In the beginning of our spiritual life, we depend upon, and are taught to depend upon, ourselves; we practice self-reliance and strengthen ourselves. And thus we start our long march of human growth and fulfillment. All the early chapters of the Gita are largely concerned with this growth of human individuality, with this development of individual identity and character-strength, as an integral part of its philosophy of a comprehensive spirituality, which is the yoga taught by the Gita.
That is a significant truth, which we often miss to recognize and act upon. Swami Vivekananda presents it as the central truth of his philosophy of man-making education and man-making religion. Says he in his lecture on ‘My Plan of Campaign’ (Complete Works, Vol. III, 1960 edition, pp. 224-25):
‘What we want is strength, so believe in yourselves. …Make your nerves strong. What we want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel. We have wept long enough; no more weeping, but stand on your feet and be men. It is a man-making religion that we want. It is man-making theories that we want. It is man-making education all round that we want. And here is the test of truth: Anything that makes you weak, physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison; there is no life in it, it cannot be true. Truth is strengthening; Truth is purity, Truth is all-knowledge.’
Say two popular verses of the Indian tradition:
Udyoginam purusa-simham upaiti laksmi daivena deyamiti kapurusa vadanti;
Daivam nihatya kuru paurusam atmasaktya Yatne krte yadi na siddhyati ko’tra dosah—
‘Lakshmi, or the goddess of Fortune, comes only to the industrious lion among men; it is only weaklings that say that we have to take what fate brings unto us; forsake this dependence on fate and express your manliness through the strength of self-reliance; what harm is there if no results come after you put forth your endeavour?‘
Udyamena hi sidhyanti Karyani na manorathaih;
Na hi suptasya simhasya pravisanti mukhe mrgah—
‘It is, verily, only through industriousness that we accomplish what are to be achieved, not through vain day-dreamings; no deer are going to (oblige a lion and) enter into its mouth while (it is lazily) asleep!‘
That is the first great lesson. Gain physical strength and mental strength; develop your talents and capacities and work-efficiency; gain self-confidence, practise self-reliance; and earn knowledge and wealth by hard honest labour; and share your wealth and happiness with others and earn their good-will and appreciation. All this is part and parcel of the spiritual training of man in the early stages. Renunciation of wealth, renunciation of this ‘I’, complete surrender to God, comes later; not at the beginning.
Swami Vivekananda sought to emphasize this truth about human growth very much, because he found among his people many, who were weak and good-for-nothing and yet holding the attitude: ‘God, I am nothing, You are everything. I surrender myself to You.’ They are really nothing!
Obviously, there is nothing praiseworthy about their statement of self-surrender. It is meaningless to regard any one unfit for the world as fit for God (or spiritual life). God will say to Himself: ‘What shall I do with this fellow? He or she will be a burden to me. It is not a joy to have such a devotee; bhakti, or devotion to Me, is made of a sterner stuff.’
This is a great idea. The sooner we understand it, the better. Says Swami Vivekananda in his lecture on ‘Vedanta and Its Application to Indian Life’ (Complete Works, Vol. III, p. 237):
‘Strength, strength, is what the Upanishads preach to me from every page. . . . O Man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses?—says man. There are, say the Upanishads; but will more weakness heal them? Would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness? . . . Ay, it is the only literature in the world where you find the word abhih, fearless, used again and again.‘
Only clean things can remove dirt, only strength can remove weakness, only light can remove darkness.
Source: Divine Grace, by Swami Ranganathananda, Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
AN ILLUMINED LOVE which never degenerates into attachment, A SUPERIOR DIGNITY untainted by the least trace of pride, a SUBLIME WISDOM which sheds light but not scorching heat – these elements characterize true greatness, a spontaneous synthesis of truth and love, of strength and grace.
The truly great ones are whole and wholesome, not the victims of partial and mutually incompatible virtues so much apparent in lesser men. Their life as well as words reveal a fascinating harmony of rare qualities. Witness the struggles of the aspirant in whom one virtue can hardly co-exist with another; whose truth hurts, whose frankness is obviously ‘brutal’, whose sincerity is embarrassing, whose strength is withering, or whose sympathy and compassion only serve to encourage weaknesses.
It needs a perfected soul to harmonize strength and grace even under the most delicate and provocative of circumstances; and precisely one such was the Buddha, the Blessed One.
On one occasion his dear and remarkable disciple, Sariputra, approached the Guru in an exalted mood of adoration. After saluting reverently he took his seat by the Master’s side and burst into a high eulogy: “Lord! There is none greater than you, the Blessed One; there never has been any, there never will be, and none other exists now – greater or wiser. That is what I think; that is my faith.”
The Blessed One was free to accept this praise and adoration, coming as it did from a sincere heart; free to approve of it and bask in its welcome warmth – the way many lesser teachers are often tempted to do.
Or like certain stern ‘impersonalists’ he could have over-reacted, coming down heavily on the disciple and reduced him to pulp with stinging words and ridicule. None of the personality cult!
One way he could have inflated his own ego; the other way he could have broken and crushed that of the disciple. He did something infinitely better; made both shine out better.
Gently and calmly, he just put a counter-question: “Is that so Sariputra? Grand and bold indeed is your assertion. That means you have obviously known all the Blessed Ones of the whole past, and that thoroughly…?”
Honest that he was, Sariputra would not try to defend his position emotionally. Plain was his answer. “How can I say that, Lord? I can’t.”
A little pause, and the Buddha again inquired: “Then you must surely have known all the Blessed Ones yet to come, and that perfectly…?”
Sariputra might have felt embarrassed but that did not come in the way of his truthfulness. So he replied: “Not so, O Lord… I have not.”
A little more pause and the Blessed One asked: “But then, at least you know me as the holy Buddha now alive, and you have penetrated my mind fully and completely…?”
Sariputra could only say, “No Lord… Not that even.”
The very nature of the question-answer process was enough to awaken the needed perspective in Sariputra’s mind. That done, the Buddha clinched the issue saying, “You see then, Sariputra! You know not the hearts of the Buddhas of the past nor the future… nor even of myself. How then can you make such a grand and bold statement?”
Sariputra admitted that his statement was not based on knowledge of facts but on his own deep faith, and tried to explain himself.
“Great is your faith, Sariputra,” declared the Blessed One appreciatively, yet at the same time adding the warning, “but take heed that it is well-grounded.”
The superior teacher, the right kind of Guru he was, the Buddha would not destroy the disciple’s faith nor allow it to run in wrong channels. He would not allow the other great ones to be belittled; but neither would he unnecessarily belittle himself, nor would he make the disciple feel small.
All concerned would be borne aloft by the uplifting breeze of gentle wisdom.
So it is no wonder that he declared on another occasion, “Those that take refuge in me with faith and devotion will get Svarga, paradise. Those who, with full faith, will follow my Dharma (the path of Truth) will become Buddhas like me.”
Source: Profiles in Greatness, Swami Sastrananda, Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.
We ask: When shall we begin our spiritual life? The Gita and the Upanishads answer: When you are young, when your body is strong, when your mind is fresh and vigorous. But the answer of an other-worldly piety will be quite otherwise; it will tell you: Begin to think of religion when you are old and jaded! Enjoy sensory pleasures to the full in your youth and manhood and concern yourself with your other-worldly prospects when the body becomes unfit for them.
The philosophy of Vedanta bridges the gulf between action and contemplation, work and worship, the secular and the sacred. This was the philosophy that Swami Vivekananda preached in East and West alike at the end of the last century. Highlighting its unifying vision, Sister Nivedita {Miss Margaret Noble) writes (‘Introduction: Our Master and His Message’, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, p. xv):
‘The many and the One are the same Reality, perceived by the mind at different times and in different attitudes.’
‘It is this which adds its crowning significance to our Master’s life, for here he becomes the meeting-point, not only of East and West, but also of past and future. If the many and the One be indeed the same Reality, then it is not all modes of worship alone, but equally all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all modes of creation, which are paths of realization. No distinction, henceforth, between sacred and secular. To labour is to pray. To conquer is to renounce. Life is itself religion. To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit and to avoid.’
‘This is the realization which makes Vivekananda the great preacher of karma (detached action), not as divorced from, but as expressing, jnana (Self-knowledge) and bkakti (love of God). To him, the workshop, the study, the farmyard, and the field are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. To him, there is no difference between service of man and worship of God, between manliness and faith, between true righteousness and spirituality.’
Pointing out what such a unifying philosophy means to the emerging world and to all modern men and women— theists or atheists, believers or agnostics —I cannot do anything better than quote a moving passage, almost prophetic in spirit, from a lecture of Swami Vivekananda on ‘The Necessity of Religion’ delivered in London in 1896 (Complete Works, Vol. II, Tenth Edition, pp. 67-68):
‘As the human mind broadens, its spiritual steps broaden too. The time has already come when a man cannot record a thought without its reaching to all corners of the earth; by merely physical means, we have come into touch with the whole world; so the future religions of the world have to become as universal, as wide.
‘The religious ideals of the future must embrace all that exists in the world and is good and great, and, at the same time, have infinite scope for future development. All that was good in the past must be preserved and the doors kept open for future addition to the already existing store. Religions must also be inclusive and not look down with contempt upon one another because their particular ideas of God are different. In my life I have seen a great many spiritual men, a great many sensible persons, Who did not believe in God at all, that is to say, not in our sense of the word. Perhaps they understood God better than we can ever do.
The Personal idea of God or the Impersonal, the Infinite, the Moral Law, or the Ideal Man—these all have to come under the definition of religion. And when religions have become thus broadened, their power for good will have increased a hundredfold. Religions having tremendous power in them have often done more injury to the world than good, simply on account of their narrowness and limitations.’
‘…Religious ideas will have to become universal, vast, and infinite, and then alone we shall have the fullest play of religion, for the power of religion has only just begun to manifest in the world. It is sometimes said that religions are dying out, that spiritual ideas are dying out of the world. To me it seems that they have just begun to grow. The power of religion, broadened and purified, is going to penetrate every part of human life. So long as religion was in the hands of a chosen few or of a body of priests, it was in temples, churches, books, dogmas, ceremonials, forms, and rituals. But when we come to the real, spiritual, universal concept, then and then alone religion will become real and living; it will come into our very nature, live in our every movement, penetrate every pore of our society, and be infinitely more a power for good than it has ever been before.’
Spiritual life, according to Vedanta, thus covers the whole range of man’s life, including its so called worldly stage [day-to-day life], when man is the sole and supreme agent of his life with no partner called God.
Source: Divine Grace, by Swami Ranganathananda, Published (1980) by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.
To live with Sri Ramakrishna was a great education. He taught his disciples how to attain perfection in service as well as samadhi. Harinath (later Swami Turiyananda) recalled:
One day at Dakshineswar the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) said to me:
“Go to the Panchavati. Some devotees had a picnic there. See if they have left anything behind. If you find anything, bring it here.”
I went and found an umbrella in one place, a knife in another place, and some other articles. I gathered them up and took them to the Master. The knife had been borrowed from him. I was just placing it on the shelf when he said:
“Where are you putting it? No, not there. Put it underneath this small bedstead. That is where it belongs. You must put everything in its proper place. Suppose I need the knife during the night. If you put it anywhere you please, I will have to go around the room in the dark, stretching out my arms in search of it, wondering where you put it. Is such a service a service? No! You do things as you like and thereby only cause trouble. If you want to serve properly, you should completely forget yourself.”
Source: Annual Spotlight issue on ‘Dharma and Its Practice’, published by Sri Ramakirshna Math, Chennai. Originally appeared in The Vedanta Kesari, December, 1984.
Duty, though well done, if not conducive to devotion, is sheer waste of effort.
—Bhagavata, 1.2.8
The main topic of every scripture is Dharma in its various aspects. The Bhagavata also deals with Dharma in its wide range and reach.
Man’s primary urge is the preservation of his life. Food is the first concern for that. Then he wishes to perpetuate life. Since nature will not oblige him in that, it is achieved through progeny. A mate is needed for the purpose. Preservation and perpetuation of life through food and mate are the native appetites of all creatures. Struggle and strife are inevitable in the process. Unbridled struggle will be self-defeating. Being intelligent, man made certain curbs and checks to his impulses. It is a social adjustment for the fulfillment of each man’s selfishness with least resistance. This mutual check on selfishness sows the seed for Dharma, for Dharma means that which sustains. This is only a negative aspect of it. As man grows in culture, he becomes aware of the deeper dimensions of his being, the spiritual basis. Yes, it is the spirit that sustains life, and Dharma in its ultimate sense means the Supreme Spirit.
Dharati lokān, iti dharmah—Dharma is that which sustains the worlds. In this sense it is synonymous with Brahman. Self-knowing is a privilege of man and its pursuit is his highest vocation. Many have trodden this path and shown us the way. The path pursued by saintly souls is also Dharma. This definition of Dharma forms its operative part, while the other the cognitive.
The concept of Dharma is vast and varied. Individual, domestic, social, personal and general Dharmas overlap and cause conflicts. It is said that the secret of Dharma is hid deep down in the den, and so, the path beaten by the great ones is to be followed:
Dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhāyām mahājano yena gatā sa panthāh.
What is the reliable reference for Dharma? Manu says:
Vedo’khilo dharma-mūlam
—The entire Veda is the standard for Dharma. Dharma and Brahman are the two topics that the Veda deals with: dharma-brahmani vedaika vedye—of these two, Brahman is the end and Dharma the means. Dharma has two stages, the active and the retro-active:
dvividho hi vedokto dharmah; pravíttilaksano nivritti-laksanah ca.
Vyasa who classified and codified the Vedas, in his magnum opus, the Brahma Sutras, discusses the Upanishads, the philosophical portions, and establishes that Brahman is the main topic that they deal with. This is the preoccupation of those who have reached the later stage of Dharma, viz. Nivrítti Dharma. Once the goal is fixed, the means have to be suggested. Vyasa wrote vast volumes to elucidate Dharma in its varied forms and guises. They are the Itihasas and the Puranas. Of these, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata constitute the peaks.
Dharmo raksati rāksitah —‘Safeguard Dharma and it will safeguard you’ is the message of the Mahabharata. Dharma will provide for both, this world and the next. Neither through covetousness, nor fear, nor greed, nor even for saving one’s life shall one discard Dharma, admonishes Vyasa at the end. Verily, the Mahabharata is the story of a war royal between the forces of Dharma and Adharma, and the ultimate victory of Dharma.
Incidentally it may be noted that Valmiki also takes up the same theme in the Ramayana and proves through the description of trying situations that Rama was a personification of Dharma:
Ramo vigrahavān dharmah.
The law-givers such as Manu, Yajnavalkya and others also sing the same refrain. Nay, the motif of the entire ancient Sanskrit literature is Dharma.
Now to come to the Bhagavata. The opening words of the Bhagavata are the second aphorism of the Brahma Sutras, viz. Janmād yasya yatah—‘That from which this comes, wherein it continues and in which it dissolves—That is Brahman, seek thou That.’ It is customary with the ancient writers to indicate the subject matter, the student, the purpose and their relation to the work on hand. Right at the outset, the author declares that the subject matter of this work also is the same as the one that has been discussed in the Brahma Sutras. The same is reiterated at the end of the first verse in the words—
satyam param dhìmahi—‘I meditate on that ultimate Truth!’ The very same words are repeated at the end of the 13th chapter of the 12th book in verse 19. The Upakrama and the Upasamhara, the beginning and the end, show the content and the conclusion of the work. For that matter, the conclusion of all spiritual works is the same: Brahmavidya is sarvā-vidya-pratisthā, the source and culmination of every discipline is the realisation of Truth, as the Mundaka Upanishad would have it. So then, the difference is not in the goal, but in the means. What is the means? The means is Dharma. Dharma forms the theme of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and other books. What is the special feature of the Bhagavata? The second verse indicates the uniqueness in the words: dharmah projjhitakaitavo’tra paramah. Herein is declared the supreme Dharma bereft of any taint of trick. In the Mahabharata, Dharma was held out as a means to achieve wealth and enjoyment in the words dharmād arthasca kāmasca—‘through Dharma, one can have Artha and Kama’! An incentive for the practice of Dharma is offered; it is not Dharma for its own sake, but motivated Dharma. That is the taint that is being sought to be removed here:
Atra projjhitakaitavah dharmah nirūpyate.
Here in the Bhagavata, Dharma without any taint is being declared. Pure devotion to God without any motive is being discussed. This idea is further clarified in the next chapter in verse 6-11. Suta, the minstrel, tells at the very outset what constitutes man’s supreme Dharma: ‘Verily, the highest Dharma of man is pure uninterrupted devotion to God whereby his mind becomes clear and placid. Devotion to God engenders dispassion and supreme wisdom. If duties done well do not inspire interest in divine stories, they are only so much energy wasted. The goal of Dharma is liberation, and never the acquisition of wealth. Wealth is meant for the proper performance of duties and not an adjunct to selfish enjoyment. Only that much enjoyment is enjoined as is essential for the sustenance of life and it should not lead to indulgence. Human life is meant to realise truth and not to heap up money with ceaseless exertion. Truth is non-dual, supreme knowledge. It is variously known as Brahman, Paramatman, Bhagavan and so on.
Attainment of the Absolute through supreme devotion to God is the highest Dharma according to the Bhagavata. Suta makes it crystal-clear at the start itself. It is reiterated right through. The divine sports of the Incarnations, the trials and tribulations of the devotees and their final beatitude, the violence and wickedness of those opposed to the Divine and their ultimate destruction, all these point to the central theme. The general Dharmas of man, his particular Dharmas as a member of the class to which he belongs, his personal Dharmas according to the stage of development—these also are dealt with in the book. In answer to Yudhisthira’s question as to the eternal Dharmas of man, as also the Varna and Ashrama Dharmas, in the Skandha VII, chapter XI, Narada enumerates them briefly. The detailed treatment of them can be had in Manusmriti and other Dharmasastras and hence the Bhagavata confines itself to a brief mention of them.
In this brief description there is an almost exhaustive list of man’s general Dharmas, numbering thirty. The list begins with truth (satya), compassion (daya), austerity (tapah) and purity (saucam) and ends with self-surrender, preceded by the earlier eight steps of the famous ninefold Bhakti. It may be remembered that this brief mention of the various Dharmas comes after the detailed narration of the Bhagavata Dharma through the story of that prince of Devotees, Prahlada. And the narrator is none other than Narada, the pioneer teacher and preacher of the path of devotion. Prahlada is the embodiment of devotion as depicted by Narada in his Bhaktisutras. Narada says in the Sutras that a man ought to worship God at all times with all his soul, unconcerned by anything. The disciple gives a paraphrase of this teaching in his reply to his father’s query as to what was the best he had learnt so far. Prahlada’s answer constitutes the Bhagavata Dharma.
The first four of the thirty viz. satyam, dayā, tapah, saucam, form the four feet of Dharma, and the last nine, its crown. The general aspects of Dharma also culminate in the Bhagavata Dharma. Prahlada proclaims thus the best lesson he had learnt: “Hearing the glory of God, chanting His name and glories, contemplating His charming form, serving His feet, worshipping Him, saluting Him, dedicating all actions to Him, trusting Him as one’s true friend, dedicating oneself to Him—the cultivation of these nine stages of Bhakti dedicating them all to Vishnu, I consider the best lesson I have learnt.” This famous verse of Prahlada is practically repeated while enumerating the thirty general Dharmas. Verily devotion to God alone is the highest Dharma according to the Bhagavata.
Once, the nine famous sages, Kavi and his brothers, came to the sacrificial hall of Nimi, the reputed royal sage. Nimi received them with due honour and said: “Deign to tell us the Bhagavata Dharma in case you consider us worthy of hearing it—the Dharma by following which the Lord will be so pleased as to surrender Himself to the Devotee.” Pleased with this request, Kavi spoke, “The only way to be totally free from constant fear born of identification with the corruptible body is, I think, ceaseless adoration of the Lotus feet of the Lord. Those disciplines the Lord Himself has proclaimed for the easy attainment of self-realisation by the ignorant, know them to be the duties of a devotee. He who follows them will not trip or slip even if he be blindfolded. Whatever you do with the body or mind, word or the senses, the intellect or the will, prompted by the past momentum, dedicate all that to the Lord. One who has strayed away from God forgets his spiritual dimension. That makes him identify himself with the body and he becomes attached to it. That leads him to the fear of death. All this is due to His Maya. So, a wise man, with the guidance of a saintly soul, should, with deep devotion worship God.
Even though the external world is ultimately nonexistent, because the mind has fancied it for long, it seems real like dream and daydreaming. An intelligent man should arrest the mind that projects and prolongs the world of action. Thereby fear will flee. Singing joyously the glories, names and deeds of the Wielder of the Disc and dwelling on their meaning, one should fare forth without let or hindrance. Such a soul, with his heart melted in love divine, beams and moans, roars and rolls unaware of anything else. He “should salute whatever he sees—whether sky or sea, air or earth, fire or river, trees or animals—as the veritable body of his beloved Hari. Just as with every morsel of food, hunger is appeased, body is nourished and pleasure is derived, so by total surrender to the Lord, one attains simultaneously supreme devotion, realisation of Truth and detachment from worldly things. Such a devotee attains supreme peace.
Human life is a tragedy unless it is centred in God. Without God, life is a vanity and waste. It is devotion to God that makes life worthwhile. It is this message that the Bhagavata conveys. Its scheme is to make man dwell on God through whatever means possible—Kenāpi upāyena. All is grist to Vyasa’s mill to manufacture divine souls.
In answer to further query regarding a man of God, Hari, the second of the nine Yogis, says among other things: “He is the greatest devotee of God who feels the presence of God in all beings and all beings in his own soul which is non-different from God. Even though his senses dwell among sense-objects, he hates not, nor is he elated, knowing as he does that everything is only God’s sport. He is not affected by hunger, fear, loss or lassitude, his mind being constantly in God. He is the greatest of the devotees of Vishnu, who will, in no wise, cease to remember the Lotus feet of the Lord even for a trice, in exchange for the splendour of all the three worlds.”
Such is -the glory of the Lord and His devotees. Human life is meant for the attainment of godliness. That is the end and aim of Bhagavata Dharma, nay of all Dharmas. “Dharmo mat bhaktikrt proktah-(Bh.XI. 19.27). Dharma is that which makes for devotion to Me,” says Sri Krishna to Uddhava and that, in fine, is the Dharma of the Bhagavata.
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The Hindu is only glad that what he has been cherishing in his bosom for ages is going to be taught in more forcible language, and with further light, from the latest conclusions of science. To the Hindu, man is not travelling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. To the Hindu, then, the whole world of religions is only a travelling, a coming up, of different men and women, through various conditions and circumstances, to the same goal. – SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant. Time, place, and other means are but auxiliaries in this regard
Adhikārinamāsāste phalasiddhirvisesatah; Upāyā desakālādyāh santyasmin-sahakārinah — 14
—Vivekachudamani Verse 14, by Sri Sankaracharya
This is a great verse. Every student in India must be re¬educated in the meaning of this verse. It says that success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant (adhikdrinamdsdste phalasiddhirvisesatah); time, place, and other means are but auxiliaries in this regard (updyd desakdlddydh santyasmin-sahakdrinah). A candidate’s success in spiritual life (or in any other venture) primarily depends upon himself. Time, place, and circumstances are all secondary.
Primarily, the question is: “Am I fit? Have I the desire for Self-knowledge?” This is the most important factor. If we wish to have a particular tree, we have to take the respective seed, sow it, and supply water and manure. If the seed is a living seed, it will assimilate the external supplies and grow into a tree. If the seed were a dead one, all our supplies of water and other ingredients would go in vain. Similarly, here the stress is on the seeker. Does he have a living mind, a living soul? If yes, the auxiliaries will add to his growth and success. Otherwise the external helping factors will prove futile. He must be fully living for a particular cause. External help and circumstances are secondary. If he is capable, truly devoted to a cause, then everything will be all right. Time, place, and other auxiliaries will then prove to be fruitful. It is the candidate who is the primary factor. This is the greatest emphasis seen in this book. We are responsible for our destiny. If we are fit, we can wade through the most unfavourable circumstances, else, even favourable conditions will fail to take us far.
Source : ‘The Message of Vivekachudamani‘ by Swami Ranganatananda, Published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata
Is it Real?
I dreamt that I had become a butterfly,’ said the king quietly. But anxiety was writ large on his face. He was speaking to his ministers in the court.
I had become a beautiful butterfly, he continued, ‘with large, colourful wings. I gently sat on flowers, on buds, on green, slender branches. I hopped and flew, flew everywhere. And then I glided near a thorny branch and lo! One of my wings got pierced by a thorn and I was badly hurt. I extricated myself but could not fly. I looked around haplessly. And. . .’
What next, your highness? asked the minister eagerly.
The dream ended, said the king.
It was only a dream’ consoled the relieved minister.
That is not the point, said the king. ‘The point is whether it was I the king who was seeing the dream and I had become a butterfly. Or is it that the butterfly is having the dream that it is a king!’
No one could reply the king.
Indeed, what is truth about real and unreal? According to Vedanta, only real is; unreal is passing. Real is permanent, unreal is impermanent. This is the idea of Jnana Yoga. A man of Jnana is undisturbed by the unreal. He stands aside like a witness. Nothing seems to move him and he is ever calm. Narrates Sri Ramakrishna the state of a Jnani:
There was a farmer who lived in the countryside. He was a real jnani. He earned his living by farming. He was married, and after many years a son was born to him, whom he named Haru. The parents loved the boy dearly. This was natural, since he was the one precious gem in the family. On account of his religious nature the farmer was loved by the villagers.
One day he was working in the field when a neighbour came and told him that Haru had had an attack of cholera. The farmer at once returned home and arranged for treatment for the boy. But Haru died. The other members of the family were grief-stricken, but the farmer acted as if nothing had happened. He consoled his family and told them that grieving was futile. Then he went back to his field. On returning home he found his wife weeping even more bitterly. She said to him: ‘How heartless you are! You haven’t shed one tear for the child.’ The farmer replied quietly: ‘Shall I tell you why I haven’t wept? I had a very vivid dream last night. I dreamt I had become a king; I was the father of eight sons and was very happy with them. Then I woke up. Now I am greatly perplexed. Should I weep for those eight sons or for this one Haru?’
The farmer was a jnani; therefore he realized that the waking state is as unreal as the dream state. There is only one eternal Substance, and that is the Atman.1
Facets of Unreality
The term unreal has several facets such as impermanence, multiplicity, dream, ‘passing’, relativity, and illusion. Impermanence means that which has a beginning, and therefore, will have an end too. All things in this world have a beginning, and will have an end and therefore all of them are unreal. Knowing this ephemeral nature of world, a wise man gives up all attachment to worldly tendencies and desires. Quoting the famous Vairagya Shatakam (31), Swami Vivekananda says,2
In wealth is the fear of poverty, in knowledge the fear of ignorance, in beauty the fear of age, in fame the fear of backbiters, in success the fear of jealousy, even in body is the fear of death. Everything in this earth is fraught with fear. He alone is fearless who has given up everything.
Multiplicity or many-ness is another name for unreal. ‘To see many is maya, and to see oneness is knowledge,’ said Sri Ramakrishna. Multiplicity in Sanskrit is called nanatva. Other two words used are vichitrata and vishamata—variety and heterogeneity.
Swami Vivekananda explains that all life is full of variety or diversity:
This is the first idea of creation. Variation (vichitrata), that is to say Jati, means creation. ’I am One, I become many’ (various Vedas). Unity is before creation, diversity is creation. Now if this diversity stops, creation will be destroyed. So long as any species is vigorous and active, it must throw out varieties. When it ceases or is stopped from breeding varieties, it dies.3
All that we see around us—millions of objects, events, species, colours, aromas, tastes, and infinite types of experiences—are all forms of multiplicity. Who can ever enumerate all that exists in this multiplicity? This is the glory of the Lord. A popular verse says,
If the ocean was an inkstand, the highest mountain of the Himalaya the pen, the earth the scroll and knowledge itself the writer and the infinite time the duration for writing, even then, O Lord, your infinite glories cannot be brought to a conclusion.
This multiplicity is what leads to ‘relativity’. There is no action or object which is absolute. It is relative. Good means less evil and evil means less good. Heat and cold, ugly and beautiful, high and low, right and left—all dualities of nature come from this multiplicity. Behind this multiplicity is Oneness that never changes. Says Swamiji,
The earth moves, causing the illusion of the movement of the sun; but the sun does not move. So Prakriti, or Maya, or Nature, is moving, changing, unfolding veil after veil, turning over leaf after leaf of this grand book—while the witnessing soul drinks in knowledge, unmoved, unchanged.4
From the viewpoint of Yoga, multiplicity is nothing but Purusha, the Sentient Principle within, feeling identified with various vrittis or thought-waves in the mindstuff (chitta). If one separates oneself from all thoughts -waves, one becomes free from all change. Swamiji illustrates it through a story,
The Purusha has, as it were, forgotten its mighty, godly nature.
There is a story that the king of the gods, Indra, once became a pig, wallowing in mire; he had a she-pig and a lot of baby pigs, and was very happy. Then some gods saw his plight, and came to him, and told him, ‘You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods under your command. Why are you here?’
But Indra said, ‘Never mind; I am all right here; I do not care for heaven, while I have this sow and these little pigs.’
The poor gods were at their wits’ end. After a time they decided to slay all the pigs one after another. When all were dead, Indra began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig-body open and he came out of it, and began to laugh, when he realised what a hideous dream he had had—he, the king of the gods, to have become a pig, and to think that that pig-life was the only life! Not only so, but to have wanted the whole universe to come into the pig-life!
The Purusha, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Purusha does not love, it is love itself. It does not exist, it is existence itself. The Soul does not know, It is knowledge itself. It is a mistake to say the Soul loves, exists, or knows. Love, existence, and knowledge are not the qualities of the Purusha, but its essence. When they get reflected upon something, you may call them the qualities of that something. They are not the qualities but the essence of the Purusha, the great Atman, the Infinite Being, without birth or death, established in its own glory. It appears to have become so degenerate that if you approach to tell it, ‘You are not a pig,’ it begins to squeal and bite.5
To be established in one’s real nature means to give up our clinging to the unreal nature. Then the Purusha will be svavastha, established in itself.
Breaking the Dream
How much time does it take to break the dream? How does one wake up? It does not require much time to wake up but do we want to wake up? According to the Bhagavad Gita [2.16], the real is ever-present.
The unreal never is. The Real never is not. Men possessed of the knowledge of the Truth full know both these.
The real refers to the divine present in all. Various Yogas are means for uncovering the real that seems to be covered with the unreal. Karma Yogi does this by detached action, which leads to purity of mind. Bhakti Yogi does it by devotion to God, by self-surrender and worship of the Lord. Jnana Yogi does it by self-analysis and Raja Yogi does it by concentration and purification of mind. The aim of all religious practice is to purify the mind and discover the Real behind the unreal.
We should first begin by changing what we consider real—for the real is what attracts. Whatever one thinks as real attracts all one’s emotions, thinking and actions. If God is real, then He/She attracts us. If the world is real, then the world attracts us. If one earnestly practices spiritual disciplines like Japa, prayer, meditation, service and so on, one progresses on the path of inner purity which is what leads to finding the real.
The Real surpasses all states of being—waking, dream and deep sleep. It is the substratum of all states and hence is called turiya, the transcendental.
What happens when one discovers the real? One finds the same divinity everywhere and in all. Swamiji describes it thus:
When man has seen himself as one with the Infinite Being of the universe, when all separateness has ceased, when all men and women, all gods and angels, all animals and plants, and the whole universe have melted into that Oneness, then all fear disappears. Can I hurt myself? Can I kill myself? Can I injure myself? Whom to fear? Can you fear yourself? Then will all sorrow disappear. What can cause me sorrow? I am the One Existence of the universe. Then all jealousies will disappear; of whom to be jealous? Of myself? Then all bad feelings disappear. Against whom can I have bad feeling? Against myself? There is none in the universe but I. And this is the one way, says the Vedantist, to Knowledge. Kill out this differentiation, kill out this superstition that there are many. ‘He who in this world of many sees that One, he who in this mass of insentiency sees that one Sentient Being, he who in this world of shadows catches that Reality, unto him belongs eternal peace, unto none else, unto none else.
References
1. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, p.652
2. CW, 6: 300
3. CW, 4.373
4. CW, 5.68
5. CW, 1.348
6. CW, 2.252
Source : Editorial, The Vedanta Kesari, April 1, 2013
Does the devotee serve God, or God the devotee? There comes a time when the devotee feels that what little service he can do to God is almost next to nothing, that it is God Himself who is really serving him. The worship of the devotee is like the worship of the Mother Ganga, with Ganga water; that is, offering Him things which are His. The true Bhakta has no thought for himself; it is God who has to think about Him. Whom do we call a Bhakta? It is he who has pure, desireless, unconditioned love for God who is mad with love for God. God bears the burden of such a devotee, and provides for him whose whole heart and soul is ever fixed on Him. “To these I carry what they lack, and for them I preserve what they already have”, says the Gita. Such devotees are extremely rare. We read of them in our Puranas and histories.
It is only because of his pure devotion and love that God submits Himself to the devotee. He makes Himself over to the devotee, indebted by the devotee’s love and acknowledges defeat on account of the devotee’s whole–souled love. God dwells constantly in the heart of the devotee, bound by the cord of love. Verily, there is nothing that He cannot grant him.
As the devotee cannot live without God, even so God Himself cannot live without the devotee….. The love of God, on the other hand, is desireless, supersensuous, heavenly and everlasting. The more one drinks that nectar of love, the more the thirst for it grows; one never feels satiated. Love, God of Love, the Beloved, and the lover, all become merged into one without distinction. Then what remains is – Bliss Absolute.
- Swami Virajananda (Towards The Goal Supreme)
This article was taken from the book Towards The Goal Supreme by Swami Virajananda, for more details on the book please follow the link below;
http://www.chennaimath.org/istore/product/towards-the-supreme-goal/
In speaking on the subject of spiritual practice for beginners,I think I should make one or two points clear at the very outset.First of all, what do I mean by beginners? It is a fact that all beginners are not really beginners: souls are born on this earth with different qualifications,and those who start spiritual life seriously do not all begin at the same point.Therefore,spiritual practices cannot be the same, or even similar, for all beginners.
In sum and substance, this would be my instruction for a beginner: form your character; try to spiritualize your life; do everything as an offering to the Lord.Along with that, you should practice charity to other beings.One very great teacher said,’’These three things should be observed: Be kind to all beings:be devoted to the name of God; serve the devotees of the Lord’’.All these things should be practised.Then go to a teacher, find what the right practice is for you.Then do it.
After some years have passed, you are no longer a beginner. The truths of religion are becoming real to you.You directly feel the intervention of God in your life.You feel from time to time the touch of His Grace in your own heart.And you find that what the teacher has taught is not just a matter of faith alone but is becoming real.He whom you have been seeking all your life is no longer so distant; He has come closer to you. I am quite sure that by the time such a beginner ends this life he will find that he has put all the negations of his life behind him and has now entered into a life of spiritual fruition.He will feel that God has become real in the centre of his being.
- Swami Ashokananda (Ascent To Spiritual Illumination)
This article was taken from the book Ascent To Spiritual Illumination by Swami Ashokananda, for more details on the book please follow the link below;
http://www.chennaimath.org/istore/product/ascent-to-spiritual-illumination/
We do not see the Truth clearly because of our tremendous mental impurity. We must strive and remove the dirt of our mind. Others can give us only the necessary suggestions. But we have to change our conduct of life accordingly.
We must get a mental telescope, This capacity lies dormant in every one of us;. It does not come from outside, nor can it be added to our nature. But it is something we have neglected all these years. As our ordinary mind becomes purer and purer, we discover a subtle spiritual mind behind it, called the buddhi or the Heart. With its unfoldment a new vision opens. It is the ‘divine eye’ – divya caksu –mentioned in the 11th Chapter of the Gita. Spiritual life means the development of this divine eye.
We should never think that we are endowed with perfect senses and that what we experience with the senses is real and permanent. The first exercise of discrimination, the first dawn of knowledge reveals to us that this world is changing constantly, and can give us no permanent peace. A radio set receives endless electrical waves but our senses cannot perceive them directly. In the same way our gross mind cannot know the subtle spiritual waves emanating from the soul, from God. But when this mind is purified turned inward and concentrated, we discover subtler and subtler worlds within us.
Mere reading, discussion and nice feelings are not enough, and those who are not prepared to take up actual spiritual practice in full earnest had better turn to something else. They will never make any spiritual progress in spiritual life. People are so beggarly that the moment they a nice elevating feeling or thought, they think they have achieved something great or important. They have really no idea of what real spiritual life is, and where it really begins.
Preaching religion is not enough. Talking about spiritual life is not enough. We must do some real spiritual practice. Most people fight shy of spiritual practice, but what spiritual life mean if it does not trim our faculties in a way that enables us to perceive spiritual truths, to realize our real nature? What does Christ’s message, Buddha’s message, Sri Krishna’s message, Shri Ramakrishna’s message mean? They show us the way to our own realization; but if it does not experience the Truth, they are totally valueless for us.
Source: Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda