DEIVATHIN KURAL # 79 (Vol # 6) Dated 06 Nov 2012

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 79 (Vol # 6) Dated 06 Nov 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 the first paragraph on page No 536 of Volume 6 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)

451.  When you feel the compulsion that you have to know the Aatma and wish to proceed further; then it can be done only by the Sanyaasi who has given up all Karma.  Aatma is untouchable to Karma.  With Aatma as the only aim do Dhyaanam repeatedly till that action of Dhyaana also comes to a standstill.  If you say that I will continue my other actions to a limited extent and also do Dhyaanam, it just not work out that way.  As long you are doing your actions of Karma; many relationships and associations will always be there.  Relationships inevitably lead to likes, dislikes and anger– “सङ्गात संजायते काम: क्रोध:” – that leads finally to destruction due to loss of discernment and intelligence – “बुद्धि नासात प्रणश्यति”.  Any amount of actions cannot cut the connections but only further increase them.    The Saadhana that started with ‘Nitya – Anitya Viveka Vichaara:’ has to end one day in the Vignaanam of awareness of Adwaita Anubhava; it is that sharpened knife that can cut the connections by God’s Grace!  If one’s life is to be completely dedicated for such cutting off of connections, family, relations, friends, business or profession, recreational and entertainment habits and even Vedic Karma Anushtaanaas have all to be cut, severed and done away with completely!

452.  But, one thing should never be forgotten.  Our AachaaryaaL never said that anybody and everybody can just leave their Karma Anushtaanaas as required of them, on the pretext of becoming a Sanyaasi.  Only the one who has attained ‘Chitta Shuddhi’ can be said to have earned the right to go on to the Nivrutti Marga and take up Sannyaasa.  How do we know that ‘Chitta Shuddhi’ has been attained and that we have earned our right?  If you have done your Karma Anushtaanaas without any let or blemish and attained ‘Chitta Shuddhi’, you will know as to when you should be changing tracks and you will not be asking this question.  Having said that even thousands of millions of Karma cannot cut the knots that tie you up, Our AachaaryaaL was evidently worried about immature people misusing his words as an excuse to give up the Karmas enjoined on them, and thereby become completely spoiled!  Out of his kindness he clarifies the position in the very next sloka.  Let me give you both the slokas with the Sanskrit version and translation and let you be the judge yourself, about what I am saying.

453.  “नास्त्रैर्न सस्त्रैरनिलेन वह्निना चेत्तुं न सख्यो न च कर्म कोटिभि:

विवेक विज्ञान महासिना विना धातु: प्रसादेन सितेन मञ्जुना ||” It means, ‘Neither by weapons, nor by wind, nor by fire, nor by millions of actions can this bondage be destroyed.  By nothing save the wonder-sword of Knowledge which comes from discrimination and is sharpened by the purification of the mind and the intellect, can we end this bondage.’  This is Sloka No 147 in Viveka ChudamaNi.  The next Sloka is given hereinafter.

“स्रुतिप्रमाण एकमते: स्वधर्मनिष्टा तयैवात्मशुद्धिरस्य | 

विशुद्धबुद्धे: परमात्म वेदनं तेनैवसंसार समूल नाश: ||”  It means, ‘He who has deep devotion to the Sruti-s and who is established in his Swadharma (for these alone contribute to the purity of his mind,) and is of pure mind realises the supreme Self.   By this knowledge alone is samsara destroyed, with roots and branches.  So, putting the two Slokas together, we can make out that this job of overcoming bondage and launching oneself in Sannyaasa is not something that can be done by an indeterminate weakling.  Only those who are firmly established in meticulously carrying out their duties of ‘Swadharma’ manage to get their minds and intellect purified and the wonder-sword of Knowledge is available only to them!

454.  “OK, how are we to know as to what is Swadharma?”  If that is your question, the answer has already been given at the very first phrase of the Sloka – स्रुतिप्रमाण एकमते: – that is, whatever the Vedas say is the authority in deciding as to what is your ‘Swadharma’.  Vedas divide the whole society in to four different Varna-s namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras; and spelt out their division of work, as to what they are to do during the four Aashrama-s of their life namely Brhmacharyam, Gruhastam, Vanaprastam and Sannyaasam.  So have the duties of the women been clearly spelt out.  So, the ‘Nishta’ aka steadiness is attained through doing the so levied duties meticulously without a blemish.  If a Brahmin known as ‘Shat Karma Nirata:’ can attain that level of perfection by assiduously performing his duties (of Adhyayanam and Adhyaapakam;  Yajanam and Yaajanam; Daanam and Pratigraham;) so can a soldier or a sculptor or trader or a man of service, like a shoe maker.  (KTSV adds:  – Those who doubt this should just look up the professions of the 63 Naayanmaars; who are venerated as Gods in the Siva Temples, where you will find their representative statues on a platform lining the Praahaaram around the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple!  There are not only Kings and leaders of communities, but also shoe makers, hunters, fishers, carpenters, soldiers and even a watch man of the treasury!)  So the phrase स्वधर्मनिष्टा can be applicable to anybody in any walk of life, as long as he does his appointed role to perfection!

455.  When you do things as per dictates of the Veda – Saastraas, not only the body and physical attributes are strained as though sent through the wringer, but the dirt of the mind is also forced out like the wet clothes in a spin dryer.  Then all Karma has to be stopped as we move into the mind’s job of Dhyaana.  After that, happens to be the stage of Gnaana, where this job of Dhyaana will also come to an end.  That is, we must strive for perfection in Dhyaana only after having attained perfection in work/Karma and once having shifted gears and gone over to Dhyaana, you should not come back to Karma also.  Take the example of a cloth being cleaned, washed and dried.  Once having a certain level of perfection in cleanliness, if you keep dipping the cloth in dirty water and straining to dry it – endlessly, only the cloth will become good for nothing!  So also, you cannot go back to the world of Karma.  Putting the cloth out in the air for drying is like exposing oneself to the sunlight and breeze of Gnaana.  Here the cloth simply not only dries up but, Jiva the cloth metamorphoses into the very Aatma the Gold Plate!  It is not the job of Jiva to stand steadily in Aatma Dhyaana but, through Dhyaana the Jiva is no more and stands as the ever peaceful real stuff of the Aatma the eternal ultimate.

Series of Names in Vishnu Sahasranaama

456.  Like flowers in a garland, there are a series of names of Vishnu given in Vishnu Sahasranaama, which are all descriptive of that stage of Sannyaasa, “……निर्वाणं भेषजं भिषक् | संयासकृच्चम: शान्तो निष्टा शान्ति: परायणं ||” (PeriyavaaL counts with his fingers.)  Nine such names are there on the same subject.  NirvaaNam – निर्वाणं – is the end of Gnaana Yoga.  The same SaguNa Brhmam aka Vishnu is also the end of Gnaana Yoga too.  Beshajam – भेषजं – means the medicine – the medicine for the disease of this worldly life.  Muthu ThaaNdavar sings “அரு மருந்தொரு தனி மருந்து”.  Muthu ThaaNdavar was a devotee of Chidambaram Nataraja, who lived in the time frame prior to the musical Trinity known as ‘Sangeeta MummoorthigaL’.  When he was bitten by a snake he sang saying that Nataraja himself is the medicine for all illnesses – ‘rarest of rare is the unique special medicine’.  At once the poisonous venom of the snake was no more effective on him!  When the poison of delusion is high, the cure is also the anti-venom The God Himself! 

457.  He is the medicine as well as the doctor – ‘Bhishak’ – ‘भिषक्’ – is also the same God!  Here in Chennai Thiruvaanmiyur he is the residing deity known as ‘Marundeeswara’ – Easwara as Medicine.  In a place known as Vaitheeswaran Koil He is the Doctor, ‘பவரோக வைத்திய நாத சுவாமி’.  In his Bhashyam for Vishnu Sahasranaama, our AachaaryaaL says, for this word ‘Bhishak’, that Sri Krishna is the Doctor who has given us the medicine of Bhagawat Gita!  In Gita too, the medicine that God has given finally is Sannyaasa only.  By way of Karma Yoga taking us through Gnaana Yoga, He has taken us to Sannyaasa Yoga finally.  In Aayur Veda there is a method in which before administering the medicines, the patient is given the purgative.  Then when all the Karma related expendables are all washed away or drained out of the system, then it is turned in to Karma Yoga as the first dose of medicine and then gradually changed over to Gnaana Yoga and finally Sannyaasa.  The one who does all this diagnosis, prognosis, prescription and administration of medicine and therapy is the ‘Sannyaasa Krut’ – ‘संयासकृच्चम: = संन्यास + कृत + सम:’ –as another name for the same Vishnu!

458.  What is that ‘Sama’ again here?  Yes all that we saw in the process as steps in the ‘Nivrutti Marga’ such as ‘Sama’, ‘Dama’ are all God’s Swaroopa only isn’t it?  That is ‘Sama’, ‘Samadhi’, ‘Samaadhaanam’ and the most balanced and highest stage of Gnaana Yoga.  From being the most recklessly undisciplined renegade, slowly, bit by bit we have come around to the stage of ‘mind-less-ness’ going through many levels of control, the final stage is to abide and subside in the Aatma; that is the Aim of a Sanyaasi.  Here our AachaaryaaL has quoted a Smruti (codified laws), most aptly.  “यतीनांप्रसमो धर्मो नियमो वनवासिनां | दानमेव गृहस्तानां सुस्रूषा ब्रह्मचारिणां ||” That Sloka says, ‘for saintly Yatis balanced equanimity is Dharma; for those in the ‘Vanaprasta Aashrama Niyama /restraint is the Dharma; for Gruhastas / householders the Dharma is Daanam, that is giving of charity, alms, food and such help to poor and down trodden people; and finally for Brhmacharis, it is Guru Susrusha – or serving the Guru that is Dharmam!

459.  Then is the name ‘शान्त:’ the meaning of which is well known to you all that, a man endowed with the quality of equanimity (‘समं’) is ‘Saantan’ the peaceful person.  Then is the name ‘निष्टा’ – ‘Nishta’.  Having become a Sanyaasi, with the mind at its peaceful rest when he is merged in Adwaita Gnaana Anubhava, he is in the state of Nishta and that is also a Swaroopa of God Vishnu, in the NirguNa form.  The state of peacefulness in Nishta is Shanti – ‘शान्ति’. That being the ultimate goal is said to be ‘परायणं’ that is ‘ParaayaNam’. (This word has to be correctly understood to be different from ‘पारायणम’ – ‘PaaraayaNam’, which means reading or chanting and ‘PrayaaNam’ – ‘प्रयाणं’, which means travel or journey!)

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva