Jayanti of Kanchi MahaswAmi

[Guest guest]

On this occasion of the Jayanti of the Kanchi MahAswAmigal, I would

like to humbly recall His words from His exposition on Advaita Sadhana

(Deivathin Kural)

 

**************************

MayA's function of hiding things is called `tirodhAnaM'. Right now the

real Brahman that we are is *tirohitaM*, that is, hidden from us. The

hidden thing comes out by the dhyAna of ParamAtmA – so says

BrahmasUtra, but immediately, lest we may think it is an automatic

consequence, it adds, clearing up any confusion, " This hiding as well

as the bondage (caused by the hiding) are both by Ishvara. When we do

nidhidhyAsanaM, the removal of the hiding, the manifestation of the

Truth and the grant of mokshha, all are again the work of Ishvara " .

(III – 2-5). When the Acharya writes the BhashyaM on this, he says,

more explicitly, " This manifestation will not happen automatically or

naturally for all and sundry. Only to that rare person who makes

effort to do intense nidhidhyAsana it happens by God's Grace " . *na

svabhAvata eva sarveshhAM jantUnAM* -- `Revelation' does not happen

naturally for everybody. *Ishvara-prasAdAt samsiddhasya kasyacit eva

Avirbhavati* -- `By God's Grace It reveals only to that rare person

who has the highest achievement'.

From the beginning Ishvara did not reveal Himself as the one who was

granting the progress step by step. Even now he only plays `blind and

seek'. Now and then he takes the sAdhaka to samAdhi and later

permanently makes him a JIvan-mukta or a videha-mukta. However there

is a major difference. In earlier stages, all the cleaning up or

purification and other touches-up that were happening in the mind, had

Him as their Cause. But now He destroys the very mind itself! Once the

mind has vanished, how can this (sAdhaka) get to know Him (the saguNa

Brahman)? And that is why even now the work of Ishvara is a black box

to the JIva! But though it is not visible to the eyes, it is million

times proximate in the sense that there is a unification between

`this' and `that' NirguNa. The saguNa Ishvara who makes the JIva a

nothing, also makes Himself a nothing and shines only as a

sat-cit-Ananda tattva only. [The Mahaswamigal laughs here] I said

`shines'; is it the light of a bulb of one thousand watts? We are

running out of language here! We are only talking at our level like

this in order to attempt to communicate!

Indescribable by words, unreachable by the mind – nothing more

blissful, nothing more peaceful than that, nothing more independent,

nothing more of knowledge – it is a state, the truth of truths, the

universal One! That is the destination for the jnAna path, and for

the regimen of advaita-sAdhanA, wonderfully paved for us into a royal

path by the Acharya.

By His Grace we got the fortunate opportunity of talking about it,

hearing about it and thinking about it. Let us pray to Him that we

should be able to march forward in that path, little by little.

 

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(courtesy Respected Prof VK)

 

A koti namaskArams to the ParamAchArya of Kanchi, who by His very

presence showered the Grace of the ParamAtma on us in today's day and age.

 

Hari OM

Shri Gurubhyoh namah

Shyam

[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

 

advaitin , " shyam_md " <shyam_md wrote:

>

> On this occasion of the Jayanti of the Kanchi MahAswAmigal, I would

> like to humbly recall His words from His exposition on Advaita Sadhana

> (Deivathin Kural)

 

Dear Sri Shyam,

 

What a wonderful and beautiful excerpt it is !

Please accept my grateful thanks for this precious gift.

Kathopanishad says :

nAyamAtmA pravacanEna laByO

na mEdhayA na bahunA SrutEna |

yamEvaiSha vRuNutE tEna laBya-

stasyaiSha AtmA vivRuNutE tanUgM svAm || 1-2-23

 

" This Self cannot be known through much study nor through the

intellect, nor through much hearing. It can be knownthrough the Self

alone that the aspirant prays to; this Self of that seeker reveals Its

true nature. "

 

In the most beautiful and moving manner, His Holiness has

explained the meaning of the two words, Viz., " vRuNutE " and

" vivRuNutE " .

Once again, I thank you for this precious gift.

 

With warm and respectful regards,

Sreenivasa Murthy

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " narayana145 " <narayana145

wrote:

> advaitin , " shyam_md " <shyam_md@> wrote:

> >

> > On this occasion of the Jayanti of the Kanchi MahAswAmigal, I

would

> > like to humbly recall His words from His exposition on Advaita

Sadhana

> > (Deivathin Kural)

 

 

A couple of nice stories from his life, as I recall having heard.

 

1. The acharya was sitting in a laid back position and a devotee was

asking regarding advaita. Presently another person brought a linga to

the acharya, who promptly with his foot-fingers picked up a garland

from the linga and gave to the first devotee. The latter understood

that for the jnani there is no distinction of high/low, achara or

not: everything is Brahman. (My cousin told me this sometime back;

some details may be slightly different. The story is also parallel to

Namadev and Vittala story; how the former meets the guru whose feet

is on the linga.)

 

2. The acharya was going on one of his pada-yatras when the party saw

a cow standing in the middle. The acharya stopped and so did the

others. Presently the cow did its thing and went on its way. The

acharya without any hesitation went and touched the urine with his

palm and sprinkled it on his head and kept walking on. All were

greatly stunned and moved. (I heard this in a road-side lecture hall

in Mylapore, Chennai. The speaker who was a retired police officer

and a devotee mentioned about how the acharya had no concern about

public opinion, only of what the shastras say.)

 

thollmelukaalkizhu