DEIVATHIN KURAL # 108 (Vol #4) Dated 29 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 108 (Vol #4) Dated 29 Nov 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 the start of page number 598 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)

114. It seems that when the Britishers were ruling this country, they used to send notices to the land owners asking for ‘kisti’, meaning property and land tax. The land owners used to feel very annoyed and insulted about the over taxation. But, they had no avenues to put up their complaint. Bribery and corruption was there, but not as rampant as it is nowadays! Not that the British officers were totally above board either. Since there was no way that one could represent ones grievances about the tax, people used to pay the taxes quite reluctantly. But they would have it in their minds to take revenge somehow or the other.
115. At the end of Indian winter season, around the middle of December, there would be Radha Kalyana Mahotsavam to which they would invite the British officer. After the function he would be offered good food with all pomp and show. At the end of the dinner, he would be shown the plate containing beetle leaves, areca nut and sandal wood paste and encouraged to taste the Paan Taamboolam! Some people will hover around the visitor telling each other to anoint the guest with the sandal wood paste. Someone will remove his shirt somebody else would apply the liquid paste all over his bare chest and back. Yet others would very condescendingly fan him with their shawls. For the first time after coming to India, the Britisher would be obliged to remember the cold of England! In all that fun, they would have had their vendetta for over taxation! I also wanted to show that the Sandal Wood Paste which normally is a source of happiness, on occasions can be used as a weapon of revenge! That is to say “aLavukku meerinaal amirtamum visham”, meaning ‘beyond certain limits even nectar can be poison’!
116. I was talking about how one desire gobbles up another, like the child which throws away the doll in her hands for the chocolate extended in her direction. With some good intentions a person instead of other places lands up in the temple. There he is waiting for the Utsav Deity to be taken out in ‘purappaadu’. There is a milling crowd. He over hears a conversation in which it is mentioned that the last show for a cinema that he had not seen will be on, in a few minutes. He immediately slips out of the assemblage to go for the movie! This can happen the other way around also, that someone lands in the temple after standing in a queue for a movie. Whatever it is, desire is transitory and fickle. Neither is it fully overcome nor digested or done with forever! Generally it happens that at the time of troubles, we start visiting the temples, perambulate the ‘Nava Grahas’ or do ‘dobir-karanam’ in front of Ganesha or listen to ‘puraaNa pravachanam’ in the temple. With a slight change in the well being one shifts to cinema, race course and club!
117. More than anything else, we love our own bodies. Mostly when we refer to ourselves, we are referring to our physical body only. Within that body also we have special attraction to some of the body parts. Anyhow we all give too much attention to the face and keep looking at the mirror adjusting some bit of our hair or the other. We all know as to how extreme case of self love is known as narcissism. In fact we all suffer by it variously. When we say that we are tall or fair or dark or handsome, we are referring to the body only. Let someone whom we love step on our toe accidentally, we may immediately tick off that person. That is why we keep applying soap, cosmetic, scents and shampoo endlessly to this body of ours and keep decorating it.
118. In the finger there is an injury which gets septic. With high running fever, we go to the doctor. He says that he may have to amputate the finger. In our fear that the gangrenous condition may spread to the whole hand, we get ready to lose the very same finger in which we had worn a diamond ring! We got very annoyed when someone stepped on our toe. Now with diabetes and uncured toe, even at the cost of losing a leg, we wish to save our life. If the heart has certain ailments, our diet is drastically controlled. We are ready for any bland diet because our love for the heart is more than the prevarications of the tongue! Then we cheat on the diet in our weaker moments! We have the dreaded T.B. The doctor says that we have to have a certain course of injections over a period and as a side effect of the drug our hearing may be impaired. We tell the doctor, “It is alright Doctor even if I become deaf! Please save my lungs!”
119. There was a gentleman who was very fond of his son. His money was also very dear to him. He never knew as to whom or what did he love more. The son fell ill with some disease. The next few years saw a continuous drain on his resources. The only lesson learnt was that his love for the son was more dominant than his love for the lucre! There are supposed to be three strong attractions known as, ‘eeshaNa thrayam’ namely ‘vitteshaNaa, putreshaNaa and dhaareshaNaa’ that is, passion for the money, son and wife respectively. It is from this word ‘eeshaNaa’ the word ‘eeshikkoLvadu’ has come into being for adhering attraction! The way cooked food sticks to the utensil is known as ‘pattu or partru’. That sort of passionate adherence is ‘eeshaNaa’. Both are sticking and binding attractions for each other. The son was finally cured by the time more than half of his wealth was spent. In the mean time, his wife died and he got married a second time! Then you know what happened? Listening to his second wive’s words, he physically chased his son out of his household! PutreshaNaa was more dominant than Vitteshanaa earlier. Now this second DhareshaNaa was powerful enough to overcome his PutreshaNaa!
120. Then he had some stomach trouble. Doctors cured him with some efforts and advised him to have things such as Paal Gova (made of cheese) and Badam Halva (made of almonds) and such things of high nutrition, but in small quantities. So, at a condition when he was not as rich as in earlier times, he started treating himself with such things on the quiet without telling his wife. Now his love for himself had overcome even his second DhareshaNaa! So what you consider yourself as me or I, takes precedence over everything else! Even in that, at various times, there are different priorities. Our hero then had a heart attack and was ready to give up high nutrition diet at once! Do not ask me for his address because, his behaviour is not different from any so called normal average human being! As I said earlier, within our body some parts are dearer and their dearness also changes with time. Normally the parts of the body which enable sensual enjoyment are dearer than other body parts. When you have to make a choice between any part of the body and continued living, living takes precedence over all body parts. That is how there are people who remain in coma for months even when totally paralysed with brain dead, with enormous expenditure for such maintenance! Even when you are totally unaware of existence, in a state of pure vegetation, there is love for continued living!
121. Mind is the Interface between Atma and body parts for senses. There is this mind behind all body parts for action (karma indriyas) and for awareness (gnaana indriyas), as the interface between them and Atma. All the experiences are felt by the mind only. But we must understand that this mind is capable of experiencing all these things even without the help of any of these body parts, by imagination itself!
We will come to that shortly.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 107 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 107 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Nov 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 the start of page number 592 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)
106. Human Being Disgraced by All the Five Senses. There is a beautiful book of wisdom by the name of Viveka ChoodamaNi (Crown Jewel of Discretion), by Adi Sankara Bhagawat PaadaaL. In it at one place there is this sloka about the five ‘Indriyaas’ of the human being. In the animal world, different animals are let down by their weakness as related to one of their Indriyaas. Only the human animal is debased and humiliated by every one of their five senses. So, he has to make use of the sixth sense to guard against this potential hazard of sensual depravity!
107. Deer is attracted by sound. The hunter will blow a horn. The deer will be captivated by the sound and stand still. Hunter will use this to shoot an arrow and kill the deer. Otherwise, the fleet footed deer is not an easy target. Elephant is a slave to the sense of touch. The elephant hunter makes use of this to trap the huge behemoth. They will tie a trained she elephant to a tree. The male elephant would like to close up with the female elephant to copulate. On the approach track they would have dug a huge pit and camouflaged it. The elephant would rush in and fall into the pit, from where it will be captured, brought out and tamed! Moth meets its comeuppance in the fire, being attracted by its form. Fish falls for the attraction of taste and bites the hook with the worm and gets hooked. The bee is attracted by the colour, fragrance and taste of the flower with honey. The smell of the Champaka flower could be so strong to make our nose bleed! The beetle goes and gets lost in the fragrance and intoxicated in imbibing the nectar. Then the petals will close one by one, sending the beetle to its seventh heaven! Adi Sankara says that, each animal gets caught mainly by one of the senses. But he regrets than man gets caught in a trap involving all the five senses! He says, “shabdaadih panchabhireva pancha panchatvam – aapuh swaguNena badhdhaah I kuranga – maatanga – patanga – meena – brungaa; naraha panchabhir anjitaha kim?” “kuranga” is the deer and not a monkey! “maatanga” is the elephant. “patanga” is the moth. “meenam” is the fish. “brunga” is the beetle. “naraha”, means the man; “panchabhir ” by all the five senses; “anjitaha” is attracted. “panchabih + anjitah = panchabhiranjitah”, rhymes well! Then he finishes his poem with the word “kim?” That one word would convey the meaning of, “Oh! What then is the condition of man who is attached to all the five senses?” I was talking about how we become a complete wreck because of our desires, especially our desire to search for happiness!
108. Permanent Happiness Can Never be Borne Out of Desire! But, I should not be overly pessimistic that there can never be any happiness out of good intentions like wishing others well and desiring for Mukti! Mostly, all such happiness is also mixed with some or more unhappiness too! Drinking for example while spoiling the mind, body and family life; may give a few moments of pleasure too. Eating in hotels may be quite pleasurable at times. Musician may not have a bad throat in all concerts. There may be occasions when the singing and instrumental accompaniment are really good and the music takes the audience to the high heavens, making them feel that the concert is worth the while! Here the happiness cancels out the burden of efforts and resources spent. If the singer was too good making you feel that any amount could have been paid for it, then the resultant happiness is more. Then if it was a free pass instead of a paid for ticket, then it is pure Aanandam without the sadness of expenditure for the ticket!
109. True. But does this happiness stay permanently? He was wondering as to how to pass a few dull hours feeling depressed about the problems of life in home and office. Luckily he got the free ticket. The concert was good and he heard it quite happily. He wished to share his happiness with his wife at home by describing in detail the Ragaas competently handled by the singer and thereby show off some of his subtle knowledge about the art of Carnatic Music! In his absent mindedness, he just missed the bus and got home rather late! His wife having waited for him was in a bad mood. She got more annoyed when she came to know that he had been to a music concert, without taking her there! She was pulling a face serving him the dinner. All his happiness evaporated resulting in dullness and depression, which he wanted to avoid originally! As though all that was not enough, he went to sleep when at that precise moment there was a power cut and the fan went off with free-for-all-attack by the mosquitoes!
110. Similarly there are people who win in horse racing. But does that money won in racing give permanent happiness? Possession of money brings many problems in its wake. (KTSV adds: - I used to know one Col in the Army who had won a jackpot in Guindy Racing. We were in different units and used to meet in the Sub Area Officer’s Mess, Madras some times. Having heard about his being a winner in Racing, one day I happened to ask him about it. His answer was, “Sarma, I did win some 47,000 /-Rupees last year and everybody knows about it. What people do not know is the fact that I have lost many Forty Seven Thousands since then! But, what can I do? Winning a Jack Pot is still a dream that I cannot resist! So, I keep losing money there!” That was in the year 1976, when his pay could not have been more than Rs. 800/- per month!) There are people who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Born of rich parents, they go on to make more in trading and industries. But they are also not without being responsible for many sins of commission and omission, in trying to make more! If not here in this world, they have to own up their guilt some time somewhere if not to others, at least to themselves, about bribing government officials and or chasing away a genuine beggar without any help!
111. Even some of the rare occasions when desire is fulfilled, without any element of sadness or disappointment mixed in it, there is the problem of impermanence. A wonderful shower bath has to end sometime! A wonderful heavenly music in a concert will become satiating after some time and become intolerable after some more! We will end up saying, “That singer is very good alright. But his problem is that he does not know when to stop!” Badam Milk may be very welcome. One glass is OK. Two may be managed. But if the host is thrusting a third glass, we are likely to say, “Please spare me” and feel “Oh! For God’s sake, enough is enough!” So, it all amounts to the fact that, neither are we able control our desires within any reasonable limits nor are we able to tolerate it forever! If we are told to listen to the music we love for a whole day or told to drink a bucket full of Badam Milk, we are likely to refuse. Someone who is very fond of reading will get fed up somewhere along the line and would like to stop reading and go for a walk, may be! Again after some time, you want it again. What was considered as not wanted any more today, again becomes desirable the next day!
112. Another funny thing. What we are very fond of somewhere some time, with the change in time and space or weather becomes intolerable! May be our dislike is due to some logical reasons and sometimes quite illogical too. We cover ourselves with a cashmere shawl in winter and feel cosy and comfortable. Let there be the initial arrival of spring season. That shawl goes into the trunk, the first thing in the morning.
113. On occasions, one desire takes precedence and the other fades away. You get to know about a song and dance show for which you get a free ticket also. Then someone invites you for a game of cards. Pronto, your love of music has vanished! Despite being grown ups, is our behaviour any different from that of a child who drops the doll she was very fond of, while extending her hands for a piece of candy or chocolate?
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 106 (Vol #4) Dated 25 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 106 (Vol #4) Dated 25 Nov 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 the start of page number 588 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)
101. Looking for comfort and pleasure, we fall into all sorts of problems! Thinking something to be giving us happiness, with all expectations, we end up in trouble. Desire leads to agony and pain. Unhappiness results not only when we are faced with failures in our expectations, but also when our desires are fulfilled because, we want more of it or do not want to lose it! Then we are subjected to fear that what we have may be lost. Invariably it does happen as we feared. The person we are fond of dies. Money is taken away by a thief or a cheat or the bank itself is bankrupt! Or what we have saved loses its value due to inflation. Then we feel bad that, “We saved with great self denial. We were so strict with ourselves that we saved thinking that one day we will be able to construct a house and give dowry for our daughter’s marriage! But now the money is not enough for either!”
102. We wish to have something that will hopefully give us ease and comfort. It is obtained at a great cost, like so many of the electronic goods nowadays. Then having got it, there is a running cost and maintenance cost and repair charges! We wish to see a movie and enjoy for which, we have to stand in the queue for hours. Then the a/c may not be there or it may be dis functional or the sound system is not OK or the movie is not as good as was expected! We want to visit a Cricket Match and enjoy, but look at the problems that could be there. Having stood in the queue for hours, the match may fizzle out! ‘Anything is easier getting into than getting out of’, is an adage universally applicable to most of these so called enjoyments! Thus whatever we desire for, the cost seems to include money and enormous discomforts! Even good things! For example, we wish to attend a pooja in Sri Rangam on the Vikunta Ekadasi day or Arudra Darsanam in Chidambaram or BaraNi - Kaartigai in ThiruvaNNamalai. Think of the untold difficulties with the crowd, the scuffling, pulling and pushing; waiting in queues, may be the whole night in the open suffering the cold and dust with no toilets or dirty ones to even pass urine! Oh, the problems can be aplenty! Even take this visit to this pooja in the Matam! You come here with the intention of watching the Pooja, listen to my talk and get that UddriNi Theertam, of a spoon of sacred water as the ‘paada udakam’, for getting some Punyam! I make you wait till two or three in the afternoon before you can have anything to eat! Even with the best of intentions, any Yoga Aasana, Saadhana or effort for ennobling and cleansing ourselves and our mind has many elements of difficulties in them! Try to sit in Padmaasana, the legs will pain as though there is a fracture of the bone! To do pooja, you need some ‘patram, pushpam, palam and toyam’, meaning, some leaves, flowers, fruits and water, that is all! But, wait, not this flower for this God and not this leave for that God! There are too many Do’s and Don’ts and ifs and buts! Then Neivedyam! This Brahmin Vaadyaar Purohitar, has the innate ability to make any simple procedure, full of complications! If this was problematical, to fast is a greater problem. If you normally have breakfast at 8.30 AM, on the day of fasting, you will feel hungry at 7’ O Clock itself! Then there are so many methods of self abnegation in the path of Saadhana, such as keeping a vow of abstinence for 42 days before going to a holy place; which are all mighty difficult! Does it mean that we should not observe these things at all? I will come back to this point of persevering in the path of Saadhana despite the difficulties some time later. (KTSV Adds: - There are some modern self proclaimed Gurus who claim that since we are essentially the same material as God, NirvaNa, Self Realization, Atma Anubhava and such, should not be through efforts and perseverance! They recommend free sex, hashish smoking and such methods! If you were destined like Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Realization may occur quite effortlessly, once again as per destiny. But the point to understand is that even they must have taken super human efforts and died short of the final level, in their past life! Relate this to Bhagawan Sri Krishna’s promise in the Bhagawat Gita, that if you die short of totality of Gnaana and understanding, you will be born again under such circumstances as to enable you to proceed further along the path, from where you left off in your previous life! Refer to Slokas 40 to 47, in Chapter 6 in Bhagawat Gita.)The point I was making here is that, even for a noble cause, the moment there is an element of desire, there are always problems galore!
103. Happiness & Satisfaction. Think of why do we wish or want or desire! It is always in search of happiness through the fulfilment of the desire. Aanandam is the correct word for happiness. Other synonyms such as bliss, joy, fun and santosham are also used. All that happiness is basically Aanandam, where as Santosham would mean satisfaction. Tosham means being satisfied. Santosham means good and deep satisfaction. Though to be satisfied and to be happy are closely related, they cannot be said to be one and the same. They become one, only when, nothing more is required. That is, you are fully satisfied and also totally happy. Till then there is still some difference. There is a beautiful breeze making us happy. But we will not say that we are satisfied. When expected desire is fulfilled, we say that we are satisfied. When we get some unexpected bonanza, we are thrilled and do not say that we are satisfied.
104. We desire something because we expect to be getting some happiness by that. But that desire either gives some sadness or some happiness and mostly sadness or equal amount of both. Instead when we get pure Aanandam without any unhappiness, it does not last long, but is only temporary! Then we are again sad for want of the lost happiness. We could have been better off without this experience. Having tasted the happiness, we start missing it, deepening our expectations for it to recur.
105. Expecting to get rich and thereby get happy with money, we go to the race course. There we lose even what was in our pockets and start crying. This is a case of desire giving only unhappiness. We go to see a movie to get some pleasure for the eyes, ears and the mind. There if the movie is filled with scenes of rape, murder, fights, scuffles, bombing and horror with poor direction and still poor editing; the cinema might have been awarded the Oscar; you cannot help a feeling of being deceived and made a fool of, while losing your money for it! When the singer in a music concert happens to be suffering from a bad throat, you have to suffer it in silence. It is sheer bad luck! Looking for gratification of your sense of aroma of the olfactory nerves and taste buds of the tongue, you go to the club and order for Masala Onion Dosa! The server brings you a plate of it with the chutney slightly sour, Dosa not sufficiently hot and made of oil in which some fish had been fried earlier and you are hungry! The whole question of existence now hangs around the dilemma of, “To eat or not to eat”! You end up swallowing it just to satisfy the hunger temporarily. The matter does not end there. The thing can lead to loose motions, vomiting and gastro-entetinal disease! Then looking for the feel of cold water on the body, you stand under the shower bath. The water happens to be ice cold! For some reason the hot water tap is not functional. By the time you close the tap and get out, instead of a pleasant shower, you have had a dunking, leading to catching cold accompanied with head ache! These are all examples of pure suffering without any pleasure. Thus these are all, instead of being the food for the eyes, ears, tongue, nose and touch; prove to be only negative food for thought!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 105 (Vol #4) Dated 23 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 105 (Vol #4) Dated 23 Nov 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 the middle of page number 582 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)
95. We were discussing as to how Kaama and Krodha are one and the same thing. When your desire is not fulfilled it becomes frustration, leading to anger. So, Kaama unfulfilled becomes Krodha. That is how our object of desire could easily turn to be an object of hate. We lovingly meet or marry and hatefully depart or divorce! This does not end there. Once our object of love has become an object of dislike our Kaama looks for yet another object as the focus of attention. We get angry when we do not get what we wanted. If we hate someone, evidently that person is acting contrary to our wishes or is a block in our wishful thinking. We wish to do something contrary to Swa Dharma and so think of it as a block in the way and so end up developing a love for Para Dharma. It could happen the exact opposite way too. Desire leads to hate and hate for one leads to desire for yet another! So, for each desire or the flow of our desire, if something comes as a wall in the way, the reflexion is anger and hate! If Kaama is the ball hit against the wall, the returning reflected ball is Krodha. Adi Sankara’s Bhashyam thus equates these two words. It is Kaama which metamorphoses in to Krodha when reflected. He uses the word, ‘pratihatam’ to mean what returns after hitting an obstruction. But in human transactions, these feelings seem to be exact opposites, we think of them as two different words.
96. Elsewhere, Sri Krishna himself has mentioned that anger is born out of desire, in those many words (Gita 2.62.): “kaamaat krodho abhijaayate”! So, we saw that in answering Arjuna’s question, he has said Kaama and Krodha as two different things, later grammatically treating them in the singular as though they are a single word! Then in another place he adds another slight modification of Kaama to this, as the three reasons for opening the doors of Hell! This is Gita 16.21., saying “trividham narakasyetam dwaaram nasanam aatmanaha”, meaning there are three types of entrances to Hell, “kaamaha krodhas – tataa lobhaha”, meaning, ‘desire, anger and greed’! What is ‘Lobha’? It is also Kaama only. Starting from the attraction between man and woman, to wanting to go to the sea shore and buy boiled peas or popped corn there and so on; all the thousands of real and imaginary wants are all Kaama. Even the desire of well matured individuals to understand life and its meaning or to know the Self, is all part of it. In the Upanishad this desire to know oneself is mentioned as ‘Aatma Kaamam’! Amongst all these desires, the desire for material and other properties has a special name as ‘Lobha’! The meaning of this word includes in itself greed for other’s property and miserliness for one’s own! Thus though Lobha is part of Kaama, Bhagawan Sri Krishna is finding it necessary to separately mention them as three types, one - Kaamam, two - Krodham and three - Lobham!
97. All Evil Are Born From Desire Only. There are six inner enemies of man. The first three are what you know already in this talk as Kaama, Krodha and Lobha. The next three are Moha, Mada and Maatsaryam. They are infatuation, passion and envy or jealousy! On deeper thought they will also be found to be born of the first that is desire! What is Moha? It is a combination of palsy, delusion and confusion. Mada is again a combination of lust, intoxication and passion. Matsaryam is a combination of envy, jealousy and a refusal to share. It is the same as what a child claims as its own shouting “Mine”, whatever it may be! Thus all the six inner enemies of man are clearly identified as born of one source, the desire! So, if we are to be rid of what is pestering us eternally, we have to root out the basic cause of them all, the desire. The monster Kaama is to be destroyed. (That is what Goutam Buddha also identified. He did not even bother to identify or analyse the more difficult concepts and theories about the existence of God! For the inner battle, get rid of Kaama, he said and for the worldly business of living adopt Ahimsa as ‘paramo dharma’, he simplified! That his followers have complicated the issue is yet another matter!)
98. ‘Having understood the voracious gobbler Kaama the sinner as your main enemy, you have to fight your battles’, says Sri Krishna, “mahaasano maha paapma viddyenamiha vairiNam”.Instead of calling the Kaama as a lifeless neuter gender, he is personifying Kaama as though he is referring to a living being, who is a voracious eater! The very Parmaatma Tattva has come in the form of Sri Krishna, with all the limbs of a body as a living being, with the intension of lifting the Jeevan from the mire of mortal existence. So, Sri Krishna is telling Arjuna that he has to identify the enemy correctly as the power capable of tripping him into everlasting (long enough to be taken as never ending), damnation! He is calling him, “mahaasanaha, maha paapmaa” (including Krodha). Mahaasanaha – is great eater. ‘Asanam’ means food and ‘asanan’ is the eater. The fire in the Homa is known as ‘Hutaasana’ – the eater of ‘Aahuti’, offerings as oblations. The more you put in fire, it burns more without end. Similarly, the fire in the stomach that cosumes the food is known as, ‘Jaataraagni’. The more you feed, it will say, “Bring me more!” Kaama is the great consumer who is never satisfied with any amount of sensual pleasures.
99. Kaama is “maha paapma”, the big sin! In Chandokya Upanishad (8.1.5. and 8.4.1.), while saying that Atma is completely without any blemish, it mentions, “apahata paapma”. Maha Paapma is not a normal sinner, but a great sinner. Did not Arjuna ask Krishna as to, who is it that instigates all people into sinful ways? The answer to that question is here. He has to be the very embodiment of sinfulness! Bhagawan is telling Arjuna to learn that, ‘He is the greatest of your enemies’, “viddyenam iha vairiNam”, meaning, “iha” – here that is, in this world of the living; “enam” – him; “vairiNam” – as the enemy number One in this battle between Devas and Asuras, that is, between divine beings and evil beings; “viddhi” – learn or know! “Now the battle you have to fight is with the Kourava army with Duryodana as the King, is for the world. The inner battle you have to fight is with this Kaama as the King of all sinful forces”, says Sri Krishna Bhagwan!
100. O K, I get you! It is desire the cause of all problems. Though seemingly desirous and pleasing for the mind, when we endeavour to do all the things to satisfy that urge, Kaama is the forerunner for a whole generation of a series of negative qualities. AachaaryaaL Adi Sankara in his Bhashyam says that because of this one Kaama, all the unwanted family of sinful feelings transgress into our minds. Satisfy one desire, it generates other desires; if unfulfilled, it generates anger; erasing all sense of propriety, kindness, compassion and generosity, making us tight-fisted; causes us to be mired in lust and possessiveness; increases the haughtiness and pride; becoming blind to the negative qualities of the target of our passion. Thus it is the basis of every one of our detestable qualities that should be avoided. So, it is clear that Kaama is the Devil incarnate. He is the main Raakshasa or Asura. Desiring ease and comfort, we get stuck with all the problems of the world.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 104 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 104 (Vol #4) Dated 21 Nov 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 the middle of page number 576 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)
88. When Bhagwan Sri Krishna told Arjuna, “Even at the cost of your life do your Swadharma to which you are born. To die doing one’s Swadharma is Sreyas. It is that which helps in balancing out all Karma effects and brings this cycle of repeated births and deaths to a stand- still. It is Para Dharma which increases the fearfulness.” Having heard this, Arjuna thought about it in depth. His thought process ran on the following lines as given hereinafter.
89. “What is That Power Forcing Us to Go Astray? We decide that we should not have any desire of our own and that we should do exactly as required of whatever Kulam and Gotram in which we are born and perform those duties as we are supposed to do at each stage of our life, that is during bachelorhood (Brhmacharya), married life (Gruhasta), retired life (Vanaprasta) and after renouncing the worldly involvement (Sanyaasa). But what happens? Instead of simply doing things as per our decision, instead of going in the right direction as preferred by our own sense of reason and logic, something preventing us from all this, forces us on the wrong path, compelling us to do all the things that we did not want to do! That force causes us to make the required things unwanted and make us want for the really unwanted things! What is this force which has this power to compel us to do sins lovingly, despite our best intentions? We are at a loss to name this force or exactly identify it! Now you tell me as to what it is?” Arjuna asked Sri Krishna.
90. Let us turn to the question asked by Arjuna, in his own words. “ata kena prayuktoyam paapam charathi poorushaha I anichchannapi vaarshneya bhalaadiva niyojitaha II” He is addressing Krishna as Vaarshneya, the famous name of one of Krishna’s ancestors. I was about to tell you the meaning of this sloka even earlier. Before that I was going to explain the reference to the context in brief. But that has kept growing covering much of what I was going to say. Anyhow, no loss! “ata” – that is, as you say, even if a man keeps his mind under control and intends to do his Swa Dharma; “ayam poorushaha” – this man the jeevan; “anichchannapi” – despite not wanting to do so, that is purely involuntarily; “kena” – by whom; “prayuktaha” – having been caused to; “bhalaat iva” – as though forcibly; “niyojitaha” – launched or propelled into; “paapam charathi” – enters into sin?
91. Let us look more closely at this word “niyojitaha iva” – as though launched into or pushed into; ‘yuj’ – ‘yoj’ is the root word. To join something with something else or coupled; ‘yoga’ and ‘yuktam’ are derived from that root. To tie the mind locked without being scattered is ‘yoga’. The polished wooden piece that ties two bulls together pulling the cart or the tiller is called the ‘yoke’, is from this Daatu word. Joining or coupling is with the purpose of launching or propelling into some venture. When you add a prefix ‘ni’ to any word, it gives emphasis to the meaning. For example, ‘paatam’ is to fall. If you say ‘nipaatam’, it means a collapse. The word ‘darsanam’ means ‘visible’ and if you add a ‘ni’ to it, it becomes ‘nidarsanam’ which means evident! So, ‘niyojitaha’ means chained and pushed into!
92. “Instead of voluntarily doing it, as though compulsorily chained and pushed, people fall in to Sin! Who is this person propelling us in this manner?” Arjuna asks Sri Krishna. Samsara is Dwaitam and so fearful, as we have seen earlier. What instils fear is Sin. So adopting other’s Dharma is ‘bhayaavahaha’. Not only that. There are many Sins that human being is capable of. You will be surprised to know or read through a complete list. When you read as to what all punishments are there for which all Sins, in a description of Naraka Loka, that is Hell, you will be shocked to know man’s ingenuity and capacity for innovation in Sinning! That is why, Arjuna is asking this question.
93. If you go on a visit to the holy places such as VaraNasi, the Panda there will ask you to take ‘Sankalpa’ for pooja. In it the actual ‘Sankalpa’, that is, declaration of intention to do pooja is only one sentence. But before that, after a detailed description of space (starting from the bigger picture of the cosmos, earth, geographical description of India with all its mountains, rivers and states, bringing you down to this place in India) and time (starting from the Surya Siddhaanta description of Manvantara, Kalpa, Yuga, to this particular day, hour and minute), there is a whole list of Sins that we could have done knowingly or unknowingly which are described! Not all sins are done intentionally, though we do them as though we could not just help doing it! That is what Arjuna calls, ‘anichchan iva’ ! Here Arjuna is asking as to what is that power that makes us do such things. He is not asking as to what is the way out of this zugzwang, where we seem to be slipping more than climbing! Because, Sri Krishna has already told Arjuna that, if we do our Swa Dharma relentlessly under all circumstances that will slowly but surely delink ourselves from sinful behaviour. He has also emphasised that practicing of Swa Dharma even in a perfunctory manner has the power to save us from all sins and the fear of Samsara! Fear, sin, binding ties and Samsara are all concerned about the methods of saving oneself from the same set of hazards! So, now Arjuna is mainly interested in exactly identifying the culprit who creates the sinful tendencies in man and forcibly gets him involved despite his wanting not to do so! The fight between the evil and divine tendencies happens in individual man’s mind only. That is the battle field!
94. “Oh! That? There are two main powers which are the reason for all sinful tendencies”, says Sri Krishna. “One is Desire and the other Anger!” “kaama esha krodha esha rajoguNa samudbhavaha I mahaashano mahaapaapmaa viddhyenamiha vairiNam II” It is desire, it is anger born of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe here in this world. It is ‘kaama’, that is desire, the main reason that instigates man in all evil tendencies. The other is ‘krodha’, that is anger! They are both ‘rajo guNa samudbhavaha’, meaning, arising out of what is, neither quite, collected, balanced and diligent ‘saatveeka’; nor lazy, inert and sluggish ‘taamasa’; but agitated and uncontrolled state of ‘raajasa’ ! In the Sloka of Gita 3.37, Bhagwan is considering these two qualities as one only. For the question as to what pushes man into sin, the answer is, “That is Kaama, that is Krodha!” Desire and anger are so inter-twined as love-hate relationship! If you look at the Sanskrit grammer of this sloka, you will see that both these two qualities are being treated as one only! Had they been treated as two different words, the phrase, ‘rajo guNa samudbhavaha’, should have been ‘rajo guNa samudbhavow’ ! Does it meen that they are both the same? Kaama is a feeling of desire, wanting and need. Krodha is a feeling of anger, disgust and hate. How can they be one? You give up Swa Dharma that is dislike or hate. You pick up Para Dharma that is attraction and passion. How can wanting and not-wanting be one?
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 103 (Vol #4) Dated 19 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 103 (Vol #4) Dated 19 Nov 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 the middle of page number 571 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)
82. Let us say that we are presently living in a slum. We wish to live in an independent bungalow. But as of now we do not have financial ability to earn or spend that sort of money! We have to make an effort and earn, to fulfil our ambition. Till then we have to make our current dwelling neat and clean. Because we are going to leave this place one day, till we become worthy of the shift, we cannot leave this place uncared for. If we let this place be dirty and unhygienic, we are likely to become sick and never be able to move out! First we have to clean up the present dwelling. Thus, what cleanses and keeps our inner and social lives spic and span is Dharmam. The actions in so doing strictly according to the requirements of Dharma are the Swadharma Karmas.
83. Those that can be the road signs for the common man to follow these rules, regulations and rituals are the ones who have perfected their own observance of the Aachaaraas, attitudes and behaviour; and ready to go beyond! I must mention here another fact of life. Those ideal role models in observing Swa Dharma Anushtaana for the general public are those who have already given up all involvement and gone beyond to the ultimate with clarity! They have reached a level of total dispassion when all ignorance has been erased and they have become pure Gnaanis! You may wonder as to how this can be! Gnaanis become a tool of God whom, He makes into role models for the common folk to emulate. Even if we do not reach such levels, we as individuals should be aiming at perfection in observing the Swa Dharma Karmas.
84. Even when these people are not concerned about what they get out of doing those Karmas and or not even interested in doing those actions at all; with their minds completely focussed on the ultimate source and destination of all; even then, for the final push and till the final push, they have to keep at it relentlessly! That is, the end of Karma Yoga has to just happen and cannot be a wilful intentional act. Then, it has been so organised by our elders that the direct effect of those actions will go to contribute towards the societies’ and the worlds’ welfare. Karma anushtaana gives good Chitta Suddhi. With it when devotion is combined, leads to one- pointed-concentration of the mind. At that level when Karma comes to a stand- still, one should be crossing over the threshold in to Sanyaasa. Karma Yoga will automatically lead you to it. It should not be intentionally stopped. Karma Yoga should be continued till it drops off!
85. Why Paradharmam is to be Abhorred? In all this to change one’s traditional way of doing things and adopt other’s profession or religion is forbidden. Instead you should continue to refine and improve in the profession and religion in which you were born. “Do not go to another’s line of business or profession thinking it to be better”, says Bhagawan Sri Krishna in Bhagawat Gita. “Continue in Swa Dharma. Do not go to other’s dharma. Even dying in Swa Dharma is Sreyas; Para Dharma is to be abhorred as it will instil fear and create deeper involvement.” When we leave what was granted to us by birth as a profession and way of life, we assume a personal opinion and independent thinking. Instead of accepting what was naturally our allotted Karma, we tend to choose and select. In the bargain we have opened the flood gates for all the likes, dislikes, wants, desires and hate! When you choose and select it becomes a Kaamya Karma and the principle of Nish Kaamya Karma has been given the go by! Instead of the aimed for Chitta Suddhi, this will lead to more of Chitta Asuddhi and pollution. The mind will be the master and we the slaves. This is the reason for saying that we should not be shifting our loyalties to other Dharmas from the point of view of an aspirant that is, a Saadhak.
86. There is another reason for not shifting to others’ Dharma, from the point of view of the society. For the well being of the society, different types of works are to be performed requiring different attitudes, capabilities, talents and expertise. Some people have to teach using their brains and or work in research, analysis and experiments. Yet others have to work to learn the Vedas, Saastraas and scriptures and or using pure clarified butter to do Homa chanting sacred Mantras. Some others have to use weapons and fight with enemies or apprehend thieves. Yet others have to work in the fields or factories. For the multi various duties to be done without a hitch are the jobs divided between people based on birth, to suit their aptitude and life styles. Though some may look easy in some respects, virtually there is no higher and lower or good and bad classification! They are all equally important for the society. They have been entrusted to different category of people by birth, to suit the innate qualities and GuNas. They are all important. If the Brahmin is to have abundant qualities of tolerance, calmness, coupled with brain power; the Kshatriya has to have a temperament of quick reactions and brawn power! Even the jobs seemingly low are critical for the well being of the society. If the conservancy workers go on a strike, the city will stink and be the cause of the spread of diseases! If one caste protects the society from the enemy another protects us from diseases and another from scarcity. To start grading them as higher and lower is a blatant error!
87. If people were to select and choose between various professions, their distribution between them will not be naturally correct. There will be crowding in some and scarcity in others. People may not have the right aptitude for the job in which they find themselves in by their own choice. Some of the innate qualities that come from the family background and ethos and traditionally handed over from father to son will be missing. Instead of smooth functioning of the society, with the clamour for some jobs and ignoring of others, the proportions will go awry leading to competition, hate and jealousy! This can only result in social upheaval affecting the life of all. Thus there are two types of errors; one of leaving own Dharma amounting to not contributing to the well being of the society; another of adversely affecting the balance in the society! So instead of reducing the load of Karma negativity, he will be finding himself deeper in the mire of Samsaara. That is why Sri Krishna says that “para dharmo bhayaavahaha”, to mean that to randomly select one’s profession and or religion based on whims and fancies of the fickle mind of ours is the cause of fear! Now comes the matter about the war between Devas and Asuras (mentioned at the start of the talk about Adwaitam in Deivathin Kural # 91(Vol #4) of 25 Oct 2010).
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 102 (Vol #4) Dated 17 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 102 (Vol #4) Dated 17 Nov 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 the middle of page number 566 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)
75. All the life forms have an experience of Pralaya every day, of being restored in Easwara that is God, during our sleep. This is known as ‘Nitya Pralaya’! Then we wake up from sleep similar to coming into being call it waking up or creation or genesis. Then after the death of the body, in the interregnum before entry into Heaven or Hell or Rebirth, in the body-less state we again rest in Him! Thus God is our source, transit camp as well as the final destination. Thus sleep is the daily experience of God, available every day or night, for all life forms, irrespective of age, gender, status or any other differentiation! This also happens after every Manvantara of about 70 Chatur Yuga when all the manifested universe becomes unmanifested and is in harmony with the fountain head of God! This is one another type of Pralaya. Then after 14 such Manvantaras are over, that is, after 1000 Chatur Yugas of Brhma’s one day, there is a Pralaya of a night of another 1000 Chatur Yugas. Thus having lived a life of two thousand Chatur Yugas constituting a day/night unit for 360 such days, for hundred years, Brhma becomes absorbed in the Paramatma for another Brhma to come in to being. Thus Puraanaas talk of ‘Prakritik Pralaya’ of change of Brhma and an endless Pralaya called ‘Aadhyantika Pralaya’!
76. Even then, even the reabsorption of Brhma in Paramatma is not Adwaita Moksha. Jeevas who get absorbed in the Paramatma for such very long periods too are reborn again when the fresh Srushti takes place. He has to see the Drama of life and so, you and I have to go through the process again to get the God experience, as during Laya of Pralaya, Adwaita Anubhava of experiencing God is not possible! Aikyam is to become Him with no me or mine left in balance. In Laya there is no Aikyam. In Laya, one is one with another and not become that! That is how, they are enabled to let go as individuals with a personality in Samsara. The Nitya Pralaya of daily sleep is an example of the fact that after a period of Laya, we are again as before, ‘as you were’! Saastraas thus talk of the whole lot of life forms, without any effort of Sadhana on their part, by his grace, being dissolved and absorbed in Him in Pralaya and being recreated in the next creation and not about all of them getting Adwaita Moksha.
77. That is, as long as there has to be something called the world with people and life forms, there will be variety. There will have to be some dispassionate enough entitled to immediate liberation and many without any inclination for devotion and Gnaana! The whole spectrum of variety will be there. Like the spider creates the web from within itself and pulls it back periodically; so also when Easwara reabsorbs the entire universe within Himself in Pralaya, he blesses all forms of creation with a period of rest. If and when there is a world, he will never leave it peopled by only devotees and Gnaanis; as seen in the Saastraas. At the highest level of Gnaana, for the true state of awareness; world of matters is immaterial. For purely Love and Devotion, there are Vaikunta and Kailaasa! This world will always be a stage for variety in species, types, colours, cultures, feelings, characters, personalities, levels and inner and outer atmosphere.
78. For the Highest Benefit of Life in the World. At the time of Maha Pralaya, when the entirety is reabsorbed in Him, only then the human drama will end. Till then all these billions of people cannot move in the path of Mukti whole sale! Some small percentage will be in the path of devotion and a further lesser percentage will be aspirants of Gnaana! Still, there has to be some efforts to motivate them in this direction towards obtaining Gnaana with devotion to God as a prelude! Because, doing so is some consolation for the heat and pain of existence. So some initial promptings acts as a catalyst, to be matured to ripeness over many a life time! Those who are in the final few steps in this process may utilise their actions meant for their own Chitta Suddhi as a tool for motivating others. Earlier we analysed and found that pure devotion is almost impossible and with action devotion is feasible. Like that, to get people together for a Satsangh, make them do Bhajans that is sing prayer songs of devotion, do worship in the temples of God, read the advices of saints or their poems; you need to have some who have progressed farther than the common lot. Normally people pray to God for their own personal fulfilment of demands. So, to involve the common lot in devotional activities, there have to be some who are ready to work for the welfare of the society. It helps them in achieving Chitta Suddhi while enabling others to be guided on to the right lines.
79. In the ongoing drama on the world-stage, we cannot expect all and sundry to become fully ripened in devotion. There will only be some rare people who would be dispassionate enough to be inclined towards Mukti. Rest are all likely to be having many likes, dislikes, desires, passions and accounts to be settled. So, in addition to spreading and imbibing devotion, there is a need to safe guard people from being washed away in the flood waters of sensual desires and proclivities. To guide people in legally and morally correct pursuits, we need to get them turn towards the creator of us all! The first requirement is to bring in some semblance of order in one’s practical life to accommodate value systems such as, truth, honesty, integrity, love, justice, morality, service and philanthropy. To do so is Dharmam.
80. Though there are many other meanings for that word Dharmam including religion, the most important meaning is to bring in empathy, sympathy and cohesiveness within the society. To bring in mutual trust, truthfulness and co-operation between people, there is a need to evolve a sense of discipline and order in all our social dealings and interactions. So, at all times all our social actions (Karma) has to be matched with orderliness (Dharma) repeatedly. That is why Jaimini’s Poorva Meemaamsa Sutra, which gives priority to Karma, starts with the words, “ataato dharma jignyaasa”. This means ‘Let us start with the analysis of what is Dharma’! Thus when we strictly adhere to morally correct actions of Karma full of Dharma, there by cancel out our past debts and by Nish Kaamya Karma ensure that our present actions too do not bind us, resulting in Chitta Suddhi; we get the urge to drop this all, rid of all assumptions and ignorance; regaining our true selves, which was never lost anyhow! At that stage what helps us is the Uttara Meemaamsa of Brhma Sutra, which gives priority to Gnaana, starts with the words, “ataato brhma jignyaasa”. This means, ‘‘Let us start with the analysis of what is Brhma’! I wished to prove to you that even in the worldly life, order, harmony and decorum are in Karma with Dharma only!
81. Conducting Yaaga and through that to ensure the availability of divine powers for the benefit of the worlds with good rains from the skies and agricultural produce from the land; by divine powers cause harmony and good feelings in the external and internal atmospheres of the world and people’s minds; to fight battles and protect the people from the enemies; for the sake of public get material from all over the world and conduct trade and commerce; till the land, cultivate, irrigate, planting and seeding and produce, making them available for the public; doing carpentry, pottery, fishery and so many other trades and professions of service and manufacture; are all required for decent living. All this has to happen in a social milieu of order and propriety. Keeping all these requirements in view, the society has been divided in to the four VarNaas of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya and Sudra; each person’s individual life has been divided into four Ashramas of Brhmacharyam, Gruhastam, Vanaprastam and Sannyasam each with their appointed roles and duties, permitted food according to the type of work expected of that person and in consonance with all these the daily and periodic rituals that person is required to perform; have all been beautifully worked out and known as Swadharma!
(To be continued.)
SAMBHOMAHADEVA.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 101 (Vol #4) Dated 15 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 101 (Vol #4) Dated 15 Nov 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 the middle of page number 561 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)
70. Swadharmam continues even after one’s death! Death is after all only for the body. Not for the Atma which is forever! Not for the individual also, who thinks of himself as something separate as, he continues till such time he decides not to be separate and become one with the only reality from which he has never been apart, away or alienated! Till then he has to assume many more living forms and live many more life times! The turning point in this endless journey, when he or she decides to return to the source of their origins is doing the duties of Swa Dharma. The thing that really compensates and reduces the debt balances, (deceitfully, wrongly called credit ratings), are these Swa Dharma duties. To die while doing those duties and progress towards fulfilling the purpose of our existence is ‘Sreyas’. That is why Sri Krishna told Arjuna that it is, ‘Sreyas despite death’!
71. Direct Contribution to World’s Welfare. Once born as any life form, it is not able to keep quiet even for a fraction of a second! So, to fetch you to a state of total fulfilment without any more need for work, without any more need or want, you have been assigned a set of duties to be done as ‘Swa Dharma’. Thus when the Jeeva does these duties, there is no gain for the mind (which is the cause for continued cycle of rebirths). When we do these duties as ‘Nish Kaamyam’, that is, while doing one’s duties without any desire for any returns, this effect of starving the mind occurs. Because, to desire is the first important job of the mind. All the activities are for the satisfaction of the mind only. But when we do ‘Nish Kaamya Karma’, there is no gain for the mind. So, it follows that, when we do something there has to be some advantage or gain, is it not so? We cannot claim that this activity is only meant to control his mind by suppressing his desires and that there is no effect for the action! Saastraas have not left the issue out on a limb like that. Though there is no direct noticeable result and indirectly it enables him to develop himself to the actionless-state, it cannot be permitted to be a sheer waste, like measuring the water in the oceans or counting the number of stars! How can there be any action which has an indirect effect and no direct effect? There has to be a direct effect too, though the actor may not be the direct beneficiary. If the actor becomes the direct beneficiary, that will again become the cause for the creation of desire. So, for the actor’s desire-less acts of ‘Nish Kaamya Karma-s’ let the society at large be the direct beneficiary. It is with this intention that the nuts and bolts of Swa Dharma have been worked out!
72. The dynamics of the above paragraph will become very clear with an example. Say, there is a man with all facilities. For his health he has to do some physical exercises. These can be of two types. One is either Yogasana or Aerobics. Alternately he could do gardening involving digging, planting, nursing, watering and weeding. Since he has all facilities and resources, he could have man power to do all that. He does not have to do all the actions himself. Being rich enough he also does not need the fruits of his labour. But instead of doing only physical exercises, it would be more beneficial for the society, if he works towards creating a fruit garden. He has the benefit of the exercises and the fruit is enjoyed by others! Similarly, like this example of a particular person not having any need for money and things that could be purchased with money, does gardening as an exercise and the fruits of such activity is enjoyed by others; to do is your duty but, not for the sake of the fruits only. The aspirant in the spiritual path does Karma for cleansing his own mind and the benefits go to the society. That is how this Swa Dharma Karma has been worked out. There are people who need the fruits of such labour. There will always be such people who will need to be taken care of thus, in the cosmic drama of Bhagwan’s Leela!
73. World Drama and Pralayam. It is never possible for all the waves to reach the shore at one and the same time. Exactly similarly, it is never possible for all the people of the world to simultaneously try to cancel out all their balances of Karma and void the worldly life once and for all. Having created many with varying minds and spun them off in this world to interact and play with innumerable possibilities, whole range of spectrum of colours, shades, tastes and nuances; enjoying as the witness and participating as the indwelling spirit; is God’s Leela. How can this multitudinous dynamic kaleidoscopic display of world drama go on, if all of us should merge in complete peace by becoming devotees or Gnaanis? At the least there will be no ‘variety is the spice of life’ experience for God!
74. Simultaneously God is also compassion incarnate! Though He is the Witness of Eternity, after many Yugas and Kalpa Kaalam, He reabsorbs all with extreme consideration and Love; not by their efforts but by His Grace! That is the world-less Armageddon, dissolution and reabsorption of Maha Pralaya! Nitya Pralaya is the daily absorption in God that is the sleep that we all enjoy! After death, before and after the Heaven or Hell or Rebirth, there is Laya of absorption for varying periods.
(KTSV adds: Pralaya means destruction, dissolution and re-absorption put together. In our Saastraas, there is clear conceptual knowledge at how and when these small and big Pralayas happen. Before we further go into the details about the durations of Pralaya, Kalpa, Chatur Yuga, Naimittika Pralaya, Aadyantika Pralaya and so on, let us make a short foray elsewhere so as to absorb some facts and figures as given by Swami Sivananda in his commentary on Sloka 17 of Chapter 8 of Bhagawat Gita, in page 190, of the book Published by Divine Life Society, Tehri Garhwal, Uttara Khand, India. I Quote, “Day means evolution or projection or manifestation of the universe. Night means involution of the universe or Pralaya. The worlds are limited or conditioned in time. Therefore they return again. The world of Brhma (Brhma Loka or Satya Loka) is also transient, although it lasts for a thousand ages. When the four Yugas have gone round a thousand times, it makes a day time of Brhma and when an equal number of Yugas pass again it makes a night. Those who can see and live through the day and night of Brhma can really know what is a day and what is a night. The Suryasiddhanta speaks of the same division of time. According to it; Number of Years.
Kali Yuga (with its Sandhya and Sandhyamsa) consists of 432,000
Dvapara Yuga (do) 864,000
Treta Yuga (do) 1,296,000
Krita Yuga (do) 1,728,000.
Maha Yuga or the four Yugas combined, also known
As Chatur Yuga 4,320,000.
71 such Maha Yugas with an additional Sandhya,
at the close of 1,728,000 years make one
Manvantara of 308,448,000.
14 such Manvantaras with another Sandhya at the
close of 1,728,000 years constitute a Kalpa of 4,320,000,000.
2 Kalpas make a day and night of Brhma of 8,640,000,000.
360 such days and nights make one year of
Brhma of 3,110,400,000,000.
100 such years constitute His lifetime of 11,040,000,000,000. The world is absorbed in the Avyakta or the Unmanifested or Mulaprakriti during the cosmic Pralaya (involution of the world). Just as the tree remains in a latent state in the seed, so also the whole universe remains in a latent state in the seed-form in the Mulaprakriti during Pralaya. This is the night of Brhma. This is the cosmic night. Again the world is projected at the beginning of Mahakalpa (evolution). There comes the cosmic dawn or cosmic day. This eternal rhythm of cosmic day and night (evolution and involution) is kept up in the macrocosm.
Nothing that comes under this ever-revolving wheel of cosmic day and night lasts forever. That is the reason why the seers of the Upanishads, the sages of yore, lived in the transcendental Supreme Being, the imperishable Self, the indestructible Purusha, the supreme goal of life, the highest end of man, which is beyond the cosmic day and night. Just as the seeds that are fried can hardly germinate, so also those who have attained to the imperishable Brhman, the Absolute, the Eternal, cannot return to this world of sorrow, pain and misery. They know neither day nor night. They are one with the Existence Absolute.
The manifested and unmanifested dwell in Brhman. Brhman is beyond the manifested and unmanifested. When the world and the body are destroyed Brhman is not destroyed. The waves come out and subside, but the ocean remains unaffected. So also the worlds come and subside, but Brhman the source of everything, the source of Mulaprakriti, ever remains unaffected. Just as ornaments come out of gold and go back to gold when they are melted, so also all the worlds comeout of Brhman and go back to Brhman. Gold is in no way affected by the various forms such as ear-rings, bracelets, anklets, etc., that have been made of it. Even so, Brhman is not in the least affected by the projection and destruction or dissolution of the worlds and the bodies of beings. It remains always as it is.)
(We will come back to what PeriyavaaL says from here onwards once again.) Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 100 (Vol #4) Dated 12 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 100 (Vol #4) Dated 12 Nov 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 the middle of page number 556 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)
64. In the last issue I had said that in true Karma Yoga, while not seeking personal sensual pleasures, we should not even look forward to general common benefit for the world too! Let me make this point clearer. The rules and regulations as given in the Saastraas, require us to do those actions which will intrinsically benefit the society and humanity at large! There is no doubt about this. Only when this man instead living only for himself alone and starts living for the world, then only will he be able get to the blessings of God, who is the root cause of all. So, when he does the Swa Dharma Anushtaanam, he cannot be all the time assessing if he is effectively causing Loka Kshemam! This purpose may or may not be served. Even when the correct effect is there, it may not be within what we understand as justice, because of the limitation in our comprehension and understanding! For the highest ideals, we often see people making the supreme sacrifice with their lives and failing. Unless we learn not to assess our own effectiveness, we cannot guard against becoming cynical! The Hindi proverb says, “neki kar dhariyaa men daal”. The Tamil one says, “nalladai seidu kiNatril podu”. The meanings of both are similar. The first one eggs you on to do morally the right thing and throw it in the river! The second one tells us to throw it in the well! In both the proverbs, the thing to be thrown in the river or well is nothing else but the sense of pride of having done something good! Otherwise we are likely to comment cynically, “What is the use of doing the right thing anymore! It is all the effect of ‘Kali Yuga’! There will be no good out of such actions anymore. Let us just ignore all this social responsibilities and keep quite!” Thus the attitude will encourage laziness and defeat mentality! Instead, our attitude should be one of simply doing our duties as per the Saastraas!
65. “Why Does Satkarma Fail? Does it mean that the Saastram is a bluff? How can they fail to not have the effect they were meant to have?” These are the sort of questions that can rise in your minds. Like the individual has to suffer for individual errors of commission and omission, the society also has to suffer for the collective errors! So, some time the effect of Karma may seemingly go waste. Though not known, our good Karma can never go waste. The Law of Karma is inviolable and inexorable! We are kept in the dark about questions such as, “What is our old sin? What is the collective sin by the society as a whole? What is the value of our good actions? To what extent does our action reduce our individual or collective quantity of negative points?” Instead our attitude should be one of thinking on the following lines. “Once we believe in a God, of all power, knowledge and capabilities; let us not question these every now and then! Whosoever is keeping account of all this, let him do it. Instead of questioning others’ actions, intentions and capabilities all the time, let us go on doing our bit and contributing in our own way!” That is the only way of doing the right as per the Saastraas. Otherwise, we will start looking for short cuts, the wrong routes contrary to the dictates of Dharma of what is morally correct! That is the ‘Nish-Kaamya Karma’ of disinterested action!
66. The Reduction of Fear. This is the start of loosening of the binding ties. To make the mind prefer the good and right actions over the wrong and bad actions is the start. This is the turning of the corner for the better. As we get more and more habituated to making this right choice, our own mind is cleansed of the dirt and cobwebs. By then as we sit down to do meditation, our own minds instead of running hither and thither, starts behaving like a trained horse! Our progress picks up speed, momentum and starts accelerating! The more it rests with Easwara or abides in the Atma, (which is saying the same thing with two different set of words,) the bundle of Samsaara starts loosening up! First the mind loses its hold on us and slowly we shed our sense of being a separate entity other than Atma or Nature or God. Suddenly, we are no more the separate bubble or wave but, the ocean! We are the one and only oneness! We know ourselves to be the one Atma and abide in that!
67. It is at this time that the cause of all fear, the Dwaitam goes! While doing Karma and or Dhyanam this Dwaitam is unavoidable. As Dwaitam gave us the fear when we had no control over our thoughts or actions; in this adventure ‘In Search of God and In the Vision of God’, we are not flabberghasted anymore in Nish Kaamya Karma and Dhyana! Initially when we think of God as something else, He is something other than the one aspiring or working or meditating. Now this devotee vacates the scene and God alone is! Now, who is to feel the fear of what? With the disappearance of the ego or ahankaar, there is no more fear! Till this Adwaitam happens or realized; there is an element of fear as well as the chance to go astray. Till God is another thing outside, there is at least the fear as to when we will be bemused in to the unfathomable depths of Maya! Then he is now seen and understood and again a little later not seen or understood. The clarity of a few minutes back is over taken by the clouds of confusion! There is a parallel fear along with this that, any moment this mind may start investigating avoidable refuse! We may not be subject to the type of bewilderment as in the bygone days till we were dancing to the tune of the whims and fancies of the mind. But, fear is still some type of a fear only! It is not complete state of fearlessness, though lesser in intensity.
68. Even morally correct actions of Dharma Karma, which should be loosening all the binding knots leaves the fear of a different type of enslavement to ties again! Once it is some action, even Dharma Karma, requires us to get materials and resources; and organise, administrate, socialise and expect if nothing else at least Co-operation! Again the requirement is to deal with people leading to may be anger, irritation, deception and or infatuation! Then the question remains as to when will this enslavement go for liberation to occur! So as long as we are not even looking for a favourable response from people and uncaring about the effectiveness of our actions, we will be able to avoid anger and such feelings; stopping at our best!
69. However much we can go on talking on this subject, there can never be complete fearlessness obtaining in the double combination of Dharma and Bhakti! Still, for that final stage, these are the via media transit stages. We are now in ‘Ever Afraid Station. From here we go through ‘Sometimes Fearful Station’ to the final end station of ‘Complete Fearlessness’! For that station to be reached, initially what helps are the conduct of Pooja, Nitya Karma Anushtaana and a belief that everything will work out towards the stage of, ‘All is Well’! That is why Bhagwan Sri Krishna says in Bhagawat Gita, “Even if you die doing your duty of Swa Dharma, it is better (‘Sreyas’, remember earlier explanation about what is ‘Sreyas and Preyas’) than taking ‘Para Dharma’ which will lead to fearful mortification!” Swa Dharmas are the duties as per your caste, creed and religion! Para Dharmas are duties as per any other caste, creed or religion. Nidhanam is death. Now read that Sanskrit sentence again:- “swa dharme nidhanam sreyaha para dharmo bhayaa vahaha”!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 99 (Vol #4) Dated 10 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 99 (Vol #4) Dated 10 Nov 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 the middle of page number 551 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)
58. To clean the praahaaram, you have to lift water from the well, bucket by bucket and collect it in huge vessels. You may get hold of brooms made up of long spines of coconut leaves to make a number of bundles of what is known as ‘thudappam’. Once you may use the broom for dry sweeping of the dirt and then do it again while somebody carries and throws the buckets of water. Places where the dirt is deeply imbedded on the surface, you may have to do rubbing and polishing. Wherever the water gets stagnant or not flowing out due to some blockages, they have to be removed or unplugged. Thus the work involves many small and big tasks! At times the twigs used for poking and clearing the holes of drainage may themselves get stuck! These jobs of an intricate nature may block one’s mind from any thoughts! Till you get a free flow of unruffled tranquil mind set, instead of sitting for Dhyana, it is better to get involved in community service with such ‘Sat Karma’! To some extent such actions make our minds turn more towards positive, socially responsible spiritualism. More than that, it guards us against socially irresponsible behaviour!
59. I do not mean to say however that we are to avoid Dhyanam at the initial stages of our spiritual development! If we were meant to endlessly involve ourselves only in work, then we need not have been given a life as a human being with a brain capable of thinking, reasoning and analysis! We could have been just an inanimate machine! If some time in the future we were to get maturity in meditation, we have to start somewhere along the line, is it not so? If maturity is to be obtained one day in the future, we have to start with an immature mind only, now! A puny looking unhealthy man may become hale and hearty if he does exercises and Yoga Aasanas now. Initially he may find it difficult. That is no reason for not starting. He has to start doing exercises at the least for five minutes a day and slowly increase the duration to 10, 20 to 30 minutes! We have seen both puny people putting on weight and fat people losing weight and becoming fit, like this! Similarly the conviction that I am not just this body but the living force in it and an effort towards this realization of the Atma has to start now! That is why I am talking to you all! Every one of us does know within ourselves that we are all part and parcel of that divinity, we call Atma or God! With the cleansing of our mind through Satkarma, the idea will slowly fruition when all thoughts and doubts will vanish and only the clarity of Gnaana Anubhava, that is experiencing awareness alone will remain!
60. Karma Yoga and Detachment. The name of Yoga has been given to the simple act of Karma for the reason that, the attitude of doing ones duty without any selfishness helps in cleansing one’s mind thoroughly for the attainment of Chitta Suddhi! All our actions done without any control over the vacillations and predilections of the mind accumulate to take revenge on us as though! When faced with bad luck or some embarrassment we bang on our heads saying, “Karmam! Karmam!”; as though ‘Karmam’ is some living ogre! On the one hand, it is Karma that enables us to dissolve ourselves in the reality of our source, Atma. There are many who give lectures and write books about ‘The Path of Karma’, mainly concerning duty consciousness. The word ‘Karma’ seems to evoke a vision of a person of the feminine gender! Then as one of the three royal high ways towards Moksha, ‘Karma, Bhakti and Gnaana Marga-s’, this Path of Action, shines beckoningly in everybody’s spiritual horizon! This Karma Marga is not doing things as dictated by the whims and fancies of the mind. It is doing ones duties and playing one’s appointed role in life and society, unconcerned about the result, returns, gains, advantages, name or fame, or ulterior motives! It is preparedness to sacrifice one’s all to stand up to one’s courage of convictions! It is dying at the post! It is not uninterested action but, disinterested sublimation of one’s being, that in other words is called, ‘Nish-kaamya Karma’!
61. Even here there is an element of ‘selfishness’! Upanishad as an organ of Vedaanta calls it ‘Atma Kaamam’, that is, the desire to gain one’s reality of the Atma. (Ref. Bruhad AaraNyaka Upanishad 4.3.21.) Immediately the Upanishad also clarifies that is actually, ‘Akaamam’ as an opposite of ‘Kaamam’! As a parallel to this, Thiru VaLLuvar says in ThirukkuraL, “aasai arumin aasai arumin; eeasnodu aayinum aasai arumin”, meaning, ‘cut your desires, cut your desires; even with God, cut your desires!’ Coming back to the Upanishad, it clarifies that, ‘this desire to gain Atma is not a desire. It is wrong for the mind to look for the silly satisfactions and cheap gains! Because all the gains that this mind is capable are of the minor inconsequential varieties! But when it desires for the Atma, there is no gainsaying the fact that it is asking for the highest gain at one’s own extinction, like the sublimation of the camphor! There is nothing wrong here at all! Like Atlas unchained, it is only with this that we will leave our attachments and turn the corner towards the Truth! In this lack of selfishness is the highest gain! “yam labdvaa cha param laabham manyate na adhikatam tataha”, meaning, ‘gaining which nothing else can ever be considered as a higher gain’! (Bhagawat Gita 6.22.) That is the gain of Atma! In fact it is ever already obtained. But we are ignorant of it! So, this removal of ignorance should not be considered as crass selfishness!
62. Instead of simply doing something for gratifying the mind, all the procedures of the Saastras ensure that the mind is cleansed and taken back to its source! So, to do as per the Saastraas is the Karma Marga. Instead of cribbing against the compelling and crippling effect of the Law of Karma, to ameliorate the binding discomfiture is the Karma Yoga! That is, every man doing his part of the duty without any slippage!
63. We saw as to how Karma affects our minds both positively and negatively. In what is known as the Karma Bhandam or the inter connecting ties through our action, are included the residual impressions of past lives, flows and lingering aroma of past experiences, called ‘Vaasanaas’; all mixed. These repeated births take place so as to enable us to go through this pending mixed bag of experiences. These are not only what we do with our Karma Indriyas of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, genitals, hands and legs, but also our mental attitudes. They again create further impressions of desires, greed, aversions and hate! These get stored and again become the driving force of the future in this life and the next! This is what we call the ‘poorva vaasana or janmaantara vaasana’! Like asafoetida, onion and garlic; their pungency do not go away easily! Even after the death of this body, they get clinging to the subtle body and express themselves when opportunities come in to being in the future gross body! Then you act as though under compulsion, despite your wishes against such actions! What is attractive to the sensory organs is what is thus known as ‘Vishaya Vaasana’. This mind is repeatedly running after these sensory pleasures and directs the physical towards obtaining more and more of such experiences. Thus the load of Karma keeps increasing. When the same Karma is done without looking for such sense gratification, then this load reduces. If you consider it as a set compulsions to which we are tied up, then these ties are seen to be loosening, as we go on in true Karma Yoga. Then as we progress, our minds do not look for name or fame or even ‘Lok KalyaaN’, that is, benefit to the world! It just happens!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 98 (Vol #4) Dated 08 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 98 (Vol #4) Dated 08 Nov 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 the middle of page number 545 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)
50. Love & Devotion. As the bad actions can be compensated by good actions, negative evil thoughts have to be erased by positive good thoughts. Love comes in here. Love in reciprocation is rather a deal. More like the give and take of the business environment, called ‘levaa devi’ in Hindi. Of all good thoughts Love is the best! This should be directed towards all living things and living beings and even seemingly non living things! For all the animate and inanimate things of life the basic substratum is the divine fountainhead of God! That love of God is devotion or Bhakti, which is not only saying your prayers but, expressed as unconditional universal love towards all! Without the basic love towards God all other forms of love are somehow a bit of a sham! Devotion to God is the only way of overcoming the false compulsions of the mind!
51. That is, the mind stands back and gets all the jobs done through the body. Whatever are the inter-connecting ties so created are the ones that will be loosened or got rid of by our good actions. But the mind’s self created ties will go only by Bhakti. Bhakti is also a bhavana or a thought by the mind only! But exactly as the good actions of sat karma loosen the ties of bad actions; in the matter of this attitudinal bhavana of Bhakti, it has the power to undo the ties created by bad thoughts of self indulgence, exploitation, gratification and such! When the attitude of Bhakti matures and fruitions, God will grant that, “This devotee of mine has had enough! He may not continue to suffer the pangs of separation any further and so let him experience the bliss of oneness by being relieved of the tyranny of the mind!” To be scattered is the nature of the mind! Peace of mind is an impossible utopia! So, it is necessary to first bring it within a set of parameters of control of thought. That is why priority has been given in the Saastraas to Karma Marga before attempting any other methods such as meditation!
52. The under current behind all Karma as per Saastraas are Good thoughts. Karma does not finish only with action. There is also the good and bad influence of our actions on our minds. Because, we do not do actions simply as though by automatons, without the influence of thoughts, before, during and after our actions! Though the actions are prominently seen, behind every action there is the thought or intention first and then later responses, reactions and after effects! Generally speaking, most of our actions thus are driven by our desires and passions, love and hate! Repeated such actions have corroded and rusted our very being that, to be able to subjectively analyse this very process of cleansing oneself, we need to make ourselves worthy of it! That very thought of turning the corner, that we should turn the corner, is rare indeed. When we are deeply involved with the society, to cause a clean break from the past is difficult. When we do so, that we should do so after having done full justice to our social responsibilities itself is a thought only. Through that, the society and the world at large should benefit intrinsically is the loving intention behind the ‘Swa Dharma Karmas as per the Saastraas’!
53. Clear Integration and Lessening of Scattering in Satkarma. When you do Satkarma, that is actions such as daily Pooja such as Sandya Vandanam, meditation and related activities such as celebration of festivals and conduct of Homas and Yagnaas, there is a clear integration of the mind and individual faculties! Let us take the conduct of a Pooja. “Now we should do Archana with Tulasi leaves or Bilva leaves. Now we should kindle the lamp. Without stumbling and scattering the assembled material and people, we should now perambulate around the Yagna Kund.” Such thoughts making us do those things with discipline bring in, focussing of minds and faculties!
54. Point to note here is that since our actions are related to these small and simple thoughts, complicated confusions are automatically avoided! The mind is not permitted to run away to unrelated other thoughts. You know as to how if permitted this mind is capable of running from pillar to post and from Niagara to Timbuktu! Instead the mind is amongst the few thoughts related to the simple Pooja being carried out. So more than anything else, by these simple acts we are training the mind to accept discipline. Though not complete, some control evolves. Without any work, lying in the bed, we are not able to concentrate this mind of ours on any one subject. Not only that the mind thinks of one subject and or its related areas; in a tearing hurry, it runs away to totally unconnected things, events, places and concepts! But, when you get involved in work, the mind stops at the thoughts related to that work in hand. When you sit down to meditate say, look how the mind goes to totally unrelated meaningless meanderings! Many come and complain to me about such things. Comparatively, when you sit down to do Pooja and start the preparatory work, from then onwards the scattering of the mind is controlled to a large extent.
55. Not only in Pooja. Even while playing cards or doing the Cross Words or the Sudoku puzzle, the mind does get concentrated on the work at hand! A child with a noticeable lack of attention will be seen to evince much concentration while playing a game of chance or skill. Its’ mind gets so absorbed that when the mother offers some candy or snack, the child either ignores her or says, “Nnnnnno! Not nowwwww!” The Karmas as laid by the Saastraas achieve two good aims. One, they turn us towards good actions. Two, they prevent us from all bad thoughts, intensions and actions. When the eye is focussed on the action, the mind becomes a thing of secondary importance. The mind also benefits thus by these actions by not being involved in wrong things. What is clear to us at our level is that, when we are involved in ‘Sat Karya’, whether we are made to have good thoughts or not; while being prevented from nursing malicious intentions, we are certainly saved from doing any heinous actions!
56. Karya & Dhyana – Action & Meditation. Let us say that we are cleaning up the areas of the ‘Praahaara’ (that is the Go-around), inside the premises of a Temple. Temple is such a place where the very Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God is considered to reside in a small icon for the sake of us who are ignorant of His permeability of every iota of existence. There, by cleaning up the environs, we are achieving cleansing of our own minds! If all the people of the city or town join hands for such an action; they can have the idea that there will be more cohesion and erasing of hate in the society as a result. But, since there is a job to be done, this alone cannot contribute to complete one pointed concentration! For the complete one pointed concentration, job at hand is a hurdle only! This point has to be accepted. To a large extent action will enable us to concentrate our minds and effort in achieving unity and integrity. But, it will still remain short of ‘Aikaagrata’, that is ‘One Pointedness’ of mind! The moment there is an action preceded by a thought, there is two-pointedness immediately! That is Dwaitam! The moment there can be two, there could be many also!
57. (PeriyavaaL now enacts a single act play in which he is depicting all the cast on the stage! Now follows the conversation.)
“OK. So, as said just now, I agree that there is no need to do any unnecessary work, just for achieving one-pointedness of the mind! So, to do so, I will sit down for Dhyanam without any work!”
“OK. Sit down and see for yourself! Get rid of the broom also. Sit down like that only and do meditation for some time!”
................................After a few minutes of silence....................................
“What? Are you doing Dhyana or not? Or, did I disturb you by asking you some questions?”
“No. Swami! You have not disturbed me. That Dhyana itself got disturbed. It is not even correct to say that it got disturbed. First of all, I never got going! I could not concentrate my mind at all. May be for a second or two, I was silently thinking of God. It was peaceful when the mind seemed to get concentrated like the rain clouds in the sky! So, it came to my mind that Devotion and Meditation are superior to any work related activity. This is superior and Karma is inferior. Then let me tell you the truth. It occurred to me as to why this PeriyavaaL who came to talk about Adwaitam, is ever telling us to do Karma all the time? He is telling us to catch hold of the Karma like the grieved party and cry! Why does he do so? That is what my mind was saying. Then he quotes Adi Sankara and Sri Krishna Paramatma, to support his argument! Why should there be so much of a chasm between the ideal and practical?”
“Then Swami! I continued to think as to why, saying that our aim as a Nation is Ghandeeyam, why are we going in for so much industrialization and opening so many factories and expanding our Army? Then I thought about politics, election and whom should I give my vote to! Then I even thought of those riff-raff parties and cursed their leaders. Then finally it came to my mind that instead of cleaning up the Praahaaram, I had sat down to do meditation!”
“Now, it is just sad that we let so much of dirt accumulate in our own mind within a short time! Action or Karyam to clean the Temple premises with a broom and physical labour is by far superior to any meditation! Even if we do not achieve one pointedness at least it would have saved us from letting the mind running from pillar to post! OK. Enough of the meditation! Let us get up and do some work. Having told PeriyavaL with all that pride that I will do Meditation, I am slightly ashamed of myself! Let me at least tell him that I have failed! May be the nobility of the initial decision to clean up the Temple premises, has given me the courage to speak the truth! As I thought on these lines, Swami, you also called me!”
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 97 (Vol #4) Dated 06 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 97 (Vol #4) Dated 06 Nov 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 the last para on page number 541 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)
42. Dharma Medicine for Bad Karma Disease. If you let your mind run hither and thither, you are likely to develop so many compulsions that you will be choking! You will be bound by so many ifs and butts, must and should and shouldn’t do’s. To reduce the strangle hold you will have to tie yourselves up in a different type of imperatives of Dharma Saastra Karma Anushtaanaas. They will not be to your liking and put you under quite a bit of a strain! But they are not eternal compulsions. Though they will seemingly tie you up in knots, they will not be irresolvable! As you mature, the ties will keep loosening and completely vanish as your maturity fruitions into ripeness of total freedom. For a person who has become self realized, there are no rules, regulations and restrictions of VarNa or Ashrama or of any sort! He is above all this as having risen above and gone beyond! That is the reason for his being known as ‘Ati VarNaashramee’!
43. But, we cannot say that in this matter, the example that I gave about the disease, its diagnosis and prognosis are completely apt! There are some differences. For a short period if the medicines are administered along with some control of diet, stomach troubles may be cured. But the problems of the diseases related to the innumerable ties of errant Karmas are not so easily cured! Because of certain predispositions, some people have greater production of digestive juices in the stomach requiring them to take medicines against flatulence to control acid and gases in the stomach. (It is again possible that even this may be due to carry over of Karma effect from past lives!) Similar are the physical ailments related to Blood Pressure, Diabetes, heart conditions and so on, requiring regular and constant administrations of medicines. Similarly, the Karma Disease obtained by repeated trespassing escapades against rules of the Saastraas can only be cured by the medicine of strict adherence to the medicines of Swadharma! Just to encourage you if I say that, “You will be cured in a jiffy by following the rules of the Saastraas”, I will not be very correct! That is the reason for my insisting that the corrective period may well be longer.
44. There is one aspect of positive encouragement in this, which I should not forget telling you! There is a marked difference between partaking the bitter medicines and practicing of Karma Anushtaana! When you take the bitter medicines compulsorily, it can never be done willingly. It will always be taken reluctantly with flinching and making of faces! You can never come to start liking consuming them! Practicing Karma Anushtaanaas is not exactly like that. Though you may start reluctantly doing your Sandya Vandanam or chanting of Gayatri Mantra, let us say, after some time, you will start liking doing it! With inexorable logic after some practice, you will develop a liking for doing it. For long you might have ignored your physical fitness and avoided doing exercises. But once you start doing that, you will start liking the physical fitness, mental alertness and feeling of being good that you will know that you have changed for the better! Exactly similarly in observing the Karma Anushtaanas, instead of doing something as though under duress, we will develop a feeling of doing the right thing and being on the right lines! Thus we will get fit into the groove completely! We often see that someone who had gone totally astray, adding all the forbidden habits of going to the club, drinking alcohol, eating meat, gambling, betting on horses and so on; suddenly turns a corner like a pendulum swinging in the opposite direction!
45. There is no turning back after that! These people become more clearly defined and progress in the right direction not under any compulsion but, on their own volition willingly! This is the greatness of the rules of the Saastraas! They are not like the bitter medecines. Like Kooshmanda Lehiyam, Unani and Homeopathy medicines, they are sweet to the taste. Those who are affected by bile and or poisoning by snake or scorpion, find nice dishes tasting bitter. Similarly by the quirks of our own mind, what we are required to do as per the Saastraas and Dharma are not very pleasant. At the end of the spectrum is the truth that for someone bitten by snake and affected by its’ venom, (the snake’s venom is called ‘Visham’), we are told that the otherwise unpalatable ‘Seekkakaai’ tastes very pleasant! (KTSV adds: Then with a pun on the word ‘Visham’, PeriyavaaL continues with the word ‘Vishaya Vaasanaa’, i.e., over involvement in material pleasures!) For those who are affected by the ‘Visham’ of ‘Vishaya Vaasanaa’, the detestable wrong things seem very pleasant! For them this medicine of Saastra once started, will start getting hold of them by its’ pleasant effects. No more cribbing and whining! They will follow the rules and regulations of the Saastraas quite willingly! What is initially started as a treatment will be taken as an acceptable way of life, without any fretting and or belly aching!
46. Having said that, I must however tell you also that doing ‘Swadharma Karma’ is not an end in itself. It will not relieve you from the tyrannical hold of the mind. We have to successively progress from being a slave of the mind, to a modicum of control of the mind, to ‘Mano Layaha’ to ‘Mano Naasaha’. That is from trying to control the mind, we have to go on to destruction of the mind to its’ total erasure, for which we have to graduate from ‘Swadharma Karma’ to doing one’s duty without any expectation of personal aggrandisement! That is, ‘Nish Kaamya Karma’! Even that is not a one way ticket to Moksha. Moksha is a state in which there is no mind, no thoughts no duties and so no set of action through which it has to be attained!
47. Dharma Karma is Not Enough Even for Fulfilment of the Mind. For us human beings, the first binding knot is action or duty. Next knot is one of the thoughts. To loosen that knot is the work of ‘Karma Yoga’, as thoughts lead to actions both good and bad. So, to loosen that knot is through dispassionate doing of one’s allotted work without looking for ‘Karma Phala’! The basis for this Yoga being the right attitude, to a large extent cleansing of the mind happens by ‘Nish Kaamya Karma’. It stops at only vacuum cleaning of the mind. After cleaning up the house, you have to decorate, dress up, place the furniture, whitewash the walls and paint the windows, light up incense for some sweet fragrance, do some Rangoli of decorative finishing! This cannot be done only by Karma Yoga!
48. Finally since the mind has to go, vanish, vamoose, disappear and conquered, the mind has to be won over by the mind itself. It is not just enough to clean it up. Ask anybody, they will tell you that this mind is a monkey! Ask people who have studied the ways of the mind. They know of the intricacies of the subterfuge and scheming that this mind is capable of. So, it is not enough to clean up and decorate this mind of ours. Similar to the requirement that bad Karma has to be got rid of by doing good ‘Swadharma Karma’, we have committed many wrong acts and have accumulated a massive negative balance in the accounts, over generations of existence. The universe is not going to cancel out our debit balances without our doing it ourselves! Science itself says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction! So the only way that the negative balances have to be cancelled out is by equal positive inputs. To remove the bad thoughts it is not enough to do wishful thinking! That is, simply doing ‘Karma Yoga’ is not enough. Other than cleansing, the mind has to be matured in to ripeness with sweet thoughts of universal tolerance, acceptance, humaneness and unconditional love!
49. What Saastraas have worked out as Swadharma Anushtaana in the form of Karma Yoga, can only cancel out the effect of the errors of indulgence that the individual’s mind has done over its’ life time. That is not enough to completely cure and correct the mind, which is the one responsible for the errors of commission and omission! All the action so done through Karma Yoga will still not be capable of controlling the mind and minds’ thought processes. Here is the need for universal unconditional Love and Bakti!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.