Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-4)

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Namaste.

You may see a Table of Contents, under the Introduction, in

advaitin/message/27766

 

KDAS – 4

 

6. SAADHANA-CHATUSHHTAYAM – THE PATH CHALKED OUT BY ACHARYA

 

With great compassion our Acharya Shankara Bhagavat-pAda

has mapped out a Saadhanaa-kramaM (the methodology of

Saadhanaa) towards the goal of advaita. Whatever he has

done is only according to the Shruti (the Vedas). The body

of the Vedas has a head and that is the Upanishads. They

are called ‘shruti-shiras’, meaning ‘the head for the body

of Upanishads’. The lofty edifice of Saadhanaa that the

Acharya has built for us has these Upanishads as its base.

 

 

What he has chalked out is a Saadhanaa program, called

‘Saadhana-chatushhTayaM’ (the four-part Saadhanaa). In his

monumental work of Brahma Sutra Bhashya right in the

beginning, in his commentary on the first sutra where he

explains ‘After what we shall embark on the enquiry of

Brahman?’, he starts with ‘nitya-anitya-vastu-vivekaH’

and mentions the four parts of this chatushhTayaM.

 

Just as his Sutra-Bhashya is at the top of all his

scriptural commentaries, so is the Viveka-Chudamani at the

top of all his expository works called prakaranas. And

there he has given very good definitions of the four parts

of Saadhana-chatushhTayaM.

 

sAAdhanAny-atra chatvAri kathitAni manIshhibhiH /

yeshhu satsveva sannishhTA yad-abhAve na siddhyati //

(Verse 18)

 

This is how he begins. ‘To hold firm to the Real absolute

is impossible without these four means’ – so says he

emphatically. Only when these four are accomplished, there

will happen a hold on the Real absolute. (yeshhu satsu eva

sannishhTA). If these four are observed, there is success;

otherwise not. These have been enunciated by manIshis.

 

Who are these manIshis? Ordinarily we are all manushyas,

that is, persons. Among us, those who are learned in the

shAstras, and who can distinguish between right and wrong

and who observe all ethical, moral and religious standards

are manIshis. “Saadhana-chatushhTayaM” is what has been

chalked out by them. This is how the Acharya introduces the

subject in his Viveka-chudamani.

 

There is another prakarana of the Acharya called

“aparokshAnubhUti”. ‘aparokshha’ means ‘direct’. In place

of somebody else telling you that the Self is Brahman, or

instead of learning it from books, if it is a fact of one’s

own experience, that is ‘aparokshAnubhUti’. That prakarana

book also talks of these four means. There is another

elementary first book called ‘Bala-bodha-sangrahaM’. Even

there he talks about this Saadhana-chatushhTayaM.

 

In the Tanjore Mahal Library there is a book called

‘Saadhana-chatushhTaya-sampatti’, whose author is not

known. ‘sampatti’ means a treasure. This sAdhanA is itself

a great treasure for us.

 

The word ‘chatushhTayaM’ means an integrated four-fold

formation. Though there are four, the third part of these,

namely ‘samAdhi-shhatka-sampatti’ has itself six parts in

it; just as the one part called ‘head’ has within itself

several parts called ear, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Thus the

four-fold formation has, included within itself, six parts

in one of its parts, and so we have actually nine steps in

our sAdhanA regimen. I have gathered you all here to tell

you about these nine steps.

 

But note. These nine steps are not steps of a staircase

where you go from step 1 to step 2 and from step2 to step 3

and so on. The analogy should not be carried that way. It

is like our studying Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in

the lower class and then when we go to a higher class we

study all of them once again but now more intensively and

extensively. And when you go to college, you concentrate in

one of them as your ‘main’ subject and study the others as

an auxiliary subject. In our SadhanA regimen also we learn

the basics of all of them in the beginning and then in due

time give each a special attention as we go along. Another

analogy is what a housewife does in the kitchen. She is

cooking several things, she makes the preparatory work for

almost all of them, has more than one thing on her several

stoves, and gives the necessary attention to each one of

them at the right time almost simultaneously. Even in our

eating, we drink something, we chew something, we swallow

something, we have something to go with something else, and

each one of us has a different order in which we consume

different types of food. So also in the SaadhanA regimen,

what is a side instrument at one time becomes the main

instrument on another occasion and for another purpose.

Thus the different parts of the SaadhanA come in mixed

fashion and at different stages come singly also.

 

After all that I must add the fact that there is, globally,

some sequence of the different parts. The rock bottom

beginning is to learn about Atma-vidyA. Even that has to be

learnt properly from a guru. It is the guru’s grace and

blessings that prompts one to go the right path. Secondly

the teaching of the guru must be firmly established in

one’s mind. And lastly, what has been retained by the mind

should now be brought into one’s nature and experience.

 

7. PRELIMINARY TO JNANA: KARMA AND BHAKTI.

 

There is another set of three: karma, bhakti and jnAna. The

advaita saadhanaa that the Acharya has taught us is the

path of jnAna. But the person who wants to go in this path

must have purified his mind to such an extent that he

should have the capability of one-pointedness (*ekAgratA*);

only then he can traverse the path of jnAna. If the mind is

full of dirt it cannot go the path of JnAna-saadhanaa. For

jnAna-yoga the mind has to become one-pointed; a

vacillating and vibrating mind cannot hold on to anything.

 

It is for these twin tasks of purification of mind and of

making it one-pointed that the Acharya has prescribed

karma and bhakti as preliminary to jnAna yoga. The

prerequisite to starting jnAna yoga are karma yoga and

bhakti yoga.

 

The barren land of the mind has to be tilled through karma

yoga and then watered through bhakti yoga. Without this

tilling and watering, nothing can be made to grow in that

barren land of the mind.

 

When one keeps on doing his svadharma, meticulously and

according to the shAstras, the impurities of the mind

slowly disappear.

 

When our mind becomes one-pointed in its devotion to the

Lord, this training in one-pointedness towards one form

leads it to do the one-pointed enquiry into the formless

Atman.

 

Thus when the mind is purified by karmayoga and gets the

habit of one-pointedness by bhakti yoga, it can easily

ascend the steps of jnAna yoga.

 

Of course I have said it easily; purification of mind by

karma and one-pointedness by bhakti. But none of these

things would seem to happen if one does not know what the

right karma is and what the right bhakti is.

 

(To be Continued)

PraNAms to all students of advaita.

PraNAms to the Maha-Swamigal.

profvk

 

 

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

 

Latest on my website: A conversation on the Concept of God in Hinduism.

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/VK2/ConceptofGOD.html

[Guest guest]

Brahma Sutra Bhashya right in the

beginning, in his commentary on the first sutra where he

explains 'After what we shall embark on the enquiry of

Brahman?', he starts with 'nitya-anitya-vastu-vivekaH'

and mentions the four parts of this chatushhTayaM.

 

 

praNAms Sri Prof. VK prabhuji

Hare Krishna

 

Here I've a small doubt prabhuji...shankara says in his commentary on

*athAtho brahma jignAsa* (1-1-1) after sAdhana chatushtaya we should do

*brahma jignAsa* (shankara's elaborated commentary on the word *atha* is

relevant here)..but my doubt here is..whether these four fold sAdhana-s are

for mere intellectual understanding or these have to be intuitively

realized?? For example, nityA - anityA vastu vivEka (Atma - anAtma jnAna),

if this vivEka is truly realized in its entireity in *pre brahma jignAsa*

period itself then what would be there to do *jignAsa* in post sAdhana

chatushtaya period to gain brahma jnAna?? Likewise, in ihAmutrArtha phala

bhOga virAga!! if we qualify in this requirement also in the *pre jignAsa*

period itself ...what would be left there to do *brahma jignAsa*?? does

this brahma jignAsa is not part of sAdhana?? if no, then how this *jignAsa*

is different from sAdhana...kindly clarify.

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

[Guest guest]

advaitin, bhaskar.yr@i... wrote:

>

> Brahma Sutra Bhashya right in the

> beginning, in his commentary on the first sutra where he

> explains 'After what we shall embark on the enquiry of

> Brahman?', he starts with 'nitya-anitya-vastu-vivekaH'

> and mentions the four parts of this chatushhTayaM.

>

>

> praNAms Sri Prof. VK prabhuji

> Hare Krishna

>

> Here I've a small doubt prabhuji...shankara says in his commentary

on

> *athAtho brahma jignAsa* (1-1-1) after sAdhana chatushtaya we

should do

> *brahma jignAsa* (shankara's elaborated commentary on the word

*atha* is

> relevant here)..but my doubt here is..whether these four fold

sAdhana-s are

> for mere intellectual understanding or these have to be intuitively

> realized??

 

Namaste Bhaskar Prabhu-ji

 

Your questions are legitimate. I had the same questions when I was

doing the translation. But later I thought I was convinced of the

Mahaswamigal's trend of thought. Please hold your breath until you

read a few more postings. The Mahaswamigal goes so leisurely that

we listeners/readers are likely to become a little impatient!

 

PraNAms to the Mahaswamigal.

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk