14th October 2020. ॐ
VIVEKACHUDAMANI
Talks by Swami Shivaprakashananda Saraswati.
सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् ।
गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥
sarvavedāntasiddhāntagocaraṃ tamagocaram |
govindaṃ paramānandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato'smyaham || 1 ||
Shloka 118
मिश्रस्य सत्त्वस्य भवन्ति धर्माः
त्वमानिताद्या नियमा यमाद्याः ।
श्रद्धा च भक्तिश्च मुमुक्षता च
दैवी च सम्पत्तिरसन्निवृत्तिः ॥ ११८ ॥
miśrasya sattvasya bhavanti dharmāḥ
tvamānitādyā niyamā yamādyāḥ |
śraddhā ca bhaktiśca mumukṣatā ca
daivī ca sampattirasannivṛttiḥ || 118 ||
Sattva can be classified into two types Vishudhha Satva and Mishrit Sattva.
Vishuddha Sattva means pure Sattva that is not contaminated by Rajas and Tamas.
Mishrit Satvva is the Sattva that is contaminated by Rajas and Tamas.
Mishrit Sattva can be further classified into two-
Durbala Sattva and Prabala Sattva.
When Sattva is weak, Rajas and Tamas are stronger, then it is Durbala Sattva and when a person has Durbala Sattva he will remain as a total ‘Samsaari,’ not even interested in Moksha. In due course of time because of special Punyas he may become Prabala Sattva, and the Sattva becomes stronger and Rajas and Tamas become weak!
A Sattva predominant person! Then, he gets all the qualities that are conducive for the pursuit of Moksha. He becomes a Mumukshu, he seeks Moksha and he gets all the qualities that are prescribed for a Mumukshu like Shraddha ,Bhakti etc.
This Shloka is talking about ‘Prabala Sattva’.
Durbala Sattva has been told in Shloka 117. That is Durbala Sattva. When Sattva is with Rajas and Tamas and overpowered by Rajas and Tamas that Sattva does not become favourable to Moksha but when the same Sattva becomes Prabala even though there is some influence of Rajas and Tamas, the Sattva facilitates Moksha.
मिश्रस्य सत्त्वस्य धर्माः
miśrasya sattvasya dharmāḥ
The qualities of Mishrit Sattva we have to understand as ‘Prabala Mishrit Sattva’.
It is still Mishrit Sattva and yet it is Prabala! It is still mixed up with Rajas and Tamas and yet Sattva is stronger!
धर्माः dharmah—the qualities of Mishrit Sattva—the qualities of Prabala Sattva . What are they?
अमानित्वमदम्भित्व
amānitvam adambhitvam
This refers to twenty qualities enumerated in Chapter 13 of Bhagwad Geeta.
Ch 13 Shola 7 onwards there is a list of 20 qualities.
अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |
आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रह: || 8||
amānitvam adambhitvam ahinsā kṣhāntir ārjavam
āchāryopāsanaṁ śhauchaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ
Those qualities are desirable for the pursuit of Jnanam.
‘amanitvam’ means humility, ‘adambhitvam’ etc. One can look into Bhagwad Geeta for the details.
Niyama yamadyah -नियमा यमाद्याः ।
Niyama and Yama. Yoga Shastra prescribes five disciplines are known as Yama and they are-
Ahimsa --Non-violence.
Satya—Truthfulness.
Asteya--Not stealing and not deceiving.
Brahmacharya--and
Aparigraha--Not accepting unnecessary possessions. If one takes up too many possessions which are not needed to conduct a normal life it can cause a headache, a distraction, and therefore for a Mumuksha ‘aparigraha’ is valid. Then there are five Niyamas.
Shaucha --Cleanliness,
Santosh—Contentment, remaining satisfied with whatever one has and not complaining about what one is lacking.
Tapah—Austerities.
Swadhyah—Study of Moksha Shastra which reveals the means for Moksha.
Ishwara Pranidhana -Offering everything to Ishwara. Whatever action one does one offers it to Ishwara and accepts the result as the grace of Ishwara. In other words—surrender to Ishwara. Taking refuge at Ishwara is called Ishwara Pranidhana.
These are five Yamas and five Niyamas. They are defined and explained in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as two parts of Ashtanga Yoga.
Shraddha-a trust in the words of the Shastras as explained by the Guru.
Bhakti-devotion to Ishwara as well as devotion to the Guru.
Mumushttva—an intense desire for Moksha. This is listed in Chapter 16 of the Bhagwad Geeta, दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता |
The first three Shlokas of Chapter 16 which we are studying now on Sunday classes. ‘Abhayam Sattva SanShuddhir’.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थिति: |
दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम् || 1||
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्याग: शान्तिरपैशुनम् |
दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् || 2||
तेज: क्षमा धृति: शौचमद्रोहोनातिमानिता |
भवन्ति सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातस्य भारत || 3||
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
abhayaṁ sattva-sanśhuddhir jñāna-yoga-vyavasthitiḥ
dānaṁ damaśh cha yajñaśh cha svādhyāyas tapa ārjavam
ahinsā satyam akrodhas tyāgaḥ śhāntir apaiśhunam
dayā bhūteṣhv aloluptvaṁ mārdavaṁ hrīr achāpalam
tejaḥ kṣhamā dhṛitiḥ śhaucham adroho nāti-mānitā
bhavanti sampadaṁ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata
I think there are twenty-six qualities mentioned for ‘Daivi Sampada’. For details please refer to our Sunday morning classes.
Restraining from Adharma अधर्म , restrain from all that is prohibited by the Shastras. The Shastras prohibit certain activities like violence, telling lies, alcohol etc. Restrain from them is ‘Asanga Nivritti,’. When Sattva becomes predominant a person understands the importance of all the noble values that are prescribed in the Shastras and then he works towards it to improve upon those values and qualities. Then, in due course of time, he becomes a Jnani. He gets Atma Jnana.
The Atma Jnana makes a person free from the effects of Rajas and Tamas and they are the ones that cause Samsaara.
When a person has Atma Jnana the Rajas and the Tamas lose the ability to cause Samsaara.
Therefore, the Acharya refers to Atma Jnani as free from Rajas and Tamas. Tamas has Avaarna Shakti and it can cause ignorance and delusion. Atma Jnani does not have ignorance and delusion. Rajas has Vikshepa Shakti and it causes desires etc. The Vikshepa Shakti can work only when there is Avarana Shakti and for a Jnani the Avarana Shakti is already removed, then Vikshepa Shakti has no scope of working. Therefore, a Jnani is free from the clutches of Vikshepa Shakti and Avarna Shakti which means that a Jnani is free from the effects of Rajas and Tamas and that is why the Jnani’s mind can be understood as ‘Vishuddha Sattva’ and this Sattva is free from Rajas and Tamas.
In the next Shloka the author discusses ‘Vishuddha Sattva’.
Shloka 119.
विशुद्धसत्त्वस्य गुणाः प्रसादः
स्वात्मानुभूतिः परमा प्रशान्तिः ।
तृप्तिः प्रहर्षः परमात्मनिष्ठा
यया सदानन्दरसं समृच्छति ॥ ११९ ॥
viśuddhasattvasya guṇāḥ prasādaḥ
svātmānubhūtiḥ paramā praśāntiḥ |
tṛptiḥ praharṣaḥ paramātmaniṣṭhā
yayā sadānandarasaṃ sadānandarasaṃ samṛcchati || 119 |
विशुद्धसत्त्व—viśuddhasattva.
The characteristics of Vishuddha Sattva—प्रसादः ‘Prasadah’, clarity. The mind is free from the effects of Rajas and Tamas, free from ignorance and free from confusion.
स्वात्मानुभूतिः --svātmānubhūtiḥ . A clear understanding of one’s Atma---One’s Self.
परमा प्रशान्तिः -- paramā praśāntiḥ. Supreme peace! Ajnani’s peace is relative. If Ajnani has to be peaceful, the circumstances around him have to allow him to be peaceful as his peace is dependent on external factors. If nobody is causing problems, he is peaceful. If something goes wrong outside, he cannot remain peaceful. This is not so with a JNANI.
A Jnani’s peace is independent of the ambience and irrespective of all the troubles in life and irrespective of the problems in life, a Jnani remains peaceful within himself. That kind of peace is –परमाप्रशान्तिः -- paramā praśāntiḥ- Supreme peace and not relative peace!
It is not relative peace which is ‘Apakeshi Shanti’. Generally, people experience this kind of ‘Apakeshi Shanti’ --relative and temporary peace.
Atma Jnana leads to absolute peace. Supreme peace!
परमात्मनिष्ठा -- A Jnani gets stationed in Paramatma. Generally, people are stationed in the body because we identify with the body, which means our ‘I’ is situated in the body. That means our identification of ‘I’ is located in the body and unfortunately, it is the wrong place for the ‘I’ --for the identification of ‘I’.
The ‘I’ has to be placed in the correct position-- in what deserves to be referred to as ‘I’ --- that is Paramatma. A Jnani’s ‘I’ has shifted from the body to Paramatma.
Therefore, one can say that a Jnani is stationed in Paramatma. That is Paramatma Nishtha परमात्मा निष्ठा in spite of working through the body and in spite of transacting through the body, a Jnani is stationed in Paramatma because he does not lose sight of his true identity as Paramatma.
When there is Paramatma Nishta परमात्मा निष्ठा the Jnani has discovered the true source of happiness, the perennial source of inner happiness which is nothing but Paramatma.
यया -yaya
Let us see the last quarter.
यया सदानन्दरसं समृच्छति ॥ ११९ ॥
Yaya parmatma nishtha
sadānandarasaṃ
Paramtma Nishta परमात्मनिष्ठा —Sadanand -सदानन्द
A Jnani gets ‘SADANAND’ always ‘ANANDA’—perennial Anand!
In fact, a Jnani is standing on the perennial source of ANANDA, therefore he does not have to seek Ananda or import Ananda from outside. As a result of, discovering Sadananda two things happen when this Ananda is there.
Let us see the third quarter of the verse-
praharṣaḥ - प्रहर्षः
triptih-तृप्तिः
praharṣaḥ - प्रहर्षः is different from ‘Harsha’ हर्ष
You are happy when there is an external object --Vishaya Sukha. विषय सुख as long as the object allows me to be happy, I am happy. When the object goes away the Harsha- -हर्ष also goes away!
Then Vishad विषाद
Harsha-हर्ष and Vishad विषाद these are two opposites, two waves.
A ‘Ajnani’ अज्ञानी has Harsha and Vishaada –fluctuates between Harsha and Vishaada.
A ज्ञानी-JNANI has Praharsha -प्रहर्ष_-- He is free from Harsha.
What is ‘Praharsha’? He is happy even in the absence of external objects. Being happy in the absence of external objects is ‘Praharsha’ -प्रहर्ष
Then there is triptih तृप्ति: and there is ‘Praharsha’ there is triptih तृप्तिः –satisfaction You don’t feel the need for anything additional because you have enough. Only when I have something lacking, I seek something more.
तृप्तिः ‘triptih’ is the ability to say ‘no’ to something more.
“I don’t need”- is because I have enough. This feeling is triptih-- which is ‘Alam-Buddhi’ अलंबुद्धि. I don’t need more. It is enough! This feeling is ‘Alam Buddhi’. These are the characteristics of ‘Vishuddha Sattva’.
They are experienced by a Jnani. Our objective is to transform from Durbala Sattva दुर्बल सत्त्व--that is the journey of a Mumukshu--A spiritual seeker.
Shloka 120
अव्यक्तमेतत्त्रिगुणैर्निरुक्तं
तत्कारणं नाम शरीरमात्मनः ।
सुषुप्तिरेतस्य विभक्त्यवस्था
प्रलीनसर्वेन्द्रियबुद्धिवृत्तिः ॥ १२0 ॥
avyaktametattriguṇairniruktaṃ
tatkāraṇaṃ nāma śarīramātmanaḥ |
suṣuptiretasya vibhaktyavasthā
pralīnasarvendriyabuddhivṛttiḥ || 120 ||
The author discussed three Gunas, Rajas, Tamas and Sattva. The three Gunas are the constituents of MAYA.
The author is discussing Maya because Maya is the Karana Shareer- कारण शरीर
Our main topic is Atma and Anatma Viveka. We are discriminating between Atma and Anatma and to distinguish between the two the author is discussing the Anatma the ‘Non-Self’ and while discussing the Anatma –‘Non-Self’ he discussed sthoola and sukshma-shareer स्थूल शरीर और कारण शरीर and now he is discussing कारण शरीर Karana Shareer.
He introduced Maya and while describing Maya he said Maya has three Gunas and then he discussed the three Gunas.
Now he is concluding the discussion of Karana Shareer- कारण शरीर in this and the following Shlokas.
अव्यक्तमेतत्त्रिगुणैर्निरुक्तं
avyaktametattriguṇairniruktaṃ
This Maya is अव्यक्त ‘Avyakta’. It is not manifest. Maya is Shakti. Ishwar’s Shakti. It is the potential of Ishwar. The potential is not manifest. It is true with any potential. For, example my ability to speak. The ability is not ‘manifest’. You can see the effect of the potential when I speak! Likewise, Maya is always अव्यक्त AVYAKTA ‘unmanifest’. We cannot see Maya but we can see the effect of Maya.
The whole Universe is the effect of Maya!
त्रिगुणात्मिका माया--trigunatmika Maya consists of three. It is described as a component of three Gunas.
तत्कारणं नाम शरीरमात्मनः ।
tatkāraṇaṃ nāma śarīramātmanaḥ |
Tatta Atmanam Karan Shareer
It is a Shareer ! Even Maya is a Shareer and it is कारण शरीर Karaana Shareer -- Causal body, because it is the ‘cause’ of the other two Shareeras.
Maya-- Karaana Shareer is there always whether we are waking or whether we are dreaming or whether we are in deep sleep. There is Maya, there is Karaana Shareer. But when we are in waking or in dream - state we cannot experience कारण शरीर Karana Shareer distinctly because in Jagrat Avasatha, in waking, our Sthoola Shareer is very much active and so is our Sukshma Shareer.
Therefore, in waking, there are all three Shareeras—Sukshma Shareer, Sthoola Shareer as well as Karana Shareer. Then we cannot distinguish Karana Shareer from the other two Shareeras as all are there together.
Likewise, in dream, in Svapana Avastha स्वप्न अवस्था there is no Sthoola Shareer. We do not experience our Sthoola Shareer BUT Sukshma Shareer is active.
Therefore, there is Sukshma Shareer as well as Karana Shareer in dream, therefore in Sukshama Shareer also we cannot experience Karana Shareer distinctly. Then, where can we experience Karana Shareer distinctly?
We have to go to deep sleep! In deep sleep, both Sukshma Shareer and Sthoola Shareer are absent.
You do not experience either Sukshma Shareer or Sthoola Shareer and that state is called ‘deep sleep’. Karana Shareer alone is experienced in the absence of Sthoola Shareer and Sukshma Shareer. That is why the author says that in deep sleep we experience the Karana Shareer distinctly, independent of the other two bodies.
प्रलीनसर्वेन्द्रियबुद्धिवृत्तिः ॥ १२0 ॥
avyaktametattriguṇairniruktaṃ
tatkāraṇaṃ nāma śarīramātmanaḥ |
suṣuptiretasya vibhaktyavasthā
pralīnasarvendriyabuddhivṛttiḥ || 120 ||
Therefore—प्रलीनसर्वेन्द्रियबुद्धिवृत्तिः--pralīnasarvendriyabuddhivṛttiḥ --is Sushupti सुषुप्ति.
The author describes and defines ‘Sushupti’. What is ‘Sushupti’?
When all the functioning of the senses as well of the mind resolve, then you get ‘Sushupti’ सुषुप्ति.
The ‘Indriya Vrittis’ -- the functions of the senses are resolved. The senses are not functioning and even the mind –buddhi, is also not functioning. Both senses and mind go to rest and that state is called ‘Sushupti’ - सुषुप्ति
प्रलीनसर्वेन्द्रियबुद्धिवृत्तिः
pralīnasarvendriyabuddhivṛttiḥ -- is ‘Sushupti’ सुषुप्ति.
It is an explanation of ‘Sushupti’. It is the exclusive state of Karana Shareer, the state in which one can distinctly experience Karana Shareer. All forms of cognition resolve.
Let us go to the next verse.
Shloka 121.
सर्वप्रकारप्रमितिप्रशान्तिः
बीजात्मनावस्थितिरेव बुद्धेः ।
सुषुप्तिरेतस्य किल प्रतीतिः
किंचिन्न वेद्मीति जगत्प्रसिद्धेः ॥ १२१ ॥
sarvaprakārapramitipraśāntiḥ
bījātmanāvasthitireva buddheḥ |
suṣuptiretasya kila pratītiḥ
kiṃcinna vedmīti jagatprasiddheḥ || 121 ||
बीजात्मनावस्थितिरेव बुद्धेः।
bījātmanāvasthitireva buddheḥ
The author explains ‘Sushupti’ further. All forms of cognitions resolve. Neither we see the external objects nor we experience the objects that are registered in our mind. All cognitions stop!
सर्वप्रकारप्रमितिप्रशान्तिः--sarvaprakārapramitipraśāntiḥ
In ‘Sushupti’ our mind also does not work because it has resolved into its causal form. It is like our computer going to sleep mode. What happens when the computer goes in sleep mode? The programs resolve. The programs are not working. It is potentially there, but not functioning. Likewise, when go to deep sleep the Buddhi is potentially there but it is not working! That means that it has resolved into its causal state.
बीजात्मनावस्थितिरेव बुद्धेः। bījātmanāvasthitireva buddheḥ
Buddhi remains in its causal, its potential form so that after a while it can manifest once again. It is not manifest now and now it is potentially there but when we wake up the Buddhi manifests once again.
This is ‘Sushupti’- सुषुप्ति
In ‘Sushupti’ we experience Karana Shareer. In ‘Sushupti’, Karana Shareer is evident.
How do you know that Karana Shareer is evident in Sushupti? We know because everyone in the world, when they wake up, they all without an exception, they all say, “I was sleeping, I did not know anything, during sleep, I did not KNOW anything”.
This experience is universal! I did not know anything --means I experienced – ‘Ignorance’. There is an experience of Ignorance in deep sleep and Ignorance is Karana Shareer and therefore, Karana Shareer is experienced in Sushupti- सुषुप्ति
किंचिन्न वेद्मीति जगत्प्रसिद्धेः
kiṃcinna vedmīti jagatprasiddheḥ
I did not know anything! This is Jagat Prasiddha जगत प्रसिद्धः
It is experienced by everyone in the world!
