Attack on anubandha chatushtayam of Advaita based on shruti - 6
HARI AUM
Prostrations to all.
Let’s continue with the advaitin’s commentary on the last sloka of the 15th chapter of Gita. The last sloka of the 15th chapter of Gita is thus:
Ithi guhyathamam shaastram idam uktham mayaa anaghaa
Etad budhvaa buddhimaan syaat krithakrithyascha bhaaratha
Thus has been propounded the most secret of scriptures by me to you, O one who is devoid of ignorance (impurity). Knowing this, a person becomes intelligent thereby doing whatever is necessary to be done in the world, O Arjuna.
The advaitin explains this thus (as in the previous posting, the words in the sloka of Gita are being colored in black):
Ithi idam guhyathamam shaastram svasvaroopam prathipaadayathi ithi guhyathamam, mayaa aachaaryaroopena gururoopena uktham, he anagha ajnaana rahitha ithi bodhayithum anagha ithi sambhodana
Thus this secret scripture, secret because it propounds one’s own nature which is subtle, has been propounded by me, in the form of an acharya and Guru, to you O Anagha – the calling of Arjuna as Anagha is to denote the seeker as being devoid of ignorance (after learning this scripture).
Why Arjuna is being called Anagha here? The advaitin answers this thus:
Idam shaastram jnaatvaa ajnaana rahitha sadaa aatmaaramo bhavathi ithi anagha shabdena bhagavaan bhodayathi
After knowing this scripture, a person becomes devoid of ignorance and rejoices ever in the Atman – thus the Lord is using the sambhodana of Anagha.
Etad aatmano shaastram budhvaa aparokshatho jnaatva krithakrithyo yad kritham tad kritham syaat bhavathi he bhaaratha
This scripture of the Atman having known – known means knowing it intuitively as one’s own experience – a person becomes krithakrithya – having done whatever is to be done (nothing more remains to be done for such a person), O Arjuna.
Idam hi manushya janma lakshyam, svasvaroopam nirvishesha brahma ithi jnaayathe – yadasthi tad brahma ithi aparoksha jnaanodayam bhavathi ithi Etasmaadeva hi manushyah krithakrithyo bhavathi
This alone is the goal of human life – to know one’s own nature as nirvishesha Brahman and to gain the intuitive direct experience that whatever is there is Brahman alone. Through this alone a person becomes krithakrithyah (the state of being in which the person has done whatever is to be done – all actions end).
Explanation
Guhyatamam shaastram
This scripture that has been propounded by the Lord (the different types of purushas as kshara, aksahara and uttama) is most secretive in nature. It is most secretive in nature because it speaks about the innermost Self.
Anoraneeyaan mahatho maheeyaan – subtle than the subtlest & greater than the greatest – this is what Katha Upanishad speaks about the Self. The Self is subtle than the subtlest because it is the Subject that is beyond the intellect (which is the subtlest component of a being). The Self is greater than the greatest because the world itself has come out of the Self or Brahman. Since the great or huge world itself is an effect of the cause of Brahman, therefore Brahman has to be greater than the world (the greatest that the human intellect can apprehend).
The Self is also proclaimed in the Kena Upanishad as that which is the mind of the mind, the eye of the eyes etc. These are meant to show that the Self is the Subject of the antah karana (consisting of mind, intellect, ego and memory), the bahih karana (sense organs of perception and action) and the pancha pranas. Since the Self is the Subject of everything, it is the secret of all secrets – as it is tough to propound about the Subject. Anything that can be spoken of is an object of either the antah karana or the Self – but the Subject cannot be spoken about because it is the Subject of even speech!!! Thus the Subject can only be pointed out as the Subject of everything – such a scripture which speaks about the Subject of all objects is secretive.
Through the mentioning of this scripture as secretive, the Lord is also in a way trying to generate desire in the mind of the seeker to attain such a secretive knowledge and implement it in life.
It is not enough if something is proclaimed as secretive or tough to attain – this alone will not generate desire so strong in the seeker that he will seek this scripture with all fervor. It is required to speak about the result of learning and implementing such a scripture. This has been beautifully put forth by the Lord through the statement that “a person becomes krithakrithya” by implementing this scripture.
Krithyakrithya bhaavam
Actions are propelled by desires to become perfect. This circle of desire and action continues until the state wherein the seeker becomes satisfied through the knowledge that “I have done whatever is to be done”. This state is what the Lord defines as krithakrithya bhaava – having done whatever is to be done in life.
We would think that during old age and just before death, we would feel that we have done everything in life – but this is wrong. The Lord himself says that a person will be thinking at the death-time about that which he has been thinking his entire life. If entire life we have been thinking about desires and doing things, we will be thinking the same at the end of our life also. Thus another birth will have to be taken to fulfill those desires.
Then how can a person attain this bhaava?
Only through Self-knowledge. As we have seen in many places, knowledge burns actions into ashes. The Knowledge that there is only Brahman here & I am Brahman removes all actions. Actions as explained earlier are propelled by desires for perfection – once the seeker realizes that he is the perfect Brahman (poorna), then there remains no desire to be fulfilled. When there are no desires, there requires no particular action to be performed. Thus he remains satisfied and has the feeling of “doing whatever is to be done in life” (fulfillment of all desires and action).
Though such a jnaani will not have any desires, still he will be doing activities for the welfare of the world. Any person irrespective of whether he is a jnaani or ajnaani will have to do actions in the world because the world itself is a place of actions. Thus as long as we see people in the world, they will be doing activities. Jnaanis will be doing for the welfare of the world whereas ajnaanis will be doing for selfish desires.
To sum up, the fruit of learning this secret scripture is the fulfillment of all desires – through the knowledge that I am Brahman and experiencing it through seeing everything as an illusion of names and forms in Brahman.
The advaitin next gives a few quotations to support this commentary on the last sloka of Gita – we will see that in the next mail.
Prostrations to all.
HARI AUM
Thanks
Hariram
Let a moment not pass by without remembering God
Prostrations to all.
Let’s continue with the advaitin’s commentary on the last sloka of the 15th chapter of Gita. The last sloka of the 15th chapter of Gita is thus:
Ithi guhyathamam shaastram idam uktham mayaa anaghaa
Etad budhvaa buddhimaan syaat krithakrithyascha bhaaratha
Thus has been propounded the most secret of scriptures by me to you, O one who is devoid of ignorance (impurity). Knowing this, a person becomes intelligent thereby doing whatever is necessary to be done in the world, O Arjuna.
The advaitin explains this thus (as in the previous posting, the words in the sloka of Gita are being colored in black):
Ithi idam guhyathamam shaastram svasvaroopam prathipaadayathi ithi guhyathamam, mayaa aachaaryaroopena gururoopena uktham, he anagha ajnaana rahitha ithi bodhayithum anagha ithi sambhodana
Thus this secret scripture, secret because it propounds one’s own nature which is subtle, has been propounded by me, in the form of an acharya and Guru, to you O Anagha – the calling of Arjuna as Anagha is to denote the seeker as being devoid of ignorance (after learning this scripture).
Why Arjuna is being called Anagha here? The advaitin answers this thus:
Idam shaastram jnaatvaa ajnaana rahitha sadaa aatmaaramo bhavathi ithi anagha shabdena bhagavaan bhodayathi
After knowing this scripture, a person becomes devoid of ignorance and rejoices ever in the Atman – thus the Lord is using the sambhodana of Anagha.
Etad aatmano shaastram budhvaa aparokshatho jnaatva krithakrithyo yad kritham tad kritham syaat bhavathi he bhaaratha
This scripture of the Atman having known – known means knowing it intuitively as one’s own experience – a person becomes krithakrithya – having done whatever is to be done (nothing more remains to be done for such a person), O Arjuna.
Idam hi manushya janma lakshyam, svasvaroopam nirvishesha brahma ithi jnaayathe – yadasthi tad brahma ithi aparoksha jnaanodayam bhavathi ithi Etasmaadeva hi manushyah krithakrithyo bhavathi
This alone is the goal of human life – to know one’s own nature as nirvishesha Brahman and to gain the intuitive direct experience that whatever is there is Brahman alone. Through this alone a person becomes krithakrithyah (the state of being in which the person has done whatever is to be done – all actions end).
Explanation
Guhyatamam shaastram
This scripture that has been propounded by the Lord (the different types of purushas as kshara, aksahara and uttama) is most secretive in nature. It is most secretive in nature because it speaks about the innermost Self.
Anoraneeyaan mahatho maheeyaan – subtle than the subtlest & greater than the greatest – this is what Katha Upanishad speaks about the Self. The Self is subtle than the subtlest because it is the Subject that is beyond the intellect (which is the subtlest component of a being). The Self is greater than the greatest because the world itself has come out of the Self or Brahman. Since the great or huge world itself is an effect of the cause of Brahman, therefore Brahman has to be greater than the world (the greatest that the human intellect can apprehend).
The Self is also proclaimed in the Kena Upanishad as that which is the mind of the mind, the eye of the eyes etc. These are meant to show that the Self is the Subject of the antah karana (consisting of mind, intellect, ego and memory), the bahih karana (sense organs of perception and action) and the pancha pranas. Since the Self is the Subject of everything, it is the secret of all secrets – as it is tough to propound about the Subject. Anything that can be spoken of is an object of either the antah karana or the Self – but the Subject cannot be spoken about because it is the Subject of even speech!!! Thus the Subject can only be pointed out as the Subject of everything – such a scripture which speaks about the Subject of all objects is secretive.
Through the mentioning of this scripture as secretive, the Lord is also in a way trying to generate desire in the mind of the seeker to attain such a secretive knowledge and implement it in life.
It is not enough if something is proclaimed as secretive or tough to attain – this alone will not generate desire so strong in the seeker that he will seek this scripture with all fervor. It is required to speak about the result of learning and implementing such a scripture. This has been beautifully put forth by the Lord through the statement that “a person becomes krithakrithya” by implementing this scripture.
Krithyakrithya bhaavam
Actions are propelled by desires to become perfect. This circle of desire and action continues until the state wherein the seeker becomes satisfied through the knowledge that “I have done whatever is to be done”. This state is what the Lord defines as krithakrithya bhaava – having done whatever is to be done in life.
We would think that during old age and just before death, we would feel that we have done everything in life – but this is wrong. The Lord himself says that a person will be thinking at the death-time about that which he has been thinking his entire life. If entire life we have been thinking about desires and doing things, we will be thinking the same at the end of our life also. Thus another birth will have to be taken to fulfill those desires.
Then how can a person attain this bhaava?
Only through Self-knowledge. As we have seen in many places, knowledge burns actions into ashes. The Knowledge that there is only Brahman here & I am Brahman removes all actions. Actions as explained earlier are propelled by desires for perfection – once the seeker realizes that he is the perfect Brahman (poorna), then there remains no desire to be fulfilled. When there are no desires, there requires no particular action to be performed. Thus he remains satisfied and has the feeling of “doing whatever is to be done in life” (fulfillment of all desires and action).
Though such a jnaani will not have any desires, still he will be doing activities for the welfare of the world. Any person irrespective of whether he is a jnaani or ajnaani will have to do actions in the world because the world itself is a place of actions. Thus as long as we see people in the world, they will be doing activities. Jnaanis will be doing for the welfare of the world whereas ajnaanis will be doing for selfish desires.
To sum up, the fruit of learning this secret scripture is the fulfillment of all desires – through the knowledge that I am Brahman and experiencing it through seeing everything as an illusion of names and forms in Brahman.
The advaitin next gives a few quotations to support this commentary on the last sloka of Gita – we will see that in the next mail.
Prostrations to all.
HARI AUM
Thanks
Hariram
Let a moment not pass by without remembering God
posted by vedanta at
10:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home