Sridakshinamurtistotram (Part VIII –f)

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Sridakshinamurtistotram

(Part VIII –f)

vinayAvanataH shrImadguru-pAdAmbujanmanI |

dayAmarande shiShyAlish-chumbati shraddhayA sadA ||

Bowing low with humility, the disciple – the bee- gently touches,

ever with faith, the feet of the celebrated Guru which are lotuses

containing the nectar of mercy.

(A verse composed by Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha SwaminaH in

reverential obeisance to His Guru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati

SwaminaH)

 

(Readers pl. note that the previous post on this series was

erroneously numbered as (Part VIII –f)which is actually (Part VIII –

e). The correction may pl. be effected.)

 

 

 

 

Realisation – Fact of experience:

Instruction to whom – Brahman or Another?

 

The Siddhantabindu (7) speaks of this question thus and settles the

doubt:

Who is it that is taught to realize one's own Brahmanhood? Is it

Brahman or other than Brahman? Not the latter, because it is

insentient and unreal. Not the former, for, Brahman being self-

evident, the instruction would be futile. If it is said that though

jiva is by itself Brahman, the impediment of Avidya is removed by

knowledge, it cannot be so because if the removal of Avidya is

different from Atman, then there would be duality and Non-dual

Brahman would not be established. It has been said in the

Brihadvartika: An entity that is neither excluded by anything or

inhering in everything, is termed Brahman; if there were a second

entity, it would not be possible to find a thing termed Brahman.

 

If the removal of Avidya is non-different from Brahman, then the

instruction would be futile as stated already. Is this futility

meant in the ultimate sense or even in empirical parlance? Sri

Shankara , welcoming the former view, clears the issue – There is in

fact neither the preceptor nor the scripture nor the pupil nor the

teaching. Neither is there in fact what you call `thou', nor what

you know as `I', nor this phenomenal universe. Although the

discussion as to whether the removal of Avidya is identical with, or

different from, Atman, leads nowhere, still the realization of the

Blissful Self-effulgent Brahman-Atman, the result of enquiry, is a

fact of experience. Nor should anyone doubt as to how this can

happen. All duality being exterminated, there is no scope whatsoever

for any speculation or questioning. In the face of direct

experience, rejection on grounds of reasoning is impossible.

 

Akhandakaravritti, the ultimate pramana:

 

Says the Sutrabhashya (2.1.6.14):

Moreover, the reasons which establish the unity of the Self are

altogether final, so that subsequently to them nothing more is

required for full satisfaction 1. An injunction as, for instance, 'He

is to sacrifice' at once renders us desirous of knowing what is to be

effected, and by what means and in what manner it is to be effected;

but passages such as, 'Thou art that,' 'I am Brahman,' leave nothing

to be desired because the state of consciousness produced by them has

for its object the unity of the universal Self. For as long as

something else remains a desire is possible; but there is nothing

else which could be desired in addition to the absolute unity of

Brahman. Nor can it be maintained that such states of consciousness

do not actually arise; for scriptural passages such as, 'He

understood what he said' (Kh. Up. VII, 18, 2), declare them to occur,

and certain means are enjoined to bring them about, such as the

hearing (of the Veda from a teacher) and the recital of the sacred

texts. Nor, again, can such consciousness be objected to on the

ground either of uselessness or of erroneousness, because, firstly,

it is seen to have for its result the cessation of ignorance, and

because, secondly, there is no other kind of knowledge by which it

could be sublated. And that before the knowledge of the unity of the

Self has been reached the whole real-unreal course of ordinary life,

worldly as well as religious, goes on unimpeded, we have already

explained. When, however, final authority having intimated the unity

of the Self, the entire course of the world which was founded on the

previous distinction is sublated, then there is no longer any

opportunity for assuming a Brahman comprising in itself various

elements.

 

 

Prakatikarana, the Realization `I the One, The unsublatable, the

Auspicious':

 

It is clear from the above discussion that all concoctions – those in

respect of the world, in respect of the enquirer and in respect of

Isvara – are removed by the decisive knowledge, the Akhandakaravritti

jnana arising from the Mahavakya. What the Mahavakya does is to

remove the illusions such as – parokshatva of Isvara, the

paricchinnatva (finitude) of the jiva – and all other concoctions in

Atman along with the Avidya responsible for them. Thereafter, there

is no question to be asked, no answer, nor even the Sastra. Speech

is transcended along with the rest of the world. This is precisely

the import of the line in the hymn:

Vyavrittaasu anuvartamanam aham iti antaH sphurantam sadaa

All conctions in Atman being removed, there is no impediment

whatsoever for Atman to shine in Supreme Peace, in full glory. In

his effort to attain this `state', the seeker is to be guided by the

Sphuranam, the Shine, that is always there, however faint it may be

to start with. Since the goal attained is the Supreme Peace Itself,

all talk which is only tiresome is to be relinquished except the

Pranava, AUM, symbolizing Atman. The disciple finds himself in the

state described in the first stanza of the hymn:

Vishvam darpana-drishyamana- nagari-tulyam nijaantargatam

Pashyannatmani maayayaa bahirivodbhUtam yathaa nidrayaa

 

This decisive view that the so-called universe does not exist ie.,

the removal of all impediments, enables the realization of Atman in

Its full glory, in Supreme Peace – yaH saakshaat-kurute – there being

nothing remaining like non-apprehension, doubt or misapprehension, in

this regard. This is given expression to in the eighth shloka of the

Dashashloki wherein the triad of states referred to are indicative of

all that is negated, vyaavritta:

 

Na jaagranna me svapnako vaa sushuptir na vishvo na vaa taijasaH

praajnako vaa |

Avidyaatmakatvaat trayaanaam turiiyaH tadeko'vashishtaH shivaH

kevalo'ham ||

 

(There is no waking state for me, nor dream, nor even deep sleep. I

am neither the Vishva nor the Taijasa nor the Prajna, because all the

three are effects of Avidya; I am the fourth. Therefore I am the

One, the Unsublatable, the Auspicious and the Absolute.)

 

Supreme Peace, the Silent Eloquence:

 

This is the `prakatikarana', the revealing, transcending all verbal

description, the Supreme Peace that is symbolized by the auspicious

Maunamudra, `mudrayaa bhadrayaa'. This is not revealed by the use of

words, which, however, have been employed to negate all else. This

is the method employed by the Sruti to `make known' `That', Brahman,

which transcends all particularities. It is beyond the pale of words

and not cognizable by the mind – yato vaacho nivartante, apraapya

manasaa saha (Tai.Up. 2.4). It transcends the territory of the known

as also that of the unknown as the Kenopanishad 1.4 puts it. The

instruction could be only be of the type `Not this, Not this'. The

experience of Atman in states like deep sleep, samadhi and the

fleeting samadhis (intervals between two vrittis etc.), are instances

wherein silence alone reigns; no sound can be associated with the

Svarupa as such. Sound, sonic or otherwise, is always in association

with a process involving change, like origination, sustenance,

growth, change of state, decay and dissolution; and Atman transcends

all these, being perfect Repose Itself wherein silence alone

prevails. This profound Silence that is Self-effulgent is also the

profoundest of all secrets as It remains hidden deeply, as it were,

in spite of Its providing the existence and shine of everything in

parlance – Maunam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam (Gita X.38). It is not

revealed by words or any pramana of parlance, butc an only become

patent, as it were, when all parlance is got rid of. Says the

Sutrabhashya: (3.2.5.17) :

 

Of a similar purport is that scriptural passage which relates how

Bâhva, being questioned about Brahman by Vashkalin, explained it to

him by silence, 'He said to him, "Learn Brahman, O friend," and

became silent. Then, on a second and third question, he replied, "I

am teaching you indeed, but you do not understand. Silent is that

Self."'.

 

The Dashashloki 10 says:

 

When there is not `one' itself, how can there be a `second' as

distinct from it? Neither is there its absoluteness nor non-

absoluteness; nor is it a void nor a non-void. It being by nature

unique, how can I speak of It which is established by all

Upanishads? – katham sarva-vedanta-siddham bravImi?

 

 

Instruction symbolized – the Chinmudra:

 

This Silent Eloquence is the celebrated manner in which the ever

youthful Sridakshinamurti makes known the Supreme Truth, Brahman, to

the throng of pupils, the aged disciples, seers, steadfastly devoted

to Brahman. Obeisance to this Acharya, the Exalted, revelling in His

Svarupa and radiant with Blissful Effulgence, to which, in His

infinite mercy, He has been pointing by the blessed symbol,

Chinmudra. The Sutrabhashya (1.1.7.20) says: Even for the Supreme

Lord, there may be forms created at His will out of Maya, for the

sake of favouring the aspirants as is declared in the Smriti:

 

Maayaa hyeShA mayaa sRRishTA yanmAm pashyasi nArada |

SarvabhUtaguNair yuktam maivam mAm GyAtumarhasi ||

 

O Narada! What you see of Me is just an appearance that I have

created. This form of Me, as endowed with the various gunas, is not

to be known as the Truth.

 

The Chinmudraa is formed by drawing the right forefinger away from

the other three upright fingers and joining its tip with that of the

thumb. The three fingers held upright represent the three states

namely the waking, the dream and the deep sleep, each of them

composed of the three principles of the enjoyed, the enjoyer and the

enjoyment. The forefinger symbolizes the jiva. When it is one with

the group of the above three i.e., the world of experience, it is

separated from the thumb which stands for the Immovable, Unchanging

Truth, the Supreme Self. When, through discrimination, the jiva

knows that he is totally different from the three states, and

identifies himself with the Supreme Lord through the awareness `I am

the eternal Witness of all that is', then all ignorance and the

sorrows of samsara cease; the jiva attains liberation. This

awareness indicated by the Chinmudra is clearly described in the

Kaivalyopanishad (18). Because it indicates the Pure Consciousness,

Chinmaatra, it is called Chinmudraa. To impart this knowledge which

cannot be conveyed directly even by words, the Lord, out of His

unlimited Grace, has contrived this ingenious mystic device palpable

to the visual perception, just as the Pranava is to the auditory.

This auspicious symbol has been referred to variously as Bhadramudra,

Kalyaanakaarinimudra, Shobhanaamudra, Vidyamudra, Vyaakhyanamudra,

Tarakamudra, Jnanamudra, etc. indicating the various ways in which

this unique experience represented by it can be looked upon. The

symbol which brings into union the forefinger which is a pointer to

an individual with the thumb which is used to indicate Isvara in the

shastra, `angushThamaatraH purushaH (Kai. Up.)' demonstrates that

there is no longer any difference experienced between the two, tvam

and Tat i.e., the disciple is established in the Brahman-Atman

Svarupa indicated by the Mahavakya Tattvamasi, by the removal of

impediments. By this symbol the Guru is drawing attention of the

disciple to the plenary experience kindly conferred on him just as

the sage Yajnavalkya does in the case of Janaka, though by the use of

the words `O Janaka! verily hast though attained the Fearless'. This

is demonstrated by the mudraa wherein the forefinger has been

withdrawn from the association with the other three, symbolizing the

three gunas and made to abide in the thumb, indicating the .escape of

the jiva from the clutches of samsara and abiding in Atman with the

direct realization of his Brahmanhood.

 

Obeisance in Reverential Identification with Utmost Gratitude:

 

The Guru has graciously conferred His own status on the disciple.

Now that it is realized that there is nothing other than Brahman-

Atman, the world, with its multiplicity is seen by the disciple who

is no longer under delusion, as only a painting on a canvas, having

no reality but that of his own, the Substratum. He is now Isvara,

the all-embracing One Consciousness, Sridakshinamurti, the very

Svarupa of the Veda, the Guru, the remover of Avidya. Speaking in

terms of parlance, he is regarded as jivanmukta, liberated, yet

embodied till his prarabdhakarma is exhausted. On this direct

realization, the disciple, with utmost gratitude, pays obeisance to

his Guru who is now seen to be shining in full Glory, as the very

svarupa of the disciple, as expressed by the refrain: `Tasmai

ShrIgurumUrtaye nama idam Shridakshinaamurtaye' which has so far

been a prayer with a desire to secure this end, and which is now an

expression of the experience of identity as indicated by the term

namaH.

 

Here ends the exposition of the Seventh verse of the Hymn.

 

(end of Part VIII- f)

Om Tat Sat