Sringeri Days..part 40
Umesha continued explaining a few more verses of ashtAvakra Samhita. When he or jyeshta maha sannidhanam say something, it triggers a thought process in you that reverberates for a very long time. You tend to understand instantaneously without any effort ;what happens later is that brain compares it with other ‘knowledge elements’ we have stored in the memory. That is where the confusion starts.
In PrmAna Lakshana, Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni writes in his typical terse and grading style that any thing that helps us understand things ‘as they are’ is validation , proof.
य्थार्तं प्रमाणम् |तद्द्विविदं | केवलं अनुप्रमाणम्च | यथार्तज्ञानम् केवलं |तत्साधनं अनुप्रमाणम् |
केवलं चातुर्विदं ईश लक्ष्मीयोगि अयोगि भेदेन | योगिज्ञानं रुजूनाम् अनादि नित्यं
Anything that helps us understand ,as it is, directly is termed ‘Kevala pramana’ while anything that acts only as a ‘means’ , acting as a secondary process is termed ‘ anupramANa.’. He classifies Kevala PramAnam into four types, that of - Isha, Lakshmi, Yogi and aYogi. He goes on splitting the anupramANa into three types-pratyaksha, anumana and Agama , ie direct perception, inference and Text.
What this meant was that Ishwara, Lakshmi, Yogi and some ayOgi had some magical awareness process that gives a perfect knowledge of things ‘as they are’. Being an empirical philosopher to the core, Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni believes in gradation in everything. So, Ishwara & Lakshmi have SwarUpa jnAna, ie , their very constitution is ‘made’ of knowledge while ‘Yogi’ and ‘ayogi’ have some vrutii sensory component as well. Be that as may, these four category have unoriginated and eternal knowledge. Tatva vaadins call it Apta vakhya and declare it pramaaNa.
This theory and model of validation sounded obscure to me till my continued interaction with Umesha and JMS who helped me understand it clearly. Strange as it may sound, many theories of Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni became clear to me due to interaction with and grace of Sringeri Shankaracharya. The fact that Tatva Vaada Dwaitha is seemingly opposed to Advaitha had no relevance at all.
So, I listened to Umesha with rapt attention. He continued .
“धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुखं मानसानि न ते विभो।
न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा॥१-६॥
Virtue and vice, pleasure and pain, are of the mind, not of you, O All- pervading One. You are neither doer nor enjoyer. Verily you are ever free”
This is something I could get a hang of and reasonably internalize quickly. I had always wondered as to why “I” really was not feeling any sense of years rolling by as I grew into a young man. Listening to Umesha in 1982 sitting in his home was not feeling any different from when I stared at my father lying dead in Victoria Hospital in Bangalore in 1963. Nothing changed in me or for me.
“एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा।
अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम्॥१-७॥
You are the one seer of all and are really ever free. This alone is your bondage that you see yourself not as mere witness”.
Indeed. The fact that I was mere witness while nothing changes in me , for me, was something I kept forgetting very easily and let myself ‘suffer’ and ‘celebrate’ from time to time.
“मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।
किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥ १-११॥
He who thinks he is free, is indeed free; one who considers himself bound remains bound. The saying, “As one thinks, so one becomes,” is quite true”.
Now, this was a tough one. Is it just incumbent on me to feel liberated ? This will take quite some time , I reckoned. Umesh rounded it off with another one from ashtAvakra samhita.
“त्वया व्याप्तमिदं विश्वं त्वयि प्रोतं यथार्थतः ।
शुद्धबुद्धस्वरूपस्त्वं मा गमः क्षुद्रचित्तताम् ॥ १-१६॥
You pervade this universe and this universe exists in you. You are really Pure Consciousness. Do not be small-minded.”
“ Why all this confusion in the mind? Your problem is that you are doing exactly what ashtAvakra is suggesting we should not do. When you were a child, did you know what it is to be a Brahmin ? Did you know you were one ? Did you see yourself as a Maadhwa until you were told by your parents ? It is all due to conditioning by others and your own beliefs you let yourself to be slotted into something. Break free”. He stopped and gave his enigmatic smile.
“You are at crossroads. You go to Sringeri and seek guidance from Acharya for your next steps in life. I will also be there and guide you there.”
All indications were there to tell me that next visit to Sringeri was going to be another turning point in my life.As directed by Umesha, I traveled to Sringeri with an apprehensive mind. Four years back I had made the first secretive sojourn to Sringeri. I was then so unsure what to expect from meeting a Guru whose philosophical tradition was diametrically opposed to our family tradition.
What happened then was so personal and dramatic. After an uneventful darshan of jyesthata maha sannidhanam, I was sitting in front of the samadhi of Chandra Shekara Bharati on a dark ,rainy night. There were no one else around. With a pounding heart I waited for Umesha. Umesha walked briskly from Guru Nivas with a broad smile and initiated me into a life long quest. He had remarked that I was truly blessed to be initiated in Sringeri, a place sanctified by Rishya Sringa, where Shankara Bhagavat Pada had walked about; the King maker Vidyaranya ruled as Pontiff; the great yogi tapasvins Ugra Narasimha Bharati, and SSA Narasimha Bharati walked around. And under the benevolence Shri Abhinava Vidyatheertha , it was done in front of Chandrashekara Bharatai Samadhi!
Notwithstanding all those kind words spoken them, here I was , four years later , with more apprehensions. What did I learn and achieve in four years of personal mentoring by Umesha ? Why was I still confused as ever ?
I finished my ablutions in the cool waters of River Tunga and sat down for meditations. The meditation was intense as usual, and a sad thought pushed me into gloom and despondency. What was I going to do ? On the one hand, I found the loukika and samsara totally tasteless. On the other hand, family pressures, difficulty in sublimating desires, and health problems made me waver and I was no longer confident of myself. I was there to seek a solution from Jyeshta Maha sannidhanam. What would he advice ? More importantly, like Umesha had pointed out, what would I ask of him?
My mind wandered back to the conversation with Umesha in chennai. He had asked me about ashtAvakara samhita and then discoursed on Yoga vAshishta. Valmiki’s yoga vAshsita was Umesha’s favorite text and he would quote from it at several occassions.
The book examines a fundamental question on Raama Avatara. Lord Vishnu took birth as a human being, subjecting himself to vissicitudes of Samsaara - going through the joys and grief of family life. In every other Avatara , Vishnu would visibly come and go as God ; self assured, self confident and with a clear mission. None of them would get banished from power, feel inadequate, lose any personal wealth or wife , wander in grief, depend on strange animals for war and so on.
Why did Vishnu subject himself to joys and miseries of an average samsaari in Raama Avatara ?
Sage Baradwaja had a similar doubt and he asks his Guru Valmiki muni in Yoga Vaashsita :
बगवन् ज्ञातुमिच्छामि कथं संसार संकटे
रामो व्यवह्यतो ह्यास्मिन् कारुण्यात् देहिमे गुरो
“I am desirous of knowing how did Sri Rama come to be in this Samsara full of pains a”.
Valmiki is very pleased with this question , and after appreciating Baradwaja, assures that his response will help all seekers banish the blemish of illusion that confuses minds.
साधु वत्स भारद्वाज योग्योसि कथयामि ते
श्रुतेन येन संमोह मलं दूरे करिष्यति
Valmiki uses this as a context to lay out a fundamental principle which is generally obscured by our pre-conceived notions. We all are convinced, without any evidence, that someone looking, talking and acting radically different is indeed a jnAni and a great Guru. This is why we see a proliferation of babas, gurus with strange get ups and sound bytes.
Valmiki dashes this model to dust by making Raama, an avatara of Vishnu despondent and confused; makes even Sukha brahma doubt himself. On the contrary, King Janaka is presented as shining example of a jnAni to whom even Suka turns to.
Valmiki’s simply tells a despondent Raama, who talks bitterly about evil of samsaara and hopelessness of human life, that tendencies drag us to believing things that are not real.
भ्रमस्य जगतस्यास्य जातस्य आकाश वर्णवत्
अपुनः स्मरणं साधो मन्ये विस्मरणं वरम्
Due to bhrama we see the objective universe as we do, only to be corrected by recollection of true nature; just as one sees the sky to be of blue color, while sky has no color.
अशेषेण परित्यागो वासनानां य उत्तमः
मोक्ष इत्युच्यते सदिः स एव विमलक्रमः
The wise say that the best thing for a man to do in this world is to eradicate Vasanas, which cause the mind to fluctuate; such abdication constitutes an unblemished path to Moksha
वासना द्विविधा प्रोक्ता शुद्द च मलिना तथा
मलिना जन्मनो हेतुः शुद्दा जन्म विनाशनि
Vasanas are of two kinds - pure and the impure ;the impure Vasanas are those that cause re-births, while the pure ones are those which destroy the cycle of re-births.
Valmiki’s long teaching seems to point out that, even terming the world as ‘miserable meaninglessness’ is as much a product of bhrama, as much it is to fall for it. He seems to goad Raama to take things evenly, without getting swayed and go on to discharge the duties of being a Prince.
The recollections of these conversations with Umesha helped me decide what I would ask of Jyeshta Mahasannidhanam. Umesha came there to fetch me to the chambers of Bharathi theertharu.
What I asked of him pleased him to no limit.
Umesha continued explaining a few more verses of ashtAvakra Samhita. When he or jyeshta maha sannidhanam say something, it triggers a thought process in you that reverberates for a very long time. You tend to understand instantaneously without any effort ;what happens later is that brain compares it with other ‘knowledge elements’ we have stored in the memory. That is where the confusion starts.
In PrmAna Lakshana, Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni writes in his typical terse and grading style that any thing that helps us understand things ‘as they are’ is validation , proof.
य्थार्तं प्रमाणम् |तद्द्विविदं | केवलं अनुप्रमाणम्च | यथार्तज्ञानम् केवलं |तत्साधनं अनुप्रमाणम् |केवलं चातुर्विदं ईश लक्ष्मीयोगि अयोगि भेदेन | योगिज्ञानं रुजूनाम् अनादि नित्यं
Anything that helps us understand ,as it is, directly is termed ‘Kevala pramana’ while anything that acts only as a ‘means’ , acting as a secondary process is termed ‘ anupramANa.’. He classifies Kevala PramAnam into four types, that of - Isha, Lakshmi, Yogi and aYogi. He goes on splitting the anupramANa into three types-pratyaksha, anumana and Agama , ie direct perception, inference and Text.
What this meant was that Ishwara, Lakshmi, Yogi and some ayOgi had some magical awareness process that gives a perfect knowledge of things ‘as they are’. Being an empirical philosopher to the core, Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni believes in gradation in everything. So, Ishwara & Lakshmi have SwarUpa jnAna, ie , their very constitution is ‘made’ of knowledge while ‘Yogi’ and ‘ayogi’ have some vrutii sensory component as well. Be that as may, these four category have unoriginated and eternal knowledge. Tatva vaadins call it Apta vakhya and declare it pramaaNa.
This theory and model of validation sounded obscure to me till my continued interaction with Umesha and JMS who helped me understand it clearly. Strange as it may sound, many theories of Shrimad Ananda Theertha Muni became clear to me due to interaction with and grace of Sringeri Shankaracharya. The fact that Tatva Vaada Dwaitha is seemingly opposed to Advaitha had no relevance at all.
So, I listened to Umesha with rapt attention. He continued .
“धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुखं मानसानि न ते विभो।
न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा॥१-६॥
Virtue and vice, pleasure and pain, are of the mind, not of you, O All- pervading One. You are neither doer nor enjoyer. Verily you are ever free”
This is something I could get a hang of and reasonably internalize quickly. I had always wondered as to why “I” really was not feeling any sense of years rolling by as I grew into a young man. Listening to Umesha in 1982 sitting in his home was not feeling any different from when I stared at my father lying dead in Victoria Hospital in Bangalore in 1963. Nothing changed in me or for me.
“एको द्रष्टासि सर्वस्य मुक्तप्रायोऽसि सर्वदा।
अयमेव हि ते बन्धो द्रष्टारं पश्यसीतरम्॥१-७॥
You are the one seer of all and are really ever free. This alone is your bondage that you see yourself not as mere witness”.
Indeed. The fact that I was mere witness while nothing changes in me , for me, was something I kept forgetting very easily and let myself ‘suffer’ and ‘celebrate’ from time to time.
“मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि ।किंवदन्तीह सत्येयं या मतिः सा गतिर्भवेत् ॥ १-११॥
He who thinks he is free, is indeed free; one who considers himself bound remains bound. The saying, “As one thinks, so one becomes,” is quite true”.
Now, this was a tough one. Is it just incumbent on me to feel liberated ? This will take quite some time , I reckoned. Umesh rounded it off with another one from ashtAvakra samhita.
“त्वया व्याप्तमिदं विश्वं त्वयि प्रोतं यथार्थतः ।
शुद्धबुद्धस्वरूपस्त्वं मा गमः क्षुद्रचित्तताम् ॥ १-१६॥
You pervade this universe and this universe exists in you. You are really Pure Consciousness. Do not be small-minded.”
“ Why all this confusion in the mind? Your problem is that you are doing exactly what ashtAvakra is suggesting we should not do. When you were a child, did you know what it is to be a Brahmin ? Did you know you were one ? Did you see yourself as a Maadhwa until you were told by your parents ? It is all due to conditioning by others and your own beliefs you let yourself to be slotted into something. Break free”. He stopped and gave his enigmatic smile.
“You are at crossroads. You go to Sringeri and seek guidance from Acharya for your next steps in life. I will also be there and guide you there.”
All indications were there to tell me that next visit to Sringeri was going to be another turning point in my life.As directed by Umesha, I traveled to Sringeri with an apprehensive mind. Four years back I had made the first secretive sojourn to Sringeri. I was then so unsure what to expect from meeting a Guru whose philosophical tradition was diametrically opposed to our family tradition.
What happened then was so personal and dramatic. After an uneventful darshan of jyesthata maha sannidhanam, I was sitting in front of the samadhi of Chandra Shekara Bharati on a dark ,rainy night. There were no one else around. With a pounding heart I waited for Umesha. Umesha walked briskly from Guru Nivas with a broad smile and initiated me into a life long quest. He had remarked that I was truly blessed to be initiated in Sringeri, a place sanctified by Rishya Sringa, where Shankara Bhagavat Pada had walked about; the King maker Vidyaranya ruled as Pontiff; the great yogi tapasvins Ugra Narasimha Bharati, and SSA Narasimha Bharati walked around. And under the benevolence Shri Abhinava Vidyatheertha , it was done in front of Chandrashekara Bharatai Samadhi!Notwithstanding all those kind words spoken them, here I was , four years later , with more apprehensions. What did I learn and achieve in four years of personal mentoring by Umesha ? Why was I still confused as ever ?
I finished my ablutions in the cool waters of River Tunga and sat down for meditations. The meditation was intense as usual, and a sad thought pushed me into gloom and despondency. What was I going to do ? On the one hand, I found the loukika and samsara totally tasteless. On the other hand, family pressures, difficulty in sublimating desires, and health problems made me waver and I was no longer confident of myself. I was there to seek a solution from Jyeshta Maha sannidhanam. What would he advice ? More importantly, like Umesha had pointed out, what would I ask of him?
My mind wandered back to the conversation with Umesha in chennai. He had asked me about ashtAvakara samhita and then discoursed on Yoga vAshishta. Valmiki’s yoga vAshsita was Umesha’s favorite text and he would quote from it at several occassions.
The book examines a fundamental question on Raama Avatara. Lord Vishnu took birth as a human being, subjecting himself to vissicitudes of Samsaara - going through the joys and grief of family life. In every other Avatara , Vishnu would visibly come and go as God ; self assured, self confident and with a clear mission. None of them would get banished from power, feel inadequate, lose any personal wealth or wife , wander in grief, depend on strange animals for war and so on.
Why did Vishnu subject himself to joys and miseries of an average samsaari in Raama Avatara ?
Sage Baradwaja had a similar doubt and he asks his Guru Valmiki muni in Yoga Vaashsita :बगवन् ज्ञातुमिच्छामि कथं संसार संकटे
रामो व्यवह्यतो ह्यास्मिन् कारुण्यात् देहिमे गुरो
“I am desirous of knowing how did Sri Rama come to be in this Samsara full of pains a”.
Valmiki is very pleased with this question , and after appreciating Baradwaja, assures that his response will help all seekers banish the blemish of illusion that confuses minds.
साधु वत्स भारद्वाज योग्योसि कथयामि ते
श्रुतेन येन संमोह मलं दूरे करिष्यति
Valmiki uses this as a context to lay out a fundamental principle which is generally obscured by our pre-conceived notions. We all are convinced, without any evidence, that someone looking, talking and acting radically different is indeed a jnAni and a great Guru. This is why we see a proliferation of babas, gurus with strange get ups and sound bytes.
Valmiki dashes this model to dust by making Raama, an avatara of Vishnu despondent and confused; makes even Sukha brahma doubt himself. On the contrary, King Janaka is presented as shining example of a jnAni to whom even Suka turns to.
Valmiki’s simply tells a despondent Raama, who talks bitterly about evil of samsaara and hopelessness of human life, that tendencies drag us to believing things that are not real.
भ्रमस्य जगतस्यास्य जातस्य आकाश वर्णवत्
अपुनः स्मरणं साधो मन्ये विस्मरणं वरम्
Due to bhrama we see the objective universe as we do, only to be corrected by recollection of true nature; just as one sees the sky to be of blue color, while sky has no color.
अशेषेण परित्यागो वासनानां य उत्तमः
मोक्ष इत्युच्यते सदिः स एव विमलक्रमः
The wise say that the best thing for a man to do in this world is to eradicate Vasanas, which cause the mind to fluctuate; such abdication constitutes an unblemished path to Moksha
वासना द्विविधा प्रोक्ता शुद्द च मलिना तथा
मलिना जन्मनो हेतुः शुद्दा जन्म विनाशनि
Vasanas are of two kinds - pure and the impure ;the impure Vasanas are those that cause re-births, while the pure ones are those which destroy the cycle of re-births.
Valmiki’s long teaching seems to point out that, even terming the world as ‘miserable meaninglessness’ is as much a product of bhrama, as much it is to fall for it. He seems to goad Raama to take things evenly, without getting swayed and go on to discharge the duties of being a Prince.
The recollections of these conversations with Umesha helped me decide what I would ask of Jyeshta Mahasannidhanam. Umesha came there to fetch me to the chambers of Bharathi theertharu.What I asked of him pleased him to no limit.
No comments:
Post a Comment