Guest guest Posted November 25, 2002 Report Share Posted November 25, 2002 ABCPN - 6 Note: Please read the Introduction – post #15182 - if you have not already read it) Namaste. Sloka No. 16 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 8): yad-bhItyodeti sUryo dahati ca dahano vAti vAyus-tathAnye yad-bhItAH padmajAdyAH puna-rucita-balIn-Aharante’nu kAlaM / yen-aiv-AropitAH prang nija-padam-api te cyAvitArash-ca pashcAt tasmai vishvaM niyantre vayam-api bhavate kR^iShNa kurmaH praNAmaM // Tr. Fearing whom the sun rises, fire burns and wind blows; for fear of whom Brahma and other deities perform their cosmic functions as obligatory punctual offerings; by whom all these deities are installed in their places at the beginning and removed afterwards – to Thee Oh Lord, who thus regulates the whole universe, my salutations. Comment. This is a actually an echo of Taittiriyopanishad II -8 – 1. ‘bhIShA’smAd-vAtaH pavate; bhIShodeti sUryaH ; bhIShA’smAd-agnish-cendrashca; mR^ityur-dhAvati pancama iti’ , meaning, Out of His fear the Wind blows; out of fear the Sun rises; out of His fear runs fire, as also Indra, and Death, the fifth. The ultimate cause of fear must itself be indestructible, since a contrary supposition will lead to an infinite regress. And such an eternal agent is The Absolute. This sloka is also an epitome of a whole bunch of slokas (3 – 29 – 40 to 44) in the Bhagavatam in the chapters on Kapila’s philosophical teachings to his mother. Sloka No. 17 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 9): trailokyaM bhAvayantaM triguNamayam-idaM tryakSharasy-aika-vAcyaM trIshAnAm-aikya-rUpaM tribhir-api nigamair-gIyamAna-svarUpaM / tisrovasthA-vidantaM triyuga-jani-juShaM trikram-AkrAnta-vishvaM traikAlye bheda-hInaM tribhir-aham-anishaM yoga-bhedair-bhaje tvAM // Tr. You manifest the three worlds through the three guNas. You are the One who is implied by the three letters of the praNava. You are the one Being who manifests as the three Deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. It is your Nature that is sung and glorified in the three Vedas. You are the Pure Consciousness that witnesses the three states of waking, dream and sleep. You incarnate yourself in the three yugas of treta, dvapara and kali. You measured the whole universe with your three strides. You are changeless in the three parts of Time, namely, past, present and future. I worship You always with the three forms of yoga – karma, bhakti and jnana. Comment. The list of attributes (see sloka 15) of the Lord is continued here with poetic excellence. One cannot but recall an analogous poetic flourish from the Tamil poet Kamban in his Ramayana, ( yuddha-kANDa, iraNiyan-vadaip-paDalaM, verse 25), put in the mouth of Prahlad, the greatest devotee of all times: (in Tamil) mUnru avan guNangaL cheigai mUnru avan uruvam mUnru mUnru kaN chuDar kol jothi mUnru avan ulagam mUnru tonralum iDaiyum Irum toDangiya poruLkaTku ellAm sAnru avan-iduve veda muDivu idu sadam enrAn . Meaning, His qualities are three (satva, rajas and tamas); His actions are three (Creation, Protection and Dissolution); His forms are three (Brahma, Vishnu and Siva); He has three eyes (Sun, Moon and Fire) ; His worlds are three (Earth, the nether-world and Heaven). All that have a beginning, a middle and an end constitute a monumental proof of His existence, This is also the bottom line of all the Vedas. Sloka No. 18 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 91 - 3): bhItir-nAma dvitIyAd-bhavati nanu manH kalpitaM ca dvitIyaM tenaikyA-bhyAsa-shIlo hR^idayam-iha yathAshakti buddhyA nirundhyAM / mAyAviddhe tu tasmin punarapi na tathA bhAti mAyAdhi-nAthaM tat-tvAM bhaktyA mahatyA satatam-anubhajan-nIsha bhItiM vijahyAM // Tr. Fear arises from the consciousness of a second (thing) different from oneself. This consciousness of (such) a second is indeed an imaginary super-imposition of the mind. Therefore I am trying my best through discrimination to discipline the mind in the consciousness of oneness. But when this power of discrimination is overpowered by Thy mAyA, no amount of effort is of any avail in getting established in Unitary Consciousness. Therefore Oh Lord, I am trying to overcome the fear of samsAra by constant and devoted worship of Thee, the Master of mAyA. Comment. This is one of the key slokas that trumpet the highest advaita concept, among the 36 of this selection. The sentence ‘manaH-kalpitam dvitIyaM’ (The consciousness of a second object is an imaginary superimposition of the mind) constitutes the ‘brahma-sUtra’ of advaita. Bhattatiri clearly makes the point that the unity of the jIva with the supreme Spirit is the ultimate goal. But he hastens to add that the same is not reachable by any one directly but only through the love and service of Him and His Grace. It is only by God’s Grace that non-dual consciousness is obtained. The devotee merges in His Being by His grace, The ‘I’ disappears in Him and ‘He’ is left. The becoming merges in the Being. It is not vice versa. This is what one might call Realistic advaita, to be subtly contrasted with ‘kevala-advaita’. (For reference to earlier posts in this series, see #s 15207, 15231, 15250, 15282, 15299) (To be continued) praNAms to all advaitins profvk ===== Prof. V. Krishnamurthy My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/ You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site. Mail Plus – Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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