Shrimad
Bhagavatam & Advaita Bhakti - 4
Continued from SBAB – 3
Kapila-Gita
Kapila
Muni starts from rock-bottom
fundamentals. It is the mind that is the villain of the piece. Both for the bondage
of the jIva and for its release from bondage, it is the mind that is responsible. When the mind attaches itself to the sense
objects, bondage arises. On the other hand if mind attaches itself to the Lord,
it becomes the cause for the Release.
The self-centred thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ give rise to the vices of desire and greed.
When these dirts are washed off from the mind, it becomes pure. The word used
here (III – 25 – 16) is ‘kAma-lobhAdibhir-malaiH’. Desire and Greed are
called ‘malaM’. The latter
means ‘faeces’ as also ‘dirt’. No
one wants to identify himself with the ‘faeces’. So also one should stay away from the ‘malaM’
of desire and greed. Mind should be in
its own pure state. Anything that is foreign to it should not be there. Any thought
of an object is foreign to it. What is foreign to it is ‘malaM.
When it is rid of all that ‘malaM’, in that state, says the Rishi, mind has none of the mundane misery
or happiness. That is when man sees his own prakRRiti powerless. That is when he has
transcended the effects of prakRRiti. He then sees no difference, no
second, no relationship to anything or anyone. There
is no place in space where he is not already there. It is in that mind the Absolute reflects
itself. And there is no other way to achieve
this than to have association with sAdhus.
Just as for
mundane benefits we cultivate
the association of influential
people
who have either money, status
or power,
so also for acquiring spiritual wealth we have to cultivate
the association of spiritually
great people.
(NarayaneeyaM
: 91 – 4)
When a holy
association is there, first we get shraddhA
in the spiritual quest,
then enthusiasm for the same
and then bhakti towards the
Lord. “shraddhA ratir-bhaktir-anukramishhyati” (III
– 25 – 25). It is the
association with the holy
that will generate, through the continuous contemplation of My glories, a distaste for sense gratification here and
hereafter.
*bhaktyA pumAn jAta-virAga aindriyAt dRRiShTa-shrutAn
mad-rachanAnucintayA* (III – 25 – 26).
For devotees who are attached to devotional service even moksha is not more attractive. I am their
loved one like their soul, friendly like their son, trusted
confidante like their friend, mentor like their guru and respected like their
favourite God. Their minds are always fixed on me. This is all that is needed
for mukti.
In order
to attain this mukti, one should
desist from the mundane distractions of prakRRiti. The knowledge of the Self is the ultimate
cure for removal of Ignorance that binds the heart to the world of prakRRiti. What is the Self? The Self or
the Purushha
is the One who has pervaded the entire universe. He is attributeless. He is
beyond the prakRRiti. He dwells in every
antah-karaNa (Inner
Organ). He shines by Himself. He is
beginningless, sourceless.
anAdir-AtmA PurushhaH
nirguNaH prakRRitaiH paraH /
pratyag-dhAmA
svayamjyotiH vishvaM yena samanvitaM // (III
– 26 – 3)
Wise men
attribute to PrakRRiti
the relationship of Cause and Effect as well as the agency of action. And they
point to the Purushha, that transcends the PrakRRiti,
as the cause of enjoyership of happiness and unhappiness.
The five gross elements (earth, water, fire,
air and space),
the five subtle elements (sound, touch, form,
taste and smell),
the four internal senses ( manas, chittam, buddhi and ahamkAra
– receiver-mind, storer-mind, analyser-mind and
ego),
the five senses of knowledge and
the five senses of action
these twenty
four -- constitute the prakRRiti or
the manifested stage of existence, also called the qualified presence of
brahman – sagunasya
brahmaNaH sanniveshaH (III –
26 – 15). Time is the twenty-fifth element. What is
manifested as Time outside is the Purushha
within. (III – 26 – 18).
That is why, in common
parlance in
‘It
is divine will’ and ‘It is the work of Time’
are
interchangeably used.
Even though the Purushha
is situated in the PrakRRiti (the body envelopment) He is devoid of all attributes, He is unchanging and He has no claim to doership. So he is not touched by any
of the GuNas (modes)
of PrakRRiti.
On the other hand when He slips from this state and identifies with the GuNas, then overcome by the Ego, he thinks he is the
doer. And this involves him in the samsAra of births and deaths. (III – 27 – 1
to 3). Such a jIva overcome by the guNas
has to come out of it by a self-analysis.
And here
the Acharya Kapila gives
a powerful analogy. (III – 27 – 12, 13) :
yathA jalastha
AbhAsaH sthalasthenA-vadRRishyate /
svAbhAsena tathA
sUryo jalasthena divi sthitaH //
evaM
trivRRid-ahaMkAro bhUtendriya-manomayaiH /
svAbhAsair-lakShito’nena
sadAbhAsena satya-dRRik //
The
presence of the Supreme Lord can be realized just as the sun is realized first
as a reflection on water, and again as a second reflection on the wall of a
room, although the sun itself is situated in the sky. The self-realized soul is
thus reflected first in the threefold ego and then in the body, senses and mind.
An explanation is necessary for this analogy. The topic is how one recognises that the
Supreme is the One Power behind every action and every presence in the
universe. Imagine a room in which there is a large vessel of water that
receives direct sunlight and reflects it onto the opposite wall in the room. What
is the source of this light on the wall? It is the reflected Sun in the water
(contained in the vessel). And what is the source of that reflected Sun? The actual Sun in the blazing sky. So also we
individuals seem to be having awareness of the outside world. The source of our awareness is our
consciousness within. But this consciousness itself is a reflection of the real
supreme Consciousness, the reflection being in our own ego-mind.
After
elaborately detailing the process by which PrakRRiti produces the manifold of this
material universe, Kapila takes up the topic of yoga-sAdhanA. First he details
the prerequisites such as execution of prescribed duties, avoidance of
prohibited actions, satisfaction with
what one obtains by God’s Grace, worship of the Guru, moderation in eating, non-violence, truthfulness, brahmacharyam, austerities, and silence.
Then he goes on to describe the different lim bs of
ytoga-sAdhanA. Afew characteristic
shlokas from this description may be recalled:
prANAyAmair-dahed-doshhAn
dhAraNAbhishca
kilbishhAn
pratyAhAreNa
samsargAn
dhyAnenA-anIshvarAn guNAn //
(III –
28 – 11)
Meaning,
By prANAyAma
(exercise of control of breath) the physical faults are burnt; By dhAraNa (fixing of the concentrated mind) one burns
off the sins; By pratyAhAra
(withdrawal of senses from their outward attractions) one destroys the
attachments to sense objects; By dhyAna (meditation) one vanquishes the undivine
qualities. (For PrANAyAma,
dhAraNa, pratyAhAra and dhyAna, see Meditation)
And the
meditation should be on the unique form of the Lord. Here the form of the Lord
is sculpted by
beautiful word-bricks by Sage Kapila in
13 memorable shlokas (III -28 – 21 to 33) which deserve to be memorised and
recited in the original, in order to transmit the real flavour of the description. It is not just the collective form of the
Lord that is meditated thus. Each of His limbs is imagined and looked at with
concentration and one goes on meditating on His limbs from toe to head. His
lotus feet, His legs and thighs, the waist, the navel, the chest, the neck, the
face, the smile – on each one of these one should stay long by meditation.
By such
meditation one gradually develops pure love for the Lord. One’s hairs stand erect
through excessive joy. The intense love generates streams of tears. The mind
withdraws from all material distractions. As if attracting a fish to a hook,
the mind now attracts the Lord. The real identity of the Self is seen and all
pleasure and pain are seen in their true colours as products of the Ego. The jIvan-mukta
that he is, has no cognition of his own body whether it is sitting, standing,
moving or acting, just as person blinded by intoxication does not realise the presence or
absence of clothing on himself:
(*vAso yathA parikRRitaM madirA-madAndhaH * III – 28
– 37).
The body,
however, of the
jIvan-mukta
holds on along with the senses until the prArabdha karma remains. But, for the one who
has made the ascent to samAdhi-yoga there is neither the cognition of
the body or the universe associated with it. Indeed, when one has woken up, the
dreams that were being witnessed earlier have no more any reality.
(*svapnaM punar-na
bhajate pratibuddha-vastuH*) III - 28 – 38.
yathA
putrAscha vitttA ca pRRithaG martyaH pratIyate /
apyAtmatvatvenA-bhimatAt dehAdeH Purushhas-tathA // III – 28 -39
Just as
offsprings and wealth are considered distinct from oneself, so also is the Purushha different from one’s body that is
taken by affection to be oneself.
The blazing fire is different from the flames,
from the sparks and from the smoke, although all arise from the same blazing
wood. So also the Self known as the Seer, bhagavan or brahman is distinct from
the senses or the mind (40,41). As fire shows up in
different forms because of the shapes of wood in which it burns so also does
the Self show up in prakRRiti in different manifestations according
to the guNas
(#43). The yogI therefore stands firm in his own svarUpa of the Self, by
conquering the prakRRiti
which hides his own Self and
which takes the form of both cause and effect(#44).
Following
this the sage Kapila answers questions of Devahuti regarding the path of Bhakti
which will lead to the Realisation of all that has been explained in terms of PrakRRiti
and Purushha. Bhakti, says Kapila, is known in terms of nine categories by
the motivation which manifests it. The
motivation could
be – in the ascending order of commendability
(III – 29 – 8,9, 10):
·
Violent ends (This is adhama-tAmasa bhakti)
·
Pride (This is madhyama-tAmasa bhakti)
·
Jealousy (uttama-tAmasa bhakti )
·
Sensual ends (adhama-rAjasa bhakti)
·
Wealth
(madhyama-rAjasa
bhakti)
·
Fame (uttama-rAjasa bhakti)
·
Eradication of Sins (adhama-sAtvika bhakti)
·
Pleasure of the Lord (madhyama-sAtvika bhakti)
·
Duty
(uttama-sAtvika bhakti)
But all of them have
the commonality of “bheda-darshana” (which is conscious of the
multiplicity of the
deities and recognises the differences) as well as “idol worship” (worship of
specific manifestations of the Ultimate).
Over and above these, there is the nirguNa bhakti, defined as follows:
mad-guNa-shruti-mAtreNa mayi sarva-guhAshaye /
mano-gatir-avicchinnA yathA gangAmbhaso’mbudhau
// (#11)
lakshhaNaM bhakti-yogasya nirguNasya
hyudAhRRitaM /
ahaitukya-vyavahitA yA bhaktiH purushhottame
// (#12)
Having heard about
Him, one gets addicted with devotion that does not see any distinction, without any expectation of results, to the
Purushhottama, who lives in the deepest hearts of all, like the waters of the Ganges
that keeps on going to the ocean. That
is the characteristic of nirguNa bhakti, the bhakti of the highest kind,
higher than the nine categories
mentioned above.
Note: This is advaita-bhakti .
And the Lord continues,
as if inspired:
I am present in every living entity as the
Self. Those who
neglect or disregard this omnipresence and engage themselves in the worship of the Deity in the temple, they
are only making a show of themselves. That is like offering oblations into
ashes instead of in the Fire. He who thinks of Me, residing in the bodies of
others, as
different from his Self can never attain peace of mind. He never pleases Me even
if he worships with proper rituals and paraphernalia. As long as one does not
realise the omnipresent Me as
resident in His own heart,
so long has he to worship Me through images, performing all his prescribed
duties. (#s III – 29: 21 to 25)
The fortunate
mother, Devahuti, who had all this teaching straight from the Lord Himself, who
manifested as her son, followed the path that was chalked out by Him and in due
time she reached that supreme abode glorified by Him.
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