Vivekachudamani - Post 6

 

vaidika dharma margaparata 

 

Even after gaining all these rare chances, to have steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity as explained in Vaidika literature is yet rarer; 

 

When one has a human body along with the serener qualities of the heart and the sattvika attitude of the intellect, one is indeed blessed with all the preliminaries for his evolution. 

 

But all these can run to waste if not properly harnessed and intelligently applied. So Sankara declares that even after gaining all the above qualifications, rarer still are those who will find the energy to apply themselves faithfully to the methods of integration as suggested in the literature of the Vedas. 

 

A person can become an academic scholar; he might know what is dharma; what is adharma; but is utterly useless, if a person does not follow the lifestyle prescribed in the sastras. 

 

Parata means commitment for pursuit of dharma margaḥ; righteous way of life; In Brahmacharya asrama a person studies the vedas and in grahastha asrama and vanaprastha asrama he is supposed to practice the veda purva bhagaḥ or dharma sastram. 

 

If a person follows that he becomes fit for veda anthaha. In short, he will attain jnana yogyata. Till that he has to follow. Study maybe over in 10 years or 15 years. But there afterwards he has to practice the religious life for a length of time until he gets sadhana catuṣṭaya sampatti. 

 

Selfless karma, rituals and practices of devotion, japa, puja and so on, alone can purify the inner personality and bring more and more integration to it. Concentration increases through desireless actions and a person who has greater concentration (ekagrata), has necessarily a finer antahkarana. 

 

So, a steady      concentration must be the initial attempt of all seekers, especially those on the path of knowledge. Steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity is the culmination/ final fructification of Sadhana Catushtaya Sampatti, which is “Mumukshatva”!! 

 

 

Love.

 

Vieveka Chudamani - Post 5

Ataḥ puṃstvaṃ  

 

Much more difficult it is to attain full manhood It does not mean that Sankara said that women are not considered fit for contemplation or Self-realisation as per Vedanta.

 

At this juncture we must bring our discriminative capacity to understand that when these qualifications were given out, they were not given out with reference to the body. With the body, no sadhana can be undertaken as explained in Vedanta. The main practices in Vedanta are reflection and meditation, which are to be undertaken by a healthy mind and a keen intellect.

 

Woman is the symbol of softness, attachment, sentiments, and anxieties, she is essentially a mother. Wherever these qualities predominate, there we have a 'woman'. These qualities- Attachment, Sentiments, Anxieties, Emotions- they come in the way of Sincere, Dedicated Spiritual Sadhana.

 

A masculine inner personality, full of courage, discrimination, detachment, equilibrium, peace and cheer, is the fittest instrument for a quick march to the goal indicated by Vedanta.

 

In this sense, there are many 'women' among bearded ones and if firmness of determination, detachment, intellectual hardiness and steadiness of composure are signs of a better evolution, these masculine tendencies of head and heart are amply seen in many women.

 

Tato viprata

 

Rarer than this is a sattvika attitude in life. We must consider this qualification as indicating a special quality of head and heart. Santosa (contentment), samadhana (spirit of self-surrender) and santi (peace arising from right knowledge) are the special qualities (sattvika temperaments) of a well evolved man.

 

Man in any generation, when observed closely, can be classified into three distinct categories - the animal-man, the man-man and the God-man.

 

He who is ever a victim of his gross instincts and a hopeless slave to his emotions and impulses is classified as an animal-man.

 

When he has disciplined these instincts in himself, he is considered a full-grown, mature he-man.

 

Such a vipra, meaning a man-man has the necessary viprata to strive rightly and grow steadily into the last stage of his evolution the super manhood or godhood, when he becomes a God-man.

 

Swami Sivananda says, “The aspirant should give his full consent with all his being (Sarva Bhava) for the change of his lower nature into Divine nature. He must make total, unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to the Lord or Guru. He must have the true spirit and right abiding attitude. He must make the right persistent endeavours. Then only the real change will come.”

 

 

Continued….

 

Love.

 

 

Vivekachudamani - Post 4

Verse 2

 

                        जन्तूनां नरजन्म दुर्लभमतः पुंस्त्वं ततो विप्रता

                        तस्माद्वैदिकधर्ममार्गपरता विद्वत्त्वमस्मात्परम् ।

                        आत्मानात्मविवेचनं स्वनुभवो ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थितिः

                        मुक्तिर्नो शतजन्मकोटिसुकृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥

 

    jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabham ataḥ puṃstvaṃ tato vipratā

    tasmād vaidika dharma mārgaparatā vidvattv amasmātparam |

    ātmānātma vivecanaṃ svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṃsthitiḥ

    muktirno śhata janma koṭi sukṛtaiḥ puṇyairvinā labhyate || 2 ||

 

(For all living creatures, a human birth is indeed rare; much more difficult it is to attain full manhood; rarer than this is a sattvika attitude in life. Even after gaining all these rare chances , to have steadfastness on the path of spiritual activity as explained in Vaidika literature is yet rarer; much more so , to have a correct knowledge of the deep significances of the scriptures. Discrimination between the Real and the unreal, a personal experience of spiritual glory and ultimately to get fully established in the living consciousness that the Self in me is the Self in all - these come only later on and culminate in one's Liberation. This kind of a perfect Liberation cannot be had without merits earned in hundred crores of lives, lived intelligently.)

 

In the very beginning of the textbook, Sankara is emphasising the difficulty of awakening ourselves to the real communion with the Divine in us. In fact, there are innumerable specimens of living creatures in the universe. Truth is the substratum of all and, therefore, the real nature of all creation, even the inert and the insentient. There are many qualities dealt in this single verse. We will deal with all of them one by one. In fact, this one verse lays the very foundation for this entire text- Viveka chudamani and gives the pre-requisite for “Self realization through Sadhana”.

 

Human birth is rare. Here Sankara seems to emphasise that this text is meant only for evolved human beings since it explains and expounds a theory of spiritual perfection, which can be understood, practised, pursued and perfected only by men of certain mental calibre and moral character. Such perfect ones who are ripe for a sudden and immediate spiritual self-development are always rare in the world at any given period of its history.

 

Thus the Acharya says that to get a human birth is rare, having got a human birth to have a masculine temperament is rarer still.

 

"The traditional number of created beings is 84 lakhs, and man is the final item of the evolutionary procession; but, why did the number stop at 84 lakhs? It stopped because man is the zenith, the fullness; He is endowed with manas, buddhi, chiththa and ahamkaara (mind, intelligence, reasoning faculty and ego), all four, in an integrated personality, whereas the birds and beasts and all other species have mostly ahamkaaram (ego) alone. Man has the capacity to follow sathya, dharma, shaanthi and prema; man alone has it." (SSS Vol. 6-15).

 

"Man alone has the chance to liberate himself from the wheel of birth and death, through the pleasant means of serving God. But as a result of ignorance, or what is worse, perversity, he lets the opportunity slip from his hands, and suffers grief and pain, fear and anxiety, ad infinitum." (SSS Vol. VI, page. 60).

 

“Embodiments of Love! Human life is the most sacred in the entire creation of God. Daivam Maanusha Rupena (God incarnates in the form of human being). Humanness is pure, unsullied and beyond attributes. Such a sacred human life is being polluted with evil desires and thus man is bringing disrepute to human birth itself. Jantu Naam Nara Janma Durlabham (human birth is the rarest and the noblest). It was God who created everything in the universe, right from the microcosm to macrocosm. In that case, why is it that He has attached utmost importance to human birth alone? Only man has the capacity to accomplish things which no other living being can.” Divine discourse -16.10.1999.

 

Let us believe in the above Sai’s words, believe in the sanctity and sacredness of our life, pour our infinite gratitude to God for having made us essentially so pure, so sacred, no matter what we are as of now.

 

 

Continued….

 

 

Love.