DEIVATHIN KURAL # 92 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Oct 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 92 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Oct 2010

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by Periyaval of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are proceeding from page number 518 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that here in 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)

7. In Bhagawat Gita Arjuna asks Bhagwan Sri Krishna, “Why do we do these blatant sins knowing very well that it is wrong as though someone is holding us by the scruff of our necks and forcing us to do these things?” Chapter 3, Slokam 36; “ata kena prayukto ayam paapam charathi poorusha: I anichchan api vaarshNeya bhalaadiva niyojita: II” VrushNi is one of the ancestors of Sri KrishNa. So, Arjuna is calling him by that name as, ‘VaarshNeya’, questioning him for clearing his doubts. As Arjuna is Kunti’s son, KrishNa is addressing Arjuna as ‘Kounteya’ answering his queries.
8. Before this KrishNa had said, “Everyone despite being a Gnaani will only act as per his nature. (That also means that we are all already Gnaanis only, fully knowing who we are and what we are. At the same time our minds are covered by ignorance and so we are all play acting the fool!) As a human being and as a life form, we are all part of this nature known as Prakruti. Prakruti includes all the animate and inanimate things in the whole cosmos. It is not easy to undo the natural tendencies. While not rebelling against Nature, we can and should gradually go on correcting ourselves and raise ourselves. Accordingly we have been charged to do many actions as our natural duties and or professions with corresponding life styles as per our caste, known as ‘Swadharmam’. (A rat has to behave like a rat and a cat as per its Swadharma! There is no rebelling against one’s natural way of doing things. But constantly one has to endeavour to raise ourselves from the natural tendencies. (KTSV adds: If Ravana was a typical role model for an Asura, Kumbakarna his brother was rather different and Vibhishana the third brother was more sage like, who went on to be included in the venerated list of devotees of Vishnu known as Aazhvaars! There have been devotees of or disciples of all castes and nationalities and religions of such saints as [I am listing only a few here,] Sai Baba, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi and now Mata Amirtanandamayee! In addition to human beings as his devotees, Ramana also had clear examples of disciples who raised themselves against their Swadharma such as a Cow Laxmi, a squirrel, a dog named Jack, many monkeys with their leader Nondi, a peacock, a crow and so on! PeriyavaaL is here making a point about Swadharma as against Paradharma like the people who convert into other religions! Do the duties as per your caste or religion or position while constantly endeavouring to improve. Inversion that is looking in and improvement is always OK. Conversion to other’s religion or dharma is always full of pitfalls, danger and worrisome! Bhayaavaha, meaning fearful, is the word used!)
9. One person’s Swadharma may look easier or better than another’s! Like in the eyes of a Soldier, the job in a Temple as a Pujari may look more pleasant and easy. Or a carpenter may wish to be a book keeping accountant. But his inborn nature will not let him function effectively. In the bargain, his work will suffer and the work he was supposed to do, to which he was born will also be affected. It is the society which has to bear the negative effect of this confusion. To practice our Dharma to which we are born is ‘Sreyas’ than opting for somebody else’s dharma. Having explained all this(In not so many words as done here,) Bhagwan Sri Krishna ends his talk on a very strong note to Arjuna, who had expressed a wish to give up the Kshatriya Dharma of fighting a battle so as to avoid hurting others saying, “Begging is better than killing others”! He said, “It is better to die for one’s Swadharma than doing others’ as it would lead to a very fearful situation!”
10. What is that fearful situation? “The fear of not knowing as to what is the danger! Not knowing what one is afraid of! As to what is going to happen to us? Till we situate ourselves in a position of unassailable assurance that nothing can harm us, or move us, this fear will continue. That is the state of Nirvana or Samadhi, which is complete liberation from worries, anxieties, apprehensions and fear. Till there is something alien to us, we will always be afraid of it and what it could cause. There will be the thought that it could cause us some hurt!
11. ‘We are one; alien to us there is another or many things’. This differentiation is Dwaitam! Dwi or Dvi in Sanskrit is two. The word ‘two’ has been derived from that original word in Sanskrit. The moment there is Dwaitam, one more than oneself, things could go wrong. There is always the fear as to what this second could do to the first? There is a race (including car race or running race), only when there is more than one. All relativity starts when there is more than one. When Dwaitam goes and we know that there is nothing other than ourselves, till we firmly fix in our minds the idea that, ‘All is ONE’ this fear will not vanish. To become void of Dwaitam is Adwaitam! What Vedas call the ‘Moksham’ is that ‘Adwaita Anubhavam’ that is, ‘experiencing that oneness’ says our Adi Sankara! By his Bhashyam to Brhma Sutram, Bhagawat Gita and the ten Upanishads, Adi Sankara has established this point that Adwaitam is Moksham, the State of Fearlessness!
11. This has been mentioned in the Upanishads. “In the one true thing – called Satya Vastu or Atma or Brhmam or God is all the same; when we differentiate and identify another, immediately we are afraid;”, says Taitreeya Upanishad! (This is the Seventh Mantra in the part of the Upanishad known as Ananda Vallee.) In Bruhad AraNyaka Upanishad, (in First Chapter, 4th BrahmaNam, 2nd Mantram), Prajapati asks, “What can I be afraid of when there is nothing foreign or alien to me!” Then he finishes with the statement that, “Only when there is another as a second, from it there could be fear”!
12. So, it is clear that when there is Dwaitam, that is, when there is something other than ourselves; we could be afraid of that. When the duality goes and oneness results, the fear and distrust will also vanish. To reach this stage of oneness is Adwaitam when there is no more fear. As of now this is only an inference from an analysis that you are hearing from my talking (or reading in a book or this e-mail)! Instead this could be a direct experience as it is said in many places in the Upanishads! In Taitreeya Upanishad itself, a few mantras prior to what I quoted a few minutes back, (that is, in Ananda Vallee 4th Mantra), having described the stage that is beyond the reach of the Mind and Speech of human beings known as the stage of Brhma Aananda, it confirms that a person who has reached that stage, “is never ever afraid of anything”! Then when finishing that portion known as Ananda Vallee, it re-ierates this point that, one who has attained to the stage of Brhma Aananda beyond the reach of mind and speech; will never ever be afraid! The words used are, ‘kadaachana and kudachchana’, meaning ‘never and nowhere’. Thus it includes in itself, the two basic measurements as per Science of Time and Space, which are seemingly absolute but are not absolutes being only imaginary!
13. Similarly in Brihad AraNyaka Upanishad too, (in the fourth part of the 4th Chapter), in the section known as the Saariraka BraahmaNam after describing the Atma Gnaani, that is a person who has realized, it says towards the end that, this Atma which is the Brhmam, is (‘ajaram, amaram, amrutam’ meaning) ageless, endless and everlasting! Having said so, it goes on to add that it is ‘abhayam’ meaning fearless! Then again it confirms that Brhmam is Abhayam and that one who has come to realise that the life in him is the Atma, becomes ever fearless!
14. Abhayam – Moksham; Bhayam – Samsaaram. If the point of release from all involvement is Moksham and it is fearlessness too, then which is the state of being full of fear? You can easily answer this question that, as Bhayam and Abhayam are opposites, fearfulness is life in this world that is the opposite of Moksham that is total involvement in the worldly life! So, life in this planet that is Samsaaram is ever inextricably mixed with fear! Do we not say ‘Samsaara Bhandam’ always combining these two words together? So the fear is ever about life in this planet only. If we are afraid of many things in life, the most important fear is the fear of death. Even above this fear is the fear of being born again! So our prayer to God is always, “OK. God! It is your job to take me across this ocean of life and save me from fear. Then once this life is over, it is for you to save me from ‘punar api jananam’, life again in this world!” (To be continued.) Sambhomahadeva.