Shama & dama

[Guest guest]

Dear Rakesh,

 

Let me ask you this.

Would I fear walking into a shop or a bar selling alcohol. The answer is no.

Why? Because if have dispassion towards it alcohol. It does not have any hold

on me.

 

But if I am advising soemone who has recently quit drinking, and is trying

hard to remain sober, I will have to ask him to not go anywhere near a bar -

right? Because his will is not strong and there is a very good chance he may

slip.

 

Similar is the case with shama/dama. For a person whose vairagya/viveka is not

completely mature - which probably applies to the vast majority of us seekers -

we need to forcibly develop shama and dama for our own benefit.

Why? Because there is still a " value " attached to sense pleasures. We fail to

appreciate completely that sense indulgence is unhealthy for our own growth, and

even if there are only stray moments where this happens it is enough to engulf

us in its throes.

Bhagwan Krishna warns us " visayendriya-samyogad yat tad agre 'mrtopamam

pariname visam iva tat sukham rajasam smrtam "

" That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects

and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of

the nature of passion(rajas). "

 

Rajasic pleasures are thus to be gradually sublated (and very importantly not

violently suppressed) by an intelligent adherence to vairagya(dispassion) born

out of a mature discriminating mind.

 

For a person who does not know how to swim a pool is a dangerous place - and

needs a warning sign - " Beware - Pool is deep " - if he accidentally slips and

falls into it in a moment of carelessness he will drown and die.

But for someone who has mastered the art of swimming, the very same pool is an

area of play.

 

The Vivekachudamani expounds on this concept in an extremely beautiful manner:

75.Those fools who are tied to these sense-objects by the stout cord of

attachment, so very difficult to snap, come and depart, up and down, carried

amain by the powerful emissary of their past action.

76. The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and the black-bee – these five

have died, being tied to one or other of the five senses, viz. sound etc.,

through their own attachment. What then is in store for man who is attached to

all these five.

77. Sense-objects are even more virulent in their evil effects than the poison

of the cobra. Poison kills one who takes it, but those others kill one who even

looks at them through the eyes.

78. He who is free from the terrible snare of the hankering after

sense-objects, so very difficult to get rid of, is alone fit for Liberation, and

none else – even though he be versed in all the six Shastras.

79. The shark of hankering catches by the throat those seekers after

Liberation who have got only an apparent dispassion (Vairagya) and are trying to

cross the ocean of samsara (relative existence), and violently snatching them

away, drowns them half-way.

80. He who has killed the shark known as sense-object with the sword of mature

dispassion, crosses the ocean of Samsara, free from all obstacles.

81. Know that death quickly overtakes the stupid man who walks along the

dreadful ways of sense-pleasure; whereas one who walks in accordance with the

instructions of a well-wishing and worthy Guru, as also with his own reasoning,

achieves his end – know this to be true.

82. If indeed thou hast a craving for Liberation, shun sense-objects from a

good distance as thou wouldst do poison, and always cultivate carefully the

nectar-like virtues of contentment, compassion, forgiveness,

straight-forwardness, calmness and self-control.

83. Whoever leaves aside what should always be attempted, viz. emancipation

from the bondage of Ignorance without beginning, and passionately seeks to

nourish this body, which is an object for others to enjoy, commits suicide

thereby.

84. Whoever seeks to realise the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment

of the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile,

mistaking it for a log.

85. So for a seeker after Liberation the infatuation over things like the body

is a dire death. He who has thoroughly conquered this deserves the state of

Freedom.

86. Conquer the dire death of infatuation over thy body, wife, children etc.,

-- conquering which the sages reach that Supreme State of Vishnu.

87. This gross body is to be deprecated, for it consists of the skin, flesh,

blood, arteries and veins, fat, marrow and bones, and is full of other offensive

things.

 

Thus for a seeker, cultivation of shama and dama is indispensible. But for a

jnani, (how much more so for an avataara like Bhagwan Krishna!), these crutches

are no longer essential. There is freedom -freedom in the knowledge that nothing

in manifest creation has an iota of capacity to sway you from the eternal bliss

stemming from your knowing yourSelf to be poornam.

This freedom allows you then to play as you like in the beautiful srshti that

you cognize, this play being nothing more than an outpouring of your own

intrinsic ananda.

 

Humble pranams

Hari OM

Shyam

 

 

Rakesh <raknath wrote:

Dear Sir,

It is very heartening to hear these verses from the gita so

very well stated by you, but even as I read these verses, a thought

keeps me in intrigue about the personality of Sri Krishna and the

wonderful gita that he has given unto mankind

Gita, as is stated, in the above verses clearly outlines the

necessity to draw away from the sense objects as the tortise would

from her enemies, but as far as I know Krishna was scarcely of the

types, he was by far the most worldly of the dashavatars, also there

is a stage in the geeta where the Lord denonces the fleeing from the

worldly duties and therby its connected fallouts, so how does one

justify the true meaning of renonviation of the action.

This is also stated from the fact that Krishna is the

purushottama, the prefect man, so would a perfect man also be prey

to the senses and if he has not what is the jsutification of him

having enjoyed life the way he alone can!!

I would like to put the same into practise for I feel, this

world of Brhama wasw given to be enjoyed not shunned

With Regards

Rakesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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