We have neglected to filter them; we have permitted all sorts of
wild thoughts to run unchecked in our mind.
This Tamasic
intellect has grown like weeds in our mind and formed a thick veil over our
intellect. The intellect no longer has the sharpness and purity to understand
its original nature.
Ignorance – the only
evil
Why Sankara is using so many adjectives for
ignorance? Why is he describing ignorance as something so horrible? The reason,
ignorance is so horrible.
Why are there so many wars? Why would one
person kill another?
Why there are so many dirty politics at
work?
Why there are indifferences in
community?
Why there are strained relationships
within families?
Look at the social problems in the world – not
just today but throughout the history. Problems of discrimination, problems
like unfairness built into the society, caste distinction, terrorism – the sole
cause for all these problems is nothing but IGNORANCE.
One of the most profound but incredibly under-appreciated aspects of the Hindu Vedic tradition is the understanding of evil
as one’s own ignorance.
Many theologies consider evil as external power
or other people. From Vedantic perspective of ancient rishis, there is no evil
person. Every person is innately divine. However, divine people seem to be
capable of doing horrible action because of ignorance.
At individual level all the human suffering is
due to ignorance, but a different kind of ignorance. This personal ignorance is
the failure to recognize your own divinity.
It is when we realize that we are entrapped by
this delusion, that the Guru comes into our lives and rescues us from going
even deeper into the mud of delusion.
This is the rescue operation referred to in this
line. How grateful should we be to the Guru who comes into our life to perform
this massive ‘clean-up’ operation.
Salutations to the Guru in the context of this
verse as the “Remover of Delusion”, known as Sri Dakshinamurti.
There is no such thing as Maya; it is all one's imagination. To
think that you are the body is Maya. You mistakenly believe that
you are something [body] that you really are not; that is Maya.
Truly speaking, there is no Maya; it is all one's imagination. Maya is
like the shadow of a tree. What casts the shadow? The branches of the tree and
not the rays of the Sun. If there are no branches, there is also no shadow. The
shadow called Maya arises from the branches called human
desires. If there are no desires, then there is no Maya as
well!
