Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Story 7 - Liberation of Bhishma (Bhishma Brahma praapthi)
Srimad Bhagavatham – A Spiritual Insight - Story 7 - Liberation of Bhishma (Bhishma Brahma praapthi)
Slokas (Skanda 1 Chapter 7)
After being praised by Kunti Devi, Yudhisthira was very sad about the war and many people being killed. All of the people present there tried to explain not to get sad over the things in the world. But still Yudhisthira was still sad only.
Suta thus says
Vyaasa and other sages tried to make Yudhisthira happy but he was sad only. Krishna who was known for doing impossible activities also could not change Yudhisthira’s sorrowful state. He was told various ithihaasaas and puraanas but none of these could change the mind of Yudhisthira.
The pandavaas and Krishna then went to offer their prostrations to Bhishma. They offered prostrations to Bhishma. Bhishma also offered prostrations to the sages. Bhishma’s eyes filled with tears as he could not apprehend whatever had happened to the Pandavas. He said “you were very young when Pandu left the world, your mother also struggled a lot after that. You all had to face lot of troubles and sufferings. What else to say than that it is the work of Time or Kaalam. These all are like the clouds being carried away by air”.
Bhishma continued
You have Yudhisthira, the son of Dharmaraaja. You have the great warrior of Bhima, you have Arjuna who has the great Gandeeva bow with him. Moreover, Krishna is your close friend. But still troubles and dangers followed you (did not leave you alone).
A person can not know what is happening in the world and why for everything is happening. The munis or rishis who themselves knowing very little are deluded into delusion of the world – so what to speak of normal people?
Therefore a person should offer all the actions to the Lord, O Yudhisthira! When this offering is done with the knowledge that everything is Lord alone, then the Lord protects his devotee. O Lord! Protect us who seek you.
Explanation
Just to recap on the ultimate reality behind the ever-changing and illusory world: the world is always changing and hence it requires a changeless substratum. Anything changing is only a mere illusion in the changeless substratum. This changeless substratum of the changing and hence illusory world is called Brahman in the Upanishads, Atman or the Self in various scriptures, Ishwara or Paramatman in Gita among other scriptures. All these terms are synonymous and are not different from one another because there can be only one changeless ultimate and absolute reality. This ultimate reality is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. The ultimate reality is non-dual Consciousness and is Nitya shuddha Buddha muktha – ever pure, ever enlightened and ever liberated. The individual beings that we seem to identify ourselves is only a mere illusion in the ultimate reality. Our very own nature is the ultimate reality only. If our nature is not ultimate reality, then there is no liberation (eternal liberation) possible because in that case the ultimate reality would be gained new & hence it would be lost after some time. Therefore, the scriptures assert that the ultimate reality is the only thing present here & each one of us are the ultimate reality of God, Brahman, Consciousness. It is ignorance of our own real nature which causes all sorrows and sufferings in the world. This ignorance itself is only an illusion appearing in the ultimate reality of Consciousness. It vanishes the moment a person realizes his own very nature of Consciousness or Brahman. All efforts by reading and learning of scriptures is to remove this ignorance – our very nature is Consciousness or Self, but it has been veiled. Thus all efforts are not to seek the reality but removal of the obstacles to the ever-attained reality of Consciousness.
One such work which propounds this ultimate reality in the form of stories is the Srimad Bhagavatham known to have been written by Veda Vyaasa. From whatever has been mentioned above, it is clear that Srimad Bhagavatham is meant to remove the obstacles and veils by propounding the non-dual knowledge about one’s own very nature. Thus Bhagavatham is a work propounding Knowledge (this has been stated by Bhagavatham itself in the 12th Skanda).
Then, how is it that people claim Bhagavatham to be a bhakthi literature?
Those are all foolish people who claim that Bhagavatham is meant as a literature which propounds the theory of the form God Vishnu. This bhakthi wherein the devotee sees the Lord different from himself is a means and not real bhakthi. Real bhakthi is that in which the devotee merges into the Lord – this Bhakthi is thus not different from Jnaana as in both the cases what remains is the ultimate reality of Consciousness (if called as Self or God). The normal bhakthi where the devotee finds himself worshipping a God different from himself is only a means to the non-dual knowledge of one’s own real nature of Consciousness.
Thus, through this study of Srimad Bhagavatham a seeker is expected to realize his own very nature of Consciousness or God or Brahman. This is the ultimate reality that there is only one thing called Brahman or Consciousness – all other things are seemingly appearances in the ultimate reality like the dream world where all objects are illusions in the dreamer.
While reading or learning Bhagavatham, a seeker should keep the ultimate reality in mind and should never forget the ultimate reality that everything is Brahman or God or Consciousness.
Let us now continue with Srimad Bhagavatham. Yudhisthira was very sad with the happenings of war etc. This shows the natural state of each person in the world where the individual finds himself sad for one reason or the other in the world. Some get sad over promotions, official matters whereas others get sad over personal matters. Some get sad over wealth and others over women. Some get sad over fame and others over power. In general, each and every one is sad in one respect or the other. Such sadness cannot be removed unless the ultimate reality of Consciousness is realized. It is ignorance which causes a person to think that I am imperfect, I am the limited being & hence some things give me happiness & other thing sorrow etc. Ignorance is the root cause of all sorrows and sufferings. Ignorance works through the mind which is considered as the cause for bondage and liberation by the Upanishads.
Upanishads proclaim
Mana eva manushyaanaam kaaranam bandha mokshayoh
Bandhaaya vishayaasaktam muktaihi nirvishayam smritam
Mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation. Mind when craving for objects or full of thoughts is in bondage & mind when free from craving or without any thoughts is in liberation.
There is thus no liberation or bondage for the Self or Consciousness which is the very nature of each and every one of us. But liberation and bondage are for the mind alone which is created out of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes, mind which is its effect also vanishes. At that time, there remains only the Self or God or Consciousness of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute – one without a second.
Thus, here we find the typical portrayal of a worldly person who is dissatisfied with everything in the world. Yudhisthira was a great person who had learned scriptures and was following dharma or righteousness. But still, he was sad over the illusory affairs in the illusory world.
He could not be pacified by Vyaasa and even Krishna. This is what happens to worldly people. They never heed the words of any great person. There are many great realized beings in the world. But none of their words go into the mind of worldly people because they are always preoccupied with some or the other notion about the world. Now, the serious question as to how then can the illusion be overcome? This is going to be stated by Bhishma later (in this posting itself).
Bhishma now continues and points out that even though Pandavas had great people in their sides, even Krishna the Lord himself, then also danger and sufferings did not leave them. Bhishma says that this is due to fate or time alone.
This is what happens in the illusory world. Anything and everything can happen because it is unreal like the dream world.
Bhishma then continues by telling that even greatest of great rishis fall into the delusion of the world. This world is a mere illusion in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness. If the ultimate reality is not known, then a person falls into the illusion. He thus is deluded into the world which his unexplainable like the water in desert (mirage). Only when a person realizes that there is no illusion here but only the ultimate reality of Brahman can he overcome this illusion of delusion and sorrow.
How can this realization be achieved?
As explained earlier, realization cannot be achieved as it is already present. What is required is to remove the ignorance veil to the ever-realized Self or Consciousness. This is done through offering the work and all actions to the Lord or Consciousness. Here offering means actions performed without any expectations. Mere actions without any expectation and offering to the Lord will not remove the veils. A person needs to perform the action with the knowledge and conviction that everything is Brahman, everything is the Lord alone. This knowledge is what is important to remove the veils to the ever-realized Self. Thus, a person should always remember the ultimate reality that there is only the Lord here – all other things are merely dependent on the Lord (any dependent object is only an illusion in the independent reality of Consciousness) and hence illusory. Thus a person craves only for the ultimate reality of Lord rather than the illusory things in the world.
When a person sees water in the desert, he runs for it. But once he realizes that there is no water, he doesn’t run for it. This is what is to be achieved. When the reality that there is nothing here but Brahman or Consciousness or Lord, then all searches end, all delusions vanish, all sorrows & sufferings terminate – and what remains is Bliss, Bliss, Bliss alone.
A person who has realized this is called a realized being (with respect to the ignorant’s view alone – because the ultimate reality is that there is no duality here but only the non-dual Consciousness or Lord).
This is the path to be followed in order to realize the abundant bliss inherent in the Self & to realize the non-dual reality of God or Consciousness in which the illusion of world seems to exist.
Bhishma continues his instruction to Yudhisthira and gets liberated after merging into the ultimate reality of Brahman.
Slokas (Skanda 1 Chapter 7)
After being praised by Kunti Devi, Yudhisthira was very sad about the war and many people being killed. All of the people present there tried to explain not to get sad over the things in the world. But still Yudhisthira was still sad only.
Suta thus says
Vyaasa and other sages tried to make Yudhisthira happy but he was sad only. Krishna who was known for doing impossible activities also could not change Yudhisthira’s sorrowful state. He was told various ithihaasaas and puraanas but none of these could change the mind of Yudhisthira.
The pandavaas and Krishna then went to offer their prostrations to Bhishma. They offered prostrations to Bhishma. Bhishma also offered prostrations to the sages. Bhishma’s eyes filled with tears as he could not apprehend whatever had happened to the Pandavas. He said “you were very young when Pandu left the world, your mother also struggled a lot after that. You all had to face lot of troubles and sufferings. What else to say than that it is the work of Time or Kaalam. These all are like the clouds being carried away by air”.
Bhishma continued
You have Yudhisthira, the son of Dharmaraaja. You have the great warrior of Bhima, you have Arjuna who has the great Gandeeva bow with him. Moreover, Krishna is your close friend. But still troubles and dangers followed you (did not leave you alone).
A person can not know what is happening in the world and why for everything is happening. The munis or rishis who themselves knowing very little are deluded into delusion of the world – so what to speak of normal people?
Therefore a person should offer all the actions to the Lord, O Yudhisthira! When this offering is done with the knowledge that everything is Lord alone, then the Lord protects his devotee. O Lord! Protect us who seek you.
Explanation
Just to recap on the ultimate reality behind the ever-changing and illusory world: the world is always changing and hence it requires a changeless substratum. Anything changing is only a mere illusion in the changeless substratum. This changeless substratum of the changing and hence illusory world is called Brahman in the Upanishads, Atman or the Self in various scriptures, Ishwara or Paramatman in Gita among other scriptures. All these terms are synonymous and are not different from one another because there can be only one changeless ultimate and absolute reality. This ultimate reality is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. The ultimate reality is non-dual Consciousness and is Nitya shuddha Buddha muktha – ever pure, ever enlightened and ever liberated. The individual beings that we seem to identify ourselves is only a mere illusion in the ultimate reality. Our very own nature is the ultimate reality only. If our nature is not ultimate reality, then there is no liberation (eternal liberation) possible because in that case the ultimate reality would be gained new & hence it would be lost after some time. Therefore, the scriptures assert that the ultimate reality is the only thing present here & each one of us are the ultimate reality of God, Brahman, Consciousness. It is ignorance of our own real nature which causes all sorrows and sufferings in the world. This ignorance itself is only an illusion appearing in the ultimate reality of Consciousness. It vanishes the moment a person realizes his own very nature of Consciousness or Brahman. All efforts by reading and learning of scriptures is to remove this ignorance – our very nature is Consciousness or Self, but it has been veiled. Thus all efforts are not to seek the reality but removal of the obstacles to the ever-attained reality of Consciousness.
One such work which propounds this ultimate reality in the form of stories is the Srimad Bhagavatham known to have been written by Veda Vyaasa. From whatever has been mentioned above, it is clear that Srimad Bhagavatham is meant to remove the obstacles and veils by propounding the non-dual knowledge about one’s own very nature. Thus Bhagavatham is a work propounding Knowledge (this has been stated by Bhagavatham itself in the 12th Skanda).
Then, how is it that people claim Bhagavatham to be a bhakthi literature?
Those are all foolish people who claim that Bhagavatham is meant as a literature which propounds the theory of the form God Vishnu. This bhakthi wherein the devotee sees the Lord different from himself is a means and not real bhakthi. Real bhakthi is that in which the devotee merges into the Lord – this Bhakthi is thus not different from Jnaana as in both the cases what remains is the ultimate reality of Consciousness (if called as Self or God). The normal bhakthi where the devotee finds himself worshipping a God different from himself is only a means to the non-dual knowledge of one’s own real nature of Consciousness.
Thus, through this study of Srimad Bhagavatham a seeker is expected to realize his own very nature of Consciousness or God or Brahman. This is the ultimate reality that there is only one thing called Brahman or Consciousness – all other things are seemingly appearances in the ultimate reality like the dream world where all objects are illusions in the dreamer.
While reading or learning Bhagavatham, a seeker should keep the ultimate reality in mind and should never forget the ultimate reality that everything is Brahman or God or Consciousness.
Let us now continue with Srimad Bhagavatham. Yudhisthira was very sad with the happenings of war etc. This shows the natural state of each person in the world where the individual finds himself sad for one reason or the other in the world. Some get sad over promotions, official matters whereas others get sad over personal matters. Some get sad over wealth and others over women. Some get sad over fame and others over power. In general, each and every one is sad in one respect or the other. Such sadness cannot be removed unless the ultimate reality of Consciousness is realized. It is ignorance which causes a person to think that I am imperfect, I am the limited being & hence some things give me happiness & other thing sorrow etc. Ignorance is the root cause of all sorrows and sufferings. Ignorance works through the mind which is considered as the cause for bondage and liberation by the Upanishads.
Upanishads proclaim
Mana eva manushyaanaam kaaranam bandha mokshayoh
Bandhaaya vishayaasaktam muktaihi nirvishayam smritam
Mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation. Mind when craving for objects or full of thoughts is in bondage & mind when free from craving or without any thoughts is in liberation.
There is thus no liberation or bondage for the Self or Consciousness which is the very nature of each and every one of us. But liberation and bondage are for the mind alone which is created out of ignorance. When ignorance vanishes, mind which is its effect also vanishes. At that time, there remains only the Self or God or Consciousness of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute – one without a second.
Thus, here we find the typical portrayal of a worldly person who is dissatisfied with everything in the world. Yudhisthira was a great person who had learned scriptures and was following dharma or righteousness. But still, he was sad over the illusory affairs in the illusory world.
He could not be pacified by Vyaasa and even Krishna. This is what happens to worldly people. They never heed the words of any great person. There are many great realized beings in the world. But none of their words go into the mind of worldly people because they are always preoccupied with some or the other notion about the world. Now, the serious question as to how then can the illusion be overcome? This is going to be stated by Bhishma later (in this posting itself).
Bhishma now continues and points out that even though Pandavas had great people in their sides, even Krishna the Lord himself, then also danger and sufferings did not leave them. Bhishma says that this is due to fate or time alone.
This is what happens in the illusory world. Anything and everything can happen because it is unreal like the dream world.
Bhishma then continues by telling that even greatest of great rishis fall into the delusion of the world. This world is a mere illusion in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness. If the ultimate reality is not known, then a person falls into the illusion. He thus is deluded into the world which his unexplainable like the water in desert (mirage). Only when a person realizes that there is no illusion here but only the ultimate reality of Brahman can he overcome this illusion of delusion and sorrow.
How can this realization be achieved?
As explained earlier, realization cannot be achieved as it is already present. What is required is to remove the ignorance veil to the ever-realized Self or Consciousness. This is done through offering the work and all actions to the Lord or Consciousness. Here offering means actions performed without any expectations. Mere actions without any expectation and offering to the Lord will not remove the veils. A person needs to perform the action with the knowledge and conviction that everything is Brahman, everything is the Lord alone. This knowledge is what is important to remove the veils to the ever-realized Self. Thus, a person should always remember the ultimate reality that there is only the Lord here – all other things are merely dependent on the Lord (any dependent object is only an illusion in the independent reality of Consciousness) and hence illusory. Thus a person craves only for the ultimate reality of Lord rather than the illusory things in the world.
When a person sees water in the desert, he runs for it. But once he realizes that there is no water, he doesn’t run for it. This is what is to be achieved. When the reality that there is nothing here but Brahman or Consciousness or Lord, then all searches end, all delusions vanish, all sorrows & sufferings terminate – and what remains is Bliss, Bliss, Bliss alone.
A person who has realized this is called a realized being (with respect to the ignorant’s view alone – because the ultimate reality is that there is no duality here but only the non-dual Consciousness or Lord).
This is the path to be followed in order to realize the abundant bliss inherent in the Self & to realize the non-dual reality of God or Consciousness in which the illusion of world seems to exist.
Bhishma continues his instruction to Yudhisthira and gets liberated after merging into the ultimate reality of Brahman.
# posted by vedanta : 9:26 AM
