Part III of Sridakshinamurti stotram excerpts

January 4, 2006

8.9.5 Purport of Comparison – Warning to Seekers

It is clear from this that the comparisons are not brought, in a

spirit of derisiveness. Women, children and the blind are taken to illustrate

generally those who do not study the Veda, are not capable of abstract reasoning

and are not alive to the truths which even the world can teach. The dunce is

included in this list as he cannot in the least profit by the study of the Veda

or reason out coherently or perceive things as they are, but is, however, not

free from hallucinations of his own. When Sri Sri Acaryapada gives such

illustrations, He refers only to ordinary people bereft of the advantages

mentioned and not to the extraordinary. He laments that the philosophers, in

spite of all these advantages, have lost the sense of direction and missed the

truth completely and thus are no better than women etc. Being sticklers, in

accordance with their dispositions to their own point of view, they argue

vehemently in favour of it, as Sri Bhagavan says –

Sattvaanurupa sarvasya shraddhaa bhavati Bhaarata..(Gita XVII 3)

Since people who blindly follow them, would also be ruined thereby, warnings

are given to save them as for example –

Tasmaaat asampradaaya-vit sarvashaastravidapi murkhavadeva upekshaniiyaH

(Gitabhashya XIII 2)

[Therefore, though learned in all Shaastras, one who is not acquainted with

traditional interpretation is to be shunned as an ignorant man.]

Similarly, the comparisons given in the hymn serve to warn the

seekers as to what is in store for them much in the same way as the warning

administered by Sri Bhagavan to Arjuna while demanding that he shed his

faintheartedness and rise to the occasion – Klaibyam maa sma gamaH..etc. While

this, as coming from the enlightened who is verily Isvara, serves to align the

seeker and uplift him, it turns out, though unintended, to be a curse to an

obstinate adversary as pointed out by Sruti in the case of those who hold on to

the non-Self dearly as if it were their own Self –(Br. U. 3-4-8)

So anyam atmanaH priyam bruvaanam…

He finds himself in a vale of tears over many births, what is regarded as dear

turning out to be the cause of misery. Him, however, who resorts to the

witness-Self as the most dear, that most dear Atman never fails. Says the

Pancadasi XII –

Atmano anyam priyam bruute..

8.10.1 ' I ' – The Wrong Views Because of Avidya and Absence of Grace of

Isvara

The Tattvasudha on stanza V of the hymn says –

[Why is it that these vadins who are investigating, are still

agnostics and delineate the truth differently? It is because of the absence of

the Grace of Isvara.]

Sri Bhagavan's caution to Arjuna in the Gita (XVIII-58)-

Says the Bhas ya –

[Fixing the mind on Me, thou shalt, by My Grace, cross over all

difficulties i.e., the impassable obstacles arising from Avidya, the cause of

samsara; but if from egoism i.e., vanity that thou art learned, thou wilt not

hearken unto Me, thou shalt be ruined.]

Also pointing out that Self – effulgent Atman, far from being any

of those held by the other vadins as Self, is the witness thereof, transcends

them and is ever of the nature of liberation, as proclaimed in the Upanisads,

the Brahmasutra, and the Gita; and anything other than this is bondage, says Sri

Sri Acaryapada in the Upadesasahasri (XVI-64 to 67) –

The tika on it quotes-

[Therefore the conception of bondage and liberation different form

the Vedantic view, is wrong. The conceptions of the Sankhyas, the Kanadas and

the Buddhists about them are not tenable to reason. They should never be

accepted as they are not supported by reason and Sastras. Hundreds and

thousands of errors on their part can be pointed out. As scriptures differing

from Sruti have been condemned in the ancient sacred tradition, they should not

be accepted. A wise one should reject them and giving up all crookedness and

with faith and devotion, should have a firm understanding of the true import of

the Vedantas as accepted by Bhagavan Sri Vyasa. The learned intending to tread

the path of pure dharma, should not heed to any and every Sastra other than

Sruti, since these other Sastras misdirect and are therefore suspect; they lead

nowhere; they are engulfed in dense darkness.]

It is to retrieve all such, that Sri Sri Acaryapada while

drastically criticising all the non-vedantic systems, points out in His infinite

mercy, the appropriate direction for each, accommodating him to the utmost

possible extent, laying all the blame t the doors of Avidya i.e., Maya, towards

the removal of which He endeavours everywhere. The person who has transcended

all delusion and knows the truth an understand, even appreciate and tolerate the

views of those who are still under delusion, for the mistake is not due to them

but only to the delusion under which they are labouring. The Knower of truth

dispels Avidya and the delusion of earnest aspirants who seek his guidance, for

he alone can do it and not any other person who is equally deluded or a victim

of a delusion of another variety.