Contributed By Dr Thimappa Hegde
Gannaanaam Tvaa Ganna-Patim Havaamahe
Kavim Kaviinaam-Upama-Shravastamam |
Jyessttha-Raajam
Brahmannaam Brahmannaspata
Aa Nah Shrnnvan-Uutibhih Siida Saadanam
Om Mahaganadhipathaye namaha ||
Vivekachudamani – Class 4
08th February 2021
Vivekachudamani Summary of Previous class
Contributed by Dr. Kiran
Looking for Truth
Searching For Rama within
•Arduous journey inside
•Pilgrimage worth taking
•Qualities which will empower us
•Vivekaḥ - (Jewel In the Crown)-Discrimination- beyond Good Bad/ beyond created/ Creator Sathya/Mithya
Vairāgyaṃ- Dispassion- Detachment
ŚamādiSaṭkasampattiḥ- Discipline- 6- SHAMA, DAMA, UPARAMA, TITIKSHA, SHRADDA and SAMADANA
Mumukṣutvaṃ- intense Desire
Mumukshu- Intense Yearning
Titiksha
Titiksha- Endurance / Acceptance
Not lamenting- chinta, Vilaparahitam
Not body harming
Enduring hardships, preparations along the path
Acceptance
bāhyānālambanaṃ vṛtteḥ , eṣoparatiruttamā I
sahanaṃ sarvaduḥkhānām , apratīkārapūrvakam I cintāvilāparahitaṃ, sā titikṣā nigadyate II 14/23
Damah-Uparati
DAMAH
damaḥ is Indriyanigrahaḥ, sensory discipline- first gateway
Till mind is mastered, regulation of senses needed.
Disciplining not suppression
Away from worldly materials- focus on spiritually uplifting objects like Satsang, visit to Kshetras, nature rather than pub and malls-
UPARATI
pulling away from distraction
viṣayebhyaḥ parāvartya , sthāpanaṃ svasvagolake I
ubhayeṣāmindriyāṇāṃ , sa damaḥ parakīrtitaḥ 13/ 23
Śraddhā- Faith
Very important
Dependent on seeker
No ISO 9001, NABH accrediting in Vedanta
Shastra – Guru vakya- which is Right?
Truth can be revealed by knower only
śāstrasya guruvākyasya, satyabuddhyāvadhāraṇā Isā śraddhā kathitā sadbhiḥ,yayā
vastūpalabhyate 15/ 25
Samadhanam
Mental concentration or focus
Keeping Vedanta/ God always in mind- surati
Qualities
Matures along spiritual journey
100% all qualities not possible
sarvadāsthāpanaṃ buddheḥ , śuddhe brahmaṇi sarvadā I tat samādhānamityuktaṃ na tu cittasya lālanam 16/ 26
Guru Upasadanam
Like empty Teacup
Devoid of all doctrines, Isms, theories
Ready to fill the blessings of Guru- moksha
uktasādhanasaṃpannaḥ , tattvajijñāsurātmanaḥ I
upasīdedguruṃ prājñaṃ , yasmādbandha-vimokṣaṇam 18/ 32
Now the New Year reviving old Desires, (spiritual Life, mumukshu) The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, (Viveka ,Vairagya) Where the WHITE HAND OF MOSES on the tree of life (purity/ 6D) Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground ascends to wisdom (delusion- truth).
- Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat Q4
Introduction
Contributed by Dr. Thimappa Hegde
Sarvavedāntasiddhānta
Gocaraṃ tamagocaram |
Govindaṃ paramānandaṃ
Sadguruṃ praṇato'smyaham ||1||
Mundakopanishad Verse 1.2.12
parīkṣya lokānkarmacitānbrāhmaṇo
nirvedamāyānnāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tadvijñānārthaṃ sa gurumevābhigacchet
samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṃ brahmaniṣṭham || 12 ||
Verse 19
Contributed by Bhaskar RV
Who is versed in the Vedas, sinless, free of desires and a knower of Brahman par excellence, who has withdrawn himself into Brahman; who is calm, like fire that has consumed its fuel, who is a boundless reservoir of mercy that knows no reason, and a friend of all good people who prostrate themselves before him.
Verse 20
Contributed by Smt Smita Pai
tam – that,
gurum – teacher,
bhaktya – with devotion,
aradhya – worshipping,
prahva – prasraya – sevanaih – by doing service to him with proper attitude and reverence,
prasannam – pleased,
tam – him,
anuprapya – having approached,
atmanah – for oneself,
jnatavyam – what is to be known,
prcchet – should ask.
Meaning
Worshipthat Teacher with deep devotion and when the Teacher is pleased with your surrender, humility and service, approach and ask for what you must know.
Shishyas 2 main attitude towardsthe Guru – Shraddha and Bhakthihi
Verse 21
Contributed by Smt Neelima
Courtesy to Question
•In the present verse we are going to see the courtesy to question by the student to one’s Guru who is embodiment of Truth.
•While Serving one’s Guru, student develops constant mental awareness of the ideal and he becomes well established in the glories and noble qualities of the Guru.
•Serving Guru increases inner purity, as one’s vanities of false values and attachment to body, mind and intellect are dropped. It also makes one’s mind sensitive and subtle to recognize the weakness in one’s own life
•Seeker comes to see such a pressing urgency for liberation!
•Roasted in the blazing infernal fire of change
•Being tossed by the storms of misfortune
•Terrified without and within, oh lord save me from death
•I don’t know of any other harbor where in to seek shelter
Forest on Fire…
•Forest fire is compared to Samsaara in this verse
•Spreads fast, it is huge, wide and difficult to control
•Forest fire burns and so do problems of life like adidaiva, adibutha, and adhyatma
•This verse explains the dangers to which the seeker is exposed from outside and within, overwhelmed by sorrows of ever-changing patterns
•As the wind increases the fire, so too our past sinful actions act as wind which adds up to fire of Samsaara, tosses a seeker up and down
•As the direction of wind is unpredictable so too seekers is unable to control one’s life! however skillful the swimmer might be, but it is impossible to cross the ocean by oneself.
Guru Upasadana
•In Geeta ch2-v7, we get to see that even the mighty Arjuna surrenders to Lord Krishna,
•KarpanyaDosho…. – His heart is overpowered by taint of pity and when mind is confused, shows surrendering to Lord
•In Kathopanishad valli 1, v 26, Nachiketa expressed to Yama, his disinterest in sense objects which burns down the senses by experiences of joy and sorrow which shows the brilliant inner personality of the matured seekers.
•Seeker frightened by challenges within and without surrenders to the guru and seeks refuge as one does not know any other protector
Conclusion
Seeker sees himself caught in the fire of Samsaara compared with forest fire there is a surge of fear in his words as he seeks liberation, the only thing which helps his struggle is a compassionate glance of the Guru, his knowledge like cooling water or cool rays of moon which smoothens Earth scorched by sun.
Verse 22
Contributed by Dr Sachin
Glorifying the Teacher
śāntāḥ mahāntaḥ: Oh Teacher! How great you are.
mahāntaḥ: generous people who live purely for the sake of rescuing and helping others.
svayaṁbhīmabhavārṇavaṁtīrṇāḥ
bhavaḥ means Saṁsāra;
ārṇavaḥ means Ocean;
bhīma ārṇavaḥ; means bhayaṁkara ārṇavaḥ; terrible
Mothers love and presence
Guru’s grace is without expectation
For what purpose; ahētuna; without any reason; without any motive
anyān janān ahētuna tārayantaḥ; motiveless they help other people cross the Saṁsāra.
Take home message
Similarly every jñāni is like a moon.
Every samsāri is like the earth
Saṁsāra duḥkhaṁ is like the Sun scorching rays
As and when the Jñāni comes, he cools the Samsāri.
Verse 23
Contributed by Vidya Prabhu
Fear not, O learned one! There is a way to cross over this ocean of change. There is no danger for you. I shall instruct you in the very path by which the ancient rishis walked to the Beyond.
Yatayaha asya param Yena Yata: Many committed seekers of the past have reached the other shore
Tameva margam tava nirdesami: I shall teach you the path followed by the ancient seers who crossed over from the finite to the infinite
Bhagwan Ramanna Maharishi
•Na ham
•Deham
•Koham
•Soham
Verse 24
Contributed by Smt Sudha Vani
ajñānayogātparamātmanastava hyanātmabandhastata eva saṃsṛtiḥ | tayorvivekoditabodhavanhiḥ ajñānakāryaṃ pradahetsamūlam || 47 || (24)
It is verily through the touch of Ignorance that thou who art the Supreme Self, findest thyself under the bondage of non-Self, whence alone proceeds the round of births and deaths. The fire of knowledge, kindled by the discrimination between these two, burns up the effects of Ignorance together with their root.
•This shloka is the foundation for the entire teaching.
•Both Samsara Karanam and Samsara Nivrutti are talked about here.
•Self-ignorance is the cause of Samsara and Self-Knowledge born out of Self-Enquiry is the solution.
•In the Vedanta, the entire universe is broadly divided into two parts. They are Atma and Anatma.
Now, Vedanta asks a question –
Do this body, mind and senses fall under Atma the subject or Anatma the object?
We are under the impression that this body, mind and sense is Atma, but Vedanta says they belong to Anatma the objective universe.
It says, we have not put proper boundaries between Atma and Anatma, and the confusion is because of the ignorance of this boundary line between Atma and Anatma.
Hence, there are two versions.
1. Our version is it includes body, mind and sense complex – Jeevatma (i)
2. Vedanta firmly excludes these and it is called – Paramatma (I)
- Only the ‘i’ is born out of confusion.
Here in this shloka, the first line says:
अज्ञानयोगात्परमात्मनस्तव ह्यनात्मबन्धस्तत एव संसृतिः ।
You are really Paramatma. But you are associated with self-ignorance and conclude you are mortal.
So अज्ञान – ignorance, has caused अध्यास – mistake. And this अध्यास has produced a false version of Atma, i.e., Jeevatma, which is suffering from samsara – संसृतिः
So self-ignorance and self mistake is the cause of all human struggle and it goes away by understanding the real boundary between Atma and Anatma.
When this boundary line gets clearly demarcated, the Jeevatma version gets dismantled.
The second line says:
तयोर्विवेकोदितबोधवन्हिः अज्ञानकार्यं प्रदहेत्समूलम् ॥
The fire of knowledge kindled by the discrimination between these two, burns up the effect of ignorance together with their root.
तयोर्विवेकः – A clear discrimination is to be undertaken between Atma and Anatma.
विदितबोधः – Self knowledge born out of self enquiry
वन्हिः – Fire. This knowledge is compared to the fire which removes the darkness, i.e., ignorance and burns down everything (Samsara and Karmas).
प्रदहेत् – Burns down
अज्ञानकार्यं – The problem of self misconception which gave rise to self Jeevatma misconception for me is removed.
समूलम् – Along with the root cause ignorance.
Story Message & Meditation
Dr. Thimappa Hegde
Greatest Prayer
Acceptance
•Inshallah
•Thy will be done
Serenity Prayer
•God, grant me the serenity
•To accept the things I cannot change,
•The courage to change the things I can,
•And the wisdom to know the difference.
Bhaja Govindam
yogarato vā bhogarato vā
saṅgarato vā saṅgavihīnaḥ |
yasya brahmaṇi ramate cittaṁ
nandati nandati nandatyeva || 19||
Om, Sarvebhavantusukhinaḥ
Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu