Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Jnaneshvar and his father complete their conversation and his father agrees to return to town... Father: Is it possible to conquer the grief-causing sense objects and to become one with the all-pervading blissful Self by not doing any other sadhana but merely realizing as the result of jnana vichara that one is himself Brahman? Jnaneswar: If even a live cow cannot kill a tiger, can a dead cow do so? Similarly, what can the sense objects do to the Self, which is eternal, free from all defects, which extends everywhere and is of the nature of bliss? As even a fat cow will be afraid to face a tiger, sense objects will not dare to come before a jnani, who by steady jnana has attained perfection. But even if they do, they will be extinguished, as the cow by the tiger. Father: What if the jnani (he who knows), by mixing with ajnanis (the ignorant) should get entangled in sense objects, yield to disturbances of the mind and become entirely sorrow stricken, like a chaste woman becoming unchaste by mixing with prostitutes? Jnaneswar: The steadfast chaste woman will maintain her chastity in spite of the company of any number of prostitutes. The unsteady one will find occasion for erring even without any evil company. Similarly, the firm jnani will never lose his perfect realization though surrounded by any number of ajnanis (erring ones). The unsteady one will lose his jnana, even when in solitude. Father: How can one become a sahaja jnani (one who has spontaneously realized) if engaged in domestic affairs? Jnaneswar: Though the jnani (sage) mixes with ajnanis and acts many parts with them, he will ever remain the experiencer of the supreme bliss, just as a brahmin though acting the part of a scavenger on the stage, and behaving accordingly, ever remains only a brahmin without becoming a scavenger. Father: However firm the jnana or the spiritual insight of a man may be, unless he contemplates at least for some time every day that he is Brahman, it is very difficult for him to become a Brahma jnani. Jnaneswar: Is it necessary for the brahmin, who is acting the part of a scavenger, to frequently think that he is a brahmin? Will he become a scavenger if he does not think so? Are sacred strings necessary to distinguish one, whom the entire world knows to be a brahmin? After the annihilation of the ego, “I”, should one still retain the knot of the ego consciousness and go on meditating “I am Brahman”? As the world-known brahmin is adored as a brahmin by everybody, even when he does not wear sacred strings, one who has renounced notions of “I” and “mine” will always be respected by all and will always be enjoying the supreme bliss of Self, even if he does not practice any meditation. Father: Even if one is equal to Jagadish (the Almighty), if one does not daily practice the meditation “I am Brahman,” he will undoubtedly become an ajnani. The ego sense, which identifies one with body, etc., will never vanish. Jnaneswar: If one holds the light in his hands and asks darkness to remain, will it remain? Similarly, if, after vanquishing the ignorance that one is the body or its internal organs, after one has attained the knowledge that one is the Supreme itself, will ajnana remain even if it is bidden to remain? If one holds the cat in one’s hand and asks the parrot to talk, will it talk? After realizing that self, Iswara and the world, etc. are all unreal, will maya come, even if it is invited? The eunuch will stand ashamed to declare himself a man before a woman who knows his impotence. Similarly, to one who has recognized beyond all doubt, in the presence of his Guru, that Brahman alone is real while maya is unreal, that Brahman is transcendent of all thoughts while maya consists of desires and aversions, and that one is Brahman and Brahman is one’s Self, where is the desire or aversion, bondage or freedom, birth or death, country or forest, charity, penance, renunciation or family life? Can the power of maya avail even a bit against one who is in the world, like the eye of a dead sheep (which seems as if it can see while it does not)? Can it turn him again into ajnana (error)? Please consider deeply. Thereupon Vithoba agreed to leave the forest and return home. July/August 2004, Vol. 14 - No. 4 http://www.arunachala.org/Publications/NewsLetters/2004/jul_aug.shtml Attachment: (image/jpeg) jnanesh0.jpg [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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