mahAvAkyaratnAvaliH- Translation No. 11

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*Translation of mahAvAkyas- No.11- Sentences dealing with bondage and

liberation *

 

4. aNimAdyashTaiSyaryASAsiddhasankalpo bandhaH-

 

The constant thinking of the eight siddhis such as aNima out of desire to

attain them is bondage. The eight siddhis are—

 

1. aNima- contracting the body to atomic size.

 

2. mahimA- making the body very big.

 

3. laghimA- making the body very light.

 

4. garimA- making the body very heavy.

 

5. prApti- reaching another place by thought.

 

6. prAkAmyam- to have fulfillment of every desire.

 

7. ISitvam- lordship over others.

 

8. vaSitvam- to remain detached while enjoying the pleasures of the

senses. (In some texts the siddhis mentioned may be slightly different).

There are ten more powers such as clair-voyance, clair-audience, etc. All

these are described in SrImad bhAgavatam XI.15. All these powers are

hindrances to one who seeks liberation. So desire for these powers is

bondage.

 

5. yamAdyashTAngayogasankalpo bandhaH- Constantly thinking of the limbs of

yoga such as niyama to see whether one has achieved perfection in them is

bondage. In jIvanmuktiviveka, chapter 2, vidyAraNya refers to the obsession

with the mechanical observance of injunctions as 'Sastra vAsanA' which is an

impure vAsanA. Such impure vAsanAs are a bondage. This seems to be what is

meant in the present sentence.

 

6. kevalam mokshApekshAkAmasankalpo bandhaH- Constantly thinking of the

attainment of moksha is bondage. This appears paradoxical because

mumukshutvam or the intense desire for moksha is one of the essential

prerequisites for the spiritual aspirant and is the last item in

sAdhanachatushTayam. The idea seems to be that worrying all the time about

when one would attain moksha is itself bondage. This explanation is

supported by Sri Sankara's bhAshya on gItA, 5.10 where he says: One who is

ignorant of the Truth and is engaged in karmayoga, who dedicates all actions

to God, by renouncing attachment even with regard to the resulting

liberation, is not affected by sin just as a lotus leaf is not made wet by

water " . So one should go on with sAdhanA without thinking about when he

would get liberation.

 

7. sankalpamAtrasambhavo bandhaH- The rise of thoughts about various things

in the mind is bondage.

 

8.

nityAnityavastyvicArAd-anityasamsArasukhaduHkhavishaya-samastakshetramamatA-band\

hakshayo

mokshaH--

 

nityAnityavastyvicArAd- by examination of what is eternal and what is

ephemeral,

 

anityasamsArasukhaduHkhavishaya- the cause of the joys and sorrows of the

impermanent worldly life,

 

samastakshetramamatAbandha- the notion of mine in the entire field (body,

senses, mind, relations, possessions, etc., that is the bondage,

 

kshayaH- the cessation,

 

mokshaH- is liberation.

 

Liberation is the cessation, as a result of the examination of what is

permanent and what is impermanent, of bondage which consists in the notion

of 'mine' with regard to the body, mind, senses, relations, possessions,

etc., which are the cause of joys and sorrows in this impermanent worldly

life of repeated births and deaths.

 

S.N.Sastri

 

(to be contd)