Vivekachoodamani : ( 05/05/2013. )

Description of Prāṇamaya kośa and its negation(verses 165-166) : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 165. The prana along with the five organs-of-action, constitutes the vital-air-sheath, pervaded by which the food-sheath (physical body), performs all the activities of the material body. 166. The vital-air-sheath cannot be the Self because it is a modification of air (vayu). Like air it enters the body and goes out of it, never knowing its joys or sorrows or those of others. It is ever dependent upon the Self.

Description of Annamaya kośa and its negation (verses 154-164) : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 154. The body is a product of food. It constitutes the food-sheath. It exists because of food and dies without it. It is a bundle of skin, flesh, blood, bones, and filth. Never can it be the self-existing, eternally pure Self. 155. Before its birth it does not exist, nor does it continue to be after its death. It lasts only for a short period. Its qualities are fleeting and by nature subject to change. It is diverse and inert and a sense-object, seen like a jar. How then can it be the Self—the Witness of all changes in all things? 156. The body which is made of arms, legs, etc. cannot be the Self, for even if these organs are amputated or removed, it continues to function efficiently. The body is thus subject to the rule of another and cannot be the Self, the Ruler of all. 157. It is self-evident that the Self is t...

          The powers – agitation and veiling (verses 143-144) ------------------------------------------------------------------------   143. Just as, on a cloudy day, when the sun is completely hidden by dense clouds, cold, shivering blasts afflict a peson, so too, when the Self is concealed by utter ignorance, the dreadful projecting power (vikshepa sakti) afflicts the foolish person with endless sorrows.   144. A person‘s bondage proceeds from these two ―powers.‖ Deluded by them, one mistakes the body for the Self and wanders from life to life.   Bondage in action (verses 145-146) --------------------------------------------------   145. Ignorance is the seed of the tree of samsara, the worldy existence. Body-identification is the sprout, desires are its tender leaves, actions are its water, the body is the trunk, the Pranas are its branches, the sense-organs are its twigs, the sense-objects are its flowers, d...

    Advice for self-control (verse 136)   136.With a regulated mind and a purified intellect, directly realize your self as the essential Self. Identify yourself with the Self, and cross the shoreless ocean of worldy existence with its waves of births and deaths. Be fulfilled thusly by becoming firmly established in Brahman (which is your very own essence).   What is bondage? Its reply (verses 137-142)   137.Due to ignorance, a person identifies the Self with not-Self. This is the bondage and brings in its wake the miseries of birth and death. Through this, one considers the unreal body as real, identifies with it and nourishes, bathes and preserves it with the help of sense-objects. Thereby, one becomes bound like the silk-worm in its cocoon woven by its own threads.   138. Being deluded by ignorance, one mistakes a thing for what it is not. In the absence of discrimination, the snake is mistaken for a rope, and great danger befalls...

  The Self – its nature (verses 124-135) : ------------------------------------------------ 　 　 124. Now I will tell you of the Real Nature of the supreme Self, realizing which, one becomes free from all bondage and attains liberation. 　 　 125. Something there is, the Absolute Entity, the eternal substratum for the experience of ego-sense. It is the Witness of the three states and is distinct from all the five sheaths. 　 　 126. That which knows everything that happens in the waking, dream, and deep-sleep states, That which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions, That which is the essence behind the ego, That is ?'This'—the Self. 　 　 127. That which sees all but which no one can see; That which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine, That is the "Self." 　 　 128. That by which this universe is pervaded, but which is not pervaded b...

    Causal body – its nature (verses 120-121): --------------------------------------------------------- 120. This ―unmanifest, described as a combination of all three gunas, is the casual-body of the individual. Its special state is deep-sleep, in which all functions of the mind-intellect and the sense-organs are totally suspended.   121. The mind remains in a subtle seed-like form in deep sleep, which is the state of complete cessation of all kinds of perceptions. Indeed, the universal verdict in this state is, "I did not know anything then."   Not-self – its description (verses 122-123): -------------------------------------------------------   122. The body, sense-organs, Pranas, mind and ego etc. and all their modifications; the sense-objects and their pleasures etc; the gross elements such as ether, in fact the whole universe upto the Unmanifest---all these are the non-Self.   123. Everything is due to the effect of Maya—fro...

Rajoguna – nature and effects (verses 111-112) --------------------------------------------------------------   111. Rajas has projecting power (vikshepasakti). Activity is its very nature. From it the initial flow of activity has originated. From it, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are also continuously produced.   112. Desire, anger, greed, hypocrisy, arrogance, jealousy, egoism, envy, etc.—these are the dreadful attributes of rajas, from which the worldly tendencies of man are produced. Rajas is therefore the cause of bondage in life. Tamo guna – nature and effects (verses 113-116) -------------------------------------------------------------------   113. The veiling power (avritti), is the power of Tamas, which makes things appear to be other than what they actually are. It causes man‘s repeated transmigration and initiates the action of the projecting power(vikshepa).   114. Even the wise and the learned, and those wh...

  Ego discussed (verses 103-105):   103. The inner organ has its seat of expression in the sense-organs such as the eye etc. Identifying with them as ―I‖, it exists, by the reflection of the Self (Atman) in it.   104. Know that it is the ego which, identifying with the body, becomes the doer or the experiencer, and in conjuction with the Gunas* such as sattva etc, this ego assumes the three different states (of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep).   105. When the sense-objects are favorable, the situation is happy. When they are unfavorable, it is miserable. Happiness and misery are, therefore, the characteristics of the ego and do not belong to the the Self (Atman), which is ever-blissful.   Infinite love - the Self (verses 106-107):   106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only because of the Self which manifests through them, and not independently, for the Self is, by its very nature, the most beloved* of all. The Self, therefore, ...

  The five pranas (verse 95) ----------------------------- 95. One and the same Prana becomes Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, and Samana according to its functions and modifications, like gold, water etc. Subtle body: effects (verse 96-101) ------------------------------------------ 96. The five organs of action beginning with speech, the five organs-of-perception beginning with the ear, the group of five pranas, the five elements starting with space, along with the discriminative intellect etc. and also ignorance, desire, and action—these eight 'cities' together constitute the subtle body.   97. This subtle body, listen carefully, also called the Linga Sarira, produced from the subtle elements is possessed of the latent impressions (vasanas), and it causes an individual to experience the fruits of one‘s past actions. It is the beginningless limitation superimposed on the Self and brought about by its own 'ignorance.'   98. Dream is the state when th...

  Gross body condemned (verses 87-91) -----------------------------------------------------   87. This gross body is most offensive as it is composed of skin, flesh, blood vessels, fat, marrow and bones and also it is ever filled with urine and faecal matter.   88. Made up of the gross elements formed by the combination of the subtle elements and ordained by past actions, this gross body is the instrument of experience for the Self. The state in which it perceives gross objects is its waking state.   89. The individualized ego identifying itself with this body, enjoys gross objects such as garlands, sandal-paste, women etc. of an endless variety by means of the sense-organs. Therefore this body has the greatest play in the waking state.   90. Know this gross body, on which depend all dealings with the world outside, is just like the house of the householder.   91. Birth, decay and death are the essential properties of the gross ...

  Fascination for body criticized (verse 83-86) 83. This body is essentially an instrument for realizing the Paramatman. He who does not constantly use it for liberating himself from the bondage born of beginningless ignorance but constantly seeks to gratify it, destroys himself. 84. Whoever seeks to realize the Self by devoting himself to the gratification of the body, is like one who proceeds to cross a river, holding on to a shark, mistaking it for a log of wood.   85. For a student seeking liberation, infatuation with the body etc. is a ‗tragic death‘. He alone deserves liberation who has totally conquered this attachment. 86. Conquer this great attachment to your body, wife, children etc. By conquering these, sages reach the supreme State of Lord Vishnu.

  Sense objects: a trap (verses 76-82)   76. The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and the honey-bee---these five meet death because of their bondage to one of the five senses. What then is the condition of a person who is attached to all five?   77. Sense-objects are even more virulent in their tragic effects than a king cobra. Poison is fatal to one who swallows it, but the sense-objects kill him who merely looks at them. with his eyes.   78. One who is liberated from the terrible bonds of desires for sense-objects, so very difficult to renounce, is alone fit for liberation and none else, even if well-versed in all the six schools of philosophy.   79. Those who have only an apparent dispassion and are trying to cross the ocean of worldy existence are caught by their throats by the shark of desire which violently dragging them along, drowns them in the middle of the ocean.   80. He who slays the shark called ―sense-objects‖ w...

        Gross Body (verses 72-75)     72. Composed of the seven ingredients---marrow, bones, fat, flesh, blood, dermis and epidermis, and consisting of the following parts---legs, thighs, chest, arms, back and the head:   73. This body, the seat of delusion, expressing in terms of "I" and "mine",Having united with parts of one another, they become gross, and become the cause for the formation of the gross body. Their subtle essence constitutes the sense-objects, five in number, such as sound etc., which contribute to the enjoyment of the experiencer, the individual ego. is termed by the wise as the gross body. Sky, air, fire, water, and earth are the subtle elements.   74. Having united with parts of one another, they become gross, and become the cause for the formation of the gross body. Their subtle essence constitutes the sense-objects, five in number, such as sound etc., which contribute to the enjoyment of the experi...

              Discussion on Questions raised (verses 67-71)   67. The questions you have raised today are excellent, accepted by those well-versed in the Scriptures, aphoristic, full of hidden meaning and such that are fit to be known by all seekers.   68. Listen attentively, O learned one, to what I shall now tell you. Listening to it you shall be liberated completely from the bondage of worldy existence (Samsara).   69. The first step to liberation is the complete detachment from impermanent things. Then follow calmness, self-control, forbearance, and complete renunciation of all selfish actions.   70. Thereafter come 'hearing', then reflection on what has been heard and, lastly, long, constant, and continuous meditation on the Truth for the wise one. Ultimately, that learned one attains the supreme Nirvikalpa* state and realizes the Bliss of Nirvana in this very life.   *Nirvikalpa Samad...

         Direct experience: Liberation (verses 62-66)   62. A disease is not cured by merely repeating the name of the medicine, without taking it.Similarly, without direct realization, none can be liberated by a mere utterance of the word 'Brahman.'   63. Without achieving the dissolution of the world of perceptions and without realizing the Truth of the Self, how can one achieve full liberation by a mere repetition of the word, "Brahman"? Surely it will result only in a wasteful effort of speech.   64. Without eliminating his enemies and without bringing the splendor of the whole kingdom under his sway, by merely repeating, "I am the Emperor",  one cannot become an emperor.   65. A treasure hidden deep below under the earth can be found only when the exact site it known, excavations carried out and the earth, stones, etc., covering it are removed; never can it come out by merely calling its name. Similarly, ...

      Knowledge of the Self, Its beauty (verses 56-61) : ---------------------------------------------------------------------   56. Neither by Yoga, nor by Sankhya, nor by action, nor by learning, is liberation possible. Only by the realization of the oneness of the Brahman (Absolute) and the Atman (Self) is liberation possible, and in no other way*. *Sankara takes his unqualified stance on Advaita (non-dualism) in this categorical verse. The reason liberation is not attained by Yoga, Sankhya or action (yoga) is because these systems postulate duality, which is ultimately the product of ignorance. Unless one realizes one‘s identity with Brahman, one is still operating within the domain of duality and is thus not released from the bondage of separative existence. Also, see verse 6. Says a key verse in Mandukyopanisad (I.7.xvii): ―Mayamatram idam dwaitam, advaitam parmarthah:‖ This duality is mere illusion. Non-duality alone is the Supreme.   ...

    Questions of disciple (verses 48 & 49): -------------------------------------------------------   48.  The disciple said: --------------------------------- Kindly listen, O Master, to the questions that I now raise. Hearing their answers from your lips, I shall feel entirely blessedly gratified. 49. What, indeed, is bondage? How has it come? How does it continue to exist? How can one get out of it completely? What is this not-self? Who is the supreme Self? And what is the process of discrimination between these two (Self and not-self)? Please explain all these to me. Intelligent disciple appreciated (verse 50): --------------------------------------------------------------- 50. The Guru replied: ----------------------------- Blessed you are. For you wish to attain the absolute Brahman by freeing yourself from the bondage of ignorance. Indeed, you have fulfilled your life and have glorified your family.   Glory of self-effort (ve...

        Loving advice of the Guru (verses 41-47):   41. As he speaks, afflicted by and seeking protection from the blaze of the fire of 'samsara'*—the noble Teacher looks at him in all pity and kindness and spontaneously bestows upon him protection from fear. *Samsara denotes worldly existence. This is an important term in Indian philosophy and must be understood clearly. Hinduism takes the worldly existence (conditioned by time, space, and causality) as bondage. That is, the cycle of births and deaths is referred to as the ocean of samsara (bhavasaagar), i.e., ocean of repeated births and deaths and all that goes in between. To seek freedom from the bondage of becoming is considered to be the supreme end of life, the param-purushartha. 42. To him, who, thirsting for liberation, has sought the protection of the Teacher, and who abides by scriptural injunctions, who has a calm mind and a serene heart , the Master should give out the knowledge ...

Bhakti firm & deep (verse 31): ---------------------------------------   Among the means and conditions necessary for liberation, devotion (bhakti) alone is supreme. A constant contemplation of one‘s own Real Nature is called devotion. Courtesy of approach and questioning (verses 32-40): -------------------------------------------------------------------   32. Others say that bhakti means a constant enquiry into the Truth of one‘s own Self. One who has the above mentioned qualifications and is desirous to know the Truth of the Self should, therefore, approach an illumined Teacher for redeeming himself from bondage. 33. A teacher is one who is well-versed in the scriptures, pure, unaffected by desires, a perfect knower of the Supreme, who continuously abides in the Supreme, who is as calm as the fire that has burnt up its fuel, who is a spontaneous ocean of mercy that needs no cause for its expression, an intimate friend to all good people who surrender to ...

The four-fold qualifications (verses 18-30 :   18. Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeed in the realization of Brahman and in the absence of which the goal is not attained. 19. (While enumerating the qualifications), first we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with  calmness; and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation. 20. A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and the unreal. 21. The desire to give up all transient enjoyments gained through seeing, hearing, etc., and also experiences gained through equipments ranging from a mortal body to the form of Brahma is called 'detachment'. 22. The tranquil state of mind when it rests c...

The fit student (verses 14-17):   14. Ultimate success in spiritual endeavours depends chiefly upon the qualifications of the seeker. Auxiliary conveniences such as time and place all have a place indeed, but they are essentially secondary.     15. Therefore, a true seeker of the Self should proceed with his inquiry after duly approaching a Master who is established in the experience of the Self and who is an ocean of compassion.     16. One who has a keen memory and can argue for the scriptures and refute arguments against them, is fit for receiving Atma-vidya or the knowledge of the Self.     17. He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of calmness etc., and a burning desire for liberation.

Means of wisdom : (verses 8-13).     Therefore, the learned seeker who is striving to gain this liberation and who has renounced all his desires for pleasures in the external sense-objects, should duly approach a good and generous Master and must live attuned to the true significances of the words of the Master.       Having ascended the path of yoga through continuous and right discrimination, one should lift oneself from the ocean of change and finitude wherein one has come to be drowned.   May the wise and learned man give up all actions motivated by desires and start the practice of realization of the Self and thereby attain freedom from the bondage of birth and death.     Actions help to purify the mind but they do not, by themselves, contribute to the attainment of Reality. The attainment of the Realis brought about only by Self-Inquiry and not in the least by even ten million acts.       Th...

Unique Graces in Life (verse 3):- ---------------------------------------------- Very rare indeed are these three things and happen only due to the utmost Grace of God—a human birth, a burning desire for liberation, and the blessed refuge of an illuminated sage.   Miseries of the nonspiritual person (verses 4-7):- -------------------------------------------------------------------   Is there a man who, having somehow obtained this rare human birth, together with masculine temperament and also a complete knowledge of the scriptures, is foolish enough not to strive hard for Self-realisation? One verily commits suicide, clinging to things unreal.   Is there a greater fool than the person who, having got the rare chance of a human birth and there too, the masculine qualities of the head and heart, falls short in his efforts to realize his own highest good?       Let erudite scholars quote all the scripture, let gods be invoked th...

For all living creatures, a human birth is indeed rare; much more difficult it is to attain full manhood; rarer than this is a Sattvic attitude in life. Even after gaining all these rare chances, to have steadfastness on the spiritual path as explained in Vedic literature is yet rarer; much more so to have a correct understanding of the deep import of the scriptures. Discrimination between the Real and the unreal, a personal realization of spiritual Glory and ultimately to get fully established in the living consciousness that the Self in me is the Self in all---these come only later on, and culminate in one‘s liberation. This kind of a perfect liberation cannot be obtained without the meritorious deeds of many millions of well-lived lives.

My salutations to Sri Sad-Guru Govinda who is of the nature of Bliss Supreme, who can be known only through the import of the essence of Vedanta and who is beyond the reach of the known instruments of perception.