j~nAna and bhakti - kashcit dhIraH

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

Over the past two weeks, we are discussing the essentiality of

bhakti in realization. Although bhakti and jnAna ultimately are

one and the same, in a dualistic jagat, leading to that ultimate

realization, we necessarily treat the bhakti and jnAna to be

separate paths. Bhakti, without jnAna, can lead to fanaticism.

Importance of vicAra, investigation, is stressed in the

upanishads, by shri shankara, by shri RamaNa and many teachers.

shri shankara says very emphatically that jnAnam alone leads to

and is moksha. [He is saying this in the context of karma and

not bhakti]. JnAna-mArga is full of hazards. kaTha upanishad

says it is like walking on a razor's edge. In the the first

article leading to this discussion on May 1, I pointed to some

of the hazards of the jnAna-mArga. shri Ranjit-ji pointed out

this morning the difficult nature of the jnAna-mArga.

 

I would like to use kaTha upanishad 2.i.1 to bring out the

difficult nature of the vicAra-mArga and how it is that only

certain discerning people who would be successful in such

approach. The kaTha u. verse also discusses the technique

used by this discerning person for SELF-realization.

 

First, the verse from kaTha upanishad:

 

parAnci khAnivyatr^iNAt svayambhUH

tasmAt parAnpashyati nAntarAtman

kashcit dhIraH pratyagAtmAnamaikshat

Avr^ittacakshuH amr^itatvamicchan 2.i.1

 

The Self-existent Lord created the sense organs (including

the mind) with the defect of an out-going disposition;

therefore (man) perceives (things) outwardly, but not the

inward Self. A certain dhIra (discerning man), desirous of

immortality, turned his senses (including the mind) inward

and realized the inner Self.

 

Lord Yama is saying (in teaching nAciketa) that the sense-organs

of man, including the mind, have one major defect; they are all

cursed to be out-going or directed outward. Therefore they give

man experience of the outer world but not of the inner Self.

shri shankara's bhAShya on the first portion of the verse says:

 

tasmAt parAn, parAgrUpAn, anAtmabhUtAn shabdAdin pashyati.

upalabdhe, upalabdhA na antarAtman

 

Translation: Therefore (they, the sense organs) see, i.e.

experience, the external, i.e. the outer world of sound etc,

which are the not-self, but not the inner Self, i.e.

the experiencer.

 

So, only certain people can turn the sense-organs inward. The

upanishad calls them kashcit dhIra (certain wise, discernible

man). Although there is no exact translation in English for

the sanskrit word dhIra, 'discernible man' comes close to it.

dhIra is a spiritually mature person. In this dhIra, there is

combination of knowledge, courage and disciplined emotion.

In the first-half of next verse (kaTha u. 2.i.2), Lord Yama

says what a spiritually immature person (such a person is

called bAlAH, children) will suffer

 

parAcaH kAmAnanuyanti bAlAH te mr^ityoryanti vitatasya pAsham

 

Children (men of immature spirituality) pursue the external

pleasures and they fall into the outstretched snare of death.

 

shri shankara's bhAShya on sanatsujAtIyam of mahAbhArata describes

asurA-s, rAkshasA-s, evil people as

 

asuShu ramyanti ityasurAH: people who derive pleasures from the

sense organs are called asurA-s and and shri shankara continues

to say that the asurA-s undergo repeated births and deaths.

 

In the second half of the kaTha u. 2.i.2, Lord Yama says the

characterisic of the dhIra

 

atha dhIrAH amr^itatvam viditvA dhruvam adhruveShviha na prArthayante

 

dhIrA-s, on the contrary, having relaized the eternally immortal,

do not crave for the non-eternal things here.

 

This dhIra is the r^iShi who had the vision of the Self. They

do not leave any trace of themselves nor or they interested in

leaving any trace. The only sign we have of this dhIra is the

truth visualized by him. The extra-ordinary thing about this

dhIra is that he turned the energy of the sense-organs and the

mind inward - Avr^ittacakshuH. What he is seeking is immortality

- amr^itatvam icchan. What he saw inside himself is the inner

Self - pratyagAtmAnam aikshat.

 

The technique used by this dhIra is turning the sense organs

and the mind inward (Avr^ittacakshuH). shri shankara, commenting

on this portion of this verse says:

 

EvamsvabhAve api sati lokasya, kashcit nadyAH pratishrotaH

pravartanam iva, dhIro, dhImAn, vivekI, pratyagAtmAnam ..

Avr^ittacakshuH - Avr^ittam vyAvr^ittam cakshuH shrotrAdikam

indriyajAtamasheShaviShayAt yasya sa Avr^ittacakshuH - sa evam

saMskr^itaH pratyagAtmAnam pashyati. na hi bAhyaviShayAlocana-

paratvam pratyagAtmekshaNam ca ekasya saMbhavati.

 

kimartham punaH ittham mahatA prayAshena svabhAvapravr^itti-

-nirodham kr^itvA dhIraH pratyagAtmAnam pashyati it, ucyate;

amr^itatvam, amaraNadharmatvam nityasvabhAvatvam icchan AtmanaH.

 

Translation - Even though people are of this nature, yet,

like the technique of making the rivers flow in the opposite

direction, the dhIra, the one endowed with intelligence, with

discrimination, realizes the inner Self by becoming Avr^ittacakshuH;

one who completely turns away all his sense organs like eyes,

ears, etc from all sense objects is Avr^ittacakshu. Thus becoming

purified, he realizes the inner Self. It is, verily, not possible

for one and the same person to be absorbed in the thought of

external sense objects and realize the inner Self.

 

For what purpose, then, does the dhIra, restraining thus with

enormous effort his natural propensities, realize the inner Self?

The answer is: desirous of immortality, deathlessness, which is

one's own eternal nature.

 

[translations from Swami Ranganathananda: Message of the upanishads]

 

 

Such is the approach of the so-called jnAna-mArga for Self-

-realization. All of us, without exception, have to follow that

"path" at some stage or other either in this or future lives.

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

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