ADVAITA-SAADHANAA
(Kanchi Maha-Swamy’s Discourses)
ADVAITA-SAADHANAA
(Kanchi Maha-Swamigal’s
Discourses)
25. Rigour in ‘SamaadhaanaM’ Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 93
SamAdhAna is the grounding of the intellect completely and firmly
in matters pertaining to Brahman.
Samyag-AsthApanaM
buddheH shuddhe brahmani sarvadA /
tat-samAdhAnam-ityuktaM
na tu cittasya lAlanaM //
Right
fixation of the intellect in shuddha-brahman, always, is said to be
‘samAdhAnaM’, not the pampering of the ‘cittaM’.
Note
that he starts with buddhi (intellect) but ends with ‘cittaM’. The
latter is the source for the thought-process that always goes with the other
three, namely, buddhi (intellect), manas (mind), and ahamkAra (ego). So
cittaM may refer to either buddhi or manas according to the context.
Here first he has talked about the one-pointedness of buddhi and
immediately talks about ‘cittam’; so the latter may be taken to refer to buddhi
or the instrument that generates the thought.
‘na tu
cittasya lAlanaM’ is significant. ‘lAlanaM’ means fondling through pampering.
Sometimes we do offer sweets to a child in order to get something done by the
child. The same kind of indulgence is done to a sAdhaka in his beginning
stages, so that he takes interest in the upward climb of spirituality. Instead
of forcing him to do the difficult task of concentrating on a nirguna
(attributeless) goal, we do allow him to take resort to a saguna upAsanA, in
fact even to several forms of the Divine, and thus in a sense pamper him. But
when he has made some advances on the SAdhanA ladder, we should not
continue this indulgence. At this advanced stage we have to put an end to this
over-indulgence and with some rigour turn him into the upAsanA of nirguna
brahman. In the first stage we might have been lenient, as far as it goes, but
when he has passed through the second stage and has now arrived at the stage of
readiness for Sannyasa there should be no more ‘lAlanaM’ of the ‘cittam’. It
should fully turn to thinking only about Brahman and the teachings about
Brahman.
All
this not only applies to a guru training the sishhya, but to oneself. One must
guard oneself against self-pampering. When the Acharya says “See that the
intellect gets fixed in Brahman and matters connected with Brahman and do not
allow any pampering” he means one should not think now at this advanced stage
“Let me not compel myself to think only about Brahman all the time; let the
intellect dwell on other things for some time. When it is necessary to draw it
back I will be able to do it; I have come so far in SAdhanA, so it
should not be impossible for me”. This kind of self-pampering has to come to a
dead stop some time and the time has come now when one has come to the
samAdhAna stage of SAdhanA-chatushTayaM. Advaita-saadhanaa 94
26: The sextad of the paramAtmA and the sextad of the JIvAtmA
The sextad of the JivAtmA is *shama, dama, uparati, titikShA,
shraddhaa and samAdhAna*. This is the sextad of spiritual treasures. This,
remember is the third component among the four of Spiritual SAdhanA.
Just as the householder has six categories of karmas to do, the Acharya has prescribed
these six eligibility qualifications for one who is seeking the SannyAsa
Ashrama. But as I said earlier, even the householder must have some practice in
these six; only then he will be able to meet the responsibilities of his life
with peace and comfort. And some distant day he will also become eligible to
enter the fourth Ashrama, Sannyasa.
We refer to the Almighty God as ‘Bhagavan’. The reason for that
name is that the Lord has six ‘bhagas’. This is mentioned in Vishnu Purana.
‘Bhaga’ also means ‘treasure, excellence (*sampat*)’. Bhaga is also a name of
the Sun-God. Whatever excellence shines like the splendour of the Sun is called
bhaga. The Lord has six Bhagas:
1. Lordship: the power that controls everything else. It is known
as *aishvarya*.
2. Dharma: the power that has created so much order in the
universe and also regulates the life of everyone by creating the numerous
ShAstras. He is the personification of this regulatory order.
3. yashas: (Fame and Glory) We sing His glory all the time. And
for centuries, starting from the time of the Rishis of the Vedas, people have
sung His glory and majesty and still we don’t seem to have come to the end of
it all.
4. shrI : Wealth. All the wealth that we know of comes from
Him.The little worldly wealth that we see is nothing but perhaps less than one
percent. of the bliss of Brahman, and that little thing shines like great
wealth by the power of His MAyA.
5. VairAgyaM: Dispassion. With all that excellence of wealth that
emanates from Him he has no attachment to that treasure (*sampat*) of His.
6. Mokshha: In spite of the fact that He is Lord of the whole
universe, he discards that as MAyA and remains in His natural state as
Brahman and this itself, Mokshha, is the sixth bhaga of His.
With
this we have seen the six components of the sextad beginning with shama. The
sextad is the third component of the SAdhanA-Maha-swamigal’s Discourses
95
chatushhTayam. The fourth and last is mumukShutvaM (Longing for
mokSha).
27. Mumukshhu-tvaM (Longing for moksha)
The
meaning of ‘mumukShu’ is one who longs, (wishes, desires) for mokSha. He for
whom that wish is fulfilled and Self-Realisation is obtained is called a
‘mukta’. Only after being a ‘mumukShu’ one can become a ‘mukta’.
Of
course every one wants to get out of this mire of samsAra and reach that
stage of mokSha which is permanent bliss. But just a vague or minor wish for
mokSha does not become the ‘longing’ (*kAnkShA*) inbuilt into the word
‘mumukShu’. Intense desire, an anguish coupled with readiness to take every
effort possible – only when all these are present it becomes a *kAnkShA*. And
that kind of longing for mokSha is what makes a mumukShu. His characteristics,
his nature, what he does – all these constitute ‘mumukShu-tvaM’. ‘mumukShutA’
is also another word. The Acharya gives the definition in his aparokShA-nubhUti
(verse 9) thus:
samsAra-bandha-nirmuktiH kathaM syAn-me dayAnidhe /
iti yA
sudRRiDhA buddhiH vaktavyA sA mumumkShutA //
The
flow of words reflects a desperate craving and pleading, almost a cry, before
the Lord or the visible Guru. ‘Oh Ocean
of Mercy!’ goes the
plaint in despair, ‘when will I get the relief from this bondage of samsAra?’.
The seeker is asking with a firm determination to obtain Release. We cannot
call it a ‘mumukShutA’ arising from ‘sudRRiDhA buddhi’ (firm and
determined will ) if the desire to get out of this worldly tangle is the result
of misery and disgust caused by an insufficiency of wealth or of health, a
bereavement, or an enmity. This firm will is the one that longs for a release
from this samsAra with the unshakable determination that arises, not
from the dubious significance of either the worldly miseries or the release
from them, but from the thought – even when the worldly life happens to be a
life of ease and comfort – “Even this is MAyA; I must get release from
this bondage of MAyA and realise the Reality of the Atman”. The longing
for mokSha, that is, ‘mumukShutA’, is not that which longs for a release after
feeling a bitter taste from the miseries of life. It arises from an extreme
anguish that results from an intellectual conviction that one has to get out of
this samsAra, because it is a MAyA. ‘mumukShutA’ is a feminine
word; so ‘She’ (*sA*) is used in the shloka. The complete meaning of the shloka
can now be given. Advaita-saadhanaa 96
“ The confirmed will that reflects in the anguish-filled prayer to
the Merciful Guru ‘When would I be able to get release from this bondage of samsAra?’,
is mumukShutA”.
When he
talks about the same subject in Viveka Chudamani (shloka 27/28), he says
*sva-svarUpa
avabodhena moktuM icchA mumukShutA /*
that
is, it is not enough to be relieved from the bondage of samsAra; the JIva
is not to become inert, after the release from bondage. One must have
*svasvarUpa avabodhaM*. This means one should get the awareness of
enlightenment that experiences one’s true status of Atman.
That is
what is important. One should pine for that. The anguish that is called
mumukShutvaM is for the experience of Truth rather than for the eradication of MAyA.
One prays for the ending of bondage only because of the fact that the bondage
has got to disappear for the purpose of Realisation.
28. Why is the ultimate stage termed as ‘Release’ and nothing
more?
However
generally the importance is given more to the release from bondage rather than
to the Realisation of the Self. This is how the final goal of fullness is
described as mokSha’ or ‘mukti’. Those words do not describe the state
that we reach; instead they talk about the state that we are leaving behind.
The two words ‘mokSha’ or ‘mukti’ both indicate only the state of
release. The Tamil use of the word ‘VeeDu’ also does the same. The English word
‘Liberation’ also says the same thing. The root word is ‘muc’ in Sanskrit. (‘u’
as in ‘put’). It has an alternate form, namely, ‘moc’ (the ‘o’ as in ‘go’). The
root word ‘muc’ gives the noun ‘mukti’. There is another noun ‘muku’
(not very much in use) meaning release. He who gives ‘muku’ is ‘Mukunda’. The
root verb ‘moc’ gives the noun ‘mokSha’, ‘mocanaM’ and ‘vimocanaM,. All these
are words which indicate the release from the bondage of samsAra; they
do not say anything about the infinite bliss that comes at the Release. Thus
why has this final goal been called by something which indicates only the release
part and does not indicate anything about what we get after the Release, namely
the Realisation as the very brahman? Why has it not been called by something
which indicates the bliss? Why?
I think
there are two reasons. First the Bliss of Brahman cannot be described by words.
This may be the prime reason. Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 97
The other reason could be as follows. Every school of philosophy
has a book of sutras as its authoritative source (pramANa). And that is
where the tenets of the school are given in short aphorisms. Our Vedanta
tradition has ‘Brahma-SUtra as its source authority. The very first Sutra
mentions about what is in the book and what the subject is. The subject is
‘brahma-jijnAsA’. ‘jijnAsA’ means the desire to know. ‘Brahma-jijnAsA’
here means ‘the enquiry made with the purpose of knowing brahman’. The subject
which is thus enunciated is the object-goal of those who take this book as the
authority (pramANa). So our goal – we all belong to the school of Vedanta -- our objective, should be ‘to
know brahman’. First there should be the desire to know; only then we will make
efforts to know. Thus that desire to know – jijnAsA –must be there
first. In other words the authoritative sUtra book for our
Vedanta-school talks the knowing of Brahman as our ‘lakshhya’ (object-goal).
Indeed, to know brahman is to realise brahman. So our goal, the goal of our
religion, is Realisation of Brahman. To help us reach that objective the sUtra
book makes all enquiries and tells us about matters pertaining to brahman.
The point to be noted here is that the first sUtra does not mention the
Release from bondage of samsAra as the subject of the book but mentions
only the Realisation that is got at the Release. Brahma-jijnAsA thus
does not talk about the negative aspect ‘Mokshha-jijnAsA – the desire to
know about Release, but talks about the positive aspect, namely, the Experience
of brahman.
When
the basic sUtra of the Vedanta school is itself mentioning the Brahman
experience as the ultimate goal, why is that MokShaM is talked of popularly as
the ultimate goal? I have already given one reason for this. Another reason
strikes me. The ideas of the Vedas and Vedanta go back to antiquity. Later,
that too in ancient times, other schools and religions did blossom – namely,
BauddhaM, PAtanjalaM (that is, Yoga Shastra), NyAya (Logic). Humanity did
generate different opinions. Among these, there did come in later times,
schools and religions much different from the basic Vaidika school of thought.
There came even some which were totally against the Vaidik religion. However,
except for the Lokayata school of thought, all others have agreed to the
central point of reaching a state which transcends the bondage of samsAra.
The Lokayata school which contends that “There is no God; no Atman, no
after-life; so there is no question of karma or karmic experience, let us eat
well and enjoy well” is not eligible to be called a religion. The others,
though different from pure Vedanta, certainly keep the goal of Release from
worldly tangle.
However,
none of them talk about the bliss after the Release! BauddhaM talks about the
state of void – nirvANa – at the end of it all. Nyaya – and its sister-school,
Vaisheshhika – talk of the goal as ‘apavarga’, which is Advaita-saadhanaa 98
said to be only a state of sorrowlessness, but there is no talk of
any state of happiness or bliss. The Release from the bondage of samsAra produces
sorrowlessness. Since there is no mention of any happiness, one might even
think of it as an inert state which does not recognize any unhappiness. The
‘kaivalya’ that is the goal of Sankhya is only the Release from the play of MAyA
caused by PrakRti; there is no talk of any positive happy state. In
Patanjali’s yoga also, the very sUtra talks negatively about the control
of flow of mind and there is no positive mention of any Bliss of Realisation.
Obviously the bondage of SamsAra as well as the impact of MAyA are both
felt only by the mind-flow and so if one can stop that mind-flow by a rock-like
dam, the resulting Release is the Release from samsAra.
All
these different schools and religions have been there since ancient times. And
that may be the reason why our Vedanta also has mentioned the so-common
‘mokShaM’ as its lakShyaM (goal).
If one
goes by the Vedanta route and obtains that MokSha, it has to be only
Realisation of Brahman. It does not mean there is something new called Brahman
which is ‘realised’. Nor does one obtain any new happiness of a state called
sat-cid-Ananda. The JIva is always Brahman. He is a mass of
sat-cid-AnandaM. Still MAyA has played its trick by binding a blindfold
on him. When the SAdhanA is complete, that blindfold gets severed. He is
released from MAyA. That is, he obtains MokSha. And simultaneously and
automatically he knows his true nature as Brahman. So all the SAdhanA is
for the removal of MAyA, to get a release from MAyA – not for
producing a sat-cid-Ananda Brahman, nor to obtain it, nor for any action
related to that. It cannot be produced or created. Nor can it be destroyed . It
is always existing. It is with us all the time --*svayaM siddhaM* --. There is
nothing like ‘obtaining’ it.
Looked
at this way, what is achieved by SAdhanA is only the breaking of the MAyA-bondage
and the Release implied therein; so it is but fitting to call the goal of SAdhanA
as ‘MokSha’.
29. Mumukshhu: Definition by the Acharya
One has
to come out of this MAyA and become Brahman; this should be the only
thought of the mind. One who is thus totally involved in this manner is said to
be a ‘mumukShu’. The Acharya in shloka #27(or 28) of Vivekachudamani gives this
definition:
ahaMkArAdi
dehAntAn bandhAn-ajnAna-kalpitAn /
sva-svarUpA-vabodhena
moktum-icchA mumukShutA // Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 99
Here he talks about both the MAyA that has to be discarded
and the Realisation of the Natural state, that one experiences after the
release from the MAyA.
Ignorance
itself is MAyA. It is because of MAyA that Ego is imagined as an
‘I’ distinct from the Supreme Self. This ego is the source of all the hierarchy
of errors. The hierarchy starts in the form of that ego as a subtle thought and
ends up with an individualised ego in every physical (sthUla) JIva. What
thinks of the body as oneself is the action of MAyA. The JIva has
been bound by imagined bondages right from the subtle ahamkAra down to the
concrete physical body. This is what is said in the first line of the verse
above.
[Subbu-ji’s
explanation of ‘dehAntAn’:
‘dehAntAn’
is one word which is a plural of the
word
‘dehAntaH’. The meaning is 'the group consisting of members
starting
from ahamkara upto deha.' The overall meaning of the verse
considers
each member of this group to be a bandha. Thus ahamkAra is
a
bandha, buddhi is a bandha....upto deha which is a bandha].
[Another
comment by Subbu-ji:
Incidentally,
the verse is a profound
refutation
of the several
schools
that hold any one of these members as the ultimate reality.
The
verse 'deham praanamapi' of the Sridakshinamurtistotram is called
up
to one's memory when the above verse is read.]
The
desire to be rid of this bondage is *moktuM icchA* (desire to be released). The
anguish for the release is *mumukShutA*. Such is the negative definition of
‘MokSha’. But what the final goal is, is also mentioned right in the middle of
the shloka in a positive way: *sva-svarUpAvabodhena*. ‘avabodhaM’ means waking
up. The waking up is the awakening to wisdom from the darkness of ignorance.
Wisdom about what? About ‘sva-svarUpa’, that is, about Atman, one’s own natural
true state. Instead of saying ‘ awakening to wisdom about Atman’ we better say
‘awakening to the Atman’. The Atman itself is the wisdom, knowledge. This
awakening is called also ‘Awareness’. The self-consciousness brought about by
this awakening is not different from the Atman. They are both the same. MAyA
is Ignorance; Brahman is JnAna, Knowledge. That Knowledge is the
‘sva-svarUpa-avabodhaM’.
To be
relieved of all bondages is not an end in itself. A person who thinks of it as
an end-in-itself, because the bondages were the cause of one’s suffering and so
their end is all that is needed, is not considered as a Advaita-saadhanaa 100
‘mumukShu’ by the Acharya. He does not leave the matter like that,
as Patanjali did with his yoga theory that the stoppage of all mind-flow
(citta-vRtti-nirodha) is all there is to it. Our Acharya’s subject and object
in the source book, Brahma Sutra, is ‘brahma-jijnAsA’. So the
anguish-cum-desire for release from all bondages is only for the Realisation of
the non-difference between JivAtma and ParamAtmA – that is ‘brahma-sAkShAtkAra’
(Realisation of Brahman) -- and it is this desire that is ‘mumukShutA’. This is
clear from the shloka of Viveka Chudamani that we were discussing.
*sva-svarUpa-avabodhena*
means ‘by the awareness arising from the Enlightenment as the Atman’. It is
through that awareness that one should desire to get rid of the bondage of
Ignorance. But mark it! This does not mean: “First there happens Realisation of
Brahman (this is the *avabodhaM*) and then follows the release from bondage.
This contradicts what has so far been said. In other words, the so-called
‘positive’ event of Brahman-Realisation finally leads only to the
‘negatively-stated’ Release (mokshha) from bondage”. No, this is not how it
should be understood. No one who has studied Vedanta in depth or who has
understood the teachings and works of the Acharya, would arrive at such a
conclusion.
Between
the two, namely, Release from bondage, and Realisation of the Atman, -- between
these two, there is nothing that is before or after. Both are simultaneous. In
total darkness we light a match. And there is light. Darkness is gone. Does
light come first and then after some time does the darkness disappear? Are they
not both simultaneous?
But
note one thing. It is not that darkness goes and light comes at the same time!
Light comes and at the same time darkness is gone!
This is
where Vedanta is great. Its goal is to find the Light of the Self. Keeping this
as the central focus, it starts from nitya-anitya-vastu-viveka (discrimination
between permanence and impermanence) and ascends gradually from one step to
another. Their objective was not the removal of misery (as was that of the
Buddha), nor was it the stoppage of mind-flow that causes all misery (as was
that of Patanjali); the Rishis of the Upanishads, the author of the Brahma-sUtra
and the Acharya all emphasized the Realisation of Brahman as ‘the Goal’.
They prompted us to search for the Truth and go after it. Theirs was a
“satya-anveshhaNaM”. In other words, they declared: “Whatever is the Ultimate
Truth, that has to be found by an intense inquiry. Let it be good or bad, let
it be happiness or misery. The flood of Time brings events after events and the
whole universe is in motion. For all this movement there must be a base of
action. And that must be something firmer than all of them. So also in the case
of the JIva that pertains to us, who are waxing Maha-swamigal’s
Discourses 101
and waning, something grants us a life, a consciousness and a
power; what is the permanent substratum of this? Let us discover it.” With this
trumpeting call the Upanishad Rishis marched on with infectious enthusiasm,
confidence and courage and proceeded bravely like ‘dhIras’ towards that
discovery. Truth for the sake of Truth, that was their clarion call. Theirs was
not an aimless adventure of a distressed and crying mind that looks for ways to
be rid of any existing despair in the hope of accepting whatever that comes.
Their spiritual march was not a disgusting prompt by the torture of the mind
flow; nor did they proceed as if they were running away to a distance which may
hold or open up what they know not, but which they will accept, so long as they
are assured of relief from the misery of the mind flow. On the other hand, they
all started with a determination to discover that ineffable Light of the Atman
that was shadowed by an unreal MAyA. Not only did they march to inquire
and discover, but they urged the whole humanity to march with them on the same
call!
I said
they did not start with a distressed and crying mind. One who started with a
distressed mind was the Buddha. But even about him, the followers of that
religion speak of him only as one who went out seeking a positive state of
Enlightenment and he got that Wisdom (bodha) underneath the Bodhi Tree. And
that gave him the name The Buddha. Before he sat for meditation under that tree
it appears he himself said something which has become a significant shloka in
‘Lalita-vistAra’ (A life history of the Buddha). It is so significant that even
now we can cite that as the best example of a ‘mumukShutA’ :
*ihAsane
shushhyatu me sharIraM
tvag-asti
mAmsAni layaM prayAntu /
aprApya
bodhaM bahu-kalpa-durlabhaM
naivAsanAt
kAyam-idaM chalishyati //
meaning,
“Let this body dry out on this very seat; let skin, bone and flesh die. Without
getting Enlightenment, even if it takes as long as a kalpa, this body shall not
move from this seat” ! This is the rock-like resolve that he made before he sat
under the Tree. Whatever it be, our Rishis of the Upanishads did leave everything
only to discover the Ultimate Truth.
To
those sAdhakas whose only goal is to discover the Ultimate Truth, the
Realisation of that Light of Truth becomes the only object of attainment. From
that attainment itself they will be able to infer that the darkness of MAyA is
gone. If we look at the way such Atma-JnAnis have described their
experiences, we learn that they kept on pursuing their enquiry about the Atman
and suddenly the Atman did shine. That is how they say it. They never say that
some such thing as the bondage of MAyA disappeared and then there was
Realisation of the Atman. Because, just Advaita-saadhanaa 102
as Gaudapadacharya has said (in his Mandukya-kArikA), there is
nothing in reality like bondage of MAyA, nor something which shows up as
release of bondage. But now let me not take you into that ‘high philosophy’.
Whatever it be, the only objective of the right advaita-sAdhaka is the
Realisation of the Atman. It is for that purpose, he keeps meditating, at the
final stages of his SAdhanA, on the mahA-vAkyas. And he experiences the
non-different status of JIva and Brahman, declared by the mahAvAkyas. By
that very experience he knows that the bondage is gone. And that is why the
Acharya says *sva-svarUpAva-bodhena moktuM*.
‘Avabodha’
means waking up to a perception. ‘Waking up’ does not mean that ‘sleep’ is gone
and then ‘waking’ happens. One wakes up instantaneously. And by that itself one
knows that ‘sleep’ is gone. The same way here.
We can
even say more. *sva-svarUpa-avabodhAya* , that is, only for the awakening to
One’s Nature. (awakening to Spritual Wisdom). When one is in the state of
‘mumukshhu’ he desires release from bondage. When he goes beyond and attains
enlightenment, he awakens to Wisdom (*sva-svarUpa-avabodhena*) and by that very
awakening he knows he has been released from bondage.
30. Mumukshu – Base level & intermediate level
An
one-pointed intense desire for mokSha is mumukShutvaM. ( Here I have used the
word ‘mokSha’ instead of ‘brahman-realisation’. The former is the layman’s
understanding of it and the Acharya also follows the same; so I shall also go
by the same tradition). But even those who may not have that intensity of
anguish for mokSha, he accepts them, with a gracious mind, as base level
(*manda*) and intermediate level (*madhyama*) and in the next shloka enthuses
them.
In all SAdhanAs
and upAsanAs, there are three levels – manda, madhyama, and uttama (top) – and
accordingly practitioners are spoken of as ‘mandA-dhikAri’, ‘madhyamA-dhikAri’
and ‘uttamA-dhikAri’.
In
advaita-SAdhanA, only those who have reached a reasonable top level will
have the deep desire for mokSha. In other words, only an uttamAdhikAri throws
away all other desires and focusses on mokSha as the single goal. But the
Acharya, in his compassionate view, has given a role to manda- and
madhyama-adhikAris. Even the base level sAdhaka has started his SAdhanA only
because he has a soft corner for mokSha.So the Acharya considers him, as having
mumukShutA in the Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 103
‘manda’ stage. After doing some SAdhanA and attaining a
little maturity he (the sAdhaka) starts thinking a little more about mokSha.
This is the intermediate level. Even now his mind is not steady; it keeps
wavering from this to that.The desire for mokSha which was only momentary in
the beginning is now a little more stationary; but even this does not take any
deep root because of the grip of MAyA. And that is when that
intermediate level mumukShu begins to lose faith because of thoughts like “How
can this poor me get the great achievement of mokSha? It is not possible”. If
this is the case of the intermediate level sAdhakA, then why speak of the basic
level one? Both these have to be enthused into a sustained SAdhanA effort;
so he says:
Manda-madhyama-rUpApi
vairAgyeNa samAdhinA /
prasAdena
guroH seyaM pravRRittA sUyate phalaM //
“Don’t
cry, my dear! Everything will turn out alright by the grace of the Guru. But
you should also deserve it by practice of dispassion. Practice
shamAdi-shhaTkaM. If you do that, even if your mumukShutA is of a basic or
intermediate level only, by the blessing of the Guru it will improve and will
get the desired result”.
Among
the three stages ‘mandaM, madhyamaM, uttamaM’, the third one, ‘uttamaM’ is here
called ‘pravRRittaM’ (that which is well developed). Instead of crying at one’s
inability, if one makes the best possible effort, that along with the grace of
the Guru, will make the effort a ‘pravRRitta’ one.
31. Guru’s Grace
Not
only for mumukShutA, but from A to Z everything in SAdhanA needs the
Grace of the Guru. The Guru views with compassion the effort done with
heart-felt intensity and purity by the disciple and blesses him at every step
and that is what takes him to the next step.
Next
comes the third stage of SAdhanA.
[Note
by VK: Just to recall.
The
first stage is karma-bhakti
for
the purification of the mind.
The
next stage is
SAdhanA-chatushTayaM,
consisting
of Viveka (Discrimination),
VairAgya
(Dispassion),
shamAdi-shhaTkaM
the
sextad beginning with shama, Advaita-saadhanaa 104
and mumukShutvaM (intense longing for mokSha)]
In this
stage, the Grace of the Guru and surrender to the Guru are very important. So
far, even if there is a small slip-up in the control of the senses, it may not
be a big fault. But when one comes to the stage where he is ready to take
sannyAsa and receive the upadesha of the mahA-vAkyas – and certainly beyond
that – even if the mind errs slightly that will become a gigantic fault or sin.
At that point if one thinks that one can self-correct it, he is mistaken. Of
course self-confidence is a good thing. But just that confidence in oneself
will not take one far in the question of defence against such slips. He needs
the strength of Guru’s Grace, in addition to his own strength, particularly at
this stage he has to walk on razor’s edge as it were. That is why the Guru’s
Grace is emphasized here. Once the strong adherence to mumukShutvaM is there,
the SannyAsa and the receiving of the mahAvakya mantra has been done and so
hereafter everything is going to need the Grace of the guru.
32. Ancient Scriptures and the Acharya on mumukshhu
About
mumukShutA, (longing for mokSha), the Acharya has talked in several places.
Particularly in the Viveka chudamani, detailing the five koshas one by one,
when he comes to the mano-maya-kosha, he dwells on mumukShutA.
When he
talked about shraddhA and samadhAna, we saw he related them to the buddhi
(intellect). But when he came to mumukShutA, he relates it to manas, the
mind. We should not take it to mean that mumukShutA is supposed to arise in the
mind only. He actually shows that only when one attends deeply to the fact that
there is nothing like mind, one can become a proper mumukShu and then proceed
further on the right path. Till we reach a certain stage one has to sift good
from the bad, all of which rise in the mind and take only those that are good.
But after that stage the only aim should be mokSha. Thereafter the conviction
should arise this way: “The good things, in the same way as the bad ones, do rise
in the mind itself and are experienced only in the mind. So we should discard
even the good ones, as well as the mind which is the basis for all of them and
resort to the Atman, the only one thing, whether it is good or bad”. And it is
for this reason, when he talks about the manomaya-kosha, he gives the warning
and advice intended for the mumukShu.
Firstly
(*agre* is the word he uses) one should be steadfast in viveka (discrimination)
and vairagya (dispassion). These have to be there in Maha-swamigal’s Discourses
105
abundance; ‘excessive’ (*atireka* ) is the word – shloka
(175/177). He says (shloka176/178): “Mind is a great tiger. It is roaming about
in the forest of objects of enjoyment. The mumukShu, the pious person that he
is, should not go anywhere near it. Therefore stay away from it”. In other
words, ‘don’t use the mind even to think good or do good’. For this the
purification caused by a a lot of viveka (discrimination) and dispassion
(vairAgya) is necessary. “It is the mind that originates, with no exception,
all those objects for the person who is the experiencer (bhoktA) (shloka
177/179). It is the mind again that is the cause for man to orbit round actions
and the experiencing of the results (shloka 178/180). In short, Ignorance
(avidyA) – that is, ajnAnaM, directly opposite to jnAna (Knowledge)
-- is nothing but the mind. Knowledgeable persons say so:
ataH
prAhur-mano’vidyAM paNDitAs-tattva-darshinaH (shloka 180/182)
Therefore
it is the mind that has to be discarded. Before discarding it, it should be
lightened by a purification. Unclean thoughts thicken the mind by their dust;
that has to be purified and lightened. Then MokSha is in your hands”. (shloka
181/183).
At the
end of Viveka-chudamani he ends it by saying that the whole book is for a
mumukShu only. It is clear therefore that till the last moment of Realisation,
the longing (mumukShutvaM) for MokSha continues. The SAdhanA regimen
contends that, after this (that is, after SAdhanA-chatushTayaM)
one receives sannyAsa and then goes through the processes of shravaNa, manana
and nidhidhyAsana and then gets the Light of Realisation, thus becoming
a mukta. But even though the shravaNa, manana and nididhyAsana are mentioned
after the four SAdhanA angas that include mumukShutvaM, even in these
stages (of post-SAdhanA-chatushhTaya stage) the intense longing for
mokSha (that is, mumukShutA) has to continue unabatedly. He may go even to the
peak of nididhyAsana, almost at the point of Brahman-Realisation – even at that
time he is called only a mumukShu, says the Acharya at the end of the book.
Look at the attributes he gives him in the last but one shloka of
VivekachudAmaNi:
hitaM
imaM upadeshaM AdriyantAM
vihita-nirasta-samasta-citta-doshhAH
/
bhava-sukha-vimukhAH
prashAnta-cittAH
shrutirasikA
yatayo mumukShavo ye //
Those
mumukShu sannyAsis who have eradicated the impurities in their minds by the
injunctions of the shAstras, who have turned away from worldly pleasures
and sensual experiences, who have calmed their Advaita-saadhanaa 106
minds, and who have known the essence of the vedas – may they
follow these good teachings.
I draw
your attention to the way mumukShus are described in this shloka. It is clear
therefore that till the moment that one gets to the point of the experience of
Brahman, to the point of one becoming a jIvan-mukta, one is still a mumukShu.
The
whole of Viveka Chudamani has been given by the Acharya a story-setting. The
disciple asks the Guru (shlokas 49/51) “What is bondage of samsAra? How
did it arise? How did it get rooted? And how do we release ourselves from it?”.
The teaching contained in Vivekachudamani is the reply to all these questions.
The disciple listens with great bhakti towards the Guru and coupled with his
true ‘mumukShutA’, as soon as the Guru finishes his teaching, he obtains all
the wisdom and enlightenment – the supreme-most brahma-jnAna and
brahmAnubhava – and thus being released from the very bondage about which he
questioned earlier, he bows to his guru and departs as one who is *nirmuktaH*
(shloka 576/577), the Released One. And the Acharya himself in his own words
winds up the work with “thus has been said in the form of a dialogue between
guru and disciple, the characteristic of the Atman, for the purpose of
generating easy enlightenment for ‘mumukShus’. It is only after this that verse
*hitam imaM * appears, where he gives so many epithets for ‘mumukShus’.
Since
the Acharya has agreed to include three levels – base, intermediate and top
(*manda, madhyama and uttama*) – among mumukShus, there is scope for all, from
ordinary people like us all the way up to true Sannyasis who have calmed down
their minds. Actually it only shows the broad-mindedness of the Acharya. But
amidst that generous gesture, he has also clearly stated that the base level
and intermediate level sAdhakas should rise to the top level by proper practice
of dispassion and shamAdi-shaTkaM, by which they will obtain Guru’s Grace and
thereby their mumukShutA also will rise to its completion.
It is
in concordance with this thought “Unless there is the intense strength of
mumukShutA as well as the power of the Grace of the Guru, one cannot attain the
Atman” that Mundaka Upanishad says ‘The Atman cannot be obtained by a
weakling’.
When it
says Guru’s Grace, it actually means ‘the Grace of God’. The disciple should
never forget that it is Ishwara, the Almighty who is coming as the Guru.
Particularly in advaita-SAdhanA, since it is all a matter of search for JnAna
instead of saguna upAsanA, in the place of the Grace of God one should
stick steadfastly to the concept of Guru’s blessings and allow it to take roots
in the mind. I shall come back to this topic a little later. Now let me finish
this topic of mumukShutvaM. Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 107
I said a weakling cannot attain the Atman. In that Upanishad, in
the mantras before that, it details, in a sense, the defining characteristics
of a mumukShu. Whosoever, not having any other desires, chooses, as DhIras, to
woo only the Atman, to them does the Atman manifest Itself – says the Upanishad.
“To woo
only the Atman”, as is said here, is the positive aspect of mumukShutA. In
opposition to a renunciation of samsAra out of disgust, what we do here
is to identify something, with love, as most desirable for us – this is what is
called ‘varaNaM’ (choosing). It is a ‘svayam-vara’ by us whereby we choose the
Self after having discarded all that is non-Self. The Upanishad mentions here
the goal as well as the interest in it as a pleasant, blissful, positive fact.
In his
SopAna-panchakaM verse 1, the Acharya has also mentioned this positive aspect
in the words *AtmecchA vyavasIyatAM*. It means that one should cultivate with
determination, the desire to obtain Brahman-Realisation. SopAna-panchakaM is a
set of five verses where he takes us step by step through the process, starting
from the rock-bottom of karma-bhakti upto the state of Realisation. There,
before he mentions the renunciation of the household as a SannyAsi, at the
point of mentioning the previous step of mumukShutA, instead of pointing out
what is to be discarded, he focusses on love towards the Atman, which is what
is to be obtained, by saying ‘desire to have mokSha’.
At
several places in the Upanishads we are told about this matter of seeking what
is to be sought rather than searching what is to be discarded. Appar Swamigal
says: “After searching within myself I discovered for myself” (*ennuLe
tedik-kaNDu-koNDen*). MumukShus have been referred to as *brahma-para*, that
is, those who have their only goal (*lakShya*) as Brahman; *brahma-nishhTa* ,
those whose attachment is only in brahman-related matters – here, we are
talking about persons whose interest is in the experience of Brahman; so
‘nishhTA’ here does not mean ‘to be stationed in Brahman by experience’; so the
meanings of attachment, dedication for ‘nishhTA’ are to be taken --, and
*brahma-anveshhamANa*, those who are searching or looking for Brahman. In
Prashnopanishad where it begins with six persons going to a Rishi, it only
describes six mumukShus positively. The ‘anveshhamANa’ word used here is in
concordance with the famous statement in Chandogya Upanishad (VIII – 7 – 1)
where it says that the ParamAtmA is ‘anveshhTavyaH’ , the one to be searched,
sought after.
Kathopanishad
showpieces Naciketas for the entire world as an ideal mumukShu. That little boy
had the only goal, only desire, to learn about the truth of the Atman. In a
rare moment of anger, the father of the boy Advaita-saadhanaa 108
had said: “I have given you over to Yama”. That, taken as law of
the father’s word, makes him go instantaneously to the abode of Yama himself.
After all it is Yama that takes the life when one dies. So Naciketas had a firm
conviction that Yama must be knowing the mystery of the Atman which is the
truth behind all life. He is determined to get the teaching directly from Yama
himself. To Yama-puri, the very thought of which frightens people, the little
boy proceeded as if it were his gurukulaM. The reason could only be his was a
true mumukShutA! When he arrived there, Yama was not home. He returned home
only three days later. All the three days the residents of Yamapuri wanted to
play host to him, but Naciketas wouldn either eat nor accept any thing ‘Until I
get taught what I sought, why would I take food, or for that matter, anything
else?’ said he, with his mind anxiously set on his goal.
Then it
is that Yama, the terror of the three worlds, became fearful of this bachelor
boy, lest the sin of keeping him for three days stay without food at his place
might consume Yama himself. So he gives the boy three boons, one for each of
those days.
Of the
three boons, the important one was the third wherein the boy asked to be taught
the philosophy of the Atman.
Before
Yama gave the supreme teaching to Naciketas, he put the boy to a test just to
confirm the intensity of his mumukShutA (longing for mokSha). Or maybe Yama
knew it all; he may just have wanted to put the boy to a test just to showcase
to the world at large this ideal mumukShu.
The
Lord of Death told the boy to ask for a different boon ‘because the
Atman-philosophy is something which can confuse even the divines’. But the boy
was smart enough for that. He says: “By the very fact you are categorising it
like this, it must be great. So nothing else would be equivalent to that boon
which I am seeking. Please give it to me. There is nobody else who can equal
you in teaching this to me.”
Yama
tries different artifices to convince the boy. “I will grant you lots and lots
of elephants, horses, treasures, land, kingship, sons and grandsons, life as
long as you wish. Whatever you desire I will grant it. I will send my own men
to run your chariot and to play music for you. Please don’t press for your
boon. Ask anything else” says Lord Yama. All this is a test. He forces a golden
necklace on the boy.
Nothing
tempted the boy Naciketas. “What all you are giving will one day return to you.
I want only that which will be permanent, ever. I want only that. This
Naciketas will not take anything else!”—says the boy most emphatically. The
golden necklace is not even touched by him. Maha-swamigal’s Discourses 109
And Yama is completely satisfied. He praises the boy. “You have
discarded all these gifts as *alpaM* (finite, trivial). You have kept your mind
on VidyA only. May I get more and more seekers like you! (This statement of
Yama shows that such persons are really rare). You are a *DhIra* (brave soul).
The gates of Brahma Loka are open for you! (Here Brahma-loka does not mean the
world of Creator BrahmA. It means that the gate is open for you to go forward to
the Truth, that is Brahman.” After praising the boy like this, he gives him the
secret teaching as was demanded by him.
And at
the end of the Upanishad we are told Naciketas, who came as a mumukShu, became
actually a mukta (one who is released). And further, those who get to know the
Truth like him will all get Release -- so ends the Upanishad. “Like him” means,
“ with that kind of intense mumukShutA”.
We
began with the four-part SAdhanA regimen. These four parts end with this
‘mumukShutA’.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of H H
Kanchi Mahaswamy, great devotees and Advaita Vedanta dot org for the collection)
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