DEIVATHIN KURAL # 128 (Vol #4) Dated 08 Jan 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 128 (Vol #4) Dated 08 Jan 2011

(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 706 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)
267. Release is Sanctioned by Easwara Only. So the power that gets us involved in all the attractions of Nature and the one to wean us away from involvement are both the power of Nature only. Nature is also the power of delusion of Maya. Delusion and release are both by Maya only. In the world of Maya, whatever becomes our GuNa or defining character qualities is called our nature only. This nature is what is called the Prakruti in Sanskrit . Mother Nature in the female form is also called the Maya the Power or Shakti of Easwara. Thus the whole creation is the work of Maya with Easwara. So we are what we are, unavoidably so! We do not have to be ashamed or have a guilty conscience for whatever our deficiencies or short falls. Simultaneously it is equally true that we all have some inner identification with our true being, which will be goading us towards perfection too! That is also part of our Nature only.
268. Maya is Kept under Check by the Same Easwara. There is one more thing that I should be saying. Whosoever created this world with Maya and caused us all to flow with the nature; it is the same Easwara who can give us the release too. So Release or Independence is a relative term only! In the beginning itself I had said that Bhagawan Himself had raised this question as to how can Nature be done away with, even if a person is already aware and attained to Gnaana? Moksham can be there only when the Nature is subdued or subsided! After all this Mind is a product of Nature that is Maya! Till now I have been talking about controlling and annulling the mind and not about controlling the Maya. Nowhere in the Adwaita Saastraas too is there anybody advocating or advising us to control the Maya! The advice is to control one’s own mind only, period!
269. Do you know why it is so? It is so because Maya is a power much beyond our control. It is a power which has created us. Easwara who has created this Maya, Jagat and Jeeva; is the one and only power that could control. So, it is His Grace the only thing that could control Maya. Maximum that this man could do is to try and control his own mind. After it is subdued, Maya should not let this mind rise again. After all it is in the mindless Aatma only this Easwara has caused the mind as an abode of Maya, which in turn is responsible for all thoughts including the thought of being a separate Jeeva with no end to himself and his ego! So, despite all the efforts of the individual, he can find himself back in squire one, any time on the path. Is this not so? Instead, if many have been seen to have attained to Adwaita Saatchaatkaara, it is clear that they have been enabled by the Grace of God only!
270. Though rare, that so many have been able to wipe off this mind totally and become Gnaanis and then remained merged in Aatma Swaroopa; is indicative of the fact that God in His Infinite Compassion has caused it to happen for the benefit of the humanity at large! When Bhagawan Sri Krishna Himself has confirmed that even a Gnaani cannot control this Maya, it is clear and beyond any further analysis and arguments. We were discussing as to if this Jeeva has come from Easwara. I showed that Bhagawat Gita says so.
Jeeva – Easwara Differences.
271. Jeeva is subjected to Maya’s AavaraNa and Vikshepa Shakti. We have seen earlier that AavaraNa shakti hides the truth and Vikshepa shakti paints pictures of illusions! As there is much food for the senses in the worldly transactions, the individual gets so lost in the apparent lure of these two powers of Maya, almost irretrievably! Easwara’s condition is not similar. How is He? Aatma that is Brhmam with Maya is Easwara. When not connected or related to Maya; it is referred as Aatma or Brhmam only! In relation to Maya, it is addressed or referred as Easwara. How can Aatma be ever related to anything including this Maya, remains a moot question! So, even when considered as related to Maya, it is far different to the way a Jeeva is related to Maya. Jeeva is a slave of the power of Maya. His very individuality of ‘Jeevatvam’ is a creation of Maya. In the equation between Maya and Easwara, it is His power and play. Maya is His slave and not the other way around. To the extent that through Maya is the creation of the whole world, Easwara is to that extent affected by the Vikshepa sakti of Maya, say the Adwaita Saastraas. When it comes to the AavaraNa sakti, the truth can never be hidden from Him and so not affected by it. Despite the outer dynamic cosmic dance, He is not at all affected inwardly and remains rooted in eternal Aatma Gnaana.
From Dwaitam to Adwaitam.
272. As He is thus in both the state of Adwaitam and Dwaitam, He could be the bridge between the two states of Aatma and Jeeva. Keeping the AavaraNa sakti of Maya at arm’s length, he is able to play all his tricks of Srushti, Sthithi and Samhara; that is creation, sustenance and re-absorption respectively. Keeping Himself above the veiling power of Maya, He is able to govern the world of Maya as well as be the ‘Antaryaami’ that is, the indwelling spirit in each living form. He is utterly involved while simultaneously un-involved! He keeps in touch thus with each and every individual soul while at the same time is enjoying the open expansiveness of the Aatma! So rightly He is the Bridge from here to eternity; from micro to macro; was, is and will be; then, now and forever! His role is not necessarily within our comprehension. Remaining an enigmatic puzzle, slowly bit by bit, He does get this Mind steeped and soaked in Dwaitam gradually dissolved in Adwaitam, dropping his sense of separateness!
273. To make it possible to understand, I am thinking of an example. Say there is an iron ball and we are asked to dissolve it in any liquid or air! How can it be done? In a big furnace using some oxy-acetylene gas they create temperatures upwards of 3000 degree Celsius. The iron ball starts melting and at further higher temperatures that can also be vaporised! That is how hard and solidified are we with our inner ‘Antah karaNam’ steeped in the multiplicity and duplicity of the Maya. For it to be vaporised in the open spaces of the Sky of Aatma Aakaasa is even more difficult than melting and vaporising the iron ball! Easwara though not gross and very subtle, is in a perfect position to act as the Oxy-Acetylene source to be able to touch this gross matter and melt this Jeeva’s mind and heart and make it fly like thin air and merge in the Aatma Saroopa!
Intermediate Transitory Stages.
274. Between this gross state of where we are now and the final stage of Aatma Saatchaatkaara, there are many intermediate stages. Not all of them can be comprehended or understood by this mind mired in worldly involvement. There is no meaning in discussing or questioning about them as to how can they be! In the process of our journey from the present gross state to that final state of extreme subtlety, the answers to our questions will be available. But they cannot be put in words or explained to anybody. When the whole process is one of movement from variety to oneness; from Dwaitam to Adwaitam; the very idea of telling someone other than oneself will mean coming back to Dwaitam! That is why AruNa Giri Naathar in Kandar Anubhuthi says, “tannam tani ninradu taan ariya, innam oruvarku isaivippaduvo?”. That means, ‘instead of getting to know that state of oneness our selves, are we to tell it to another?’
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.