the seeker may approach a master, surrender to him and profit by his guidance

April 29, 2010

ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE][Originally

Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages hadwritten several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutrasand thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiryto accomplish their purpose.From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed thesalient

points

into

Sanskrit

verse

in

a

work

of

twelve

chapters,called Sri Advaita

Bodha Deepika.Still later, some great man seems to have translated thisinto Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eightchapters

of

the

same

are

found

published.]THE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENTDisciple: Does not heaven form part of the fruits of enquiry?Master: No. Enquiry must end in Liberation, and this isfreedom from repeated births and deaths which does notadmit of transit from one region to another. Sarabhanga'scase indicates that he could not and did not enquire into theSelf. Therefore all the four qualifications are essential forenquiry.60-61. A simple desire to be liberated unaccompanied bythe other three qualities will not be enough. By an intense desirefor liberation a man may take to enquiry but if otherwiseunqualified, he must fail in his attempt. His case will be likethat of a lame man wistfully yearning for honey in a honeycomb high up on a tree; he cannot reach it and must remainunhappy. Or, the seeker may approach a master, surrender tohim and profit by his guidance.D.: What authority is there for saying that a man nototherwise qualified but intensely desirous of liberation remainsever unhappy?62. M.: In the Suta Samhita it is said that those desirous ofenjoyments and yet yearning for liberation are surely bitten bythe deadly serpent of samsara and therefore dazed by its poison.This is the authority.In the view that all the four qualities must be together andin full, there is complete agreement between the srutis, reasonand experience. Otherwise even if one of them is wanting,enquiry cannot be pursued to success, but after death regions ofmerit will be gained. When all the four qualities are perfect andtogether present, enquiry is fruitful.