Vivekachudamani-Post 56

The Guru replied , "Blessed you are. For you wish to attain the absolute Brahman by freeing yourself from the bondage of ignorance. Indeed , you have fulfilled your life and have glorified your clan." 

The Teacher's face now beams with a smile of satisfaction and soon, words expressing his joy, at meeting such a perfect student, flow out of him. The very fact that the boy has decided that he wants to be free from all his weaknesses, that he wishes to walk out into the boundless fields of perfection, has made him blessed. 

There are a few people for whom God realization has become the only pursuit of life; such are rare ones; and here the student happens to be one; who has dropped everything and who has come to find an answer to the question. And therefore the teacher says: dhanyaḥ asi; you are indeed the fortunate one; blessed one.

kr̥ takr̥ tyaḥ asi. In fact you are a fulfilled one. Liberated one. In fact this statement is not really true, because the student has come for liberation; how can the teacher even before the teaching, saying that you are liberated. 

In ordinary life too, we use expression such as 'baking the bread', when we know that bread need not be baked. In such cases,  we generally use the immediate future fulfilment to indicate the  present activity. 

Similarly, the enquiry into life and its relationship  with its cause, with a burning desire to live and accomplish the  ultimate perfection in one's own self, is the present activity which  will, in a short time, end in the final consummation of the purpose  of life. Therefore, the Teacher in anticipation declares that the boy  has fulfilled the purpose of his life. 

Here the idea is you have got a serious desire to remove this and you have come to the right place and therefore liberation is guaranteed.

Te kulam tvaya pavitam; you have sanctified your family by being born in that family. In the scriptures, it is said that if a liberated person is there in a family, it will bless not only the liberated person, it will bless seven generations, it is said. Not only the immediate family, but previous generations, previous generations; in fact the impact of a jñāni is so penetrating; and therefore you have sanctified your family.

Brahmi bhavitham icchahthi To release ourselves from the shackles of ignorance is not  merely to have knowledge but, transcending the ignorance- created projection of the body, mind and intellect, it is to live and experience Reality in Itself. Therefore, the Teacher says, "You wish  to attain brahmanhood, that is, godhood." 

yad avidya banda-muktya. So you are struggling to release or give up the bondage caused by ignorance. And by removing the ignorance, you are desiring to become become Brahman. 

Brahman means the infinite. Because Moksha is defined as Brahma bhavah. And that is why we say moksha does not come under selfishness because when we look at the pursuit of a person, that he withdraws from the society, withdraws from the family and goes to what you call serious pursuit of moksha, it looks as though she is utterly selfish. 

But the pursuit of moksha is the expansion of the I from identifying with one's family or one's society or community; through moksha he is expanding the I to identify with the entire cosmos.

Love

Vivekachudamani- Post 55

What is bondage? How has it come? How does it continue to exist?  How can one get out of it completely? What is the not-Self? Who is the supreme Self? And what is the process of discrimination between these  two (Self and not-Self)? Please explain all these to me. (49)

This is series of seven questions which the student asks the  Teacher, who will now take them up one by one and answer them exhaustively. 

1) Ko nama bandaḥ; what is the bondage that is talked about in all philosophical literatures? This word bandaḥ is used in all Indian philosophical literature and this refers to spiritual bondage, which is otherwise known as saṁsāra.

2) kathameṣa agataḥ; how did this bondage come; what is the cause of bondage; 

3) kathaṁ asya pratiṣṭaḥ; how does this bondage continue to survive? how does this bondage continue? pratiṣṭaḥ means what? Continuation; permanence; persistence; how does it persist; that is another better word; because you find in the creation anything that we experience goes away by itself in course of time; anything you see wears out in course of time but this saṁsāra bondage is such a unique thing, that it does not have a natural death; every other thing including stars have a natural death.

4) katham vimōkṣaḥ; how can we free ourselves or give up this persistent saṁsāra; that which does not have a natural death? Therefore we will have to specifically work for getting rid of this saṁsāra.

Just as rivers ultimately merge into oceans, you will also ultimately merge into Brahman, God; but that can create a misconception; that mōkṣa is a natural process. Here we say No; it is never natural; it requires our effort; our initiative; our hard work; and how can we do that? katham vimōkṣaḥ; how is freedom from bondage acquired or how is this shackle broken? This is the fourth question.

5) kaha asaui anātma; what is anātma? That is a technical word; if you translate into English it only means not-self. Ātma means self; ‘a’ means not; anātma means non-self; what do you mean by non-self. 

6) paramaḥ ka atma. What is meant by paramatma? paramatma means the real self; the true self; the supreme Self. Why we have to say the real self?

7) tayōrvivēkaḥ katham; how can one discriminate between; or differentiate; how can one differentiate ātma and anātma.

The student wants to know what is this individual personality and how do you dissect the individual personality and find out the what is the genuine-I and what is the non-genuine-I. Katham. How to do that?

In all the previous verses,  the Teacher spoke in terms of 'bondages', 'Liberation', 'not-Self',  'supreme Self', and the 'discrimination between the Self and the  not-Self', till now these terms were freely used but the student is  not satisfied with a mere understanding of the theories of Vedanta. 

He wants to live them in life. So he is now pointedly asking him to explain more clearly. Naturally, the Teacher catches the  enthusiasm of the student in getting clear answers to all his questions and and we shall see how beautifully he warms up to  the discussion.

Love

Vivekachudamani- Post 54

The sishya said , "Kindly listen , O Master! to the questions that I now  raise. Hearing their answer from your lips , I shall feel entirely satisfied."  (48)

The entire Vivekacudamani has, by now, changed from being a  textbook into an outstanding poem, a literary masterpiece because,  while writing this great work, Sankara often excels the philosopher  in him and becomes a poet to splash the entire power with brilliant  colors of pure literary genius. 

He has a special niche in  the 'poet's corner' and will perhaps be remembered as the noblest  poet who ever wielded a pen to bring about a cultural revival. 

Questions of the Disciple 

The very conversational style of this verse relieves the  monotony of the philosophy and brings into its arid fields the  touch of the human hearts and the thrills of a warm, pulsating  life. Here, an ignorant student reaches a seer, who is the fountain of knowledge and through a process of discussion, tries to attune  himself to his Teacher for walking out of dark ignorance into the  Master's brilliant domain. 

He says: Hey Svamin, Oh Lord, the Sishya is no more looking at the guru as even a person; he has raised the guru to the status of Bhagavan; therefore he is addressing Hey Svamin;

Moksha gita starts with the sishya addressing his Guru thus:-

The disciple said: O Merciful Master! I bow to thee. I have fallen into the dreadful ocean of birth and death. I am afflicted with the three kinds of Taapas. Save me, O Lord. Teach me, how I should cross this ocean of Samsara. 

 Oh Lord; ayam prasna maya criyate; a group of  questions is presented by me to you.

And for what purpose I am giving the question? You should not just give me prasādam and send me away. Questions are for answers. Therefore, he says yat uttaram aham srutva; I would like to get answers to these basic questions. 

So yat uttaram prasnanam uttaram; sapta prasnanam uttaram aham srutva; I would like to hear. In fact, the entire Vedanta  sastra is sapta prasna uttaram only. 

And I want to listen from whom? Bhavan mukhat. So do not say that the reply is in that book; go and read, do not say go to this person and that person; do not send me away; bhavan mukhat srutva; I want to hear from you only. 

And by listening to the answers, aham kr̥tarthaḥ syam.  kr̥tarthah means fortunate, blessed, fulfilled; that is best translation; fulfilled I will become.

kritaarta means moksha purushartah prapti. Philosophical fulfilment, which includes intellectual fulfillment, which includes emotional fulfilment, which includes even physical fulfillment. 

Rare are such disciple existing in present day world, sincerely treating their Guru (Essence ) as Swamin/ Lord, wanting/craving for getting all their spiritual  doubts clarified  only from their Guru- Bhavan Mukhat Srutva. 

Such verses elevate a sincere Spiritual aspirant to an inexplicable level. 

Love