Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 Teachings of Philosophy The brAhmana asks vyAdha the following question; “indriyANI tu yAnYAhuh kAni tAni yatavrata Nigrahascha katham kAryO nigrahasya cha kim phalam “ – Oh! The truthful, what are the indriyAs and what is meant by their control? What is the fruit of such control and how are those fruits achieved. Please teach me the essence of this. The vyAdha smiles and replies. “ vijnyArtham manushyANAm manah pUrvam pravartatE Tat prApya kAmam bhajatE krOdham cha dvijasattama “ – Oh! Brahmin, The human mind strives to acquire secular knowledge. With the attainment of secular knowledge, the natural attraction towards the sense objects creates desire (kAma) and anger(krOdha)(if the desire in not fulfilled). “ tatah tadartham yatatE karma cha ArabhatE maham ishTAnAm rUpa-gandhAnAm abhyAsam cha nishEvatE “ “ tatO rAgah prabhavati dvEshascha tadanantaram taTo lObhah prabhavati mOhascha tadanantaram “ – When a desire is created, the human being tries hard to stimulate the sense object associated with the desire. The five sense organs – eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin seek the five sense objects of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch respectively. Once he obtains those sense objects, he develops an attachment to them and seeks more of them and becomes greedy and obsessed;if he does not get them he develops anger. “ tatO lObhA-bhi-bhUtasya rAgadvEsha hatasya cha Na dharma jAyatE buddhih vyAjyAt dharmam karOti cha “ – A greedy and Jealous person is averse to dharma or offers lip service for actions of dharma. “ vyAjEna charatE dharmam artham vyAjEna rOchatE vyAjEna sidhya-mAnEshu dhanEshu dvija-sattama tatraiva ramatE buddhih tatah pApam chikIrshati “ – His acts of dharma are either a façade or to take advantage of others. He tries to amass wealth by apparent acts of dharma. He is drawn towards acts of sin, since he is engaged in amassing wealth by easy means (of adharma). “ suhrat bhih vAryamANascha panDitaischa dvijOttama Uttaram shrutisambhandham bravItya-shrutiyOjitam “ – If his well Wishers, friends or learned people try to advise him of his acts Of adharma, they either turn a deaf ear or hide their acts by quoting scriptures. There is a gap between their talk and actions. They take defense that the karma of the other person caused his loss of wealth or that life is impossible in the path of dharma. “ Adharmah teividhah tasya vartatE rAgadOshajah pApam chintayatE cha iva bravIti cha karOti cha tasya adharma pravrittasya guNA nashyanti sAdhavah “ – The adharma caused by attachments and jealousy are at three levels – mental, speech and action. The acts of sin have genesis in the mind. The discussion of these acts with people who will support them(speech) and finally executing them(action). The good traits of shama (control of mind) and dama (control of sense organs)cannot exist in a man of sin. “ Eka shIlaischa mitratvam bhajantE pApa-karmiNah Sa tEna dukham ApnOti paratra cha vipadyatE “ – The sinners always befriend sinners. A sinner, though enjoys happiness temporarily, he will pay for his karma in the long run. The higher worlds of Of heaven are closed for him. Oh! Brahmin, this is the way of sinners. I will now tell you the behavior of a man of dharma. “ yah tvEtAn prajnyayA dOshAn pUrvam Eva anupashayti Kushalah sukha dukhEshu sAdhUm scha apyupasEvatE Tasya sAdhu-samArambhAt buddhih dharmEshu rAjatE “ – A man who discerns the folly of attachment described earlier, has the ability to discrimate between happiness and sorrow, follows the lead of a cultured person, he will not become a slave of anger and jealousy and will always engage in acts of dharma. “ brAhmanA vai mahAbhAgAh pitarO agrabhujah sadA tEshaM sarvAtmanA kAryam priyam lOkE manIshiNA “ – The brahmins are very distinguished people. They deserve the position of parents and first to be treated. A knowledgeable person should always please brahmins. “ yat tEshAm cha priyam tattE vakshyAmi dvija-sattama namaskritvA brAhmanEbhyO brAhmIm vidyA nibodha mE “ – As a a duty, I will tell you what pleases brahmins. I will bow down to the brahmins and tell you what pleases them( the brahmin referred to here is a realized person). “ idam vishvam jagat sarvam ajayyam cha api sarvashah mahA bhUtAtmakam brahma nAtah parataram bhavEt “ – This universe which is made up of great elements and which is unable to be understood is Brahman itself. The universe is not different from Brahman. “ mahA-bhUtAni kham vAyuh agnih Apah tathA ch abhUh Shabdah sparshascha rUpam cha rasO gandascha tat gunA “ – The all pervading space, air, fire, water and earth are called five great elements. Brahman pervades these five elements. Sound, Touch, Form, taste and smell are respectively the five gUnas (attributes) of the five elements. “ tEshAm api guNAh sarvE guNa-vrittih parasparam pUrva-pUrvaguNAh sarvE kramashO guNishu trishu “ – The sight, touch, form, taste and smell have different attributes and the attributes of each other. Three attributes in each have respectively the three attributes of the previous three elements. “ shashTastu chEtanA nAma mana itaybhidIyatE Saptami tu bhavEt buddhih ahankArah tatah param “ indriyANi cha panchAtmA rajah satvam tamah tathA ityEsha sapta-dashakO rAshi avaykta sanjyaktah “ – Apart from the five great elements, the sixth is called the “chEtana†or mind. The seventh is the intellect. The eighth is the ego. Along with these eight, five sense organs, Self , the three guNas of satva, rajas and tamas – this group of 17 is the unmaifested. “ sarvai iha indriyArthaih tu vyaka-avyaktaih su-samvrataih Chatur-vimshaka ityEsha vyakta-avyakta-mayO guNaih “ – Five sense Organs, mind and intellect have manifested and unmanifested guNas and are hidden in the closet of the intellect – their number is 24. Understanding this unmanifest is the knowledge of Brahman. Five Elements and their Description “ BhUmih Apah thathA jYotih vAyuh AkAsham Eva cha gUNOttharANI sarvANI tEshAm vakshYami tE guNAn “ “ bhUmih pancha-guNA Brahman udakam cha chaturguNam guNAh thrayah tEjasi cha trayascha AkAsha vAtayOh “ – The earth, water, fire, air and space, have in addition to their natural guNa, have the guNas of the earlier elements, meaning, the earth has five guNas, the water has four guNas, the fire has three, the air is made of two guNas and the space has its own single guNa. “ shabdhah sparsha-scha rUpam cha rasO gandhascha panchamah EtE gunAh panch bhUmEh sarvebhyO guNavattara “ – The earth has the guNas of Sound, touch, form, taste and smell; the five guNas of the earth are the most of the elements. “ shabdhah sparsha-scha rUpam cha rasah cha api dvijOttama apAm EtE guNA Brahman kIrtitAh tava suvrata “ – The attributes of water are sound, touch, form and taste; water does not have the attribute of smell. “ shabdhah sparsha-scha rUpam cha tEjasO atha guNAh trayah shabdhah sparsha-scha vAyou tu shabdascha-AkAsha Eva tu “ – Fire has the attributes of sound, touch, form; fire does not have the attribute of taste and smell. The air has the attributes of sound and touch only, while the space has only one attribute of sound. “ EtE panchadasha Brahman guNA bhUtEshu panchasu vartantE sarva-bhUtEshu yEshu lOkAh pratishTitAh “ – These 15 cumulative attributes of earth, water, fire, air and space form the substratum of the universe. “ anyOnyam na ati-vartantE samyak cha bhavati dvija yadA tu vishamam bhAvam AchAranti charAcharAh “ “ tadA dEhI dEhamanyam vyatirahOti kAlatah anupUrvyA vinashyanti jAyantE cha anu-pUrvashah “ – These five elements are not averse to each other; In a body, the five elements are present in a determinted proportion. When the five elements violate this determined proportion, then is the time for the jIva to leave that body in search of another body. The beings emnate from the earth and dissolve into the earth. “ tatra tatra hi drishyantE dhAtavah pAnch-bhoutikAh yairAvritam idam sarvam jagat stAvara-jangamam “ – The five elements are the resource for the creation of beings. Therefore, this universe, inhabited by moving and non-moving beings is of the nature of the five elements. “ indriyaih srijyatE yadyat tat tat vyaktam iti smritam Tat avyaktam iti jnyEyam linga-grAhuyam atIndriyam “ – That which is perceived by the sense organs is called vyakta- manifested and that which is not perceived by the sense organs is called avyakta – unmanifested. “ yathAsvam grAhakANyEshAm shabdAdInAm imAni tu indriyANI yadA dEhI dhArayanniva tapyatE “ “ lOkE vitatam AtmAnamlOkam cha Atmani pashyati parAparajnyO yah shaktah sa tu bhUtani pashyati “ – When a person detaches the mind from the sense objects of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound (respectively from the sense organs eyes, nose, tongue, skin and ears), and focuses on the unmanifest Brahman, then he sees Atman in all the things around him and in himself. A person who understands the distinction between the manifest and unmanifest form, remains detached from all the beings around him. Pashyatah sarva-bhUtAni sarvA-vastAsu sarvadA Brahma-bhUtasya samyOgO na ashubhE-nOpapadyatE “ – Being established in Brahman, though he is transacting with all beings, at all times and in all situations, he remains steadfast in Brahman. “ ajnyAna-mUlam tam klEsham ativrittasya pourusham lOka-vritti prakAshEna jnyAnamArgENa gamyatE “ – Ignorance is the cause of the painful avidya. A jnyAni who has crossed the avidya, his transactions are also illumined by jnyAna. By this path of jnyAna, he realizes the supreme state of mOksha. [A note of comment here: the editors have translated ativritti pourusham as avidya. Generally avidya is synanimous with ignorance or ajnyAna. There is one interpretation that ajnyAna is at the individual level(vyashTi) and avidya is at the aggregate level (samashTi). But this does not seem to apply here; If pourusham is translated as knowledge, ativriittasya pourusham has the meaning of violating knowledge. It is possible that the editors call this avidya]. “ anAdi-nidhanam jantum AtmayOnim sadAvyayam Anoupamyam amUrtam cha bhagavAn Aha buddhimAn “- The learned say that this Brahman which is of the nature of consciousness, self-born, undying all times, beyond logic and in-comparable, and having no form is the BhagavAn. “ tapO mUlam idam sarvam yanmAm viprAnu-pricchasi indriyANyEva samyamya tapO bhavati nAnyathA “ – Oh! Brahmin, the austerity of dhyAna (meditation)is the pre-requisite (root cause) for the realization of the self. This dhyAna is possible only by controlling the sense organs, specifically that of the mind. “ indriyAnyEva tat sarvam yat svarga narakAcubhou nigrihIta visrishTAni svargAya narakAya cha “ – The dhyAna is possible only by controlling the sense organs and the mind. The sense organs are responsible for the attainment of heaven and hell. Letting the sense organs prevail will lead to hell and controlling them will lead to heaven. “ Esha yOga-vidhih kritsnO yAvat indriya dhAraNam Etan mUlam hi tapasah kritsnasya narakasya cha “ – Controlling the Sense organs and the mind is the prescription for yOga. This is the important discipline for Self realization. Our sense organs are the root causes of progress or fall. “ indriyANAM prasangEna dOsham Arcchyanta samshyam Sam-niyamya tu tAnyEva tatah siddhim samApnuyAt “ – A man makes mistakes, by allowing sense organs and the mind to have a free ride; If he controls them, he will rise towards Self-realization. “ shaNNAM Atmani nityAnAm Aishvaryam yO-adhigacchati Na sa pApaih kutO-anarthaih yujyatE vijitEndriyah “ – He who manages the six (mind and the five sense organs) and leads them, he will not make mistakes or sins and hence will not encounter situations caused by sin. “ rathah sharIram purushasya drishTam AtmA niyantEh indriyANyAhu-rashvAn Tiara pramatthah kushalI sat-ashvaih dAntaih sukham yAti rathIva dhIrah “ – The human body is like a chariot. The jIva is the charioteer. The five sense organs and the mind are its horses. Just as a trained horseman keeps the horses in control, a cultured human will navigate the life by controlling the mind and the sense organs. “ shaNNAm Atmani yuktAnAm indriyANAm pramAthinAm yO dhIrO dhArayEt rashmin sah syAt parama sArathih “ – One who controls and mamanges these six organs, which are restless, such a person is a very superior charioteer and a firm man. “ indriyANAm prasrishTAnAm hayAnAmiva vartmasu Dhritim kurvIta sArathyE dhrithyA tAni jayEt dhruvam “ – Just as Control is exercised on the horses to keep them on the road, control is required to manage the sense organs and the mind. These six can be permanently managed by a determined effort. “ indriyANAm vicharatAm yanmanO anuvidhIyatE Tadasya haratE buddhim nAvam vAyuh iva ambasi “ – Mind is superior to the five sense organs. The sense organs are always restless. The respective sense organs always seek the respective sense objects. The mind encourages the sense organs to obtain the sense objects. The intellect goes along with the mind. As a hurricane destroys a sail ship, the intellect is deluded. “ yEshu vipartipadyantE shatsu mOhAt phalAgamam tEshu adhyavasitAdhyAyi vindantE dhyAnajam phalam “ – Humans are deluded by believing that satisfying these six organs is ultimate happiness. However, one who has analysed the happiness derived by these six organs, has uersood and determined that such happiness is momentary. He controls the sense organs, engage in meditation and reach the state of permanent bliss. Comments (1 ) The five great elements- space(ether), air, fire, water and earth(not necessarily this earth)- may be considered as the periodic tables of the Sanathana Dharma spiritual system. It has been only five before and only five in the future(does not change like the chemical periodical tables). The source of these five elements is Brahman TaittirIya Upanishat – tasmAddvA EtasmAt Atman AkAshah sambhUtah, AkAshAd-vAyuh…….). These five elements exist in subtle form (this is the unmanifest form)and are not capable of creating the environment required for sustenance of life transactions. These five subtle elements combine in a certain combination in a process called PanchikaraNa to form gross elements. The panchikaraNa can be thought as Cosmic cooking. In the context of the Big Bang, it may be considered that the vast expanse of gases heating up the in the atmospehere and the following incessant rain to cool off the environment may be thought of as the process of PanchikaraNa. The subtle elements combine to form gross elements in the following proportion; Gross space = ½ Subtle space + 1/8 subtle air + 1/8 subtle fire + 1/8 subtle water + 1/8 subtle earth. .. .. .. Gross earth = ½ Subtle earth + 1/8 subtle space + 1/8 subtle air + 1/8 fire + 1/8 subtle water. The sUtra describing the process of PanchIkaraNa is ‘ panchIkaraNam tu AkAshAdi panchasu Ekaikam dvidhA samam vibhajya, tEshu dashasu bhAgEshu prAthamikAn pancha bhAgAn pratyEkam chaturdha samam vibhajya, tEshAm chaturNAm bhAgAnAm svs-svs-dvitIyArdha-bhAga parityAgEna bhAgAntarEshu yOjanam ‘ – divide each in to two; of those ten, divide the first five half into four parts; then mix each of those four with the half that does not belong to their category or ‘ dvidhA vidhAya cha Ekaikam chaturdhA prathamam punah sva-svEtara dvitIyAmshaih-yOjanAt panch pancha tE ‘ – God has created the gross body by dividing each subtle element into two parts, again divide one half of each category into four parts, such that each resulting Gross Element (after PanchikaraNa) is made up of half of its own subtle element and 1/8 each of other subtle elements. [The shruti describes a process called trivritkaraNa, which uses only three elements – fire, water and earth]. ( 2 )It is interesting to note that the vyAdha identifies Brahman with BhagavAn in the following - “The learned say that this Brahman which is of the nature of consciousness, self-born, undying all times, beyond logic and in-comparable, and having no form is the BhagavAn.†Generally BhagavAn is a terminology of Mythology and Brahman is a terminology of vEdAnta, though it is used synanimously in several texts. Some understanding of these terms is in order. one who possesses Bhaga is BhagavAn ( like one who has a lot of money is dhanavAn). Now, if we understand Bhaga, we get to understand BhagavAn. BhAgavata purANa (also vishNu purANa) describes Bhaga in the following verse: ‘ aishvaryasa samagrasya dharmasya yashaH shriyaH vairAgyasyAtha mOkshasya shaNNam Bhaga itIraNa ‘ – (there are minor variations of this verse) A combination of six attributes – Absolute sovereignty (aishvarya) over the entire universe, absolute upholder of dharma (dharma)at all times, absolute fame (yasha) for all times, absolutely wealthy (shri) for all times, absolute and complete renunciation (vairAgya), absolute freedom from bondage (mOksha) – is together described as Bhaga. All these six glorious powers must be present in one person at all times to be called a BhagavAn. These are attributes beyond the imagination of most of us. To gain some perspective, we can think at the human level and then scale to an infinite level to relate to God. The most interesting fact is that, the attribute vairgAya is opposing to the first four attributes at the human level. Without vairAgya, mOksha is not attainable. If a human has any one of the first four attributes, it is unlikely he has the vairAgya, except if it is king Janaka. In today’s world political system, there is no scope for absolute sovereignty for even a country, let alone a person. Going back to history, we may say the British rule had the largest control over vast territories of this planet earth; King Ashoka ruled as an emperor of a vast territory of land, but still we are limiting to this planet earth. The persons that we all know to be the upholder of dharma during at any cost was Harischandra or Yudhishtira. For the most famous person, we can proxy MahAtma Gandhi or (Hitler). The wealthiest person in our times has been Bill gates, however, Kubera is considered the controller of all the wealth in the universe. King Janaka is the renouncer that we know of at the human level. For a person who has achieved mOksha, we can proxy Shri RamaNa Maharshi or Shri Ramakrishna.. We need to keep in mind that we have, with great difficulty associated one person in human form (apart from incarnations) who has one of the six attributes. If we synthesize these six persons into one person and scale that virtual person infinite times, we can conceive the power and reach of that virtual form. That is BhagavAn. Virtual person (Ashoka+Yudhishira+Gandhi+KubEra+Janaka+Ramana Maharshi)scaled to Infinity ïƒ BhagavAn Let us bear in mind that this definition of BhagavAn is coming to us from Mythology. The equivalent spiritual entity is Brahman. Upanishats describe Brahman in several ways, most telling of which is ‘ na Tatra SUryo BhAti Na Chandra tArakam nEmA vidyuto BhAnthi Kutoyamagnihi tamEva BhAntam anuBhAti sarvam tasya BhAsA sarvam idam viBhAti’ - (KaTha, Mundaka and SvEtAsvatara upanishats) - The nature of Brahman is such that the Sun, the Moon and the Stars do not have the ability to illuminate Him; so what to talk about the lightening and fire ? He alone makes others shine and His Shine helps everything else to be seen. This Pure Consciousness is described as Brahman, which is the nature of every living being. For example if there is an object in a room, it by itself has no intrinsic ability to show itself. It needs the help of a light source like the sun light through the windows or a lamp or light bulb to be seen. Likewise, the above mantra says that even the Sun by itself has no intrinsic ability to show itself. It depends on the effulgence of the Pure Consciousness to be seen. The upanishads affirm that, that entity, which does not need the support of any other agent to be seen is Brahman. Additionally, the TaittirIya Upanishat offers a measure of quantification of the bliss of Brahman. If a strong and healthy human, living for hundred years or more, has all the resources under his control and the support of all the people under him, achieves all his objectives (YudhishTira is quoted as an example of such a person), the happiness attained by him is one Unit of Human Happiness. The bliss of Brahman is indicated to be of the order of [10power20xHuman Happiness],where Human Happiness is described above. Imagining the power or bliss of these entities as described above, we can begin to see the merging of Brahman and BhagavAn and the synonymous use of the words Brahman and BhagavAn . Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman. Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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