Winter charm in Brittany,Fr.

A home is much more than a physical dwelling. It has many connotations.The expression ‘he is never at home’ can refer to someone who is always out of his house or extremely busy, or to someone who is constantly distracted. ‘Out to lunch’ does not always mean just that. It can mean someone who is not quite on the same wavelength with the rest of us. Another  phrase is  ‘he or she are not at home in his/ her own skin.’

Home is the place where the world and we meet. Sometimes it’s joyful and other times worrisome. Being at home does not mean we are  isolated from the outside, not impermeable to it, but neither is it indiscriminately open. There are walls and roof, but also doors and windows, and other partials, plumbing, electric, telephone lines, cell phones and computers. There are so many entries into our home nowadays,  we are hardly ever alone. We are ever called to the world. Yet we can still choose to withdraw into our own space when it all gets too much. We still have a choice who we invite in our  homes , and also who goes out!

My guests leave with selected  impressions; I do not show them everything. Some times home needs to be a  refuse or sanctuary; a place where the soul can find peace and quiet far away from the world.

winter buds on the old cherry tree

Question: “What is the significance of the life of a spiritually minded householder, who has to devote all his time merely to earning a  living and supporting his family and what mutual benefit do they get?”

Sri Ramana: “The discharge of his duties by a householder such as this, who works for the support of his family, quite unmindful of his own physical comforts in life, should be regarded as selfless service rendered to his family, whose needs it is his destiny to meet. It may, however, be asked what benefit such a  householder  derives from the family. The answer is that there is no benefit for him from the family as such, since he has made the discharge of his duties to them a means of spiritual training and since he finally obtains perfect contentment by realising the supreme Bliss of liberation, which is the ultimate goal of every path and the supreme reward. He therefore stands in need of nothing from the members of his family or from his family life.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

“To return is the basic human longing. Paradise is man’s lost home, so far away in time and space, so diametrically opposite to his daily realities, that he may hope to go back to it only in another life, in another world.

D.M. Dooling

at home in the garden

The search may begin with a restless feeling, as if one were being watched. One turns in all directions and sees nothing. Yet one senses that there is a source for this deep restlessness; and the path that leads there is not a path to a strange place, bu the path home. (“But you are home,” cries the Witch of the North. “All you have to do is wake up.”)

Peter Matthiessen.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

गुरुः शिष्यं प्रति आत्मस्वरूपं कथं बोधयति इत्यस्य उत्तमदृष्टान्तमस्ति विष्णुपुराणान्तर्गता एषा कथा।

निदघः ऋभुमुनेः शिष्यः आसीत्। सः गुरुकुले कानिचन वर्षाणि उषित्वा विद्याध्ययनं कृत्वा तत्समाप्य स्वगृहं प्रत्यगच्छत्। “आत्मैवेदं सर्वम्” इति तेन गुरुमुखात् श्रुतमासीत् तथापि तस्य आत्मबोधो न सञ्जातः। ऋभुः स्वशिष्यं अत्यन्तं स्निह्यति स्म। अतः सः निदघस्य अज्ञानं दूरीकरोतुं इदानीं उचितः कालः इति चिन्तयित्वा एकस्य स्थविरस्य ग्रामीणस्य रूपं धृत्वा निदघस्य ग्रामं समागतः। तदा निदघः तद्देशस्य राज्ञः तत्परिजनस्य च प्रस्थानं निरीक्षमाण आसीत्। ग्रामीणः निदघस्य समीपं गतवान्। तयोर्मध्ये एषः संवादः संवृत्तः।

ग्रामीणः (ऋभुः) – किमर्थं एषः कोलाहलः?
निदघः – राजा गच्छति।
ग्रामीणः – बहवः जनाः सन्ति। तेषां राजा कः?
निदघः – यः हस्तिनः उपरि उपविशति स राजा।
ग्रामीणः – राजा गजस्योपरि इति भवता उक्तम्। अहं द्वावपि पश्यामि, परन्तु तयोः को राजा, गजः कः इति न जानामि।
निदघः – (रोषेण) किम्! यदि भवान् द्वावपि पश्यति तथापि उपरिष्ठः राजा, तस्य अधः गजः इति न जानाति चेत् भवता सह भाषणमेव व्यर्थम्।
ग्रामीणः – मादृशं अज्ञं प्रति क्षमा प्रदर्शितव्या भवता। ’उपरि’ एवं ’अधः’ इति द्वौ शब्दौ भवता प्रयुक्तौ, तयोः को अर्थः?

ग्रमीणस्य मौढ्यं इतोऽप्यधिकं सोढुं असमर्थः निदघः बलात् तस्य स्कन्धमारुह्य “राजः गजोपरि” इव उपविश्य तं उक्तवान् “जानातु इदानीं। अहं राजवत् उपरि अस्मि। त्वं गजवत् अधः अपि। इदानीं अवगतं वा?”
ग्रामीणः – पूर्णतया न अवगतं। ’राजा, गजः, उपरि एवं अधः’ एतावत् अवगतवान्। परन्तु ’अहं’ एवं ’त्वं’ किमिति न जानामि। कृपया मां वदतु कोऽहं, कस्त्वं इति च।

“कोऽहं” एवं “कस्त्वं” इति अतिगहनां समस्यां सम्मुखीकृत्य निदघः झटित्येव निर्विचारसमाधिं अनुभूतवान्। तदनन्तरं निदघः एषः ग्रामीणः स्वस्य परमादरणीयः गुरुवर्यः एव इत्यभिज्ञाय गुरुं विधिवत् प्रणम्य सत्कृत्य एवं अवदत् “भवत्कृपया अहं अद्य आत्मस्वरूपं किमिति ज्ञात्वा धन्योऽभवम्। मां सदा अनुग्रह्णातु।”

एषा कथा भगवता रमणेन पुनरुक्ता “spiritual stories” नामके ग्रन्थे आङ्गलभाषायां उपलभ्यते।

तद्दिनेषु (1899-1916) श्रीरमणः अरुणाचले विरूपाक्षगुहायां वसति स्म । एकदा गणपति मुनिः तस्य दर्शनार्थं समागतवान् । गणपति मुनिः संस्कृतपाण्डित्ये अप्रतिमः, वेदवेदांगपारंगतोऽपि आसीत् । तस्य बहवः शिष्याः अपि आसन् । तथापि सः एकं प्रामाणिकं अध्यात्मिकगुरुं अन्विष्यमान आसीत् । सः श्रीरमणाय प्रणाममकरोत् । श्री रमणः कृपार्द्रदृष्ट्या तं वीक्षितवान् ।

तदा एकः भक्तः गणपति मुनिः महान् विद्वान् इति ज्ञात्वा तं पृष्टवान्, “शुक्लांबरधरं विष्णुं.. इत्यस्य श्लोकस्य व्याख्यानं करोतु” इति. “एतस्य श्लोकस्य बहवः व्याख्यानाः सन्ति” इत्युक्त्वा मुनिः एनं श्लोकं विष्णोः, ब्रह्मणः, गणेशस्य च सम्बन्धे व्याख्यातवान् । तदनन्तरं “श्री रमणस्य विषये अपि एनं श्लोकं व्याख्यातुं शक्यते” इत्युक्त्वा सः एवं अवर्णयत्।

शुक्लाम्बरधरम् – यः शुक्लवर्णं वस्त्रं धरति ।
विष्णुम् – यः आत्मरूपेण सर्वत्र व्याप्तः अस्ति ।
शशिवर्णम् – यस्य वर्णं धवलमस्ति ।
चतुर्भुजम् – यः नाहं “मनोबुध्यहंकारचित्तानि” परन्तु आत्मा एव इति ज्ञात्वा तानि चत्वारि भुक्तवानिति चतुर्भुक् ।
प्रसन्नवदनम् – यस्य मुखं प्रसन्नमस्ति ।
ध्यायेत् सर्वविघ्नोपशान्तये – एतादृशं श्रीरमणं सर्वविघ्नानां उपशान्तयर्थं ध्यायेत् ।

एतद् श्रुत्वा सर्वे श्रोतारः विस्मिता अभवन्, श्रीरमणः गणपति मुनिं सस्मितं वीक्षितवान् च ॥

श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः

Someone said:

You are not a human being looking for a spiritual experience; you are a spiritual being with a temporary human experience.

Whoever might have said that, we have its essence in our dear, divine Bhagavadgita, the teaching in God’s own words.  So free of egoism that He is, the Lord chooses to talk about us, you and me, before saying anything about Himself.  In the Second Chapter, responding to the woeful pleas of Arjuna, the Lord provides the first-aid like immediate reassurance to Arjuna:

अविनाशि तु तद् विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।

विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित् कर्तुमर्हति ॥

Know the Self to be Imperishable, and that pervades all this creation. None can bring about the destruction of That which is Inexhaustible. (This is decidedly not about the ParamAtma because Arjuna’s concern is about the fate of his kinsmen)

What can limit us?

Man’s quest for freedom is triggered by his recognizing that he is limited (so he thinks), finite and constantly dependent on something else outside of him.  Realizing he is trapped in the cage of the body-mind contrivance, he continuously seeks release from the trammels of embodied life, only not consciously knowing so.  Fortunately, he has experienced a taste of what freedom could be like, at least remotely, in the deep sleep state that he goes into and comes out of every day.  There he experiences his unlimited, independent, infinite self, freed from all the appendages, upadhis. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.22 alludes to this experience:

अत्र पिता अपिता भवति, माता अमाता, लोका अलोका, देवा अदेवा, वेदा अवेदा । अत्र स्तेनोऽस्तेनो भवति, भ्रूणहाऽअभ्रूणहा, चाण्डालोऽचाण्डालः, पौल्कसोऽपौल्कसः, श्रमणोऽश्रमणः, तापसोऽतापसः, अनन्वागतं पुण्येन अनन्वागतं पापेन, तीर्णो हि तदा सर्वाञ्छोकान्हृदयस्य भवति ।

[In this state a father is no father, a mother no mother, ……gods no gods, the Vedas no Vedas.  In this state a thief is no thief, the killer of a noble brahmaNa no killer, …a monk no monk, a hermit no hermit..This form of his is untouched by good work and untouched by evil work, for he is then beyond all the woes of his intellect.]

It would be pertinent to note that the Upanishad gives the above illustration of the deep sleep state where the jiva stands freed from all the avidya-caused upAdhis like being a father, mother, monk, etc. and experiences great freedom, albeit only temporary, to the ultimate state of liberation where owing to true Realisation all these upAdhis and all duality stand destroyed forever. Why do we call these ‘upAdhi-s’? It is because they do not constitute our intrinsic nature; they are only incidental to our birth, social status, environment and other circumstances.  That they, all of them, are shed by us, or depart from us, every day during sleep and even during the waking when we assume some other roles, is clear proof of their not belonging to us truly but only assumed, knowingly or otherwise.  A man who is not a father by birth becomes one once he sires a son.  A woman who is not a wife when born becomes one on marriage. The Lord also says that He does not cause the three states of waking, etc. and the experiences they give to the jiva:

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभु: । न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते  5.14

14. The Lord, Atman, does not create agentship or any objects (of desire) for anyone; nor association with the results of actions. But it is Nature that acts.

Shankara comments:

//Objection: If the embodied one, Atma,  does not do anything himself, and does not make others do, then who is it that engages in work by doing and making others do?

The answer is: Tu, but; it is svabhavah, Nature- one’s own (sva) nature (bhava)-characterized as ignorance, Maya, which will be spoken of in, ‘Since this divine Maya’ (7.14); pravartate, that acts.//

It is one’s karma that gives one the various experiences, pleasurable and painful, and the Lord is a passive witness to the experiences that the jiva experiences.  The Lord does not cause anything to do.  He has called Himself the Non-doer, akartA in the Bhagavadgita.  It is maayaa that makes one do actions and reap the fruits thereof in all the three states.  In deep sleep he is only remains in the state of bliss and one goes into this state once one’s karma-s for the particular day are over yielding their fruits and he has become tired.  He slips into dream state and again experiences some more karma phala.  When even this is over, he goes into sleep mode by default.  Being in waking/dream is the alternative for being in sleep.  All these three states are karma-dependent and not Ishwara-dependent.  If he remains awake, it means his prarabdha karma for that day is not yet over and he engages in work – of the body/mind/speech.  The Lord neither forces him into sleep nor prevents him from sleep; it is one’s karma that decides this, of course, by mAyA, as clarified by Bhagavan in the verse quoted above.

The answer to the question: ‘What can limit us?’ can be provided in a concise manner thus: Time and Space are the ones that limit us.  Of these, the limitation caused by time is the most dreaded.  All other forms of limitations come within these two parameters.  The Lord gives His initial reassurance by specifying that the jiva, in truth, is beyond the grip of time and space.  ‘avinAshi’ (Imperishable) is the word to denote the jiva’s natural transcendence of time and ‘yena sarvamidam tatam’, (the self pervades everything in this creation) is the expression that denotes the jiva’s natural transcendence of space.

‘I am here, I am not there’ is the natural, unenquired-into notion every one of us holds.  ‘Nothing should happen to me that will put an end to my existence’ is another natural, underlying fear each of us has.  The ‘us’ here includes all living creatures.  All other fears and concerns fall within these two broad types.  The Lord points out by the two expressions noted above that man’s fears are founded on ignorance of his real nature and that this knowledge holds the key to his freedom, forever.  All teaching of the Gita, the Upanishads and all other scriptural works is to enable man to gain this knowledge and become free.  That is why it is called ‘Moksha shAstram’.

It is only much later, in the 9^th chapter, that the Lord says about Himself:

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना ।

मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥ (9.4)

By Me, the Unmanifested, all this world is pervaded.  All beings dwell in Me; and I do not dwell in them.

The Lord is so compassionate that He does not want to alienate us from Himself and that He provides a definition of Himself in exactly the same way He defined the jiva above:

अविनाशि तु तद् विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।

//Know the Self to be Indestructible and by whom all this creation is pervaded.//

By studying this pair of definitions we can quickly conclude that the jiva, is beyond time and space just as the Lord is.  In other words, the jiva, in its true nature, is infinite, unlimited and completely independent, just the way the Lord is. For, the Lord denies any being, sentient or inert, inhering in Him, Brahman:

न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ।

भूतभृन्न च भूतस्थो ममात्मा भूतभावनः ॥ (9.5)

Nor do these beings dwell in Me; behold My Divine Yoga! Sustaining all the beings, but not dwelling in them, is My Self, the cause of beings.

The Lord is making the jiva-Brahma identity even more clearer in this verse:

यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।

स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ॥ 18.46

Him from whom is the evolution of all beings, by Whom all this is pervaded – by worshipping Him with his proper duty, man attains perfection.

The Lord is teaching in unambiguous terms: The Creator is none other than the One that pervades everything.  (The jiva was defined by the Lord as all-pervading in the II chapter.)

Thus, nothing other than Brahman can be in or near Brahman or in any way related to Brahman.

This conclusion drives us to these further conclusions:

• There cannot be two (or more) infinite entities; it is logically impossible.
• The Atma pervades this whole creation.  Does It pervade Brahman too?
• Brahman pervades this entire creation.  Does Brahman pervade Atman too?
• How are Atman and Brahman ‘placed’? One within the other? One near the other? One from the other? One for the other? One by the other? One and the other? ….etc? [For example, Dvaita holds that the jiva ‘comes from’ Brahman.  This is completely unUpanishadic for the Kathopanishad 1.2.8 (and the Gita) teaches that the jiva is never born in truth. It is eternal. What ‘comes’ however, in every creation cycle is only the body-mind apparatus which is only matter that the Chandogya Upanishad teaches is mere ‘name’ and the truth of matter is also Brahman, the Source, Sat. Also see Brahmasutras 2.3.17: न आत्मा, अश्रुतेः... and 2.2.42: उत्पत्त्यसंभवात् which deny the ‘birth’ of the jiva from any source.]  Also, what the body-mind apparatus ‘depends’ upon for its maintenance is the food and water as taught by this Upanishad.  So, the Atman, the jiva, is not dependent on any other entity.
• There is this very interesting verse, from the Yoga vAsiShTha (5.8.12), giving out the Vedantic import of ‘Tat Tvam asi’ or ‘Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma’ in all the vibhakti-s (declensions) of  the Sanskrit language in a single verse:

यस्मिन् सर्वं यस्य सर्वं यतस्सर्वं यस्मै इदम् । येन सर्वं यद्धि सर्वं तत्सत्यं समुपास्महे ॥

(That in which everything is, to which everything pertains, from which everything comes out, for which everything is intended, by which everything is, that which is everything, that Truth we adore.) Naturally, the ‘everything’ here is the manifestation of that Truth alone with which it is ‘related’ in vyavahara.  This is like the Chandogya illustration of the clay-products being ‘related’ to clay.  And gold ornaments being ‘called’, ‘named’ ornaments; their substance being gold alone.

• All the above and any other conceivable questions/possibilities are summarily negated by the Lord just by the One definition: The Atman/Brahman is Infinite, Unlimited.
• Even conceding that the Atman is not infinite, just for argument’s sake, it is impossible that the Atman/jiva is ‘in’ or ‘near’ Brahman the Infinite.  This is because, all conceptions of one thing inside another thing or one thing near another thing is possible only with reference to two things, both finite, limited.  Even if one of the two is infinite, the two possibilities considered become nullified. The one that is infinite cannot have anything second to it whether finite or infinite.  For, the ‘other’ finite entity, if real, will falsify the infinitude of the only infinite entity.  And, the ‘other’ infinite entity is simply an impossibility as there cannot be two infinites.
• Also, most importantly, the Upanishads declare the nature of Brahman/Atman as a homogenous Conscious whole by giving the examples of ‘saindhava-ghana’.  Just as a lump/rock of salt is all salty and not otherwise all over, so too is Brahman/Atman all Consciousness and not otherwise.  Since such a Brahman is also all-pervading, ananta, it is simply not possible to have any other that is not Brahman ‘within’ It or ‘near’ It or in any manner related/relatable to It whatsoever. For in Its absolute state since ‘….Brahman can do without the prakriti (world) and purusha (jiva) (dependent realities)….’ there is no way that Brahman can/will accommodate the jiva or the world ‘in’ or ‘near’ It in the absolute sense.
• Can the all-pervading jiva be ‘like’ or ‘similar’ to the All-pervading Brahman? This possibility is also ruled out because there can be no two ‘infinite’ entities.
• The only conclusion that the Gita and the Upanishads arrive at is: The Infinite Atman is none other than the Infinite Brahman.
• It is this realization alone that is the key to freedom from finitude, fear of mortality.

Now, can there be finitude, limitation, for the jiva caused by ignorance/knowledge?  Yes, the jiva, in samsara, is characterized by limited knowledge and ignorance of frightening dimensions.  However, even on this count, the Lord assures us that Atman is not really ignorant and that Its nature is Knowledge:

यो मामेवमस्म्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम् ।

स सर्वविद् भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत ॥ 15.19

He who, undeluded, thus knows Me, the Highest Spirit, he, ‘sarvavit’, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being, O Bharata.

The Kathopanishad 1.2.18 too says about the Atman:

न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चित्….

[ ‘vipashchit’ literally means: The Intelligent One. It is called so here because Its nature of Consciousness is never lost.]  Incidentally, this mantra, undoubtedly describing the characteristic of the (jiva)Atman, gives out the infinite nature of the Self.  The teaching of Atman in this Upanishad is an answer to Nachiketa’s question about the Atman that obtains after the death of an individual.  Surely, such a question is about the jiva Atman alone and not the Parama Atman.  And it is the knowledge of this pratyagAtman that is declared to be the liberating knowledge.  It is another matter that the Upanishads do not at all prescribe two knowledges, one, of the jiva and the other, of Ishwara, for liberation. So, there is only One Atman in every jiva and that is the ParamAtman, Brahman.

What is that magic that makes an ignorant one in samsara, an all-knowing One?  It is the knowledge of That One by Knowing Which All Else is Known – एकविज्ञानेन सर्वविज्ञानम् – the supreme formula for freedom from bondage – laid out by the Upanishads (specifically the Chandogya VI and the Mundaka).  This very theme is the essence of the Chandogya Upanishad VI Chapter where Uddalaka, the father-Guru imparts this knowledge to the aspirant-son Shvetaketu by specifying three unmistakable examples, that of clay-clay products, gold and ornaments and iron and iron implements.  How does this knowledge come about?  By knowing the essence, the cause, that underlies this whole universe.  What is that cause?  It is Sat, Existence, that is the essence of everything created.  It is the essence of the Creator Brahman as well as the Atman, the jiva.  It is given out by the sacred teaching, the MahAvAkya, ‘Tat tvam asi’, You are That.  You, Shvetaketu, the essentially Sat, is none other than That Brahman which is essentially Sat that has manifested as this entire universe.  It is like the most commonplace example: ‘सोऽयं देवदत्तः’ ‘This is that Devadatta’.  While jogging in the park this morning I see a man crossing me.  The moment I see his face I recognize him as the one whom I had seen the earlier evening at the shopping mall in the neighborhood. Then he was in casuals and now he is in jogging suit. I disregard the earlier circumstance, the evening, the shopping mall, the casuals and the present circumstance, the morning, the park, the jogging suit, all that do not belong to his natural identity and recognize him as ‘this is that one’. All this takes place in a fraction of a second.  Again, when they want to record identification marks of a person, they look for moles, scars, and the like on the body of a person.  The dress, hairstyle, etc. are not recorded.  The idea is: no matter what the person’s age, apparel, hair-presence or hair-absence, etc., are at any given time/place, these marks on the body do not disappear.  And it becomes easy to ‘identify’ the person. The ones that change are upAdhi-s. Similarly the Sat with the creator- upAdhi and the Sat with the jiva-upAdhi are recognized as the One Sat sans these upadhis. Just as the two circumstances, the attire, etc. are all not intrinsic to that man, but only incidental and could be easily excluded from his real natural identity, so too the upAdhis of creatorship and jivahood are only incidental to the One Sat and could be excluded from It in an intellectual process.

Everything is Sat and there is no ‘place’ in this Whole that is not Sat, no thing in this Whole that is not Sat and no time in this Whole when it is not Sat.  ‘Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma’, ‘Atmaivedam Sarvam’, ‘Brahmaivedam sarvam’, ‘EkamevAdviteeyam’, ‘neha nAnA asti kinchana’ are just a few of the innumerable Upanishadic statements that declare that there is None but this Sat Brahman. ‘VAsudevaH sarvam’ says the Gita.  ‘Tat tvam asi’, ‘aham BrahmAsmi’, ‘ayamAtmA Brahma’, ‘prajnAnam Brahma’ are some of the dozens of statements declaring the identity of Brahman and Atman/jiva.

And the two identical definitions that the Lord gave for the Atman/jiva and for Himself/Brahman also teach this identity alone.  Not being satisfied with this, the Lord further emphasizes that the Knower, jnani, is He Himself:  ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् 7.18. Thus, it is the realization of one’s own Infinite nature that results in freedom from all fears of mortality and of every other kind.  The misconception of the jiva being dependent on any other entity eternally is also dispelled by the Lord:

नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन ।

न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ॥ 3.18

[For the Jnani there is here no interest whatever in what is done or what is not done.  Nor is there in all beings any one he should resort to for anything.]

This Knowledge frees the jiva from all kinds of dependence.  Dependence on anything arises only from the feeling of want, incompleteness, apUrNatvam.  When one realizes one’s Infinite nature that is taught by the scripture, freedom from all wants is attained and hence freedom from all dependence, both in the bound as well as in the liberated state.  To speak of ‘dependence’ in the liberated state is a contradiction in terms: ‘dependence’ and ‘liberation’ are antithetical and never go together.

Who is the jiva in truth?

The Chandogya Upanishad declares categorically that it is Brahman that is appearing as the jiva in every body-mind apparatus that It has created out of the prakriti and enlivened:

The mantra (6.3.2) ‘…anEna jeevena AtmanA anupravishya…’ teaches that it is the Sat Itself that has entered the bodies as the jeeva-s.

This truth alone the Lord reiterates in the Gita in most unequivocal terms:

In the 15^th Ch. of the Gita we have this verse:

utkrAmantam sthitam vApi bhunjAnam vaa gunAnvitam

vimUDhA na anupashyanti pashyanti jnAna-chakshushaH (15.10)

What we most closely encounter in our human lives is graphically described as a reminder by the Lord in this verse.  We see death and birth around us.  We see a variety of experiences, bhoga, sukha and duhkha.  We see the variety of moods that the mind undergoes: sattvam, rajas and tamas.  All these can happen only to a sentient being. And that is what we are.  The Lord says that we have failed to enquire into ‘to whom do these experiences happen?  Who is the one Sentient Being behind all these experiences?’  Once this is known, the Lord says, liberation ensues.  In other words, the knowledge of the One Being behind these experiences is the Liberating Knowledge.  The ignorant ones fail to see this Being whereas those endowed with wisdom perceive This Person.  This Person is the Purushottama.

In the very next verse in the 15^th chapter the Lord says: Those who strive for this knowledge, with their minds purified, succeed in realizing the Person who is ‘seated’ in the mind, intellect, heart.  ‘Atmani avasthitam’.  Who is the one seated in the heart?  In this very chapter the Lord says: sarvasya chAham hRdi sanniviShTo… It is the Paramatma, the Lord, that is seated in everyone’s heart.

The Lord says in the verse:

Yatanto yoginashchainam pashyanti Atmanyavasthitam

Yatanto’pyakRtaatmAno nainam pashyantyachetasaH (15.11)

‘Enam’: This one.  The ‘This one’, him, enam, is of crucial importance for our present study.  It is ‘enam, this’, that was just spoken of in the earlier verse as undergoing the various experiences of samsara.  The Lord says that the gaining of the knowledge of the ‘svarupa’ of the samsari jiva is the liberating knowledge.  For, the Lord says he who is not endowed with this knowledge is ‘vimUDha’, an ignorant one.  In the concluding verses of this chapter the Lord says: yo mAm evam asammUDho jAnati purushottamam….He who thus knows Me, the Purushottama, as the true Self of the Samsari is the wise person.  Again He says that this teaching is the core teaching of the Vedanta.  He who knows this teaching is kritakritya, buddhimAn.   The knowledge about the True identity of this ‘enam’ who undergoes samsara is the knowledge about the Truth that is Paramatma.  ‘Enam’, referring to the one seated in the heart, (nihitam guhAyAm), is the word that links the jiva to the Paramatma in identity.  This ‘enam’ is the pratyagAtmaa the realization of which results in liberation as the Kathopanishad 2.1.1 puts it unmistakably:

पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत् स्वयम्भूः तस्मात् पराङ्पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् ।

कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमक्षत् आवृत्तचक्षुः अमृतत्वमिच्छन् ॥

The Creator Lord cursed/damned the sense organs to be outward-turned and therefore they always experience the inert world and never the Innermost Atman.  Some rare daring aspirant, with the resolve to attain the Immortal, withdraws his attention from the outside world and succeeds in realizing the pratyagAtman. The mantra uses the word ‘antarAtman’ as a synonym to ‘pratyagAtman’.  Thus, there is only one antaryAmi, the antarAtman, the pratyagAtman whose knowledge alone results in liberation.  This is also called the paramAtman, Brahman, Sat, etc. variously in Upanishadic literature.  This pratyagAtman is what is termed by the pronoun ‘enam’ in the above Gita verse.  The Lord says there that it is the ParamAtman that is playing the role of the samsArin and exhorts us to recognize this the sooner and get liberated.

Thus, the Lord teaches that the samsari jiva’s (tvam) svarupa is Purushottama Paramatma, (tat).  This is the teaching of the Vedanta: Tat tvam asi.  The ‘dva suparna’ mantra only states that the One that does not taste the fruit of samsara is the Atmani, hriddeshe, Avasthita Ishwara of the Gita 18^th chapter.  It is this Paramatma that is referred to as Purushottama in the Gita 15^th chapter.  The Gita word ‘Enam’, This one, is the word that signifies the aikyam, identity, of the jiva and Ishwara.  The final truth is: Ignorance of pratyagAtman is bondage, limitation, death, finitude and dependence.  The knowledge of pratyagAtman is liberation, infinitude, pUrNatvam, sarvajnatvam, immortality and independence.  Thus the Upanishad and the Gita are proclaiming in one voice that it is Brahman alone that appears as the jiva.

The Shruti (Shukarahasyopanishad) teaches that the One Consciousness alone, with the Cause as the upAdhi assumes the role of Ishvara and with the effect as the upAdhi appears as the jiva.  When the two upAdhis are negated as not absolutely real, what remains un-negatable is the One Consciousness:

कार्योपाधिरयं जीवः कारणोपाधिरीश्वरः .

कार्यकारणतां हित्वा पूर्णबोधोऽवशिष्यते .3.12

This shows that the jiva is neither Ishwara (God) nor Ishwara is the jiva.  The Nondual Truth, Advaitam, is the only Reality, Brahman that is the substratum for the Ishwara and the jiva in the relative plane.

That the ‘jiva is Brahman alone’ and the ‘world is Brahman alone’ and ‘Brahman alone appears as the jivas and the world’ are all graphically demonstrated by Sri Purandara Dasa in his composition: ‘alli nODalu Rama…’ .  In this song he describes how Brahman ‘felt’ like being the world and living a human life ‘became’ the entire world and donned the roles of the jiva-s.  He says: avanige iva Rama, ivanige ava Rama..For X, Y is Rama and for Y, X is Rama.  Hear this song here (second song in the album) and read the lyrics here.  Another song of his with similar import is: Govinda, ninna nAmave chanda.

The place and role of ‘difference’:

These ideas of ‘I am ignorant, You are all-knowing’, ‘I am dependent and You are independent’, ‘I am finite and You are Infinite’, ‘You are the Master and I am thy servant’ are all alright in the earlier stages of sadhana when the mind is not yet prepared to take the Upanishadic Truth of Advaita.  Shankaracharya has used these ideas in the most creative way in His innumerable compositions like the Shivananda lahari, the Soundarya lahari, the Shatpadee stotram and the Lakshminrsimha karAvalamba stotram.  The manner in which these ideas are used to plead with the Lord to bestow mercy on the supplicant jiva cannot be surpassed by anyone.  In this sphere there is ample scope for the jiva to sit on the lap of the Lord, sleep on his arms, be near Him, be looked after by Him, and so on.  This is a necessary exercise in the jiva’s evolution.  But this should not be the destination of the spiritual journey.  The spiritual journey is marked by graduating from dvaita bhakti to Advaita bhakti as taught in the Gita 12^th chapter verses 8 thru 11, in the reverse order. Thus, these ideas of difference are totally out of place in the Upanishadic sphere. They simply cannot fit the Upanishadic teaching of the Infinitude and Non-duality of Consciousness whether one calls It Brahman or Atman or Advaitam. This does not mean that Jnani-s having the Advaitic realization are incapable of saguNa bhakti. There are innumerable instances in the lives of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and others showing the coexistence of dvaita-bhakti alongside advaitic realization. The bhakti of the saadhana state manifests in its completely mature form in the realized souls.

Verse 14 of Shivanandalahari:

प्रभुस्त्वं दीनानां खलु परमबन्धुः पशुपते

प्रमुख्योऽहं तेषामपि किमुत बन्धुत्वमनयोः ।

त्वयैव क्षन्तव्याः शिव मदपराधाश्च सकलाः

प्रयत्नात्कर्तव्यं मदवनमियं बन्धुसरणिः ॥

O Lord of creatures! Are You not the Almighty as also the greatest friend of the miserable, of whom I am the chief? Is there not, then, a close kinship between us two? Therefore, O You bestower of good, You should forgive all my transgressions and work for my salvation even if it be fraught with difficulty.  For this is the test of close relationship everywhere.

Verse 68 of the Shivanandalahari:

अमितमिदमृतं मुहुर्दुहन्तीं

विमल-भवत्पदमावसन्तीम् ।

सदय पशुपते सुपुण्यपाकां

मम परिपालय भक्तिधेनुमेकाम् ॥

O Thou merciful cowherd ! Protect that only cow of mine – the cow of devotion to Thee – which yields continually as milk an endless supply of the nectar of joy, which lives in the cow-pen of Thy holy feet, and which I have acquired as the result of my meritorious deeds.

Verse 27 of the Soundaryalahari:

Japo jalpah shilpam sakalam api mudra-virachana
Gatih pradaksinya-kramanam ashanaadyaahuti-vidhih;
Pranaamah samvesah sukham akilam atmarpana-drsa
Saparya-paryayas tava bhavatu yan me vilasitam.

Let the mutterings that I do, with the yajna in my soul become chanting of your name, Let all my movements become thine Mudras, Let my travel become perambulations around thee, Let the act of eating and drinking become  homa-Ahuti sacrifice to thee,
Let my act of sleeping become namaskarams to you , And let all actions of pleasure of mine, become parts of thine worship.

Advaita never equates a jiva to God, Ishwara.  In Advaita the concept of Ishwara, God, is different from that of Consciousness, Brahman.  This distinction is most unmistakably brought out in these two representative works of Shankaracharya:
In a verse of the ShaTpadee stotram the devotee prays:

Satyapi bhedhapagame nadha thwaham na mamakeenasthwam,
Saamudhro hi tharanga kwachana samudhro na tharanga. 3

Even at the time of true realization, when I see no differences,
I am but a part of you, and you are never my part,
For a wave is a part of the ocean and the ocean can never be a part of the wave.

Then can’t we claim that the jIvAtma is paramAtma? AcArya says no to this ‘ego’ manifestation. Just as the individual wave rises in the ocean and dissolves into the ocean indistinguishably; yet the wave cannot claim that it is the ocean!

This realization is the ultimate form of sharaNAgati/prapatti!

Now contrast this with the opening stanza of the NirvANa ShaTkam where the sAdhaka contemplates:

// I am not the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego-sense, nor the store-house of memories. I am not the ear, nor the tongue, nor the nose, nor the eyes. Nor am I the sky (space), or the earth, or fire, or air. I am the supreme auspiciousness of the form of consciousness-bliss. I am the auspiciousness. //

Thus while a clear distinction is maintained between the devotee and God (Ishwara), the identity is taught only when the body-mind appendage is separated from the jiva, at the ultimate Consciousness level.

In the realm of ‘difference’, it is possible to visualize the Infinite Brahman as a child, caress it, cuddle it, threaten it, command it to obey one’s bidding and reprimand it if it does not obey.  Sri Purandaradasa has given expression to these emotions in an enchanting manner.  His songs: ‘Gummana kareyadire’ (lyrics) (listen),’ jagadoddhAraNa’ are just two in this category.  Papanasam Sivan’s song: ’enna tavam seidanai Yeshodha..’  is another gem in this line.

The Mandukya Upanishad presents the concept of freedom from all finitude, dependence, limitation, in the clearest terms.  All bondage is experienced only within the gamut of the three states: waking, dream and sleep; in a patent form in waking and dream and in a latent form in deep sleep state.  This Upanishad, in the 7^th mantra, negates the totality of the three states in the Turiya, Brahman, and declares that this is the state where the objective/subjective universe of duality is completely not there: prapanchopashamam.  It calls this Advaitam and teaches that this is Atman and exhorts upon the aspirant to realize It as such.

The SAdhana required to attain this realization:

The Scriptures have laid out a three-phased sadhana that will ensure the attainment of this goal:  1. Karma, 2. Bhakti/upAsana and 3.Jnana.

Karma is the performing of actions that we are required to accomplish in our various roles in life.  These actions, of the mind, body and speech, are to be done in the manner of worship of the Lord who is the Supreme Power that runs the universe through His shakti called Maayaa.  When one progresses in dedicating the fruits of the actions to the Lord and gradually dedicating even the actions and the very ego that functions behind actions as ‘I am the doer’, one attains great purity of mind.  One’s mind naturally develops love for the Lord and engages in every action solely to please the Lord, irrespective of whether the Lord is pleased or not.  Every action is done in the spirit of ‘arpaNam’, offering, and every fruit of action that comes is taken as ‘prasAda’, the Lord’s loving gift to us.  This is the essence of surrender, sharaNAgati.  The Lord specifies such bhakti as:

यत: प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।

स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ॥ 18.46

Shankaracharya comments:  Him from whom all creation proceeds and Him by whom all this creation is pervaded, That Ishwara who is the AntaryAmin, the Ruler within, when worshipped through one’s allotted actions, there results perfection, in so far as he becomes qualified for the devotion of knowledge – jnAna niShThA.

The Lord promises that He Himself will destroy the bondage-causing-ignorance in such devoted souls and release them from samsara, which is finitude, dependence:

तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थं अहमज्ञानजं तमः ।

नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥ 10.11

Shankaracharya comments:

// Out of mercy, anxious as to how they may attain bliss, I dwell in their mind which is engaged in thinking exclusively of the Self and destroy the darkness of ignorance – that illusory knowledge which is caused by the absence of discrimination – by the lamp of wisdom, by the lamp of discriminatory knowledge, fed by the oil of pure Devotion (bhakti-prasada), fanned by the wind of earnest meditation on Me, furnished with the wick of right intuition purified by the cultivation of piety, chastity and other virtues, held in the mind which is completely detached from all worldly concerns, placed in the wind-sheltered enclosure of the mind which is withdrawn from the sense-objects and untainted by attachment and aversion, and shining with the light of right knowledge generated by incessant practice of concentration and meditation.  //

The above commentary is a complete guide for sadhana by itself, in a concise form.  It says everything that is required of an aspirant after liberation: Discrimination, viveka, Dispassion, vairagya, Disciplines – shamAdiShaTka sampatti, Deep desire for liberation – mumukshutvam, and Devotion to the Supreme God. Shankara, commenting on the Bhagavadgita verse 13.18, says:

//Who is fit to attain this right knowledge? He who is devoted to Me, who regards Me, Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, the Omniscient, the Supreme Guru, as the Self, the Soul, the Essence, of everything, i.e., he who is possessed, as it were, with the idea that all that he sees or hears or touches is nothing but the Lord, Vasudeva.  Thus devoted to Me, and having attained the right knowledge described above, he is fit to attain to My state, i.e. he attains Moksha.//

A summing up of the foregoing would enable us to appreciate the Scriptural teaching leading to our Infinite, Unlimited and Independent nature:

• Atman is Infinite.  Brahman is Infinite.  There cannot be two ‘Infinites’.
• Atman cannot be ‘in’ or ‘near’ or ‘like’ (or in any other conceivable way ‘related’ to) Brahman.  Infinite cannot be related to anything; It is the Absolute One Only entity without a second of any kind. To say Brahman is Infinite and at the same time to assert that It is related to something else is a mockery of Infinitude; it is taking away the Absolute status of Brahman and reducing It to the plane of the relative.
• This realization alone results in freedom from finitude and limitations of all kinds.
• The Gita and the Upanishads are the sources for this unique Knowledge. For example, in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Sage Yajnavalkya declares to King Janaka: abhayam vai Janaka prApto’si. ‘Oh Janaka, thou hast attained to Fearlessness’.
• Upon gaining this knowledge one will realize that there is no ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘that’ and the like; all these are simply impossibilities in the Infinite.
• To gain this knowledge that one is really a spiritual being is the only purpose of this temporary, illusory, human experience. All sAdhanas are directed to achieving this end.

• Finally, the duality of ‘U & I’ is inevitable in parlance; any question and answer is possible only in the language of duality.  It is inevitable and hence the title of this article.  However, the Absolute position is Advaitam alone brought out by Shankaracharya in this monumental piece:

न शास्त्रं न शास्ता न शिक्षा न शिष्यो

न च त्वं न चाहं न चायं प्रपञ्चः ।

स्वरूपावबोधो न विकल्पासहिष्णुः

तदेकोऽवशिष्टः शिवः केवलोऽहम् ॥

[From the Absolute standpoint there is no scripture, no preceptor, no teaching, no aspirant/listener.  There is no ‘you’, no ‘me’, nor is the world of differences.  The Real Nature of the Self does not tolerate any such differences.  I am That Auspicious Truth that remains un-negated after everything else is negated.  Dashashloki 10^th verse]

श्रीसद्गुरुचरणारविन्दार्पणमस्तु

कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम्

भव शंकरदेशिक मे शरणम्

MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS OF THE MODERN AGE:

A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases and the Cure of Advanced Cancer. – Max Gerson. M.D.
Audition. - Michael Shurtleff.
Autobiography of a Yogi. – Paramhansa Yogananda.
Cosmic Voyage: True Evidence of Extraterrestrials Visiting Earth. – Courtney Brown. Ph.D.
Hands of Light: A Guide To Healing Through The Human Energy Field. – Barbara Ann Brennan.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Light on Hatha Yoga. - Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
Hero With A Thousand Faces. – Joseph Campbell.
Man’s Search For Meaning. - Viktor E. Frankl.
Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance. – Abraham Maslow.
Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing. – Jed McKenna.
Stranger in a Strange Land. – Robert A. Heinlein.
Tantric Quest: An Encounter With Absolute Love. – Daniel Odier.
The Bible Code. - Michael Drosnin.
The Holographic Universe. – Michael Talbot.
The Lost Teachings of Atlantis. – Jon Peniel.
The Only Planet of Choice: Essential Briefings from Deep Space. - Phyllis V. Schlemmer.
The Starseed Transmissions. – Ken Carey.
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. – Carlos Castaneda.
Where God Lives: The Science of the Paranormal and How Our Brains are Linked to the Universe. – Mevin Morse M.D, with Paul Perry.
Who Am I. – Ramana Maharishi.

SOME FAVOURITES (An introduction to the Author):

A Man For All Seasons (A Play) - Robert Bolt.
Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown.
Duino Elegies – Rainer Maria Rilke.
I Am Jackie Chan - Jackie Chan.
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah – Richard Bach.
Life of Pi – Yann Martel.
Lion of Macedon & Dark Prince - David Gemmell.
Microcosmic God – Theodore Sturgeon.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer – Patrick Suskind.
Rainmaker – John Grisham.
Red Dwarf & Better Than Life – Grant Naylor.
Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie.
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts.
Siva: The Siva Purana Retold – Ramesh Menon.
The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl – Roald Dahl.
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho.
The Bourne Identity – Robert Ludlum.
The Celestine Prophecies – James Redfield.
The Doomsday Conspiracy – Sidney Sheldon.
The Godfather – Mario Puzo.
The Lost World – Michael Crichton.
The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett.
Twelve Angry Men (A Play) - Reginald Rose.

Caution: The review is too long and maybe boring to an extent.

“Mallanna” (Kandasamy in Tamil) starring Vikram, Shriya is the kind of movie which desperately tries to be unique and stylish with a half baked script. It’s not uncommon these days for directors with fancy budgets to indulge themselves in extravagance but when the end result looks patchy, its a sign to reconsider the way films are made. Vikram’s latest release after a long gap, “Mallanna” isn’t as bad as what movie critics have described all these days, however it suffers from cinematical obesity. Maybe that’s the only mistake it commits which has a devastating effect.

Mallanna(Vikram) is an IPS officer who works with the Economic Offenses wing of CBI. He raids the house of a business tycoon, PPP (Ashish Vidyarthi) and finds evidence to convict the businessman of misdemeanor. However PPP feigns Paralysis and his daughter Subbalakshmi (Shriya) promises him that she would avenge his condition. Around the same time in Srisailam, crowds throng to the temple with their wishlist and surprisingly all their financial needs are fulfilled. An IPS officer suspects foulplay and he decides to trace the one behind these string of incidents. What follows is a wild goose chase where each character tries to outsmart the others…

Leaving aside the striking resemblance which the plot of “Mallanna” has with movies like Gentleman, Indian, Sivaji and Tagore (Ramana in Tamil), the movie is riddled with artistic liberties. If you are wondering why an arrogant and uber rich chick tries to impress her ‘prospective’ boyfriend by flying him to a desert just for a cup of coffee, well… you have just been introduced to the fascinating world of masala movies. Yeah, the logical explanation would be that a song had to be shot there and hence this indulgence. Well, no one’s complaining because the cinematography by N K Ekambaram is fantastic in all those exotic locations. The major problem with the movie is that it doesn’t expect its audience to be intelligent and hence all the minute details which could have made a difference are carefully explained right in the beginning of the movie. Earlier this year, Surya’s “Ayan” stood out because of its ultra cool style and a well planned structure of unfolding the plot. This, sadly was missing in “Mallanna” and the movie for the most part survives because of Vikram’s style with a tinge of Ekambaram’s stunning cinematography and colour grading. The film also has too many subplots which tread on quagmire, if only for a little while. The moment one realises the basic premise of the movie, it’s not hard to figure out what’s going to happen next.

Ahh…after those 3 hours, one may wonder why did Susi Ganeshan and Kalaipuli S Thanu delay the movie for so long! The only logical explanation I can think of apart from some unfortunate events, is that the director must have waited for the economic crisis to end and then…tadan! He would present to the world the perfect solution to the root of all problems! Phew…so much for telling an age old story which the media has been ranting over and over again for the past several years. In the meantime, the team of “Mallanna” found their El Dorado, Mexico, to shoot some stunning scenes, sing songs, gobble enormous amount of money…all in the process of explaining the trail of black money. Fair enough. Afterall what makes a good film? People these days want some fresh ideas on screen and that’s what our film makers do too. At the same time, it would have been fantastic if the director had put the audience in the centre of all the action which is blatantly missing.

Vikram is back with a bang in this flick with his slick portrayal of an IPS officer. No wonder this extremely talented actor easily slips into a prepostorous costume resembling a rooster, and a sari too! He’s also the only saving grace of this film. Shriya’s role as Subbalakshmi has her share of ups and downs which ultimately banks too much upon the glam quotient. Apart from that the premise of her “actually” falling in love with Mallanna is silly! Among other actors, Prabhu, Krishna stand out with their honest portrayal. Susi Ganesan plays a vital role and he’s as dead as wood in his role. Why do our film directors/producers make special appearances like these? I can never understand.

Praveen K L, the editor of the movie is in many ways the sole reason why the film never really works at a subconscious level. The editing work is too patchy and within a span of 2 minutes, at times there are so many shots that it gets onto your nerves. Unsettling as well. Music by Devi Sri Prasad is peppy, although it’s hard to understand the lyrics. Allegra, Mambo…Mambo and “Excuse Me Mr.Mallanna”, are wonderfully choreographed and jazzy. Ekambaram’s cinematography is wonderful as is the DI and colour grading of the film. Art by Thota Tharani is great, as usual. Susi Ganesan who handles story and screenplay apart from direction could have taken extra care in the screenplay section.

“Mallanna” is a stunning display of what lavish budget, great acting and cinematography can achieve. It’s also an example of how too many scenes and sloppy editing can ruin an honest film. In the end, it’s upto you what you make out of this 3 hour long stylishly shot trailer! Oh…just forgot to remind you, please do write down your request for money reimbursement with an “if-else” condition and tie it to a tree in the backyard of a Shiva temple, before you watch this film. You never know, maybe Mallana is indeed lurking around. Thumbs up for Vikram and Ekambaram…thumbs down for Praveen K L and Susi Ganesan. Watch it only if you have absolutely no other choice.

-Hemanth

P.S: I do love Tamil films. I think they are among the best that India churns out. Maybe my perspective of the movie would have been different had I seen the Tamil version.

Please help my writing and movie reviews by buying me a coffee….or a movie ticket.

At first glance was taken from my story  that I wrote in 1994 while travelling in India.

♫♥♫♪♥

At first  Glance

” I entered the shrine with the intention of purchasing a book on the Maharshi, more to please the taxi driver than myself. But my heart leapt, when my eyes caught sight of a life size photograph of the Maharshi, placed on a raised platform at the far end of the hall.

Never before had I seen such a beautiful countenance. Moving closer to the platform, I began to study his eyes; great dark pools of compassion and understanding, unlike any I’d seen before. Their compelling gaze seemed to invite me to linger. Spellbound, I sat crossed-legged, staring at him, soon I began to feel the Maharshi’s presence, as if he was imparting something from his eyes to my heart. On that first encounter, I’d not only bought the book WHO AM I, but proceeded to buy every available book on the late great sage.

The books had kept me entranced throughout that long Summer in India. His message was simple and modest. It made no claims to occult powers and esoteric knowledge to amaze the mystery loving nature of his fellow countrymen or curious minded traveller. Yet, it gave inspiration and encouragement to a hard-headed Westerner like myself. He pointed out plainly and simply, the path inward, the journey from ignorance to self-recognition; something I had not seriously considered before, or at best given only scant lip service to.

What became clear to me during my reading, is that men like the Maharshi, and there are few, ensure the continuity down through history of a divine message from regions not easily accessible to us all. Man such as the Maharshi are rare indeed.

Also, the Sage did not come to argue anything with us, but to reveal our own divine nature. His rational teachings of Who am I, point to self-inquiry and the need to seek the pure essence of the Self. God is rarely mentioned in his teachings of Jnana Yoga. He simply puts forward a self-analysis which can be practised irrespective of any ancient theories or modern beliefs, and by so doing, he provides a way to true self-understanding. Thus, he fulfils the ancient Hindu scriptures, not by preaching but by practice.

The Maharshi had not become my guru, but his teachings had proved invaluable in my search for truth.”

Great tamil saint

Kural pronounced in English

“Thanakkuvamai illathaan thaalsaernthaal kallaal
Manakkavalai maatral arithu”

Precise meaning in english

Version 1:Unless His foot, ‘to Whom none can compare,’ men gain,
‘Tis hard for mind to find relief from anxious pain.

Version 2:Anxiety of mind cannot be removed, except from those who are united to the feet of
Him who is incomparable

Explanation:

There is no way to get rid of the mental sorrow other than rendering service at the feet of the One (saint), who is incomparable and unbeatable. This is the opinion of Thiruvalluvar in this matter. The five senses cause the misery in human life by creating exhaustion and sorrow which increases day by day. In order to get rid of this suffering one has to serve and follow the path of those who have attained the Super Natural state. There is no escape out of this.

The presence of the great Mahan who has controlled the irresolute mind can be felt even when he is in proximity to us. This is because their mind is resolute and works without any disturbance. When one stays close to them and learns the practice of meditation then the mind can forget its sorrow, troubles, even oneself and find peace.

Ramana Maharishi goes into Mauna Viradham (silent fast – abstain from speaking) one day in a week after answering the questions of people for the other six days. During this day of fast people stay close to him and reach close to his state and forget their selves and find peace. The people who knew this would expect the day of his fast, enjoy the state of mind and praise Ramana Maharishi as alleviator of sorrow.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

The preaching of Lord Jesus also seems very pertinent to this.

Everything is Brahman

दृष्टिं ज्ञानमयीं कृत्वा पश्येद् ब्रह्ममयं जगत्

[Gaining the vision of Enlightenment, perceive the world as Brahman]

This is a crude translation of the matchless original, the source of which is the tejobindu upanishad (1.29) and  quoted by Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.

The sole aim of the Vedas and the Smritis is to bestow the realization that there is none other than the Supreme, Brahman, and that this realization alone is the panacea for the pain of bondage. All the Acharyas of all schools of Vedanta, whether they taught the Nirvishesha Brahman or the Personal God as the Ultimate, exhorted their followers to keep the above as the ideal.   Let us look at some statements in the Veda and the Smriti that proclaim in unmistakable terms the truth that Brahman is everything.

The Veda:

1. In the most familiar Purusha SUktam, there is a sentence:

पुरुष एवेदं सर्वम्…All this is verily the PuruSha.  The word ‘PuruSha’ itself, etymologically, means: पूर्णत्वात् पुरुष:, पुरि शयनात् पुरुष:, पूरयति सर्वं इति पुरुष:.  This means: He is called Purusha because He is Full, Complete.  He is Purusha because He resides in the body-city.  He is Purusha because He ‘fills’/permeates everything.  In effect, everything is Full of Him.

1. In the equally familiar ‘Narayana Suktam’, we have: विश्वं नारायणम् हरिम्, विश्वमेवेदं पुरुष:.  ‘The Universe is Narayana, Hari. The Universe is the PuruSha alone.’ This quote also shows that there is nothing other than Narayana, Brahman.
2. The famous Chandogya Upanishad 3.14 quote: ’सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म’ (sarvam khalvidam brahma’ teaches that ‘All this is indeed Brahman’.
3. The Mundakopanishad ( 2.2.11) puts this idea in a more emphatic manner:

‘ब्रह्मैवेदं अमृतं पुरस्तात् ब्रह्म पश्चात् ब्रह्म दक्षिणत: उत्तरश्च ।

अधश्चोर्ध्वं च प्रसृतं ब्रह्मैवेदं विश्वमिदं वरिष्ठम् ॥

[All this that is in front is but Brahman, the Immortal.  Brahman is at the back, as also on the right and the left.  It is extended above and below, too. This world is nothing but Brahman, the Highest.]

1. Of course the famous Chandogya Upanishad VI chapter is the unmistakable scriptural proof of the Sat, Brahman, being everything.  The sentence: ऎतदात्म्यमिदं सर्वं तत् सत्यम् स आत्मा तत् त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो’ repeated nine times teaches that the entire universe made of the material fire, water and earth, is ultimately none other than Brahman, the Supreme Cause of everything.  This conclusion of the Upanishad is based on its own reasoning provided in the earlier part of this very chapter by the three illustrations of the clay-clay products, gold-ornaments and iron-iron materials.  This seminal concept of non-difference between the material cause and its effects is carried throughout the chapter, applying the rule several times and finally concluding that ‘This Sat, Brahman, is the Atma, Self, of this Universe.’
2. इदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा (Idam sarvam yadayamaatmaa) (Brihadaranyaka. 6.5.7) says that ‘All this is but the very Atman’.
3. The Kathopanishad 2.4.11 puts the same idea in a different way: नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन (There is no diversity here at all).
4. Another Up. Says: आत्मैवेदं सर्वम् All this is verily Atman.
5. The Atharva Veda 10.8.27 says: त्वं स्त्री त्वं पुमान् असि त्वं कुमार उत वा कुमारी, त्वं जीर्णोऽसि…(You are the female, the male, the young man, the young lady, you are the old man walking with a stick….)  While the above quoted Shruti passages taught that everything in the Universe in general is Brahman alone, this passage teaches that even the people, the sentient beings, are none other than Brahman alone.

10. The Rudra adhyAya of the Yajur veda is full of references to the effect that the whole universe, the sentient and the insentient, is Ishvara.  The description is so vivid that one cannot but wonder at the emphatic manner in which the Veda declares that everything is but Ishvara, Brahman.  The walker, sitter, runner, sleeper, the robber, the highway terrorist, the forest, the trees, the sun, everything is Ishwara.

The Bhagavadgita:

1. There is a very significant verse in the Gita 13^th chapter that brings out in one go the teaching that everything, the moving and the non-moving, is Brahman:

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानां अचरं चरमेव च ।

सूक्ष्मत्वात् तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत् ॥ 15 ||

[It is without and within (all) beings; the unmoving as also the moving.  Because It is subtle, It is incomprehensible; and near and far away is It.]

Shankaracharya comments: //

What lies outside the body which is inclusive of the skin and which is regarded through ignorance as one’s own self.  And ‘within’ refers to the Inner Self, PratyagAtman, lying inside the body.  The statement that It is ‘without and within’ may imply Its absence in the middle (in the body which intervenes between the PratyagAtman and external objects).  To prevent this implication, the Lord says that It is ‘the unmoving as also the moving.’ It is Brahman, the Knowable, that appears as the bodies, moving and unmoving, just as a rope appears as a snake.//

1. In this very chapter the verse 18 says:

इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं समासत: ।

मद्भक्त एदद्विज्ञाय मद्भावायोपपद्यते ॥

[Thus the Kshetra (the inert material world), as well as knowledge (the means of knowing  Brahman) and the Knowable (Brahman, the Goal), have been briefly set forth.  My devotee, on knowing this, becomes fit to attain My state.]

Shankaracharya comments: //Who is fit to attain this right knowledge?

He who is devoted to Me, who regards Me, Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, the Omniscient, the Supreme Guru, as the Self, the Soul, the Essence, of everything, i.e., he who is possessed, as it were, with the idea that all that he sees or hears or touches is nothing but the Lord, Vasudeva.  Thus devoted to Me, and having attained the right knowledge described above, he is fit to attain to My state, i.e. he attains Moksha.//

1. The verses in the 9^th Chapter, 15 to 19 all describe that Brahman is everything, sentient and insentient.
2. Of course, the famous verse ‘ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महविः …’ 4.28 is supremely illustrative of the idea that ‘Everything is Brahman alone’.  The Lord, instead of taking a worldly activity of commerce or peasantry, takes up a vedic ritual consisting of several distinct entities, to teach this idea that everything is indeed Brahman.

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महवि: ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् ।

ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥

[Brahman is the offering, Brahman the oblation, the one offering the oblation is Brahman, the fire in which the oblation is made is Brahman, the act of offering is Brahman and the result, the goal to be reached by such an offering is Brahman.]

To the one who has realized his pAramArthic/ asAmsAric/true nature of Brahmanhood, every act, mental, verbal and bodily, is saturated with/in Brahman.  He sees nothing other than Brahman.  The pancha-bhedAtmaka prapancha is now for him one Brahma-prajnAna-ghana, Impartite Brahman.  All the bheda-s stand negated in this state thus:

The Offeror (yajamaana-jiva)-offering (dravya-jaDa) difference is gone.

The jaDa-jaDa difference is gone when the offering and the agni into which it is offered are both realized as Brahman.

The offeror-jiva and goal-Ishwara difference is gone when the offering jiva realizes himself to be no different from Ishwara, the Sarva-yajna-bhokta.

The jaDa-dravya/agni and Ishwara difference is also gone for the reason stated above.

The jiva-jiva bheda too is not there as the offeror and the other members in the sacrifice namely the yajna-patni and other Rtviks are all realized to be Brahman alone. (The ‘other jiva-s’ are not explicitly mentioned in the above Gita verse; they are implicit.)

Thus the ‘prapancha’ consisting of the five bheda-s is now transformed into Brahman for the Jnani/mukta.  There are several Gita verses where the Lord teaches this Sarvatra Brahma darshanam for the Jnani.

The avowed purpose of the Upanishads/Gita is to enable this transformation.  It is with this in view that the prapancha is first described (adhyAropa) and the Brahma driShTi is later described (apavAda).  Another way of looking at this is: prapancha is the field of aparA vidyaa and Brahman is the transcendental realm of parA vidyaa.

1. As in the Shrutis that we saw earlier, even in the Gita we have distinct mention of the idea that Brahman is verily the sentient jiva-s, their soul, as well as the inert matter which is in truth Consciousness alone.  The popular verse 5.18:

विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।

शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिता: समदर्शिनः ॥

[In a Brahmana endued with wisdom and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, as also in a dog and in a dog-eater, the wise see the same, samam.]

The word ‘samam’ itself denotes Brahman, the spotless, says the very next verse 5.19.  Thus, while this verse teaches that the truth, essence, the soul, in each of the members listed is Brahman, the other verse quoted above (13.15) even the bodies made of matter, is realized to be none other than Brahman, the Consciousness.  How can matter be Consciousness?  This question is replied thus:  What is initially perceived as matter, prakriti, is only dependently existing (paratantra/vyavaharika) on Brahman, the Consciousness the Swatantra/Paramarthika.  While Brahman exists independently, the prakriti cannot do so; its status is akin to the illusory snake seen on the existing rope.

1. The famous statement in the Gita 7.19: वासुदेवः सर्वम् [Vasudeva,  Brahman, is Everything] teaches that such is the realization of the Jnani.  The Lord calls such a Jnani a ‘Mahatma’.    For him there is nothing that is not Brahman.  This is the Gita-version of the ‘सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म’ [’sarvam khalvidam brahma’] of the Chandogya Upanishad.
2. 13.28 again says the man of Realization perceives the ‘samam’ everywhere and never indulges in killing the Self.
3. Prakriti, the inert energy principle, is said to be constituted of the three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas.  In 7.12 the Lord says that even these evolutes of prakriti are indeed none other than He Himself; insofar as they are inhering, dependent upon, in other words, superimposed in Him.
4. The verse 2.16, again a very famous one, teaches that the ‘asat’ has no existence at all and the ‘sat’ can never go out of existence.  This itself is the proof coming from the Blessed Lord Himself that apart from Sat, Brahman (Chandogya VI), nothing else exists in truth.

The Vishnu Purana:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp035.htm

//These are, in fact, the brief replies to Maitreya’s six questions (p. 3), or, How was the world created? By Vishńu. How will it be? At the periods of dissolution it will be in Vishńu. Whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? From Vishńu. Of what is the substance of the world? Vishńu. Into what has it been, and will it again he, resolved? Vishńu. He is therefore both the instrumental and material cause of the universe. ‘The answer to the “whence” replies to the query as to the instrumental cause: “He is the world” replies to the inquiry as to the material cause.’ ‘And by this explanation of the agency of the materiality, &c. of Vishńu, as regards the universe, (it follows that) all will be produced from, and all will repose in him.’//

In the Vishnupuranam, after describing the variety in creation like heaven, hell, worlds, mountains, rivers, trees, etc., Sage Parasara declares that ‘Everything is Vishnu, the hell, the heavens, worlds, mountains, etc.’ A verse ’भूतानि विष्णु:. भुवनानि विष्णु:…’ is understood to be contained in this Puranam.  (Heard in a discourse)

This shows that the variety is only names and forms and the substance is Vishnu in everything; the name and form being insubstantial as per the Vacharambhana Shruti of the Chandogya Upanishad VI.  It is precisely because of the insubstantiality of the world the Scripture holds the Supreme, Brahman, as the sole goal of human endeavour.

The above cited passages bring us to the firm conclusion that there is nothing other than Brahman, the Truth, the Swatantra aka Paramarthika. Thus the jagat, prakriti, inert matter, which has a dependent existence (paratantra, aka vyavaharika) and the jiva, the conscious entity encased in inert material body-mind complex, are none other than Brahman, upon enquiry based on the teaching of the Shruti and Smriti and the Compassionate Guru.

श्रीसद्गुरुचरणारविन्दार्पणमस्तु

Related Reading:

http://atma.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/06/a-mananam-on-the-paramopanishat-pancha-bheda-prapancha.htm

The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Sankarji’s  family from Bay Area California.

Narayananji from Boston talked about the significance of satsang and the importance of Guru Krupa. We have learnt the fact from various discourses that human birth is indeed very rare. The main of human birth is to attain liberation. Our Guru Maharaj very beautifully says that realization is pure and pristine Krishna Bhakti. When one performs Krishna Bhakti for the sake of Bhakti which is devoid of any condition or cause then that is verily Mukti.

“Nija bhakthargalae jivan mukthargalae”

True devotees of the Lord are indeed Jivan Muktas. And true Krishna Bhakti is indeed Mukti.  We can see such a Krishna Bhakti in the life-history of Prahalada,  the Gopis of Brindavan. Our Guru Maharaj says that it is very difficult for the people in the age of Kali to develop that intense Krishna Bhakti.  So he preaches the steps that one should follow to develop that pure Bhakti for Lord Krishna which is untainted with any desires. How is Krishna Bhakti attained?   It happens only through Nama Sankirtan. So how does one develop conviction to Nama Sankirtan? It is verily through satsangs. We all know that it is very rare to get a satsang. One would need abundant Guru Krupa to be blessed with a satsang. When being part of satsang, he would get the flair of Nama Sanakirtan. By chanting the Divine Names of the Lord would instill Krishna Bhakti and when that Bhakti is untainted, it is verily Mukti.

Knowing the fact that Guru Krupa is causeless and has no time factor attached to it. It only comes by His sheer will and wish. It is due to the good merits accrued over so many births that one may be blessed with Guru Krupa. But we are all truly blessed to be in the abode of our Guru Maharaj.

Our Friday satsang is an endeavor to chant the Divine Names of the lord and to reminisce his glories.

Following this, Ramyaji from San Jose spoke on Guru Mahima thus,

Guruhoho anugraihivena puman purnaha prashantayae

Says Srimad Bhagavatham. A man attains the state of completeness only by the grace of his guru’s grace and blessings.

“Gurvilla viththai pazh” goes a saying in tamil.

“Sthothriyam brahma nishtam” says the Upanishadas. A guru is  the one who is very knowledgeable in all the Shastras and has well understood its essence and follows the path shown by the Shastras and it is he who has attained Brahmanubhuti.

The Upanishads preach the path of Sharanagathi to one such guru. So how do we  attain a Uttama Guru. We very well know that our efforts will be futile if we try to find a Guru ourselves. Instead of searching for a Guru, if we instead search for the Lord, we will get a Guru.

Well it is not very easy for everyone to attain a Guru just like that and it is to be said that the Lord also has certain guidelines to direct a soul to a Uttama Guru. A devotee of the highest order and for one the Lord thinks of showering his grace, for whom he decided to break the transmigration of births and deaths and having them attain Moksha, he doesn’t take those devotees to His holy Feet directly but only through a Guru. This is the Lord’s way.

If we perform the Bhakti from the bottom of our heart by abiding to the path shown by dharma, and if that unconditional Bhakti is directed towards the lord, then the Lord Himself will lead him to a Guru. We cannot find a Guru by our means. We cannot go and experiment gurus after gurus to see if he is indeed a Uttama Guru.  When one gets cheated even in worldly affairs, what to talk of spiritual life? We do a business with a dear friend of ours, but we develop some ill-feelings and we develop enmity and we stop doing business.  When one attains a Guru who is indeed not a true Guru, then what he loses is not just money or anything but he has wasted his entire birth.  When the Guru doesn’t possess Jnana, how can he impart Jnana to his disciples? Can a blind man show another blind man the way? When that Guru itself is not going to attain moksha, how can he show the path of moksha to his disciple?

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa very beautifully once said that a small snake once desired to eat a big frog. So the snake tries to swallow a little portion of the big frog, but, that snake is not capable enough to swallow the whole frog and so after some time, both of them die. Akin to this is that fact that if one attains a guru who is not a Jivan Mukta then not only the devotee will not reach the heavenly abode but also that Guru as well.

So who is a Uttama Guru? A sadguru is one who bestows you with Gnana and Bhakti and throws you unto the Holy Feet of the Lord without your knowledge.

If you go and ask a devotee as to what his Guru was doing when he went to see Him. He would say,
Srihari charana dyana paarayanam

He was meditating on the Holy Feet of Lord Sri Hari.

Sritha jana taapa trayasam haranam

The devotee would say “I had some worries in my mind and decided to talk to him about that to find some solace. But since he was meditating on Lord Hari,  and when I went and sat in front of him my mind was filled with peace”.

Aananda Bhaashpa poortitha netram

If you look at his eyes, you can experience the tears of joy in his eyes.
Since he is constantly meditating on the beautiful Lord, the Guru becomes

Adbudha roopam poolagangitha gathram

His body is so beautiful and experiences horripliation in ecstasy.
So what do we, as devotees of Sadguru do?  Meditate upon this uttama guru

Sri gurum eva sadaa bhavayae… hrudayae

At another instant of time, when you ask a devotee as to what he was doing he would say

Bhagavthamrutha rasikam sumukam
Bhava bhaya banchana charitham lalaitham

He expounds Srimad Bhagavatam with great vigor. We all know that by listening to Srimad Bhagavatam the disease called samsara will be cured.

And how was he explaining Srimad Bhagavatam?  The devotee says “Oh I don’t know whether it is hundredth time he is preaching Bhagavatam to his disciples.”. But every time he says, it looks like it is the first time he is discoursing on Srimad Bhagavatam and he is filled with joy and vigor when he expounds on it. He explains in a manner akin to how a teacher teaches a small child. He doesn’t show off his knowledge and only tells the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam .

After Bhagavatam what did your guru do? He would say

Srihari keerthana chaturam susvaram
Sripaduka kruta  nardanam sugunam

He was singing the glories of the Lordm dancing softly.
So who is fortunate to be blessed with such a Uttama Guru

“Pratipatam ha Krishna Krishneti gayantham”

It is only for that devotee who is immersed in the thought of Lord Krishna.

Prasanna mukham bhaktha hridi nivasantham

Once you have seen such a Sadguru, you don’t have to take efforts to meditate upon this Guru. His ‘Prasanna mukham’ [pleasing face] will bring His dyana into your heart.

What does he bless his devotees who come to have his darshan
Krishna Prema vitarana seelam

His very nature is to bestow the love for Krishna which he possess to his devotees. And

Kruthartha jana gana mangala moolam

If you are fortunate enough, then you will be blessed with such a Sadguru.

Thirumoolar in thirumandiram says the darshan of a sadguru will lead the mind into a peaceful state.

“Thelivu guruvin thirumeni kanthal
Thelivu guruvin thirunamam sepal
Thelivu guruvin thirvarthai kettal
Thelivu gurvarul chinthithal dhaane”

Guru’s darshan, meditating on the guru, abiding by the guru’s words and always thinking about the guru will purify you and bestow you with Jnana,

If we take the life-history Ramana Maharishi. Ramana once had a question about death and that question in turn gripped him with fear. Through self-inquiry, he attained the Supreme State and yet came to Thiruvannamlai.

He has composed several songs on Lord Arunachaleshwara. The most popular is the Aksharamanamalai [a series of 108 songs]. His Guru was none other than Lord Arunachala –

“Kutramutrorum ennai gunamai panithal  Guruvurvai ooli arunachala”

He enjoys calling that Arunachaleshwara as guru and not as Lord!

Akin to Ramana is Arungirnathar. He also did not have a Guru. He was also ordained by Lord Muruga. Of the numerous compositions on Lord Muruga, he says,

Santhatham Pantha thodaralae
Japamalai thantha sadgurunatha

Even though it was Lord Mwho gave him the Japamala, he calls Lord Muruga as the Sadgurunatha.

Uruvai aruvai uladai iladhai
Maruvai malariai maniya oliyai
Karuvai uirira kadhiya vidhiyai
Guruvai varuvai arulavai guhanae

Just like how we all have a family doctor, family deity, it is very important to have a guru.

Sant kabirdas in one of his dohas very beautifully says that “If at all both the Lord and the Guru come and stand in front of him, he would first prostrate to his Guru and then to the Lord.” There is a beautiful reason as to why he says this. A mother takes every step to bring up the child right from the first day of her pregnancy till the child becomes independent. When the child grows up and becomes very learned and earns a very respectable position in the society, the father proudly tells everybody that it is his son.

Similarly a guru, takes everyone unto his feet and bestows them with Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya and eventually throws them unto the feet of the Lord even without their knowledge.

Koorathaazhwaar was a great devotee of Sri Ramanuja.  He hailed from a place called ‘Kooram’.  He used to feed a huge number of devotees everyday. His Guru Bhakti was unique.  He knew no other God other than Sri Ramanuja.

Once, Lord Sri Varadaraja (of Kanchi) told Kacchiappanambi, “Why don’t you fan us in the ‘sayana gruha’, where we are locked up every night?”  and Kachiappa Nambi instantly agreed.  One such night,  it was past midnight when the Divine couple heard a clinging noise.  The Mother asked the Lord, ‘What is the noise at such a late hour?’

The Lord explained, “Our devotee Koorathaazhwaar is closing the door of his home after offering food to all the pilgrims. It is verily the sound of his doors being closed.”

At once, Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth) remarked, “Is there any dearth of Koorathaazhwar’s wealth?”

Kacchiappanambi who was listening to the divine conversation as he was fanning the Divine couple, couldn’t wait for dawn. He wanted to share this exciting news with Koorathazhwar an expected that the latter will jump in joy on learning that the Goddess of wealth had blessed him in this manner.

In the morning he rushed to Koorathaazhwaar’s home and with much joy said, “Last night the Lord and His Consort spoke about you.”

With excitement writ large on his face, Koorathaazhwaar asked, “What did they speak about me?”

When Kachiappa Nambi spoke about the Divine Mother’s remark about Koorathaazhwar’s wealth, a shadow of sorrow covered Koorathaazhwaar’s face.

He lamented, “Oh, Did they speak only this about me? Did not allude to me as a speck of dust at Sri Ramanuja’s feet?  Did they speak only about my wealth? And, you have come rushing to me to tell this?” He was extremely dejected. He at once walked out of his ouse renouncing everything. Such was Koorathaazhwar’s Guru Bhakti!

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

From The Unforgettable Years -

devotee stories from Arunachala.

Bhagavan would never tolerance any kind of preferential treatment. In fact he would repeatedly say he would be happy if the ‘others’ were shown greater consideration. Once Bhagavan stopped drinking buttermilk. Devaraja Mudaliar who used to sit near Bhagavan noticed this. “Bhagavan, we eat all the items sumptuously. But you keep giving up one item or the other. How can we bear this?” Bhagavan replied,  “They are only too ready to give me extra helpings. But when it comes to the devotees their hands are paralysed.” On enquiry I learnt that Bhagavan was provoked into making this remark because a young girl from Bangalore had been refused extra quantity of ’sambar’ which she had asked for. All said and done there was the human weakness of the kitchen helpers.

Those who were sitting near Bhagavan and the old devotees would be looked after properly. Those who sat far away and the newcomers would be neglected.

Repeated statements from  Ramana that serivce to his devotees was the best form of service to him, would be of no avail. Hence he would stop eating or drinking some item to draw the pointed attention of the kitchen-staff to impartiality.

·**•.♥LOVE♥.•**·life·**•.♥LIFE♥.•**

Courtesy – RamanaMaharshi’s Ashram.

Lakshmi The Cow

The journey from Bangalore to Tiruvannamalai was long, hot and bumpy. The old Ambassador taxi entered the iron gates of the Ashram, where the driver, with flawless accuracy, manoeuvred the car to a standstill between two large sprawling Banyan trees.

I looked at my watch. Just after eight a.m. Not bad, I thought, as I began to smooth my ruffled clothes and wiped the sweat from my face in readiness to meet the Ashram manager.

Stepping out of the taxi, the morning air lifted my flagging spirits. A soft breeze blew gently, bringing the scent of sweet flowers. Immediately captivated by this tropical hide-a-way, I stooped to touch the ground in homage to the late Indian Sage, Ramana Maharshi. He had lived here for over fifty years until his death in 1950. Now his charming Ashram, Ramanashramam, remains a living testimony to his love for nature and his love for an interior life.

The small courtyard in which I stood vibrated with the song of birds. Monkeys and other small mammals, apparently unafraid, busily searched for food in the tropical foliage.

Gazing across the Ashram, I could see the hill Arunachala, her rugged appearance served as an ideal backdrop to the simple Ashram.

My taxi driver directed me to the verandah where a few people stood, and where eventually, I was ushered into the office and told to wait. Through similar experiences in other Indian Ashrams, I knew I could be there all morning. I anxiously sat down on the hard wooden bench and tried to compose myself.

Hanging from the office wall and in my direct line of vision, a large printed notice informed visitors that all rooms had to be reserved in advance. I hadn’t done this.

My anxiety became acute, I was about to leave, when a rather stern looking individual entered the office. The Ashram manager, I presumed – he did not have the same inviting air as I had experienced in the outer courtyard. I was soon to find out that without a reservation, it would be tough to secure a room. But after some tactful replies to his probing questions concerning my knowledge of Ramana Maharshi, he smiled at me in a conciliatory way and said, ‘Okay you can stay, six days only.’ He hastily directed me toward a quiet room near the Ashram library.

Alone in my room, I began to lazily reflect on my journey to Arunachala.

The Summer of 1993

It had really begun the previous summer, when I had been travelling to Mysore to visit the Maharajas palace. Suddenly, the taxi driver pulled over and pointed out the small Ramana shrine as an interesting place to visit.

Anxious to complete my journey, I tried to dismiss the idea, but without success for my driver was an ardent devotee of the venerable sage.

When the taxi finally came to a stop in the secluded shrine courtyard, I’d immediately sensed an intangible calm. Casually, I entered the shrine with the intention of purchasing a book on the Maharshi, more to please the taxi driver than myself. But my heart leapt, when my eyes caught sight of a life size photograph of the Maharshi, placed on a raised platform at the far end of the hall.

Never before had I seen such a beautiful countenance. Moving closer to the platform, I began to study his eyes; great dark pools of compassion and understanding, unlike any I’d seen before. Their compelling gaze seemed to invite me to linger. Spellbound, I sat crossed-legged, staring at him, soon I began to feel the Maharshi’s presence, as if he was imparting something from his eyes to my heart. On that first encounter, I’d not only bought the book WHO AM I, but proceeded to buy every available book on the late great sage.

The books had kept me entranced throughout that long Summer in India. His message was simple and modest. It made no claims to occult powers and esoteric knowledge to amaze the mystery loving nature of his fellow countrymen or curious minded traveller. Yet, it gave inspiration and encouragement to a hard-headed Westerner like myself. He pointed out plainly and simply, the path inward, the journey from ignorance to self-recognition; something I had not seriously considered before, or at best given only scant lip service to.

What became clear to me during my reading, is that men like the Maharshi, and there are few, ensure the continuity down through history of a divine message from regions not easily accessible to us all. Man such as the Maharshi are rare indeed.

Also, the Sage did not come to argue anything with us, but to reveal our own divine nature. His rational teachings of Who am I, point to self-inquiry and the need to seek the pure essence of the Self. God is rarely mentioned in his teachings of Jnana Yoga. He simply puts forward a self-analysis which can be practised irrespective of any ancient theories or modern beliefs, and by so doing, he provides a way to true self-understanding. Thus, he fulfils the ancient Hindu scriptures, not by preaching but by practice.

The Maharshi had not become my guru, but his teachings had proved invaluable in my search for truth.

Absorbed in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed the time until a power cut suddenly halted the overhead fan. The air in the room became stifling.

I quickly unpacked; took a cool shower and changed into suitable walking clothes. Better, I thought, to explore Arunachala before the Ashram staff changed their minds about my allotted six day visit.

Before my trek up the hill to Ramana’s first tiny Ashram, Skandashramam, I stopped at a little coffee hut across the street from Arunachala. The owner, however, expressed concern about my proposed walk on the hill. He explained the sun, by mid-morning, would be too hot for such an ambitious hike. But I had made up my mind to go, and after all, I reassured myself, I could always turn back.

During my slow walk though Ramanashramam, I passed by the shady temple, where two old white and tan Pi-dogs lay sleeping on the temple verandah. Unlike most of their relations, their fat round bodies had never known hunger. Peacocks, their bright plumage glistening in the morning sun,stood as if on guard near the temple entrance.Few people could be seen. Having finished breakfast, most had retired to their rooms or had joined others, meditating in the Ashram Hall.

At the bridge, which divided the main Ashram from the mountain, I spotted a group of young children sitting under an enormous old Banyan tree, its spacious branches providing ample shade from the sun drenched hill. The girls in particular took my eye. Daintily dressed in bright frothy frocks, they brought colour and life to the otherwise dull green clumps of dry grass. A great photo opportunity I thought, as I reached for my camera, but before I had a chance to catch the adorable scene, the excited children gathered around and shouted all at once, “What is your name? Where do you come from?” These overused paraphrases contained the few English words known to the children.

Their warm smiles and gleeful conversation bolstered my dwindling confidence, after the cool reception of the Ashram staff.

Long Climb Up the Hill

Leaving the children, I walked through an old rusty iron-gate opening and started my ascent. The hill looked surprisingly steep, but small wooden steps had been placed sensibly along the way, making the climb more inviting.

A young monk appeared from behind one of the boulders, his too lean body, clad only in an old faded towel, looked emaciated. He muttered something about my shoes; that perhaps I should remove them. His intense eyes observed my awkwardness as I sat to remove them. He pointed with his stick to a spot near a rock where they would be safe. Once assured I would not sneak back and retrieve them, he ambled off to his rocky retreat. My climb to the summit would be in true pilgrimage style – bare footed! However, a few yards along, I have to confess, my feet began to feel the heat from the stones and I returned to find my shoes.

With my head bowed I concentrated on the stone steps that led to the summit. Here and there among the rocks, I spotted a few ragged beggars and the occasional stoic monk absorbed in meditation; but none glanced in my direction.

Young trees grew in abundance along the pathway, their large trunks, baked white by the sun, supported masses of long thin branches ladened with brittle silvery leaves. Their razor sharp texture caused them to rustle in the calm breeze, providing a pleasing sound. I was told later the trees had been planted to replace the native trees that had been cut down on the hill – apparently in Ramana’s day, Arunachala had been a jungle area. Here and there between the steps grew tiny clumps of brilliant blue flowers. Every step of my climb seemed to reveal some exquisite detail of nature.

I stopped to catch my breath, behind me I could see Ramana’s Ashram quivering in the heat far below. Had I climbed so far? It would be ridiculous to return now. Slightly slower than before, my climb continued.

My thoughts returned to the coffee hut proprietor, he had warned me about the venomous snakes and scorpions on the mountain. I had gingerly responded that Arunachala being holy ground, surely I would be protected! Brave words from the relative safety of the coffee hut, but now isolated and alone, I began to feel uneasy and whispered a prayer to Arunachala.

I had been told many times in this ancient land: when a holy name is uttered by a genuine believer, its power would protect. Would the sacredness of Arunachala protect me? My analytical mind wanted to believe so, and in true Hindu tradition, I continued to cite the name ‘Arunachala’ softly, with each step up the rocky terrain.

Gradually the trees gave way to more boulders, they looked larger and brighter here. Their brown, red and grey rocks shone in the dazzling sunlight. An awesome silence, both majestic and haunting, abounded, an infinite stillness; this had not been apparent from below.

The climb became arduous, the now fire-hot stones irritated even my sandal clad feet. Also to add to my discomfort, an angry red swelling began to appear on my left ankle. In the distance, I could see Skandashramam.

The boiling sun shone relentlessly, “Why didn’t I bring water?”, I muttered to myself.

Another alarming thought came to mind. Would there be any in the tiny uninhabited Ashram? In my impatience to climb Arunachala, I had forgotten to buy the required bottled water. For a few seconds, I stopped to contemplate the situation.

My thoughts were interrupted by a flock of tiny colourful birds flying overhead, their lively abundant calls reassuring, among the otherwise lonely peaks. A few large yellow butterflies, the size of hummingbirds, fluttered through the scrub. Suddenly, a rushing sound came from the undergrowth. There, a bright green lizard, alarmed by my nearness, darted out of the scrub and scampered back again! Startled by its sudden scaly appearance, I jumped backward and nearly fell. The swelling on my ankle began to ache and on closer examination it looked like some sort of insect bite.

Above me, my eyes caught a slight movement. Squinting to see more clearly, I spotted someone perched on a huge rock, draped in orange clothing and frantically waving in my direction. From my obscure position, the figure resembled a brilliant orange butterfly. Good, I thought, someone to guide me. Waving back, I motioned for help.

Within minutes, the figure had weaved his way through the rocks and had reached me. My orange butterfly proved to be a tall stick-thin young man whose bright orange robes indicated he was a young monk of sorts.

He shyly suggested that I was lost, his faltering English aided by an abundant use of hand signals and broad smiles.

“No, I am not lost, but I need water,” came my halting reply.

“There is fresh sweet water from the spring inside the Ashram, let me take you. Come.”

Following the monk, we reached the small ashram without further problems.

Skandashramam

The tiny iron-gate entrance appeared like the Gates of Heaven. The lad quickly brought a tin mug of clear spring water. No longer worried about it being bottled, I quickly drank. It was cool and sweet, as promised! I lazily sat down on an old stone bench and rested my tired feet.

Looking around the small ashram courtyard, I noticed only a few small buildings. They appeared to have been carved out of the mountain side.

The entrance to Ramana’s room was via the small meditation cave from which the large Arunachaleswara temple could be seen far below. It resembled an Egyptian monument. There were nine Gopuras which looked like Pyramids, with their tops chopped off ! I marvelled at the workmanship. Even at a distance, I could see the decorative carvings which adorned the towering Gopuras. Sadly with the abundance of traffic down in the town, I could hear the all too familiar street traffic as it reverberating off the mountain. This had not been the case in Ramana’s day and how peaceful a place Skandaashram must have been then.

In this tiny cave, Ramana had sat day after day greeting disciples and visitors. Here he had taught the age old wisdom of detachment and solitude, and although he sought no publicity, no following, people came from all over India to visit the Sage.

To my left, a little doorway led me into a dark, cool, stone room. The sudden change from dazzling sunlight to this shadowy room affected my eyes. I couldn’t see at all, but soon my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I became aware of sweet smelling joss sticks, from which soft spirals of silvery smoke danced upward. The spirals in themselves, weaved a sort of magic, as if bringing alive once more a by-gone age. A soft sort of enchantment – that I can’t quite describe. As my vision adjusted to the darkness, I noticed a photo of Ramana. The young monk lit a candle and there, in front of me, life-like, an enormous aged picture of Sri Ramana. His warm gaze and half-smiling lips gave encouragement and lifted the uncertainly from this solitary pilgrimage.

The lad whispered, “This is where Ramana lived”, while pressing a few sticky Jasmine flowers into my hand. Dutifully, I placed the pretty creamy petals in the customary position above Ramana’s picture. Silently, I offered the usual prayers for protection and peace.

A quick glance around the room revealed it was empty. The dark walls, with few cavities for windows, seemed utterly austere.

This tiny ashram, with only the barest of essentials, had been Ramana’s home, and that of his mother for 6 years. How cold and lonely it must have been. Had Ramana ever missed the warmth of kith and kin? His mother had become his disciple, she had worshipped her enigmatic son, but he had stopped identifying with her since the day he had thrown his Sacred Brahman Thread into the temple pool, in Tiruvannamalai.

The discarding of the sacred thread had been symbolic for, with it, he had discarded all worldly attachments.

Her room, no larger than his, with its equally sparse interior, appeared even more cold and gloomy. Had she tried to make it comfortable, I wondered? Doubtless, her busy days as the Ashram cook and supervisor did not leave her time to ponder on frivolous worldly things.

I emerged back into the sunlight and sat down near the meditation cave. The total absence of man-made anythings gave the ashram an assurance of quiet repose. I felt strangely aware of Ramana’s presence for his enduring memory imbued every rock, and his ethereal vibrations remained captured for all time in this tiny remote retreat.

Wanting to avoid being sun-baked as well as foot sore, I strolled slowly to the tiny spring where cool, clear water gushed from the craggy rocks. Cupping my hands to catch some of the flow, I felt thoroughly refreshed.

Enjoying the moment, I leisurely bathed my sore ankle, wrapped it in a damp handkerchief, and strolled over to a huge shady Mango tree, whose heavy trunk grew horizontally over the small stone Ashram wall.

What a majestic view this tree had of the holy hill. I stood admiring its protracted branches as they drooped over the path in greeting to each pilgrim. Beside and almost hidden, a solitary coconut tree had grown to an enormous height to reach the sunlight.

With my guide leading the way, we left behind the Ashram entrance and cautiously, followed the hazardous pathway leading down to a small leafy grotto. By myself, I would not have found the solitary cave, for it had been well hidden between huge boulders and trees. There, built onto the cave entrance, sat a tiny whitewashed hut. Inside this small abode, a long red bench took up most of the living area. This was known as the front room. Here, Ramana had slept.

The cave, directly behind the little room, was hot and oppressive and as I peered through the entrance, wave upon wave of stifling, musty air came from its blackish opening. As my eyes gradually became accustomed to the dull and dingy hollow, I could see the shadowy silhouettes of people dotted around the dim interior.

Pondering on this picture of gloomy asceticism, my eyes came to rest on the Holy Linga – the Shiva symbol of creation, which Ramana had constructed long ago. The egg-shaped Linga, beautifully positioned on a raised platform, provided inspiration for meditators. Garlands of Marigolds, intertwined with tiny red Rose buds, together with orange and cream Jasmine lay in a neat circle, around the Linga. Even these dainty blooms had turned sticky and sour in the fierce heat but their heavenly scent was still hanging in the air.

Although curious, nothing could induce me to enter the cave, instead, I sat at the small airy entrance engrossed in thoughts of a distant time.

This is where the young teenager, Ramana had lived; all alone in this small room his only company, the mountain and her denizens. But what was it that made Arunachala so special to him? She is special, of course. Her craggy peaks, adorned by beautiful tropical foliage, had seen to that. But Ramana had thought of Arunachala as his Guru, and he had never left her.

It came to mind that many people would have considered Ramana’s life to be one, not of self-denial, but of retreat from the hard drudgery of human life. But Ramana had lived alone to allow his spiritual life to develop and blossom on the holy mountain. It couldn’t have been at all easy for such a young lad.

For he knew, all too soon, others would join him and break his beloved solitude. They would delve deeply into his teachings, and bathe in his pure vibrations of perfect peace.

Ramana was destined to became a tireless teacher; a teacher mainly given to silent instruction. But his message, though short, and of few words, was soon to be recorded in many spiritual books, and would become accessible to us all.

No, Ramana had not retreated from the world. He had given the world a clear and concise message: that man is an elevated soul, and a greater Being suckled him than his own earthly mother.

There on Arunachala, I could accept Ramana’s message, but I doubted if I could achieve anything more than a quiet acceptance in my present state of development; for my feet were forever restless, with a mind to match. Surrender, yes, how I’d love to, but the soul, no doubt, must be ready.

My thoughts were broken by the cave attendant who came and stood beside me. Wearing the typical dhoti (man’s robe) and with a towel draped over his shoulders, he looked quite Indian. We began to talk.

He was from South America, he said, but had lived here for a long time. We began to discuss Arunachala. First he had come only to visit, but had felt a sense of belonging. After much contemplation, he had decided his destiny lay here with Arunachala.

Everyday, he climbed Arunachala to attend the grotto, and had lovingly restored the little hut, spending many days painting the exterior and clearing away rubble that had gathered over the years. Due to his sadhana (penance), this quiet and gracious man had been given a permanent visa to live here. After the short conversation, I left the attendant to his duties. It was a relief to be back in the sunshine.

Leaving my young monk-guide, I embarked on a solitary descent, but a wrong turn led me to a small village, somewhere near the foot of the hill. To my surprise, the village verged on the town of Tiruvannamalai.

I walked quickly by the little colour-washed huts and small paint-peeled houses. Many of the residents were already in their yards busily preparing their evening meals. The air, heavily laden with delicious smells of aromatic herbs and spices, breathed their appetising sweetness through the tiny village streets.

An old man, lean and bent, sold tiny colourful piles of fine powder; purple, pink, red, and saffron from a large silver tray. A young woman stooped to examine this colourful selection. Her long lustrous hair, adorned with tiny jasmine flowers, fell almost to the ground, hiding her faded green sari. She was typical of South Indian women, who have a very special beauty when young.

Here, I hired a waiting rickshaw. It’s dented yellow exterior implied that it had seen better days, but I decided to risk a jaunt in this tenuous conveyance. The precarious driver dived in and out of the cars and trucks, but I felt too tired to care.

Outside the Ashram gates, the dare-devil driver demanded 7 rupees twice the normal fare! I didn’t argue, after all, it had been a wonderful day.

-Sathya Sai Memories.

DAY ONE of being aware of silence and nothing else. i have been calmer, but i am not using this as a technique to calm down. no, this is a non-technique. it is just about being aware of the silence that all things spring forth from. it is like plunging down into the realms of subtlety itself. i look at the screen, who is really doing the looking?? i think it may be a person, but the person is just a bundle of thoughts, beliefs and feelings. what precedes thought? awareness, silence, stillness, vastness. it takes a little bit of getting used to, to be able to catch that awareness and observe the observer itself.

and it is as if i am always asking questions of ‘myself’. where does this awareness reside? inside my body? when i am aware of awareness, it is as if the centre of my consciousness shifts to somewhere just behind and possibly outside of my heart centre. is that where awareness lives? so then, does that mean i own this awareness? do i experience the awareness? or is the awareness experiencing ‘me’?

AS is right; many, many people search for a point in time where they feel ‘bliss’ and then they hold onto that feeling through a particular technique and that is their definitive answer to enlightenment. they then think that state can be experienced again and again by the ‘little me’ who is supposedly in control. but no, it can never be that static, we must continually probe into the depths, continually be with it from moment to moment, in a self-inquiry that can never be answered by the thinking mind.

Ramana says that personal inquiry into the self is like a stick turning a fire, we keep the fire burning by our questions, keep going deeper and deeper searching for the truth – and the further we reach the further the fire burns until one day, the stick itself burns out and the ’self’ has been extinguished too. We finally move beyond the rational thinking mind into realization.

I am now at a stage where I am past the ideology of bliss fulfilment. Every moment sets a new question for me, even as i type this i am asking ‘where are these words coming from?’ 

we can banter on ad infinitum about the theory behind all this and the beautiful thing about it is that we cannot rest long on theory alone. we either give up and return to our lives as we knew them or move through the veil and forge ahead with our inquiry by now actually feeling each question and searching for the truth in our bodies rather than our heads alone.  

it is out there somewhere.

The Nama Sankirtan was led by Nainar Mohamed and family from Mountain View, California.
This was followed by a talk by Narayanan from Boston.

We have been starting our satsangs by talking about the glory of satsang over the past few weeks and hence I thought we will talk about that, today too.
In Srimad Ramayana we see people with different characteristics. One is Sugreeva who is terror stricken at the thought of his brother Vaali. His life is in danger as Vaali can kill him any moment and he hides to save himself. He had lost all his materialistic possessions [his share of the kingdom] On the other side of the spectrum is Ravana. He was one of the most learned person, adept in shastras and a very powerful ruler indeed. This is at the beginning of Ramayana. However at the end of Ramayana, we see that Sugreeva is the ruler of Kishkinda and he leads a happy life. On the other hand, Ravana dies a miserable death. The main difference to note is that Sugreeva had Hanuman has his pal and that bought all the fortune for him, whereas Ravana set fire to Hanuman’s tail, thereby insulting the Bhagavatottama. He got rid of all the satsangs that he had destroyed Vibishana’s kingdom. These acts verily lead to the downfall of Ravana. The company of Sadhus and taking a refuge in the holy feet of Sadguru and not insulting any Bhagavatottama will keep one happy in this life and beyond.

Then, who is a Guru?  Anyone who shows us the Lord is verily the Guru. There are many different Gurus illustrated in our scriptures.
It would be surprising to note that even Kamsa and Sukracharya were Gurus?  How?  It was Kamsa who showed the place of Lord Krishna to Akrura and created an opportunity for Akrura to meet Lord Krishna, although his intent was to slay Krishna.  That way, Kamsa becomes Akrura’s Guru.  During Vamana Avatara, when Lord Vamana comes to the place of King Bali’s sacrifice, Sukracharya, the preceptor of King Mahabali, warns the King ‘Hey Vairochana! this young lad is none other than Hari. Beware!’.  By showing the Lord to King Bali, Sukracharya becomes a Guru.

But who is a Uttama Guru?  Some say that the Uttama Guru is like a sorcerer’s stone.  A sorcerer’s stone is one that when brought into contact with any object turns that object into gold.  But Mahans beg to differ.  The object may turn into gold. However that very object cannot be used to turn other objects into gold.  Whereas in the case of a Uttama Guru, by a mere touch, a Uttama Guru can turn his disciples into Jnanis and the chain does not stop there.  The disciples can turn other disciples into Jnanis by their touch.  Now, do we see why a Uttama Guru cannot be compared to a sorcerrer’s stone?

There was a pious brahmin couple who lived in the state of Andhra Pradesh, whose family had been continuously doing ‘Soma Yaga’ (Soma Yaga is a particular sacrifice that has been advocated in our scriptures for all brahmin householders).  It was said that when he had completed a hundred soma yagas, the Lord Himself will be born to them.

This couple had shifted to Varanasi to earn their living, for he was a Vedic scholar and Varanasi was the seat of Vedic education during that time.  It was the time of Muslim invasions in India and often dacoits and looters came in horses and scared the lives out of the residents.  During one such attack, fearing for life, the couple moved into a forest.  The wife was bearing the aforesaid god-child in her womb as they made their way into the forest.  One night, in the middle of the forest, the wife gave birth to a beautiful boy.  There was no help to reach out to, and it is said that the animals and other natural forces verily guarded the child after it was born.   They named the child “Vaishvanara” (Vaishvanara is the name of Agni – the God of Fire, which was their primary deity worship).

Vaishvanara grew up to be a great scholar in his later life and came to be called by everyone as Sri Vallabhacharya.  Sri Vallabhacharya has written commentaries on the Upanishads and various other scriptures.  His commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam – called as “Subhodini” is till date, considered as one of the best commentaries of Srimad Bhagavatam till date.  He propounded the path of worship known as “Pushti Marg” and had temple establishments in various places, including Allahabad and Brindavan.

Krishnadas was one of the disciples of Sri Vallabha.  Sri Vallabha had appointed Krishnadas as the Manager of the Srinathji temple in Mathura he founded.  Sri Vallabha instructed Krishnadas that only the best of the best products be offered to the deity.  This, Krishnadas, took as the initiation of the Guru and followed it in word and spirit.  Even today, the betel leaves for the deity come from Vellore in Tamilnadu (which is known to produce the best betel leaves in the country), water from the Yamuna is brought to this place daily and saffron from Kashmir is flown to the temple on a daily basis!

Once Krishnadas was going on a horse carriage to Mathura to get groceries for the temple when he heard a melodious music coming from somewhere.  He was so much drawn to the music that he asked the carriage driver to halt. Later, he asked that the carriage be driven towards the source of the music and finally, he reached a place where a beautiful maiden was singing in a melodious voice and dancing in front of a few rich people.

Krishnadas sat mesmerized by the elegance of the maiden’s dance and the melody of her voice.  He felt there could not be a greater vocalist and dancer than her in the whole world.  He approached her after the dance and learned that her name was Ranjani.

He remembered his Guru’s instruction and told Ranjani, ‘Ranjani! will you dance in front of my Master?’

Ranjani immediately turned down Krishnadas’ request – ‘I don’t come outside to dance. Ask your Master to come here!’

‘My master wouldn’t come. But I assure you, you will be very satisfied after having danced in his presence.’

Ranjani, ‘Well!  Will your master pay me enough? I demand a large sum when I perform outside.’

‘Don’t every worry about it. My Master is extremely affluent. No one in this world is as rich as him, so much so that, the Goddess of wealth herself is at his feet!’

Ranjani said, ‘I don’t dance in front of oldaged people. Is your master handsome enough?’

Krishnadas said, ‘My master is the most handsome person on earth! He is like a million cupids put together, and he is ever a young man in his sweet-sixteen.’

Ranjani asked, ‘Is your master a rasika (conneisseur)? I will be really upset if my audience cannot appreciate and enjoy my music and dance and hence will not perform if he is not a rasika.’

Krishnadas immedately said, ‘My master is the greatest conneisseur of music and dance. He is ‘akhilakalaadi guru’ – the master of all arts!

Having convinced Ranjani, Krishnadas took her along with him to the temple.   When Ranjani asked him to take her to his master, Krishnadas pulled open the screen that kept the deity of Lord Krishna from her… and lo! Ranjani was speechless when she gazed at the divine beauty of the Lord.

She immediately started singing and dancing.  Her performance for the ‘Master’ was extra-ordinary that particular day and went on for a long time. With bhaava filled in her dance and music, her performance reached a cresendo. Eventually, as she finished her performance, in a lightning flash, she went into the sanctum and merged into Lord Krishna.

Within a single performance in front of the Lord, that very state that Mirabai had attained, by merging into the Lord of Dwaraka; that very state that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had attained by merging into Lord Jagannath of Puri, Ranjani had attained, inspite of the fact that Ranjani did not even perform a fraction of the devotion that the Mirabai and Mahaprabhu had performed all their lives! – The only reason being the fact that she was shown the Lord by Krishnadas, who as the disciple at the feet of the Uttama Guru Sri Vallabhacharya.

Vallabhacharya had many such disciples who have delivered so many souls by their mere presence and touch.

Poojya Poornimaji surprised the satsang by her presence and talked about the path of complete surrender to god. She is currently visiting Australia for satsangs.

We all have numerous questions that we want to have cleared when we have our Guru Maharaj’s darshan, don’t we? I happened to read a nice incident in the life of Bhagavan Ramana in this connection, which I am happy to share in this satsang.

Muruganaar is the disciple of Ramana who, today, is the person behind bringing out all of Bhagavan Ramana’s works to light.  Once, Muruganaar when in the presence of Bhagavan Ramana, put forth a bunch of questions to Bhagavan.  ‘How come I have so many doubts’, asked Muruganaar. Bhagavan replied that it was common to have doubts even if one is in the abode of the Sadguru and that is because of the fact that one has not reached the point of complete surrender.

In this context, Bhagavan Ramana narrates the story of Sanatkumaras.  This is slightly different from the one we find in Srimad Bhagavatam, but nevertheless, conveys the idea very well.

‘Once Sanatkumaras had numerous doubts which they wanted to get clarified. Firstly they reached Vaikunta, the abode of Vishnu. Seeing Vishnu along with His divine consort Lakshmi, they felt that being a householder, Vishnu would not be the right person to answer their questions.  So they moved on and decided to meet Lord Shiva to pose their questions.

Knowing beforehand that the Kumaras would turn Him down if he was with Goddess Parvati, Shiva took the form of a young man and penance under a banyan tree.  The Kumaras approached Dakshinamurthy and decided to stay there until their doubts were cleared.  They sat in front of Lord Dakshinamurthy and started firing their questions.  Patient as he was, Lord Dakshinamurthy answered their questions one by one, and this went on for about a year.  Although time passed by, there was no sign  of cessation of doubts and questions.  Sanatkumaras kept volleying their doubts.  A year passed and Lord Shiva decided, ‘There is not going to be an end for this. Let me go into meditation.’.  Thinking so, He went into deep meditation and enquiry.  This very dynamic silence created peace and bliss in the Sanatkumaras.!

When Bhagavan  Ramana completed the anecdote, Muruganaar looked extremely addled. He said, ‘But Bhagavan, I have never heard of a story that Lord Dakshinamurthy spoke volumes to Sanatkumaras! I have heard of Lord Dakshinamurty as a guru in silence always! This story sounds so new to me!’

Bhagavan Ramana smiled at Muruganaar and exclaimed, ‘True! It is not found in the Puranas, But that is what happened!’

Having narrated this incident from Bhagavan Ramana’s life, Poornimaji added,

‘The very silence of the Guru explains it all. ‘Gurostu Maunam Vyaakhyaanam’.  Seeing this in conjunction with the story in Srimad Bhagavatam reveals a very interesting fact…

What is the story in Bhagavatam?  The Sanatkumaras long to cherish and behold the beauty and bliss of the Almighty Lord Vishnu and reach the gates of Vaikunta.  At the entrance, they are stopped by the gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya, and they are cursed. The story goes on…

Now, what do we see?  Initially, when the Sanatkuamaras saw Lord Vishnu, although He was the Lord Almighty, they saw Him only as a householder!

Then after they acquired the supreme knowledge at the feet of their Guru Lord Dakshinamurthy and have been recipients of the Guru’s grace they longed to behold the beauty and cherish the bliss of the same Lord Vishnu, whom they considered a mere householder earlier!

Without the grace of the Guru, even if you meet God face to face, you will not realize the grace and Glory of the Lord.  It is only with the Guru’s grace that you can realize God.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.