DEIVATHIN KURAL # 96 (Vol #4) Dated 04 Nov 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 96 (Vol #4) Dated 04 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 535 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)
34. So, as I said earlier, our minds are capable of ever locating and pointing out the second and third person details and never oneself. It is capable of extroversion, conversion and not inversion. The matter does not stop there. If there is a second, there is scope for fear. The mind creates this feeling of Dwaitam, instigating love, hate and fear! I am now going to add to that statement. Thus not only does it point at things other than itself, instead of being the true self as the Atma, it creates another imaginary identity for itself! This second imaginary identity is what is, kalpitam (imaginary), vesham (disguise), adhyasam (mistaken identity), adhyaropam (super imposition) and duplicity! So, as long as we are going to trust the mind, it is going to keep us in a state of a paradox, some time driving us to go astray and on other occasions accusing us of doing so!
35. When there is the second, with attraction, inquisitiveness, awe and aascharya, there will also be fear! Since the mind is always on the other or second, this dwaita prapancham is ever fearsome. Just now we are happily discussing some philosophical ramblings and ruminations. Now suddenly if I were to wonder as to what would happen if there were to be an Earth Quake and if the earth shakes a little, then what would happen? Let alone the real one, even my mentioning this has created a sudden rustle in the audience! There is an immediate atmosphere of fear. That is the nature of the mind’s world of double standards! One for itself and those whom it considers as its own and another for those whom it thinks of as others! The mind that informs us of the second something else is itself the root of all fears, being or imagining the self to be other than Atma! To let the mind out, like a dangerous animal from its cave is the first hazard! That is the first Dwaitam that leads to many other pairs of opposites, extremities, fears, fear of death, fear of re-birth, fear of hell and so on!
36. Atmanubhavam is Abhaya Moksham! To experience the Self, the Atma, the reality in us, is the way of getting rid of all fears forever! So, to be released from the strangle hold of the mind is the real release. Even if we consider this Jeevatvam, that is ‘being a human’, as a disguise worn as a super-imposition of the mind, there is a basis or substratum of the truth of Atma as a background! To know it, to realise it and firmly establish oneself in it unshakeably but with total awareness is the great blissfully aware being of Sat – Chit – Ananda! Unlike the mind knowing and experiencing a mixed bag of sad and happy feelings; this will be the being – knowledge – bliss beyond compare! That will be or rather is the eternal state of happiness. As long as the happiness is derived from something else, it is temporary and can be the cause of sadness due to so many reasons such as, absence, insufficiency, competition, jealousy, hate, greed and being sporadic! So, more than the happiness, there will be cause for sadness. Such will not be the case in the pure state of non-dual experience of the Atma, which will be a continuous state of bliss! To become fearless, the way is to realise our selves to be the only thing without a second i.e., the life of everything, the Atma! That is the Moksham or the state of freedom. To be the mind is the state of being bound! The binding factor is a combination of the ties of thoughts, actions done and intended by mind, eyes, ears, skin, speech and limbs of the body; along with the good and bad effects of those actions! These ties of the Karma have to be untied by the actions of Dharma, that is, Nishkamya Karma!
37. Dharma that Loosens Karma Bhandan! Say there is a bundle of logs tied by a rope. Do you know as to how they will loosen the knot that is too tight? They will put another rope around the bundle that will be tighter than the previous one, with a slip knot! Now the first knot will be easier to untie. Now the second rope will be removed by loosening the slip knot. Similarly, we are tied up in worldly affairs by the mischief by the mind, with many types of knots not easy to untie! To release and relieve ourselves, we have to tie up ourselves in ‘Saastra Karma’, seemingly knot like. Instead of being odds and sorts of knots, these are easy slip knots given by God through the Rishis to tie up our random quirks of unreal desires, needs and wants! They will crush like real compulsions. But, what will get crushed are the wrong desires and liberties. In the bargain, we will be released to real freedom. Once we understand this, then we will be easily able to follow all the rules and regulations of our Saastraas happily without let!
38. Just because we like it we eat all sorts of unnecessary things! When we get diseases, we have to take medicines that the doctor prescribes, even if it is extremely bitter! Do we not? We go to the doctor and pay for the medicines and his consultancy. Why not put the knots as per the Saastraas before hand? The hands have to be tied. The mind has to be controlled!
39. Preyas & Sreyas. One is satisfying the felt needs while the other endows all the good things of life. These two words are mentioned in Katopanishad 2 : 2. What is pleasing or Ishtam or Priyam is Preyas. This word is not so much in usage as Ishtam and Priyam. We often hear the word Sreyas, when youngsters pay their obeisances to the elders, the elders give their blessings saying, “May you get all Sreyas”! What gives real good value to our life is Sreyas. From Priyam is Preyas and from Sriyam is Sreyas. Sri is the root word for Sreyas. Sri means Lakshmi the Goddess of all wealth, who gives well being, real assets and eternal values!
40. Nowadays in South India out of a mistaken parochial love for their language, they want to use the word ‘Thiru’ and not ‘Sri’! Only some sounds have the salubrious effects of Sreyas. Take the name of Rama. Poet Kalidasa who was also a devotee of Sakti says that ‘Rama Nama’ is ‘Jagat Pratama Mangalam’ that gives first benefit to the whole world! Now if you say that I will not chant Rama Nama, but only translate his name into Tamil as ‘Inbamaanavan’ and chant that, I wonder if it will have the same effect! Similarly, the sound of ‘Siva’! That very sound is capable of endowing all the goodness of health, wealth and cheer! Daksha with pride hated this Siva, his son-in-law completely. So AmbaaL his own daughter, told him, “Since you hate ‘Siva’ you become something other than Siva i.e., Non-Siva”, as described in Srimad Bhagawatam 4:4:14. Now some people think that if they use the word ‘Sri’ they are doing something detestable! Let it be aside!
41. Leaving what is respectable and good that is Sreyas, we wish to catch hold of Preyas, because we think that to be our choice, as the forbidden apple of the story of Adam and Eve and virtually fall into the trap! Then we encounter the inevitable problems as a result of our actions. We were ready to make it a permanent habit of eating anything and everything, but for diarrhoea and dysentery! At this stage, the bitter medicines and fasting are the only remedy that can remove the problem and cure us. But what can we do? This Ishtam (liking) has led us to Kashtam (problem)! But, fasting and bitter medicines will not be needed permanently! Till we are cured, we have to accept this, though not to our liking. So we take medicines and fast and eat diligently! Body is cured. Again it is for us to maintain our discipline! Whether we are doing so or not, that is how we should be behaving, if we are sensible and intelligent enough. Diligence comes with intelligence!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.