Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-27)

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Namaste.

 

For a Table of Contents of these Discourses, see

advaitin/message/27766

 

For the previous post, see

advaitin/message/28392

 

 

SEC. 18: SHAMA AND DAMA (Continued)

 

Usually the five senses of perception and the five of

action are counted along with the mind as eleven indriyas.

The eleven rudra forms of Lord Shiva are the adhi-devatas,

the deities pertaining to these senses. When we fast on

the Ekadasi day (the eleventh day of the lunar cycle) it is

for starving these eleven indriyas. Manu has said:

 

ekAdashaM mano jneyaM svaguNeno-bhayAtmakaM /

yasmin jite jitAvetau bhavataH panchakau gaNau //

(Manusmriti II – 92)

 

meaning, “Know the mind as the eleventh indriya, that has

an interactive relationship with the pair of five indriyas

each ; Just by vanquishing that one, we would have

conquered the other ten”.

 

There is another kind of classification. Mind and the five

senses of perception (*jnAnendriyas*) only are together

counted as six. In the Gita the Lord says *indriyANAM

manashchAsmi* (X -22). More specifically, he says in XV –

7, *manaH shhashhTAnIndriyANi* -- ‘the six indriyas

including the mind’.

 

There are contexts where the Acharya also has the same

opinion. For instance, the indriyas are sometimes called

‘karaNas’ (instruments); because, it is the instrument

which implements the actions that fulfill the will of the

jIva. On the other hand, the actions of thinking, planning,

enjoying happiness and sorrow -- these are done by the

mind which is within. So mind is called ‘antaH-karaNaM’.

Along with the five ‘karaNas’ that do work outside, the

Acharya visualises that sextad as a bee and says in

Soundaryalahari (#90) *majjIvaH karaNa-charaNaH

shhaT-charaNatAM*. The bee has six feet and so the Jiva

with its six indriyas (‘karaNas’) is taken as a bee. All

movement is with the help of the legs. In life, all the

movements of the jIva take place because of these six

‘karaNas’; so they are as good as ‘legs’ for the jIva-bee!

This is the ‘karaNa charaNa’ of the shloka. The creature

with six legs is the bee. The bee immerses itself in the

lotus flower and remains there in enchanted forgetfulness.

So also the plea of the devotee is to be immersed in the

lotus feet of Mother Goddess forgetful of itself like a bee

inside the lotus flower. That is when the mind and the pair

of five indriyas are calmed down and the Jiva with shama

and dama achieved, is immersed in the Absolute. Mother

Goddess (ambaaL) has in Her hands a sugarcane bow and five

arrows; the bow is to help us with ‘shama’ for

mind-control and the arrows are to vanquish the five senses

thus helping us achieve ‘dama’.

 

In short, both mind-control and sense-control have to go

hand in hand, complementary to each other. In fact all the

parts of SAdhanA have to move in one wavefront and so are

to be practised as such in mixed fashion. I already told

you they are not supposed to follow one after the other in

isolation. I have to emphasize this further in the case of

‘shama’ and ‘dama’.

 

Sometimes the senses do act involuntarily; maybe we can say

those are the times when the mind has nothing to do with

them. But generally almost all the time, the stopping of

the actions of the indriyas or of the mind, does need the

sanction and prompting of the mind from within. The

movement of the indriyas are in fact the deliberate prompts

of the mind which tries to fulfill its desires through

them. Of course there may be a little involuntary movement

of the indriyas on their own. Movement, maybe, but never

the stoppage of movement. It is the mind that has to stop

the movement of the senses. Thus, not only is shama, the

control of the mind, but dama, the control of the senses,

also is the responsibility of the mind. Therefore it is

that we also have to contend with shama and dama together.

 

Lord Krishna at one place talks of ‘dama’ as the work of

mind: “indriyANi manasA niyamya” says He in III – 7. The

same structure of expression occurs in VI – 24 where he

says “manasaivendriya-grAmaM viniyamya” – that is, the gang

of senses has to be controlled properly by the mind itself.

‘By the mind itself’ – ‘not by oneself’ is what is

underscored by the words “manasaiva” ( = manasA eva). Thus

controlling, gradually and slowly (*shanaiH shanaiH

uparamet*) one should calm down, says he. In fact

‘uparati’ is the next in *shhaTka-sampatti* starting from

shama and dama. ‘uparamet’ means ‘one should reach

‘uparati’, namely the calming down of everything.

 

The Lord usually talks about shama and dama both together.

*sarva-dvArANi samyamya mano hRRidi nirudhya ca* (VIII –

12) : Here ‘sarva-dvArANi samyamya’ (damming all gates) is

‘dama’; ‘mano hRRidi nirudhya’ (fixing the mind in the

heart) is ‘shama’. The dvAras are the gates; these gates

are the indriyas, namely, ears, nose and mouth – in which

the gates are visible and explicit; and the skin, in which

the gates are not visible, but we know every hair on the

skin is only a gate-like equipment, though invisible; and

finally the eyes, which we know is just a fixture in one of

the openings of the skull and further light passes through

the eyes and creates all the images that we see. So the

controlling of these five gates is nothing but the dama

that controls the senses. And the process of controlling

the mind and stabilising it in the Atman is the shama

described in “mano hRRidi nirudhya”.

 

“bhavanti bhAvA bhUtAnAM matta eva pRRithak-vidhAH” – All

the different attitudes of the beings emanate from Me, says

the Lord. And then He gives a list of the highest among

them: (X – 4, 5) Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion,

forgiveness, truth, self-

restraint (dama) , calmness (shama), ... . And when he

makes a list of all divine qualities in the 16th chapter,

he includes both dama and shama in “dAnaM damashca” and

“tyAgaH shAntiH” (XVI – 1, 2) . As I have already

mentioned, what is obtained by shama is shAnti (Peace) and

what is obtained by dama is ‘dAnti’.

 

(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.