Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-9)

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Namaste.

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

in

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KDAS – 9

 

11.WHY THEN TELL OTHERS,

WHAT IS SUITABLE ONLY FOR SANNYAASIS?

 

I might have named you a dud, but you may raise the

question: “How is it right to call us a dud without

understanding reality? Talking without any concern for

actual state of today’s world – how is it proper?” One may

also think “Eternal Peace is of course very tempting. But

to attempt it in the third stage if one is required to don

the ochre robe of Sannyasa, it is not practical. We are not

ready for it, nor do we have the maturity for it. To obtain

Peace one is asked to run away from all relationships,

household and profession. But there is always the lurking

fear about what will happen if one runs away from all this;

that fear itself will take away all the peace that one is

after. In the context of our bondages of desires and

attachment how can we do justice to the Ashrama of a

Sannyasi? Will it not end up in a mess? And being in that

Ashrama, every fault will be a major sacrilege. By taking

up Sannyasa now itself and attempting to live by it is only

equivalent to cheating ourselves by ourselves. And the

Swami who recommends all this to us is not such a dud as to

think that we can live a Sannyasi’s life and do Atma

vichara all the time. Then why does he insist on our

sitting here and keep listening to his lectures?” In other

words, you are asking why I am telling all and sundry what

is only applicable to Sannyasis and to those mature ones

who are capable of Sannyasa and are willing to take it up.

 

 

12. TWO DIFFERENT PATHS FOR TWO DIFFERENT ASPIRANTS

 

Your question is legitimate. JnAna teachings may be done in

abundance, conferences on advaita may be held in plenty,

books on the subject may be published in cheap editions as

well as for free distribution – all these paraphernalia may

draw large crowds certainly, and the books may be in high

demand, but finally those who actually carry the teachings

in practice will be few and far between. “One in a thousand

makes the attempt; and even among them a rare one persists

and succeeds” says Bhagavan Himself. That is His play of

mAyA! Except for those rare ones whose good samskara from

previous lives is really strong all others are just unable

to think seriously of getting themselves out of the rut of

worldly activities and of the pulls and pushes of the mind.

 

 

Therefore the Lord distinguishes two categories of people

in the Gita and calls one of them eligible to do only karma

and demarcates the other to be eligible to go the jnAna

path. Not only that. He says clearly it is not He who has

now made this distinction, but it has been there ever since

ancient times, by the use of the words “purA proktA”.This

word ‘purA’ is what occurs in the derivation of the word

‘purANa’. The very first ShAstra, the Vedas, have

themselves made this distinction. “proktA” means

‘well-declared’. It is Ishvara who has given this message

through the Vedas and so He says “This has been taught by

me in ancient times”. And what are the two paths?: “jnAna

yogena sAnkhyAnAM karma-yogena yoginAM”. They are jnAna

yoga and Karma yoga.

 

It is jnAna yoga that is our topic of advaita-saadhanaa.

It is only for them who have very noble samskaras. They are

called sAnkhyas by the Lord. Several kinds of meanings are

usually given to this. I am thinking of one in a lighter

vein. ‘sankhyA’ means counting. Population is called

‘jana-sankhyA’. Therefore why can’t we take that ‘sAnkhyas’

means those who can be counted easily! It is for them and

for them only that jnAna-yoga or advaita-saadhanaa is

meant. Karma yoga is meant for the others.

 

Karma is talked of as pravRRitti (involvement in the world)

and jnAna is talked of as nivRRitti (renunciation from the

world) The two have been clearly distinguished by Manu

himself -- who gave us the most important ShAstra --

*pravRRittaM nivRRittaM ca dvi-vidhaM karma vaidikaM*

(Manu-dharma-shAstra XII – 88). Two different types of

people who have different mental make-up, maturity and

samskAra have been given two different paths. The same

thing has been said in Brahma-sutra III – 4 – 11. Just as

we partition one hundred rupees into two parts and give

fifty rupees each to two different people, the paths

towards Atman have been divided as karma and jnAna and have

been given to two differently qualified people – this is

what that Sutra says. This Sutra actually occurs

three-fourths way in the text of the Brahma-Sutra. But

right in the beginning itself, the same matter has been

built into the very first Sutra *athAto brahma-jijnAsA*

which says “Thereafter, hence forward, deliberation on

Brahman”. This ‘thereafter’ has been explained by the

Acharya in his Bhashya. Having attained perfection in the

first stage, namely the path of karma, then having done

all the Saadhanaas in the second stage (which we are about

to see), -- after all these, getting the Sannyasa through

the Guru and also the Upadesha (formal teaching) of the

Mahavakyas and after this, one is ready and eligible to

devote whole time in a dedicated fashion to pursue the

deliberations on Brahman: this is what the Acharya says in

his explanation of the first Sutra.

 

(To be Continued)

PraNAms to all students of advaita.

PraNAms to the Maha-Swamigal.

profvk