Kanchi Maha-Swamigal's Discourses on Advaita Saadhanaa (KDAS-13)

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

For Introduction, see

advaitin/message/27766

For the previous post on this thread, see

advaitin/message/27935

 

14. KNOWLEDGE OF ADVAITA BASIC REQUIREMENT FOR EVERY ONE

(Continued)

 

(For instance) Right in the beginning he talks formally

about the Guru – of course, in the style of question and

answer. Then (verse 3) the first question itself is

*tvaritaM kiM kartavyaM vidushhAM*. It means ‘What should

the knowing ones do immediately?’ Mark the word ‘knowing

ones’ here. ‘VidvAn’ means a scholar, a person who knows.

The plural of this is ‘vidvAmsaH’. The genitive case of

this is ‘vidushhAM’. The question raised is: ‘What is the

immediate work of the knowing ones?’. The question is not

about the common man. It is only about the higher level

‘knowing ones’. What is it that they should do with a

sense of urgency? This is the question. The reply comes:

*santatic-chedaH* -- ‘to cut asunder the chain of samsAra’.

In other words, it means to obtain the release from the

repetitive deaths (and births). Thus the path to moksha

should be recalled even right at the beginning to the

common man – this view of the Acharya is implicit here.

However the urgency about it is not for the common man, it

is for the ‘knowing ones’.

 

Later one meets with the question: *kasmAt udvegaH syAt?*

(Shloka 19) -- Of what should one tremble? The word

‘udvega’ means trembling or fearing. That is the direct

meaning. Nowadays many use ‘udvegam’ to denote an excessive

haste or a speed of action sparked by a motive or urge.

That is wrong. ‘udvegam’ means just ‘trembling’ or

‘fearing’. The question is: “What deserves to be feared?”.

The reply comes: *samsAra araNyataH sudhiyaH* -- he says it

is the forest of samsara that has to be feared. And when

saying this he characterises it by adding the word

‘sudhiyaH’. This means ‘those with higher knowledge’. In

other words what is implied is that only the people who are

qualified for the higher knowledge think of samsara as a

thing to be feared as a dangerous forest and so they should

get out of it and obtain sannyasa. The common man should

just know that this will be the response of the man with

higher knowledge and that is why this question and this

answer.

 

The ‘knower’ scholar should break off from the samsara;

the man with higher intelligence (sudhIH) should fear the

forest of samsara – an average man like us should be aware

of such things. Not only that. The Acharya has said one

more thing that all of us should do; and that he says in an

interesting manner.

 

*kiM samsAre sAraM* (Verse 5) is the question: What is the

essence of samsara?

 

The answer is given: *bahusho’pi vicintyamAnaM idaM eva* --

“to keep thinking of this again and again”.

 

“Of what?’

 

“Just now you asked: ‘What stuff is there in samsara?’

–that is what you have to ask again and again and keep

thinking of. The objective of this birth is to ask oneself

repeatedly whether there is any fruit for this birth and

keep enquiring about it. That is what he means by *idam eva

bahusho’pi vicintyamAnaM*’’

 

If one keeps asking himself like this and analysing it by

one’s intellect, one will get to know there is nothing of

essence (sAra) in this samsAra. And there will come an

urge to know the Atman that is the real essence. That is

when we realise it is only by pursuing the question ‘kiM

samsAre sAraM’ relentlessly we have come to this stage of

longing for this most noble quest (of the Atman). It is

only this question that opens our eyes from our being a

samsAri (involved in samsAra) and thinking that that is all

there is to our life. And so if there is anything

worthwhile in samsAra, it is this question; a relentless

pursuit of the question.

 

In other words the shloka means that we should be

constantly engaged in the thought of the Atman. Note that

he does not add the words of qualification like ‘vidvAn’ or

‘sudhIH’. So this is a teaching for all people. The Acharya

thinks that even the common man who was spoken of as ‘dead

even when living’ if he leaves off his karma, has always to

keep thinking of the release from the samsAra.

 

Here he has said that the question ‘What is worthwhile in

samsAra?’ should be repeatedly asked of oneself. A little

later, he raises another question (Shloka 16) “What is it

that should be thought about, day and night?” : *kA

ahar-nishaM anuchintyA?*.

 

And he gives the reply: *samsAra-asAratA* -- namely, “the

samsAra has no worth in it”.

 

The Acharya has blessed us with a work called

‘SopAna-panchakaM’. When his devotees come to know that he

was winding up his mortal journey and was ready to reach

Brahma-nirvANaM, they requested of him: “You are leaving us

all. You have given volumes of advice and teaching to us in

writing. But we may not be abole to read all of that. So

before you are done with this incarnation can you please

condescend to summarise them all and give us an upadesha?”.

In reply to this he delivers what is called

‘upadesha-panchakaM’ also known as ‘sopAna-panchakaM’.

‘SopAnaM’ means staircase. In this work he gives a

step-by-step procedure for us ordinary people to start from

the rock bottom starting point and go all the way to that

peak stage of Brahman-illumination.The beginning is

 

*vedo nityam adhIyatAm taduditaM karma svanushhTIyatAM*

 

“Daily practise the recitation of the vedas and perform the

karmas prescribed therein”. So obviously all this is for

those who are to proceed by the karma path. But in the very

same teaching it says: “Nurture the taste for the Atman!

Get out from the household! Get the mahavakya upadesha from

the Guru!” and then finally “Settle yourself in the

Absolute Brahman”. Naturally the Acharya means that even

those who are at present qualified only for karma should

be aware of subjects connected with jnAna-yoga.

 

If we continue our scrutiny like this it is confirmed that

though the Acharya has distinguished between those who

are qualified for jnAna and those who are qualified for

karma just like the Lord distinguished very clearly between

sankhyas and yogis, he did feel that the majority who were

qualified for karma only should also have a basic knowledge

of jnana. Bhagavan (Krishna) also thought in the same way.

He classifed Arjuna only as suited for Karma. All of us

know the familiar ‘karmany-eva adhikAras-te’ teaching. He

brought back to the battle that Arjuna who was ready to run

away from the battlefield saying he would not fight. But

even in that very Gita which constituted that advice, he

has not stopped with karma yoga but has elaborated about

jnAna yoga in detail. Right in the beginning it begins only

with Sankhya yoga in all its abstractness.

 

[And the Swamigal adds with a smile] : All this is

‘justification’ for me (and my talk)!

 

Experts in music pursue a lot of study about the svaras and

the ragas, their elaborations and nuances and the nyasas

and the vinyasas associated with them before they decide on

a particular mode of delivery. The child beginning to have

music lessons also has the same sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni for

his practice. He may not be taught all the elaborations and

the nuances of the svaras, but the sharp and abrupt

voicings of the svaras are supposed to be enough at that

stage. In the early stages it is the coordination of the

shruti and the rough fixation of the svara-sthanas that are

considered to be enough. Starting from these elementary and

rough beginnings, one is taken up to all the different

nuances and gymnastics about the nyasas and vinyasas in

the higher stages of practice. So also sannyasa comes at

the end of life. What subtle realities and techniques of

practice one gets to know at that end stage, the same

realities and techniques have to be learnt by all in an

elementary way like a child learns sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni.

 

(To be Continued)

PraNAms to all students of advaita.

PraNAms to the Maha-Swamigal.

profvk

 

 

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

 

Latest on my website: A conversation on the Concept of God in Hinduism.

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/VK2/ConceptofGOD.html