Sloka - 53 and 54
Hari OM,
Firstly pardon all for the very long gap in between learning of Atma Bodha slokas. May AMMA’s grace guide in learning and help in overcoming all obstacles in learning.
SLOKA 53:
upaadhivilayaadvishhNau nirvisheshha vishenmuniH .
jale jalaM viyadvyomri tejastejasi vaa yathaa .. 53..
Pada artha:
Upaadhi vilayaat: on the destruction of the upadhis or conditionings
Vishnav: in the all pervading spirit
Nihi vishesham: totally
Vishet: is absorbed
Munihi: the contemplative one
Jale: into the water
Jalam: water
Viyam: the space
Vyomni: into space
Tejaha: light
Tejasi: into the light
Vaa: and
Yatha: just as
On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into light.
In the past few slokas, we learnt about the jeevanmuktha. Acharya continues to explain about such a one in this sloka also. Here Acharya is mentioning that when the limiting adjuncts or the updahis that seem to limit Self are completely removed or destroyed, a jnaani who is ever established in the reality becomes totally absorbed into the the Visnu or the all pervading one. The adjuncts are the limiting factors due to which one falsely identifies self with the mind, body and intellect. When these are removed, a muni or a contemplative one becomes completely unified with the all pervading Self, i.e. all limited individuality is lost forever.
Chandogya upanishad explains this in VI-xiv-2: as:
‘And as some one might remove his bandage and tell him, "The Gandhara region is in this direction, proceed in this direction" and as he, enquiring his way from village, to village and being instructed and capable of judging by himself would reach the Gandhara region itself, even so, in this world that person knows who has a preceptor. And for him, only so long is the delay as he is not liberated (from the body) and then immediately he is merged in Being.
Just as when a pot submerged in water is broken, the water inside becomes one with water outside, the space merges with space outside when the boundaries of a jar are beoked, similarly, when all the illusory boundaries and limitations are destroyed, the nature of ever pervading Self is known and the individuality and limitedness of Jeeva also disappears forever.
Mundaka Upanishad also explains the same import in 3.2.5 and 3.2.8 as saMpraapyainamR^ishhayo JnaanatR^iptaaH
kR^itaatmaano viitaraagaaH prashaantaaH
te sarvagaM sarvataH praapya dhiiraa
yuktaatmaanaH sarvamevaavishanti 5
Having attained this, the seers become contented with their knowledge, established in the Self, freed from attachment, and composed. Having realized the all-pervasive One everywhere, these discriminating people, ever merged in contemplation, enter into the All.
yathaa nadyaH syandamaanaaH samudre.a
staM gachchhanti naamaruupe vihaaya
tathaa vidvaan.h naamaruupaadvimuktaH
paraatparaM purushhamupaiti divyam.h 8
As rivers, flowing down, become indistinguishable on reaching the sea by giving up their names and forms, so also the illumined soul, having become freed from name and form, reaches the self-effulgent Purusha that is higher than the higher (Maya).
Let us learn about the nature of Brahman in the next few slokas.
SLOKA 54
yallaabhaannaaparo laabho yatsukhaannaaparaM sukham.h .
yajGYaanaannaaparaM JnaanaM tad.hbrahmetyavadhaarayet.h .. 54..
Pada atha:
Yat laabhaat: from the attainment of which
NaAparaha : not other
Laabhaha: attainment
Yat sukhaat: from the blessedness of which
NaAparam: not other
Sukham: blessedness
Yat jnaanam: from the knowledge of which
NaAparam: not other
Jnaanam: knowledge
Tad Brahma: that to be Brahman
Iti: thus
Avadhaarayet: realize
Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.
In these three following stanzas, Acharya is indicating Brahman by the tatasha lakshana. The realization of Self is explained here as the greatest gain, the greatest knowledge having gained which there is no more a sense of incompleteness. Having enjoyed the bliss of Self, none will strive for a greater bliss, having known which there will be never any thirst to know anything more.
Something new is sought out for gained only when there is imperfection or incompleteness. It is only when there is a sense of dissatisfaction that one tries to gain more happiness or more knowledge or something higher. Imperfection thus is only for the limited egoistic jiva. When the jiva rediscovers itself to be the absolute Self or Brahman, all imperfections are understood or known to be mere illusions and all struggles are ended. When the absolute is realized as Self, then there can be nothing else to be sought after. That absoluteness or perfection or completeness, knowing which everything becomes known, is indicated here by Acharya as Brahman.
The great sage Yajnavalkya instructs the same import to Janaka in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-iii-32 as “It becomes (transparent) like water, one, the witness, and without a second. This is the sphere) (state) of Brahman, O Emperor. Thus did Yajnavalkya instruct Janaka: This is its supreme attainment, this is its supreme glory, this is its highest world, this is its supreme bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other beings live.”
Lord also explains such a liberated one in Gita second chapter as:
prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan.h
aatmanyevaatmanaa tushhTaH sthitapraGYastadochyate .. 2\-55..
When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind, then is he said to be one of steady knowledge.
duHkheshhvanudvignamanaaH sukheshhu vigataspR^ihaH .
viitaraagabhayakrodhaH sthitadhiirmuniruchyate .. 2\-56..
He whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and wrath, he is called a sage, a man of steady knowledge.
Let us learn more in the next sloka
Hari OM
With regards,
Mallika R
What you have is God's gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift to God
Firstly pardon all for the very long gap in between learning of Atma Bodha slokas. May AMMA’s grace guide in learning and help in overcoming all obstacles in learning.
SLOKA 53:
upaadhivilayaadvishhNau nirvisheshha vishenmuniH .
jale jalaM viyadvyomri tejastejasi vaa yathaa .. 53..
Pada artha:
Upaadhi vilayaat: on the destruction of the upadhis or conditionings
Vishnav: in the all pervading spirit
Nihi vishesham: totally
Vishet: is absorbed
Munihi: the contemplative one
Jale: into the water
Jalam: water
Viyam: the space
Vyomni: into space
Tejaha: light
Tejasi: into the light
Vaa: and
Yatha: just as
On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into light.
In the past few slokas, we learnt about the jeevanmuktha. Acharya continues to explain about such a one in this sloka also. Here Acharya is mentioning that when the limiting adjuncts or the updahis that seem to limit Self are completely removed or destroyed, a jnaani who is ever established in the reality becomes totally absorbed into the the Visnu or the all pervading one. The adjuncts are the limiting factors due to which one falsely identifies self with the mind, body and intellect. When these are removed, a muni or a contemplative one becomes completely unified with the all pervading Self, i.e. all limited individuality is lost forever.
Chandogya upanishad explains this in VI-xiv-2: as:
‘And as some one might remove his bandage and tell him, "The Gandhara region is in this direction, proceed in this direction" and as he, enquiring his way from village, to village and being instructed and capable of judging by himself would reach the Gandhara region itself, even so, in this world that person knows who has a preceptor. And for him, only so long is the delay as he is not liberated (from the body) and then immediately he is merged in Being.
Just as when a pot submerged in water is broken, the water inside becomes one with water outside, the space merges with space outside when the boundaries of a jar are beoked, similarly, when all the illusory boundaries and limitations are destroyed, the nature of ever pervading Self is known and the individuality and limitedness of Jeeva also disappears forever.
Mundaka Upanishad also explains the same import in 3.2.5 and 3.2.8 as saMpraapyainamR^ishhayo JnaanatR^iptaaH
kR^itaatmaano viitaraagaaH prashaantaaH
te sarvagaM sarvataH praapya dhiiraa
yuktaatmaanaH sarvamevaavishanti 5
Having attained this, the seers become contented with their knowledge, established in the Self, freed from attachment, and composed. Having realized the all-pervasive One everywhere, these discriminating people, ever merged in contemplation, enter into the All.
yathaa nadyaH syandamaanaaH samudre.a
staM gachchhanti naamaruupe vihaaya
tathaa vidvaan.h naamaruupaadvimuktaH
paraatparaM purushhamupaiti divyam.h 8
As rivers, flowing down, become indistinguishable on reaching the sea by giving up their names and forms, so also the illumined soul, having become freed from name and form, reaches the self-effulgent Purusha that is higher than the higher (Maya).
Let us learn about the nature of Brahman in the next few slokas.
SLOKA 54
yallaabhaannaaparo laabho yatsukhaannaaparaM sukham.h .
yajGYaanaannaaparaM JnaanaM tad.hbrahmetyavadhaarayet.h .. 54..
Pada atha:
Yat laabhaat: from the attainment of which
NaAparaha : not other
Laabhaha: attainment
Yat sukhaat: from the blessedness of which
NaAparam: not other
Sukham: blessedness
Yat jnaanam: from the knowledge of which
NaAparam: not other
Jnaanam: knowledge
Tad Brahma: that to be Brahman
Iti: thus
Avadhaarayet: realize
Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.
In these three following stanzas, Acharya is indicating Brahman by the tatasha lakshana. The realization of Self is explained here as the greatest gain, the greatest knowledge having gained which there is no more a sense of incompleteness. Having enjoyed the bliss of Self, none will strive for a greater bliss, having known which there will be never any thirst to know anything more.
Something new is sought out for gained only when there is imperfection or incompleteness. It is only when there is a sense of dissatisfaction that one tries to gain more happiness or more knowledge or something higher. Imperfection thus is only for the limited egoistic jiva. When the jiva rediscovers itself to be the absolute Self or Brahman, all imperfections are understood or known to be mere illusions and all struggles are ended. When the absolute is realized as Self, then there can be nothing else to be sought after. That absoluteness or perfection or completeness, knowing which everything becomes known, is indicated here by Acharya as Brahman.
The great sage Yajnavalkya instructs the same import to Janaka in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-iii-32 as “It becomes (transparent) like water, one, the witness, and without a second. This is the sphere) (state) of Brahman, O Emperor. Thus did Yajnavalkya instruct Janaka: This is its supreme attainment, this is its supreme glory, this is its highest world, this is its supreme bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other beings live.”
Lord also explains such a liberated one in Gita second chapter as:
prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan.h
aatmanyevaatmanaa tushhTaH sthitapraGYastadochyate .. 2\-55..
When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind, then is he said to be one of steady knowledge.
duHkheshhvanudvignamanaaH sukheshhu vigataspR^ihaH .
viitaraagabhayakrodhaH sthitadhiirmuniruchyate .. 2\-56..
He whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and wrath, he is called a sage, a man of steady knowledge.
Let us learn more in the next sloka
Hari OM
With regards,
Mallika R
What you have is God's gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift to God
posted by vedanta | 7:16 PM
1 Comments:
HARI AUM
Prostrations to all.
Sankara is here referring to the Gita sloka in the 6th chapter
Yam labdhvaa cha aparam laabham manyathe na adhikam tatah
Yasmin sthitho na dukhena gurunaa api vichaalyathe
Having attained which, there remains nothing else to be got (either same or different or higher). Having situated or established at which state, there is no distraction or deviation even when there is lot of sorrow (the state of saakshitva is being emphasized by Krishna here).
How to achieve this state??? This also the Lord explains further as "atma samstham manah krithvaa na kinchit api chinthayet" - after fixing the mind unto the Self, do not think anything else.
What if the mind thinks and gets deviated into thoughts???
Yatho yatho nischarathi manah chanchalam asthiram
Tatah tatah niyamya etat atmani eva vasham nayet
Whenever the turbulent and never steady mind deviates into thoughts, those times pull it back and fix it unto the Self.
How is this pulling back of the mind and fixing the Self to be done????
sarva bhootastham aatmaanam sarva bhootaani cha atmani
Ikshathe yoga yukthaatma sarvatra samadarshanah
A yogi whose mind is ever steadfast sees oneness everywhere - he sees the Self in all and all in the Self.
sarvabhootasthitham maam yo bhajathi ekatvam aasthithah
Sarvathaa varthamaanopi sa yogi mayi varthathe
He who worships me as being situated in all beings (as their essence), he is ever in the PRESENT & such a yogi ever lives in me.
If we analyze these sloka of the 6th chapter of Gita, those are beautiful exposition of YOGA as per Vedanta. The Yoga of Krishna is not the Yoga of Patanjali. The Yoga that the Lord propounds in Gita is SAMATVAM YOGAM UCHYATHE (seeing oneness everywhere). And Sankara in the below two slokas seems to be taking the import of the above verses of the Lord directly.
On a lighter note, it was good that there was no IPR on the scriptures & there was no body to protect the same (if it was there). Else Sankara would have been caught red-handed for all of these copying :-).
Prostrations to all.
HARI AUM
Thanks
Hariram
Let a moment not pass by without remembering God
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