Deivathin Kural Series - 17

OM NAMAH SIVAYA
29 JUNE 2006.


1. These are translations of what the erstwhile pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, had spoken over sixty years, available in ten volumes, as published by Vanathi Padippagam, T.Nagar, Chennai. An english translation is also likely to be available. This e-mail version is purely an effort on the part of the sender, to share his readings. We have been talking about Maya, in the previous e-mails. In this e-mail, Periyaval is giving a clear description of an elusive and easily misunderstood subject.

2. Buddist religeon holds that everything is Maya, in which, there is nothing real and true. This is known as, ' Sunyata '. Adwaitam does not contribute to this view. It says, ' Yes this entire universe is Maya only. But the basis for all this is Brhmam. That Brhmam is the Truth'. Some people ask, " How can You call this world as unreal ? There are so many events, happenings to which we are witnesses. Then how can this be called Maya or just appearences ?" They think that Maya refers to something which has no basis of existance whatsoever. Maya is not totally unreal. It is not, 'atyanta asat', like, 'the horns of a hare or a flower in the sky, or the child of an infertile woman'. It is like a mirage, which is, real till you believe in it. There is no water in the mirage. You can not drink it and quench your thirst. Even when you know that it is not there, it is seen to be there. World is like that. The world does not disappear in the eyes of the Gnani. They know that the world is not the permanent reality.
3. A rope is wrongly seen to be a snake. It is true that there is no snake in the rope. Still, till the time that the rope is considered to be a snake, that unreal snake causes in us, all the reactions and fear that a real snake would have caused. Despite the fact that the snake is unreal, that we sweated and were afraid, is real. Exactly similarly, we respond to this world. When we know the rope to be a rope, all our reactions to the unreal snake will cease. Similarly, when we know that the reality of the world, is because of it's being dependent upon the Para Brhmam, our fears and apprehensions will vanish.
4. This world is not, atyanta asat. It is a temporary truth. It is an appearance, that persists till gnanam is obtained. After attaining to Gnana, it does not totally disappear, but seen to be; seen by others to be true. It is like the reality of the dream. The dream is real till the dream lasts. Same way, this world is real till Gnanam. So instead of, ' atyanta asat', another term, ' praati basika satyam', is used to describe it. The sea-shells are seen to be coated or covered by Silver. Like that. the world shines in Brhmam in temporary reality. For the realized, Maya is only a zero. For the unrealized, he thinks of himself as a digit, and adds the zero on his left side. As the zero makes the Number into, tens, hundreds, thousands, millions and zillions; for the unrealized, Maya expands into, infinite many and seen as true.
5. Gnani, or the Realized, sees the world as it is. As a number of small forms or dolls are made of sugar, the same brahmam has become all this. If there is doll of a bitter gourd, a child will avoid it, thinking it to be bitter. The Realized will know that it is also sugar only. Gnani knows that the entire Universe is Aanandamaya Brhmam. Bhagawan Sri Krishna says in Bagawat Geeta, ' What is bitter to us is sweet to him. What is black for us is white to him. What is day light for us is the darkness of the night for him.' The Light of Brhmam is dark for us. The Darkness of Maya illumines the world. " How can this happen ?', is a question to be asked. Even Maya depending on Brhmam, gets some reflection of the Reality and the World shines in Reflected Glory. This reduced light is what, that reaches our senses. We can see and read in that. The black letters of the print are seen only in the reduced reflected light. The 'light', light,(pun intended). In the direct Sun Light, if we open the book we won't see anything. In the Brilliant True Light of Reality we will be blinded.
We see the world-movements, in the dim light of Maya. In the Atma Prakasam of the Gnani, the world-movements, vanish. This is the meaning of, ' Gnani's day is our Night'.
Sambhomahadeva.