Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Question of Parikshit to Shuka
Srimad Bhagavatham – A Spiritual Insight - Question of Parikshit to Shuka
The two questions which Parikshit asks to Shuka are:
What should a person do in normal circumstances and surrounding (meaning what should be done regularly or in a daily basis)?
What should a person do when he is about to die?
Let us try to analyze the two questions.
Explanation
These are two questions which a seeker normally gets in his path to the ultimate reality or the path of spirituality. These two questions are not different from each other but related to each other. As also, the question when seen for the first time will be pointing towards action alone.
And as various acharyas have proclaimed that through action a person cannot realize the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness or the Lord because the Brahman is beyond action as it is of the nature of Knowledge whereas action arises out of desire which in turn arises out of ignorance. Thus, through ignorance one can never get knowledge of the ultimate reality. Therefore, actions can never lead one to realization of the ultimate reality of Lord which is one’s own very nature.
First of all, a seeker should clearly understand what is the goal to be achieved through the path of spirituality. Unless the seeker knows the goal, the path itself will be of no use and will be like a madman roaming around the entire world. Therefore the goal has to be clearly known. The goal of humankind as such is Brahman or Lord or Consciousness which is of the nature of eternal bliss. Knowledge of this ultimate reality will remove all sorrows and sufferings and confer eternal bliss on the seeker. It is bliss or permanent happiness that each one of us is searching in the world through various means. A person is marrying for the sake of being happy. A person is working for the sake of money so that he can lead a happy and comfortable life. A person is preaching scriptures because through preaching he gets bliss emanating from the scriptures or through preaching he gets money or fame (It is interesting to note that the various Bhagavatham scholars who conduct Bhagavatha Saptaaham charge a lot of money for the same --- here it is not meant that this should not be done and no criticism is also meant towards the people). Thus, everyone irrespective of whether he is rich or poor, saint or householders are searching for happiness alone.
Thus the ultimate goal or ultimate reality which is to be achieved through the path of spirituality should be of the nature of eternal bliss. Thus, Brahman or God or Consciousness which is the ultimate reality is of the nature of eternal bliss (this is also known from the scriptures as well as through logic also).
This goal of Brahman can never be different from oneself. If it is different from oneself, then it will not be loved as much as the Self is loved - it is very well known that the Self is loved more than any other thing in the world.
Sri Rama Teertha, the great 20th century philosopher who went to America and gave wonderful discourses on the ultimate reality, gives a real life incident witnessed by him during the days of contemplation in Uttara Kashi. Water was rising beyond all levels and in the Himalayas, a mother monkey and 4 children monkeys were present in a branch. The water was rising still higher. The mother monkey at that time kept one of the child in the branch of the tree and stood on the child (so that she will not be drowned). This continued with the other monkeys.
This is what is happening with everyone. The Self is the most loved object in the world. Therefore if Brahman is different from the Self, it will not be as loved as the Self – this would mean that eternal bliss will not be got from Brahman (as that which is dearly loved alone can confer eternal bliss on the individual). Thus, Brahman has to be one’s own very nature of Self or Consciousness.
Thus the ultimate reality or goal of spiritual path is realizing one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Lord of the nature of eternal bliss. But this reality is veiled by ignorance of one’s own nature. This ignorance is to removed which is the main achievement in the path of spirituality. Vedanta thus says that there is nothing new to be gained but only the ignorance veil to be removed through various paths prescribed in Gita as well as in Upanishads. One of the simplest paths to this ultimate reality is knowing that everything is the Lord and offering all the actions to the Lord. This can be said to be a mix of Bhakthi and Karma along with Jnaana that everything is the Lord alone. This is what Krishna calls in the 6th chapter of Gita as Yoga (seeing oneness everywhere and offering all actions to the Lord).
Therefore, the answer to the first question of Parikshit will be to see the Lord everywhere, offer all actions to the Lord and surrender completely to the Lord. Here when the actions are offered to the Lord, the doer vanishes & hence there is no action at all. Thus, such an action ceases to be an action. The Self or Consciousness or the devotee is never the doer but is just a witness to the miracles put forth by the Lord in the form of the world & its activities through his power of Maya. Thus, since there is no action here but only the knowledge that everything is the Lord, it leads to realization of one’s own very nature through removal of ignorance.
Thus, Srimad Bhagavatham first expounds about the ultimate reality of Lord. Only when the Lord is known in entirety, can a person surrender and offer all actions to the Lord. When the seeker knows that the Lord alone is present here, all actions become offerings to the Lord, all actions are mere dreams and acts in a drama. Therefore the seeker removes the ignorance veil that veiled his own very nature of Lord. Thereby, he realizes his own very nature of eternal bliss – which is the final goal to be realized in human life.
The answer to the second question of Parikshit also should be remembrance of the Lord and trying to realize the Lord here itself. According to one’s actions and one’s knowledge about the ultimate reality, a person gets a new body or goes to another world (which depends on his actions and knowledge gained about the Lord). And a person becomes what he thinks at the end of his life – this is because if a person is thinking about money for 10 years, then the 11th year also he will be thinking the same thing only. Similarly, the last moment of life in this mortal body, the thought that was thought about most alone will be present. Therefore the aim of the devotee should be to surrender to the Lord at the last moment. This is possible only through remembrance of the Lord at other points of time. Therefore, continuously a person has to remember the Lord – ceaseless remembrance of the Lord.
When a person is unable to concentrate on the Lord at the last moment, he should completely surrender himself to the Lord and to great Mahatmas to get their blessings and knowledge about the ultimate reality from them. Only knowledge about the ultimate reality can relieve a person from the illusory birth and death cycles. This can happen only by learning about the ultimate reality of the Lord. This is what Bhagavatham teaches in its complete text.
And another thing a seeker should remember is that the body alone dies but “I” still remain as “I” am not the body but the sustainer of the body. The only way to overcome the illusion of body-mind complex is to realize the ultimate reality and to know that one’s own very nature is the ultimate reality of Lord.
Thus, continuous remembrance of the Lord and the ultimate reality that “I am the Lord” is what a person is entitled to do throughout his life. Only this removes the ignorance veil over the seeker (veiling his own very nature of the Lord) and hence the seeker realizes the ultimate reality that there is nothing here but the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
We will start the 2nd skanda of Bhagavatham next from which meditation on the form of the Lord is being emphasized and finally the ultimate reality is expounded in the chatushloki Bhagavatham (Srimad Bhagavatham in four couplets instructed by Vishnu to Brahma).
The two questions which Parikshit asks to Shuka are:
What should a person do in normal circumstances and surrounding (meaning what should be done regularly or in a daily basis)?
What should a person do when he is about to die?
Let us try to analyze the two questions.
Explanation
These are two questions which a seeker normally gets in his path to the ultimate reality or the path of spirituality. These two questions are not different from each other but related to each other. As also, the question when seen for the first time will be pointing towards action alone.
And as various acharyas have proclaimed that through action a person cannot realize the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness or the Lord because the Brahman is beyond action as it is of the nature of Knowledge whereas action arises out of desire which in turn arises out of ignorance. Thus, through ignorance one can never get knowledge of the ultimate reality. Therefore, actions can never lead one to realization of the ultimate reality of Lord which is one’s own very nature.
First of all, a seeker should clearly understand what is the goal to be achieved through the path of spirituality. Unless the seeker knows the goal, the path itself will be of no use and will be like a madman roaming around the entire world. Therefore the goal has to be clearly known. The goal of humankind as such is Brahman or Lord or Consciousness which is of the nature of eternal bliss. Knowledge of this ultimate reality will remove all sorrows and sufferings and confer eternal bliss on the seeker. It is bliss or permanent happiness that each one of us is searching in the world through various means. A person is marrying for the sake of being happy. A person is working for the sake of money so that he can lead a happy and comfortable life. A person is preaching scriptures because through preaching he gets bliss emanating from the scriptures or through preaching he gets money or fame (It is interesting to note that the various Bhagavatham scholars who conduct Bhagavatha Saptaaham charge a lot of money for the same --- here it is not meant that this should not be done and no criticism is also meant towards the people). Thus, everyone irrespective of whether he is rich or poor, saint or householders are searching for happiness alone.
Thus the ultimate goal or ultimate reality which is to be achieved through the path of spirituality should be of the nature of eternal bliss. Thus, Brahman or God or Consciousness which is the ultimate reality is of the nature of eternal bliss (this is also known from the scriptures as well as through logic also).
This goal of Brahman can never be different from oneself. If it is different from oneself, then it will not be loved as much as the Self is loved - it is very well known that the Self is loved more than any other thing in the world.
Sri Rama Teertha, the great 20th century philosopher who went to America and gave wonderful discourses on the ultimate reality, gives a real life incident witnessed by him during the days of contemplation in Uttara Kashi. Water was rising beyond all levels and in the Himalayas, a mother monkey and 4 children monkeys were present in a branch. The water was rising still higher. The mother monkey at that time kept one of the child in the branch of the tree and stood on the child (so that she will not be drowned). This continued with the other monkeys.
This is what is happening with everyone. The Self is the most loved object in the world. Therefore if Brahman is different from the Self, it will not be as loved as the Self – this would mean that eternal bliss will not be got from Brahman (as that which is dearly loved alone can confer eternal bliss on the individual). Thus, Brahman has to be one’s own very nature of Self or Consciousness.
Thus the ultimate reality or goal of spiritual path is realizing one’s own very nature of Consciousness or Lord of the nature of eternal bliss. But this reality is veiled by ignorance of one’s own nature. This ignorance is to removed which is the main achievement in the path of spirituality. Vedanta thus says that there is nothing new to be gained but only the ignorance veil to be removed through various paths prescribed in Gita as well as in Upanishads. One of the simplest paths to this ultimate reality is knowing that everything is the Lord and offering all the actions to the Lord. This can be said to be a mix of Bhakthi and Karma along with Jnaana that everything is the Lord alone. This is what Krishna calls in the 6th chapter of Gita as Yoga (seeing oneness everywhere and offering all actions to the Lord).
Therefore, the answer to the first question of Parikshit will be to see the Lord everywhere, offer all actions to the Lord and surrender completely to the Lord. Here when the actions are offered to the Lord, the doer vanishes & hence there is no action at all. Thus, such an action ceases to be an action. The Self or Consciousness or the devotee is never the doer but is just a witness to the miracles put forth by the Lord in the form of the world & its activities through his power of Maya. Thus, since there is no action here but only the knowledge that everything is the Lord, it leads to realization of one’s own very nature through removal of ignorance.
Thus, Srimad Bhagavatham first expounds about the ultimate reality of Lord. Only when the Lord is known in entirety, can a person surrender and offer all actions to the Lord. When the seeker knows that the Lord alone is present here, all actions become offerings to the Lord, all actions are mere dreams and acts in a drama. Therefore the seeker removes the ignorance veil that veiled his own very nature of Lord. Thereby, he realizes his own very nature of eternal bliss – which is the final goal to be realized in human life.
The answer to the second question of Parikshit also should be remembrance of the Lord and trying to realize the Lord here itself. According to one’s actions and one’s knowledge about the ultimate reality, a person gets a new body or goes to another world (which depends on his actions and knowledge gained about the Lord). And a person becomes what he thinks at the end of his life – this is because if a person is thinking about money for 10 years, then the 11th year also he will be thinking the same thing only. Similarly, the last moment of life in this mortal body, the thought that was thought about most alone will be present. Therefore the aim of the devotee should be to surrender to the Lord at the last moment. This is possible only through remembrance of the Lord at other points of time. Therefore, continuously a person has to remember the Lord – ceaseless remembrance of the Lord.
When a person is unable to concentrate on the Lord at the last moment, he should completely surrender himself to the Lord and to great Mahatmas to get their blessings and knowledge about the ultimate reality from them. Only knowledge about the ultimate reality can relieve a person from the illusory birth and death cycles. This can happen only by learning about the ultimate reality of the Lord. This is what Bhagavatham teaches in its complete text.
And another thing a seeker should remember is that the body alone dies but “I” still remain as “I” am not the body but the sustainer of the body. The only way to overcome the illusion of body-mind complex is to realize the ultimate reality and to know that one’s own very nature is the ultimate reality of Lord.
Thus, continuous remembrance of the Lord and the ultimate reality that “I am the Lord” is what a person is entitled to do throughout his life. Only this removes the ignorance veil over the seeker (veiling his own very nature of the Lord) and hence the seeker realizes the ultimate reality that there is nothing here but the Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.
We will start the 2nd skanda of Bhagavatham next from which meditation on the form of the Lord is being emphasized and finally the ultimate reality is expounded in the chatushloki Bhagavatham (Srimad Bhagavatham in four couplets instructed by Vishnu to Brahma).
# posted by vedanta : 9:38 AM
