DEIVATHIN KURAL # 29 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 July 2011

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 29 (Vol # 5) Dated 27 July 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 second para on page No 176 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)
154. When we do meditation on God in a particular form as Rama or Krishna, we go by the description as available in books and poems. There are slokas which describe their form from foot to head or from head to foot, known as ‘Paadaadi kesam and kesaadi paadam’. Starting from the feet continuously there is description of ankles, knees, thighs, hips, chest, shoulders, neck and face. Some of those deities are said to be having more than two hands, some with four and some with 18 hands holding so many things such as weapons and tools. Then the descriptions of decorations, for example having the Ganges River and crescent moon on their head, snake around their hands or the chest, dressed in tiger skin or yellow silk, various types of garlands, gold chains and necklaces; seated on Rishaba the Bull or Garuda or the Lion or even Mooshika the Rat! When you sit down and meditate instead of getting focussing of minds, it may get lost in details, remembering some and forgetting some!
155. At this point it is better to know what is said in the Saastraas about this also repeated by Sri Krishna to Uddhava in Skanda XI, Chapter 14, Slokas 42 to 46 in Srimad Bhagavata. “The resolute aspirant should withdraw the senses from their objects, in to the mind, and the mind, directed by its controller the Buddhi, should be made to dwell on my complete form with all its parts. The mind that is made to dwell on the total form must next be made to concentrate exclusively on one limb or part, preferably on the face illumined by a smile. When the mind is fixed there, there is no need to think of the rest of the form. When the mind has thus got one-pointedness, it can dwell on Me as the unrelated and absolute Being without any other thought. One who has thus ingathered and concentrated his mind will see Me, the Supreme Self (Paramatman) in the Self, and the Self in that Supreme Self without a difference, as when a minute point of light has merged in a very luminous light. For, a Yogi, who strives assiduously to practice meditation, will soon overcome the erroneous view of the absolute distinction between the seer, the scene and the act of seeing!”
156. But when we sit down to do ‘Dhyana’, within that short period, I wonder if we will be able to cover all the parts of the body! Then it is also doubtful if we can concentrate and stop at the smiling face. Then among so many details of arms, decorations, Vaahanaa-s, weapons, symbolic tools and so on; we are quite likely to get lost! You think of the Ganges and forget the Crescent Moon; or thinking of the third eye may miss out the ‘Neela Kanta’ of the blue throat of Siva where the Aalahaala poison was lodged; Thinking of the Koustuba MaNi the Sri Vatsam may be lost sight of; thinking of the lotus like eyes, we may forget the smiling mouth! Then we may wonder that ‘maybe we could have been better off without so much of description and details’!
157. Compared to the above the Dhyana on the Guru’s form should be easier as we move and interact with Guru on a day to day basis. When we think of our Father, Mother or a friend, do we think of their various body parts? Do we think of Mother with a ladle in her hands or if our Father is an officer in the Army, do we think of him holding a gun or something? It is only a totality of an idea, is it not so? We rather think of their ideas, views, their words, how they behaved on various occasions and our attitude towards them; all put together a wholesome picture is what we can dwell our minds on. That is how we can do the Dhyana on the Guru. Something very close, intimate and personal further embellished by their care and concern for our improvement and well being, completes the idea. Whatever be the figure, we could not care less. Do we bother about beauty or scholarly achievements of theirs, when we think of our own Mother? That is the sort of love that develops with a Guru. Mother gave us her milk and the Guru drenches us with the milk of human kindness and the milk of Gnaana! So, all said and done, Guru Smarana is that much easier to think of and feel happy about!
158. One important factor – God and Guru are not different entities. Further higher, even the disciple is not different. But that in our present state is only theoretical. Even for people who are far advanced, what has been said is that, “Have the Adwaita bhaava, that is, the feeling of Oneness with all other things, with one exception. With the Guru, never try to show off that you and He are one. That is one place where we should always show difference, respect and regards.” Nothing more need be said in this issue. Let there be Dwaitam (that is Duality) in that one relationship. There is nothing wrong in that duality, with the proviso that we should think of Guru and God as one and the same. God comes in our life as the Guru for our sake. Once we have that mentality, we can be certain of success.
Three Types of Bhaava or Attitudes.
159. Type One. We should be devoted to God and have the same devotion towards Guru. If we have that, then all the inner meanings of his Upadesa will be comprehensible and we will have the Anubhooti! That is what I said at the start of this talk on Guru. (Refer to Deivathin Kural # 14 of 27 Jun 2011.) In this, depending on the disciple’s mentality the sharing in devotion will differ. There will be some who will hold the view that, “It is important to develop absolute trust and devotion to God. As it is the Guru who shows us the way, we will be devoted to the Guru also.” For them the devotion towards the Guru will be as the helper who takes us from the side lines to the main chord line! Guru will respect that attitude also. Like when there is a creeper plant not finding a suitable structure to spread on, we keep a pole for it to catch on and move in the right direction. Similarly the Guru will enable that disciple to move towards God. That is the first variety.
160. Type Two. The second type of attitude is the firm conviction that God has arrived in our lives as the Guru. So, we have the same devotion to God and Guru – what I said in sloka that I quoted in the beginning – ‘yasya deve paraa bhaktir – yataa deve tataa gurow’. Though I made fun then as to how can the devotion be measured and or shared equally between Guru and God; in practice disciples with such a mentality will be able attain equal amount of concentration on God, as well as the Guru as the God in human form! God will grant them the Grace and Blessings as Easwara as well as Guru.
161. Type Three. The third Bhaava is total devotion, trust and faith in Guru with no thought of God whatsoever! Let God be whatever, all that we need is the Guru and His Grace, will be the firm conviction of these type of disciples. They will not even entertain any thoughts of God or Guru as God’s representative and so on. “Set all such ideas aside. My job is to be devoted and serve the Guru. Let him do whatever, whichever way. It is not my business even to assess him or worry about what happens to me at the end. It is his look out. Is it not pleasurable to be devoted to our Guru and serve him? That is an end in itself!”
162. Whatever the attitude of the disciple, whether he thinks of God or not and whether he desires to attain Moksha or not; the disciple through his devotion to the Guru will get Gnaana and Self Realization positively, undoubtedly. As God is the indwelling spirit in Guru and as all Namaskara-s to whomsoever goes through to the same destination; God will grant all that the disciple needs, holding nothing back, as long as the disciple’s devotion is total holding nothing back!
(To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.