Dharma, in an overnight capsule for King Dhritarashtra - Part 3

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Namaste all.

 

Dharma, in an overnight capsule for King Dhritarashtra - Part 3 (Continued

from Part 2: See post #35278 )

 

Does Dharma compensate for adharma?

 

Another question of Dhritarashtra is: Do dharma and adharma cancel each

other? Does one destroy the other in the life of an individual? The answer

is important for the understanding of Hinduism. No, Dharma and adharma do

not cancel each other in the case of an individual who performs actions

without detachment. Whatever puNya-karma one does, one reaps the fruits of

that puNya and whatever pApa-karma that one does one reaps the consequences

of them also. The two coexist.

 

[Note by VK: In the context of modern practice, it is significant to note

that when ill-gotten riches find their way to the Hundi of the Lord of

Tirupati, probably in the expectation that the ills of the sources of the

riches will be washed off, Sanatsujata tells us that you may get puNya for

your donation to Tirupati but your sins in acquiring those riches would

still have to be accounted for in toto!]

 

It is not as if you compensate for your sins by doing good. The compensation

is only in terms of vAsanA and not in terms of the fruits of your actions.

That is why in the Gita (Ch.9) the Lord says: Ascending to the heavenly

worlds by their puNya-karmas they enjoy in the heavens the divine feasts of

the gods; having enjoyed in paradise larger facilities, the reward of their

good deeds exhausted, they return to mortal existence (to pursue their path

on the ladder of evolution, either upwards or downwards axcxcording to their

vAsanAs). Coming back to human existence is necessary here; for, animal

existences, for instance, are only a passing phase in the journey of the

soul. Man's body is precious. It has the highest evolutionary value

because of unique brain and spinal centres. Only man can grasp the loftiest

aspects of divinity and make efforts to rise in the ladder of evolution.

Exceptions are rare.

 

Vedas and Rituals.

 

Does study of the Vedas erase sins or not? The answer is No. The sins that

one commits have to be atoned for and consequences expeirenced. The study

of the Vedas will only point the way to salvation. So the next question

arises. Then why Vedas? Because they are the ones which show you the right

way. Man has the need to be released from the apparently eternal cycle of

deaths and births. The need for Moksha is taught by the Vedas. They tell you

the right attitude to rituals. The rituals are for the purification of the

mind. Unless the mind is purified even the teaching of the Vedas would not

take you far. What is the value of rituals? " What is the significance of

pure tapas? " is the next question. The tapas, -- askesis, that is - itself

has to be faultless. What are the faults or defects in doing tapas, or

penance? The answer comes very elaborately.

 

Thirty-one steps

 

In the style of all ancient religious and spiritual literature of the

orient, Sanatsujata classifies the faults in doing rituals, tapas or penance

in a systematic way, which gives tremendous insights into what Hinduism

actually wants from you in terms of your daily mental attitudes and

training. These are steps which are not necessarily sequenced. The teacher

here lists twelve defects to be avoided, seven pitfalls of the human mind to

be warned against and twelve positive virtues to be cultivated in earnest.

 

The twelve defects which have always to be avoided are:

Wrath, lust, greed, delusion, desire to know about material happiness,

non-compassion, jealousy, unashamedness, sorrow, desire, envy and disgust.

 

Human failings which are to be condemned ever are:

Sensual pleasure-seeking, being immersed in trivialities, regretting after

giving, miserliness, feeling of weakness, gloating over one's own lineage,

and hate or distrust for women.

The twelve positive virtues are:

 

Knowledge, Truth, Self-control, scholarship, absence of intolerance,

shamefulness for the vices, patience, absence of jealousy, sacrificial

ritual, giving, courage and calmness.

 

Vedas versus Knowledge.

 

The question is now raised. What is the result of mastery of the vedas?

The answer is scholarly. Truth is One. That is all what the Vedas are

supposed to reveal. The root word 'vid' from which the word Veda is

derived, has several connotations: to be, to exist, to know, to be conscious

of, to enquire, to gain. The One that exists is the the Ultimate Supreme

Consciousness. The thing to know is that One without a second. That has to

be enquired into. And by that enquiry you reach the highest gain, namely

Moksha. This is all there is to know from the entire Vedas. Instead of

learning this single lesson from the Vedas one keeps on going round and

round the truth. Thus the Vedas became a vast ocean of words. Truth does

not need so much scholarship. Those who possess scholarship of the Vedas are

called Brahmins. But the real Brahmins are those who are firmly established

in that One Truth.

 

There is no single knower of all the Vedas. By knowing the Vedas one does

not know what is to be known. The knower of the Vedas knows only what the

Vedas say; but the knower of the Truth is different. By studying the Vedas

one gets to acquire knowledge but neither these knowers nor the Vedas

themselves know the Reality:

 

Yo veda vedAn sa ca veda vedyaM na tam vidur-veda-vido na vedAH (Sanatsu:

II - 43).

 

Even then, it is the Vedas which point to that Reality for the knower of the

vedas to become the knower of Brahman. The Vedas cannot make you the knower

of Brahman. Let us not confuse understanding with a larger vocabulary. Like

the branches of a tree which help to indicate the direction in which to look

for the archlike streak of the moon two days after new moon, the Vedas only

show you the way. Only when your conviction of a truth is not just in your

brain but also in your Being can you vouch for its validity.

 

Important note: There are four significant shlokas (II - 41 to 44) in this

context in Sanatsujatiyam, which should be read and enjoyed in the original,

along with Shankara's commentary. These four shlokas along with the

word-by-word translation shall constitute a different post, (See the next

post), for convenience of those who may want to look into the original

Sanskrit.

 

Why is knowing the Vedas not knowledge?

 

This eloquent testimony against the inability of the vedas to take you

across the ocean of samsAra comes from no less a person than the foremost

brahmin, knower of Brahman, first progeny from the mind of Creator BrahmA

and one of four such sons of BrahmA who had their spiritual insight by a

direct inspiration fm the Dakshinamurti form of Lord Shiva, the form itself

being a manifestation for this very purpose of giving, not only knowledge of

Brahman, but the state of being Brahman. So much is talked about the

inability of the vedas expressing themselves about Brahman, because, the

very nature of Brahman is an abstraction.

 

Abstraction is a concept which we very often meet with in Science,

particularly in the field of Mathematics. But the abstraction of Mathematics

and that of Vedanta have a distinct difference between themselves which put

them totally apart. The abstraction of Mathematics - like Infinity for

instance -can be put in precise words and so, can be communicated not only

effectively but by exact language and symbolism. Not so in Vedanta. The

abstraction which leads to Brahman can never be put into precise language -

that is the sorry predicament of the Vedas themselves, as can be seen from

such statements as " From which all speech retreats; not having reached it

(even) by the mind " :

 

Yato vAco nivartante / aprApya manasA saha // (Taittiriya U.)

 

To know that such is the case is itself right knowledge, that paves the way

for an intuitionistic experience of the Supreme reality that is Brahman.

 

(To be continued)

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk