Re:Advaita Bhakti thro. Contemplative Practice of Narayaniyam ( ABCPN - 10)

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ABCPN - 10

Note: Please read the Introduction

– post #15182 - if you have not already read it.

 

Namaste.

Sloka No. 28 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 6):

 

satven-AsattayA vA na khalu sad-asatvena nirvAcya-rUpA

dhatte yA sAv-avidyA guNa-phaNi-mativad-vishvadR^ishyAva-bhAsaM

/ vidyAtvaM saiva yAtA

shruti-vacan-lavair-yatkR^ipA-syanda-lAbhe

samsAr-AraNya-sadyaH struTana-parashutAM eti tasmai namaste //

 

Tr. Ignorance (avidyA) which cannot be described either as

existing or non-existing or as a combination of the two,

apparently manifests, just like the snake seen on the rope, this

whole world of objectivity (along with the sense of

identification of the ‘self’ with aspects of it like the body,

mind, etc.). But when the current of Thy Grace sets in, this

avidyA itself gets transformed into vidyA (Knowledge) which,

with the help of a few drops of the vedic declaration, becomes a

veritable axe for clearing the forest of samsAra.

 

Comment. The term ‘avidyA’ is the veiling of the Self. It is not

just absence of vidyA, knowledge. It is the consciousness ‘I do

not know’. The real Self of man has nothing to do with the

vicissitudes of existence. By this ignorance of not knowing who

the real Self is, man confounds his outer self with the real

Self. An identification with the buddhi makes him the cogniser.

An identification with the mind makes him the thinker. An

identification with all forms of vitality like prANa, makes him

the doer. Thus the entire samsAra is due to this avidyA. Is it

something that is absolutely real? No, because it vanishes the

moment one is enlightened. Is it something that is absolutely

non-existent? No, because we have the consciousness ‘I do not

know’. Thus it is neither existent nor non-existent. It cannot

be both, because that would imply self-contradiction. That is

why the scriptures say that it is (‘anirvacanIya’) undecidable.

The only thing we can be sure is that it will disappear once by

God’s Grace the very same consciousness ‘I do not know’ gives

place to the consciousness ‘I am the Self’.

On this point of ‘vidyAtvam saiva yAtA’ let me quote a highly

relevant and illuminating paragraph from VidyaraNya’s article

on ‘Introduction to the Upanishads’ - in fact it is the last

paragraph in his article going to about 70 pages. Lest this may

disturb the continuity of this series of nArAyaNIyaM slokas, I

shall give this paragraph of Vidyaranya in a separate post

entitled ‘Ignorance itself gets transformed into knowledge –

Vidyaranya’.

 

Sloka No. 29(Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 98 - 7):

 

bhUShAsu svarNavad-vA jagati ghaTa-sharA-vAdike mR^ittikAvat

tattve samcintyamAne sphurati tad-adhunApy-advitIyaM vapuste /

svapna-draShTuH prabodhe timira-laya-vidhau jIrNa-rajjoshca

yadvat

vidyA-lAbhe tathaiva sphuTamapi vikaset kR^iShNa tasmai namaste

//

 

Tr. By reflecting on the true nature of things, it is recognised

that even when this world of multiplicity is perceived, it is

only Thy non-dual Self (as their material cause) that is

apprehended, just as gold is seen when ornaments are perceived,

and clay, when mud-pots are seen. When knowledge dawns, what

happens is that this fact becomes crystal clear (through the

total sublation of the objective world into Thyself, their

substraturm) just as the true nature of dream objects becomes

evident on awakening, and of the worn-out rope, on the disposal

of darkness. To that Self, Oh Krishna, my salutations!

 

Comment. The right vision is that which sees the one-ness amidst

the plurality of experience. ‘sarva bhUteShu yenaikaM

bhAvam-avyayam-IkShate’ (Gita XVIII – 20). Perception of

difference arises because of the recognition of name and form.

The enlightened one sees the tile, the stone and the golden

brick, all in the same way. This equanimity of vision is the

ultimate goal of spirituality. When a wooden elephant is

presented to a child the child is carried away by imaginations

about the elephant. But we shall be only children spiritually if

we cannot see the wood for the elephant. The normal human being

is distracted by the multiplicity of appearances and is still,

as it were, in a dream state, where he refuses to believe there

is a more real world outside of his dream. Because, no dreamer

realizes, while dreaming, that he is dreaming. He cannot rise

beyond the glamour of plurality that confronts him and does not

perceive there is an essential unity in all that he sees. This

kind of knowledge sees the multiplicity of things only in their

separateness and variety of operation. It looks at the jumble of

pieces of knowledge as if they are forcefully put together. The

scriptures prescribe, on the other hand, that perception wherein

 

Whatever you see, you see only the Lord’s presence in it;

Whatever you hear, it is the melody of His music,

Krishna-flue-like;

Whatever you taste, it is the sweet nectar flowing from His

Grace;

Whatever you smell, it is the fragrance of the dust of His feet;

and

Whatever you touch, it is the touch of the divine hand of

Fearless-ness (abhaya-hasta).

This is the advaita-bhakti. The contemplation of this sloka can

be expected to lead to such advaita-bhakti.

 

Sloka No. 30 (Ref. nArAyaNIyaM : 94 - 6):

 

jIvan-muktatvam-evam-vidham-iti vacasA kiM phalaM dUra-dUre

tannAmAshuddha-buddher-na ca laghu manasaH shodhanaM

bhaktito’nyat /

tan-me viShNo kR^iShIShTAs-tvayi kR^ita-sakala-prArpaNaM

bhakti-bhAraM

yena syaM mankShu kimcid-guru-vacana-milat

trvat-prabodhas-tvadAtmA //

 

Tr. Of what good are mere words defining the condition of one

liberated in the embodied state itself, that is, even when

alive? It is only a name as far as a person of impure mind (is

concerned). Other than bhakti there is no easy way of attaining

to purity of mind (needed for attaining to that state). Oh

Vishnu! May Thou therefore deign to bestow on me intense

devotion characterized by absolute surrender of all deeds to

Thee. With the purity of mind gained thereby and the

instructions of the guru I shall soon attain to true

enlightenment and union with Thee.

 

Comment. The concept of jIvan-mukta is central to advaita. The

blessed soul whose ignorance has been destroyed by the

realization of Brahman in the nirvikalpa-samadhi becomes

liberated at once from the body if there is no strong momentum

of past actions (prArabhda-karma) left. But if there is, it has

to be exhausted by the body experiencing it. Such a person is

called a jIvan-mukta (liberated when alive). Though associated

with the body he is ever untouched by ignorance or its effects.

He is established in Brahman and recognizes no bondage. He has

got the ‘dawn of knowledge’ mentioned in sloka #s 28 and 29

above. His physical body may experience anything. His

sense-organs may be affected by blindness, weakness, incapacity,

etc. His mind may be subject to hunger, thirst, grief, delusion,

etc. Yet he does not consider any of these ‘experiences’ as

real, for he has already known their nothingness. He is like the

magician who knows that his performance is all magic and has no

real validity. Sankara describes this state in his

upadesha-sAhasrI (Metrical Section 10 Sloka 13): ‘He does not

see anything in the waking state as in sound sleep; though

seeing duality, he does not really see it as he sees only the

Absolute; though engaged in work, he is really inactive; he and

none other, is the knower of the Self’.:

suShuptavaj-jAgrati yo na pashyati dvayam na pashyan-napi

cAdvayatvataH / tathA ca kurvan-napi niShkriyash-ca yaH sa

Atmavin-nAnya itIha nishcayaH //

Only a Sankara, a Ramakrishna, a Ramana, a Sadasiva Brahmendra,

can describe this state; because theirs is a

first-person-experience.

Now comes Bhattatiri’s punch-line: ‘So what? What is it to me?’!

And Bhattatiri rightly says ‘Let me have the bhakti; and let the

Lord decide whether I deserve this state of jIvan-mukta or not’.

And the strategy of action that he describes is the classical

surrender of all our deeds to the Lord. ‘nimitta-mAtraM bhava’

- be just My instrument of action’ – says the Lord. That is the

recipe for us, says Bhattatiri.

 

(For reference to earlier posts in this series, see #s 15207,

15231, 15250, 15282, 15299, 15312, 15313, 15328, 15361).

 

 

(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.

 

 

 

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