DEIVATHIN KURAL # 179 (Vol # 5) Dated 25 May 2012

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 179 (Vol # 5) Dated 25 May 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 going ahead from page No 1115 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)

SOBAANA / UPADESA / SAADHANAA PANCHAKAM

1234. This is a simple document containing his advices to all his disciples and followers by our AachaaryaaL as to what they are required to do as measures to be taken every day continuously and on special days continually, in their endeavour to attain to Self Realization. Sobaanam means actions to be taken step by step. It starts off with, “Vedo nityam adhiyataam”, meaning an exhortation telling us to do our duties as given in the Vedas. “Instead of doing those actions as ‘Kaamya Karma’, to get the benefits as returns as though it is a business venture, to do them as an offering to God! By repeatedly doing so, we are to cancel out the accumulated negative balances. As your sins are compensated for by positive contributions, you will become aware of the hazards and pitfalls of this worldly life and the dirt of your mind will be washed off. Then develop the thirst in yourself that you should be proceeding in the path of Gnaana, to get to know one’s own Aatma. Once, that state of thirst for Gnaana is matured and ripe, get out of the confines of a family life.”

1235. “When you have left the company of relatives and joined the ‘Satsang’ of saintly persons of like minded devotees of morality and divinity, strengthen your devotion to God. Then go to a Gnaani, serve him and receive PraNava Upadesa and Maha Vaakya Upadesa from him. What you have received from him through the ears (SravaNam), may be repeatedly mulled, reviewed and ruminated in your mind (Mananam) with a clear mind, logically without any deviousness, with faith and belief in the Vedas. Once you have thus understood the Upadesa, let it be soaked and marinated by constant and repeated rumination. This process is known as ‘Nidhidyaasana’. In doing so, completely erase any thoughts of pride that you are doing such a wonderful thing! Doing away with the thought that you are the body, start that you and the Para Brhmam are one and the same – not to feel any superiority over others but – to realize the same, within yourself!”

1236. “Since anyhow this body is yours only, and has to remain till ‘praarabdam’ is in balance, take care of your body. When you have a disease, the medicine is given in measured quantities, isn’t it? Similarly the food has to be taken as a medicine for the disease of hunger of the body only! Instead of searching for tasty food, be happy with whatever you get as alms by begging. Be dispassionate without making a mountain of a mole hill. Have neither too much attraction for others or things nor any hatred. Be unattached like the water on the lotus leaf and or the lotus leaf on water! Do not overly react to heat or cold. Reduce your talking and interactions with others and seek Ekaantam aka loneliness. Try to merge the mind in Parabrhmam by which get to know the wholesomeness of the Aatma practically. Fully experiencing this oneness, get the accumulated effects of past karmas known as Sanchitam, cancelled out. Ensure that the yet to come ‘Aagaami’ does not tail you and gets attached. Let whatever the balance ‘praarabda vinai’ currently in force work itself out, till which time remain in this body and as and when it finishes, just abide in eternity with no more separateness – ‘para brhmaatmanaasteeyataam’.” Thus whatever we have to do has been tersely, precisely condensed and told to us, quintessentially in those five stanzas of Sobaana Panchakam! For our AachaaryaaL’s sareeram aka physical body ‘praarabdam’ is not the cause. It is an Avatara Sareeram that came into being for Loka Kaaryam! That work was over and the being and body merged in the Param as he advised ‘para brhmaatmanaasteeyataam’. ‘Aananda Gireeyam’ says that our AachaaryaaL dissolved the gross body (sthoola sareera) in the subtle body (sookshma sareera), which in turn was dissolved in the causal body (kaaraNa sareera) and thus regained his original state of undivided oneness of Chaitanyam!

1237. Phala Sruti – Fruit of Hearing this History of Sankara Vijayam. When you hear such sacred accounts of great Saadhus and Saints, they tell you what is known as ‘Phala Sruti’, as to the benefits that are likely to accrue. We know ourselves the value of hearing about the story of our AachaaryaaL. This mind of ours which is forever getting stained was crystal clear till we were hearing the story of his life. His peacefulness and kindliness was getting reflected in our minds too. The Phala Sruti is not only the effect of the story in our minds but, what we are going to do about it all also! He would expect us to reinforce and strengthen the state of clarity and peacefulness that we gained while hearing his stories, making it a permanent characteristic of ours. For that to happen, we have to do things as given in the Saastraas. We have to be devoted to God. Once our mind is cleansed and starts standing firm, devoid of vacillations, he would wish us to go on to Gnaana Marga and not jump to it prematurely. Till then Karma and Bhakti activities and attitude respectively are not to be given the go by! Still since his Avatara was mainly meant for the principle of Adwaitam, at least for five minutes every day – no, at least for some two minutes every day, we should be thinking of ourselves being in that state of inner clarity of Adwaitam! “I am the cleanest with no dirt whatsoever. I am not the stuff that can be dirtied either. I am like the stainless sky of September. Though I am ever so actively running around, I am the thing of absolute virtue of unruffled calmness!” If we think like this for even two minutes every day, our AachaaryaaL will be pleased and will give ‘Anugraha’ for such attitude to mature!

1238. Though he is not there in the physical form among our midst today, he has written a whole lot of literature soaked in Bhakti and Gnaana. From amongst them even if we were to simply read a few lines every day that will be like meeting him daily. We will automatically become devoted and aware of the truth of existence. There have been many Gurus in the past. One would say, “As a servant of God, ever keep doing some service or the other, you will attain to Moksha”. Another will say, “Become a Nothing and that is Moksham’! Another will say, “Go to the Heavens and eternally enjoy yourself and that is Moksham for you”! Yet another may even say, “You have accumulated a lot of Paapa. There is no hope for you. Yours is forever to suffer and keep praying to God for redemption”! On the other hand, AachaaryaaL is the one who says, “My Dear Sir! You are forever in Moksham only. In the delusion created by Maya, you are not aware of this truth. The thing under delusion is only the mind, brains and psyche. If you set aside this mind by Gnaanam of awareness of your reality, that is at once Moksham. In Moksham, you do not have to get to yet another Swami. You are the Swami yourself! You are Param; you are Aatma and also Paramaatma!

1239. It is not only that he did not talk of an eternal hell for the sinners! He did not stop at saying that even sinners have possibilities of redemption! Above all that he said, that even the so called sinner, is only the same God, or Paramaatma in yet another form! Thus he is the one who had climbed the peaks of not only human excellence but also the pinnacles of redemption, restitution and reclamation! There is just no comparison to equal him, the one who salvaged even the ‘gone cases’ and turned them in to masters of self awareness! In the Kannada language there is a song that goes, “Mangalam, Guru Sankara”. In it there is a line which says, ‘paadaganenu paramaatmanu maadithe’, meaning that he is the one who ‘turned or inverted even the evildoer criminal in to knowing that he is the Paramaatma’!

1240. For such an AachaaryaaL, the ‘Do-gooder Sam-Kara’, let us all sing his praise by singing together, “Jaya Jaya Sankara”. For his salubrious name, the ‘Jaya’ sound is most fitting. I am only repeating what has been said by one of the great saints of Tamil Nadu by the name of Appar, who has the sobriquet as the ‘King of the Tongue’ (as Naavukku Arasar) as given by none else than Lord Siva himself! I cannot improve upon what he has said in one of the Thruvaroor Thiruththaandakam, “Hey! My dear Nenjam! Come hear near me! (This word ‘Nenjam’ can be translated as, a combination of mind, heart, brains and apperception.) You are forever vacillating restlessly! If you are interested in peacefulness and wish to reach a state of calm rectitude, let me tell you the way. Daily get up early before day break and go to the temple. Clean up the environs of the temple with a broom, mop and water. Collect flowers from the garden, string them in to garlands and decorate the idols. By the flowers of the words also decorate the Lord God with Stotras. Sing to your heart’s content and do Namaskarams till you are tired. Dance and make merry in praise of God! Say, ‘Sankara Jaya! Portri! Portri! (Jaya in Tamil is Portri!) Shout at the top of your voice, “Gangadharaa! Jataadharaa! Aadip PoruLe! Aroorane!’ Having said ‘Jaya’ with the name of Sankara and feeling that to be insufficient, he has added, ‘Portri, Portri’ twice in Tamil!

1241. MaaNikka Vaachagar........, he spoke in chaste Adwaitam only! He was a great man indeed, who has also sung in the ‘Andaadi’ style. (Andaadi is a style of composition in which the last word in the previous song becomes the first word in the next song.) In it, he has sung, ‘Thiruchchadagam’ in which the 64th song finishes with, ‘Sankara, Portri! Portri!’ Then the next song, the 65th commences with ‘Sankara, Portri!’ Let me tell you the ‘Jaya! Portri!’ song by Appar, in Tamil.
“Nilai perumaareNNudiyel, nenje nee vaa!
Nittalum empiraanudia koil pukkup
Pulavar tanmun alagittu mezhukkumittup
Poo Maalai punaindettip pugazhndu paadit
Talaiyaarak kumbittuk koothumaadich
‘Sankara Jaya portri portri!’ enrum,
Alaipunal ser senchadai emm aathee! Enrum,
Aarooraa! Enrenre alaraa nille!

1242. Let us keep chanting the praise of our AachaaryaaL with “Jaya, Jaya, Hara, Hara”. The sound of ‘Jaya’ will get us the victory of our Self Realization of our Aatma. Hara, Hara sound will remove all evil and error prone thoughts. The very sound of Sankara including the memory of his name and words; will do all wonders and cause all well being. For us all to be unified, remembering him will do most sufficiently!
“Namah Parvathi Pataye! Hara, Hara Mahadeva!

Sambhomahadeva