Bhakti & Jnanam & a discussion on Sanyasa

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Bhakti and Jnanam & a discussion on sanyasa

 

Alpabala-Kaitabhaadiin hatvaa garvam vrthaa kurushe |

Mohaabhidaanam-asuram jahi shiighram shaktirasti yadi Krshna ||

 

O Krishna! You vainly boast, killing Kaitabha and others of meagre strength;

if You really have power, kill quickly the demon of my delusion.

(Sri Nrsimhabharati swamigal of Sringeri, in the Krishnaashtaka)

 

Yaa priitiravivekaanaam vishayeshvanapaayinii |

Tvaam-anusmaratas-taa me hrdayaan-maapasarpatu ||

 

(O Krishna!) the endless delight which the ignorant have in sensual pleasures,

let such delight (for you) leave not the heart of me who am continuously

thinking of you.

(Prahlada in the Pandava Gita)

 

Maitree sameshu na cha me'sti kadaapi Naatha

Diine tathaa na karunaa muditaa cha punye |

Pape anupekshanavato mama mut-katham syaat

Tasmaat tvamadya sharanam diinabhandho ||

 

(O Lord! Never did I feel friendly towards my equals; never did I show

sympathy towards the distressed; never did I feel glad on seeing the good; never

did I go without criticising the bad; how can I be happy? Therefore, O Friend of

the poor, you are my refuge.)

 

The above verse is based on the Yoga sutra:

Maitrii-karunaa-muditaa-upekshaanaam sukha-duHkha-punya-apunya-vishayaanaam

bhaavanaatas-chittaprasaadanam (I-33)

 

As chitta-prasaadanam, undisturbed calmness of the mind, is indispensable for

antarmukhatvam, remaining inward-turned, the means to accomplish this is

delineated by showing what causes its absence and how the situation can be

remedied. The Ambal names: Antarmukha-samaaraadhyaa, bahirmukha-sudurlabhaa and

Maitryaadi-vaasanaa-labhyaa denote this invaluable aspect in one's evolution.

Strangely however, the increased practice of antarmukhatvam will result in

chittaprasadanam.

 

The Jivanmuktiviveka of Sri Vidyaranyaswami, advocates this practice strongly.

A disturbed mind is never happy. When samsara is shown to be misery, liberation

has to be the experiencing of peace. A liberated man has to be necessarily

liberated from the trammels of samsara. Freedom from rebirth is no doubt

liberation but the reward of Jivanmukti is definitely attainable by putting in

the necessary effort. Strange it might seem that while an enlightened person

has transcended the need for any effort for accomplishing any fruit, yet this

work of Sri Vidyaranyaswami considers the possibility of even an enlightened

person to be affected at the mental level, drshta-duHkha, born out of one's

reactions to the interactions with the world, the surroundings, etc. A need

therefore arises to cultivate the mind by increased practice on the lines taught

by the scriptures: sthitaprajna, bhakta, gunaatiita lakshanas of the Gita, the

above sutra, e.g. etc. My Master used to say: "The

enjoyment of sukham in jivanmukti is directly proportional to the quota of

vairagyam that is present in that person." It is with this view that even

vidvat-sanyasa is advocated, as a laudable means to attain enhanced peace. Sri

Vidyaranyaswami gives the example of Sage Yajnavalkya who although enlightened,

takes up sanyasa to be free from the mundane interactions. The venerable author

points out that it was lack of peace arising out of the proneness of the mind to

accumulate wealth, curse the opponent in a debate, etc. that propelled the Sage

to renounce the worldly vyavahara, despite being enlightened.

 

Thanks to Sri Sada-ji for that very balanced post on the subject of sannyasa.

I saw this post after I had composed this missive of mine and thought that the

subject can be elaborated, without diluting the spirit of Sada-ji's very

convincing presentation. The PORT is a capsule-form of the various issues

underlying the consideration of the question of sannyasa.

 

The Bhagavadgita points out: JneyaH sa nitya-sannyaasii yo na dveshti na

kaankshati = The person who is able to free himself from the onslaughts of

desire and hatred is in a state of constant renunciation and as a result, enjoys

great peace. In fact, giving up of desire and hatred is itself renunciation. Of

all the obstacles to enjoy unbroken peace these two are identified as the most

powerful and therefore requiring the most concerted effort for their treatment.

In the above cited example of Sage Yajnavalkya too, we find these typical

problems coming to the fore. There is much wisdom in the thought:

Nivrtta-raagasya grham(eva) tapovanam = For the one who is free from

attachment, the house, where he lives with all other members of the family,

itself is a retreat. (Will someone pl. give the complete verse of which this

appears to be the last line?) That itself constitutes 'vivikta-desha' for him.

We see in the Gita repeated mention of raga-devsha-viyuktaiH,

veeta-raaga-bhaya-krodhaH, to show that these are the gang-leaders one has to

be wary of at all times. The institution of formal sannyasa, ideally, offers no

or minimum occasion for raga-devsha to come up. Yet what is the use of taking

up sannyasa if one enters that exalted institution carrying with him his past

strong tendencies! Perhaps this is what Sri Sureshwaracharya had in mind when

he warned: PishunaaH KalahotsukaaH sannyasino'pi drshyante = Even among

sannyasins there are the calumnous and quarrelsome. It was humorously said:

When the quarrel between two sannyasins goes to a height, their dandam, kapalam

and kamandalam become their weapons!!

 

In the Shatashloki (16), Acharya Shankara teaches the right attitude a

householder has to be endowed with so as to lead a detached life:

Tishthan gehe gehesho'pi atithiriva nijam dhaama gantum chikiirshuH

Dehastham duHkha-soukhyam na bhajati sahasaa nirmamatvaabhimaanaH |

Aayaatr-aayaasyatiidam jaladapatalavat yaatr yaasyatyavashyam

Dehaadyam sarvameva praviditavishayo yascha tishthatyayatnaH ||16||

 

(A man living in the household ought to have the attitude of a traveller who

halts at a place only to move on from there to his own abode. Not being attached

to the body, etc he is not affected by the joys and sorrows pertaining to the

body etc. He considers the ups and downs in life as the group of clouds that

arrive and later depart. Knowing this to be the nature of the body and the

like, the discriminating householder lives without exerting himself more than

what is necessary.)

 

 

Being relevant to our discussion, a parable is reproduced here, bringing out

the purport of the above verse:

 

How a householder should conduct himself

 

A district collector was distraught. A friend who dropped in at his office

to pay him a casual visit, sensed his discomposure and asked , "What is your

problem?" The collector replied, "My wife and children are all laid up with

fever, My son first fell ill and his infection spread to the others."

Friend: Did you not call a doctor?

Collector: Of course, I did. He prescribed medicines and said that they

would recover in a few days.

F: You are so upset at the illness of just four people living in a house

situated in a quarter of an acre. How then do you deal with problems in your

jurisdiction which covers thousands of acres and is populated by lakhs of

people? What indeed would be your condition if there were to be an epidemic in

your region?

C: I would inform the health department. Investigations would be carried out

and the disease identified as cholera, plague or something else. Treatment and

preventive measures including sanitation would be take up on a war footing. I

would handle such a situation efficiently, with a cool head.

F: If such a major, widespread problem can be dealt with by you without

getting ruffled, why are you so distraught about a minor problem confined to

four members of a single house?

C: Unlike the others, those who are ill now are my very own.

 

Such is the deleterious influence of strong attachment and of the feeling,

"This person or thing is my own", that the collector who worked hard and

efficiently discharged his official duties without losing his composure became

inefficient and beset with worry when it came to his wife and children

 

A pilgrim, on the way back to his town, halted at a Dharmashala. He appeased

his hunger there with the free meal offered to him. Then, desirous of doing

good and acquiring Punyam, he joined the inmates in serving food to the pilgrims

who had come there. Thereafter, he helped in cleaning up the place. Before

retiring for the night, he engaged in conversation with the others, expressed

his sympathy to those who voiced their personal problems and also gave them

beneficial suggestions.

 

He behaved as if the choultry was his home and the persons there were his

family members. Yet, his mind was fully at peace and he left the next morning

without the least hesitation or regret. After he had returned to his home, a

relative asked him, "Where did you spend the last night?At the Dharmashala",

he replied. "What transpired there?", asked his relative. "Nothing of

consequence. I ate there, slept and left. That is all."

 

A married man has many duties and responsibilities and has to face many a

problem affecting his family. The scriptures and Bhagavatpada graciously advise

him to lead his family life without attachment. He ought to be like the

collector when engaged in the discharge of his official duties and like the

pilgrim during his stay at the Dharmashala. He will then perform his duties and

face family problems effectively and efficiently but without any mental

agitation.

 

(From the book 'Edifying Parables' of HH Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha

Mahaswamigal, published by Sri Vidyateertha Foundation, Chennai)

 

I went into some detail here to partly reply a question raised by a member of

the list regarding the need/relevance/appropriateness of the institution of

sanyasa in the context of Atmajnanam which is actually a transcending of the

anatmaprapancha. Somehow this topic got overlapped with the Bhakti and Jnanam

topic.

 

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