Advaita from scratch - Kanchi Mahaswamigal's Discourses - 15

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Kanchi

Mahaswamigal's Discourses on Advaitam

 

KMDA –

15

(For KMDA –

14 see #44548

The first post in this series was #43779)

 

Tamil

original starts from http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/part4kural308.htm

 

Note: In these discourses, `the Acharya'

refers to Adi Shankaracharya. The speaker is the Kanchi Mahaswamigal.

 

What is wrong with another's dharma?

 

Instead

of saying that `These are the traditional obligations that are being discharged

from generation to generation; keep going in the same way", Bhagavan says :

"Don't choose to take up another's

profession thinking that it is better than what you are entrusted with

now". In other words, `Do your svadharma; don't adopt another's dharma". And he says: "Death in doing svadharma is shreyas, para-dharma

(another's dharma) will cause Fear,

that is the fear of samsAra".

 

Let

us see why one should not go to another's dharma,

when that appars right. The moment that one throws away the dharma that accrues to him as per his

birth and chooses to adopt another's dharma

it means one is doing things as per one's own wish and opinion. In other words

the individual's desire takes over. Instead of doing, irrespective of one's

desire, whatever falls as duty, he is now wishing to choose something else; so

the gate of a choice is opened. Option implies that the very desire which was

supposed to be totally eradicated, is now openly welcomed. Such an option in

the very choice of what to do, that opens out a place for one's wish and

desire, makes the karma a kAmya-karma (a desired action aiming at a

purpose). Now by discarding the fruits of this action we cannot make it a nishhkAmya-karma (desireless action).When one thus

chooses something as better than one's own, the mind will certainly look for a

satisfaction in the fruit of that action. This is a satisfaction other than the

purification of mind which happens involuntarily in a desireless action. To

seek such a satisfaction and achieve it is tantamount to sully the mind and add

to its impurity.

 

Tha

above argument for not adopting another's dharma

had its locus on the seeker.Now let us

look at it from the angle of the society and the world. This leads to another

deeper argument. Several things need to be done for the welfare of the society.

Right from the task of using one's intelligence to educate all the way upto the

task of physically exerting oneself to help, there are umpteen things to be

done. There is the task of pouring pure ghee into the Holy Fire chanting the

holiest of mantras all the time. There is also the work of running after the

enemies of the land and society and using the mightiest of weapons against them

with the hardest of hearts. There is also the task of catching hold of thieves

of property even if it means hurting them severely. Thus there are varieties of

tasks and duties. It is for the purpose of organizing all these activities and bringing them under one disciplined

umbrella that svadharmas have been

prescribed from age-old times. Superficially looked at, these activities may

appear to have a hierarchy of high and low, but when we look at the benefits

and services they do to the society, they are all equal; there is no high or

low. When the profession of any class (or caste) stops, the welfare of the

entire society will be affected. In order that everything may work well, what

we usually consider as low level tasks have also to be done. If the scavenging

work stops, the entire environment will stink and disease will spread. So the

one who prevents this happening cannot be considered as low in the society.

Thus, instead of doing one's duty, to imagine that something is high and

something is low is totally wrong.

 

If

one's own choice of profession is the order of the day then the traditional

proportions of the different professions of society might deviate abnormally.

One profession may attract a large section of society and another may lose its

traditional numbers; this may begin to be filled up by people who can't do that

work. There is likely to be chaos. The

`perfection' that was there in the traditional distribution of population will

be lost. The jobs done by the new ones who had taken the new professions may

not be upto the mark. And these disproportionate distributions will generate

competition and a consequent feeling of jealousy and disappointment. On the

whole the entire welfare of the society will be in question.

 

Thus

by adopting another's dharma one

accrues two faults. One is that of abandoning one's svadharma because of one's own whim and fancy. And because of that

very abandonment, the second faulthappens in the form of a turbulence in the fabric

of society-welfare. Having amassed these

two faults how is he going to attain mental purification? He will only end up

by sinking further into the abyss of samsAra.

That is why Lord Krishna says "paradharmo bhayAvahaH" (another's dharma will only cause fearful

consequences).

 

It

is after this that the `deva-asura fight' that I started with, happens.

 

Krishna

Bhagavan has said "Even at the risk of death you should perform your svadharma. That is the only thing that

is good – meaning, it will pave the way for the release from samsAra. Para—dharma (another's dharma) will only increase the fearful consequence of smsAra." When Krishna

said this, Arjuna thought a while.

(To be continued inKMDA 16)

 

PraNAms to all

advaitins.

PraNAms to

Kanchi Mahaswamigal.

profvk