Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-7)

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

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KDAS – 7

 

10. APEX OF SADHANA IS ONLY FOR THE SANNYASI !

 

MumukshhutvaM -- the yearning for moksha – is the end of

the second stage. The first stage is that of eradicating

the mind’s dirt and vacillation by karma and bhakti.

Sadhana-chatushhTayaM is the second stage. The SadhanAs

remove mostly all the defective vAsanAs and perturbations

adhering in the mind; if at all there are any that may be

only five or ten percent.

 

It is in such a circumstance that the moksha-seeker

(mumukshhu) feels he has only one work to do, namely to get

the Release. So he renounces his home and possessions,

takes Sannyasa and goes to the third stage. In other words,

the Acharya’s conclusion is, in that last stage, it is

the Sannyasi that has the right qualifications for

Atma-SadhanA. Having renounced all attachments, bondage and

worldly obligations, Atma-vichara (Enquiry into the Atman)

becomes his whole-time job. It is only for such a seeker

that the most blissful gift of Realisation of Brahman

happens. That is the maxim of the Acharya, as also

confirmed by the Upanishads.

 

Thus, in that third stage, he takes Sannyasa under a proper

Guru, gets his upadesha of the mantra which tells him about

the identity of Jiva and Brahman, constantly rolls it in

his mind, and in due time even that thought process stops

and he comes to be in union with his own aim, namely the

Great Experience of Brahma-anubhava. This is the

prescription of the Acharya.

 

Some do ask: “The Acharya himself has said that the

teaching of the maha-vakyas that proclaim the identity of

Jiva and Brahman is only for the Sannyasi. On the other

hand how come the Sama Veda maha-vakya was taught to the

Brahmachari Svetaketu by his father?”

 

The Vedas, in each of its branches (ShAkhAs) has one

Upanishad in which there is a mahavakya that proclaims the

identity of Jiva-Brahman. From 1008 branches that were

there originally, we have come down to only seven ShAkhAs

that are still extant, glowing like little torches.

Though every shAkhA has a mahavakya, traditionally we

resort to four mahavakyas corresponding to the four vedas,

for purposes of giving initiation to new Sannyasis.

Accordingly in Rigveda the mahavakya occurring in Aitareya

Upanishad does not mention who taught it to whom. But it

occurs at the end of the Upanishad revealed by a Rishi

called Mahidasa Aitareya. Just from what has been said in

the penultimate mantras and from the previous chapter where

it is said that even as he was in the womb the Rishi

Vamadeva had obtained Brahma-jnAna, we can infer that this

mahavakya has been sparked from his intuition to Vamadeva

by God’s Grace. In other words it has been taught to a

Brahma-jnAni by Ishvara Himself. Therefore it appears fair

to conclude that it is to be taught only to a Sannyasi,

namely one of the fourth Ashrama.

 

The mahavakya of the Yajurveda occurs in the first chapter

of Brihad-Aranyaka-Upanishad in what is called

Purusha-vidha-brAhmaNaM. It says: “whatever Rishis or Devas

saw it in their experience as declared in this mahavakya,

they all became Brahman” and then gives one name, namely,

Vamadeva. Therefore again one may conclude that this

mahavakya also was sparked into the intuition of the Guru

Vamadeva, who was a jnAni, and therefore those eligible to

receive this teaching are only Sannyasis.

 

The mahavakya of the atharva-veda occurs in

MANDUkya-Upanishad. In the Upanishad called

Muktikopanishad, Shri Rama teaches Hanuman that this one

Upanishad (MANDUkya-Upanishad) is enough for a seeker of

Moksha to obtain Moksha. Thus this mahavakya also is to be

taught only to Sannyasis.

 

The question now is only about the mahavakya occurring in

Sama-Veda. The objectionists are raising only this. Of the

four mahavakyas this is the only one which is directly

taught to a disciple by a Guru. Naturally it gets a special

status. And that disciple is a youth, a Brahmachari. Not a

sannyasi. Hence the objection: “How come a teaching that

was offered to a 24-year old Brahmachari, is being

recommended to be taught only to Sannyasis?”

 

(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