Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-23)

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

For a Table of Contents of these Discourses, see

advaitin/message/27766

 

For the previous post, see

advaitin/message/28243

 

 

SEC.16. VAIRAAGYA (DISPASSION) – (Continued)

 

Thus even the commonfolk seem to be knowing what kind of

vairAgyaM should a Sannyasi possess.! It is in such a land

of ours we have modern Sannyasis who say they cannot remain

without coffee or ovaltine! And if you ask, they may say:

“We are ati-varNAshramis, who are above the Sannyasi level;

as that low-caste woman said, we know what to do and what

not to do”

 

Instead of showing off like this, if one wants to be really

in possession of Atma-jnAna, the one single thing very,

very necessary, is VairAgyaM. It is said (e.g., in Jabala

Upanishad IV and other Sannyasa Upanishads) that when that

vairAgyaM has been acquired, then that very day one can

leave home as a Sannyasi -- *yad-ahareva virajet tadahareva

pravrajet*.

 

But one should not leave home or karma in disgust of the

present life not giving any permanent happiness. Such a

thing will turn out to be dry. The disgust about the

present impermanent life should be accompanied by the

thought about the permanent bliss of the Atman. Then only

it will turn out to be a right sAdhanA and in turn lead to

everlasting bliss. Once the Realisation is reached, the

disgust also will disappear and everything will be full of

Love. In other words it is in association with the

comprehension (vivekaM) of the syndrome of the permanent

and the impermanent that one should practise vairAgyaM.

Neither vairAgyaM without that vivekaM nor vivekaM without

the vairAgyaM will suffice. They have to combine.

 

The very fact we are asked to analyse the distinction

between the permanent and the impermanent is to discard the

impermanent through dispassion. To get that dispassion is

the first step of the spiritual ascent. That is why

‘AparokshAnubhUti’ gives importance to vairAgyam and

classifies vairAgyaM as the first step. In

‘VivekachUDAmani’ also *mokshhasya prathamo hetuH* (Verse

69/ Verse 70 in another reading) – An extreme vairAgya in

things impermanent is the first cause for Moksha – thus

combining the two in a symbiotic way.

 

Thus these constitute the first two of

Sadhana-chatushhTayaM.

 

Let us go to the third now. Viveka and VairAgya are at

least known to all people in a general way. But the sAdhanA

parts that we are going to describe now may not be so

known, even by name.

 

Sec.17 : THE SEXTAD OF TREASURABLE QUALITIES

 

The third part of Sadhana-chatushhTayaM is called *shamAdi

shhaTka-sampatti* -- the sextad of treasures beginning with

‘shama’. These are: ‘shama’, ‘dama’, ‘uparati’,

‘titikshhA’, ‘shraddhA’ and ‘samAdhAna’. Of these people

know about ‘shraddhA’, but even here, they usually think it

means a deep interest or involvement. It is not so. A firm

conviction or faith is called shraddhA; I have already

mentioned that shraddhA is faith in what the ShAstras and

the Guru say. Again, the sixth one, called ‘samAdhAna’ is

also a well-known word but not a well-understood word in

its connotation of one of the six ‘sampatti’. We shall take

it up when we come to it in due turn.

 

The six are referred to as ‘shamAdi’ by our Acharya. Note

that it is ‘shamAdi’ and not ‘samAdhi’. The ‘sha’ is not

the ‘sa’ of ‘sa-ri-ga-ma-pa...’ but the ‘sha’ of

‘Shankara’. *shama-damAdi upetaH syAt* says Brahma-sutra

(III – 4 – 27). For the attainment of jnAna one should have

shama, dama and the like. *tad-vidheH* -- that is the

rule, adds the Sutra. Who made the rule? Obviously, the

Vedas. It is Ishvara who has so ordained through the vedas.

 

 

Where exactly do the vedas prescribe shama, dama and the

like? In Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, (IV – 4 – 23) where

Yajnavalkya teaches Janaka, he says a jnAni has to be a

*shAnta* (one with shama), *dAnta* (one with dama),

*uparata* (one with uparati), *titukshhu* (one with

titikshhA) and *samAhita* (one with samAdhAna). In other

words, only he who has practised and acquired all these can

become a jnAni or can obtain jnAna. Here five of the six

have been mentioned. The same order among them is also

maintained by the Acharya. ‘ShraddhA’ is the remaining one.

It is actually basic to everything. The shruti talks about

it in several places. Thus we always talk about the sextad

of " 'shama" and the like".

 

 

(To be Continued)

PraNAms to all students of advaita.

PraNAms to the Maha-Swamigal.

profvk

 

 

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

 

Latest on my website: Shrimad Bhagavatam and advaita bhakti. Introduction.

Chatushloki Bhagavatam. Vidura and Maitreya. Kapila Gita.

Dhruva charitam. JaDabharata, Ajamila Stories. Prahlada Charitram.

 

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

 

and succeeding pages.