Kanchi Maha-swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-73)

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For a Table of Contents of these Discourses, see

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For the previous post, see

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SECTION 57: CHAIN OF LINKED NAMES IN VISHNU SAHASRANAAMAM

 

*nishThA shAntiH parAyaNaM* comes in Vishnu-sahasranAmaM. Some names occur

here in a chain, relating to each other beautifully on the same concept.

There are nine names (of God) strung together like flowers in a garland, on

the idea of SannyAsa.

 

*.. nirvANaM bheshhajaM bhishhak /

sannyAsakRt shamaH shAnto nishThA shAntiH parAyaNaM *//

 

*nirvANaM* is the end of jnAna-yoga. He is the same as the saguNa-mUrti

VishNu.

 

*bheshhajaM* means medicine. He is the medicine in the form of jnAnaM for

the disease of samsAra.

Muthut-tANDavar was a devotee of God Nataraja. He lived before the age of

the musical trinity of Tamilnadu. When a snake bit him he considered Lord

Nataraja as the only medicine and sang an extempore Tamil composition

beginning with *aru-marundoru tani marundu* (meaning: the rare medicine,

the unique medicine) on Lord Nataraja. He was relieved from the snake

poison..

 

When the poison of karma invades the system the medicine of jnAnaM that is

the antidote for the poison is only the Lord.

 

He is not only the medicine; but He is also the Doctor who gives the

medicine! So He is *bhishak* (Doctor). Here in Tiruvanmiyur (in Chennai,

India) the Lord presents Himself as "marundIshvara" (the Lord who is the

medicine). In the town called Vaideesvaran Koil he is called

"Bhava-roga-vaidyanatha swami' meaning the JnAna-Acharya who cures the

disease of samsAra. In his commentary on Vishnu Sahasranama, the Acharya

says "the Doctor who gave the medicine of the Gita for all the world".

 

In the Gita the Lord gave his final diagnosis and the curing medicine, which

is SannyAsa. He leads us on through the path of karma yoga ultimately to

the SannyAsa in jnAna yoga. In the science of Ayurveda, they first give you

a laxative-type of medicine and then only they give you the medicine that is

needed for the illness. So also the Lord gives first the laxative of karma

yoga so that all our karma-garbage may be exhausted and then finally when he

gives the medicine of jnAna, he prescribes sannyAsa. In the beginning it

was he who created the four Ashramas and made Sannyasa the fourth Ashrama.

So He is *sannyAsa-kRt*, the maker of SannyAsa.

 

We saw a lot about *shama*. That is also the form of the Lord. When the

mind stills to rest that is shamaM. That is in fact the heart of jnAna yoga,

its life. Right now it is unbridled in us and from this through the various

stages of its control little by little, we have to go through several steps..

Finally when nothing of the mind is left, it rests in the Atman; that is the

destination point. That is the goal of a SannyAsi. At this place the

Acharya gives a quotation which pinpoints a unique dharma for each

Ashrama. It says: "For the SannyAsi his dharma is shamaM; for the

Vana-prastha, his dharma is the conglomerate of tapas and vratas, all

together called niyama; for the householder the dharma is charity; and for

the brahmachari it is serving the guru.

 

*yatInAM prashamo dharmo

niyamo vanavAsinAM /

dAnameva gRhastAnAM

shushrUshhA brahma-chAriNAM //

 

Next comes the name *shAntaH*. He who has shama is shAntaH.

 

Only next to this, the word *nishThA* appears. Having become a sannyAsi, and

then also a shAnta for whom the mind is totally at rest, he establishes

himself firmly in the nishThA of the experience of jnAna, that state is also

the Lord. This is The SaguNa Brahman who is our Lord with attributes, in

His nirguNa state.

 

And in that state there is a total peace. Therefore *shAntiH*. And that is

the supreme goal; therefore *parAyaNaM*.

 

SECTION 58: SHRAVANAM ET AL - VEDIC COMMANDMENT

 

As soon as the sannyAsa is taken, one gets the mahAvakya-teaching. To

receive that is shravaNaM. 'mananaM' is the chewing and churning of that in

the mind by repetitions and analysis. Following that is the dhyAna that is

done to get the direct experience; this is called nidhidhyAsanaM. These

three complete the sAdhanA.

 

These three (shravaNa, manana and nidhidhyAsana) are actually commands of

the Vedas. The same Upanishad which talks about shama, dama, uparati and

titikshhA (BrihadAraNyakopanishad: II-4-5) also gives the commands about

these three. But shama, dama, etc. are not directly given as an order,

they are recommended only indirectly by saying that a jnAni would have these

treasures of spirituality, namely he will be a "shAnta, dAnta, uparata" etc..

But these three have been what is called an 'injunction' in the form of a

formal order. *shrotavyo mantavyo nidhidhyAsitavyaH*. "The Atman principle

only has to be listened to, has to be repeated in the mind and has to be

meditated on" - this is the rule.

 

We shall take these one by one now.

 

Section 59: SHRAVANA AND SERVICE

 

 

 

 

(To be Continued)

PraNAms to all students of advaita.

PraNAms to the Maha-Swamigal.

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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