mahAvAkyaratnAvaliH

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhaskarji,

The sentence--mana eva manushyANAm kAraNam bandhamokshayoH,which means, " The

mind itself is the cause of bondage as well as liberation may appear on the

face of it to be self-contradictory, but it is not so. As long as the mind

is full of desires for worldly objects and pleasures, that itself is

bondage. But when the same mind is made free from likes and dislikes no

desires spring up, because desires are only the result of likes and

dislikes. When no desires arise, the mind becomes pure and capable of

concentrating on the Self. Self-Knowledge can arise only in such a pure

mind and not in a mind which is dragged hither and thither by desires. This

is what is meant by saying that the mind, when pure, is the cause of

liberation. With such a pure mind SravaNa, manana and nididhyAsana will be

successful and will ultimately lead to realization.

The sentence—manasaiva idam Aptavyam neha nana asti kincana—kaTha up.

2.1.11—means that the Self is to be attained only through the mind; there is

no diversity in this (brahman). Sri Sankara says in his bhAshya that the

mind meant here is the mind 'which is purified by the teacher and the

scriptures'. So here also what is meant is that only when the mind becomes

pure, Self-knowledge can arise.

The other two sentences quoted by you are---

yato vAcho nivartante aprApya manasA saha....

and

na tatra chakshurgacchati na vAggacchati nO manaH

Both mean that the sense-organs cannot know Brahman because Brahman has no

qualities at all. The mind functions through the senses and so the mind

cannot know what cannot be known by the senses. Here what is meant is that

brahman cannot become an object of knowledge of the senses or the mind,

because brahman is always the subject.

When it is said that brahman can be known only through the mind what is

meant is that the realization in the form " I am brahman " arises to a person

whose mind has become pure, by hearing the mahAvAkya, reflecting on it and

meditating on it. Thus there is no contradiction between the statements.

S.N.Sastri

 

praNAms

Hare Krishna

 

It would be an interesting reconciliation (samanvaya) between below two

seemingly contradictory shruti vAkyas. I'd humbly request Sri Sastri

prabhuji to throw more light on these shruti statements.

 

mana eva manushyANAm kAraNam bandhamokshayoH,

OR

manasaimEvAptavyaM nEha nAnAsti kiMchana

 

with

 

yato vAcho nivartante aprApya manasA saha....

OR

na tatra chakshurgacchati na vAggacchati nO manaH

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " S.N. Sastri " <sn.sastri wrote:

 

 

> As long as the mind

> is full of desires for worldly objects and pleasures, that itself is

> bondage. But when the same mind is made free from likes and

dislikes no

> desires spring up, because desires are only the result of likes and

> dislikes. When no desires arise, the mind becomes pure and capable

of

> concentrating on the Self. Self-Knowledge can arise only in such a

pure

> mind and not in a mind which is dragged hither and thither by

desires.

 

Namaste,

 

It is also worth recalling Gita verse 22, ch. 10 (Vibhuti Yoga):

 

" ....indriyANAM manashchAsmi..... " Among the organs I am the Mind.

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder