A note on - PLACE OF PRACTICE IN ADVAITA VEDANTA

[Guest guest]

namaste all,

 

while going thru one of dadiji's posts i saw that she had referred to

me and asked me to note the steps of shri ramana. although i think the

context of what i said was different, i don't want to argue.

 

when i went thru that post, i saw that she had referred to karNa and

how he lost his knowledge of weapons. at this i was reminded of the

way i interpret the mahabharat.

 

karNa represents the resentment towards dharma. dharma is represented

by the panca pANDava. this resentment is born out of ignorance, that

incorrectly falls in love with the ego. no matter how great a person

may instruct him to do otherwise (in the mahabharat, the lord himself

told him to embrace the pANDava princes) this resentment for dharma

does not allow one to embrace dharma. what is dharma here:

 

1. Truth (dharmaputra)

2. Strong will to control the wavering mind (bhIma's vow to kill

du:chhAsana)

3. Bravery to face all evil, desire or lust, one-pointed attention on

the target of mukti or nirvANa (arjuna's bravery, and one-pointedness)

4. Love for all beings

5. Humility

 

karNa refused to embrace dharma, even at the instruction given by the

best of gurus. the SravaNa of 'u r that' is similar to "this is ur

mother". however, this knowledge only caused unhappiness to karNa. it

is very clear that just SravaNa has not done any good here.

 

such a person will be born countless number of times (karNa was

sahasrakuNDala) in different forms and will attain mukti only when he

surrenders all that he possessed to the lord. (karNa got mukti, only

when he gave up the fruits of the karmic deeds of dAna also and

surrendered to the lord. he was suffering in pain till then)

 

Contrast this with bhIShma. he was born in gangA (dharma) he was an

embodiment of dharma (refer to the panca pANDava interpretation

above). when told "devavrata, this is ur father" which is like 'thou

art that', he was perfectly calm, composed, happy, and at the same

time unattached (his terrible vow was like sanyas). both karNa and

bhIShma had the same guru (paraSurAma). but karNa never embraced

dharma (even though he did 'dhArmic' activities, like a ritual, to be

able to kill arjuna), while bhIShma was the embodiment of dharma (even

though he did not involve in external dhArmic activities).

 

karNa had embraced duryodhana, the ego, born out of ignorance

(dhrtarAShTra) and hence resented dharma.

 

at the time of death karNa forgot his mastery of weapons, or his

mastery over weapons was of no avail (this is what happens to ppl who

read texts and think they r now enlightened, they fail at the moment

of test, when faced with anger, lust, greed etc.). Contrast this with

bhIShma, the embodiment of dharma, who gave up his weapons, volutarily

at the time of test. (the person who is truly a followr of dharma, wud

give up all control, surrender to the lord, or surrender his ego, when

faced with anger, lust, greed etc. in fact this is what is actually

done in meditation and samAdhi. all sensations, whether causing pain

or desire produce wisdom, instead of desire or pain. this wisdom is

born out of the destruction of the sense of doership and ego)

 

the point is that

1. dharma and practice of dharma is of paramount importance in

vedAnta. no matter what text a person reads, if he is not a follower

of dharma, he is bound for doom.

2. activties that appear out of dharma, but r actually out of desire,

(rituals that we perform to satisfy gods, and get small favors done)

do not lead to liberation. one must have the wisdom to give up even

that for nirvANa.

 

thus the place of practice of dharma in vedAnta is clear. Also the

meaning of practice is clear - no external hypocritic activities wud

help.

 

finally, i don't understand why conquering emotions like anger, greed

etc. appear to be psychological stuff and is thought to be best dealt

by a psychiatrist by many in this grp and in others. the lord gives

primary importance to conquering the mind and the emotions:

 

kAma eSha krodha eSha, rajo guNa samudbhava:|

mahaSano mahapApma, viddhiyeNamihavairiNam||

 

indriyaNi parANyahu: indriyebhya param mana:|

manasastu parA buddhi: yo buddhe paratastu sa:||

 

rAga dveSha vimuktaistu viShayAnindriyaiScaran|

AtmavaSyervidheyAtmA, prasAdamadhigachhati||

 

ppl seem to give more importance to gain of 'knowledge'. what is this

'knowledge'? it is pure wisdom. it is the truth. no doubt that is the

only way to liberation, but how can one get it if he hasn't controlled

his emotions. there r more verses on conquering the mind and the

emotions, thru equanimity in the BG than on gaining any knowledge. the

premise is, "wisdom arises when one gains control over desire and

emotions". the true nature of the self, as unaffected by desire or

emotions is automatically revealed. then what is this knowledge one is

trying to gain?

 

what is it that we r trying to imagine as the self. thinking that it

is 'self' and trying to meditate on it?

 

instead of putting so much effort in reading all the different texts,

or mantras or Srutis (it is not wrong to read them. it is vey good

indeed as it inspires one to become good - but that is it!) if one

even puts in a fraction of that effort in trying to control his mind

and emotions, it wud be good for him. maybe that is enough for him to

attain moksha.

 

the practice of dharma is the most important in vedAnta.

 

-balaji