DEIVATHIN KURAL # 158 (Vol # 5) Dated 13 Apr 2012

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 158 (Vol # 5) Dated 13 Apr 2012

(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 page No 981 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)

1046. He further asked, “kim gangaambuni bimbite amba ramaNou chaandaala veethee paya: poore vaa antaramasti kaanchana ghatee mrutkumbayor vaa ambare I pratyag vastuni nistaranga sahaja aananda avabodhaambudhou viproyam swa pacho ayam ityapi mahaan koyam vibheda bhrama:? II How is that you are seized by the same illusion that I am a Brahmin (viproyam) and here is a man who eats dog’s meat (swa pacho ayam) – (the same confusion as said in the Bhagawat Gita sloka quoted earlier) – wherefrom have you got this delusion – vibheda bhramaha – of Dwaita Maya. How has this very thing that you have been pointing out in others, has taken hold of you?” This is the last line of the sloka. What does he say in the earlier lines of the sloka?

1047. After our AachaaryaaL’s time, in Adwaitam two different schools of thought known as, ‘VivaraNa Prasthaanam’ and ‘Bhamati Prasthaanam’ came in to being. There was no difference between them in the method of approach in Sadhana (practice) and in the final destination. But in some areas there were some differences. In them one was about how the Paramaatma appears as the Jeevatma. Both the schools of thought agree that the Maya is the cause of the seeming multiplicity of appearances. Within that agreement there are some differences.

1048. Padma Paada has written a further Vyaakhyaana on the first five parts of Bhashyam written by our AachaaryaaL on Brhma Sutra, known as ‘Pancha Paadika’. To that, a gentleman by the name of ‘Prakasa Aatman’ has written, yet another explanatory ‘Pancha Paadika VivaraNa’, closely following the views of Padma Paada’s ‘Pancha Paadika’. That is what is known as ‘VivaraNa Prasthaanam’. Then there is one Vachaspathi Misra who has written a Vyaakhyaana from which this ‘Bhamati Prasthaanam’ has evolved. That man from the fifth caste known as ‘Panchaman’ was actually talking about these two schools of thought in the first two lines of the sloka mentioned above. In this matter, the opinion of the school of VivaraNa Prasthaanam is also known as ‘Pratibimba Vaadam’ (pratibimba means reflection) and the Bhamati Prasthaanam is also known as ‘Avachchinna or Avachcheda Vaadam’.

1049. ‘Pratibimba Vaadam’ Explained. When the sun is shining, if we get our hands wet and shake the hand thereby sprinkling the water, the water is thrown in all directions as many drops. In each of them there is a reflection of the sun seen. The sun is like the Paramaatma and water is like the Avidya or Maya. The variety of Jeevaatma-s are the creations within the Maya, in each one of which it is the same Paramaatma that is shining and giving it life, light and existence!

1050. ‘Avachchinna Vaadam’ Explained. What is delineated by drawing the limits and parameters is ‘Avachchinna’. The space accommodates everything within itself. That is the reason for the adage wherein it is said, ‘avakaasastu Aakaasa’! In the open air if you keep a number of empty pots, inside each one of them, it is the same space or ‘aakaasa’. But it seems as though there is a huge and mighty ‘Maha Aakaasa’ outside and there seems to be a small ‘Gata Aakaasa’ in each one of those pots. Exactly similarly the indivisible Chaitanya is like the Maha Aakaasa, the Avidya aka Maya shows or depicts the individual Jiva-s as though they have clearly defined borders or limits. It is wrong to say that there is a whole sun in each of the reflections. The Chaitanya does not do any such action, it simply seems as though divided. Like the sky or space permeating both inside and outside the pot, are but one and the same. The ‘Akhanda Chaitanya’ remains as it is, but seems to be divided, to each one of them as so many, say those of the ‘Avachchinna Vaada’ school of thought!

1051. Like the sky permeating the pot within and without, they give another example of the water filling the pot. Say there is a pot dipped in the well, fully submerged in water. We are pulling the pot up with a rope. Till it remains submerged, the water in the pot and in the well are one and the same. As the pot that comes out of the surface of the water, depending on the size, shape and material of the pot, it seems different in attributes! So is the seeming differentiation between the one Chaitanya and so many of the seemingly individual Jiva-s. These two examples of air in the pot and water in the pot are both of the Avachchinna Vaadam, while the other Pratibimba Vaadam you know is about the seeming differences between the Sun and its reflections! We are not concerned about the varying arguments and counter arguments between these two schools of thought. We are concerned only to the extent that; both of these schools of thought were mentioned by that Panchaman (who came in front of our AachaaryaaL), on being told not to come near!

1052. The Panchaman touched upon the philosophies of both these two schools of thought. First he talks of Pratibimba Vaadam – “kim ganagaambuni bimbite amba ramanou – chandaaLa vatee paya:” The sun in the sky is the ‘amba ramaNi’ – the diamond in the sky – that is being reflected by the water in the ‘chandaaLa vaatee’ meaning the dirty pond in the slum and – ganga ambuni bimbite – being reflected by the waters of the holy river of Ganga! Is there any difference between those reflections of the sun? Then he talks Avachchinna Vaadam too – “There is the sky in the golden pot in the palace of a royal household (kaanchana ghata antaram... ... ambaram asti) and there is also the sky in the pot of mud (mrut kumbam) in our slum of hutments. Is there any difference in the spaces contained by those golden and mud pots? Whether the body of a Brahmin or of a Panchaman, their bodies are both like pots made of different materials. Is there any difference in the (Aatma Aakaasa) space contained in them? Both the bodies are like two different water drops. But the reflections seen in either is caused by the same Sun, isn’t it?

1053. Hello Mr. Big Pundit! Why are you getting carried away by the outer appearances of droplets of water and the materials by which the pot is made of? What is inside? What is mentioned in the sloka as ‘pratyag vastu’ means the inner material. Isn’t that the self satisfied and self contained ocean of bliss – ‘sahaja aananda avabhodha ambhudhi’ – that is also ‘nistaranga’, that is without any waves! Why are there no waves? In the oceans, above the surface of water there is space and so there can be waves. In ocean of blissful contentment, all the space is contained and so there can be no waves. If you fill up a container totally and seal it, there can be no waves in it. Actually there can be no perfect example or comparison for Aatma. Even the ocean is not a very correct example. In the oceans of the world there is water and salt and living things such as plants and so many varieties of animals. But in this ‘pratyag vastu’ contains Aanandam and Gnaanam. Again they are not contained as two different commodities but, as one and the same thing! The blissful awareness that knows itself to be happiness! Moreover, there is no place, where it is not there! The sea of salt water is not omnipresent like that. It is only up to a level of the surface of the earth. Beyond that there is atmosphere and space. But this ocean of blissful awareness, the ‘pratyag vastu’ is also omnipresent, in and out, here there and everywhere! So, how can you Mr. Iyer preach something and believe in something else? Is that what is given in your Vedaanta class?”

1054. At once, our AachaaryaaL responded, “Are you such a knowledgeable Brhmavid? Whosoever is so knowledgeable and is a Gnaani; such a person is always like a Guru for me. Not knowing your level of Gnaana, I went by the social customs and traditions. Now I understand and do Namaskar to you (prostrate before you in total humility). That is the time he coined the Manisha Panchakam of five stanzas. ‘Manisha’ means decisive opinion or principle. He says clearly that, “The man who is ‘Aatma Gnaani’, from whichever caste, Jaati or Kulam, whether a Brahmin or Panchaman; he is my Guru. That is my Manisha! From Brhma to the smallest form of existence like say the ant; the warp and woof of all existence as the eternal witness is the one Chaitanya only. The one who knows this is my Guru. That is my Manisha – or Ruling. He is my Guru to whom even the Deva Indra, the King of all Divine beings, is subservient. Since each sloka finishes with the phrase ‘manisha mama’ – meaning – ‘so do I decree’ – the five slokas together are known as – Manisha Panchakam!

1055. Let us look at the first sloka of this Manisha Panchakam. “jaagrat swapna sushuptishu sputatara ya samvid ujjrumbate yaa brhmaadi pipeelikaanta tanushuprotaa jagat saakshinee I saivaaham na cha drushyavastwiti dhrudha prgnyaapi yasyaasti chet chaNdaalostu sa tu dvijostu gururityesha manisha mama II” From Brhma to the smallest ant, the one aspect continuity as the warp and woof of all existence is the one eternal witness of all. All life forms have senses and mind. They are all naturally inanimate ‘Jada’ only – that is inclusive of all senses and mind – the sixth sense also included! If these are the warps along the longitude; woof across are the one interconnecting reality of Aatma Chaitanya! The ‘protaa jagat saakshinee’ – the common factor is the witness of all! He is not involved. Senses are involved, the mind is involved. But the witness is only the uninvolved observer! He is neither the accuser nor the defender. Each individual has many countless states, isn’t it so? All of them come within the ambit of three states, namely state of wakefulness (Jaagrat), state of dream (swapna) and the state of deep sleep (sushupti). In all these three states it is the one stuff of Gnaana that is ever present and shining bright – ‘jaagrat swapna sushuptishu sputa dhara yaa samvid ujjrumbate’!

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva