Shata-shlokI of Shankara - 13,14 of 101-JNana Garbham

[Guest guest]

Professorji writes...

 

Note: Renunciation from the home, has to be `jnAna-garbhaM'

(born out of wisdom), rather than, of just a disgust for

worldly life. Only then it will lead to renunciation of

the body, mind and intellect.

 

May i please quote a small story from my Tagore collection?

 

At midnight the would be ascetic announced:

"This is the time to give up home and seek for GOD. Ah! Who has held

me so long in delusion here?"

 

GOD whispered, "I," but the ears of the man were

closed.

 

With a baby asleep at her breast lay his wife, peacefully sleeping on

one side of the bed.

 

THE Man said, "who are ye that have fooled me so

long?"

 

The voice said again, " THEY ARE GOD",

but he heard it not.

 

The baby cried out in dream, nestling close to its MOTHER.

 

GOD COMMANDED, " STOP, FOOL, LEAVE NOT THY HOME, " but still he

heard not.

 

God sighed and complained , "Why does my servant wander to seek me,

forsaking me.?"

 

Rabindranath tagore- the gardener.

 

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Shri Ramana on "Renunciation" (DAVID GOODMAN)

 

Renunciation does not imply apparent divesting of costumes, family

ties, homes, etc., but renunciation of desires, affection and

attachment. There is no need to resign your job, only resign yourself

to God, the bearer of the burden of all.

 

One who renounces desires actually merges in the world and expands

his love to the whole universe. Expansion of love and affection would

be a far better term for a true devotee of God than renunciation, for

one who renounces the immediate ties actually extends the bonds of

affection and love to a wider world beyond the borders of caste,

creed and race.

 

A sannyasi (wandering monk) who apparently casts away his clothes and

leaves his home does not do so out of aversion to his immediate

relations but because of the expansion of his love to others around

him. When this expansion comes, one does not feel that one is running

away from home, instead one drops from it like a ripe fruit from a

tree.Till then it would be folly to leave one's home or job.

 

Question: How does a householder (grihastha) fare in the scheme of

moksha (liberation)? Should he not necessarily become a mendicant in

order to attain liberation?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why do you think you are a grihastha

(householder)? Similar thoughts that you are sannyasi (wandering

monk) will haunt you, even if you go out as a sannyasi. Whether you

continue in the household or renounce it and go to the forest, your

mind haunts you. The ego is the source of thought. It creates the

body and the world and it makes you think of being the grihastha. If

you renounce, it will only substitute the thought of sannyasa for

that of grihastha and the environment of the forest for that of the

household.

 

But the mental obstacles are always there for you. They even increase

greatly in the new surroundings. It is no help to change the

environment. The one obstacle is the mind and it must be overcome

whether in the home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest,

why not in the home? Therefore, why change the environment? Your

efforts can be made even now, whatever the environment.

 

Question: In the early stages would it not be a help to a man to seek

solitude and give up his outer duties in life?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Renunciation is always in the mind, not in going

to forests or solitary places or giving up one's duties. The main

thing is to see that the mind does not turn outward but inward. It

does not rest with a man whether he goes to this place or that place

or whether he gives up his duties or not. All these events happen

according to destiny. All the activities that the body is to go

through are determined when it first comes into existence. It does

not rest with you to accept or reject them. The only freedom you have

is to turn your mind inward and renounce activities there.

 

Question: Is solitude necessary for vichara?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: There is solitude everywhere. The individual is

solitary always. His business is to find it out within, not to seek

it outside himself.

 

Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the

world and maintain serenity of mind. Such a one is in solitude.

Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his

mind. Such a man cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a

function of the mind. A man attached to desires cannot get solitude

wherever he may be, whereas a detached man is always in solitude.

 

Question: So then, one might be engaged in work and be free from

desire and keep up solitude. Is it so?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes. Work performed with attachment is a

shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the

doer. One who works like this is, even while working, in solitude.

 

Questioner: Our everyday life is not compatible with such efforts.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why do you think you are active? Take the gross

example of your arrival here. You left home in a cart, took a train,

alighted at the railway station here, got into a cart there and found

yourself in this ashram. When asked, you say that you travelled here

all the way from your town. Is it true? Is it not a fact that you

remained as you were and there were movements of conveyances all

along the way? Just as those movements are confounded with your own,

so also are the other activities. They are not your own, they are

God's activities.

 

Question: How can cessation of activity (nivritti) and peace of mind

be attained in the midst of household duties that are of the nature

of constant activity?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: As the activities of the wise man exists only in

the eyes of others and not in his own, although he may be

accomplishing immense tasks, he really does nothing. Therefore his

activities do not stand in the way of inaction and peace of mind. For

he knows the truth that all activities take place in his mere

presence and that he does nothing. Hence he will remain as the silent

witness of all the activities taking place.

 

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SALUTATIONS TO MAUNA GURU SHRI SHRI RAMANA BHAGWAN !