Saturday, March 25, 2006
Story 31 - Story of King Puranjana – 3
After Chandavega attacked Puranjana, Kaalakanya (the daughter of time) also attacked Puranjana. At that time, Puranjana felt as if he is old and of no use to the world. He lost his vigour and the country was completely in havoc. The king Yavana was the person who attacked Puranjana with the help of Kaalakanya. The snake guarding the city of Puranjana was sure to fall off by the attack of Kaalakanya. When the snake was about to fall, Puranjana started to worry about the people, wealth, sons, grandsons and his wife. Thus he started thinking and brooding over what is going to happen to all his possessions. Possessed by this “I” and “Mine” and contemplating his mind on his wife, Puranjana gave up his body. Thus he was born as a woman in the house of King Vidarbha.
Explanation
This part of the story brings out the concept of time as well as rebirth. The concept of rebirth is based on the law of action or karma which has it that any action has a fruit equivalent to the action. This law is very similar to Newton’s third law stating that any action has an equal and equivalent reaction. So long as a person does action, he enjoys the fruit of the action. It can never happen that after doing an action, a person is not going to reap the fruit of the action. This is as if telling that “I will eat food but my hunger will not be satisfied” or that “I will walk from office to home but will not move an inch”. Thus any action whether it is physical or mental will have an equivalent fruit to it. As Vidyaranya beautifully puts it in Panchadashi, “a person does action for enjoying & he enjoys so as do more action”. Thus this cycle of action-enjoying continues. This cycle is never-ending & can be ended only when all actions are killed. Actions can be killed only when the ACTOR or DOER is killed. This happens only when the seeker realizes that “I” am the witness of the action, unaffected by the action and distinct from the DOER of EGO (which identifies itself with the body and mind thus causing the DOER-ship). Splitting of the Ego or the apparent “I” from the real “I” of Self is realization as per Vedanta. The moment a person realizes his very nature of Self or Consciousness, the witness of all activities, that very moment the seeker gets liberated from the bondage of action-enjoyment because the seeker ceases to be the EGO at that time. It is the wrong identification of EGO with the Self which causes a person to think that he is the DOER. This is what Vedanta calls “superimposition” even as the illusory snake is superimposed on the rope during night. The Ego is always changing as actions are changing each and every moment. Also the Ego is limited whereas “I” am unlimited. The Ego is often happy as well as sad but “I” experience this happiness and sorrow – thus “I” am the Self which is distinct and different from the Ego. It is also experienced that during deep sleep there is no Ego but still “I” remain. This clearly shows that “I” am not the Ego but the Self which is the witness of the Ego and its activities.
When the seeker realizes this reality, then he ceases to be the Ego and also experiences that the Ego is nothing but an illusion in the ultimate non-dual reality of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus when there is no doer, there are no actions. When there are no actions, there is no enjoyment too. The actions that seem to be happening in the world for realized saints like Sankara, Madhva etc. are nothing but very similar to dream happenings. In dream, we do actions & at times we enjoy, at times we don’t enjoy. But once the dream ends, everything ends. Similarly when the seeker wakes up from the long dream of waking world, actions cease to exist.
This is what Lord Krishna says in Gita that “knowledge burns all actions into ashes”. The knowledge here meant is the knowledge about one’s own very nature of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory Ego.
But until the seeker realizes this reality, there will seem to be actions and enjoyments even as the dreamer will experience actions until he wakes up. Thus if a seeker does some actions & doesn’t reap the fruit in this birth, he will take another birth suitable to enjoy the fruits. The body is just a medium for enjoying the fruits. The body is just like a shirt which the Self identifying itself with the Ego takes and exchanges once it wears off. This concept of rebirth is logical enough because even at the time of death, there are so many mental desires in the mind. These desires can be enjoyed or fulfilled only when they are converted to actions. Thus it is but natural that a person who has desires will have to take birth again to fulfill those desires. If it is asked that what will happen to a person who has no desires, such a person is a realized saint who never has any body or birth so as to be reborn or have rebirth. IT is but very rare that a person who has desires while in the world will have no desire at the time of birth. This is almost impossible – the only possibility is that a person who has no desires while in the world alone will have no desire at the time of birth. Lord says in Gita that whatever we think at the time of death, that we will become in the next birth. This is very clear when compared with dream state. It has been proved and can be experienced that what we think at the time of just sleeping, that we will be dreaming. If we have to think anything at the time of death, we have to think about that thing the whole thing or majority of time at least. Let’s say a person is said to think something at the end of day which he did or was thinking in the particular day – he will be thinking about that thing which he thought maximum that day. Thus Lord says in Gita that a person should always be thinking about the Lord so that by the end of this birth, he will think about the ultimate reality of Lord thereby getting liberated from the bondage of birth and death. The liberation after death is not a permanent one but this is meant for those who are unable to contemplate and realize here and now itself that “I am not the body but the Self or Lord who is ever free & the only really existing entity”.
Since Puranjana was thinking about his wife the whole birth, he died thinking about his wife. Thus he became a woman in his next birth. The only way to get rid of this birth-death cycle is to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own nature & contemplating that “I am not the body or mind or Ego but witness of all illusory things/activities in the world”.
Let us next analyze another important thing which this story tells – TIME.
We analyzed the concept of rebirth as being valid until there is ignorance of one’s own very nature of birth-less, deathless eternal being of Lord or Self. When the ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self is removed, then the seeker realizes that he was never ever born to die – thus there is neither birth nor death but only the non-dual ultimate reality of Lord or Self exists, one without a second.
Now we will try to analyze the concept of time. As we all are aware, everything in the world is based on the two important concepts of time and space. Time is termed in many scriptures as a cycle or chakra or wheel and that which never stops & that which causes other beings in the world to either progress or deteriorate. This is why we have heard the saying that “time lost will never be got back again”. This concept is taken to heights when people equate each moment or second with money considering time to be very precious and earning lot of money. Time is divided into three as past, present and future. Time if we really analyze is just a concept of the mind. This is the reason why we have a different time while awake and different time when we dream. Moreover there is no time when we are in the deep sleep state. There is no mind in the deep sleep as the Self alone exists veiled by a veil of ignorance in the form of “I didn’t know anything”. Thus it is clear that if there is no mind, there is no time. This is what great philosophical thinkers called SEERS have found out about the riddle of time. Modern day science is trying to view and control time when they themselves are controlled by time. Time can be controlled only when we control the mind – this is why Time Management requires lot of mental preparation and mental control.
The moment a person controls his mind, time is automatically controlled. Thus we find that a person who has his mind well controlled, stabilized and peaceful will have good time management. But Vedanta instead of stopping at this point goes still further by trying to go beyond the mind. When a person goes beyond the mind, time ends there. Where there is no time, there is only stillness which gives eternal bliss or peace to the seeker. The state where there is no time will be devoid of most of the problems caused by time. For eg:- time causes a person to become old and feel weaker. But the moment time-less state is achieved, then there is no limitedness caused by time. The illusion of time vanishes when a person achieves the time-less state. At that state, there is no sorrow and suffering which is caused due to bodily or mental problem arising out of limitedness caused by time and space. Overcoming time might seem to something which is kind of stupid or impossible thing but this is very much possible. We all experience a state daily wherein there is no time at all - the state of deep sleep where there is no dream nor the waking objects. This state is where a person overcomes time temporarily. Time merges into the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord or Self at that point of time. Thus it is very clear that time can be overcome. Also time is something changing (present, future and past). Thus the changing time requires a changeless substratum of WITNESS or SUBJECT which is the Self or Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
Time management becomes perfect when a person overcomes time by realizing the underlying substratum of time - the Self, that on which time depends for its existence. When a person thus realizes the Self as distinct from and witness of the changing time, he basically becomes inevitable and beyond time. Such a person is able to change time and suit time for the welfare of the world. This can very well be seen in the life of great saints like Yukteshwar Giri, Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi etc. who show through their life and activities that time is nothing but a mere instrument in their hand. Time thus when overcome becomes a mere illusion like water seen in desert. As the water seen in desert doesn't affect a person who knows the reality, similarly a person who has overcome time is not affected by time and the sorrows-sufferings arising out of time. Such a person is what Vedanta calls as a realized saint who has achieved what needs to be achieved - he who is rejoicing in the eternal bliss which is the goal of each and every person in the world. Bliss can be rejoiced only when a person realizes his own very nature of infinite, unlimited Lord beyond the illusory time and space - the cause of all sorrows and sufferings in the illusory world.
Time management is thus not managing time properly by scheduling etc. but it is by realizing that ultimate reality of Lord who is beyond time as the substratum of illusory time & the mere witness to the illusion of time & its creation of the world etc. This is achieved by completely surrendering unto the Lord and thereby realizing one's own very nature of Lord.
Explanation
This part of the story brings out the concept of time as well as rebirth. The concept of rebirth is based on the law of action or karma which has it that any action has a fruit equivalent to the action. This law is very similar to Newton’s third law stating that any action has an equal and equivalent reaction. So long as a person does action, he enjoys the fruit of the action. It can never happen that after doing an action, a person is not going to reap the fruit of the action. This is as if telling that “I will eat food but my hunger will not be satisfied” or that “I will walk from office to home but will not move an inch”. Thus any action whether it is physical or mental will have an equivalent fruit to it. As Vidyaranya beautifully puts it in Panchadashi, “a person does action for enjoying & he enjoys so as do more action”. Thus this cycle of action-enjoying continues. This cycle is never-ending & can be ended only when all actions are killed. Actions can be killed only when the ACTOR or DOER is killed. This happens only when the seeker realizes that “I” am the witness of the action, unaffected by the action and distinct from the DOER of EGO (which identifies itself with the body and mind thus causing the DOER-ship). Splitting of the Ego or the apparent “I” from the real “I” of Self is realization as per Vedanta. The moment a person realizes his very nature of Self or Consciousness, the witness of all activities, that very moment the seeker gets liberated from the bondage of action-enjoyment because the seeker ceases to be the EGO at that time. It is the wrong identification of EGO with the Self which causes a person to think that he is the DOER. This is what Vedanta calls “superimposition” even as the illusory snake is superimposed on the rope during night. The Ego is always changing as actions are changing each and every moment. Also the Ego is limited whereas “I” am unlimited. The Ego is often happy as well as sad but “I” experience this happiness and sorrow – thus “I” am the Self which is distinct and different from the Ego. It is also experienced that during deep sleep there is no Ego but still “I” remain. This clearly shows that “I” am not the Ego but the Self which is the witness of the Ego and its activities.
When the seeker realizes this reality, then he ceases to be the Ego and also experiences that the Ego is nothing but an illusion in the ultimate non-dual reality of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus when there is no doer, there are no actions. When there are no actions, there is no enjoyment too. The actions that seem to be happening in the world for realized saints like Sankara, Madhva etc. are nothing but very similar to dream happenings. In dream, we do actions & at times we enjoy, at times we don’t enjoy. But once the dream ends, everything ends. Similarly when the seeker wakes up from the long dream of waking world, actions cease to exist.
This is what Lord Krishna says in Gita that “knowledge burns all actions into ashes”. The knowledge here meant is the knowledge about one’s own very nature of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory Ego.
But until the seeker realizes this reality, there will seem to be actions and enjoyments even as the dreamer will experience actions until he wakes up. Thus if a seeker does some actions & doesn’t reap the fruit in this birth, he will take another birth suitable to enjoy the fruits. The body is just a medium for enjoying the fruits. The body is just like a shirt which the Self identifying itself with the Ego takes and exchanges once it wears off. This concept of rebirth is logical enough because even at the time of death, there are so many mental desires in the mind. These desires can be enjoyed or fulfilled only when they are converted to actions. Thus it is but natural that a person who has desires will have to take birth again to fulfill those desires. If it is asked that what will happen to a person who has no desires, such a person is a realized saint who never has any body or birth so as to be reborn or have rebirth. IT is but very rare that a person who has desires while in the world will have no desire at the time of birth. This is almost impossible – the only possibility is that a person who has no desires while in the world alone will have no desire at the time of birth. Lord says in Gita that whatever we think at the time of death, that we will become in the next birth. This is very clear when compared with dream state. It has been proved and can be experienced that what we think at the time of just sleeping, that we will be dreaming. If we have to think anything at the time of death, we have to think about that thing the whole thing or majority of time at least. Let’s say a person is said to think something at the end of day which he did or was thinking in the particular day – he will be thinking about that thing which he thought maximum that day. Thus Lord says in Gita that a person should always be thinking about the Lord so that by the end of this birth, he will think about the ultimate reality of Lord thereby getting liberated from the bondage of birth and death. The liberation after death is not a permanent one but this is meant for those who are unable to contemplate and realize here and now itself that “I am not the body but the Self or Lord who is ever free & the only really existing entity”.
Since Puranjana was thinking about his wife the whole birth, he died thinking about his wife. Thus he became a woman in his next birth. The only way to get rid of this birth-death cycle is to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own nature & contemplating that “I am not the body or mind or Ego but witness of all illusory things/activities in the world”.
Let us next analyze another important thing which this story tells – TIME.
We analyzed the concept of rebirth as being valid until there is ignorance of one’s own very nature of birth-less, deathless eternal being of Lord or Self. When the ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self is removed, then the seeker realizes that he was never ever born to die – thus there is neither birth nor death but only the non-dual ultimate reality of Lord or Self exists, one without a second.
Now we will try to analyze the concept of time. As we all are aware, everything in the world is based on the two important concepts of time and space. Time is termed in many scriptures as a cycle or chakra or wheel and that which never stops & that which causes other beings in the world to either progress or deteriorate. This is why we have heard the saying that “time lost will never be got back again”. This concept is taken to heights when people equate each moment or second with money considering time to be very precious and earning lot of money. Time is divided into three as past, present and future. Time if we really analyze is just a concept of the mind. This is the reason why we have a different time while awake and different time when we dream. Moreover there is no time when we are in the deep sleep state. There is no mind in the deep sleep as the Self alone exists veiled by a veil of ignorance in the form of “I didn’t know anything”. Thus it is clear that if there is no mind, there is no time. This is what great philosophical thinkers called SEERS have found out about the riddle of time. Modern day science is trying to view and control time when they themselves are controlled by time. Time can be controlled only when we control the mind – this is why Time Management requires lot of mental preparation and mental control.
The moment a person controls his mind, time is automatically controlled. Thus we find that a person who has his mind well controlled, stabilized and peaceful will have good time management. But Vedanta instead of stopping at this point goes still further by trying to go beyond the mind. When a person goes beyond the mind, time ends there. Where there is no time, there is only stillness which gives eternal bliss or peace to the seeker. The state where there is no time will be devoid of most of the problems caused by time. For eg:- time causes a person to become old and feel weaker. But the moment time-less state is achieved, then there is no limitedness caused by time. The illusion of time vanishes when a person achieves the time-less state. At that state, there is no sorrow and suffering which is caused due to bodily or mental problem arising out of limitedness caused by time and space. Overcoming time might seem to something which is kind of stupid or impossible thing but this is very much possible. We all experience a state daily wherein there is no time at all - the state of deep sleep where there is no dream nor the waking objects. This state is where a person overcomes time temporarily. Time merges into the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord or Self at that point of time. Thus it is very clear that time can be overcome. Also time is something changing (present, future and past). Thus the changing time requires a changeless substratum of WITNESS or SUBJECT which is the Self or Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
Time management becomes perfect when a person overcomes time by realizing the underlying substratum of time - the Self, that on which time depends for its existence. When a person thus realizes the Self as distinct from and witness of the changing time, he basically becomes inevitable and beyond time. Such a person is able to change time and suit time for the welfare of the world. This can very well be seen in the life of great saints like Yukteshwar Giri, Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi etc. who show through their life and activities that time is nothing but a mere instrument in their hand. Time thus when overcome becomes a mere illusion like water seen in desert. As the water seen in desert doesn't affect a person who knows the reality, similarly a person who has overcome time is not affected by time and the sorrows-sufferings arising out of time. Such a person is what Vedanta calls as a realized saint who has achieved what needs to be achieved - he who is rejoicing in the eternal bliss which is the goal of each and every person in the world. Bliss can be rejoiced only when a person realizes his own very nature of infinite, unlimited Lord beyond the illusory time and space - the cause of all sorrows and sufferings in the illusory world.
Time management is thus not managing time properly by scheduling etc. but it is by realizing that ultimate reality of Lord who is beyond time as the substratum of illusory time & the mere witness to the illusion of time & its creation of the world etc. This is achieved by completely surrendering unto the Lord and thereby realizing one's own very nature of Lord.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Story 31 - Story of King Puranjana – 2
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 31 - Story of King Puranjana – 2
Once there was a king named Puranjana who had a friend called Avijnaata (one who is unknown) of whom nobody knew. Puranjana restlessly traveled the planet all over to become his own man but when he could not find, he became sad. When once has going south of the Himalayas, he spotted a city with nine gates that offered him all facility. The city was beautiful with many beautiful things. As he arrived there, he all of a sudden saw a very beautiful woman surrounded by ten servants who each led a hundred of them coming towards him.
Puranjana was attracted to her and asked her as to who she is. She replied back telling that she didn’t know who she was and said that the people surrounding her were her friends. She was also attracted to him and said to him “Just be so good to stay in this city with nine gates that I have arranged for your taking pleasure in things for a hundred years”.
Narada continued:
Thus having fallen in love with one another, they as husband and wife entered that place and lived in the city enjoying their life for a hundred years. Thus he became very much attached to her & whatever she did, he also did. Thus captivated by the queen, he was cheated in all he did and was he, unwise in his blind following her after, perforce like a pet animal.
Explanation
Srimad Bhagavatham is here pointing out how a person gets affected by the biggest obstacle to spirituality called “lust” or “desire for women”. When Bhagavatham and Vedanta speak about Kamini or women, it is not just speaking about a particular gender but it is pointing out the strong attachment to opposite sex in the form of lust and passion. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the two main obstacles to realization are kamini (women) and kanchana (wealth or gold) which Sankara very clearly brings out in the first few slokas of Bhaja Govindam.
It is but the nature of the mind to get attracted to the opposite sex. Most of this problem arises because of getting attached to the body. The physical attraction is the main attraction towards the opposite sex. This attraction bases itself on the assumption that “I am the body”. It is only when I think that I am the body, I get attached to other bodies. Thus the root cause of this problem is considering oneself as the body even though the reality is a person is the ultimate reality of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory body. This thought that “I am the body” is due to ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. Also as a result of considering the world as real, the seeker considers other beings as real. This is but another big illusion that veils the seeker and leads to him to many problems. It is when I think that the company of INFOSYS is eternally real that all problems start. There surely will be a time when either I will have to part way with the company or the company itself will come to an end (please take this in the right sense). This world and its objects are very similar to the dream world and its objects which seem to be present temporarily but ultimately don’t exist. Thus the other bodies are considered as real and given importance forgetting that they will ultimately vanish one day. Thus the attraction starts seeking pleasure or eternal happiness from the other people. This is as good as trying to seek happiness from the lover in dream.
Thus each seeker has to understand clearly that the world and its objects are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The world is only seemingly existent for the time being. When the realization dawns that there is no world at all, then the world itself vanishes & the seeker realizes that there is nothing but the Lord alone who is his own very nature of Consciousness.
Until this realization dawns, a seeker has to control his passions. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell, sexual passion and tongue are two things very tough to conquer indeed. Only when a person gets control over these passions can he concentrate towards the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as there are other things in his mind, he will not be able to concentrate on the reality. When a person is thinking about his family, he will not be able to concentrate on his work in office. Similarly unless a person makes his mind free of all other bondages, he will not be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. The reality of Lord can be realized only through constant contemplation of the reality that “there is nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second”. Thus it is very essential that a seeker controls his passions – the passion towards women being one of the biggest hurdles to the path of realization. It is very tough indeed to control the passion of lust but it is not impossible also. If there is dispassion towards the temporary and illusory world, then the seeker will be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality knowing that the reality alone will give him eternal bliss which is being sought out.
Thus for conquering lust, the simple way is to know that the world is illusory and that the ultimate reality of Lord alone will give eternal bliss to the seeker. The passions blindfold the seeker thereby making him go towards darkness more and more. The more passion he enjoys, the more he gets entangled in them being an addict to them. Thus he will not be able to go inwards and realize his own very nature of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus it is very essential to conquer the lust of women in life. We will continue with the story of Puranjana as to what happened to him in the next Srimad Bhagavatham is here pointing out how a person gets affected by the biggest obstacle to spirituality called “lust” or “desire for women”. When Bhagavatham and Vedanta speak about Kamini or women, it is not just speaking about a particular gender but it is pointing out the strong attachment to opposite sex in the form of lust and passion. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the two main obstacles to realization are kamini (women) and kanchana (wealth or gold) which Sankara very clearly brings out in the first few slokas of Bhaja Govindam.
It is but the nature of the mind to get attracted to the opposite sex. Most of this problem arises because of getting attached to the body. The physical attraction is the main attraction towards the opposite sex. This attraction bases itself on the assumption that “I am the body”. It is only when I think that I am the body, I get attached to other bodies. Thus the root cause of this problem is considering oneself as the body even though the reality is a person is the ultimate reality of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory body. This thought that “I am the body” is due to ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. Also as a result of considering the world as real, the seeker considers other beings as real. This is but another big illusion that veils the seeker and leads to him to many problems. It is when I think that the company of INFOSYS is eternally real that all problems start. There surely will be a time when either I will have to part way with the company or the company itself will come to an end (please take this in the right sense). This world and its objects are very similar to the dream world and its objects which seem to be present temporarily but ultimately don’t exist. Thus the other bodies are considered as real and given importance forgetting that they will ultimately vanish one day. Thus the attraction starts seeking pleasure or eternal happiness from the other people. This is as good as trying to seek happiness from the lover in dream.
Thus each seeker has to understand clearly that the world and its objects are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The world is only seemingly existent for the time being. When the realization dawns that there is no world at all, then the world itself vanishes & the seeker realizes that there is nothing but the Lord alone who is his own very nature of Consciousness.
Until this realization dawns, a seeker has to control his passions. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell, sexual passion and tongue are two things very tough to conquer indeed. Only when a person gets control over these passions can he concentrate towards the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as there are other things in his mind, he will not be able to concentrate on the reality. When a person is thinking about his family, he will not be able to concentrate on his work in office. Similarly unless a person makes his mind free of all other bondages, he will not be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. The reality of Lord can be realized only through constant contemplation of the reality that “there is nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second”. Thus it is very essential that a seeker controls his passions – the passion towards women being one of the biggest hurdles to the path of realization. It is very tough indeed to control the passion of lust but it is not impossible also. If there is dispassion towards the temporary and illusory world, then the seeker will be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality knowing that the reality alone will give him eternal bliss which is being sought out.
Thus for conquering lust, the simple way is to know that the world is illusory and that the ultimate reality of Lord alone will give eternal bliss to the seeker. The passions blindfold the seeker thereby making him go towards darkness more and more. The more passion he enjoys, the more he gets entangled in them being an addict to them. Thus he will not be able to go inwards and realize his own very nature of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus it is very essential to conquer the lust of women in life. We will continue with the story of Puranjana as to what happened to him next.
Puranjana thus enjoyed sensual pleasures with his wife. He was also called King Panchaala (the five sense objects). He thus was fully immersed in sexual pleasure without knowing the Supreme truth and didn’t have any desire to realize the ultimate reality of Lord which is the main goal of human life.
King Chandavega (the very swiftly passing by), king belonging to the heavenly abode came through Puranjana’s kingdom and with his army of 720 attacked Puranjana. The big snake which protected the entrance to Puranjana’s kingdom (its five hoods stands for the five praanas of prana, apana, vyaana, samaana and udaana) fought with the army of Chandavega. But the snake became weaker but Puranjana as he was indulged in sensual pleasures didn’t understand the fear of having submitted himself to the control of women.
Explanation
Srimad Bhagavatham here again stresses the reality that a person should never succumb to sensual pleasures. Sensual pleasures are temporary, they don’t last long. The objects in the world are temporary – they seem to be present today and will vanish tomorrow. These temporary objects can never confer eternal bliss because the objects themselves are non-eternal. If a person expects eternal bliss from the PC, he will not get it because the PC itself is non-eternal. The PC which is seen today will surely vanish tomorrow – it just requires either a tsunami or an earthquake to wipe off the PC. Even otherwise, one day or the other, the entities in the world will surely vanish and cease to exist. That which doesn’t exist can never give happiness. The PC which is not existent cannot give happiness – such a PC can give only mental thoughts – but these mental thoughts are only imaginations and not real. Thus such imaginations are not capable of conferring eternal bliss to the seeker. It is but attachment and attraction to the worldly objects which makes a person think that these objects will confer eternal bliss. The more a person is attached and attracted to an object in the world, the more he is going to suffer because of the attachment – because that object will surely vanish one day.
Thus Vedanta proclaims that all the pleasures arising out of conjunction with the external worldly objects are temporary and a wise person never takes resort to them. Lord Krishna says thus in Gita:
Ye hi samsparsajaah bhogaah dukhayonaya eva the
Adhyanthavantha kaunteya na teshu ramathe budhah
The sensual pleasures arising out of contact with sense objects are filled with sorrow only – they are temporary and have a beginning and end – thus a person never indulges in such pleasures.
Most of the problem in life is due to attachment and aversion to things in the world. This is only because of considering the objects as real. Once a person knows that the objects in the world are temporary and illusory, he never takes resort to them. Thus he has neither attachment nor aversion to the worldly objects. Thus he doesn’t suffer because of the worldly objects. When the seeker thus realizes and understands the world to be an illusion (changing world), then he contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord who is the only eternal entity present. Thus he always seeks the Lord instead of the worldly sense objects. Sankaracharya in his commentary on Sanatsujaatheeya says that if a person is extroverted towards sense objects, then he cannot realize the Self & if a person is contemplating on the reality of Brahman or Lord as one’s own very nature, he cannot perceive and seek the sense objects. This is because sense objects are external whereas the reality of Lord is internal – a person can never be both introverted and extroverted at the same time. A person who is introverted, seeks the Self in the heart of all beings & always worships the ultimate reality of Lord alone gets eternal bliss. A person who is running after the external sensual pleasures is bound to suffer like anything. It is but a real fact that such a person also is not really suffering but just seems to be suffering because of ignorance of his own very nature of eternal bliss. This suffering is like suffering in dream world. But until a person realizes his own very nature of Lord, he seems to suffer & considers the suffering as real. But once a person realizes his own very nature of eternal bliss, he doesn’t suffer at all because there is nothing but the Lord alone. Such a person doesn’t perceive any duality but he sees the entire world as nothing but the Lord alone. The world which is but names and forms of Lord is nothing but an illusion in the reality of Lord. When the realization of one’s own very nature of Lord dawns, the world vanishes & there is only the Lord – the Lord alone, one without a second.
Realization of the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature and as the substratum of the illusory world is the one and only way to get eternal bliss as the Lord alone is of the nature of eternal bliss. Whatever else we get in life will not give eternal bliss but it will give only temporary happiness filled with sorrow. The more a person indulges in sensual pleasure, the more he is addicted to them & the more he is immersed in the ocean of samsaara filled with sorrow and suffering. Thus a wise person instead of seeking the sensual pleasure seeks the reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the reality that “I am the Lord, there is nothing apart from the Lord & whatever is seen as different from the Lord is nothing but a mere illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord”. And through this constant contemplation, the seeker realizes his own very nature of Lord & thereby there is nothing but Lord alone, one without a second. He thus rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in himself.
Once there was a king named Puranjana who had a friend called Avijnaata (one who is unknown) of whom nobody knew. Puranjana restlessly traveled the planet all over to become his own man but when he could not find, he became sad. When once has going south of the Himalayas, he spotted a city with nine gates that offered him all facility. The city was beautiful with many beautiful things. As he arrived there, he all of a sudden saw a very beautiful woman surrounded by ten servants who each led a hundred of them coming towards him.
Puranjana was attracted to her and asked her as to who she is. She replied back telling that she didn’t know who she was and said that the people surrounding her were her friends. She was also attracted to him and said to him “Just be so good to stay in this city with nine gates that I have arranged for your taking pleasure in things for a hundred years”.
Narada continued:
Thus having fallen in love with one another, they as husband and wife entered that place and lived in the city enjoying their life for a hundred years. Thus he became very much attached to her & whatever she did, he also did. Thus captivated by the queen, he was cheated in all he did and was he, unwise in his blind following her after, perforce like a pet animal.
Explanation
Srimad Bhagavatham is here pointing out how a person gets affected by the biggest obstacle to spirituality called “lust” or “desire for women”. When Bhagavatham and Vedanta speak about Kamini or women, it is not just speaking about a particular gender but it is pointing out the strong attachment to opposite sex in the form of lust and passion. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the two main obstacles to realization are kamini (women) and kanchana (wealth or gold) which Sankara very clearly brings out in the first few slokas of Bhaja Govindam.
It is but the nature of the mind to get attracted to the opposite sex. Most of this problem arises because of getting attached to the body. The physical attraction is the main attraction towards the opposite sex. This attraction bases itself on the assumption that “I am the body”. It is only when I think that I am the body, I get attached to other bodies. Thus the root cause of this problem is considering oneself as the body even though the reality is a person is the ultimate reality of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory body. This thought that “I am the body” is due to ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. Also as a result of considering the world as real, the seeker considers other beings as real. This is but another big illusion that veils the seeker and leads to him to many problems. It is when I think that the company of INFOSYS is eternally real that all problems start. There surely will be a time when either I will have to part way with the company or the company itself will come to an end (please take this in the right sense). This world and its objects are very similar to the dream world and its objects which seem to be present temporarily but ultimately don’t exist. Thus the other bodies are considered as real and given importance forgetting that they will ultimately vanish one day. Thus the attraction starts seeking pleasure or eternal happiness from the other people. This is as good as trying to seek happiness from the lover in dream.
Thus each seeker has to understand clearly that the world and its objects are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The world is only seemingly existent for the time being. When the realization dawns that there is no world at all, then the world itself vanishes & the seeker realizes that there is nothing but the Lord alone who is his own very nature of Consciousness.
Until this realization dawns, a seeker has to control his passions. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell, sexual passion and tongue are two things very tough to conquer indeed. Only when a person gets control over these passions can he concentrate towards the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as there are other things in his mind, he will not be able to concentrate on the reality. When a person is thinking about his family, he will not be able to concentrate on his work in office. Similarly unless a person makes his mind free of all other bondages, he will not be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. The reality of Lord can be realized only through constant contemplation of the reality that “there is nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second”. Thus it is very essential that a seeker controls his passions – the passion towards women being one of the biggest hurdles to the path of realization. It is very tough indeed to control the passion of lust but it is not impossible also. If there is dispassion towards the temporary and illusory world, then the seeker will be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality knowing that the reality alone will give him eternal bliss which is being sought out.
Thus for conquering lust, the simple way is to know that the world is illusory and that the ultimate reality of Lord alone will give eternal bliss to the seeker. The passions blindfold the seeker thereby making him go towards darkness more and more. The more passion he enjoys, the more he gets entangled in them being an addict to them. Thus he will not be able to go inwards and realize his own very nature of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus it is very essential to conquer the lust of women in life. We will continue with the story of Puranjana as to what happened to him in the next Srimad Bhagavatham is here pointing out how a person gets affected by the biggest obstacle to spirituality called “lust” or “desire for women”. When Bhagavatham and Vedanta speak about Kamini or women, it is not just speaking about a particular gender but it is pointing out the strong attachment to opposite sex in the form of lust and passion. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the two main obstacles to realization are kamini (women) and kanchana (wealth or gold) which Sankara very clearly brings out in the first few slokas of Bhaja Govindam.
It is but the nature of the mind to get attracted to the opposite sex. Most of this problem arises because of getting attached to the body. The physical attraction is the main attraction towards the opposite sex. This attraction bases itself on the assumption that “I am the body”. It is only when I think that I am the body, I get attached to other bodies. Thus the root cause of this problem is considering oneself as the body even though the reality is a person is the ultimate reality of Lord or Self distinct from the illusory body. This thought that “I am the body” is due to ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. Also as a result of considering the world as real, the seeker considers other beings as real. This is but another big illusion that veils the seeker and leads to him to many problems. It is when I think that the company of INFOSYS is eternally real that all problems start. There surely will be a time when either I will have to part way with the company or the company itself will come to an end (please take this in the right sense). This world and its objects are very similar to the dream world and its objects which seem to be present temporarily but ultimately don’t exist. Thus the other bodies are considered as real and given importance forgetting that they will ultimately vanish one day. Thus the attraction starts seeking pleasure or eternal happiness from the other people. This is as good as trying to seek happiness from the lover in dream.
Thus each seeker has to understand clearly that the world and its objects are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The world is only seemingly existent for the time being. When the realization dawns that there is no world at all, then the world itself vanishes & the seeker realizes that there is nothing but the Lord alone who is his own very nature of Consciousness.
Until this realization dawns, a seeker has to control his passions. As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell, sexual passion and tongue are two things very tough to conquer indeed. Only when a person gets control over these passions can he concentrate towards the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as there are other things in his mind, he will not be able to concentrate on the reality. When a person is thinking about his family, he will not be able to concentrate on his work in office. Similarly unless a person makes his mind free of all other bondages, he will not be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. The reality of Lord can be realized only through constant contemplation of the reality that “there is nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second”. Thus it is very essential that a seeker controls his passions – the passion towards women being one of the biggest hurdles to the path of realization. It is very tough indeed to control the passion of lust but it is not impossible also. If there is dispassion towards the temporary and illusory world, then the seeker will be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality knowing that the reality alone will give him eternal bliss which is being sought out.
Thus for conquering lust, the simple way is to know that the world is illusory and that the ultimate reality of Lord alone will give eternal bliss to the seeker. The passions blindfold the seeker thereby making him go towards darkness more and more. The more passion he enjoys, the more he gets entangled in them being an addict to them. Thus he will not be able to go inwards and realize his own very nature of Self or Consciousness or Lord. Thus it is very essential to conquer the lust of women in life. We will continue with the story of Puranjana as to what happened to him next.
Puranjana thus enjoyed sensual pleasures with his wife. He was also called King Panchaala (the five sense objects). He thus was fully immersed in sexual pleasure without knowing the Supreme truth and didn’t have any desire to realize the ultimate reality of Lord which is the main goal of human life.
King Chandavega (the very swiftly passing by), king belonging to the heavenly abode came through Puranjana’s kingdom and with his army of 720 attacked Puranjana. The big snake which protected the entrance to Puranjana’s kingdom (its five hoods stands for the five praanas of prana, apana, vyaana, samaana and udaana) fought with the army of Chandavega. But the snake became weaker but Puranjana as he was indulged in sensual pleasures didn’t understand the fear of having submitted himself to the control of women.
Explanation
Srimad Bhagavatham here again stresses the reality that a person should never succumb to sensual pleasures. Sensual pleasures are temporary, they don’t last long. The objects in the world are temporary – they seem to be present today and will vanish tomorrow. These temporary objects can never confer eternal bliss because the objects themselves are non-eternal. If a person expects eternal bliss from the PC, he will not get it because the PC itself is non-eternal. The PC which is seen today will surely vanish tomorrow – it just requires either a tsunami or an earthquake to wipe off the PC. Even otherwise, one day or the other, the entities in the world will surely vanish and cease to exist. That which doesn’t exist can never give happiness. The PC which is not existent cannot give happiness – such a PC can give only mental thoughts – but these mental thoughts are only imaginations and not real. Thus such imaginations are not capable of conferring eternal bliss to the seeker. It is but attachment and attraction to the worldly objects which makes a person think that these objects will confer eternal bliss. The more a person is attached and attracted to an object in the world, the more he is going to suffer because of the attachment – because that object will surely vanish one day.
Thus Vedanta proclaims that all the pleasures arising out of conjunction with the external worldly objects are temporary and a wise person never takes resort to them. Lord Krishna says thus in Gita:
Ye hi samsparsajaah bhogaah dukhayonaya eva the
Adhyanthavantha kaunteya na teshu ramathe budhah
The sensual pleasures arising out of contact with sense objects are filled with sorrow only – they are temporary and have a beginning and end – thus a person never indulges in such pleasures.
Most of the problem in life is due to attachment and aversion to things in the world. This is only because of considering the objects as real. Once a person knows that the objects in the world are temporary and illusory, he never takes resort to them. Thus he has neither attachment nor aversion to the worldly objects. Thus he doesn’t suffer because of the worldly objects. When the seeker thus realizes and understands the world to be an illusion (changing world), then he contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord who is the only eternal entity present. Thus he always seeks the Lord instead of the worldly sense objects. Sankaracharya in his commentary on Sanatsujaatheeya says that if a person is extroverted towards sense objects, then he cannot realize the Self & if a person is contemplating on the reality of Brahman or Lord as one’s own very nature, he cannot perceive and seek the sense objects. This is because sense objects are external whereas the reality of Lord is internal – a person can never be both introverted and extroverted at the same time. A person who is introverted, seeks the Self in the heart of all beings & always worships the ultimate reality of Lord alone gets eternal bliss. A person who is running after the external sensual pleasures is bound to suffer like anything. It is but a real fact that such a person also is not really suffering but just seems to be suffering because of ignorance of his own very nature of eternal bliss. This suffering is like suffering in dream world. But until a person realizes his own very nature of Lord, he seems to suffer & considers the suffering as real. But once a person realizes his own very nature of eternal bliss, he doesn’t suffer at all because there is nothing but the Lord alone. Such a person doesn’t perceive any duality but he sees the entire world as nothing but the Lord alone. The world which is but names and forms of Lord is nothing but an illusion in the reality of Lord. When the realization of one’s own very nature of Lord dawns, the world vanishes & there is only the Lord – the Lord alone, one without a second.
Realization of the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature and as the substratum of the illusory world is the one and only way to get eternal bliss as the Lord alone is of the nature of eternal bliss. Whatever else we get in life will not give eternal bliss but it will give only temporary happiness filled with sorrow. The more a person indulges in sensual pleasure, the more he is addicted to them & the more he is immersed in the ocean of samsaara filled with sorrow and suffering. Thus a wise person instead of seeking the sensual pleasure seeks the reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the reality that “I am the Lord, there is nothing apart from the Lord & whatever is seen as different from the Lord is nothing but a mere illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord”. And through this constant contemplation, the seeker realizes his own very nature of Lord & thereby there is nothing but Lord alone, one without a second. He thus rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in himself.
Story 31 - Story of King Puranjana - 1
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 31 - Story of King Puranjana - 1
Explanation
King PrachaanaBarhi asked Narada the way out of desires and to attain realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. It is at that time that Narada starts explaining the story of Puranjana. Puranjana means that person who is after the city that is the body.
Scriptures again and again proclaim that the main cause of problems in life is ignorance of one’s own very nature of Lord. When one’s own nature is forgotten, then the Self (one’s own very nature) is mistaken as the body. This is what Vedanta calls as superimposition or Adhyaasa. The Self is superimposed on the not-Self. Thus the body is considered as the Self. In such a case, the person tries to give more importance and emphasis to the body. Lot of food, sensual pleasures are given importance as the body is considered as the Self. This might seem not to be causing any problem until the body is in good shape. The body is something which is subject to change – thus body also will undergo decay and disease. Thus when the body will be having disease, the sorrow or the disease itself will be considered as one’s own sorrow and disease. This is where the problem of considering oneself and the body comes. Thus the seeker who is of the nature of eternal bliss considers himself as suffering. It also goes to the extent that any measures are taken to keep up the body in perfect shape.
Lord Krishna calls this as Anabhishvangah in Bhagavad Gita 13th chapter which means thinking other’s problems to be one’s own problems.
The interactions with the world are the causes of problems – the interaction with the world is based on the superimposition of the Self with the body thereby considering oneself as the body. This leads to taking care of the body & leads to sorrow when the body decays. Not only disease of one’s own body causes problem but disease of one’s dear ones bodies also causes sorrow. Thus Sankara and the sruthi repeatedly stress that a person has to come out of the wrong notion that “I am the body” if he has to get liberated from the ocean of samsaara which is filled with sorrow only. Sankara thus says in Upadesha saahasri that when a person knows that “I am the Self” as strong as the thought of a ignorant person that “I am the body”, then such a person (who knows himself to be the Self) gets liberated even though he might not want it.
Setting aside the body doesn’t mean that a person has to get rid of the body but just means to give the body the necessary and limited need only and to have the conviction that “I am not the body”. We all have a particular body while in the waking state & while we are in the dream state, we have a different body. The waking body is different from the dream body. And in the state of deep sleep when we are not awake and not dreaming, we don’t have any body at all. This clearly shows that “I am not the body” as “I exist in deep sleep whereas body doesn’t exist in deep sleep”. The body is ever changing but “I” know myself to be changeless and the same person who was there 15 years back and still today. The body ceases to exist at the time of death but “I” never feel cessation of myself as “I” always exist. Body consists of different parts where “I” am partless as I am Consciousness in nature. Body is an object of “I” whereas “I” am never objectified as the Subject of all objects. Body is sustained by water and food whereas “I” am not sustained by anything but “I” make other things live because of my very presence as in dream “I” alone gives life to the dream world & its objects. All these show clearly that “I am not the body”, but due to strong addictions and ignorance, a person feels himself to be the body and suffers like anything not knowing that “I” am always blissful in nature. Thus one of the main aim of scriptural learning is to know that “I am not the body but the Conscious principle supporting the body and other illusory objects in the world”. In order to show how much a person suffers due to desires caused out of the feeling that “I am the body”, Narada explains the story of Puranjana. This story has really deep import for a seeker. In general, this is the story of the jeeva or the seeker who stays in the body and enjoys everything while suffering also but forgets his own very nature of eternal bliss.
The scriptures say that the body is the temple of the Lord. The body is the place where the presence of the Lord can be felt clearly. Thus Ramana Maharshi and others say that Lord resides in the heart of all beings – the heart being the spiritual heart from which start all thoughts. The body is called the temple because it is the place where Lord can be realized --- this analogy of considering the body as the temple is not to be extended too much but it just means that the body must be maintained as needed only so that it doesn’t pose a trouble for the realization of the seeker. If the body is suffering, then it is very difficult for a normal seeker to contemplate on the reality that “I am the Lord – one without a second”. If we go to a person who is having fever and say to him that “you are not the body, you are the Self”, he will not keep quiet and instead will beat us upJ. Thus sustenance of the body is essential until the seeker has crossed over the state where the body can pose problems or obstacles for the path of realization. Once the seeker progresses, bodily problems don’t affect the seeker as he knows himself to be distinct from the temporary and illusory body – he knows himself as the ever-present conscious entity of Lord or Brahman or Self. Thus it is very necessary that a normal seeker doesn’t discard the body – instead gives it the bare needs & contemplates on the reality of Lord.
If a person has to contemplate on the reality of Lord as different from the body, then he needs to know that body is temporary and will lead to sorrow alone. This is what the particular story of Puranjana shows – the story shows how a person gets addicted to various sensual pleasures & becomes a slave to the sense organs and their objects. It is but a pity that he who controls and gives light to the sense objects himself is affected by them & suffers because of them. This suffering in itself is only an illusion and the Self is never affected by the sense organs but only seems to be getting affected. Once the seeker realizes his own very nature of Lord, that very moment itself he realizes that he never was a slave to the sense organs and that he is always the non-dual absolute reality of Lord only. There is a very similar story appearing in the Tripura Rahasya. We will see the story of Puranjana next and if possible, will try to have a short look into the similar story appearing in Tripura Rahasya.
The body is considered in Vedanta as a house with nine openings. The owner of the body or resident in the house of the body is the Self or Atman who is not at all affected by the body or changes to the body. The body is called DEHA and the Self is called the DEHI.
The comparison of the body as a house with openings is very significant. Sankara in his Katha Upanishad Bhashya explains this deeply. The main import of comparing the body as a place where the Self lives is to show that as the owner of the house is not the house & not affected with the house, similarly the Self even though living in the body isn’t affected by the changes of the body. It may happen that the house-owner is so attached to the body that he considers it as very dear but this attachment is only an illusion due to ignorance. A real person will never get attached to the house & this attachment is not permanent too. That this attachment is not permanent is clearly shown when the house is on fire & the person saves his own life and considers his life greater than the house. Similarly it is only due to ignorance and superimposition that the seeker identifies himself with the body and seemingly gets affected by the changes of the body. When this ignorance that “I am the body” vanishes, the seeker realizes his own very nature of non-attached and eternal Self which is non-dual in nature.
Even as the house exists for the sake of the owner, similarly the body exists for the sake of the Self for enjoying at the empirical level. The body exists only because of the presence of the Self even as there is no house without the owner of the house who has built the house. Thus the owner of Self is independent whereas the body is dependent on the owner of Self. If the Self decides not to get attached with the body, the body just vanishes as it gets its existence from the Self alone. Thus Self is real whereas the body is only temporary and illusory.
The owner of the house is never limited by the house but seems to be limited when he is inside the house. Similarly the Self is never limited by the body as the Self is unlimited and infinite but just seems to be limited when its real nature is not realized.
The house is illumined by the owner and his presence through the openings, similarly the Self gives light/existence to things outside the body thereby making illusory objects seemingly existent. Operations of the owner happens through the openings in the house (which are windows and doors), similarly the operations of the Self which are perceptions of the external world (causing the dual feelings of happiness and sorrow) happen through the openings of the body.
Even though many explanations can be given for the analogy of comparing the body as a house with openings, the main and primary reason is that the house exists for the sake of the owner & the house never limits the owner who is independent. Similarly the body is just a place where the Lord or Brahman resides as the independent and ultimate reality of Consciousness. The body itself is seen only because of ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self distinct from the body. The body is ever changing as the house also always changes but the Self doesn’t change even as the owner doesn’t really change. Thus this explanation helps to distinguish between the body and the Self thereby helping the seeker to realize his own very nature of Self (very distinct from the illusory and changing body). When the reality dawns that “I am not the body”, most of the problems caused in the illusory world are removed. This is the aim of human life to get eternal bliss devoid of sorrows and sufferings. This can be achieved only by realization of one’s own very nature of Lord distinct from the illusory body.
The body is considered as having nine openings. These nine openings are two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, the opening for excretion and the opening for procreation. These are the places or openings through which activity as well as perception (perception helps in getting objective knowledge whereas activity helps in actions and getting fruits).
We have to remember while going through the story of puranjana that we are not the body but the owner of the body and hence shouldn’t become slaves of the body and its passions. We will continue with analysis of what Bhagavatham says about Puranjana next.
Explanation
King PrachaanaBarhi asked Narada the way out of desires and to attain realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. It is at that time that Narada starts explaining the story of Puranjana. Puranjana means that person who is after the city that is the body.
Scriptures again and again proclaim that the main cause of problems in life is ignorance of one’s own very nature of Lord. When one’s own nature is forgotten, then the Self (one’s own very nature) is mistaken as the body. This is what Vedanta calls as superimposition or Adhyaasa. The Self is superimposed on the not-Self. Thus the body is considered as the Self. In such a case, the person tries to give more importance and emphasis to the body. Lot of food, sensual pleasures are given importance as the body is considered as the Self. This might seem not to be causing any problem until the body is in good shape. The body is something which is subject to change – thus body also will undergo decay and disease. Thus when the body will be having disease, the sorrow or the disease itself will be considered as one’s own sorrow and disease. This is where the problem of considering oneself and the body comes. Thus the seeker who is of the nature of eternal bliss considers himself as suffering. It also goes to the extent that any measures are taken to keep up the body in perfect shape.
Lord Krishna calls this as Anabhishvangah in Bhagavad Gita 13th chapter which means thinking other’s problems to be one’s own problems.
The interactions with the world are the causes of problems – the interaction with the world is based on the superimposition of the Self with the body thereby considering oneself as the body. This leads to taking care of the body & leads to sorrow when the body decays. Not only disease of one’s own body causes problem but disease of one’s dear ones bodies also causes sorrow. Thus Sankara and the sruthi repeatedly stress that a person has to come out of the wrong notion that “I am the body” if he has to get liberated from the ocean of samsaara which is filled with sorrow only. Sankara thus says in Upadesha saahasri that when a person knows that “I am the Self” as strong as the thought of a ignorant person that “I am the body”, then such a person (who knows himself to be the Self) gets liberated even though he might not want it.
Setting aside the body doesn’t mean that a person has to get rid of the body but just means to give the body the necessary and limited need only and to have the conviction that “I am not the body”. We all have a particular body while in the waking state & while we are in the dream state, we have a different body. The waking body is different from the dream body. And in the state of deep sleep when we are not awake and not dreaming, we don’t have any body at all. This clearly shows that “I am not the body” as “I exist in deep sleep whereas body doesn’t exist in deep sleep”. The body is ever changing but “I” know myself to be changeless and the same person who was there 15 years back and still today. The body ceases to exist at the time of death but “I” never feel cessation of myself as “I” always exist. Body consists of different parts where “I” am partless as I am Consciousness in nature. Body is an object of “I” whereas “I” am never objectified as the Subject of all objects. Body is sustained by water and food whereas “I” am not sustained by anything but “I” make other things live because of my very presence as in dream “I” alone gives life to the dream world & its objects. All these show clearly that “I am not the body”, but due to strong addictions and ignorance, a person feels himself to be the body and suffers like anything not knowing that “I” am always blissful in nature. Thus one of the main aim of scriptural learning is to know that “I am not the body but the Conscious principle supporting the body and other illusory objects in the world”. In order to show how much a person suffers due to desires caused out of the feeling that “I am the body”, Narada explains the story of Puranjana. This story has really deep import for a seeker. In general, this is the story of the jeeva or the seeker who stays in the body and enjoys everything while suffering also but forgets his own very nature of eternal bliss.
The scriptures say that the body is the temple of the Lord. The body is the place where the presence of the Lord can be felt clearly. Thus Ramana Maharshi and others say that Lord resides in the heart of all beings – the heart being the spiritual heart from which start all thoughts. The body is called the temple because it is the place where Lord can be realized --- this analogy of considering the body as the temple is not to be extended too much but it just means that the body must be maintained as needed only so that it doesn’t pose a trouble for the realization of the seeker. If the body is suffering, then it is very difficult for a normal seeker to contemplate on the reality that “I am the Lord – one without a second”. If we go to a person who is having fever and say to him that “you are not the body, you are the Self”, he will not keep quiet and instead will beat us upJ. Thus sustenance of the body is essential until the seeker has crossed over the state where the body can pose problems or obstacles for the path of realization. Once the seeker progresses, bodily problems don’t affect the seeker as he knows himself to be distinct from the temporary and illusory body – he knows himself as the ever-present conscious entity of Lord or Brahman or Self. Thus it is very necessary that a normal seeker doesn’t discard the body – instead gives it the bare needs & contemplates on the reality of Lord.
If a person has to contemplate on the reality of Lord as different from the body, then he needs to know that body is temporary and will lead to sorrow alone. This is what the particular story of Puranjana shows – the story shows how a person gets addicted to various sensual pleasures & becomes a slave to the sense organs and their objects. It is but a pity that he who controls and gives light to the sense objects himself is affected by them & suffers because of them. This suffering in itself is only an illusion and the Self is never affected by the sense organs but only seems to be getting affected. Once the seeker realizes his own very nature of Lord, that very moment itself he realizes that he never was a slave to the sense organs and that he is always the non-dual absolute reality of Lord only. There is a very similar story appearing in the Tripura Rahasya. We will see the story of Puranjana next and if possible, will try to have a short look into the similar story appearing in Tripura Rahasya.
The body is considered in Vedanta as a house with nine openings. The owner of the body or resident in the house of the body is the Self or Atman who is not at all affected by the body or changes to the body. The body is called DEHA and the Self is called the DEHI.
The comparison of the body as a house with openings is very significant. Sankara in his Katha Upanishad Bhashya explains this deeply. The main import of comparing the body as a place where the Self lives is to show that as the owner of the house is not the house & not affected with the house, similarly the Self even though living in the body isn’t affected by the changes of the body. It may happen that the house-owner is so attached to the body that he considers it as very dear but this attachment is only an illusion due to ignorance. A real person will never get attached to the house & this attachment is not permanent too. That this attachment is not permanent is clearly shown when the house is on fire & the person saves his own life and considers his life greater than the house. Similarly it is only due to ignorance and superimposition that the seeker identifies himself with the body and seemingly gets affected by the changes of the body. When this ignorance that “I am the body” vanishes, the seeker realizes his own very nature of non-attached and eternal Self which is non-dual in nature.
Even as the house exists for the sake of the owner, similarly the body exists for the sake of the Self for enjoying at the empirical level. The body exists only because of the presence of the Self even as there is no house without the owner of the house who has built the house. Thus the owner of Self is independent whereas the body is dependent on the owner of Self. If the Self decides not to get attached with the body, the body just vanishes as it gets its existence from the Self alone. Thus Self is real whereas the body is only temporary and illusory.
The owner of the house is never limited by the house but seems to be limited when he is inside the house. Similarly the Self is never limited by the body as the Self is unlimited and infinite but just seems to be limited when its real nature is not realized.
The house is illumined by the owner and his presence through the openings, similarly the Self gives light/existence to things outside the body thereby making illusory objects seemingly existent. Operations of the owner happens through the openings in the house (which are windows and doors), similarly the operations of the Self which are perceptions of the external world (causing the dual feelings of happiness and sorrow) happen through the openings of the body.
Even though many explanations can be given for the analogy of comparing the body as a house with openings, the main and primary reason is that the house exists for the sake of the owner & the house never limits the owner who is independent. Similarly the body is just a place where the Lord or Brahman resides as the independent and ultimate reality of Consciousness. The body itself is seen only because of ignorance of one’s own very nature of Self distinct from the body. The body is ever changing as the house also always changes but the Self doesn’t change even as the owner doesn’t really change. Thus this explanation helps to distinguish between the body and the Self thereby helping the seeker to realize his own very nature of Self (very distinct from the illusory and changing body). When the reality dawns that “I am not the body”, most of the problems caused in the illusory world are removed. This is the aim of human life to get eternal bliss devoid of sorrows and sufferings. This can be achieved only by realization of one’s own very nature of Lord distinct from the illusory body.
The body is considered as having nine openings. These nine openings are two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, the opening for excretion and the opening for procreation. These are the places or openings through which activity as well as perception (perception helps in getting objective knowledge whereas activity helps in actions and getting fruits).
We have to remember while going through the story of puranjana that we are not the body but the owner of the body and hence shouldn’t become slaves of the body and its passions. We will continue with analysis of what Bhagavatham says about Puranjana next.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva – 3
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva – 3
Lord Siva continued:
Unto him, who is in the heart of all beings, just be of worship always extolling and meditating the Lord. Praying to the ultimate reality of Lord, all fortune will be there for all, O sons of the King who have given up own duty with all faith unto the Lord.
All of you, over and over read this instruction of yoga keeping it in your heart; take to the vow of silence of always with intelligence being fixed within, practicing with the greatest reverence.
Lord Siva thus concluded by saying that whoever goes through this prayer again and again will be benefited by the grace of the Lord.
Explanation
Lord Siva ends his song in this part. He ends up by telling that whoever sings the songs daily will be benefited by the grace of the Lord. It is but evident that when the seeker seeks the reality of Lord, the Lord takes care of the welfare of the seeker. This has been shown by the Lord himself in many cases. This is why Lord Krishna asserts in the Gita thus:
Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah paryupaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktaanaam yoga kshemam vahaami aham
Whoever worships me at all times without any other thoughts, for such a steadfast person, I take care of his good & bad.
Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja
Aham tvaa sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami ma shuchah
Renouncing all dharmas, seek ME alone – I will take care of all your sins, don’t worry (you will be liberated).
The only condition for realization of the ultimate reality of Lord is constant remembrance of the Lord. There is no other condition like space, time, activities etc. which are essential for yoga, karma, bhakthi, jnaana etc. All these different paths lead to the ultimate reality of Brahman through “constant remembrance of the reality”. Thus what is important is constant remembrance alone which is achieved through the different paths of karma, yoga etc. If a person follows these paths but still forgets the underlying reality of non-dual Brahman of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute – then the path becomes of no use as it doesn’t lead to the goal of liberation.
When a person constantly remembers the Lord, then there are no likes and dislikes as he sees the Lord everywhere. Since there are no likes and dislikes, there is neither anger nor attachment. When there is no attachment or aversion, there is no sorrow or happiness arising out of them. Thus when a seeker constantly remembers the Lord, there is no sorrow at all for the seeker. Sorrows are what cause problems in the world – thinking that there is duality and this duality causes sorrow is called bondage. The moment a person realizes that everything is the Lord alone; there is no sorrow at all. This is what is called as liberation or realization.
The singing of the glories of the Lord, learning the scriptures – all these are means to constantly remember the Lord. If the Lord is constantly remembered then there is nothing else that is required from the seeker to realize the reality of Lord. We have to always remember that there is only the Lord alone, one without a second. Whatever is seen as the dual world is nothing but the Lord alone – the duality is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. When the dual perception vanishes, then the underlying substratum of non-dual Lord is realized as one’s own very nature. At that time, there is nothing but the Lord alone. Thus the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the seeker. As Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says “Fear arises out of dual perception”. Fearlessness is what is called as bliss or anandham. This fearless state removes all sorrows arising out of fear – this state is the state of realization when the seeker realizes the Lord & Lord alone exists. We all daily experience such a state while sleeping – deep sleep state when there is no dream at all. We have only bliss in that state as there is no duality but only ONE exists. But that state is associated with ignorance as the seeker is unable to experience the bliss at that time. The state of realization is when the seeker knowingly rejoices in the bliss – this is the state when the seeker through constant contemplation of the reality of Lord overcomes ignorance of his own very nature of Lord thereby realizing his own very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord.
We are daily searching for bliss in the external world of temporary and illusory objects. We can get only sorrow from the external objects. We can get bliss only from the ultimate reality of Lord because that alone is eternal. That which is temporary can give only temporary bliss – it cannot give eternal bliss. Thus we are searching for bliss in the wrong place – the moment we turn towards the reality of Lord, we will realize the reality of Lord and get the goal that we are searching for each and every moment. Realization of one’s own very nature of Lord alone is the way to getting eternal bliss.
We come to the end of the story of the song sung by Lord Siva.
Lord Siva continued:
Unto him, who is in the heart of all beings, just be of worship always extolling and meditating the Lord. Praying to the ultimate reality of Lord, all fortune will be there for all, O sons of the King who have given up own duty with all faith unto the Lord.
All of you, over and over read this instruction of yoga keeping it in your heart; take to the vow of silence of always with intelligence being fixed within, practicing with the greatest reverence.
Lord Siva thus concluded by saying that whoever goes through this prayer again and again will be benefited by the grace of the Lord.
Explanation
Lord Siva ends his song in this part. He ends up by telling that whoever sings the songs daily will be benefited by the grace of the Lord. It is but evident that when the seeker seeks the reality of Lord, the Lord takes care of the welfare of the seeker. This has been shown by the Lord himself in many cases. This is why Lord Krishna asserts in the Gita thus:
Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah paryupaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktaanaam yoga kshemam vahaami aham
Whoever worships me at all times without any other thoughts, for such a steadfast person, I take care of his good & bad.
Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja
Aham tvaa sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami ma shuchah
Renouncing all dharmas, seek ME alone – I will take care of all your sins, don’t worry (you will be liberated).
The only condition for realization of the ultimate reality of Lord is constant remembrance of the Lord. There is no other condition like space, time, activities etc. which are essential for yoga, karma, bhakthi, jnaana etc. All these different paths lead to the ultimate reality of Brahman through “constant remembrance of the reality”. Thus what is important is constant remembrance alone which is achieved through the different paths of karma, yoga etc. If a person follows these paths but still forgets the underlying reality of non-dual Brahman of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute – then the path becomes of no use as it doesn’t lead to the goal of liberation.
When a person constantly remembers the Lord, then there are no likes and dislikes as he sees the Lord everywhere. Since there are no likes and dislikes, there is neither anger nor attachment. When there is no attachment or aversion, there is no sorrow or happiness arising out of them. Thus when a seeker constantly remembers the Lord, there is no sorrow at all for the seeker. Sorrows are what cause problems in the world – thinking that there is duality and this duality causes sorrow is called bondage. The moment a person realizes that everything is the Lord alone; there is no sorrow at all. This is what is called as liberation or realization.
The singing of the glories of the Lord, learning the scriptures – all these are means to constantly remember the Lord. If the Lord is constantly remembered then there is nothing else that is required from the seeker to realize the reality of Lord. We have to always remember that there is only the Lord alone, one without a second. Whatever is seen as the dual world is nothing but the Lord alone – the duality is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. When the dual perception vanishes, then the underlying substratum of non-dual Lord is realized as one’s own very nature. At that time, there is nothing but the Lord alone. Thus the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the seeker. As Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says “Fear arises out of dual perception”. Fearlessness is what is called as bliss or anandham. This fearless state removes all sorrows arising out of fear – this state is the state of realization when the seeker realizes the Lord & Lord alone exists. We all daily experience such a state while sleeping – deep sleep state when there is no dream at all. We have only bliss in that state as there is no duality but only ONE exists. But that state is associated with ignorance as the seeker is unable to experience the bliss at that time. The state of realization is when the seeker knowingly rejoices in the bliss – this is the state when the seeker through constant contemplation of the reality of Lord overcomes ignorance of his own very nature of Lord thereby realizing his own very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord.
We are daily searching for bliss in the external world of temporary and illusory objects. We can get only sorrow from the external objects. We can get bliss only from the ultimate reality of Lord because that alone is eternal. That which is temporary can give only temporary bliss – it cannot give eternal bliss. Thus we are searching for bliss in the wrong place – the moment we turn towards the reality of Lord, we will realize the reality of Lord and get the goal that we are searching for each and every moment. Realization of one’s own very nature of Lord alone is the way to getting eternal bliss.
We come to the end of the story of the song sung by Lord Siva.
Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva – 2
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva – 2
Lord Siva praises the ultimate reality of Brahman or Vishnu in the following verses:
Rudra sang the glory of the ultimate reality of Lord thus:
O Lord who has conquered and realized the Self – O Lord of auspicious qualities, let me get auspiciousness – O Lord who is worshipped by all the people in the world and prostrated.
I prostrate the Lord from whose navel Brahma was born, who are the atman of the subtle sense organs (controller), to that Vaasudeva who is always peaceful in nature & the eternal witness to everything in the world.
My prostrations to Sankarshana who is subtle and destroyer of all obstacles. My prostrations also to that Lord who gives existence to the world in the form of Pradhyumna who is the inner Self of all beings in the world.
I also prostrate Aniruddha who is the controller of the mind and the sense organs. I prostrate to that reality who is always full and a paramahamsa (ever-liberated).
Explanation
As per the Paancharaatra Aagamaas and Vaishnavaas, there are four vyuhaas or manifestations of the ultimate reality of Brahman. These are called Sankarshana, Pradhyumna, Aniruddha and Vaasudeva. These differ in the various aspects of work they do like creation, protection, blessing the devotees etc.
We need not go into depth into each of these – but we just need to know that there are different manifestations of the ultimate reality of Lord. These manifestations are only illusions and not real – the ultimate reality of Lord who is one without a second and formless alone is real. Other manifestations are all illusions like manifestations in the dream world. These are unreal because the manifestations have a birth and death. That which is born and dies exists only for a temporary period – such things are called illusions which stay for just some period of time. Thus we have to remember that the ultimate reality of Lord is without any form (as form limits the Lord in space whereas space is that which is an illusion in the reality of Lord) but seems to have manifestations depending on the level or perception of the seeker. This is like considering the space as having blue color even though space is colorless. These are what Vedanta calls as “mithya” or illusions. The ultimate reality of Lord who is one without a second alone is real and independent. All other entities are dependent on the Lord & hence mere illusions like the dream world or a world in sky.
These various manifestations are mentioned in the puranas for contemplation. As many as the seekers, so many their perception of the reality – hence there are many avatars and forms of the formless Lord. These forms are mentioned so that the seeker can contemplate on the Lord with a form seeing the same Lord as all-pervading. Thus the forms of the Lord are for upasana or contemplation alone. Once the seeker is able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord who is formless and beyond time, space & causation – he realizes the reality that there is no form at all but forms are mere illusions in the reality of Lord. Even while contemplating on any form, we should remember this that the reality of Lord has no form at all but seems to have form depending on the seeker’s perception. IF this is forgotten, then the fight between “my” God, “your” God etc. starts and this will lead to clash. This is how the ancient fight between followers of Siva and Vishnu ensued. It is but a pity that even today Siva is considered as someone very low when compared to Vishnu by some of the followers of Vedanta. They verily forget the reality that the Lord is without any form. The word VISHNU itself means one who is all-pervasive. He who pervades space can never be limited by space and hence cannot be limited by any form. Vaasudeva means one who is present in all and all are present in whom. This Vaasudeva is nothing but the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord in whom everything exists & he who exists as the essence of all beings.
Remembering this reality that the Lord is formless because he is unlimited, infinite and one without a second (there is no entity apart from the Lord so that the Lord is limited by that entity), let us try to see one of the important word which is used in the sloka by Lord Siva – Kutastha.
KUTASTHA translated means one who is changeless and witness to all activities. KUTA means the anvil. WE all know that the anvil, remaining changeless, changes various iron pieces and changes them. Similarly the ultimate reality of Lord is changeless but still is the essence or substratum for all changes that are seen in the world. Even as the dreamer is a mere witness to the activities in the world, similarly the Lord is a mere witness to all the activities in the illusory world that we perceive. The Lord is changeless and hence he is not affected by the activities in the world – even as the Sun is not affected by activities on Earth. This means that one who realizes the Lord also becomes unaffected by the activities in the world. The main problem for a seeker is that he gets affected by the activities in the world – whenever something happens, the seeker gets attached to it & this attachment causes him to react and respond to the activities – these cause happiness and sorrow as the activity might be. Thus when “I” attach myself to the act of “posting Srimad Bhagavatham”, I get affected when people say that “these postings are not good” (getting sad) and “these postings are very good and inspire me a lot to realize my own very nature of Lord” (getting happy and flattered). Thus the attachment to the activities in the world is what causes sorrow and suffering in the world. When “I” realize that “I” am the mere witness to the activities in the world because “I” am the Lord himself and not different from the Lord, then “I” am unaffected by whatever happens in the illusory world. Even as “I” am not affected by the activities in the dream world, similarly “I” am not affected by the activities in the waking world. The reality is that “I” am not affected – this is known clearly because even though during bad times, “I” seem to get affected, after some time this sorrow vanishes & “I” become my own Self. Thus really “I” am not at all affected – the thought that “I am getting affected” is due to ignorance of my own very nature of Self or Lord & associating this “I” with the Ego and the mind which are mere illusions associated with illusory body and mind.
Thus when “I” realize that “I” am the Kutastha and not at all affected by the activities in the world – then “I” never either suffer or enjoy but “I” will be always rejoicing in the eternal bliss inherent in my own very nature of Lord.
Thus this word is very important and gives a hint to all of us to realize our own very nature of Kutastha realizing that the world is only an illusion and therefore “I”, who am the reality underlying this illusion, am not at all affected by the activities in the world. Therefore “I” am always realized and ever-blissful in nature. This is what Vedanta calls as “realization” or “moksha” – realization of one’s own very nature of KUTASTHA and the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
We will see as to how Lord Siva continues the prostration of the ultimate reality of Brahman (indicating that we all are that reality alone and should seek it this very moment so that we never are affected by the activities in the illusory world).
Lord Siva continued:
Your benign form is auspicious to be contemplated upon by those who desire to purify themselves and realize the Self. The devotion which the devotee has makes him do all his duties without any fear.
Your devotion is very tough indeed to be achieved – even for realized saints or Gods also. You are tough indeed to be realized by even exalted saints. What person would desire to realize the Lord without your Lotus Feet and its worship (accompanied with single-pointed devotion)?
The entire world is filled inside and outside by You (the Lord or Brahman) who are called as the ultimate reality of Brahman of the nature of Consciousness or light – even as space pervades everything inside and outside. You when endowed with Maya are the creator, protector and destroyer of the world – he who sees Bheda buddhi doesn’t realize you as such as the non-dual reality of Brahman.
Explanation
Here Lord Siva is speaking about the purpose of contemplation on the form of the Lord. As we have previously discussed, the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord is without any form as form limits the entity whereas the Lord is unlimited. But it isn’t easy for a seeker for contemplate on that Lord who is without form and is one’s own very nature of Consciousness. Therefore form-worship found an important place in the scriptures. This is what is normally called as Saguna Upasana – saguna means with qualities or forms & Upasana means worship. The worship of the Lord with forms helps to gain concentration and overcome the dual perception in the world. It is like and dislike which causes sorrows in the world. If a person loves each other person in the world, then there is no liking and disliking. When there is no liking and disliking, there is no hatred and sorrow arising out of these likes and dislikes. IF “I” like a person, then “I” will get affected when the person is affected – similarly if something good happens to the person I dislike, then I will become sad. Thus it is likes and dislikes which causes sorrow and suffering to the individual.
Thus we have to renounce the likes and dislikes by seeing the same Lord everywhere. This is what is required through saguna upasana where the seeker sees the Lord everywhere – there is nothing present but only the Lord for the seeker. Even though he might see differences in the objects, but he pierces through the difference ascertaining that the differences are only names and forms of the reality of Lord. The Lord alone exists as he alone is independent and all the other entities in the world are dependent upon the Lord for their existence. This Lord thus pervades in and out of all things in the world as he is the substratum of the illusory world.
Seeing oneness everywhere and constantly remembering the Lord is real devotion. Devotion is thus not just going to temples or chanting the name of the Lord twice a day. Devotion also isn’t always thinking about the Lord but at the same time seeing differences in the world having likes and dislikes. Such devotion doesn’t really have constant thinking about that Lord who is the only thing present in the world – who pervades the world.
As Narada says in Narada Bhakthi Sutras that “offering all the work unto the Lord and getting tensed/despair when for a single moment the Lord is forgotten” is real devotion. Real devotion is that in which the devotee cannot live without the thought of the Lord – he can live without water and food, but cannot live without the thought of the Lord. If the devotee forgets the Lord, then it should be as if he is like a fish outside water and on the shore (as it will be searching for little bit of air and life).
Swami Brahmaananda, one of the senior disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once watched a drama about Lord Krishna played by the students of Ramakrishna mission’s school. After this was over, the child who played the role of Lord Krishna came to meet swamiji (he came in the same dress which he was wearing for the drama – the dress of Lord Krishna). Glancing out of the window, swamiji saw the child coming. The swamiji came running out of the room, cried out “O Krishna” and fell down. Swamiji entered into a state of Samadhi and it took the swamiji three days to come out of the Samadhi state.
What is mentioned here is not that we should go into Samadhi at all times, but that the devotion for the Lord should be strongly present that the devotee lives only by the name of the Lord. This is what Lord says in Bhagavad Gita as “ananya bhajanam” (devotion where nothing else is thought).
When a devotee has such strong and pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord even while considering the Lord as having a particular form, the Lord himself shows his real nature as the Self of the devotee and reveals himself to the devotee. The devotee thus comes to realize his own very nature of non-dual Lord and rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. This is what is called as Moksha or realization – that state where there is only bliss and nothing else. We all are striving for this bliss only each and every moment. But unless we have pure devotion towards the reality either in the form of knowledge of scriptures or pure devotion to the Lord (knowing that the Lord alone exists & nothing else exists), the seeker cannot realize the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord & thereby will not get eternal bliss which he is seeking each and every moment in the world.
Lord Siva praises the ultimate reality of Brahman or Vishnu in the following verses:
Rudra sang the glory of the ultimate reality of Lord thus:
O Lord who has conquered and realized the Self – O Lord of auspicious qualities, let me get auspiciousness – O Lord who is worshipped by all the people in the world and prostrated.
I prostrate the Lord from whose navel Brahma was born, who are the atman of the subtle sense organs (controller), to that Vaasudeva who is always peaceful in nature & the eternal witness to everything in the world.
My prostrations to Sankarshana who is subtle and destroyer of all obstacles. My prostrations also to that Lord who gives existence to the world in the form of Pradhyumna who is the inner Self of all beings in the world.
I also prostrate Aniruddha who is the controller of the mind and the sense organs. I prostrate to that reality who is always full and a paramahamsa (ever-liberated).
Explanation
As per the Paancharaatra Aagamaas and Vaishnavaas, there are four vyuhaas or manifestations of the ultimate reality of Brahman. These are called Sankarshana, Pradhyumna, Aniruddha and Vaasudeva. These differ in the various aspects of work they do like creation, protection, blessing the devotees etc.
We need not go into depth into each of these – but we just need to know that there are different manifestations of the ultimate reality of Lord. These manifestations are only illusions and not real – the ultimate reality of Lord who is one without a second and formless alone is real. Other manifestations are all illusions like manifestations in the dream world. These are unreal because the manifestations have a birth and death. That which is born and dies exists only for a temporary period – such things are called illusions which stay for just some period of time. Thus we have to remember that the ultimate reality of Lord is without any form (as form limits the Lord in space whereas space is that which is an illusion in the reality of Lord) but seems to have manifestations depending on the level or perception of the seeker. This is like considering the space as having blue color even though space is colorless. These are what Vedanta calls as “mithya” or illusions. The ultimate reality of Lord who is one without a second alone is real and independent. All other entities are dependent on the Lord & hence mere illusions like the dream world or a world in sky.
These various manifestations are mentioned in the puranas for contemplation. As many as the seekers, so many their perception of the reality – hence there are many avatars and forms of the formless Lord. These forms are mentioned so that the seeker can contemplate on the Lord with a form seeing the same Lord as all-pervading. Thus the forms of the Lord are for upasana or contemplation alone. Once the seeker is able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord who is formless and beyond time, space & causation – he realizes the reality that there is no form at all but forms are mere illusions in the reality of Lord. Even while contemplating on any form, we should remember this that the reality of Lord has no form at all but seems to have form depending on the seeker’s perception. IF this is forgotten, then the fight between “my” God, “your” God etc. starts and this will lead to clash. This is how the ancient fight between followers of Siva and Vishnu ensued. It is but a pity that even today Siva is considered as someone very low when compared to Vishnu by some of the followers of Vedanta. They verily forget the reality that the Lord is without any form. The word VISHNU itself means one who is all-pervasive. He who pervades space can never be limited by space and hence cannot be limited by any form. Vaasudeva means one who is present in all and all are present in whom. This Vaasudeva is nothing but the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord in whom everything exists & he who exists as the essence of all beings.
Remembering this reality that the Lord is formless because he is unlimited, infinite and one without a second (there is no entity apart from the Lord so that the Lord is limited by that entity), let us try to see one of the important word which is used in the sloka by Lord Siva – Kutastha.
KUTASTHA translated means one who is changeless and witness to all activities. KUTA means the anvil. WE all know that the anvil, remaining changeless, changes various iron pieces and changes them. Similarly the ultimate reality of Lord is changeless but still is the essence or substratum for all changes that are seen in the world. Even as the dreamer is a mere witness to the activities in the world, similarly the Lord is a mere witness to all the activities in the illusory world that we perceive. The Lord is changeless and hence he is not affected by the activities in the world – even as the Sun is not affected by activities on Earth. This means that one who realizes the Lord also becomes unaffected by the activities in the world. The main problem for a seeker is that he gets affected by the activities in the world – whenever something happens, the seeker gets attached to it & this attachment causes him to react and respond to the activities – these cause happiness and sorrow as the activity might be. Thus when “I” attach myself to the act of “posting Srimad Bhagavatham”, I get affected when people say that “these postings are not good” (getting sad) and “these postings are very good and inspire me a lot to realize my own very nature of Lord” (getting happy and flattered). Thus the attachment to the activities in the world is what causes sorrow and suffering in the world. When “I” realize that “I” am the mere witness to the activities in the world because “I” am the Lord himself and not different from the Lord, then “I” am unaffected by whatever happens in the illusory world. Even as “I” am not affected by the activities in the dream world, similarly “I” am not affected by the activities in the waking world. The reality is that “I” am not affected – this is known clearly because even though during bad times, “I” seem to get affected, after some time this sorrow vanishes & “I” become my own Self. Thus really “I” am not at all affected – the thought that “I am getting affected” is due to ignorance of my own very nature of Self or Lord & associating this “I” with the Ego and the mind which are mere illusions associated with illusory body and mind.
Thus when “I” realize that “I” am the Kutastha and not at all affected by the activities in the world – then “I” never either suffer or enjoy but “I” will be always rejoicing in the eternal bliss inherent in my own very nature of Lord.
Thus this word is very important and gives a hint to all of us to realize our own very nature of Kutastha realizing that the world is only an illusion and therefore “I”, who am the reality underlying this illusion, am not at all affected by the activities in the world. Therefore “I” am always realized and ever-blissful in nature. This is what Vedanta calls as “realization” or “moksha” – realization of one’s own very nature of KUTASTHA and the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
We will see as to how Lord Siva continues the prostration of the ultimate reality of Brahman (indicating that we all are that reality alone and should seek it this very moment so that we never are affected by the activities in the illusory world).
Lord Siva continued:
Your benign form is auspicious to be contemplated upon by those who desire to purify themselves and realize the Self. The devotion which the devotee has makes him do all his duties without any fear.
Your devotion is very tough indeed to be achieved – even for realized saints or Gods also. You are tough indeed to be realized by even exalted saints. What person would desire to realize the Lord without your Lotus Feet and its worship (accompanied with single-pointed devotion)?
The entire world is filled inside and outside by You (the Lord or Brahman) who are called as the ultimate reality of Brahman of the nature of Consciousness or light – even as space pervades everything inside and outside. You when endowed with Maya are the creator, protector and destroyer of the world – he who sees Bheda buddhi doesn’t realize you as such as the non-dual reality of Brahman.
Explanation
Here Lord Siva is speaking about the purpose of contemplation on the form of the Lord. As we have previously discussed, the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord is without any form as form limits the entity whereas the Lord is unlimited. But it isn’t easy for a seeker for contemplate on that Lord who is without form and is one’s own very nature of Consciousness. Therefore form-worship found an important place in the scriptures. This is what is normally called as Saguna Upasana – saguna means with qualities or forms & Upasana means worship. The worship of the Lord with forms helps to gain concentration and overcome the dual perception in the world. It is like and dislike which causes sorrows in the world. If a person loves each other person in the world, then there is no liking and disliking. When there is no liking and disliking, there is no hatred and sorrow arising out of these likes and dislikes. IF “I” like a person, then “I” will get affected when the person is affected – similarly if something good happens to the person I dislike, then I will become sad. Thus it is likes and dislikes which causes sorrow and suffering to the individual.
Thus we have to renounce the likes and dislikes by seeing the same Lord everywhere. This is what is required through saguna upasana where the seeker sees the Lord everywhere – there is nothing present but only the Lord for the seeker. Even though he might see differences in the objects, but he pierces through the difference ascertaining that the differences are only names and forms of the reality of Lord. The Lord alone exists as he alone is independent and all the other entities in the world are dependent upon the Lord for their existence. This Lord thus pervades in and out of all things in the world as he is the substratum of the illusory world.
Seeing oneness everywhere and constantly remembering the Lord is real devotion. Devotion is thus not just going to temples or chanting the name of the Lord twice a day. Devotion also isn’t always thinking about the Lord but at the same time seeing differences in the world having likes and dislikes. Such devotion doesn’t really have constant thinking about that Lord who is the only thing present in the world – who pervades the world.
As Narada says in Narada Bhakthi Sutras that “offering all the work unto the Lord and getting tensed/despair when for a single moment the Lord is forgotten” is real devotion. Real devotion is that in which the devotee cannot live without the thought of the Lord – he can live without water and food, but cannot live without the thought of the Lord. If the devotee forgets the Lord, then it should be as if he is like a fish outside water and on the shore (as it will be searching for little bit of air and life).
Swami Brahmaananda, one of the senior disciples of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once watched a drama about Lord Krishna played by the students of Ramakrishna mission’s school. After this was over, the child who played the role of Lord Krishna came to meet swamiji (he came in the same dress which he was wearing for the drama – the dress of Lord Krishna). Glancing out of the window, swamiji saw the child coming. The swamiji came running out of the room, cried out “O Krishna” and fell down. Swamiji entered into a state of Samadhi and it took the swamiji three days to come out of the Samadhi state.
What is mentioned here is not that we should go into Samadhi at all times, but that the devotion for the Lord should be strongly present that the devotee lives only by the name of the Lord. This is what Lord says in Bhagavad Gita as “ananya bhajanam” (devotion where nothing else is thought).
When a devotee has such strong and pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord even while considering the Lord as having a particular form, the Lord himself shows his real nature as the Self of the devotee and reveals himself to the devotee. The devotee thus comes to realize his own very nature of non-dual Lord and rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. This is what is called as Moksha or realization – that state where there is only bliss and nothing else. We all are striving for this bliss only each and every moment. But unless we have pure devotion towards the reality either in the form of knowledge of scriptures or pure devotion to the Lord (knowing that the Lord alone exists & nothing else exists), the seeker cannot realize the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord & thereby will not get eternal bliss which he is seeking each and every moment in the world.
Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva -1
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 30 - Song sung by Lord Siva -1
Son of Prithu was called Vijitaashva and he gave his younger brothers different directions of the world to look after. In one of his wife, Shikandini, he begot three good sons. From another of his wife, Nabhasvati, he had a son named Havirdhaana. Havirdhaana had a wife named Havirdhaani who gave birth to six sons of which Barhishat was the eldest one. This Barhishat was expert in the practice of Yoga. With this practice of continually pleasing the gods of sacrifice, he spread all over the world, kept the Kusha grass (of the ceremonial sitting places) facing the east. Hence he was called Praachina Barhi or Praachina Barhishat (Praachina means east or praachya direction). Praachina Barhishat had ten children who were called Prachetaas or Praachinaas. Ordered by their father to beget children, they wanted to perform austerity – hence they escaped from home. On the path to do austerity, they met Lord Siva who very much pleased with their great command of meditation, mantra practice and worship, spoke to them about the ultimate reality of Narayana or Brahman.
Now Vidura asked Maitreya to explain as to what Lord Siva explained to Prachetaas.
Explanation
Here we find as to how Lord Siva starts explaining about the reality to Praachina Barhis or Prachetaas (Barhi is singular whereas Barhis is plural). Prithu and his generations all were devoted to the ultimate reality of Lord – hence they were all guided by the Lord & had prosperity always. As Upanishads clearly mention that the family of a person who is either a devotee or a jnaani of the Lord is saved by the Lord. Now only his generation but 7 generations are saved by the Lord. Mundaka Upanishad goes forward and says that in the kula of a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord, there will be no person who doesn’t know the Lord. This goes on to show how important realization is for a seeker. What we normally have in mind while pursuing the spiritual path is as to what will happen to the family? What will happen to my family members, the younger generations etc.? We are in fact here forgetting the promise of the Lord that he will take care of his devotee. The devotee is completely devoted to the Lord and for such a real devotee, the Lord looks after the needs of the devotee – thus we need not explicitly mention that such a devotee will realize the Lord. Our family and all generations are saved only if we are devoted to the Lord and realize the reality of Lord. If we don’t do that, not only that we will be lead to sorrow but our generations also will be lead to sorrow alone.
As per Hindu tradition, the elder generations who have passed from this world are also still waiting for their chance to come back to human form. It is only in human birth that a seeker is able to realize his own very nature of Lord. No other birth, even gods, are eligible for realization. Thus unless we realize the reality of Lord, our elder generations also will not have any gathi and they will be wandering here and there until some good actions leads them back to the Bhoo loka giving them an opportunity to realize the Lord.
Thus if we really are bothered about the welfare of our family or kula, we should realize the ultimate reality of Lord – which alone can lead our kula to realization or liberation from the bondages of birth and death.
We normally think that our duty is to protect our family – but if we really want to protect and save our family, the duty is to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus the prime duty of any seeker is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord – there is no other duty than this. This is the reason why in scriptures, it is mentioned that the sole duty of human life is realization of one’s own very nature of Lord or Brahman or Self.
IF a person is realized, his entire generations will be benefited by it – this is being shown in the family of Prithu who had realized the ultimate reality of Lord. We have to remember that it need not be that every person in the family realizes the Lord but each person has a choice as to whether to realize or not. This means that the final choice is on the individual alone. But this chance of knowing the Lord is rare indeed and few people get the environment and surroundings for the same. We are all blessed indeed to have got together to discuss about the Lord – this is very rare indeed and tough to get in the current scenario where India is trying to westernize itself forgetting the rich culture which is present in India itself (also forgetting that many foreigners come to India seeking bliss & they get bliss whereas Indians never get bliss in western countries or elsewhere). Thus we have to consider ourselves blessed and shouldn’t waste the opportunity to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. We have got the human life, the surroundings to hear and discuss about the Lord – hence we should utilize this to maximum by trying to realize the ultimate reality of Lord this very birth itself. It might take some time to get constant contemplation on the Lord thereby realizing the Lord, but we should always strive for it – it is practice which makes things happen. If we really put practice and effort into it, we will be able to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord.
The children of Praachina Barhi wanted to realize and therefore they started putting effort towards realization. When the seeker puts effort, the Lord himself helps out the seeker. This is what happened here also – the Lord himself appeared in the form of Lord Siva to impart knowledge to them. Thus if there is sincere desire for realization, the seeker will find a Guru approaching him. It might happen that sometimes the seeker has to search for the Guru but when the right time comes (when desire is strongly there for the Guru), the Lord himself will send the Guru towards the disciple. This is what really happens for a real disciple.
Siva started explaining to Prachina Barhis thus:
He who seeks the ultimate reality of Lord is indeed dear to me. A person who is fixed unto his duty in the world attains Brahma Loka and thereby attains me never to return again after pralaya. And hence you are all dear indeed to me as well as to the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman. I will explain you to the mantras and glories of the Lord which is pure, transcendental and beneficial – which you should listen to and always pray (contemplate).
Explanation
Lord Siva starts explanation about the ultimate reality of Brahman. We have to remember here that there is no difference at all between the various lords or gods in the world because all these gods are different manifestations of the ultimate reality of Brahman. What is real is the essence of these gods and that is Brahman or Lord alone who has no form by himself but is seen as having forms. If it is not remembered that the various gods are the one reality alone, we will be fighting amongst one another in the name of Siva and Vishnu. This fight amongst Siva and Vishnu has been continuing for years long and even now there are people who consider Siva as someone who is in bondage whereas Vishnu alone as the ultimate reality of Brahman. This is completely against scripture and logic too. As scriptures again and again stress that “seeing everything as ONE” is the path to realization, such differences is not real & such attitude has to be renounced.
We very well know that the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord cannot be limited to a form because any form is temporary and non-eternal. As the Lord cannot be non-eternal, Lord cannot be limited by any form. Thus the Lord is the formless substratum of all the beings in the world. The Lord is the reality behind the illusory and changing world. This Lord is what is seen through the forms of Siva and Vishnu. Vishnu means one who is all-pervasive. Siva is one who is auspicious and that which is auspicious is blissful, unlimited Brahman alone. Brahman is that which is auspicious and all-pervasive, therefore both Siva and Vishnu are Brahman only – not different from Brahman.
This is what the famous Katha Upanishad says
Manasaivedam aaptavyam neha nana asthi kinchana
Mrityoh sah mrityum gacchathi ya iha nana iva pashyathi.
The Lord is to be realized through a pure mind – there is no duality whatsoever here (there is the Lord alone, one without a second). He who sees duality as if existing goes from death to death.
DEATH to DEATH means that such a seeker will be taking birth, dying, again taking birth – bonded in the vicious circle of birth and death which gives sorrow only.
Since each person’s goal is happiness and that is achieved when the seeker contemplates on the Lord who is present everywhere and is the reality behind the illusory existence, we have to renounce and negate all dual perceptions/notions. Only that seeker who doesn’t perceive difference is liberated from the illusory bondages in the illusory world.
Lord Siva thus says here that a person should do his duty so as to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. What is the duty of a person in the world???? We have already discussed this many times but still repetition is required so as to strengthen the conviction and make a person constantly remember the reality. Duty of a seeker is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord alone. As we have discussed previously, a seeker will be able to give happiness to his family only if he has realized the reality of Lord. He who has happiness alone can give happiness. He who has the temporary happiness from illusory worldly objects can give temporary happiness only which will not last forever. Eternal bliss can be given by only those who have eternal bliss – he alone has bliss who has realized the reality of Lord of the nature of eternal bliss. Thus if it is said that it is MY duty to look after my family, the looking after of family can be done only when the Lord is known. Also, that person who doesn’t really know his own very nature of Lord cannot give happiness to others. This is as if a mad person (who has forgotten his identity) giving happiness to others -- J such happiness will only be sorrowfulJJJ. Also, the worldly objects are illusory like dream objects. Thus the family which we always cling to is also an illusion only. Today we see our parents, but tomorrow they vanish. This clearly shows that they are not real or eternal. The Lord alone is eternal in the illusory world. Thus it is our duty to seek the eternal rather than give importance to the illusory family. This doesn’t mean that a person shouldn’t look after his family – but renounce and go to the forest. Vedanta never says a person to do so. It only says that give importance to realization of the Lord – and keeping in mind this thought, do things to the family and society. If this is done, then a person doesn’t get affected when family or society goes against the person or leads to sorrow because he knows that they are illusions and the Lord alone is real.
Thus the main duty of an individual is realization of his own very nature of Lord. This is what Lord Siva mentions and is going to explain in detail to the sons of Prachina Barhi. We will see as to what Lord Siva says next post.
Son of Prithu was called Vijitaashva and he gave his younger brothers different directions of the world to look after. In one of his wife, Shikandini, he begot three good sons. From another of his wife, Nabhasvati, he had a son named Havirdhaana. Havirdhaana had a wife named Havirdhaani who gave birth to six sons of which Barhishat was the eldest one. This Barhishat was expert in the practice of Yoga. With this practice of continually pleasing the gods of sacrifice, he spread all over the world, kept the Kusha grass (of the ceremonial sitting places) facing the east. Hence he was called Praachina Barhi or Praachina Barhishat (Praachina means east or praachya direction). Praachina Barhishat had ten children who were called Prachetaas or Praachinaas. Ordered by their father to beget children, they wanted to perform austerity – hence they escaped from home. On the path to do austerity, they met Lord Siva who very much pleased with their great command of meditation, mantra practice and worship, spoke to them about the ultimate reality of Narayana or Brahman.
Now Vidura asked Maitreya to explain as to what Lord Siva explained to Prachetaas.
Explanation
Here we find as to how Lord Siva starts explaining about the reality to Praachina Barhis or Prachetaas (Barhi is singular whereas Barhis is plural). Prithu and his generations all were devoted to the ultimate reality of Lord – hence they were all guided by the Lord & had prosperity always. As Upanishads clearly mention that the family of a person who is either a devotee or a jnaani of the Lord is saved by the Lord. Now only his generation but 7 generations are saved by the Lord. Mundaka Upanishad goes forward and says that in the kula of a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord, there will be no person who doesn’t know the Lord. This goes on to show how important realization is for a seeker. What we normally have in mind while pursuing the spiritual path is as to what will happen to the family? What will happen to my family members, the younger generations etc.? We are in fact here forgetting the promise of the Lord that he will take care of his devotee. The devotee is completely devoted to the Lord and for such a real devotee, the Lord looks after the needs of the devotee – thus we need not explicitly mention that such a devotee will realize the Lord. Our family and all generations are saved only if we are devoted to the Lord and realize the reality of Lord. If we don’t do that, not only that we will be lead to sorrow but our generations also will be lead to sorrow alone.
As per Hindu tradition, the elder generations who have passed from this world are also still waiting for their chance to come back to human form. It is only in human birth that a seeker is able to realize his own very nature of Lord. No other birth, even gods, are eligible for realization. Thus unless we realize the reality of Lord, our elder generations also will not have any gathi and they will be wandering here and there until some good actions leads them back to the Bhoo loka giving them an opportunity to realize the Lord.
Thus if we really are bothered about the welfare of our family or kula, we should realize the ultimate reality of Lord – which alone can lead our kula to realization or liberation from the bondages of birth and death.
We normally think that our duty is to protect our family – but if we really want to protect and save our family, the duty is to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus the prime duty of any seeker is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord – there is no other duty than this. This is the reason why in scriptures, it is mentioned that the sole duty of human life is realization of one’s own very nature of Lord or Brahman or Self.
IF a person is realized, his entire generations will be benefited by it – this is being shown in the family of Prithu who had realized the ultimate reality of Lord. We have to remember that it need not be that every person in the family realizes the Lord but each person has a choice as to whether to realize or not. This means that the final choice is on the individual alone. But this chance of knowing the Lord is rare indeed and few people get the environment and surroundings for the same. We are all blessed indeed to have got together to discuss about the Lord – this is very rare indeed and tough to get in the current scenario where India is trying to westernize itself forgetting the rich culture which is present in India itself (also forgetting that many foreigners come to India seeking bliss & they get bliss whereas Indians never get bliss in western countries or elsewhere). Thus we have to consider ourselves blessed and shouldn’t waste the opportunity to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. We have got the human life, the surroundings to hear and discuss about the Lord – hence we should utilize this to maximum by trying to realize the ultimate reality of Lord this very birth itself. It might take some time to get constant contemplation on the Lord thereby realizing the Lord, but we should always strive for it – it is practice which makes things happen. If we really put practice and effort into it, we will be able to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord.
The children of Praachina Barhi wanted to realize and therefore they started putting effort towards realization. When the seeker puts effort, the Lord himself helps out the seeker. This is what happened here also – the Lord himself appeared in the form of Lord Siva to impart knowledge to them. Thus if there is sincere desire for realization, the seeker will find a Guru approaching him. It might happen that sometimes the seeker has to search for the Guru but when the right time comes (when desire is strongly there for the Guru), the Lord himself will send the Guru towards the disciple. This is what really happens for a real disciple.
Siva started explaining to Prachina Barhis thus:
He who seeks the ultimate reality of Lord is indeed dear to me. A person who is fixed unto his duty in the world attains Brahma Loka and thereby attains me never to return again after pralaya. And hence you are all dear indeed to me as well as to the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman. I will explain you to the mantras and glories of the Lord which is pure, transcendental and beneficial – which you should listen to and always pray (contemplate).
Explanation
Lord Siva starts explanation about the ultimate reality of Brahman. We have to remember here that there is no difference at all between the various lords or gods in the world because all these gods are different manifestations of the ultimate reality of Brahman. What is real is the essence of these gods and that is Brahman or Lord alone who has no form by himself but is seen as having forms. If it is not remembered that the various gods are the one reality alone, we will be fighting amongst one another in the name of Siva and Vishnu. This fight amongst Siva and Vishnu has been continuing for years long and even now there are people who consider Siva as someone who is in bondage whereas Vishnu alone as the ultimate reality of Brahman. This is completely against scripture and logic too. As scriptures again and again stress that “seeing everything as ONE” is the path to realization, such differences is not real & such attitude has to be renounced.
We very well know that the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord cannot be limited to a form because any form is temporary and non-eternal. As the Lord cannot be non-eternal, Lord cannot be limited by any form. Thus the Lord is the formless substratum of all the beings in the world. The Lord is the reality behind the illusory and changing world. This Lord is what is seen through the forms of Siva and Vishnu. Vishnu means one who is all-pervasive. Siva is one who is auspicious and that which is auspicious is blissful, unlimited Brahman alone. Brahman is that which is auspicious and all-pervasive, therefore both Siva and Vishnu are Brahman only – not different from Brahman.
This is what the famous Katha Upanishad says
Manasaivedam aaptavyam neha nana asthi kinchana
Mrityoh sah mrityum gacchathi ya iha nana iva pashyathi.
The Lord is to be realized through a pure mind – there is no duality whatsoever here (there is the Lord alone, one without a second). He who sees duality as if existing goes from death to death.
DEATH to DEATH means that such a seeker will be taking birth, dying, again taking birth – bonded in the vicious circle of birth and death which gives sorrow only.
Since each person’s goal is happiness and that is achieved when the seeker contemplates on the Lord who is present everywhere and is the reality behind the illusory existence, we have to renounce and negate all dual perceptions/notions. Only that seeker who doesn’t perceive difference is liberated from the illusory bondages in the illusory world.
Lord Siva thus says here that a person should do his duty so as to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. What is the duty of a person in the world???? We have already discussed this many times but still repetition is required so as to strengthen the conviction and make a person constantly remember the reality. Duty of a seeker is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord alone. As we have discussed previously, a seeker will be able to give happiness to his family only if he has realized the reality of Lord. He who has happiness alone can give happiness. He who has the temporary happiness from illusory worldly objects can give temporary happiness only which will not last forever. Eternal bliss can be given by only those who have eternal bliss – he alone has bliss who has realized the reality of Lord of the nature of eternal bliss. Thus if it is said that it is MY duty to look after my family, the looking after of family can be done only when the Lord is known. Also, that person who doesn’t really know his own very nature of Lord cannot give happiness to others. This is as if a mad person (who has forgotten his identity) giving happiness to others -- J such happiness will only be sorrowfulJJJ. Also, the worldly objects are illusory like dream objects. Thus the family which we always cling to is also an illusion only. Today we see our parents, but tomorrow they vanish. This clearly shows that they are not real or eternal. The Lord alone is eternal in the illusory world. Thus it is our duty to seek the eternal rather than give importance to the illusory family. This doesn’t mean that a person shouldn’t look after his family – but renounce and go to the forest. Vedanta never says a person to do so. It only says that give importance to realization of the Lord – and keeping in mind this thought, do things to the family and society. If this is done, then a person doesn’t get affected when family or society goes against the person or leads to sorrow because he knows that they are illusions and the Lord alone is real.
Thus the main duty of an individual is realization of his own very nature of Lord. This is what Lord Siva mentions and is going to explain in detail to the sons of Prachina Barhi. We will see as to what Lord Siva says next post.
Story 29 - Story of Prithu – 4
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 29 - Story of Prithu – 4
Once Prithu was instructed by Sanatkumara, then Prithu offered everything unto the Lord and contemplating on the lotus feet of the Lord gave up his mortal body. Prithu distinguished the Self from the Jeeva or Ego thereby getting rid of the delusions and bondages associated with the Jeeva. Prithu thus merged into the Lord through the Uttarayana Marga thereby never returning back into the bondage of the world.
Once Prithu merged into the Lord, his wife also contemplated on the Lord and attained that place where Prithu was situated (realized state).
Those who hear to the stories of Prithu with attention and follow whatever Prithu had done, they will very well realize their own very nature of Bliss.
Explanation
We come to the end of yet another story about a devotee of the ultimate reality of Consciousness or Brahman or Lord. The discipline that all of these devotees follow is just one only – constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord beyond all limitations. This is the one and only criteria for realizing the Lord who is sitting in the heart of all beings as their very Self. This doesn’t require any money, land, postures and requires very little effort – we have to put that little effort so that we can realize our own very nature of Consciousness. Unless we do that, we will be engrossed in the illusory Maya of the Lord. This Maya has just one main effect which is sorrow. Thus until a person is deluded into the thought that he is the body, he is the mind and bonded, he will be having sorrows and sufferings only. It is only when the seeker seeks the ultimate reality of Lord and realizes his very nature of ever-liberated Consciousness that he rejoices in the bliss inherent in him. Those who don’t realize their own very nature of Lord beyond the illusory body are to be called as mad people because they aren’t aware of their own very nature of eternal bliss distinct from the illusory body. If we claim that there is no time for remembering the Lord as tension, work, home etc. are there, then the Lord is not to be blamed but we are to be blamed. There is no “sorrow” associated with the Lord or his illusory creation – sorrow is only due to the seeker’s mind which associates the Self with the body thereby causing problems in the world. Thus all sorrows are the creations of the seeker only and not the ultimate reality of Lord. As AMMA says in one song, even when we are sleeping the Lord is still awake illumining the sleep & giving us bliss – the Lord is eagerly awaiting the seekers to realize their own very nature of Lord.
The path to realization is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord – there is nothing more than this to be done. If a husband is able to think about his wife even while working, a lover is able to think about his love, an officer is able to think about his sub-ordinates – then why can’t a devotee think about the Lord? All other thoughts will lead to sorrow only. The thought of the Lord alone is able to give eternal bliss to the seeker through realization of the seeker’s very nature of Lord. As Vedas proclaim “other than knowing the Lord, there is no other means to realizing the ultimate reality and rejoicing in eternal bliss”. Svetaswathara Upanishad says “if a person thinks that he can get bliss by other means than knowing the Lord, then it is like a person trying to fold the sky as if it was a blanket” (meaning that it is impossible to get bliss/realizing without knowing the ultimate reality of Lord). If we are able to spend so much time for illusory things in the world, then why can’t we spend some time for the “real” and “blissful” entity in the world which is the Lord? We just need to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord at all points of time – giving it the maximum priority than other things in the world.
When the seeker constantly remembers the Lord, the Ego is overcome and the seeker realizes his own very nature of Self or Lord who is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. This is what is termed as Moksha or liberation. Liberation is nothing but realizing the Lord in the heart of all beings – there is no other realization in Vaikunta or Kailaash – liberation is here and now itself – it is just realizing that there is only the Lord here, whatever duality is perceived is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord & thereby I am the Lord only, not different from the Lord.
Scriptures proclaim two types of mukthi or liberation. The first type is called Sadyo Mukthi or Jeevan mukthi which is realizing one’s own very nature of Self even while living in the world with a body. This is realizing now and here itself rather than going to Brahma Loka or other lokas and realizing after death in this world. Scriptures in many places stresses the importance of Jeevan mukthi maintaining that it is a big loss if the seeker doesn’t realize the Lord here and now itself. But for people who are unable to get off the shackles of bondage till the end of this mortal life, Krama mukthi or gradual liberation is mentioned. This finds a place in sruthi as well as Gita 8th chapter where the Lord clearly puts it. He who constantly remembers the Lord during his life, the same thought of Lord remains in him during the end of his life on Earth. That which a person thinks at the end of life is continued in the next birth. If a person thinks about money while dying, he takes birth as a rich person. Thus if a person thinks about the Lord at the end of his life, he follows the upper path through Soorya Loka etc. and reaches Brahma Loka where he is liberated at the end of the Kalpa (never to return back to Earth again). That person who has desires left in him and thereby thinks about those desires at the time of death, he returns back to this world with those desires. This is very same as third law of Newton about actions and reactions. So long as desires are there, the person returns back again and again to the world. It is only in this world that a person can realize his own very nature of Lord and thereby get rid of the vicious circle of birth and death – thereby all saints consider human birth as “sacred”. Humans have the capability to realize their own very nature of Lord which even Devataas are incapable of (one reason could be that Devatas have more enjoyments and hence are distracted to those rather than going inward to seek the Lord in the heart).
Thus he who remembers the Lord at the time of death merges into the Lord never to return into the illusory world. If a person has to remember the Lord at the time of death, then he has to remember the Lord at all points of time. Thus constant remembrance of the Lord is essential to get out of the illusory bondages in the world. This is what Prithu did by constantly remembering the Lord – thereby he was liberated from the illusory bondages and realized his own very nature of Lord through krama mukthi. As sruthi mentions, it is not worthy enough to wait for krama mukthi – instead a person should strive for jeevan mukthi by constantly remembering the Lord and getting rid of association with Ego and the worldly entities. That time the seeker realizes himself to be a mere witness to the illusory happenings in the world even as the dreamer is a mere witness to the illusory dream activities.
Even Prithu’s wife was liberated by constant remembrance of the Lord – thus Srimad Bhagavatham is pointing out to each and every one of us that we have to constantly remember the Lord to get rid of all sorrows and sufferings in the world. It may happen that we may not realize in one birth but we don’t need to bother much about it because birth is only for the body and not for the Self. Since “I” am the Self and not different from the Lord, “I” have no birth and am eternal. When there is complete surrender to the Lord, the Lord takes care of the devotee during all times – thus such a devotee need not worry about anything – only thing he needs to do is to constantly remember the Lord.
Lord says to Arjuna thus “Kaunteya Prathijaaneehi na me bhakthah pranashyathi” – O Arjuna! Know that my devotee never perishes. This is not just a statement but a promise which has been and is being kept by the Lord for a real devotee. A real devotee is one who constantly remembers the Lord at all points of time.
Thus ends the story of Prithu which clearly shows us the path to mukthi or liberation either gradual or instant (Krama or Sadhyo). We will start with the next story tomorrow.
We have been going through Srimad Bhagavatham and have covered almost 30 stories till now. Here we will try to recap the import of the stories. Recap or learning of stories is not what is important in hindu scriptures. Hindu scriptures point out the ultimate reality of Brahman through various stories so that it can be grasped easily by all people rather than just some intellectual people. We very well know that a concept is easily grasped through a story and this is exactly what the puranas do. All the scriptures point out the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord alone. The scriptures are unanimous in this aspect.
Thus even though we have learned many stories, all these stories point out the reality of Lord alone through different ways. These stories mention the different paths, qualities and spiritual practices to be followed so that the seeker can realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
We will just go back and analyze as to what is the use of realizing the ultimate reality of Lord?
We are all seeking happiness which is long-lasting and ever-present (without deteriorating). This is the ultimate goal of each and every human being. This goal of eternal happiness can be achieved only from that entity which is eternal. As we all know, there is only one eternal entity in the world which is of the nature of Consciousness and termed as Brahman or Lord or Self. Thus realization of this entity alone can give a person eternal bliss – nothing else can give the seeker eternal bliss. Thus the use of realizing the ultimate reality of Lord is to get eternal bliss – that which is being sought by each and every individual at all times.
We always are searching for happiness in the external world – in the objects which are temporary and will vanish any day. These temporary objects can never give eternal bliss because they themselves are temporary and will vanish any time. Thus bliss can be achieved only from that entity which is eternal – this is one’s own very nature of Lord or Self. When this subjective reality of Lord is realized, then the seeker gets eternal bliss because the Lord is eternal and he is blissful in nature. Thus what the seeker needs to do to realize the ultimate reality of Lord is to concentrate on the reality of Lord rather than concentrating on the illusory external objects. Concentration of the Lord means constant contemplation on the reality of Lord at all times. The Lord is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Lord is that reality which is underlying all the entities in the world. The changing world surely requires a changeless substratum even as the changing variable requires a changeless constant as its substratum. This changeless substratum of the changing world is something which is eternal and hence is Existence. This entity is that which gives all the other entities existence – thus it is the illuminator of all the other objects in the world. There is only one light which is capable of giving light to the entire world – this light is Consciousness.
It is very simple to understand this through the following logic. If Consciousness is there, then the objects are there. If Consciousness is not there, then the objects are not there (as in deep sleep and other cases). This means that Consciousness is that light which makes other objects existent. Thus the Lord is of the nature of Existence and Consciousness. Since the Lord is eternal, he is blissful in nature (that which is permanent and full always gives bliss only).
This Lord is what is the substratum or the underlying reality behind all the objects of the world that we currently perceive. But we do see duality as per our perception. This dual perception is only an illusion even as the dream world seems to have duality but in fact has only the non-dual reality behind the dual world. If this dual perception is removed and the right perception of the non-dual reality of Lord is there, then the seeker gets eternal bliss as he realizes his own very nature of non-dual Lord of the nature of bliss. This means all the aims of scriptural study, scriptural practices, and the various paths to the reality etc. are just various means to remove the wrong dual perception which arises due to ignorance of the underlying non-dual reality.
This dual perception is removed when the non-dual Lord is perceived in the dual objects remembering the reality that there is only the Lord – nothing else but the Lord alone. Thus all paths lead to the state where the seeker always remembers the reality of non-dual Lord who is all-pervasive. This constant remembrance of the reality is what is achieved through the various paths of bhakthi, karma and yoga. All these paths lead to the constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord which is termed in Vedanta as Jnaana and by bhakthi literatures as Para Bhakthi or higher devotion (where there is no distinction between the devotee and the Lord). This is what is the aim of all the stories – to keep the mind fixed on the Lord at all points & to again and again pointing out the reality that the Lord alone is to be sought at all times.
Let us hear and learn the stories of Bhagavatham without forgetting the import behind these stories which is the ultimate reality of Lord alone and realization of the Lord. If we just hear the stories forgetting the import of the stories, then it is not really what is required & hence the goal of eternal bliss also will not be rejoiced by the seeker. It is as good as eating the peels of the banana whereas not looking into the peals and eating the banana.
Let us continue with the stories in Srimad Bhagavatham but remembering the ultimate reality that “there is only one entity here which is the Lord or Self and which is the import of all scriptures”.
Once Prithu was instructed by Sanatkumara, then Prithu offered everything unto the Lord and contemplating on the lotus feet of the Lord gave up his mortal body. Prithu distinguished the Self from the Jeeva or Ego thereby getting rid of the delusions and bondages associated with the Jeeva. Prithu thus merged into the Lord through the Uttarayana Marga thereby never returning back into the bondage of the world.
Once Prithu merged into the Lord, his wife also contemplated on the Lord and attained that place where Prithu was situated (realized state).
Those who hear to the stories of Prithu with attention and follow whatever Prithu had done, they will very well realize their own very nature of Bliss.
Explanation
We come to the end of yet another story about a devotee of the ultimate reality of Consciousness or Brahman or Lord. The discipline that all of these devotees follow is just one only – constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord beyond all limitations. This is the one and only criteria for realizing the Lord who is sitting in the heart of all beings as their very Self. This doesn’t require any money, land, postures and requires very little effort – we have to put that little effort so that we can realize our own very nature of Consciousness. Unless we do that, we will be engrossed in the illusory Maya of the Lord. This Maya has just one main effect which is sorrow. Thus until a person is deluded into the thought that he is the body, he is the mind and bonded, he will be having sorrows and sufferings only. It is only when the seeker seeks the ultimate reality of Lord and realizes his very nature of ever-liberated Consciousness that he rejoices in the bliss inherent in him. Those who don’t realize their own very nature of Lord beyond the illusory body are to be called as mad people because they aren’t aware of their own very nature of eternal bliss distinct from the illusory body. If we claim that there is no time for remembering the Lord as tension, work, home etc. are there, then the Lord is not to be blamed but we are to be blamed. There is no “sorrow” associated with the Lord or his illusory creation – sorrow is only due to the seeker’s mind which associates the Self with the body thereby causing problems in the world. Thus all sorrows are the creations of the seeker only and not the ultimate reality of Lord. As AMMA says in one song, even when we are sleeping the Lord is still awake illumining the sleep & giving us bliss – the Lord is eagerly awaiting the seekers to realize their own very nature of Lord.
The path to realization is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord – there is nothing more than this to be done. If a husband is able to think about his wife even while working, a lover is able to think about his love, an officer is able to think about his sub-ordinates – then why can’t a devotee think about the Lord? All other thoughts will lead to sorrow only. The thought of the Lord alone is able to give eternal bliss to the seeker through realization of the seeker’s very nature of Lord. As Vedas proclaim “other than knowing the Lord, there is no other means to realizing the ultimate reality and rejoicing in eternal bliss”. Svetaswathara Upanishad says “if a person thinks that he can get bliss by other means than knowing the Lord, then it is like a person trying to fold the sky as if it was a blanket” (meaning that it is impossible to get bliss/realizing without knowing the ultimate reality of Lord). If we are able to spend so much time for illusory things in the world, then why can’t we spend some time for the “real” and “blissful” entity in the world which is the Lord? We just need to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord at all points of time – giving it the maximum priority than other things in the world.
When the seeker constantly remembers the Lord, the Ego is overcome and the seeker realizes his own very nature of Self or Lord who is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. This is what is termed as Moksha or liberation. Liberation is nothing but realizing the Lord in the heart of all beings – there is no other realization in Vaikunta or Kailaash – liberation is here and now itself – it is just realizing that there is only the Lord here, whatever duality is perceived is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord & thereby I am the Lord only, not different from the Lord.
Scriptures proclaim two types of mukthi or liberation. The first type is called Sadyo Mukthi or Jeevan mukthi which is realizing one’s own very nature of Self even while living in the world with a body. This is realizing now and here itself rather than going to Brahma Loka or other lokas and realizing after death in this world. Scriptures in many places stresses the importance of Jeevan mukthi maintaining that it is a big loss if the seeker doesn’t realize the Lord here and now itself. But for people who are unable to get off the shackles of bondage till the end of this mortal life, Krama mukthi or gradual liberation is mentioned. This finds a place in sruthi as well as Gita 8th chapter where the Lord clearly puts it. He who constantly remembers the Lord during his life, the same thought of Lord remains in him during the end of his life on Earth. That which a person thinks at the end of life is continued in the next birth. If a person thinks about money while dying, he takes birth as a rich person. Thus if a person thinks about the Lord at the end of his life, he follows the upper path through Soorya Loka etc. and reaches Brahma Loka where he is liberated at the end of the Kalpa (never to return back to Earth again). That person who has desires left in him and thereby thinks about those desires at the time of death, he returns back to this world with those desires. This is very same as third law of Newton about actions and reactions. So long as desires are there, the person returns back again and again to the world. It is only in this world that a person can realize his own very nature of Lord and thereby get rid of the vicious circle of birth and death – thereby all saints consider human birth as “sacred”. Humans have the capability to realize their own very nature of Lord which even Devataas are incapable of (one reason could be that Devatas have more enjoyments and hence are distracted to those rather than going inward to seek the Lord in the heart).
Thus he who remembers the Lord at the time of death merges into the Lord never to return into the illusory world. If a person has to remember the Lord at the time of death, then he has to remember the Lord at all points of time. Thus constant remembrance of the Lord is essential to get out of the illusory bondages in the world. This is what Prithu did by constantly remembering the Lord – thereby he was liberated from the illusory bondages and realized his own very nature of Lord through krama mukthi. As sruthi mentions, it is not worthy enough to wait for krama mukthi – instead a person should strive for jeevan mukthi by constantly remembering the Lord and getting rid of association with Ego and the worldly entities. That time the seeker realizes himself to be a mere witness to the illusory happenings in the world even as the dreamer is a mere witness to the illusory dream activities.
Even Prithu’s wife was liberated by constant remembrance of the Lord – thus Srimad Bhagavatham is pointing out to each and every one of us that we have to constantly remember the Lord to get rid of all sorrows and sufferings in the world. It may happen that we may not realize in one birth but we don’t need to bother much about it because birth is only for the body and not for the Self. Since “I” am the Self and not different from the Lord, “I” have no birth and am eternal. When there is complete surrender to the Lord, the Lord takes care of the devotee during all times – thus such a devotee need not worry about anything – only thing he needs to do is to constantly remember the Lord.
Lord says to Arjuna thus “Kaunteya Prathijaaneehi na me bhakthah pranashyathi” – O Arjuna! Know that my devotee never perishes. This is not just a statement but a promise which has been and is being kept by the Lord for a real devotee. A real devotee is one who constantly remembers the Lord at all points of time.
Thus ends the story of Prithu which clearly shows us the path to mukthi or liberation either gradual or instant (Krama or Sadhyo). We will start with the next story tomorrow.
We have been going through Srimad Bhagavatham and have covered almost 30 stories till now. Here we will try to recap the import of the stories. Recap or learning of stories is not what is important in hindu scriptures. Hindu scriptures point out the ultimate reality of Brahman through various stories so that it can be grasped easily by all people rather than just some intellectual people. We very well know that a concept is easily grasped through a story and this is exactly what the puranas do. All the scriptures point out the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord alone. The scriptures are unanimous in this aspect.
Thus even though we have learned many stories, all these stories point out the reality of Lord alone through different ways. These stories mention the different paths, qualities and spiritual practices to be followed so that the seeker can realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
We will just go back and analyze as to what is the use of realizing the ultimate reality of Lord?
We are all seeking happiness which is long-lasting and ever-present (without deteriorating). This is the ultimate goal of each and every human being. This goal of eternal happiness can be achieved only from that entity which is eternal. As we all know, there is only one eternal entity in the world which is of the nature of Consciousness and termed as Brahman or Lord or Self. Thus realization of this entity alone can give a person eternal bliss – nothing else can give the seeker eternal bliss. Thus the use of realizing the ultimate reality of Lord is to get eternal bliss – that which is being sought by each and every individual at all times.
We always are searching for happiness in the external world – in the objects which are temporary and will vanish any day. These temporary objects can never give eternal bliss because they themselves are temporary and will vanish any time. Thus bliss can be achieved only from that entity which is eternal – this is one’s own very nature of Lord or Self. When this subjective reality of Lord is realized, then the seeker gets eternal bliss because the Lord is eternal and he is blissful in nature. Thus what the seeker needs to do to realize the ultimate reality of Lord is to concentrate on the reality of Lord rather than concentrating on the illusory external objects. Concentration of the Lord means constant contemplation on the reality of Lord at all times. The Lord is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Lord is that reality which is underlying all the entities in the world. The changing world surely requires a changeless substratum even as the changing variable requires a changeless constant as its substratum. This changeless substratum of the changing world is something which is eternal and hence is Existence. This entity is that which gives all the other entities existence – thus it is the illuminator of all the other objects in the world. There is only one light which is capable of giving light to the entire world – this light is Consciousness.
It is very simple to understand this through the following logic. If Consciousness is there, then the objects are there. If Consciousness is not there, then the objects are not there (as in deep sleep and other cases). This means that Consciousness is that light which makes other objects existent. Thus the Lord is of the nature of Existence and Consciousness. Since the Lord is eternal, he is blissful in nature (that which is permanent and full always gives bliss only).
This Lord is what is the substratum or the underlying reality behind all the objects of the world that we currently perceive. But we do see duality as per our perception. This dual perception is only an illusion even as the dream world seems to have duality but in fact has only the non-dual reality behind the dual world. If this dual perception is removed and the right perception of the non-dual reality of Lord is there, then the seeker gets eternal bliss as he realizes his own very nature of non-dual Lord of the nature of bliss. This means all the aims of scriptural study, scriptural practices, and the various paths to the reality etc. are just various means to remove the wrong dual perception which arises due to ignorance of the underlying non-dual reality.
This dual perception is removed when the non-dual Lord is perceived in the dual objects remembering the reality that there is only the Lord – nothing else but the Lord alone. Thus all paths lead to the state where the seeker always remembers the reality of non-dual Lord who is all-pervasive. This constant remembrance of the reality is what is achieved through the various paths of bhakthi, karma and yoga. All these paths lead to the constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord which is termed in Vedanta as Jnaana and by bhakthi literatures as Para Bhakthi or higher devotion (where there is no distinction between the devotee and the Lord). This is what is the aim of all the stories – to keep the mind fixed on the Lord at all points & to again and again pointing out the reality that the Lord alone is to be sought at all times.
Let us hear and learn the stories of Bhagavatham without forgetting the import behind these stories which is the ultimate reality of Lord alone and realization of the Lord. If we just hear the stories forgetting the import of the stories, then it is not really what is required & hence the goal of eternal bliss also will not be rejoiced by the seeker. It is as good as eating the peels of the banana whereas not looking into the peals and eating the banana.
Let us continue with the stories in Srimad Bhagavatham but remembering the ultimate reality that “there is only one entity here which is the Lord or Self and which is the import of all scriptures”.
Story 29 - Story of Prithu – 3
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 29 - Story of Prithu – 3
SanatKumara continued:
There are four purushaarthas of Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Of these, Moksha is the highest because it alone can give eternal bliss.
Explanation
We will try to analyze on the four purushaarthas, their use for normal beings as well as seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Vedas are not something that was created out of any particular intellect or mind but it is something eternal and which was there even before Brahma came into existence. The Vedas have two parts in general – one is called the Purvakaanda which deals with various rituals and upasanas or worships and the other is called Jnaanakaanda which deals with knowledge about one’s own very nature.
Vedas explain two distinct paths towards the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. One is the path of action and the other is path of knowledge. Path of action can never lead to eternal bliss which a seeker is searching for. The path of knowledge alone can lead to eternal bliss as knowledge alone can destroy ignorance about one’s own nature which is the cause for bondage, sorrows and sufferings which the seeker wishes to remove. Thus he who follows the path of knowledge alone is liberated from the illusory bondage in the illusory world. He who follows the path of action is entangled in the vicious circle of action and fruits. As Vidyaranya puts it in Panchadashi, action is being done for enjoyment, enjoying is had for doing more action, action again is done for enjoyment – this cycle is never-ending. This can be ended only when the seeker stops all actions and seeks the reality which cannot be achieved through action as action itself being limited can give only limited fruit – whereas the ultimate reality of Lord is unlimited and hence can be achieved only through removal of ignorance through knowledge which then reveals the Lord as blissful and situated in the heart of all beings.
Then, what is the use of actions and why does Vedas proclaim a person to do duty and actions?
Actions have the only fruit of purifying the mind when done with a proper attitude. A purified mind alone can grasp the ultimate reality which is beyond mind as the source of the mind and the Subject which is never object to any experience. As Swami Vivekananda points out that the pure water in a lake alone will let the viewer see the beneath of the lake, similarly a pure mind alone can be capable of merging and realizing the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord.
What is a pure mind?
A mind which is devoid of dual perceptions and likes and dislikes is a pure mind. That mind which has RAAGA and DVESHA or attachment and aversion is impure. The mind has to be purified by offering the work unto the Lord and constantly remembering the ultimate reality of Lord that “I am that Lord and there is nothing here different from the Lord, one without a second”.
Remembering the reality and doing actions is as good as “not doing actions” because actions and the doer are offered to the Lord – therefore no action is happening at all. This offering of action to the Lord helps in purifying the mind. The mind which has been purified is capable to apprehending the ultimate reality of Lord through knowledge about the reality. This is how Vedanta puts forth the path to realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord.
So, the path to realization can be split into two – one being purification of the mind and the second is getting the knowledge about the ultimate reality of Lord. We cannot exactly say that these two paths are compulsorily to be followed – but if a seeker constantly remembers the reality, then internally and without the seeker’s knowledge these two paths are followed and the fruit is achieved automatically. Those people who are not capable of internally renouncing the illusory world can follow the path of offering everything unto the Lord remembering that everything is the Lord alone. Here illusory nature of the world is not concentrated but the world is considered as real as the substratum of the world. There is not much difference in both and hence those who are not capable of renouncing the world need to do actions by remembering the reality and offering the actions unto the reality – this in itself will lead to realization of the ultimate reality because the one and only condition for MOKSHA is constant remembrance of the reality.
Having known the two distinct paths for realization, let’s now see what the four purushaarthaas are.
Purusha arthas are the different goals that have been set for a being in the world by the Vedas. A person can seek any of these goals to satisfy his desires and gain peace-satisfaction-contentment. Dharma is following the righteous way put forth by the Vedas. The main thing here is doing actions which are ordained and refraining from doing actions which are prohibited in the Vedas. Some actions are prohibited because they lead the seeker away from the reality. This definition is only for a normal person in the world and not for a real seeker whose sole aim is to realize the ultimate reality of Lord – for such a devotee, there is only dharma or righteous way which is remembering the Lord at all times and not related at all to the individual actions done by the seeker (as the action is offered to the Lord, all actions are good only – this is stated explicitly by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita). Artha is seeking wealth or external sense objects. Kaama is enjoying sensual pleasures or desires. Moksha is realizing the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus Dharma, Artha and Kaama at the normal level are meant for enjoyment in the illusory world whereas Moksha alone can lead a seeker to the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The Lord is not known because of ignorance of one’s own very nature – hence knowledge is the one and only way to realization. To know something, there should be a desire and this is called MUMUKSHUTVA or desire for liberation. Liberation is removal of sorrows completely so that only bliss is present for the seeker. Dharma, Artha and Kaama can give happiness but they are not eternal happiness. The happiness derived from them is temporary and limited. Also if they are not performed with remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord, then they will lead to more and more sorrow only as they increase ignorance more and more.
Thus remembering this, a seeker should never desire to either live as per Dharma (means doing ordained actions like sandhya etc.) or seek objects/wealth or seek sensual pleasures but instead he should seek the ultimate reality of Lord. It doesn’t matter whether he is going against normal vaidika dharma but it matters whether he is remembering the reality or not. If a person does Dharma but still doesn’t remember the Lord, then it will lead only to sorrow. This is why we find many acharyas and mutts fighting amongst each other & many so-called Vedic scholars fighting with people as to who is eligible for Brahma Vidya and whether non-Brahmins are entitled for it or not. These so-called great acharyas and scholars forget the basic philosophy of Vedanta that everyone is Brahman alone & thereby there is no differentiation at all here. Differentiation and distinction is only an illusory creation of the mind. There is no fault in following any philosophy or any system, but what is important is remembrance of the reality. These scholars forget Sankaracharya’s Brahma Sutra Bhashya statement that “Brahmajijnaasaayaa anadhikaaryatvaat” – desire to know Brahman has no ADHIKAARA as everyone is entitled for the same as Brahman is their own very nature – since they forget this, they argue with various people claiming that only Brahmins and that too male members alone are entitled for study of scriptures and Brahma Vidya!!! Isn’t it foolish enough to think that “the Lord who is present in the heart of all beings” can be known only by the bodily achieved adjunct of caste etc.???
Why all this is mentioned is to show the futility of sticking on to the path of dharma and Vedas without remembering the ultimate reality that “everything is Lord – there is nothing different from the Lord”. We have to constantly remember the reality – and this is the only way to moksha or liberation. The moment we enter into any conflicts at the empirical level without remembering the reality, we are entering into the illusory world & hence there is sorrow alone in that. Therefore a seeker should never really bother about any such things as Vedanta speaks about one and only one restriction or qualification for realization which is “DESIRE to KNOW” and the path is “CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE OF THE REALITY”.
We have to thus realize and remember that the three purusha arthas of Dharma, Artha and Kaama are temporary and illusory whereas MOKSHA or liberation through constant remembrance of the reality.
SanatKumara continued:
The Lord who is distinct from the sense organs, the body and the mind – he who is the ultimate reality and controller of the world – he who is established in the heart of all beings – know that to be the ultimate reality of Brahman and that you are.
The Lord is the reality in whom the illusory power of Maya which is neither real nor unreal shines through ignorance and lack of intellectual conviction of the seeker. It is this Maya which causes the seeker to consider the eternal and pure Self (ever-liberated) to seem to be involved in actions and sins. Thus the Self seems to be deluded and suffering in the illusory world.
But when the seeker seeks the lotus feet of the Lord, sins are removed and actions (in the form of samskaaraas and vaasanaas) leave off the seemingly deluded Self. And such a seeker realizes his own very nature of eternal Self.
Explanation
The Lord or the ultimate reality of Brahman is distinct from whatever can be objectified. The entire realms of objects are illusory and temporary because they are dependent upon the Subject or experiencer. The Subject is without any change and hence cannot be the object of any experience. Since the ultimate reality of Lord is without change, the Lord is the Subject of all activities. Thus the Lord or Self is the subject of sense organs, body and mind which all are objects.
The Lord is the ultimate reality from which the world has been created, in which the world exists and unto which the world merges at the time of destruction. This means that the Lord is the cause of the world as the cause of mud is that in which pot has come, in which pot exists and into which the pot merges at the time of destruction. Since the Lord is the cause of the world, he is the controller of the world too. We have to remember here that the world we currently perceive is as illusory as the dream world because it has no separate and real existence apart from the Subject. As the cause of the world, the Lord who is the creator of the illusory waking world has control over the world similarly as the dreamer has control over the dream world.
If the world is illusory, then where is the Lord situated?
The Lord is situated in the heart of all beings. The Lord is the ultimate reality who is the essence of all living beings. The essence or the place from which all thoughts arise is called “heart”. The thoughts arise from the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord as Lord alone is the thinker and creator of all thoughts. Thus “heart” indicates the place where the ultimate reality of Lord can be experienced as one’s own very nature. Upanishads elsewhere mention this as the intellect-cave where Consciousness shines without any objects.
Thus Srimad Bhagavatham here says that we all are the ultimate reality of Lord only, of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. If that is the case, why don’t “I” rejoice the eternal bliss which is my nature? The reason for this is Maya or the illusory power of the Lord. This power causes duality and the ignorance about one’s own very nature. This ignorance about one’s very nature of Lord causes a person to think about the dual world & search happiness in the dual world. Thus desire for perfection and happiness is created which in turn leads to many actions. These actions yield fruits – both good and bad. Other than yielding fruits, the actions also create an impression in the seeker which makes the seeker addicted to such actions. This is what is termed by Vedanta as sin --- when various actions and vasanas cling to the individual. Thus the seeker does some action which gives sorrow and suffers from the same. Even though by nature, he is not suffering but seems to be suffering --- thus he is deluded into thinking that “I am suffering”. This delusion is the main effect of Maya or Avidya.
Maya is very tough indeed to overcome because since each and everyone find themselves limited into the body and mind, it is tough to consider oneself as the unlimited Self or Lord. Thus many people are deluded into it – even those who are aware of the reality still are deluded into it. There is only one way to overcome this delusion. The way is contemplation on the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord – there is no other way out of this.
Whether we call this bhakthi or jnaana, it doesn’t matter – what is important is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord and the reality that “I am the Lord – there is nothing different from the Lord”. When thus a person constantly remembers the Lord, he is saved from the delusion of Maya and is thereby liberated from the illusory bondages in the world. He thus rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in him – realizing his own very nature of non-dual Lord.
Thus Sri Krishna says
Daivi hi eshaa gunamayee mama maaaya duratyaya
Maam eva ye prapadhyanthe mayaam etaam taranthi te
This divine power of Maya which is composed of the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas is tough indeed to conquer. But those who seek me completely, they conquer this maya very easily.
Contemplation of reality without any other distractions is real bhakthi and this itself is real jnaana. Says Sri Krishna about the same in Gita:
Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah paryupaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktaanaam yoga kshemam vahaami aham
Those who think about me alone, without any other thought & constantly worship me (by constant remembrance), I take care of their good and bad (as there is no good or bad for them – they see everything as the Lord alone, one without a second).
Thus it is high time that we contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord so that we may conquer the deluding power of Maya thereby rejoicing in the eternal bliss which is being searched each and every moment in the illusory world. There is no particular requirements/conditions for this other than constant remembrance of the Lord. There is no asana required, no temple required, no money required, no special effort too required – but only constant remembrance is required. This constant remembrance is not tough at all but very easy – whatever is being done, just remember the Lord and do those actions – how we normally work is thinking about our lover or mother or child etc. Instead of this, we just have to remember the ultimate reality of Lord who is all-pervasive and do work. Thus work becomes worship and instead of causing bondages, it leads to purification of mind & thereby liberation.
SanatKumara continued:
There are four purushaarthas of Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Of these, Moksha is the highest because it alone can give eternal bliss.
Explanation
We will try to analyze on the four purushaarthas, their use for normal beings as well as seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Vedas are not something that was created out of any particular intellect or mind but it is something eternal and which was there even before Brahma came into existence. The Vedas have two parts in general – one is called the Purvakaanda which deals with various rituals and upasanas or worships and the other is called Jnaanakaanda which deals with knowledge about one’s own very nature.
Vedas explain two distinct paths towards the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. One is the path of action and the other is path of knowledge. Path of action can never lead to eternal bliss which a seeker is searching for. The path of knowledge alone can lead to eternal bliss as knowledge alone can destroy ignorance about one’s own nature which is the cause for bondage, sorrows and sufferings which the seeker wishes to remove. Thus he who follows the path of knowledge alone is liberated from the illusory bondage in the illusory world. He who follows the path of action is entangled in the vicious circle of action and fruits. As Vidyaranya puts it in Panchadashi, action is being done for enjoyment, enjoying is had for doing more action, action again is done for enjoyment – this cycle is never-ending. This can be ended only when the seeker stops all actions and seeks the reality which cannot be achieved through action as action itself being limited can give only limited fruit – whereas the ultimate reality of Lord is unlimited and hence can be achieved only through removal of ignorance through knowledge which then reveals the Lord as blissful and situated in the heart of all beings.
Then, what is the use of actions and why does Vedas proclaim a person to do duty and actions?
Actions have the only fruit of purifying the mind when done with a proper attitude. A purified mind alone can grasp the ultimate reality which is beyond mind as the source of the mind and the Subject which is never object to any experience. As Swami Vivekananda points out that the pure water in a lake alone will let the viewer see the beneath of the lake, similarly a pure mind alone can be capable of merging and realizing the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord.
What is a pure mind?
A mind which is devoid of dual perceptions and likes and dislikes is a pure mind. That mind which has RAAGA and DVESHA or attachment and aversion is impure. The mind has to be purified by offering the work unto the Lord and constantly remembering the ultimate reality of Lord that “I am that Lord and there is nothing here different from the Lord, one without a second”.
Remembering the reality and doing actions is as good as “not doing actions” because actions and the doer are offered to the Lord – therefore no action is happening at all. This offering of action to the Lord helps in purifying the mind. The mind which has been purified is capable to apprehending the ultimate reality of Lord through knowledge about the reality. This is how Vedanta puts forth the path to realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord.
So, the path to realization can be split into two – one being purification of the mind and the second is getting the knowledge about the ultimate reality of Lord. We cannot exactly say that these two paths are compulsorily to be followed – but if a seeker constantly remembers the reality, then internally and without the seeker’s knowledge these two paths are followed and the fruit is achieved automatically. Those people who are not capable of internally renouncing the illusory world can follow the path of offering everything unto the Lord remembering that everything is the Lord alone. Here illusory nature of the world is not concentrated but the world is considered as real as the substratum of the world. There is not much difference in both and hence those who are not capable of renouncing the world need to do actions by remembering the reality and offering the actions unto the reality – this in itself will lead to realization of the ultimate reality because the one and only condition for MOKSHA is constant remembrance of the reality.
Having known the two distinct paths for realization, let’s now see what the four purushaarthaas are.
Purusha arthas are the different goals that have been set for a being in the world by the Vedas. A person can seek any of these goals to satisfy his desires and gain peace-satisfaction-contentment. Dharma is following the righteous way put forth by the Vedas. The main thing here is doing actions which are ordained and refraining from doing actions which are prohibited in the Vedas. Some actions are prohibited because they lead the seeker away from the reality. This definition is only for a normal person in the world and not for a real seeker whose sole aim is to realize the ultimate reality of Lord – for such a devotee, there is only dharma or righteous way which is remembering the Lord at all times and not related at all to the individual actions done by the seeker (as the action is offered to the Lord, all actions are good only – this is stated explicitly by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita). Artha is seeking wealth or external sense objects. Kaama is enjoying sensual pleasures or desires. Moksha is realizing the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus Dharma, Artha and Kaama at the normal level are meant for enjoyment in the illusory world whereas Moksha alone can lead a seeker to the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. The Lord is not known because of ignorance of one’s own very nature – hence knowledge is the one and only way to realization. To know something, there should be a desire and this is called MUMUKSHUTVA or desire for liberation. Liberation is removal of sorrows completely so that only bliss is present for the seeker. Dharma, Artha and Kaama can give happiness but they are not eternal happiness. The happiness derived from them is temporary and limited. Also if they are not performed with remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord, then they will lead to more and more sorrow only as they increase ignorance more and more.
Thus remembering this, a seeker should never desire to either live as per Dharma (means doing ordained actions like sandhya etc.) or seek objects/wealth or seek sensual pleasures but instead he should seek the ultimate reality of Lord. It doesn’t matter whether he is going against normal vaidika dharma but it matters whether he is remembering the reality or not. If a person does Dharma but still doesn’t remember the Lord, then it will lead only to sorrow. This is why we find many acharyas and mutts fighting amongst each other & many so-called Vedic scholars fighting with people as to who is eligible for Brahma Vidya and whether non-Brahmins are entitled for it or not. These so-called great acharyas and scholars forget the basic philosophy of Vedanta that everyone is Brahman alone & thereby there is no differentiation at all here. Differentiation and distinction is only an illusory creation of the mind. There is no fault in following any philosophy or any system, but what is important is remembrance of the reality. These scholars forget Sankaracharya’s Brahma Sutra Bhashya statement that “Brahmajijnaasaayaa anadhikaaryatvaat” – desire to know Brahman has no ADHIKAARA as everyone is entitled for the same as Brahman is their own very nature – since they forget this, they argue with various people claiming that only Brahmins and that too male members alone are entitled for study of scriptures and Brahma Vidya!!! Isn’t it foolish enough to think that “the Lord who is present in the heart of all beings” can be known only by the bodily achieved adjunct of caste etc.???
Why all this is mentioned is to show the futility of sticking on to the path of dharma and Vedas without remembering the ultimate reality that “everything is Lord – there is nothing different from the Lord”. We have to constantly remember the reality – and this is the only way to moksha or liberation. The moment we enter into any conflicts at the empirical level without remembering the reality, we are entering into the illusory world & hence there is sorrow alone in that. Therefore a seeker should never really bother about any such things as Vedanta speaks about one and only one restriction or qualification for realization which is “DESIRE to KNOW” and the path is “CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE OF THE REALITY”.
We have to thus realize and remember that the three purusha arthas of Dharma, Artha and Kaama are temporary and illusory whereas MOKSHA or liberation through constant remembrance of the reality.
SanatKumara continued:
The Lord who is distinct from the sense organs, the body and the mind – he who is the ultimate reality and controller of the world – he who is established in the heart of all beings – know that to be the ultimate reality of Brahman and that you are.
The Lord is the reality in whom the illusory power of Maya which is neither real nor unreal shines through ignorance and lack of intellectual conviction of the seeker. It is this Maya which causes the seeker to consider the eternal and pure Self (ever-liberated) to seem to be involved in actions and sins. Thus the Self seems to be deluded and suffering in the illusory world.
But when the seeker seeks the lotus feet of the Lord, sins are removed and actions (in the form of samskaaraas and vaasanaas) leave off the seemingly deluded Self. And such a seeker realizes his own very nature of eternal Self.
Explanation
The Lord or the ultimate reality of Brahman is distinct from whatever can be objectified. The entire realms of objects are illusory and temporary because they are dependent upon the Subject or experiencer. The Subject is without any change and hence cannot be the object of any experience. Since the ultimate reality of Lord is without change, the Lord is the Subject of all activities. Thus the Lord or Self is the subject of sense organs, body and mind which all are objects.
The Lord is the ultimate reality from which the world has been created, in which the world exists and unto which the world merges at the time of destruction. This means that the Lord is the cause of the world as the cause of mud is that in which pot has come, in which pot exists and into which the pot merges at the time of destruction. Since the Lord is the cause of the world, he is the controller of the world too. We have to remember here that the world we currently perceive is as illusory as the dream world because it has no separate and real existence apart from the Subject. As the cause of the world, the Lord who is the creator of the illusory waking world has control over the world similarly as the dreamer has control over the dream world.
If the world is illusory, then where is the Lord situated?
The Lord is situated in the heart of all beings. The Lord is the ultimate reality who is the essence of all living beings. The essence or the place from which all thoughts arise is called “heart”. The thoughts arise from the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord as Lord alone is the thinker and creator of all thoughts. Thus “heart” indicates the place where the ultimate reality of Lord can be experienced as one’s own very nature. Upanishads elsewhere mention this as the intellect-cave where Consciousness shines without any objects.
Thus Srimad Bhagavatham here says that we all are the ultimate reality of Lord only, of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. If that is the case, why don’t “I” rejoice the eternal bliss which is my nature? The reason for this is Maya or the illusory power of the Lord. This power causes duality and the ignorance about one’s own very nature. This ignorance about one’s very nature of Lord causes a person to think about the dual world & search happiness in the dual world. Thus desire for perfection and happiness is created which in turn leads to many actions. These actions yield fruits – both good and bad. Other than yielding fruits, the actions also create an impression in the seeker which makes the seeker addicted to such actions. This is what is termed by Vedanta as sin --- when various actions and vasanas cling to the individual. Thus the seeker does some action which gives sorrow and suffers from the same. Even though by nature, he is not suffering but seems to be suffering --- thus he is deluded into thinking that “I am suffering”. This delusion is the main effect of Maya or Avidya.
Maya is very tough indeed to overcome because since each and everyone find themselves limited into the body and mind, it is tough to consider oneself as the unlimited Self or Lord. Thus many people are deluded into it – even those who are aware of the reality still are deluded into it. There is only one way to overcome this delusion. The way is contemplation on the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord – there is no other way out of this.
Whether we call this bhakthi or jnaana, it doesn’t matter – what is important is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord and the reality that “I am the Lord – there is nothing different from the Lord”. When thus a person constantly remembers the Lord, he is saved from the delusion of Maya and is thereby liberated from the illusory bondages in the world. He thus rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in him – realizing his own very nature of non-dual Lord.
Thus Sri Krishna says
Daivi hi eshaa gunamayee mama maaaya duratyaya
Maam eva ye prapadhyanthe mayaam etaam taranthi te
This divine power of Maya which is composed of the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas is tough indeed to conquer. But those who seek me completely, they conquer this maya very easily.
Contemplation of reality without any other distractions is real bhakthi and this itself is real jnaana. Says Sri Krishna about the same in Gita:
Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah paryupaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktaanaam yoga kshemam vahaami aham
Those who think about me alone, without any other thought & constantly worship me (by constant remembrance), I take care of their good and bad (as there is no good or bad for them – they see everything as the Lord alone, one without a second).
Thus it is high time that we contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord so that we may conquer the deluding power of Maya thereby rejoicing in the eternal bliss which is being searched each and every moment in the illusory world. There is no particular requirements/conditions for this other than constant remembrance of the Lord. There is no asana required, no temple required, no money required, no special effort too required – but only constant remembrance is required. This constant remembrance is not tough at all but very easy – whatever is being done, just remember the Lord and do those actions – how we normally work is thinking about our lover or mother or child etc. Instead of this, we just have to remember the ultimate reality of Lord who is all-pervasive and do work. Thus work becomes worship and instead of causing bondages, it leads to purification of mind & thereby liberation.
Story 29 - Story of Prithu – Conquering of Ego
Srimad Bhagavatham - A Spiritual Insight - Story 29 - Story of Prithu – Conquering of Ego
Explanation
Now we will try to see how Ego can be conquered. Just to recap, Brahman or Consciousness alone exists here, one without a second. Ego is nothing but a reflection of this pure Consciousness in the intellect and which identified itself with the various entities in the world that are “I” and “Mine”. We have to remember that anything apart from Consciousness is only an illusion because Consciousness is the only entity in the world which experiences its own existence, is independent and eternal. Other things are all illusory and temporary even if it be Lord Vishnu or Lord Brahma. It is Consciousness which is the underlying substratum for all the entities – both sentient and insentient – in the world. Without Consciousness, there is no existence for any object in the world. We cannot even imagine Lord Vishnu without Consciousness!!!! Thus it is the same Consciousness which underlies all the living and non-living entities in the world. The world itself is thus an illusion in the ultimate reality of Consciousness which is the substratum of the illusion. Any illusion is temporary and has no existence from the ultimate perspective. Thus Ego is only an illusion since it changes and will die one day. Anything which is non-eternal cannot have any real existence but only seems to exist for a particular time period.
Having thus analyzed Ego, let us know try to see the various ways to overcome the illusory Ego. Since Ego is illusory, the direct path and the final step to overcoming Ego is realization of the substratum of Consciousness. A person sees a rope lying on the road. He mistakes it for a snake. This is the case with Ego too. Consciousness or Self is considered as the Ego due to superimposition. The reason for perception of the snake in the rope is ignorance of the rope – similarly ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness is the cause for considering the Ego as “I” or Self. The snake is removed from the rope (there is no real removal as snake itself doesn’t exist but from the perspective of the person who sees the snake, snake is removed) when the rope is known. Similarly when the reality that “I am the Self of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute” is known, then the illusory ignorance which seems to be present and deluding the seeker vanishes. This is what is termed as realization. Hence, the direct and final step to realization is Knowledge of the ultimate reality that “I am the Lord, I am Brahman, I am Self, I am Consciousness which is one without a second and asanga or never attached to any illusory things in the world”.
Whatever be the path that the seeker follows in spiritual life, he has to come to the final step which is realization of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. This is what Adi Sankara terms as JNAANA in his works. This Jnaana is different from the path of Jnaana because in the path, there are various sadhanas whereas this “JNAANA” is Brahma Atma Aikya Jnaana or knowledge about the oneness of Brahman and Self or Atman.
We will now discuss the ways to reach this final stage through overcoming of the Ego and realizing one’s own very nature of Self or Consciousness. It can be said that there are mainly two ways to overcome the Ego – one is the path of Enquiry or Jnaana as propounded by Ramana Maharshi and Sankara. The other is the path of devotion or offering unto the Lord as found in various Bhakthi literatures. It is not that Sankara or Ramana Maharshi didn’t propound Bhakthi but only that they went a bit further to convert the normal devotion wherein the devotee finds himself different from the Lord and propounded the ultimate devotion wherein there is only the Lord existing & the devotee merges into the Lord.
The path of Enquiry is enquiring into the source of the Ego. This is done by trying out find out the answer to the question “Who am I”. This question shouldn’t be merely asked again and again but should be substantiated by various logics as to remove the not-Self from the Self. Am I the body? No, I am not the body because body is changing whereas I am not. Body is temporary and vanishes in deep sleep whereas I still remain in deep sleep. Therefore I am not the body. Am I the sense organs? No, because the sense organs are instruments whereas I am the person using these instruments. The sense organs are thus insentient whereas I am sentient as I exist independently. Am I the mind or intellect? I am not the mind and intellect because these are also instruments (inner equipments) which help in knowledge and other actions – I am he who gives light to the mind and intellect – I am the thinker of the thoughts of the mind and the discriminator of the discriminating intellect. Am I the Ego? No, I am not the Ego because the Ego is limited and changing whereas I am unlimited and unchanging. Thus when the seeker eliminates the entire objects in the world, what is left over is the Subject who was negating everything. This is the Self – one without a second. Even though during times of ignorance too, I am the Self but here the Self seems to be mixing with the not-Self whereas when everything is negated, only the Self exists without any objects. This is the real state of realization and natural state of the Self. This process of negation is termed in scriptures as “Neti, Neti” process (Not this, Not this – meaning that Self is not this, Self is not this – thus negating all that can be classified as “this” or objectified which will then reveal only the Subject and no objects will be present). Thus this is the path of Enquiry and Jnaana which scriptures and saints like Ramana and Sankara propound.
This path is one of the simplest but yet tough to follow because most of the people are not endowed with sharp intelligence due to lack of spiritual practices. Also this path requires the mind to be under control so that it can enquire into its source and the source of the Ego which is the Self, one without a second. But since most of the people don’t have the mind under control, therefore this path is inaccessible or bit tough for the normal people. Thus, for such people who aren’t able to follow this path due to some reason or the other, the path of devotion is propounded. The basic difference between the path of enquiry and the path of devotion is that in the latter the stress or focus is on the seeker whereas in the latter the focus or stress is upon the Lord. WE can very well say that Ishwara or God also is as illusory as the Ego but this entity of Lord is something which is present everywhere and considered all-knowing. Such an all-knowing entity is being given existence by the mind of the seeker. Thus unknowingly, the Lord who is only a creation in the mind of the seeker, helps out the seeker when he is unable to control the mind. In the path of the devotion, the devotee completely surrenders to the Lord by offering all actions unto the Lord. When all actions are offered to the Lord, the doer of those actions is also offered to the Lord. It cannot be objected here that “the offering person still exists as the Ego” because the offering is offered to the Lord which means the offering person is also being offered to the Lord. Thus everything is being offered to the Lord and there is no devotee as separate but only the Lord exists. Thus the doership which is called the Ego is not present in the seeker. Thus Ego is easily conquered or removed by offering all actions unto the Lord. This is real devotion because the devotee thinks only about the Lord and nothing else. This is not part-time devotion wherein the devotee calls the Lord at times of trouble and forgets the Lord at other points of time but there is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord.
This is what Ramana Maharshi summarizes in single sloka in Upadesa Saram (3rd sloka – the posting on the same can be referred for a deeper analysis).
Ishwara arpitam na icchaayaa kritham
Chitta shodakam mukthi saadhakam
Work when offered to the Lord and done without any expectation purifies the mind and thereby leads one to realization through the ultimate knowledge that “I am the Lord, one without a second”.
Thus we have the two clear and easy paths to overcoming the illusory Ego which is the cause of all sorrows and sufferings in the world. When the Ego is conquered, there is no sorrow but only bliss and bliss.
Explanation
Now we will try to see how Ego can be conquered. Just to recap, Brahman or Consciousness alone exists here, one without a second. Ego is nothing but a reflection of this pure Consciousness in the intellect and which identified itself with the various entities in the world that are “I” and “Mine”. We have to remember that anything apart from Consciousness is only an illusion because Consciousness is the only entity in the world which experiences its own existence, is independent and eternal. Other things are all illusory and temporary even if it be Lord Vishnu or Lord Brahma. It is Consciousness which is the underlying substratum for all the entities – both sentient and insentient – in the world. Without Consciousness, there is no existence for any object in the world. We cannot even imagine Lord Vishnu without Consciousness!!!! Thus it is the same Consciousness which underlies all the living and non-living entities in the world. The world itself is thus an illusion in the ultimate reality of Consciousness which is the substratum of the illusion. Any illusion is temporary and has no existence from the ultimate perspective. Thus Ego is only an illusion since it changes and will die one day. Anything which is non-eternal cannot have any real existence but only seems to exist for a particular time period.
Having thus analyzed Ego, let us know try to see the various ways to overcome the illusory Ego. Since Ego is illusory, the direct path and the final step to overcoming Ego is realization of the substratum of Consciousness. A person sees a rope lying on the road. He mistakes it for a snake. This is the case with Ego too. Consciousness or Self is considered as the Ego due to superimposition. The reason for perception of the snake in the rope is ignorance of the rope – similarly ignorance of one’s own very nature of Consciousness is the cause for considering the Ego as “I” or Self. The snake is removed from the rope (there is no real removal as snake itself doesn’t exist but from the perspective of the person who sees the snake, snake is removed) when the rope is known. Similarly when the reality that “I am the Self of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute” is known, then the illusory ignorance which seems to be present and deluding the seeker vanishes. This is what is termed as realization. Hence, the direct and final step to realization is Knowledge of the ultimate reality that “I am the Lord, I am Brahman, I am Self, I am Consciousness which is one without a second and asanga or never attached to any illusory things in the world”.
Whatever be the path that the seeker follows in spiritual life, he has to come to the final step which is realization of one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Self. This is what Adi Sankara terms as JNAANA in his works. This Jnaana is different from the path of Jnaana because in the path, there are various sadhanas whereas this “JNAANA” is Brahma Atma Aikya Jnaana or knowledge about the oneness of Brahman and Self or Atman.
We will now discuss the ways to reach this final stage through overcoming of the Ego and realizing one’s own very nature of Self or Consciousness. It can be said that there are mainly two ways to overcome the Ego – one is the path of Enquiry or Jnaana as propounded by Ramana Maharshi and Sankara. The other is the path of devotion or offering unto the Lord as found in various Bhakthi literatures. It is not that Sankara or Ramana Maharshi didn’t propound Bhakthi but only that they went a bit further to convert the normal devotion wherein the devotee finds himself different from the Lord and propounded the ultimate devotion wherein there is only the Lord existing & the devotee merges into the Lord.
The path of Enquiry is enquiring into the source of the Ego. This is done by trying out find out the answer to the question “Who am I”. This question shouldn’t be merely asked again and again but should be substantiated by various logics as to remove the not-Self from the Self. Am I the body? No, I am not the body because body is changing whereas I am not. Body is temporary and vanishes in deep sleep whereas I still remain in deep sleep. Therefore I am not the body. Am I the sense organs? No, because the sense organs are instruments whereas I am the person using these instruments. The sense organs are thus insentient whereas I am sentient as I exist independently. Am I the mind or intellect? I am not the mind and intellect because these are also instruments (inner equipments) which help in knowledge and other actions – I am he who gives light to the mind and intellect – I am the thinker of the thoughts of the mind and the discriminator of the discriminating intellect. Am I the Ego? No, I am not the Ego because the Ego is limited and changing whereas I am unlimited and unchanging. Thus when the seeker eliminates the entire objects in the world, what is left over is the Subject who was negating everything. This is the Self – one without a second. Even though during times of ignorance too, I am the Self but here the Self seems to be mixing with the not-Self whereas when everything is negated, only the Self exists without any objects. This is the real state of realization and natural state of the Self. This process of negation is termed in scriptures as “Neti, Neti” process (Not this, Not this – meaning that Self is not this, Self is not this – thus negating all that can be classified as “this” or objectified which will then reveal only the Subject and no objects will be present). Thus this is the path of Enquiry and Jnaana which scriptures and saints like Ramana and Sankara propound.
This path is one of the simplest but yet tough to follow because most of the people are not endowed with sharp intelligence due to lack of spiritual practices. Also this path requires the mind to be under control so that it can enquire into its source and the source of the Ego which is the Self, one without a second. But since most of the people don’t have the mind under control, therefore this path is inaccessible or bit tough for the normal people. Thus, for such people who aren’t able to follow this path due to some reason or the other, the path of devotion is propounded. The basic difference between the path of enquiry and the path of devotion is that in the latter the stress or focus is on the seeker whereas in the latter the focus or stress is upon the Lord. WE can very well say that Ishwara or God also is as illusory as the Ego but this entity of Lord is something which is present everywhere and considered all-knowing. Such an all-knowing entity is being given existence by the mind of the seeker. Thus unknowingly, the Lord who is only a creation in the mind of the seeker, helps out the seeker when he is unable to control the mind. In the path of the devotion, the devotee completely surrenders to the Lord by offering all actions unto the Lord. When all actions are offered to the Lord, the doer of those actions is also offered to the Lord. It cannot be objected here that “the offering person still exists as the Ego” because the offering is offered to the Lord which means the offering person is also being offered to the Lord. Thus everything is being offered to the Lord and there is no devotee as separate but only the Lord exists. Thus the doership which is called the Ego is not present in the seeker. Thus Ego is easily conquered or removed by offering all actions unto the Lord. This is real devotion because the devotee thinks only about the Lord and nothing else. This is not part-time devotion wherein the devotee calls the Lord at times of trouble and forgets the Lord at other points of time but there is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord.
This is what Ramana Maharshi summarizes in single sloka in Upadesa Saram (3rd sloka – the posting on the same can be referred for a deeper analysis).
Ishwara arpitam na icchaayaa kritham
Chitta shodakam mukthi saadhakam
Work when offered to the Lord and done without any expectation purifies the mind and thereby leads one to realization through the ultimate knowledge that “I am the Lord, one without a second”.
Thus we have the two clear and easy paths to overcoming the illusory Ego which is the cause of all sorrows and sufferings in the world. When the Ego is conquered, there is no sorrow but only bliss and bliss.
