Jnana and Jivanmukti - Pt 4

[Guest guest]

They, in whom this consciousness of Self (vrttih) being ever present grows into

maturity (paripakka), ONLY THEY attain to the state of Brahman (praptah

sadbrahmataam); OTHERS merely deal with words!(shabdavadinah) Such persons are

only clever in discussing about Brahman (kushala Brahmavaartaayam) but have no

realization (vrtti-heenah), suraaginah being attached (to the world) they too as

a consequence of their ignorance are born and die again and again.

 

This is where renunciation assumes centerstage. As long as one is a active

member of society, there are certain inescapable domains that are still

operative in one’s functional status. One has duties, and responsibilities.

The most basic necessities to support life – food clothing and a home - need

to be taken care of. For this what is needed is wealth. If one is young this

means having a occupation that generates wealth. If one is older and retired,

one may not need to work but one is then concerned about making sure that the

wealth already earned is maintained with interest or that one’s pensions, or

401Ks, are accruing appropriately. In addition one has to relate to one’s

relations – and fulfil various duties – spouse, child, parent, and in-law

and even grand-parent,etc – every member of society will have at least one if

not all of these roles that require to be played and played actively in every

spirit of those roles.

 

Trying to cultivate an aura of detachment or disinterest as even one is fully

enmeshed in this societal role-playing can be disastrous and is certainly not

advisable/if it were even possible, and can only lead to conflict situations. If

you are an employee you cannot let atmavichara allow your productivity to be

hampered nor as a spouse can you excuse yourself from the innumerable

obligations that go along with that role. At every stage of life, there are

countless sources of worries and tensions – personal progress at work,

illnesses in one’s immediate and even extended family, death of near and dear

ones, taxes, education and marriage of one’s children – the list goes on and

on. How can such a life be made compatible with the ideals of constant and

unrelenting atmavichara? It is simply impossible for it to be so. Any attempt at

it can only be at the cost of seriously failing in one’s roles as a active

member of society and can assume

significant ethical and moral repercussions and dilemmas.

 

So the solution according to Shankara is the ageless prescription found in the

Shruti itself - etaM vai tam AtmAnaM viditvA brAhmaNAH putraishhaNAyAshcha

vittaishhaNAyAshcha lokaishhaNAyAshcha vyutthAyAtha bhikshAcharyaM charantIti.

" Having realized this very Self, BrAhmaNas give up desires for offspring, wealth

and heaven, and take to mendicancy. "

 

Here it is important to note that Brahmanas here refers to people with

Self-knowledge – according to Shankara who states this in categorical terms.

It is not referring to people with pandityam or Vedic scholarship, but

specifically to “knowers of Selfâ€

 

As a matter of fact Shankara in the BUB (2.4) holds that renunciation is

prescribed AS PART OF the instruction about Brahman asya brahmavidyayaa

angatvene sannyaso vidhisitah. He also is clear-cut that this renunciation which

is characterized by abandonment of all actions IS SUBSIDIARY TO the knowing of

Brahman - Parivrajyam sarvasadhana-sannyasa-lakshanam angatvena vidhitsyate.

 

In the same vein as well, in his Br Up vartika, Sureshwaracharya expresses this

quite explicitly.

 

An ascetic (yatih) who has not given up desire may not attain liberation EVEN IF

HE IS A KNOWER OF BRAHMAN (brahmaveditve) Therefore the COMBINATION of knowledge

of Brahman WITH RENUNCIATION (sannyasena samucchayah) is mentioned here as a

means to liberation (mukti).

…I do not think we can find a more clear-cut assertion than this!

 

and further Sureshwaracharya clarifies...and uses a beautiful expression here

for nidhidhyasanam...

 

Therefore having COMPLETELY abandoned actions which proceed only from

infatuation the one of clear intellect overcomes ignorance by knowing of

Oneness; he of himself meditates on his own Self as the Atman which itself is

knowledge (jnanamevaatmanaatmanamupaseeno) and becomes immortal (amrto bhavet)

 

And he quotes a Shruti here – Bhallavi Shruti – sarvah sannyasatkarmeva

jnanaatkaivalyamashnute – ONLY HE who has taken to sannyasa attains liberation

through knowledge.

 

The institution of sannyasa, as a ashrama, thus becomes both sacrosanct and

indispensable for a Self-Knower. This is because one is ethically, and within

the realm of dharma, dissociating oneself from society. The innumerable spheres

of responsibilities and the entire gamut of societal obligations are formally

and permanently severed in toto. And this is where a ritualistic or formalized

procedure is generally prescribed and described to reinforce what is ultimately

a inner or mental renunciation.  And one cannot be underscored enough what a

blessing it is to have such a formalized process in Sanatana dharma since

beginning less time.

 

It is interesting in this context to see what Elgin Skorpen’s views are: “So

from either perspective, strict Kantian or compatible life-ideals, the result is

the same. What the modern candidate for religious renunciation in the West is

considering is, in fact, a " teleological suspension of the ethical, " and that is

something that ex hypothei he will not and cannot do lightly, and he may well

experience fear and trembling if he does†and contrasts it with “the Hindu

thoroughly internalizes morality as a representative of a class, so that moral

conflicts are resolved not by modern reason but by appeal to authority -- in

this case the authority of scripture†And he draws the following conclusions -

1.Western religious renunciation cannot be justified from the moral point of

view; 2.the Hindu pattern, in contrast, is acceptable from the moral point of

view given the premise that renunciation is a necessary means to

self-realization, and 3. though

Hindu religion and anthropology are " ill-suited to Western social practice, "

nevertheless, the Hindu pattern of renunciation " proposes a course of human

growth leading up to renunciation that might better serve the renunciate ...

than does the Western pattern. "

 

One consumes one’s body mentally to the funeral pyre, and with this comes the

strong conviction that all societal ties are severed in toto with no exceptions.

This alone liberates the individual to now focus all his efforts and time

exclusively towards atma vichara in an all-encompassing manner. Then alone can

there be a gradual dissolution of the perfunctory mental modes of indisciplinary

content, and a resulting enhancement of singleminded and one-pointed devotion to

the Self. This is what Shankara means when says “For the other has not got his

conviction about differences removed. ..because of his seeing hearing thinking

and knowing differences he believes " I shall get this by doing this " . In the

case of such a man who is engaged thus there CANNOT be any establishment in

Brahman for he is possessed of the ideas arising from his attachment to false

transformationsâ€

 

Elsewhere Shankara again says this: Indeed, it is not possible that one who

wants to go to the eastern sea and the other who wants to go in the opposite

direction to the western sea can have the same course! And that (jnana-nishtA)

is opposed to coexistence with duties, like going to the western sea.  It has

been the conclusion of those versed in the valid means of knowledge that the

difference between them is as wide as that between a mountain and a mustard

seed!  Therefore it is established that one should have recourse to

steadfastness in Knowledge ONLY BY relinquishing ALL rites and duties.

 It is the effacement of these ideas of non-self alone that constitute

vasanakshaya. And in this sense alone is vidwat SANNYASA the PROXIMATE cause of

jivanMUKTI – in the words of Swami Vidyaranya – vidvat sannyasasya

jivanmukti hetutvat.

Even a trace of vasanas has the effect of quickly dragging the seeker downhill

– akin to a ball - prachyutakelikandukah – a sport ball that has fallen from

the hand – and which very rapidly falls down the stairs, to use a poignant

analogy from the VC.

 

(to be continued)

Hari OM

Shri Gurubhyoh namah

Shyam