mahAvAkyaratnAvaliH

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*Translation of mahAvAkyas- No.3*

 

Note- In vAkya No.1 above the word tajjalAn is the combination of three

words—tajja, meaning 'that from which all this is born; talla, meaning 'that

into which everything merges; and tadana, meaning 'that in which all these

exist. This is according to the bhAshya. This is a word coined by the sruti

for the purpose.

 

11. sarvataH svarUpam eva paSyan jIvanmuktim avApya

prArabdha-pratibhAsa-nASaparyantam svarUpAnusandhAnena vaset--

 

sarvataH- In everything, svarUpam eva- one's real nature (pure Consciousness

or brahman) alone, paSyan- seeing, jIvanmuktim avApya- attaining jIvanmukti,

prArabdha-pratibhAsa-nASaparyantam- till the destruction of the illusory

prArabdhakarma, svarUpAnusandhAnena- by contemplating one's real nature,

vaset- one should remain.

 

The prarabdhakarma is described as illusory because as far s the jIvanmukta

is concerned, it does not affect him and so it has no reality, but to others

it appears as if he is experiencing the fruits of his prArabdha karma. On

the dawn of knowledge only the accumulated karma of past lives and the karma

accumulated in the present birth upto the time of the dawn of knowledge is

burnt off. The prArabdha karma which has given the present birth has to be

exhausted by being experienced, and only when it is exhausted the body of

the jIvanmukta falls and he becomes a videhamukta. The actions performed

after the dawn of knowledge do not produce any karma phala as they are

'akarma'.

 

12. svarUpAnusandhAnam vinA anyathAcAraparo na bhavet-

 

svarUpAnusandhAnam vinA- Without constantly remembering one's real nature,

anyathAcAraparo na bhavet- one should not be engaged in other activities.

The idea is, even when engaged in the performance of other functions one

should always remember one's own real nature as brahman . This is the same

as the idea contained in gItA, 8.7 where the Lord tells Arjuna, " Think of Me

at all times and fight " .

 

13. vedantaSravaNam kurvan yogam samArabheta- One should practise yoga while

hearing Vedanta.

 

14. yacchet vAng manasI prAjnaH tadyacchet jnAna Atmani. jnAnam Atmani

mahati niyacchet tadyacchet SAnta Atmani—kaTha. up. 1.3.13.

 

Meaning according to Sri Sankara's bhAshya--

 

prAjnaH- the discriminating individual, yacchet-should merge, vAk- the organ

of speech (i.e., all the organs, vAk being used suggestively for all the

organs), manasI= manasi, the lengthening of the last letter being a vedic

licence- into the mind. tat- the mind, yacchet- he should merge, jnAna

Atmani- into the intellect. jnAnam- the intellect, niyacchet- he should

merge, mahati Atmani- in the Great Soul, i.e., hiraNyagarbha tadyacchet- he

should merge that, Santa Atmani- into the peaceful Self which is within all

and is the witness of all the modifications of the intellect. Just as the

water in a mirage and the snake on a rope are eliminated through the

knowledge of the real nature of the mirage and rope, similarly by dissolving

in the Self through the knowledge of the true nature of one's own Self, all

that is projected by ignorance, and that is constituted of name, form and

action , one becomes established in the Self and his goal is achieved.

 

S.N.Sastri

 

(To be contd)