DEIVATHIN KURAL # 14 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 Jun 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 14 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 Jun 2011

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti 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 beginning of page No 87 of Vol 5 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)
GURU
God and Guru
Other Assets & That Endowed by the Guru.
1. The ancestral house one day or the other will become dilapidated, requiring maintenance, painting, white washing repair and reconstruction. Even agricultural property will require investment in terms of tilling, irrigation, seeds, manure and labour, to be able to give any returns. Some lands even after much application of all inputs become unproductive with time. Then you have failure of the rains, not opening of the sluice gates of the reservoir in time, insects, floods and untimely rains, raising cost of inputs and so on; there are problems galore! Above all there is the ‘sealing’ or ‘capping’ limitations as imposed by law. Even if your parents have left money in cash, there is the problem of daily devaluation of the currency. Then there is the burden of existing taxes and the fear of new taxes being levied; similar to theft and fear of being robbed!
2. Thus, whatever the ancestral property, there is scope for its being lost and its value undermined. Having got some such endowments the legatee becomes greedy and in trying to retain the hold on the property, is ready to go to any lengths such as; harming others, breaking the law, bribing officials, showing cooked up accounts, creating ‘benami’ owners and so on, just to obviate the ceiling laws on ownership of properties. If the value of what he got was as much as a thimbleful, (PeriyavaaL shows his hand by joining the thumb and index finger to indicate that small quantity), the demerits of Paapa he accumulates and negative qualities that he ends up imbibing are as big as the whole world (now PeriyavaaL is showing a widening expanse with both his hands, with a smile on his face)! Even if by some chance the ancestral property is continuing to grow, (due to some merits of PuNya gathered in one’s past life), without illegal and immoral means; we have to keep in mind that “kaadarrtra oosiyum vaaraadu kaaN kadai vazhikke”, meaning that, ‘even a broken needle cannot be taken with us in our end journey’! (That is a quotation from Saint Pattinaththaar’s life!) Let it be palatial mansions, vast landed properties, crores of rupees accumulated in banks (or even in secret accounts in foreign banks) and an equally massive vote bank; none of it, not an iota of it will be useful to us eventually! So, ancestral property and our own accumulations too are not forever.
3. The permanent asset, the one that can never be lost, that which does not require periodic maintenance, that cannot be taxed and not stolen, for which we do not have to go astray to protect and save, that cannot be endowed by parents and cannot be searched for and earned by ourselves also; that eternal asset can be given to us only by Guru! This is not the asset that would not come with us when we depart from this world, it is such an asset that it will ensure that we do not come back to be born again! It will reconnect us eternally with the only reality of Paramaatma! Guru sanctions that Gnaana, of eternal asset for which we do not have to work anymore for retaining or increasing or protecting. That is Guru’s Upadesa which will successively grow to totally erase our very mistaken identity and give us permanent bliss. All other assets are temporary. Guru’s Upadesa gives us what is known as ‘Nitya + Ananda = Nityaananda’, that is eternal happiness.
4. Devotion to God and Guru. For the Guru who grants us with ‘Nityaananda’, what is the devotion should we be displaying? We should be as devoted to him as we are towards God, as it is said in the scriptures: “yasya deve parabhaktir – yataa deve tataa gurow”. As we are devoted to God, ‘yataa deve’- ‘tataa gurow’ – should we be also devoted to Guru – then only can we optimise the Upadesa by the Guru as seen in Svetaswaropanishad and Guru Gita. The sloka runs like this:- “yasya deve paraabhaktir – yataa deve tataa gurow tasyaite katitaahyartaa: prakaasante mahaatmana:”
5. The disciple who has the same devotion to the Guru as he would have for God, is being praised here as ‘mahaatmana:’. For him the words as told by the Guru will shine with inner meaning – ‘tasyaite katitaa: artha: prkaasante’. When it says that the inner meanings will shine, it is not to be construed as being intellectually understood only but, as the essence of the words spoken by the Guru reach the inner being, the Anubhava shines apparently in his heart. (For a few minutes PeriyavaaL closes his eyes in deep absorption and then continues his talk.)
6. Further mulling over it, what can be the import of saying that ‘the secret meanings will shine brightly’? Whatever is hidden or terse or indirect or complicated, will become crystal clear. We can take it like that. When it is said that with God’s and Guru’s Grace, all ‘iha and para’ (this worlds’ and spiritual world’s) benefits can accrue, our brains will also become sharpened and focussed that what was hazy will also become apparent. On deeper thinking we will also know that what I am talking about is not a matter for the brains and intelligence. This inner core of the meaning is not meant for the brains and intelligence anyhow! Because whatever is giving satisfaction to the brains will quickly take us back to the ‘Ahankaara’ which we want to shun and set aside. ‘Adhyaatma Upadesa’ is meant to do away with ‘Ahankaara’, is it not so? The purpose therefore is ‘Aatma Anubhuthi’ or otherwise known as ‘Swaanubhuthi’. There is a foundation or a basis on which the brains rest known as ‘Aatma Chaitanyam’, the inner power of life in us. The differentiation between ‘Jeeva Chaitanyam and Brhma Chaitanyam’ goes, annulled, erased, finished and all that remains is clarity! All dualities and the ducats are over. Seer, seeing and the scenery becomes one. That is the stage of the ‘saaswatha sathyam’ – of the eternal truth. That is the ‘Moksham’ referred by the Adwaitins. This ‘Swanubhuthi’ is also known as ‘Aparoksha Anubhuthi’. Actually our AachaaryaaL has written a grantha by that name!
7. There are two words ‘Paroksham’ and ‘Aparoksham’. Paroksham is what is not known or seen by us and is hidden from our view and perception, remaining as a secret. Aparoksham is opposite of that, what is clearly seen and understood. What is heard and read is Paroksham, theoretical. To know it in experience is Aparoksham, practical. Till it comes to be experienced, we can never be aware of its purpose or usefulness – that is Ananda, pure happiness! We read about Kutraalam Aruvi, the waterfalls and see photographs or hear about it from others who have been there. From the photographs and description do we get the slightest experience of the waterfalls? If we go there and stand for few minutes under the waterfalls, that will let us know what it is to experience it! This is only about an experience of the senses. What we are talking about today is about the experience beyond all bodily, physical and mental experiences! We are talking about how we will get the ‘Aatma Anubhava’ which is known as ‘Anubhuthi’. Even Guru’s Upadesa, even when it is heard and understood by our minds and brains it is not enough; till Anubhava has become Anubhuthi; then it is Aparoksham!
8. There is a bit of a funny thing here. Till Guru’s Upadesa is heard and goes to our brains, there doesn’t seem to be anything very exotic or secretive about it. It seems to be well understood by our minds and brains. Still it is to be considered as Paroksha Gnaanam only. But when it becomes an experience of the inner core of our being, of the Aatma, the very life of ours then and only then, it becomes the Revealed Aparoksha Anubhuthi. The funny thing I talked about is here. Guru’s Upadesa, when correctly heard by our ears, fully received by our brains and clearly understood by our minds; it has an adjective of being ‘a hidden and invisible secret’ – Paroksha title! When it has gone beyond the physical body, brain and intellect; it gets the opposite title of being Aparoksha which means, visibly openly shining and known! How can this be correct?
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.