16h December 2020.
ॐ
VIVEKACHUDAMANI
Talks by Swami Shivaprakashananda Saraswati.
सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् ।
गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥
sarvavedāntasiddhāntagocaraṃ tamagocaram |
govindaṃ paramānandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato'smyaham || 1 ||
Shloka 148
श्रुतिप्रमाणैकमतेः स्वधर्म
निष्ठा तयैवात्मविशुद्धिरस्य ।
विशुद्धबुद्धेः परमात्मवेदनं
तेनैव संसारसमूलनाशः ॥ १४८ ॥
śrutipramāṇaikamateḥ svadharma
niṣṭhā tayaivātmaviśuddhirasya |
viśuddhabuddheḥ paramātmavedanaṃ
tenaiva saṃsārasamūlanāśaḥ || 148 ||
In this verse the author is beautifully summing up the spiritual journey, the journey to moksha. In the first half, the author is explaining how to prepare for Atma Jnana The pursuit for Atma Jnana requires preparation. How to prepare? The preparation is Chit Shuddhi .The purification of Mind. How to purify the mind? The author says commitment to Svadharma. Performing one’s Svadharma .
The word Svadharma needs some explanations because people have various misconceptions regarding Svadharma. From the standpoint of the shastras, our activities can be classified into three--
Svdharma, Pardharma and Adharma.
Svadharma is what an individual is supposed at a give instance to do in his life. At any instance of my life what I am supposed to do is my Svadharma. What is right for me to do in a given situation. What is right for me need not be right for another person. What is right for another person is Paradharama.a The Svadharama of a Householder / Grahastha is different from the Svadharma of a sanyasi. A sanyasi can go for Bhiksha, as it his Svadharma but it is not right for a Grahastha.
Therefore from a standpoint of a Sanyasi what is right for a Grahastha to have a house and live with his family is Paradharma for the Sanyasi.
What is right for a Sanyasi is not right for a Grahastha because what is Svadharma for a Sanyasi will be Parasharma पराश्रम for a Grahastha. In Bhagwad Geeta Bhagwan says—
sva-dharme nidhanam sreyah
para-dharmo bhayavahah
Ch 3 Sh 35.
Paradharma is as good as Adharma so Svadharma is specific to a given individual. There is Svadharma and there is Paradharma and then there is Adharma-- what an individual is not supposed to do, that is Adharma. One should commit to Svadharma and give up Paradharma as well as Adharma. This is called Svadaharma Nishta. Committing oneself to Svadharama . Now how to know my Svadharma ? What I am supposed to do and what I am not supposed to do? How can I know? All of us have our norms of rights and wrongs, our own norms of morality and our own ethics and it is influenced by various factors to a certain extent it is influenced by our education our society and our own thinkings etc. We have our own set of right and wrong. What we think right is not necessarily our Svadharma because what is Svadharama and what is not Svadharma has to be decided by a proper source of knowledge. And the proper source of knowledge to understand the dharma is the Shastra The primary Shastra is Shruti or Vedas. Veda or Shruti is the Pramana to understand my dharma.
Therefore I should consult the Shruti and I should allow myself the understanding of right and wrong in keeping with the Shruti Pramana and then my understanding of right and wrong becomes my Svadharama. If I don’t consult the Shruti pramana I may be thinking that something is right but it may wrong from the standpoint of the Shruti. Let me give an example.
Nowadays in modern society going to a party and you have to socialise in the party You have to take a social drink, champagne, whisky etc. If you don’t take the social drink you will be tagged anti-social. It is right from the standpoint of the society. But the Shruti says do not drink alcohol. It is adharma to drink alcohol. Drinking is adharama. What we thought right as per our own conditioning is different from the standpoint of Shastra. This is just an example but there may be many are many other. Therefore the first step in committing to Svadharma is to tune our understanding of right and wrong with Shruti Pramana. To align our understanding with Shruti Pramana. Now someone may say I do not have access to Shruti , I cannot read the Shruti , I do not know Samskrita and even if I know Samskrita, the language of the Shruti is confusing. I don’t know how to interpret the Shrutis. If you don’t know how to understand the Shruti then go to someone who has studied the Shrutis. Go to your Guru and he will tell you what is your dharma and what is your Svadarma and what is not. That is how one has to align oneself with Shruti Pramana. Such a person is called
श्रुतिप्रमाणैकमतेः स्वधर्म / śrutipramāṇaikamateḥ svadharma
His understanding of right and wrong is in keeping with what is told in the Shruti Pramana. Then he commits to Svadharma.
श्रुतिप्रमाणैकमतेः स्वधर्म / śrutipramāṇaikamateḥ svadharma – He performs Svadharma. It includes various things. It includes certain rituals. It includes chanting of Vishnu Sashranma , Sandhya Vandana or japa etc. It also includes certain duties. The duty of a husband of a wife of a son and duty of a daughter and duty of a daughter in law and so on. The duty of a Shisya towards his Guru etc. All these are Svadhramas. They are all individual specific. It includes rituals it includes duties and it includes values like, daan etc. Truthfulness, ahimsa and so on.
So he becomes a Svadharma Nishta.
It is not easy to become a Svadharma Nishtha because our likes and dislikes become an obstacle in performing Svadharma. Our likes and dislike may contradict the rights and wrongs. Sometimes we may not like to do certain things but it may be our Svadharma. It is true in the case of Arjuna. He did not like to fight but it was his dharma.
To accomplish Svadharama one has to subordinate ones likes and dislikes to the understanding of what is right and wrong and that can of a person can become Svdharma Nishtha
Svaadharma Nishtha leads to Chit Shudhhi, the purification of mind, therefore the author says निष्ठा तयैवात्मविशुद्धिरस्य / niṣṭhā tayaivātmaviśuddhirasya |
Atma Vishuddhi means Chit Shuddhi . asya Purusha – This individual gets Atma Vishuddji . His mind becomes pure, free from all undesirable impulses like desires and ambitions and hatred, greed. All such impulses subside.
The mind becomes pure. A pure mind is ready for Atma Jnana. Then he goes to a Guru and exposes himself to the teachings and in due course of time he gets Atma Jnana. A vishuddha Buddhi -- A person with a pure mind, vishudhs bahuvihi smasa
A person with a pure mind gets Atma Jnana. Paramatam Vedanam ---Atma Jnana. He gets Atma Jnana. The Atma Jnana puts an end to Samsara.
By destroying the very root of Samsara .The root of Samsara is Ajnana -ignorance. Atma Jnana destroys ignorance then the root of Samsara is destroyed then there is no more chance for Samsara to arise again.
तेनैव संसारसमूलनाशः / tenaiva saṃsārasamūlanāśaḥ
The Samasara gets destroyed with its mula / root. It cannot grow once again. Thus the author summed up the spiritual pursuit.
Now the author is introducing another sub topic. It is called Panch Kosha Viveka.
Our main topic is ATMA - ANATMA VIVEKA. Distinction between Atma and Anatama.
Atma and Anatma Viveka can be done through many methodologies. One methodology which we have already seen is sharira treya viveka. We analyse the three bodies. The sthoola- sharira and karana sharira and the sukshma sharira--- and arrived at the Atma. This is one methodology. The methodology is called Prakriya. It is the methodology to arrive at a certain understanding.
In Vedanta, we employ various Prakriyas. The first Prakriya was Sharira Treya Viveka Prakriya. Now the author is introducing another methodology / Prakriya to arrive at the same the Atma Anatma Viveka
The Panch Kosha Viveka. The five Koshas are analysed. We will see the five koshas in detail later on. They are called Koshas which literally mean a cover, a sheath, just like a sheath of a sword. It covers a sword.
The cover of the sword covers the sword likewise these five koshas cover the Atma. They hide the Atma therefore the Atma cannot be noticed though Atma is very much present, it cannot be noticed.
Here we must understand the difference. The regular Kosha, the kosha of a sword can literally cover the sword but these five Koshas cannot cover the Atma physically because Atma is all-pervasive and it is Self- Effulgent. The Self -effulgent all-pervasive Atma cannot be physically be covered.
Let me explain this with an example
One Mr Devadutta was supposed to come to me. I got a message that Devdutta is coming and I was waiting and looking forward to Devadutta and when we don’t know someone and we have just heard of him we imagine the person. I had my own idea about Mr Devadutta . Then, Mr Devadutta comes at a distance and when he comes he doesn’t come alone. He comes with five friends. There are totally six people coming. One of them is fat and hefty person and then there is another person who is not as fat as the first person. So, with the five people who are looking big and along with them is an ordinary-looking lean person. So these six people came to me and this big fat person is very dominant. He keeps smiling and laughing and so and so Already he is big and very active also
My attention naturally goes to such people. The lean person I don’t even notice him though he is in front of me. I am not aware of his presence. So these people come to me and were speaking to me for a while and yet I don’t know who is Devadutta. Later I come to know that the big fat man is not Devadutta. I asked the second person. The second person is also not Devadutta. All these five big people are not Devadutta.
They were active chattering, they were relatively big. They were chattering. Then there is the sixth person who is quiet. Finally, I understand that he is the real person. He is the person who wanted to meet me.
Until I don’t discover this, till then my attention is diverted by the other five people. That is how these five people have as though hidden the real Devaduta by distracting my attention. Keeping my attention away from the real Devadutta,
Likewise, there is Atma and there are five Koshas .
Annamaya Kosha-- This gross body, Then there is Pranamaya Kosha and then there is Vijnanamaya Kosha, Manomaya and there is Anandmaya Kosha. These five Koshas are gross, they are relatively sthula, The Ananmaya Kosha is anyway sthula, All the others are also sthula as compared to Atma. The Atma is ‘ati sukshma / अति सूक्ष्म ‘, very subtle.
Atma doesn’t do any actions. It is the quiet and lean person –Devadutta . The other five are relatively gross, big, fat and they are active also and that is why our attention goes to the five Koshas and we think that the five koshas are the Atma!
So, our attention is drawn by the five Koshas that is why we don’t notice the presence of Atma though it is very much present, That, is how the five Koshas hide the Atma, cover the Atma.
Shloka 149
कोशैरन्नमयाद्यैः पञ्चभिरात्मा न संवृतो भाति ।
निजशक्तिसमुत्पन्नैः शैवालपटलैरिवाम्बु वापीस्थम् ॥ १४९ ॥
kośairannamayādyaiḥ pañcabhirātmā na saṃvṛto bhāti |
nijaśaktisamutpannaiḥ śaivālapaṭalairivāmbu vāpīstham || 149 ||
.
कोशैरन्नमयाद्यैः पञ्चभिरात्मा / kośairannamayādyaiḥ --- Atma is covered is hidden by Panch Koshas पञ्चभिरात्मा / pañcabhirātmā
Atma is covered. Atma is hidden by the five Koshas. What are the Panch Koshas? Annamaya.Manomaya, Pranamaya, Vignyanmaya and Anandmaya.
Veiled , therefore—‘na bhaati atma’
Atma does not get noticed The author gives an example--A drishtanta. Not the Devadutta example as that is my example.
The author has given another example. There is water in a tank. The water gets covered by a layer of moss. The word used in the verse is-
शैवालपटलैरिवाम्बु वापीस्थम् / śaivālapaṭalairivāmbu
by layers of moss. A plant which has grown on water. It is a tiny plant and a layer of the plant grows on water and then the water gets covered and you don’t see the water directly. So there is a green layer . This green layer of moss is present on the water. It is supported by water and yet it covers the water Likewise, the Five koshas are dependent on Atma. The five Koshas do not have their own existence. They are dependent on Atma for their existence because Atma is the real SAT, the real Existence.
There is a Maya Shakti. Maya is a Shakti which is dependent on the Atma and these five koshas are the effects of Maya and being the effects of Maya they are also dependent on Atma.In the second line----
निजशक्तिसमुत्पन्नैः /nijaśaktisamutpannaiḥ . Born of one’s own Shakti. The Shakti of Atma –MAYA. The five koshas are born of the Atma they are dependent on the Atma and yet they cover the Atma.
The example-
शैवालपटलैरिवाम्बु वापीस्थम् / śaivālapaṭalairivāmbu vāpīstham. The water in a tank.
‘vapi’ is a tank .
vapistam वापीस्थम् —present in a tank.
Ambu--- water.
‘tata shailahi avaraanam;
It is covered by layers of moss and you cannot see the water,
Shola 150.
तच्छैवालापनये सम्यक्सलिलं प्रतीयते शुद्धम् ।
तृष्णासन्तापहरं सद्यः सौख्यप्रदं परं पुंसः ॥ १५0 ॥
tacchaivālāpanaye samyaksalilaṃ pratīyate śuddham |
tṛṣṇāsantāpaharaṃ sadyaḥ saukhyapradaṃ paraṃ puṃsaḥ || 150 ||
This is a दृष्टान्त drshtanta. It means example and दार्ष्टान्त darshtanta means ‘that’ which has been explained with an example.
When the moss is removed the layer of moss is removed then, the water becomes evident. तच्छैवालापनये सम्यक्सलिलं प्रतीयते / tacchaivālāpanaye samyaksalilaṃ.
‘jalam’-- Water and there are adjectives to water. The water quenches the pangs of thirst.
तृष्णासन्तापहरं / tṛṣṇāsantāpaharaṃ
It removes—haram/ हरम्
It removes the thirst of an individual and it gives quick relief.
Immediately the person becomes happy. A thirsty person as soon as he sees the water he feels happy. The water quenches the thirst. ‘Param Shidham’ is yet another adjective.
It is very pure --samyak Prtiyate---It appears clearly when the layer of moss is removed
This much is the दृष्टान्त drshtanta and now the दार्ष्टान्त darshtanta is told.
Shloka 151.
पञ्चानामपि कोशानामपवादे विभात्ययं शुद्धः ।
नित्यानन्दैकरसः प्रत्यग्रूपः परः स्वयंज्योतिः ॥ १५१ ॥
pañcānāmapi kośānāmapavāde vibhātyayaṃ śuddhaḥ |
nityānandaikarasaḥ pratyagrūpaḥ paraḥ svayaṃjyotiḥ || 151 ||
पञ्चानामपि कोशानामपवाद / pañcānāmapi kośānāmapavāde . When we remove the five Koshas ,when we negate the five koshas ,the five koshas are understood as the Self.
We identify with the five Koshas. Now through this analysis, through Panch Kosha Viveka we discard the Panch Koshas .
Not the physical discarding. It is in understanding. We understand the five Koshas as Anatama. As Non- Self. पञ्चानामपि कोशानामपवाद / pañcānāmapi kośānāmapavāde .
Then what happens ? The real Atma becomes evident, becomes noticeable.
AYAM -paraha Atma. This Paramatma --this Atma is Paramatma. Its nature is eternal happiness. This can be related to satya so in the दृष्टान्त drshtanta just as the water gives happiness in the drshtanta दार्ष्टान्त darshtanta, the Atma also gives happiness.
Pratyak rupaha-- It is innermost. Everything else is external to your nature. the body-mind etc. The Atma is not external to you, therefore praytak rupah Atma
Swayam Swayamjyotih – That kind of Atma---Self effulgent--- Vibhati ---Becomes noticeable.
Thank you Swamy ji for the detailed explanation
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