DEIVATHIN KURAL # 122 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Dec 2010

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 122 (Vol #4) Dated 27 Dec 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 677 of Vol 4 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein 'man/he' includes 'woman/she' too mostly. These e-mails are all available at http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)
226. The Defeat of the Army of Asuras is Victory for Aatma. I told you that the Aatma, Krishna talks about, is just being sans any action. That does not mean however that it is just a zero vacuum! It is not inert but happily intelligent consciousness (Chaitanya and Awareness). To be is ‘Sat’. Instead of being inert, to be aware of being is ‘Chit’. Instead of feeling that awareness is from experiencing some outer thing, to be aware of an inherent nature is happiness. Put together as ‘sat, chit, and aanandam’, as Satchidaanandam, it is a word defining the non-definable Aatma. This instead of being a result of some happiness from some knowledge about something other than one’s self is inherent knowledge and experience of the inner self. So we happen to use the word ‘just’ that is closer in meaning of the Sanskrit word ‘kevalam’. Reaching that stage without the mind and body, (that is, without thinking and without construing the body to be oneself), because of that the ‘Kaama, Krodha and all such derivative devilish armies can be defeated, effaced and erased. Only then victory of the Aatma happens. By death only the present body can be done away with and not do away with the cycle of repeated births and deaths. Otherwise, even after death, another body in the next life, yaatana body in hell, ghoulish body after suicide and such bodies will come into being. So the knowledge or awareness that “I am not this body”, is the only solution and not death!
227. Though in Gita it is said that the root cause of all problems is Kaama, that is, desire and its derivatives; even this Kaama is only an effect and its cause is the Mind. Elsewhere He has clarified this by saying that the final aim is to destroy the Mind and attain the victory of Aatma! To the extent that we know, Desire is the root cause of all disastrous evil tendencies. So, from our present level the maximum that we can endeavour is to control this Desire. Whenever we are in trouble, the direct reason that we can show is this Desire only. Often we have seen elders telling, “Did you not desire? Now better suffer the consequences!” So, the proximate cause that we can identify is this desire. That is why, Krishna pointed this out.
228. But, the statement that ‘It is white ant of desire that repeatedly erodes our system’, is not totally right. Simultaneously, it is not far wrong either! Mind is the cause of desires. For the mind and all the world of duality is Maya. That is the Mother Bug! Let it be so. But, for man, the individual Jeevan, the state of being bound is created by Maya through this mind only and so, it is only this mind that can be targeted to be tackled and destroyed. That is what the maximum that we can aim at. For the desire too, the direct cause is our Rajo GuNa. He clarifies that it is “rajo guNa samudbhava:” – ‘desire is born of our Rajo GuNa’.
229. Out of the three GuNas, Satva – Rajo – Tamo, Satva is balanced and lucid; Tamo is languid and lazy inaction. It is Rajo GuNa that is, restlessly and incessantly causing us to keep on doing something or the other. When the Mind of ours is fully absorbed in this Rajo GuNa that Desire is born. When I say this, it is clear that all these GuNas are depending on the mind only. So, even Rajo GuNa is not the cause of evil tendencies directly but, the mind itself the culprit, as can be seen. But these three GuNas of the mind and the mind are the work of Maya only. So, finally Maya is the root cause. Still we can do nothing about the might of Maya. All that we can hope for is to try and control the mind. If there is a tremendous rain, can we do anything about the rain? The only thing we can do is to close all the windows and doors. The very rain may make it difficult to even close the windows. But with some effort we may be able to close them. So as far as we can see, for all the untoward thoughts and desires and its variations, it is the mind the generating point. Desire starts from there. It is the mind’s thirst and itch that is the reason as we have seen already.
230. Here though He points out Desire as the proximate cause, he takes Arjuna ahead that the basis of desire is the mind. At the very start of Gitopadesa, for all the evil tendencies He has given him a complete list of all the army of evil tendencies. “Thoughts connect man with things that are items to be enjoyed. “By that connection desire is born,” He says; “(‘sangaat jaayate kaama:’); from desire krodham; from krodha: is born moha; from moha confusion of the mind; from that confusion mind’s deterioration; by which man becomes useless” – (Gita 2. 62-63). Kaama is not the root cause. It starts from thinking of a connection with objects. Thoughts generate from mind. (Here it is worthwhile to note what Ramana Maharishi has to say about this. “There are not two minds – one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions (vasanas) that are of two kinds – auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil.)
231. As Maya creates separate individuality making use of the mind, combining the mind and Maya, elders have coined a word, ‘manmaya’. That is the root cause for all our problems. If this is got rid of, the pull of all the evil tendencies of Kaama and its progenies will disappear and peace and eternal comfort can be obtained. At the place where I started (in Gita the third chapter about Kaama and Krodha) Bhagawan Sri Krishna has pointed out that it is Kaama and its derivatives that tempt man on the evil paths. He goes on to describe as to how for this fire of desire, the senses, buddhi and mind are the bases from where they operate. He further clarifies that combining these three Maya causes the creation of a sense of separate, individual identity as a unique entity (of jeevatvam) in the minds of all living beings, which is the reason for all evil tendencies. This is what is called the ‘manmaya’. For the thirst and hunger of all the sensual organs and their vicissitudes it is the mind, which is Enemy No 1. But you have to use the mind itself to win over the mind, like removing a thorn using a thorn! So, the uncontrolled mind is made up of the sensual organs and the controlling part of the mind is the buddhi or intellect.
232. Talking about these three aspects of our being, He goes on to put them in an order (in Gita 3.42.) as follows:- “indriyaaNi paraaNyaahur indriyebhya: param mana: I manasastu paraa buddhir buddhe: parata astu sa:”, meaning, ‘they say that the senses are superior (to the body); superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; and He (the Self) is superior to the intellect also.’ He starts with saying that the senses are higher. “paraaNi’ means superior and “aahu:” means ‘they say’. Compared with the physical body which is gross, external and limited; the senses are certainly superior as they are more subtle, internal and have a wider range of activity. The mind is superior to the senses as they cannot do anything independently and are under the control of the mind. The intellect is superior to the mind because it is endowed with the faculty of discrimination, reasoning and logical analysis. When the mind is in a state of confusion, intellect comes to its rescue. The Self, the witness, is superior even to the intellect, as the intellect borrows its light from the Self.
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.