A
COMPARATIVE STUDY
OF PHILOSOPHY
The
esteemed status of Indian Philosophy remains in its adaptability to all times,
its applicability to all environments, its suitability to all sections of
society, and finally its acceptance by peoples belonging to all walks of life. Many among you might have heard or read in
the immortal epic of Mahabharata, the story of a butcher by profession,
and as such, most likely to be an illiterate, imparting India's exclusive and
invaluable wealth, which is its pre-eminently famous spiritual knowledge,
the Upanishadic Wisdom, to a traditionally ordained mendicant monk, belonging
to an eminently higher class in social considerations. This particular episode shows that Indian
philosophy ever remains as a working principle in day to day life, for all
sections of society and to people of all walks of life, irrespective of their cast,
creed and profession. Without grasping
India's age-old culture in its entirety and in its true perspective, the
Western Civilisation finds fault with India's Sanatana Dharma, the
eternal and ideal way of life, which is rooted in Varna-Ashrama-Dharma theory, the observance
of a class system based on the spiritual evolution of the peoples in India.
The educated people of modern India, should become aware
of Lord Macaulay's extensive travel-missions which were undertaken by him in
the true spirit of a pilgrimage, throughout the length and breadth of India for
about five years, during the early part of 19th century and his subsequently
prepared research findings, the outcome of a thorough study of India's Sanatana
Dharma, which were formally submitted to the House of Lords in the British
Parliament, prior to 1835. Lord Macaulay
was specially deputed to do that job so that the cunning and crafty rulers of
Britain could draw a new policy and subsequently implement that policy to keep
India under their administrative control for extended periods. He worked as a High Commissioner of the
British Empire in the princely state of Cochin for some time but today he is widely
known as a great reformer of educational system in India. The model system introduced by him was in
practice from 1835 to 1960 in Kerala.
Lord Macaulay served as a High Commissioner during the
reign of the most illustrious ruler of Cochin Kingdom, His Highness Rama
Varma Tampuraan, popularly known as Shaktan Tampuraan. In his painstaking report, Macaulay tries to
emphasize a fact repeatedly, that he could not come across a single incident of
theft or beggary in India as the people were leading a contented life. He could
clearly see the life style of a mendicant monk in India, as totally different
from beggary, as the people in India offered Bhiksha i.e. alms to a
mendicant monk with utmost devotion and respect. If it is elaborated a little further, Macaulay
could see the great God of gods in India, viz. Lord Siva, wandering in the
temple town of Varanasi as a Bhikshaatana-Murty, a mendicant of the highest
order, setting up a pre-eminent example for the whole world. Much more information is available in Appendix
II, REASON VERSUS FAITH, in my book titled Bhakti Yoga, published in 2018.
In Sanatana
Dharma, popularly known as Hinduism, the eligibility to enter the school of
philosophy is gained by pursuing the path shown by the powerful beacon of
religion, in the beginning. By leading a
profitable religious life ordained by the Vedas, which gets elucidated in
detail through the likes of Sage Bodhayana and Apastamba, the spiritual
evolution gains momentum in India. By
leading such a life based on total faith in the eternal Vedas, the compendium
of all knowledge and wisdom, the intellect sheds its waywardness, sluggish-ness
and all negative thoughts and tendencies. Waywardness is due to the
predominance of Rajo Guna and sluggishness, along with negative thoughts
and tendencies, is due to the predominance of Tamo Guna in the nervous
system. The mind is the central point in
the nervous system. The nervous system
acts as a bridge between the astral body and the physical body. Once these Gunas of lower nature are
shed to a considerable extent, the mind attains Satva Guna to a very high
level, which would be clearly perceptible in the form of a shining aura around
the individual's face.
Pure Satva
Guna is verily light, to be more precise, light cons-ciousness. This effulgence is axiomatic, beyond sensory
perception. With this attainment of purity
of intellect, the mind can concentrate and contemplate on the subtler and higher
Truths which are totally transcendental in nature. Gaining eligibility is much more important
than getting initiation in spiritual path; exactly similar to the practice of drying
up the firewood thoroughly before lighting it, to receive smokeless flames
instantly. Saint Ramakrishna, the illustrious
Para-Bhakta and the very life force of Ramakrishna Mission, intuited his
transcendental Self at the stroke of initiation as he had attained total purity
of mind through sustained worship of Goddess Bhavataarini, the name
given to Mother Kaali in Dakshineshwar, Calcutta.
When we
make an objective study of Indian philosophy, consisting of its theory and practice,
we should naturally make a comparative study of other Darshanas i.e. philosophies,
as well, which have sprung in India and in other parts of the world, to understand
the uniqueness and greatness of Indian philosophy based upon the eternal Vedas. This should not be construed as an all-out
attack against all other faiths and philosophies. It is only intended to expose the amount of negativity
and corruption that have crept into those faiths and philosophies in the long
run of their spiritual evolution.
In
Indian ethos alone, religion and philosophy, eternally remain complimentary to
each other; never contradicting with each other. Quite contradictory to this statement, if we
trace the history of the West we can see that religion and philosophy have
remained at logger heads with each other, for most of the time.
From
properly recorded history available today, we can come across various incidents,
of philosophers, thinkers, astronomers, social reformers, and all those who
could not toe the line of Christian thinking and convictions, having been dealt
with, unjustly and ruthlessly. Socrates
died due to administration of poison. Jesus
was nailed on the cross, in stark naked condition. Italian astronomer Galileo was sentenced to
death for blasphemy, as he preached against the Christian belief, in those days,
of the Sun revolving around the stationary Earth. Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, who
lived from 1724 to 1804, even though not sentenced to death, had to remain
confined to his home town of Prussia, during the last quarter of his life. From all these incidents we can see clearly how
much Christianity was immersed in bigotry and in ignorance of the principle of Atman,
the fundamental principle of one's own being.
Now the
crucifixion of Jesus. Fixing the body on
a cross with three nails is the most cruel and dreaded type of sentences. It is a primitive idea of the most
uncivilised and wicked. The person
crucified in this manner would die in a protracted time of three days or even
more, without even getting a drop of water to quench his thirst.
This
happens because of the religious faiths and philosophies in the West, never
having a sane, sound and logical foundation.
Western philosophy, which is nothing but a free-thinking intellectual exercise,
doesn't have the blessing and backing of any religious faith and reciprocally
the religious faiths in the West do not enjoy the blessings of a sane and
objective philosophy.
The
ideal life preached by Christianity today is a way of life rooted in total bigotry
as it has deviated terribly from the path shown by the great reformer, Jesus
Christ. Leaving aside the spirit of
Jesus' teachings, Christianity today exists, holding on to its skeleton
alone. Christians propagate, that anyone
converting oneself formally, to the Religious Faith of Christianity alone, will
reach the state of spiritual perfection, which they call the attainment of the
kingdom of God or heaven, and no one else.
Holding on steadfast, to this bigotry of the highest order, they are
engaged in mass conversion movements.
The
Christians maintain an age-old conviction that the present world is at the
verge of destruction and Jesus Christ, the Messiah of humanity would reappear
on Earth to dispense justice to all, on that final day and his manifestation is
imminent now. During the course of a
train journey, undertaken by me a few years ago, some of my fellow travelers who
were to attend a seminar, as delegates, in Ernakulum, pretended to be my good friends
and well wishers. They advised me to convert to Christianity quickly to save
myself from eternal damnation, as Christ was willing to save, edify and elevate
only those people, who would have formally converted themselves to the Faith of
Christianity. When I retorted smilingly that
I was living in that kingdom of heaven only, even at that particular moment,
which they were hoping to reach after shedding their physical bodies in the
future, they fled from the scene never to show their faces again and meet me
during the course of the remaining part of the journey.
In
Vatican records, it is written that Pope Francis would be the last Pontiff to
adorn that throne. I agree with this
statement of theirs as I have some valid intuitive knowledge of Jesus'
manifestation in the 21st century. The irony
in this case is that, the Christian community do not know where he will be born
and in which family he will be born; whether it will take place in a
traditional Christian family or a non-Christian family. But I have a clear grasp of the manifestation
of Jesus on account of my Guru's Grace. The
only information I want to reveal to my Christian friends is that Jesus is
already born in India, to be more precise, in Tamil Nadu, in a non-Christian
family, with a new name. He will reveal himself
at the opportune time, to transform the entire world. Those who can recognise him on account of his
miraculous powers of even moving mountains, his inviolable commands and his
total authority on Earth, and who can accept him willingly, as their only eternal
savior without any reservation, will be saved from eternal damnation; none
else. The destruction they imagine won't
be a total destruction. It would be a
destruction to the extent of approximately eighty percent. There would be a geological realignment of
islands and continents also, which has not taken place in a significant scale,
during the past many millenniums.
Now we
come back to Jesus again. Even the death
of Jesus on the cross, the disappearance of his body subsequently from the
grave, his ascent to the kingdom or realm of heaven and his resurrection on
Easter Sunday is a totally misrepresented version of what actually happened. Final disappearance of any person with his
body, can happen of course, when that Soul has reached the state of Para-Bhakti
and remains in a mood of Maha-Bhava, a state of trance, pining intensely
to unite with his beloved God in the astral realm. Here, the visible gross body transforms into
light, the omnipresent effulgence, along with the Soul and merges with the all-pervading
light consciousness, which is the very being of Saguna Brahman. The Vaishnavite
Saint Andal, the Saivaite Saints Manickavaachakar and Nandanar and the
Marathi Saint Tuka Ram are some of the cons-picuous examples for Para-Bhakti,
who disappeared from this tangible world of mortals and got merged with the omnipresent
light consciousness, by remaining in the state of Maha-Bhava. These incidents took place when the world was
watching and gazing at them intently.
There is absolutely no element of mystery or unbelievable surprise for
any Hindu, in these incidents. But quite
differently, in a state of intense suffering, and that too being nailed on a cross
as a punishment, this can never happen, as the Karma of that individual
in that body doesn't come to its natural end.
A
Muslim cleric, intended to propagate and promote the interests and growth of
Islam and as such, who was formally deputed as a spokesperson of Islam from
Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom, during the nineteen forties, had offered
two options to the Christian community for their acceptance or rejection. "If you firmly declare that Jesus died on
the cross, you will have to accept the first option which is ‘Jesus was a despicable
sinner and as such, a forsaken soul by God.
This is stated from the fact that God didn't save Jesus from the ignominy
and great injustice of crucifixion and the resulting death on the cross. I don't say that Jesus was a sinner or a
forsaken soul by God and as such, he died on the cross. You only say Jesus died on the cross. Now, the second and only option left for you
is, to accept and support my statement that Jesus didn't die on the
cross." What a thoughtful, logical
and irrefutable argument! The fact was
that Jesus didn't die on the cross.
The wooden
cross, after nailing Jesus in the lying posture, was erected just before the
stroke of mid-day on that dreaded Friday.
In the meantime, God executed His highly secretive plan through a team
of faithful and dedicated people who were also very much influential in the
society, by being members of the legislature, to save the life of Jesus. As per their plan, they had prepared and kept
ready, a liquid, a herbal mixture containing opium. It was soaked in a bit of sponge and that bit
of sponge was fixed on the sharp end of a reed.
The sponge was held close to the mouth of Jesus whose body remained
suspended on the cross. Quite instinctively
Jesus absorbed the herbal mixture and became unconscious instantly. The chain of events was as per their plan. Jesus remained totally unaware of the
excruciating pain. There was absolutely no
trace of any perceptible scream or movement on the part of Jesus, thereafter. In that unconscious state, the respiration
would become extremely thin and un-noticeably finer and finer. That would
create a strong impression on the onlooker, even from a close range, that the
person has breathed his last.
The same
team of men went to the Roman Governor, Pilothouse, and demanded the body of
Jesus, at about 3 P.M. on that Friday, which later came to be known as Good
Friday. Initially there was difficulty
in convincing Pilothouse, that Jesus had died on the cross so quickly, to be
more precise, within the gap of three hours. Pilothouse sent his agent to verify their
claim and that agent took to the conventional steps to confirm the matter
through the security guards. They struck
Jesus' body forcefully against the ribs, at the right side, using their sharp weapon,
the lance. Being unable to see even the slightest
reaction from Jesus, the agent finally had to conclude that Jesus had died on
the cross. Subsequently he conveyed his assumption of the matter, personally to
Pilothouse. After receiving this
confirmation only, Pilothouse finally relented to release the body of Jesus.
By the
time the body of Jesus was received, it was nearing sunset. As per the Jewish customs prevailing in those
days, the rites of burial had to be completed before sunset on that Friday,
failing which the burial would get postponed to the next Monday i.e. after a
gap of two days which would be totally detrimental to their preconceived plan. As such, they conducted the rites of a formal
burial for which they had made all the necessary preparations, in advance. They
conducted the rites rather hurriedly, before dusk, in the immediate presence of
everyone, making the entire world believe conclusively that Jesus died on the
cross. Only after executing their plan
successfully, all those team members dispersed for the night along with the curious
onlookers, present at that time. The
grave was a man-made cave filled with herbs, capable of healing any deep wound
in quick time. An abnormally large stone
was placed against the trap door of the cave so that no one could get access to
the cave easily.
After
an interval of about 30 hours, during the small hours of Easter Sunday, in
thick darkness, the same team of men secretly assembled again on that spot of
burial when Jesus also had regained his consciousness. There is evidence of the
presence of Mary Magdalene at that time, on that spot. In that dim light when she was shocked to see
the cave of burial empty, she heard the voice of her nearby master, Jesus,
telling her "Don't search the living among the dead." Thereafter, Jesus was shifted from there,
leaving the cave of burial wide open. On
account of all these mysterious happening which was so puzzling, the world was
made to believe conclusively, that the body of Jesus had disappeared into
infinity.
Subsequently,
Jesus was shifted to different locations and in one of such locations the 12 disciples,
to be called apostles later, met their master.
During that meeting, Thomas alone could not believe that it was the same
Jesus, his master, in flesh and blood.
His assumption was that, it was the ghostly or phantom form of Jesus. We call it ஆவி உருவம் in Tamil. To infuse belief and optimism into Thomas,
Jesus took the palm of Thomas and placed it against his chest, for Thomas to
practically feel and get reassured that Jesus was very much in his physical
body. The popular idiom of doubting-Thomas
to describe a skeptical person, came into usage ever since that time.
The
cosmic law of justice says that till the injustice done to the un-naturally
departed souls is redressed, in letter and spirit, to the satisfaction of the
aggrieved, such restless souls would wander about, in the atmosphere close to
the terrestrial plane, with their ghostly bodies, vehemently demanding
justice. In a totally restless state of
mind they cannot rise to farther heights, i.e. beyond the limits of ionosphere.
This realm within the ionosphere is always
turbulent and restive with frequent magnetic storms during daytime. As such, no soul can remain peaceful in this
realm. Without getting justice for their
grievances, these restless souls cannot escape, from this realm.
Coming
back to Jesus now. Regaining good health
in quick time, since his removal from the cross, Jesus' earthly sojourn came to
its logical and natural end after migrating to Kashmir, and spending a little
over fifty years there in the outskirts of Srinagar. We can assume that Jesus would have remained there,
in a contemplative mood thereafter, which we call Nirvikalpa Samadhi. As his earthly mission of transforming the
world, was over by that time, through his act of putting up with the crucifixion
on the cross, without any ill will, he didn't come into the limelight of the
world again. The tomb where Jesus' body
is laid to rest is under the care of Imams belonging to Islamic Religious Faith
today; they call it 'Isa Nabi's Tomb'.
Please
go through the widely circulated book "JESUS LIVED IN INDIA - His Unknown
Life Before & After Crucifixion" originally written in German by
Holger Kersten. Later on, it got translated
into many world languages, including Tamil. The English version is published in
India by Penguin Books Ltd., Delhi. Tamil
version is published by Kannadhasan Pathippagam, Chennai-17.
Detailed
and irrefutable evidences collected by teams of dedicated researchers, through
centuries, extending to even a millennium, are available in the book to
validate all these statements. The shroud
made of linen, bearing the marks of blood, is available even today to prove
that Jesus didn't die on the cross. This
is the greatest evidence in this regard.
Dead body never bleeds. That
shroud has plenty of blood stains in it, to prove that Jesus survived the
crucifixion.
I have adequately
enlightened the intellectual community through the essay "Reason versus Faith,"
in the Appendix portion of my book on Bhakti Yoga, in which I have
explained that the Religious Faith of Christianity followed today is a totally misrepresented
version, which doesn't agree with the teachings of the great reformer, Jesus
Christ. Otherwise the mass conversion
movement followed today, would not have gained momentum. In the essay titled "Reason versus
Faith" I have exposed well, the bigotry and sinister motives that crept
into Christianity from 6th century AD. It never got corrected till today.
The conviction of rebirth of a soul which firmly existed
till the middle portion of 6th century AD, in Christianity, was removed by a simple
stroke of a regal decree in AD 553. This
was done to satisfy the highly selfish interest of a court dancer who later became
the queen of Emperor Justinian, who ruled over vast areas of Europe from
Constantinople, known as Istanbul today.
The decree declared the rebirth-theory as unlawful and as such, anyone
preaching rebirth theory could invite a death sentence. This occurred during the papacy of Pope
Vigilius, AD 537 to AD 556. As Vatican and
the ecclesiastical community remained spineless in those days, being unable to raise
their voice against this serious encroachment into their exclusive domain of
religion, the implementation of the decree got regularized in quick time. But this regularization was done quite grudgingly
and helplessly, never to get corrected subsequently.
Truly
speaking, the conviction of rebirth alone acts as an effective deterrent for
humanity to desist from all sinful deeds. That regal decree led to a serious erosion of
fundamental values in Christianity. The
religious conversion to Christianity, done covertly and overtly today, is the
result of utter bigotry from those times.
As this is not the appropriate forum to elaborate this topic of
converting non-Christians into Christianity, I leave it here by drawing the
attention of the audience/readers to my book on Bhakti Yoga, available
with Vishnu Mohan Foundation, in which I have exposed the true face of
Christianity to the world. By converting
the entire world population into Christianity, the high priest in Vatican would
be able to covertly rule the entire world, in the political sense as well.
Swami
Vivekananda, the most celebrated Hindu Monk of modern times, exposed the sinister
motives of Christian missionaries to the world, during the course of his immortal
speech, delivered on 19th September, 1893, at the forum of "World
Religious Conference" in Chicago. Each delegate was given only three
minutes' time to present his or her view. We can only imagine what and how a
delegate would have spoken during that very short duration of 3 minutes. In the real sense it would have been a parade of
a sort, to and fro the dais. Swami Vivekananda
spoke on the 11th Sep. for 3 mins. 16 secs. and on the 15th Sep. for 2 mins. 16
secs.
On the
third day of the seminar, certain magnanimous delegates from Asia, gifted their
allotted time of three minutes to Swami Vivekananda, seeing the great benefit
accruing from his speech. As a result of
that, Vivekananda got more than twenty minutes to deliver his speech on the
third day and on that occasion, he spoke for 21 mins. 50 secs. This happened as
Vivekananda had endeared himself so much to the entire audience in Chicago, during
his very short speech, on the first two occasions. As such, on the third day there was a noticeably
larger crowd to listen to his highly resonant voice.
In his spell-binding
speech, Swami Vivekananda metaphorically narrated a funny story loaded with immense
sarcasm and an implied meaning. It was directed towards the Christian missionaries. The symbolic story narrates a frog in a well
getting a shocking surprise by coming into contact with a frog from the vast
ocean. In that funny narrative, the frog
in the well asks the frog from the ocean whether the latter's dwelling place is
as vast and extensive as that particular well, to conduct all sorts of sporting
activities that include acrobatic adventures of hopping, jumping, etc.
In
India we have never experienced any sort of problem at any stage of our mental,
social and spiritual evolution. We have
the eternal Vedas to guide us at each step of our evolutionary progression. Our Vedas belong to the अपौरुषेय category. The word अपौरुषेय means, that they
don't belong to any individual by authorship or composition. The Vedas are eternal. They sometimes remain vibrant and at other
times dormant but they never cease to exist.
The Vedas
are called as Shruti i.e. the sound waves grasped through hearing. The Vedas
are transmitted to the succeeding generation through the means of articulation
of sound on the part of the Guru and grasping and retaining the same
through hearing and repeated articulation on the part of the disciple. The Vedas have come to vibrancy
through the indirect agency of many sages of highly purified intellects whom we
call मन्त्र-द्रष्टारः, men who intuited the Vedas. We don't call them मन्त्र-कर्तारः authors or composers of the Vedas. Here the role of
a मन्त्र-द्रष्टा is similar to a radio set. The मन्त्र-द्रष्टा who is called the Rishi for a
particular Mantra, only acts as a medium. He is not the author or composer of the
portion of Shruti which is known after his name.
For example, Sage
Aghora and the legendary Yaagnyavalkya are two of such mediums who are known popularly
today. The former is
the मन्त्र-द्रष्टा for Shata-Rudreeyam, popularly
known as Rudram and the latter is credited with gifting the entire branch
of शुक्ल-यजुर्वेद to humanity. They were endowed
with the special gift of catching the अनाहत-ध्वनि, the self-existing
sound in the eternal space. As this knowledge and wisdom presented
by the Vedas to humanity ever remain objective, the great philosophers
of India, starting from Veda-Vyasa, and Shankara chose Shruti as the
finality, to found and establish their philosophies, as Shruti ever remains
unpolluted.
The human
intellect is finite with its limitedness in all spheres and no one can deny
this fact. As such, how will it be possible
for anyone to gauge or grasp the nature of the infinite which is transcendental
and eternal in nature, with the help of this limited intellect, discarding the
help of Shruti, which remains constant and objective? If anyone dares to do that, it would be like
measuring the total volume of water in the ocean with the help of a bushel or
measuring the eternal space with the help of a yard stick.
Here lies the absolute
necessity of a principle which remains eternally constant, sane and objective,
remaining valid for all times and occasions.
Otherwise, we cannot arrive at finality or a final conclusion in
transcendental matters. For that purpose
alone, the Shruti has come into being, to enlighten humanity. In our Shastras there is a term called
अनवस्था meaning a state devoid of a final conclusion. In न्याय दर्शन this state of अनवस्था is clearly evident. The logical conclusion of a particular दार्शनिक i.e. theologian, which remained
valid till today can become totally invalid when a cleverer theologian emerges
at a later period to invalidate it. This
invalidation of an earlier stand and the validation of a new stand is
acceptable in Nyaya Darshana as they remain ceaselessly tossed about in
their endless voyage of articulation, being unable to berth with any fixed dock,
due to the defect of अनवस्था i.e. lack of a
final conclusion.
Providing some
laughter to the students of his philosophy, Shankara metaphorically calls them तार्किक-बलीवर्दाः, meaning the
oxen endowed with great stamina and strength to pull a cart to seemingly endless
distances, at the same time remaining impotent, unable to beget a progeny of
their own gene. But in our traditional
system of philosophy this problem never occurs as the finality is always arrived
at, through the statement of Shruti which gets duly confirmed by विद्वद्-अनुभव i.e. the intuitive
experience of the purified intellects, capable of transcending the realm of Saguna-Brahman.
Buddhism and
Jainism and even the much later born Khalsa Pant have some welcome
features which may be acceptable to Hindu Philosophy as well. But as they don't accept the Shruti of
the Hindus to arrive at a final conclusion, they are simply rejected in the
first consideration itself, as invalid, in this land of Sanatana Dharma,
instituted by the omniscient seers and sages of yore. Buddhism migrated to other Asian countries as
there were few takers for it in India.
Jainism remained confined to a small area in India.
Khalsa Pant remained
within the fold of Hinduism during its initial stages. It was founded and
established in its present form by the 10th and last Guru, in the order of Sikh
Gurus, who is reverentially remembered as Guru Gobind Singh, after performing a
grand ritual of Sahasra Chandi Maha-Yagna in Patna, Bihar. Guru Gobind Singh on that occasion, chopped off
his left little finger in front of Goddess Durga, in order to please Her, by offering
Her a stream of human blood. This is the
mode of ritual prescribed in Vaamaachaara, at the culmination of Upaasana
of Goddess Durga, in the famous Durga-Sapta-Shati, which is a portion of
Maarkandeya Purana.
The place of
that ritual is known as Patna Sahib today. That is one of the most sacred pilgrim spots
for the Sikh community. But later, for
political reasons, the Sikhs started saying that they are alien to the land of Sanatana
Dharma and as such, they remain as a separate minority community. But we can dismiss this claim of theirs easily
by pointing to the world famous Durguiani Temple in Amritsar, where the
valour personified Goddess Durga, never compromising with the demoniac forces,
remains as the presiding deity, by the side of Akal Takt, the supreme
headquarters of Khalsa Pant. The
basic purpose of founding the Khalsa Pant was to safeguard the frontiers
of India from the invasion of Muslims belonging to Iran, Afghanistan and
Central Asia. As Hindu community, in
general, are of sober nature, predominantly Saatvic, they lacked the
required courage and robust valour to fight these Taamasic forces. As such, Guru Gobind Singh created a new
tribe of Spartan qualities, of adamantine nature, in physical as well as mental
reckoning.
Now we take up
Islam for our comparative studies. The
religious faith of Islam is a revelation of the intuitive knowledge and wisdom gained
by Prophet Mohammed during his pensive and tranquil mental moods after prayers. Almost throughout his life the great prophet
had to flee for his very life from the enemy's attacks. His fleeing from Mecca to Medina, to save
himself, is celebrated every year as a festival in Islam. As such, we have to assume, with the help of our
commonsense, that his Karma didn't allow him to settle down steadfast in
the Sahaja Samadhi state, the perfected state of a Self-realised
person. In Part 2, Canto 2, Mantra 8 of Mundakopanishat,
the perfected state of a Jeevan-Mukta is described as follows.
भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिः
छिद्यन्ते
सर्वसंशयाः |
क्षीयन्ते
चास्य कर्माणि तस्मिन् दृष्टे परावरे ||
"With the
intuition of the ultimate Truth, the knot of ego in the heart-centre
disintegrates finally, all doubts lingering in the intellect till that moment
flee, never to return, and all Karma and Karma-Vaasanaas, the subtle hangovers of Karma, finally get exhausted
without leaving any residue."
Prophet
Mohammed's spiritual attainment doesn't match with this Upanishadic
dictum. Therefore, it cannot be stated with
certainty that all his revelations, the subsequent convictions and conclusions were
totally objective. In this regard, from Swami
Vivekananda's view point, there is an element of subjectivity in the prophet's
revelations. As such, all the convictions
and conclusions of Islam built upon these revelations will not survive the scrutiny
of eternal time. The convictions and conclusions
of Islam, in the process of reforming the social order in the Middle East, met
with the requirement of that time fully, during Prophet Mohammed's time, when a
Jungle Raj was in vogue, when people lived like barbarians, when
powerful chieftains kidnapped women belonging to others by force to enhance the
image and worth of their harem quantitatively and qualitatively. Prophet Mohammed laid down the mandatory cap
of four wives to a Muslim male, in this regard only.
There is only the
element of religion, based upon blind faith, in Islam, which is basically subjective
in nature. As religion is based on blind
faith, I accept this stand; there is no harm in it during the initial stages of
spiritual evolution. But one cannot
remain eternally within the boundary limits of religion like a frog in the well. One has to transcend religion finally, and
reach the fully objective realm of philosophy, after acquiring all the benefits
accruing from a profitable religious life.
For transcending religion, one requires the strong support, help and
guidance of philosophy. No individual is
exempted from this mandatory requirement.
There is no element
of philosophy in Islam to support the blind faith. Any doctrine should be totally objective for
its sanity and eternal existence. It
should have the logical support of a philosophy which should remain irrefutable. As Islam is lacking in these issues terribly,
the same reflects in its prejudicial and subjective outlook. As such, it gets misinterpreted
from to time by vested interests who want to maintain the status quo eternally. This is the basic cause of Jihad, a
totally destructive movement in Islam. Let
us view this issue from a different angle i.e. from the view of Indian occultism.
Hindu Astrology,
an occult science, attributes the shadowy planets of Rahu and Ketu to be the कारक planets, i.e. the basic cause of Christianity
and Islam respectively. Rahu is Chandala
by cast and he is the embodiment of Agyaana i.e. one devoid of the knowledge of
the Self and as such he is called Tamas i.e. darkness. तमस्तु राहुः स्वर्भानुः, vide Amarakosha. Tamas
is symbolic of Agyaana and light is symbolic of Gyaana. Rahu is crafty, treacherous and incendiary by
nature. These attributes, we can make
out clearly, in Christianity today. On
the other hand, Ketu is not so cunning and treacherous; but he is unimaginably more
dangerous and destructive. He is similar
to a furious bull, seen in an arena of Bull-Fight, charging head-on, without
taking into account anything, with regard to the consequences of such an attack,
till he becomes totally tired and finally gets killed. This nature, we can clearly
see in suicide attacks of the Jihadists. In the 16th chap. of Bhagavad-Geeta,
Krishna says -
तानहं द्विषतः
क्रूरान् - संसारेषु
नराधमान्
।
क्षिपाम्यजस्रमशुभा - नासुरीष्वेव योनिषु ॥ 16/19॥
क्षिपाम्यजस्रमशुभा - नासुरीष्वेव योनिषु ॥ 16/19॥
"I forsake them completely, who
are the scum of mankind, the burden for any civilised society, the ruthless
opponents of humanity and human values. I
dispose them repeatedly, into the wombs of lowly evolved beings, such as various
insects, carnivorous animals, poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes and the
likes who live in constant fear of getting exposed to sunlight and enemy's
attacks, so that they should get transformed through prolonged sufferings,
resulting in their remorse and intent craving for love."
Today, only the
Shia sect, among the Muslims, remain sober having noble qualities and intentions. The popular Saints such as Kabir of Kashi,
Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer and Sai Baba of Shirdi, belong to this elite sect.
The chain of caliphs who were the pre-eminent
Raja-Rishis of the ancient middle east and who ruled over Mesopotamia, which
is currently known as Iraq, belong to this sect.
The Sunnis are
the sect of people, preaching terrible violence to gain their highly selfish
interests. Haqquanis, Wahabis, Taliban, Al-Qaida,
ISIS and Boko Haram belong to this sect.
The majority of Pakistani Muslims belong to this Sunni sect. They don't show any respect to the enlightened
Sufi saints of Islam who preached universal love and brotherhood. The Sunnis say that they are only concerned with
Allah and Prophet Mohammad and not with anyone else. As such, they pursue and propagate a path
which is a totally misinterpreted version of Islam. Today, they are engaged in violent suicide-attacks
on the Shia community. They don't leave
even Friday-noon period, when every Muslim should be engaged in Namaz, for their attacks on the Shia
sect.
Here, I want to
make one point absolutely clear. I have
only exposed the highly corrupted state of Christianity and Islam, existing
today. This, in no way, reflects even in the least, on those enlightened
reformers, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed.
They eternally remain as embodiments of all virtues and unselfish
love. If they manifest in our midst today,
they would declare that they have nothing to do with these religious
faiths.
If we look at
this matter objectively from another angle, we would be able to get reconciled
with today's happenings. Christians and
Muslims, put together, constitute the Ganas, in other words, the
fighting forces of Lord Rudra, the god of destruction, entrusted with
the task of transforming the manifested form of the world when it becomes
highly Taamasic and as such, totally corrupt. This is done by Lord Rudra
to bring back Satva Guna again into the world order. Lord Rudra, the widely known God of
destruction, is only destroying the Tamo Guna in the world to bring back
Satva Guna. Rudra is the cosmic
ego of Paramatman. The definition
of Rudra is stated in the Puranas as "रुर्दुःखं दुःख-हेतुर्वा, तद्रावयति यः प्रभुः". The destroyer of miseries and sorrows through
the annihilation of the cause of all miseries which is ignorance of the
Self. By destroying Tamo Guna and
the Taamasic ego He achieves this objective by granting Aatma-Gnaana,
the knowledge of the Self. When Satva Guna becomes predominant again in the world
a new Kalpa, in other words a new cycle of Chatur-Yugas commences.
Aatman, the Self, cannot be
destroyed or reshaped as Aatman remains eternally the same. Only the nature which is called Maaya
can be destroyed or to be more precise, reshaped and here also it is not a
total loss through ultimate destruction as Maaya or Nature is also
eternal. It is the inseparable deluding
power of Paramatman. It will come
to manifested state when creation comes into being and it will assume the dormant
unmanifested state when Pralaya, the disintegration of the five basic
elements, sets in. Here, what is meant
by destruction is only a transformation to a new and welcome order. This is the ceaseless process of evolution
taking place in the cosmos.
As comparative
study of other philosophies is over now, we can take up the study of theory and
practice in Indian philosophy. The
theory part of Indian philosophy is available in the Upanishadic part of
the eternal Vedas. The essence of
this Upanishadic wisdom is presented as Smruti in the form of Bhagavad-Geeta
in the immortal epic of Mahabharata.
Again, this wisdom is presented in the form of irrefutable logic as
Brahma-Sutras by Sage Veda-Vyaasa. This entire literature consisting of Shruti,
Smruti and logic is called the Prasthaana Traya, the grand
Trinity of Systems in Theology, in Sanatana Dharma. The total collection of Prasthaana Traya
is explained in an irrefutable manner by Shankara through his illustrious commentaries.
These commentaries ever remain as a challenging touch stone, for all
intellectuals of the world, to prove their mettle and worth in logic.
The Upanishats
have become almost innumerable through the interpolation carried out by many
vested interests, today. The knowledge
portion of many Upanishats is stated in the final part of its उपासना-काण्डं i.e. Upaasana-portion, culminating in the practice
of Purascharana, the last stage of any Upaasana before becoming
eligible to intuit a particular deity, possessing a name and form in the astral
realm. This is the method of holding on
to a name and form initially and transcending the same name and form in the
final stage of Upaasana. This is
the easier method to attain spiritual perfection. It will be too difficult for any average
person to pursue the Nirguna Path, the path mentioned in Bhagavad-Geeta,
12th chapter, as the path of Avyakta, the intangible. "क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषाम-व्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् |
अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भि-रवाप्यते"|| O Arjuna, "This path of Avyakta,
in other words, the Intangible, is extremely difficult and also heart-breaking
for the vast majority of people who are too much body-conscious".
Knowledge of the Self will dawn
at the culmination of Upaasana. This
will be the intuitive experience of Saguna-Brahman which has a form of
total effulgence. Shuddha-Satva is total effulgence and unbounded bliss
which is axiomatic as well. The hangover
of the Upaasana will give this effulgence a name and form in accordance
with their Upaasana-Murtis. This
is not the experience stated in Maandookyopanishat as Shaantam, Shivam
and Adwaitam. One has to
transcend this experience of Saguna-Brahman also to intuit the
experience stated in Maanookyopanishat.
Even after intuiting the ultimate Nirguna Brahman, stated in Maanookyopanishat,
the chain of previous hangovers may be visible in many Upaasakas. As such, there is a slight flaw in this
method.
Even after attaining Gyaana
of the formless Truth, the aspirants who have progressed through the Saguna-path
are likely to retain the Vaasana, the subtle hangover, generated by the Upaasana. Generally, the Upaasakas are not in
the habit of detaching themselves completely from their objects of Upaasana.
As the bliss of Saguna-Brahman is so much bewitching and binding, who
would like to detach oneself completely from it? Therefore, this aspirant would be inclined to
retain the relationship with that name and form, holding on to which he provisionally
transcended all realms. Saint Rama-krishna
held on to his reverential attitude towards Mother, Kali, even after
intuiting the formless ultimate Truth, the Nirguna-Brahman. So, we have to assume that this transcendence
and the subsequent intuition is provisional, in a sense.
To study and grasp this issue
more clearly, now let us take Ganapati-Atharvaseershopanishat. This Upanishat belonging to Atharva
Veda, describes Ganapati as the ultimate transcendental Truth, i.e.
as the one without a second, which state is generally attributed to the
nameless and formless Paramatman which is stated as Brahman in
the neuter gender. The class of Theologians
who remain exclusive votaries of Shuddha-Brahman and Shuddha-Adwaita
will not accept this as the final state of Adwaita, the perfected state
of spiritual evolution. They would be
pointing out a flaw here, stating that in this case there is still a link with
a name and form. As such, it cannot be
accepted as the final perfected state, where there should be only one without a
second and that too formless which can only be stated in neuter gender by using
Sarva Naama, a class of pronominal words, such as Tat, Adah, etc.
In this context, Soota-Samhita,
a portion of Skaanda Puraana and many Saiva Upanishats such as Shvetaashvataropanishat,
propagate Siva-Adwaitam. Shakti
Upaasakas who adore and consider Shakti (the feminine aspect of the
ultimate Truth, to be above all else) propagate Shakti-Adwaitam. Similarly, Maha-Narayanopanishat, Nrusimha-Taapinyupanishat
and the likes, describe Lord Vishnu or Narayana, as the ultimate
Truth and the followers of these Upanishats propagate Narayana-Adwaitam. Similarly, there are other Adwaitams
as well. In these circumstances, in the ultimate
analysis, a sort of a quarrel or to be more precise, a vying for superiority among
the pursuers of different aspects of the same Paramaatman arises
naturally.
Converting this muddled situation
to their best advantage, now Christians have thrown their hats into the
ring by introducing a Jesus Upanishat. {Some call it ईशोपनिषत् as Jesus is mentioned as Isa in ancient references in Hebrew.} (In South
India it becomes Yesu.) Recently, to
promote their conversion activities in great measure, by creating more confusion
among the Hindu community they have done this interpolation into the vast
collection of Upanishats. They claim, without any supporting authority,
that, all that exist in the religious faith of Sanatana Dharma
already exist in Christianity, from much earlier times.
Foreseeing this situation of total
inconsistencies, very much in advance, Shankara accepted only ten Upanishats
which do not have any leaning towards any particular name and form, to
establish his philosophy. They are ईश, केन, कठ,
प्रश्न, मुण्ड, माण्डूक्य, तैत्तिरीय, ऐतरेय, छान्दोग्य and बृहदारण्यक Upanishats. Even in many of these ten Upanishats,
for example, छान्दोग्य and बृहदारन्यक Upanishats, the voluminous ones, a major portion is devoted to Upaasana only. But these Upaasanas are somewhat different
from the Upaasanas related to names and forms, found in other Upanishats.
As attaining चित्त-शुद्धि i.e. purity of intellect is of paramount importance for intuiting one's own Self, no Upanishat
can neglect this Upaasana-Kaandam which is the most
important portion in purifying the intellect.
For example, this is very much asserted in Taittireeyopanishat, भृगुवल्ली, where Bhrigu is repeatedly commanded
to engage himself in austerities and mortification of the senses by his father,
Varuna, who happened to be his preceptor as well. In this context, Varuna advises Bhrigu to
engage himself in Tapas. "तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व | तपो ब्रह्मेति" | "Through
the means of Tapas you intuit Brahman as Tapas is verily Brahman".
This is
exactly the same when Krishna tells Arjuna "एतत् ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तं" in the 13th chapter of Bhagavad-Geeta. Here, the twenty virtues are stated as the end itself,
(starting with अमानित्वं i.e.
humility, which are only the means to achieve the end i.e. Gyaana).
The ten Upanishats
chosen by Shankara contain many Mahaa-Vaakyas in them. These Mahaa-Vaakyas are सूत्र-प्राय i.e. in the form of abbreviated phrases and as such, they are
called aphorisms. They are very much condensed,
no doubt; but they are highly potent, capable of opening the flood gates of Agyaana
i.e. ignorance of the Self, instantly.
As per conventional practices the Mahaa-Vaakya namely, "तत्वमसि" is articulated by the Guru in the disciple's ear, at the time of
initiation, to arouse the fire of knowledge in the disciple. If the disciple happens to be उत्तम-अधिकारी i.e. a deserving aspirant of the highest order, possessing
camphor like quality to get enlightened, he would be able to intuit the Truth
instantly like Saint Ramakrishna.
Otherwise the result of initiation, which is the intuitive experience of
the disciple, will occur in a delayed time frame; nevertheless, initiation is
absolutely necessary and it will become fruitful at the appropriate time. It is like lighting a wick readied in all
respects to catch the flame. If there is
wetness in the wick, it should get dried up fully, before it gets properly lighted. Kathopanishat is quoted for
confirmation in this regard. In Kathopanishat the god of death, Yama,
explains this topic to Nachiketas in Mantras 8 & 9, in Canto II,
Part I.
न नरेणावरेण प्रोक्त एष सुविज्ञेयो बहुधा चिन्त्यमानः ।
अनन्यप्रोक्ते गतिरत्र नास्ति अणीयान् ह्यतर्क्यमणुप्रमाणात् ॥
“If the
Guru initiating the disciple is not an enlightened person, the disciple
receiving the initiation won't be able to intuit the Self in spite of his very
best efforts. There is no scope for any
other choice in this matter, as the principle of Atman happens to be so subtle,
remaining beyond the capability of anyone's intellectual reach.”
नैषा तर्केण मतिरापनेया प्रोक्तान्येनैव सुज्ञानाय प्रेष्ठ ।
यां त्वमापः सत्यधृतिर्बतासि त्वादृङ्नो भूयान्नचिकेतः प्रष्टा ॥
“O my sweet
little child, Nachiketa, as this wisdom is beyond the logic of the intellect, it
has to be intuited through the initiation of a realised Guru alone. As you happen to be possessing a pure
intellect without any sort of hypocrisy, you are the eligible aspirant to intuit
the Self. O Nachiketa, let me be blessed
with more and more disciples of your calibre and virtues.” From these statements of Yama, one can
reasonably infer that there is a special chemistry involved here i.e. in the
matter of spiritual initiation.
Now we come to the last part of this speech
which is the most important one also. The
most important issue here is becoming eligible for Vedantic Saadhana. To attain this eligibility, the Karma
of the aspirant should get exhausted to a great extent in the natural
course. That is why the Shaastra
says सन्यस्य श्रवणं कुर्यात् which means that one should commence
this Vedanta-Saadhana in right earnest, after taking formal initiation
into the order of Sanyasa. The aspirant should not have any worldly duties or
responsibilities at the time of entering this school of Vedanta. Without acquiring this eligibility, we see
many people engaged in this pre-eminently highest Shaastra of Vedanta,
today. That helps them in earning a
livelihood only, like any other calling.
By intellectually grasping this subject, without getting engaged in
proper Saadhana, one attains nothing worthwhile except adoration of the
world, status in society and financial soundness. They are only strengthening their
personality. Shankara in Viveka-Choodaamani
explains this matter unequivocally. Vide Viveka Choodaamani Shloka
58 of 269.
वाग्वैखरी शब्दझरी शास्त्र-व्याख्यान-कौशलम् |
वैदुष्यं विदुषां तद्वद् -
भुक्तये न तु
मुक्तये ||
"Loud speech consisting of a
shower of words, the rare skill in expounding scriptures and likewise
erudition; these bring with them, a little personal satisfaction to the scholar
but are no good for attaining the invaluable Mukti i.e. liberation from
transmigration."
No one should take this statement of mine as a personal
reference directed to anybody. I have
only stated the fact and no one can refute this statement of mine. Again, Shankara stresses this point in his Adhyaasa
Bhaashya for Brahma Sutras, by saying "पश्वादिभिश्च अविशेषात्" which means
that such professionals are in no way better than the beings endowed with a
horizontal vertebra, who neither possess the required Viveka nor Vairaagya. This is stated from the absolute point of view
and not at all from the relative point of view.
Without detaching oneself fully from the
binding responsibilities of the world, an aspirant will not be able to detach
himself from the deep-rooted personality acquired, carried forward and brought
forward through innumerable births. In this context the Sanyasa Deeksha
is like a transit camp to annihilate the existing personality. After acquiring the benefit of Sanyasa-Deeksha
fully, this newly acquired personality of the Sanyasin also should be
discarded, as the Self is neither a householder nor a Sanyasin.
In Kali Yuga it is almost
impossible to do Vedanta Saadhana without taking formal initiation into Sanyasa-Deeksha
as Tamo Guna and the resultant body-consciousness is very high. For this purpose, Shankara instituted the
institution of Sanyasa for Kali-Yuga-people. During the earlier Yugas, by remaining
in the house itself, it was possible to do Vedanta Saadhana as Satva
Guna was high at that time. See the
confirmation. In the Shankaraachaarya-Ashtottara-Shata-Naamaavali we come
across with this particular Naama i.e. सन्यासाश्रम-उद्धर्त्रे नमः. (one who has rekindled the
institution of Sanyaasa). Taking initiation into the order of Sanyasa is
exactly like immersing the dirty clothes in a solution of detergent powder for
some time. When the dirt would have got dissolved
in the detergent solution, the solution also should be thrown away finally.
As far as practice of Indian
philosophy is concerned, there are three steps or stages of Saadhana and
they are mentioned in the order now.
They are mentioned as Shravana, Manana and Nididhyasana.
If we take Shravana into
consideration, with a western mindset, the word-meaning of Shravana
would merely constitute a mental exercise of listening attentively in a study
class conducted by one's Guru. But
immensely more beneficial gain is involved in the word, Shravana. This benefit
will accrue if the disciple stays with the Guru, serving him in person,
in the Guru's day to day life.
This is the most ideal Guru Kula System of imparting and
acquiring knowledge and wisdom. In this
system of imparting and acquiring knowledge and wisdom, a special chemistry is
involved in the relationship between the Guru and the disciple which we
cannot find in a study class, in the college atmosphere. The nature of this chemistry can neither be
explained in words, easily by anyone, nor can be grasped through any other
means. In the matter of annihilating the
deeply entrenched personality of the disciple this chemistry plays the most
significant role. How it works and when
it works, is a matter of conjecture and surprise for anyone.
Manana is the act of getting reconciled with
what has been grasped through Shravana.
The spirit of Mahaa-Vaakyas like Tatvamasi should be
constantly ruminated upon. There is an
implied meaning behind this Mahaa-Vaakya. The usage of Sarva Naama (a class of
pronominal words) of That and Thou is meant to convey the implied
meaning. When the Mahaa-Vaakya
says "Tatvamasi" "That, Thou Art"
the implied meaning is verily "This, Thou art not" i.e. you are not anything that can be objectified. All that can be objectified is meant by "This"
in this context. As you are verily Tat,
i.e. That, which is the substratum of मनस्, चित्तम्, बुद्धि and अहङ्कारः, the phrase, "That Thou art" denote verily
the transcendental Truth which is beyond words and the word Thou cannot
be an object of perception. It will be
an object of intuition only. One should
dedicate oneself wholeheartedly to pursue this intellectual exercise constantly
and reconciliation is bound to come before long. The aspirant should learn to view this
empirical realm as an illusion, 180 degrees out of phase of what is actually
perceived through the senses. The following
Sloka is an ideal one for Manana i.e. to ruminate upon constantly.
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां
जागर्ति संयमी |
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो
मुनेः ||
In which realm the ordinary beings
remain totally inactive, as they usually remain during a dark night, in that
realm of Aatman the जितेन्द्रिय, the self realised Gyaani
remains awake, fully focussed and attentive.
In contrast, i.e. in 180 degrees out of phase, in the realm in which the
ordinary souls remain active and focussed, the Gyaani remains totally
inactive as if he were in a state of deep sleep. The ordinary beings remain in विषय-निष्ठा i.e. a state in which they are focussed towards the objective world and the
Gyaani remains in आत्मनिष्ठा i.e. focussed towards his own Swaroopa i.e. Self.
The third step of Nididhyasana
is nothing but converting the already grasped and reconciled theory into a
working principle in day to day life. For this to happen, great Vairaagya
is required. Intuiting the Truth depends
upon the intensity of Vairaagya in an aspirant. If Vairaagya is total, intuition of
the ultimate Truth would have taken place simultaneously. At this juncture, the Grace of Paramatman will
descend on the aspirant and will make the mind irresistibly introvert. Guru's guidance and blessings are most
essential. The twenty virtues mentioned
in the 13th chapter of Bhagavad-Geeta, should be developed
consciously. The three types of Tapas
i.e. austerity, mentioned in Bhagavad-Geeta, (17th chapter,
stanzas 14, 15 & 16 which are शारीरं physical level, वाङ्मयं verbal level and मानसं mental level) should
be practised earnestly.
Finally, the exercise of merging the दृश्यं, the entire objective world including one's body and mind,
with द्रष्टा, the perceiver, should be constantly practised. This is what is meant by Nididhyasana proper. In Shastras
a Triputi, in other words, a triangle is mentioned as a simile to
explain the issue involved here. One
side of the triangle is द्रष्टा. The other two
sides are दृश्यं and the act of
perceiving viz. दर्शनम्. The act of perceiving links द्रष्टा with दृश्यम्. None of these three can remain
without the other two. If one of these
is removed, the other two are bound to become irrelevant.
In a triangle if one line is removed, it ceases to be a
triangle thenceforth, leaving the remaining two lines as irrelevant. In the same manner, if दृश्यं is merged with द्रष्टा, the Triputi i.e. triangle of द्रष्टा, दृश्यं and दर्शनं collapses then and there, leaving
alone the substratum which is दृक्. As दृश्यं i.e. the objective world, does
not have an independent existence without the द्रष्टा i.e. the
subject, the perceiver, it should be
understood as an extended illusory form of द्रष्टा i.e. perceiver himself.
This happens due to the deluding power of Maaya. That is why it is advised that दृश्यं should be merged with द्रष्टा. दृश्यं is verily the illusory
projection of द्रष्टा. The ego of the aspirant will receive
terrible blows ceaselessly, while being engaged in this Saadhana, as he
cannot find fault with the objective world at all. If any imperfection is perceived, it has to
be attributed to the perceiver alone.
The द्रष्टा is the Bimba and the दृश्यं is the Prati-Bimba
i.e. the object and its reflection perceived in the mirror. Without removing the imperfection in the द्रष्टा the imperfection in the दृश्यं cannot be removed.
If one is engaged in this Saadhana with total dedication, the mind will become introvert at the
cessation of all efforts on the part of द्रष्टा, culminating
in Nirvikalpa Samaadhi. Shankara,
in one of his minor works, calls this Saadhana i.e. intellectual
exercise, as maintaining दृक्-दृश्य-विवेकम्.
In Dakshinamurti-Stotra,
Shankara teaches this Tatva i.e. reality, very briefly which requires
voluminous commentaries from the scholarly, intellectual community.
Shankara says ---
विश्वं दर्पणदृश्यमान-नगरीतुल्यं निजान्तर्गतं,
पश्यन्नात्मनि मायया
बहिरिवोद्भूतं, यथा निद्रया |
यस्साक्षात्कुरुते प्रबोध-समये स्वात्मानमेवाद्वयं
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ||
During a dream the perceiver is seeing
all the objects within himself only. But
he thinks at that time, that he is perceiving them without, as totally
different from himself. This is due to
the overwhelming impact of the all deluding Avidya-Maaya. This statement should be extended to the wakeful
state as well. With this valid example
Shankara proves irrefutably that it is possible to perceive this objective
world as totally different from the perceiver.
How the dream world became an illusion after waking up from the dream,
in exactly the same manner, this world perceived during the wakeful state also
will become an illusion created by the Avidya-Maaya when one wakes
up in the realm of Aatman and then and there he transcends the three
states of wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep.. This statement will get
confirmed in the transcendental state of Tureeya, the relative fourth
state in the order. This is the gist of
the Shloka. Lord Dakshinamurti
ever remains in the transcendental state and with the tremendous power
generated by the firmness of His Gyaana-Nishtha, a powerful force
field is created around Him; Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara, without
any effort on their part, are able to intuit their Self.
चित्रं वटतरोर्मूले वृद्धाश्शिष्या गुरुर्युवा |
गुरोस्तु मौनं व्याख्यानं
शिष्यास्तु छिन्नसंशयाः ||
"This is the greatest miracle in
this world; The Guru remains with the vigour of youthfulness and the
disciples look aged in appear-ance.
Again, the Guru remains in total silence showing the sign of Chin-Mudra
and the disciples are rendered enlightened without any sort of
doubt." (In this Chin-Mudra
the index finger represents Jeevaatman the thumb represents Paramaatman;
the three other fingers represent the three Gunas of Satva, Rajas
and Tamas. When the Jeevaatman
disconnects himself from the Gunas of Maaya i.e. Prakruti he
is united with Paramaatman. In Taantric
parlance, this sign of Chin-Mudra has the power of introverting the
mind.)
At the culmination of this practice
the द्रष्टा and the दृश्यं will disappear finally leaving alone
the दृक् which is one's real Swaroopa i.e. the Self. It looks somewhat easy when you listen to
this speech or when you read the
essay. But when you try to put this Saadhana
into practice then only you will know how heart-breaking it is. This is not stated here to discourage anyone
from doing this Saadhana. The
ancient treasure trove of Subhaashita says: -
प्रारभ्यते न खलु विघ्न-भयेन नीचैः
प्रारभ्य विघ्न-विहता विरमन्ति
मध्याः
|
विघ्नैः पुनः पुनः प्रतिहन्यमाने
प्रारब्धमुत्तमजना न परित्यजन्ति ||
"Seeing the difficulty ahead, the
pleasure-seeking ordinary class do not come forward to take up the challenge of
Vedanta Saadhana. The next class retire
from this Saadhana after facing repeated hurdles on the path. In spite of any number of hurdles on the path,
the fully dedicated class of aspirants never leave this Saadhana till
they achieve their goal." When the
invaluable gain of this Saadhana is grasped in its true perspective, the
bitterness arising on the way i.e. during Saadhana, will become totally insignificant
and as such, fully bearable by all means; if not pleasant. This is how the brave cross the ocean of Samsaara
i.e. the dreaded disease of transmigration. See the Geeta Shloka No. 37
of the 18th chapter---
यत्तदग्रे
विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्
|
तत्सुखं सात्विकं प्रोक्तं
आत्मा-बुद्धि-प्रसादजम् ||
The Saadhana compared to the
experience of poison-like bitterness in the beginning and nectarine
pleasantness in the end is to be desired by all means. For, this Saadhana gives purity and
clarity to the soul and intellect by which intuition of the Self becomes
possible. This is hailed as the Saatvika-Sukha by the men of wisdom.
The steps to be covered would be revealed from within as Vairaagya
intensifies. This revelation will happen after the aspirant becomes endowed with
Buddhi Yoga, mentioned in the 10th chapter of Geeta
(10/10). Over and above all these, one
should intensely long for a Sadguru and also for being possessed by that
Sadguru. Possessed by the Sadguru
means that, the Guru should confess that "I accept you as my
disciple." The disciple can claim
that such and such person is his Guru.
But that is not going to serve the purpose in this context. It should not be a one-way traffic; it should
be a two-way traffic by all means.
Shankara says in Viveka Choodaamani Shloka 3 of 269
दुर्लभं त्रयमेवैत - द्दैवानुग्रह-हेतुकम् |
मनुष्यत्वं मुमुक्षुत्वं
महापुरुष-संश्रयः ||
The final compound word of
महापुरुष-संश्रयः is the acceptance of the disciple by the
Guru as "you are verily my
disciple". At this stage I conclude,
with humble Pranaama to all my esteemed Gurus.
OM.
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