DRG-DRSYA-VIVEKA - Attaining the Supreme

Dr Jayanth G Paraki · August 24, 2001

All human efforts at attaining The Supreme Being (Atman) are directed through the mind and senses. The ability to develop faith in the presence of the Atman is intimately bound to the nature of inquiry we conduct. The Drg - Drsya - Viveka treatise is an inquiry into the Nature of the Seer and the Seen.

The essence of this treatise is that the Atman is realized through mystic or yogic Samadhi (concentration). After this state is attained, one can see Brahman wherever one turns one eye:

Dehadimane galite vijnate paramatmani

yatra yatra mano yati tatra tatra samadhayah

"With the disappearance of the attachment to the body and with the realization of the Supreme Self, to whatever object the mind is directed one experiences Samadhi.

The treatise consists of forty-six Slokas and is an excellent companion for the study of Vedanta. The following is a concise summary of all the slokas. I hope many readers will pursue the detailed study of this treatise with great vigor and enthusiasm.

1. The direct knowledge of Atman or Self is the means to liberation.

2. The Seer alone is unchanging, rest everything changes constantly.

3. Mind perceives, not the eyes.

4. Consciousness illuminates Mind.

5. Consciousness is Whole and does not suffer decay.

6. Mind and eyes are insentient; consciousness is reflected in them.

7. Consciousness pervades the whole being- from the gross to the subtle.

8. Ignorance of the real nature of Consciousness creates delusion.

9. Effects of Karma wear out as identification with the Ego diminishes and ceases.

10. In deep sleep, results of past Karma go unnoticed. By right effort, it can be wiped out in the waking state too.

11. Mind imagines ideas in dreams because of the reflection of Consciousness.

12. Maya is the cause of the appearance of the universe and extremely illusive.

13. Maya has two powers- projecting and veiling. The veiling power of Maya creates ignorance.

14. All creation is the unfolding of Brahman through its inscrutable power, Maya. From the causal standpoint, Brahman is both the material and efficient cause of the world.

15. Ignorance of the distinction between the subject and the object is the cause of one's sufferings in the world.

16. Persistent doubt prevents liberation and because the embodied Self is unreal liberation is not possible for it.

17. Study of scriptures leads to the knowledge required to distinguish between the seer and the objects.

18. The concealing power of Maya falsely attributes the six manifold manifestations to Brahman - birth, existence, growth, change, decay and annihilation.

19. Distinction between Brahman and phenomenonal universe becomes clear with the disappearance of the veiling power.

20. Names and forms are the chief characteristics of Maya.

21. Even after negation of name and form, there exists the common substratum whose nature is Existence- Consciousness- Bliss.

22. Concentration or Samadhi means one-pointedness of the mind by which the student feels his steady identity with Brahman.

23. Practice Samadhi within your own self- there are two types- savikalpa and nirvikalpa.

24. Desire centred in the mind is to be treated as objects. Erase unwanted desires to sharpen concentration.

25. Atman is self-luminous and unattached to the mind.

26. Constant practice of Savikalpa Samadhi makes the mind free from all distractions.

27. Savikalpa Samadhi relies on an external object such as sun or a spot of light to develop the power of concentration.

28. Existence- Consciousness- Bliss characterizes Brahman. It remains unaltered.

29. By practice, concentration becomes steady like the unflickering flame of a candle in a place free from wind.

30. With the realization of the Supreme Self, to whatever object the mind is directed one experiences Samadhi (concentration).

31. He who realizes Brahman attains liberation.

32. The real nature of Jiva is Brahman.

33. All ideas of limitation are illusory. No kind of limitation can be predicated of Atman.

34. Four great Vedic statements which summarize the entire teaching of the Vedas are (1) " That thou Art" (2) "I am Brahman" (3) " This Atman is Brahman" (4) " Consciousness is Brahman"

35. Maya limits the indivisible nature of Brahman and makes it appear as the world and the embodied being.

36. Both Jiva and Jagat are the products of Maya. Hence they are cognized so long as a man is in a state of ignorance.

37. Jiva and Jagat have empirical existence and disappear when one attains liberation.

38. Sleep or Nidra means Avidya, that is, a state in which the nature of reality is not known.

39. Knowledge clears ignorance and dream states are illusory.

40. The dream and the waking experiences on account of their mutual contradictions cannot be said to be real. The illusory Jiva thinks the illusory world as real.

41. He who is the empirical Jiva sees this empirical world as Real. But the real Jiva knows it to be unreal.

42. The Paramarthika- Jiva knows its identity with Brahman alone to be real.

43-44. Characteristics of Brahman appear to be inherent in the Jiva and Jagat. This is illusory.

45. The characteristics of foam such as fluidity merge in the wave of water. Water always exists. Foams, etc have no existence separate from water. They appear from and disappear in water. They are nothing but water in another form.

46. Existence, Consciousness and Bliss appear and disappear in Brahman. Its existence cannot be denied, in the past, the present or the future, or in the states of waking, dream or deep sleep.

The aim of everyone should be to reach this Supreme level of Buddhi by continued inquiry. Some have not the patience to pursue it to the end. How then, it may be asked, is such high order of Buddhi to be reached and how so much of patience to be commanded?

" This Atman is obtainable by love of truth, by austerity, by correct knowledge, by one's life of chastity (Brahmacarya) constantly practiced."(Mund.Up.III. 1.4)

Dr Jayanth G Paraki

Consultant in Holistic Medicine

Clinic for Holistic Healing

Bangalore

3348866 / 3461790

paraki@vsnl.com