...........Even a long-tailed
tiny bird fluttering across the bridle path is sufficient
to tickle Maharaj into a visible horripilation, and,
then he used to stand still, bathed in a vivid glow of
joy, whispering silently his homage to the Creator.
When a mortal’s desires are destroyed root and
branch* he becomes immortal. Even in the earthly body
he becomes one with Brahma.”
Conquest of desire is Kaivaiya— the highest goal
of man. It is the end and aim of all man’s activity ;
it is his highest attainment. It alone yields absolute
peace and supreme Bliss. Conquest of desire alone
leads to fearless, free and happy life. The man who
has conquered desire is not haunted by sorrows or
worries. He alone is master. Emperors in this world
and gods in the other are his servitors. But the
conquest of desire is no easy joke. Only the devotees
of Jnana can overcome desire. A man may fast
and leave aside his food untouched, but his mind
will still revert to the thought of food. Even so,
by foict of nitt, be -may beep tcway ftom
enjoyments but his mind will still remain attached to
^uch pleasures. In fact, until a man fully realizes
•Self his mind cannot be completely freed from desires except through the realisation of Self
He who seeks to conquer desire, except through the realisation of Self is vailnly attempting the impossible.
There is nothing so holy as Knowledge There
IS nothing so great, so divine Hail to thee, O Realiza-
tion, that dnveth away all dark desires and hghteth
up life
It is a well-known characteristic of
beautiful, solitary forests that they intensify man’s
feelings, whether it is devotion or physical love.
It helps concentration in a state of meditation. That
is why sadhus resort to such forests to develop their
devotion and practise concentration.
To bathe in the ice cold Ganga, to drink her
waters, to eat strange food, to endure the extremes of
heat and cold, — these are the rigours to which South
Indians are exposed at Hrishikesh
But even these penances are only external.
There is another type of discipline of the mind which alone leads to
self-realisation.
The man whose mind is not disciplined
profits little by a stay at Hrishikesh or Kailas
If it is wealth that enables a king to do what he likes,
it is wealthlesness that enables a sadhu to lead the
sort of life he lives.
A sadhu’s lack of possessions,
and contentment with what chance gives him, stand
him in good stead wherever he goes. Among the
Himalayas, even in these days of remorseless materi-
alism, one may come across sadhus who touch no
coin with their hands, who know not when or where
they might get their next morsel of food and whose
only occupation is communion with God.
In the past there was a Golden Age for India when
the rishis who had conquered, their senses and lived
upon fruits and roots, spent their time in the solitude
of forests steeped in meditation. Compared with
that age ours is a stone age in spiritual life. Our
ancestors were never satisfied until they had fully
realized Truth. They did not rest content with
hearing spiritual texts quoted from scriptures or
expounded by learned teachers. It was because of
their tireless efforts that India became famous as the
land of spiritual wisdom. Their experiences have been
embodied in a number of invaluable books which
have hardly any parallel in the literature of any other
nation. But that Golden Age is gone. Gone are
those Truth-seekers who cast to the winds all worldly
pleasures and immersed themselves in introspection.
God alone knows whether, at any time in the
future, India will once more have such a race of
men, so noble and so intent upon the pursuit of
Truth.
In the increasing worldliness that encompasses
man in our time, he finds little time to look into
himself and discover the Inner Spirit. People domi-
nated by rajoguna can hardly pass a day without
seeing other people and mixing themselves with
worldly things. They cannot spend a few days in
solitude. In our time little value is attached to
qualities like Santi (peace) and Vairagya (dispassion).
Man is like a caged lion. He cannot get out of
the limitations of the senses. He does not recollect how he has fallen from a high state of freedom into abject slavery.
Every book of religion refers to man’s
sad fall. Religious texts and teachers of religion
may differ widely on other points but they all
agree that man has fallen into a low state and his
paramount duty is to understand his degradation
and reclaim himself from that state.
So long as man, however learned, remains in
this bondage of illusion, there is hardly any difference
between him and the meanest worm God has given
them both power to know and power to do.
Both remain attached to bodily senses , both seek worldly
pleasures and suffer greatly. Man can hardly consider
himself superior to other creatures so long as he fads
to use his Reason properly for breaking the bondage
he IS in If It only serves to bind himself faster to
the world, if it gives only sorrow and servitude, how
can It make man superior to other animals i Every-
where around us we find people who are bound down
to the body and who inexorably pursue the illusive
pleasures of the senses, under the belief “ I am this
body” If this is what Reason does, who can fail
to say that Reason is the cause of greater bondage and
greater sorrow 7
Once, in a cave
above the Gangotri Temple, I asked a very aged
and very learned Mahatma whom I knew, “ Sire,
why should you, in this old age, pass your days in
this cave in such solitude ? ** The reply that he gave
me with a heroic look, in flawless Sanskrit, is still
ringing in my ears. “The Puranas say,** he said,
‘ many Brahmarshis and Rajarshis passed their last
days in samadhi in these caves by the Ganga and left
their mortal remains here. I, loo, in my old age am
spending my days here in Yoga, 1 too wish to abandon
my body here. I have no desires. I spend my days
here in meditation. I have no difficulties or sorrows.
I experience nothing but bliss, shadowless bliss.”
I fully appreciated these words which bear out the
^ worth and greatness of true sadhus. Even in these
days of Kali (of extreme worldliness and wickedness)
you may come across such mahatmas in the neighbour-
hood of Gangotri.
Except for the saintly souls who have detached
themselves completely from the world, a life among
the Himalayan peaks is almost an impossibility.
Even if It be possible, it cannot be to the taste of
common men Only people with a certain degree of
samskara (mental refinement) can enjoy the solitary
grandeur of those heights so far away from worldly
pleasures For them pleasures of the senses arc so
many tortures A life of poverty affords them heavenly
bliss “ My son, are you not bringing disgrace upon
your royal dynasty by wandering about the streets
of your Capital, like a common mendicant, a begging
bowl in your hand ? If you want to learn philosophy,
why don’t you do so as a Pnnce, still living in your
......
dhyayto vishaya pumshah
this is how it starts...neighnours wife example.
...............
In spite of cold and hunger
and thirst, my mind was immediately lifted up into a
kind of Bhava samadhi (a state of ecstasy with objective
reference)
Such faith, however, can be the result only
of great virtue. Sin impedes faith.
Everyone who is
born must die ; yet who remembers the inevitable
end ? Daily, people see hundreds of creatures falling
victims to Death. Still they fancy themselves
immortal. Smaller fishes with their young ones play
about in the mouth of the whale ; similarly, man with
his wife and children, name and fame, sports with
Death.
When stainless devotion to God gets deep-rooted in the mind of man, we consider the object of his existence already attained.
Men too, whether
ignorant or enlightened, cal and play and sleep. Thus
everywhere you find ceaseless activity. And no won-
der. Action is the natural order of the world. The
life-force continues to stir all living bodies at all times.
There is no state of inaction.
A desireless, peaceful
state of existence where the distinction between the
Knower and the Known disappears, is difiicult to attain, wherever man may be.
That distinction fades
away only when man has crossed the stream of action
which shows itself in the activities of the physical
senses and which produces pleasure and pain. But
crossing the stream means the complete conquest of
Illusion and Illusion is certainly very difficult to over-
come,
it is not easy to reach that stage, of
Supreme Bliss, where all distinctions disappear, where
all activity ceases.
There may be a few great souls
who enjoy the state of Samadhi but even their minds
and senses arc not beyond the reach of the mighty
Illusion.
One may ascend to the highest peak of the
Himalayas ; but unless one is exceptionally fortunate
and possesses tireless industry, deep faith, true know-
ledge and the highest degree of detachment, one
cannot overcome Illusion completely and reach that
final blissful state of merger with the Supreme.
Remember, man cannot reach Brahman
without attibutes (sam: ie attributeless Bramhan), except through attributes.
Worshipping stone or earth, or other materialistic objects
as Brahman, cleanses the mind and helps to concen-
trate the mind.
A man cannot qualify itself for the realiza-
tion of Truth except through the worship of both the
gross and the subtle.
Beginners in spiritual practice
sometimes try to grapple with the Abstract straightaway
and they invariably fail.
To concentrate the mind
upon Brahman, one must begin with worship So,
for people who are only imperfectly qualified to enter
into meditation, pious description of the objects of
worship like stone or earth or idol, are not without use
If Bhaktas advise their disciples to meditate upon
Salagram or Snalmgani or some such stone, as if it
were God, Yogis advise their followers to concentrate
their minds upon mbhi chakra (the navel wheel),
Hndayapmnlankam(fiie\olas of the heart), Nasikagram
(tip of the nose), Jihwagram (tip of the tongue),
Bliroomaclltyam (centre of the brows), etc , and followers
of the Upamshads direct their pupils to worship
“ aima ” (physical body). Prana (air) and various other
materialistic things Why do they do so ’’ They
do so because all of them agree that without first
gaming a certain degree of concentration by fixing
the mind upon physical objects, it is difficult for people
to focus their minds upon the abstract Brahman
Constant supposition by itself cannot make a thing
real.
There is nothing absurd in worshiping some-
thing unreal for the improvement of the mind When
a man has realized the eternal Truth by distinguishing
between the true and the untrue with the help of
concrete objects, he may no longer requi
re that mode
of worship, but until such realization, the substitution
of the unreal for the Real, is not undesirable or pur-
poseless If that IS so, tlie detailed description of
some image, holy place or beautiful thing, which is
suitable for the worship of gross-minded people and
which will help towards the purification and concen-
tration of their minds, cannot be open to censure,
though, from one point of view, the description may
appear to be that of a purely imaginary thing, as
unreal as the child of a barren woman If it serves
seekers after Truth to some extent in their quest,
my effort in writing these pieces of description shall
I not be in vain I know Truth is that endless luminous
Knowledge transcending the three gunas and action
know 1 am That and am supremely happy in that
Knowledge. I believe whatever I do, whether I
read or write, eat or breathe, play or ramble, or remain
in a state of mental concentration (samadhi) is for the
good of my brethren.
After the conquest of prana one should practise
Pratyahara
Pratyahara is the technical term for
withdrawing the mind from the pursuit of the senses
Ordinarily, the mind is flowing out through the clefts
in the surrounding rocks A sound is produced some-
where near us , we hear it, whether we like it or not
Somebody comes , we notice the arrival whether we
like to do so or not Thus, irrespective of our likes
and dislikes, we are being continually attracted by
sights and sounds And our mind, enslaved by the
senses, is engaged in a relentless pursuit of them. If
we do not check this lamentable vagrant tendency, our
mind cannot turn inward and fix itself upon anything
It IS a well-known fact that we become aware of external
things only when the sense organs, the senses and the
mind come into contact with them.
If one’s mind and one’s senses do not come into touch with each
other, no knowledge results. Until we are able to
control the sense organs, the senses and the mind
which are all separate but which become one empirically
and keep them in their proper places we shall have to
remain slaves to our senses and it will be impossible
for us to concentrate our mind upon any one object.
And therefore it is clear, one cannot become a yogi
‘ until one is able to regulate the connection and the
disconnection of the mind and the senses.
As it is the prana that carries on the processes of connection and
1 disconnection irrespective of one’s will, one shall be
■able to withdraw the mind from the senses, on one’s
I developing the control of prana by the practice of
pranayama.
Once a man has developed his power of Pratya-
hara, he must proceed gradually to dharana, dhyana
samadhi etc.
These are the ’Tn’TTjfTO: (Subject
of imagination) of the mind. To begin with, one must
try to concentrate upon physical objects. From the
contemplation of the physical, one can pass on to the
spiritual. There is great variety among the objects
of contemplation according to the varying tastes of
the practitioners. The lotuses of the mooladhara
and the shining “ lights ” are some of the favourite
concrete aids to contemplation. The Bhaktas generally
prefer the divine forms of Vishnu, Siva, etc.
In fact, every object helping to check the constant wave-like
movements of the mind, and enabling the mind to
flow out like a single stream, ,is good enough. This
pinning down of the mind according to one’s tastes,
to spiritual or physical objects such as an imaginary
bright light in the heart or between the eyebrows or
on top of the head or on Vishnu, Siva or Devi, is
called dharana.
If this control of mental activity is
continued for a long time it is called dhyana. The
state in which the distinction between meditation and
120 imp..above and below
meditator disappears, and the object of meditation
alone shines, is called samadhi.
Samadhi lasts longer than dhyana. When a man has succeeded in attaining
'dharana, dhyana and samadhi with the help of corporeal
means, his next effort must be to reach these states
through incorporeal means. According to the Yoga
prakriya (yoga dialectics) the Panchatanmatras, Ahan-
karam, Mahattatvam and Pradhanam are such incor-
poreal objects ; according to the Vedantik school of
thought they are Adhyalmika prana, Adhidaivika prana
and the mind,
“ Only when the mind has passed
through these various stages and got rid of the impu-
rities of Rajas and Tamas, it can comprehend the
Self which is the finest of the fine, with no form or
attribute.
Through the dharana and dhyana, the mind
gains strength and rises into the prolonged state of
Samadhi.
When mind has become one with the Self,
as the camphor becomes one with the fire, or the salt
becomes one with the water, all distinctions between
the meditator, the meditation and the meditated dis-
appear and the Self begins to shine by Itself.
This last and highest state of mind is called by the Yogis as
Asamprajnata ; it is called Nirvikalpa by the Vedantins.
This state of samadhi raises a sadhaka (trainee) to a
siddha and a layman to a yogi. He alone is the real
yogi who has transcended the three mental states,
Tamas, Rajas and Sattvik and reached that supreme
state of self-abidance. Nobody else deserves that
name. Others in their ignorance, only confuse the
ends and means, it is therefore the supreme duty
of a student of yoga to understand the real nature of
yoga and pursue it enthusiastically and whole-heartedly.
“utiil a)iiiti — is a well-known principle of
yoga. There are several stages in the practice of
yoga. One must proceed step by step from the lower
to the higher stage. But if, by God’s grace, one has
already transcended some of these stages, one can,
of course proceed directly to the next stage. If a
man has attained dharana without practising pranayama
and pratyahara in this life, he need not waste his time
or energy practising those earlier exercises. Similarly,
if his mind, in its innate purity, can readily concentrate
upon the abstract, he need not court corporeal aid.
So every one must examine one’s mental equipment
and proceed higher and higher as it may be possible
in each individual case.
The science of Yoga acknow-
ledges Asamprajnata as its highest goal.
It recognises him, who has reached that state, as the supreme yogi.
It also admits that there is nothing illogical if qualified
persons reach the goal at one leap, while persons less
qualified have to reach it by the regular practice of
Pranayama, Pratyahara, etc. '
Brahman is the ultimate Truth. He who has
accepted It has accepted everything ; who knows It
knows everything ; who has gained It has gained
everything.
But nobody knows that Brahman, nor
desires to know It.
Nobody seems to possess that purity and fineness of mind which makes one desire to
attain Brahman.
People are engaged in the relentless
pursuit of ephemeral and limited worldly pleasures.
To get at those flimsy joys and to preserve them, they
waste the precious human life. They appear inordi-
nately proud of such possessions. Alas ! even man is
not his own. Then how can these external things
become his possessions ? All these pleasures are
but the infinitesimal part of the bliss of Brahman
Few indeed are the people who aim at that supreme
Bliss.
If people fail to perceive their ultimate goal,
it IS all on account of Maya.
Now and at all times,
here and everywhere, the delusive power of Maya
functions unchecked. There seems to be no limit to
her powers
With constant practice one can conquer lust,
greed, etc., in course of time.
Only, a temporary
lull in the passions should not be taken for total
conquest or annihilation. It hardly requires to be
stressed here that the acceptance of sanyasa before
one has conquered his desires and acquired perfect
control over mind and body, is sinful and will easily
prove a passport to hell. It is necessary that the
sanyasi of the present and the future should learn
this lesson from the experience of their predecessors.
Thoughtful people will never be prepared to recognise this amorphous
world of ceaseless change as the ultimate reality.
What is man’s power beside God’s !
The omnipotent Father of the universe carries on
everything by Himself. Everything works because of
His power. His greatness is manifest everywhere and
in everything
When, on hearing the glories of the Lord recounted,
the mind melts and flows uninterruptedly towards the
Almighty, it is called Bhakti.
It is this bhakti that
is stressed most in the Vaishnam cult.
The Shruti also assures us that the only means of destroying ignorance
is the attainment of the knowledge of the Self.
So it Is clear there is no other road to salvation.
To the
mansion of Moksha there is no entrance except through
Jnana Bhaku and Yoga lead man to the door of
Jnana and not directly to the Home of Salvation
The darkness of ignorance lifts only on the rise of the
sun, Jnana, not on the appearance of the stars like
Bhaku
So says the Swethaswathara Sruti If only one
can fold the sky like a piece of parchment, can he
cross the sea of worldly sorrows without the knowledge
of the Supreme Soul. It is the view of all the Srutis
that there is no vessel to ferry man across the ocean of
worldliness except Jnana. But then, what is this
Jnana ?
Jnana means the full and firm realisation of
the Self— a realization beyond all doubt, change,
contradiction.
Neither the control of breath or mind,
nor the performance of Nishkama karma, neither
devotion to the gods, nor the performance of penances
like Knchlira and CImndrayana, nor yet pilgnmaging is
Jnana , it is all ajnana.
Whatever is related to egoism is ajnana , when the I consciousness ends, it is Jnana
Moiy does this Jnana ongioats ? How doss a mart
who identifies himself with the body and thinks “ I
am rich, I am happy ” or “ I am poor, I am unhappy ”,
turn away from this immoral worldly life and enter
that life of the Soul with the thought, “ I am Brahman,
the bodyless, ageless, deatliless Bliss ” '> Enquiry into
Truth, carried on with the help of holy men, is the chief
means of attaining true knowledge.
All the great
teachers of the past unanimously hold Sanyasa, which
means the renunciation of all action, to be an essential
element of spiritual contemplation.
Nevertheless, indifference to worldly pleasures,
control of body and mind,
eagerness to attain salvation,
places and time without distractions
and other factors are necessary
to an intensive search after Truth.
Without these, mind can hardly become calm and pointed enough to
attain Truth.
If a man enters upon a life of thought
with all these necessary equipments, he will certainly
reach the state of Jnana before long.
Jnana is the result of contemplation ; it annihilates all ajnana.
Until one reaches the climax of Jnana one cannot be
said to have attained true firmness of mind or fulfilied
one’s purpose of life.
The extinction of worldly desires and the enjoy-
ment of spiritual peace are the result of one’s devotion
to Jnana, A jnani enjoys Brahmananda or supreme
bliss without interruption, not after death but in this
life itself.
It is beyond words to define Brahmananda,
but it can be experieneed by the knowers of Brahman.
By tasting a particle of salt, one can infer the taste
of a mountain of salt.
Similarly, from the enjoyment
of worldly pleasures which are but the infinitesimal
part of Brahmananda, common people can guess at
the greatness of Brahmananda itself. The mind that
gets abated on accouiA tS "dte dusiit *io erijoy ■uoi'id'iy
pleasures, gets calm and Salrik as a result of such
enjoyment and in that Salrik state of mind Brahmananda
is experienced in howsoever small a measure. Thus
what is called worldly pleasure also is Brahmananda.
Vyasa and other learned men hold that there is no
pleasure except Brahmananda
Even as we speak severally of pot-space {Ghatakasa\ Mutt-space {Mattct-
kasa), etc , the same joy is spoken of differently accord-
ing to differences of touch, hearing, etc Worldhness
transforms the unlimited, insuperable, eternal Brahma-
mnda, into something limited, superable, destructible
How can those great ones who enjoy uninterrupted
Brahmananda, and are ever content, hanker after the
fleeting pleasures of the world '>
Brahmananda is unrelated to worldly things , it depends solely on
Self realization.
So it is in no way affected by the pains of acquisition, etc.
If anybody still argues that there can be no joy except through the experience of
earthly pleasures, he should be classed with the owl
that avers there is light only in the night and not in
day time '
It deserves to be specially mentioned that the
state of knowledge which is the sole source of ever-
lasting peace can be attained only by right thinking
and not merely by dhyana or samadlhi.
Some do mistake them for jnana.
They are under the impression that the practice of dhyana is the be all and end all
of existence and that a man who practises dhyana for
half an hour or an hour daily has completed his
spiritual duty and so he is free to do anything after-
wards.
They are labouring under the mistake that a
person who reaches the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi
for a minute or two, has attained his goal and that he
has already reached sahat/an even wide aive 7t is
only when we examine whether this man of Nirnkalpa
Samadhi has attained an unwavering state of spiritual
devotion, that is a devotion beyond doubt, that we
realize the hollowness of his Jnan mukli It may
briefly be said that this class of people are the unfortu-
nates who have not been able to understand clearly
the cause, the nature and the result of jnana and
dhyana through association with real mahatmas.
Dhyana and Samadhi may be regarded as co-
operative factors contnbuhng to the perfection of
Jnana , but they are neither Jnana nor the cause of
Jnana.
One may attain that exalted state of jnana
where one finds oneself is everything and everything
in oneself, only through cultivating detachment and
Vedantic thinking.
Neither Halo samadhi nor Jada
samadhi can take him to that goal where one experiences
eternal contentment
All learned people admit that the paramount
duty of a sanyasin (who has renounced the world)
is
the uninterrupted practice of spiritual discipline which alone leads to Moksha
" The peacock never attains the speed of the swan
Even so a householder can hardly attain the greatness
of sanyasis who pass their days in devotion in the
solitudes of forests ” so says a Buddhist book
The Hindu scriptures hold that a householder, however
distinguished he may be, can never approach even an
ordinary sanyasi in sanctity. The reason given is
this Worldliness, deceit, violence— these are the capi-
tal of household existence, whereas the thought of the
world to come, straightforwardness and non-violence
form the foundations of a sanyasi's life
176
Many are the people who are so misled. The
truth IS, the greatest siddhi is but of the earth.
The greatest siddhi is yet a worldling.
He still remains a slave to passions.
In the universe who is a greater
siddha than Hiranyagarbha
Except those who have
detached themselves completely from the world; who
possess the talent of the wise and careful thought;
none can hope to understand Brahma Vidya, even indirectly,
that IS, even intellectually
Spiritual truth is extremely difficult to comprehend.
It is only very rarely we come across people who
ardently desire to learn it ; it is still more rare to find
people who are entitled to teach it. Except from
well qualified teachers none can understand it pro-
perly.
He who seeks to learn it from quacks may
be subjected to an endless series of calamities ; it is a
case of the blind leading the blind. Neither reaches
the goal.
It therefore follows that those who desire
true knowledge should secure the help of those who
have attained it themselves.
Let no man think,
j‘ Of what use is to me an acharya ? By means of
my own intelligence I will obtain the knowledge of the
soul Truly, up to this moment, no man has
'attained Truth except with the help of a true giim
land a study of the works on spiritual science. None
jean trust to his native intelligence alone to take him
Ito the supreme goal. You can buy any number of
philosophical books in the market, but the books
by themselves will not help you realize the Self.
Unlike the things of the objective world, spiritual
truths cannot be perceived by one’s senses or even by
mere intellect and therefore, only those disciples who
possess the necessary qualifications and who, having
learned the Truth from noble preceptors, constantly
meditate upon it, realize the Truth.
The atman is the basis of all universe
and its controller ; yet, it is free, pure, changeless,
inactive. It has no gunas (attributes) and no shape.'
It is beyond the power of words to describe. It is
self-luminous.
He who perceives this truth directly and without
doubt crosses the sea of samsara and attains salvation.
No more does he return to this miserable existence of
births and deaths, sorrows and sufferings. What is
commonly spoken of as “ I ” in relation to everybody
is directly known to all in its general form ; but in its
particular shape it remains unknown. “I am the
free, immortal and blissful spirit ” is a realization that
seldom comes to men.
God has created human beings with their minds
turned naturally outward, that is, towards the pheno-
menal world. The mind of course is open to imagi-
nings and doubts. Hence it is really difiicult for
man to withdraw the mind and the senses from their
worldly preoccupations and find God in himself. Out
of thousands but one controls the mind and senses
through Vairagya and the earnest desire to secure
salvation, turns the mind inward and finds satisfaction
in the realization of the souL.
The true man is he who resists the temptations of the senses, overcomes
their irresistible attractions, and realizes Truth.
Th'
roan who fails to trti&c this He for the seareh
Truth or at least for the zegnisition of those
which will ultimately lead him to Truth, is really
wasting his precious chance. Nothing is more regretta-
ble, than wasting human life m eating, sleeping,
fearing, mating, etc., like brutes.
The people who, enslaved by the senses, spend their time coveting this
and that, subject themselves to death — that is, they
continue to be chained down to the cycle of births
and deaths.
But those heroic souls that have conquered their minds and their senses, know how fleeting worldly pleasures are and therefore they give them up.
They aim only at immortality, they live for it ; they
exert themselves ceaselessly to reach it.
The sole means of salvation is the true knowledge of the one
and only Soul.
It may be called differently as Jnana
or Iswara according to the different ways of looking
at It, but It is the same chaitanya.
This knowledge is
the true knowledge. It can be gained by a proper
study of the Upanishads.
The knowledge of difference consists in conceiving
of as many souls as there are bodies and regarding the
individual soul as different from the universal soul.
This knowledge is unreal ; it cannot render one
immortal (and therefore incapable of conferring im-
mortality). On the practical plane we may speak of
“ You ” and “ I ” but in reality there is no plurality
of the soul.
Those who are not fully qualified to
realize in themselves the supreme soul, should worship
the pranata. They must constantly pronounce it
“ Om, Om, Om ”.
The weak-minded should pro-
nounce it loud and long like the tolling of a bell ;
people with stronger minds must pronounce it more
slowly.
At the same time they must try to concentrate
on Nirguna Brahman. T
Those who are unable to do so may concentrate their minds upon the “ Om ” sound itself.
This exercise of Pranawpasana gradually produces
the knowledge of the soul. Yoga, which controls the
senses and the mind also helps to realise the soul
The soul. The Atman, is what enables the body, the
senses, the mind and the intellect to function We are
the soul The soul is Brahman The world is the
soul In truth nothing exists apart from the soul
Some teachers of Vedanta, however, vehemently
argue that not only the knowledge of the soul but
even the endeavours to reach It are the private property
of sanyasins.
But it is meaningless to deny the benefits
of atmajnana to other ashramites The Srutis and the
Smritis amply prove that in the past it was householders,
more than sanyasins, that worked in the field of
philosophical thought.
Indifference to worldly pleasures is the chief requisite for spiritual advancement .
Whether a man dwells at home or in the forest, if he
has Vairagya, he is a sanyasi.
One may put on the
saffron gown and go on mumbling the mantras, but
he is no sanyasi unless he has the true Vairagya.
There seems to be nothing absurd in the idea of a
householder’s (whether man or woman) immersing
himself or herself in Divine thought even as the
great rishis in their Himalayan ashrams did, provided
he or she has the necessary Viveka (discretion) and
Vairagya
It does not appear that before the great Rishi
Yajnavalkya imparted Divine knowledge to his wife
Maitreyi, or king Janaka of Videha, he requued them
to embrace sanyasa Yajnavalkya, whose heart was
ever fixed on Brahman, and taught Divine truths, was
.himself a householder.
Though the acceptance of
sanyasa is not a condition precedent to the attainment
of Divine knowledge, Vairagya is a necessary requisite
0 Maitreyi, know this ; the soul is the mass of
bliss — the ocean of bliss. See, how people who
V ought to know better, people who are deemed generally
wise, are running after fleeting p’ isures without trying
ftS'kiiow the soul—the soul that constantly rains down
unsurpassed joy and exists by their own side in their
own form, and enjoy the supreme bliss. Is there a
greater wonder than this? Why do the seekers of
eternal happiness waste themselves in the search of
these petty, earthly pleasures ? My dear, labour not
t'lunder the delusion that cxter..al things are the source
iof happiness. Give up all attachment and cling to
Vairagya. Indeed, even now you are rich in Vairagya ;
yet, I tell you all this only to strengthen your spirit of
Vairagya :
Withdraw your mind from all transient,
terrestrial concerns, give it peace and practise concen-
tration, so that you can see God as clearly and as
directly as I see you.
Now I will tell you how you can fulfill the purpose of life by realizing the blissful soul freely and completely.
O Maitreyi, perceive
your soul by hearing, thinking and meditating. He
who aims at realizing the soul must, first of all, with
the help of the Mahatmas who have realized it already,
and suitable books, understand to some extent the
nature of the soul.
From then he may learn that
soul is one without a second ; that It is omnipresent ;
that It is the same soul that manifests itself as jiva
(in all living bodies ; that It itself is Brahman, the
ultimate cause of the universe.
Then he must convince himself of this truth by independent reasoning.
Once he has done that he must meditate upon it
intensely and without break. The process is called
\Nididhyasan.
In the course of such concentrated,
devout meditations the mind merges with the soul
and in that state of samadhi he perceives It directly.
The numberless doubts which assailed him before
now resolve themselves completely.
Is there a soul
different from the body ? If there is, does it possess
any attributes or functions? or is it pure without
attributes ? If it is without attributes, does it differ
from body to body ? or is it one and the same ?
Such doubts and the illusory idea that “lam this body ”
ingrained in us in the course of several lives, now melt
into thin air.
He is convinced that the boast of
heraldry and the pomp of power and pelf are nothing
but vanity. With the conviction that high birth or
low birth, wealth or poverty, pleasure or pain, good
or evil, desire or anger, all pertain only to the body
and not to the soul, the jnani rises to the exalted
I state of jivanmukti where he realizes beyond all doubt
i“ I am the soul, pure and blissful — the One without
a second. That is the ultimate goal of man. For
him there is no gain greater than the realization of the
soul — ^no greater pleasure to enjoy — no higher duty
to perform. Self-abidance is the paramount duty,
paramount joy, paramount gain. It is the supreme
knowledge, O Maitreyi, self-abidance is the sole means
of attaining immortality :
so, if you aim at immortality,
spare no effort towards reaching that state of self-
abidance.”
self abidance..the sole means of attaining immortality
Brahman is infinite and like a lump of salt. It is
homogeneous in taste — that is to say, it is the mass of
being, intelligence, bliss. It is free from the differences
of three kinds. Being without parts it has no internal
difference ; since there is nothing positive like it,
it has no difference from things like it ; Nonentity
alone is different from it, but a nonentity cannot
be a counter entity of difference (or similarity) whence
Brahman has no difference from things unlike it.
iThus Brahman, entirely free from diversity, appears
un the phenomenal stage to be many, though it is in
fact one ; though unlimited by time and space, etc.,
it appears to be limited ; yet, always in its own grandeur
It shines all by itself.
Brahman is one-without-a-second. It transcends
nature. Therefore, questions pertinent to the objects
of nature are out of place in relation to It. Questions
like, “ where did Brahman originate ? ” “ When did
Brahman originate ? ” are as ridiculous as “ Please
see, have I a tongue 7 ” “ Is my mother barren ? ”
When It is without a second, how can it have a cause ?
Interrogatives like “ where ” and “ when ” are irrele-
vant to advaila ; they have their place only in the
illusory world of duality.
Only a few virtuous souls with real wisdom
realise that sensuous pleasures which cause bondage
are ultimately the source of sorrow, and cultivate a
spirit of detachment in an effort to attain the Divine
Joy All mankmd, without any distinction of the
learned and the ignorant, lose themselves in the fleeting
bodily pleasures and consequently suffer from a senes
of calamities such as births and deaths and illness
Yet, paradoxical as it is, they fancy that state of bondage
to be happiness The very awareness of bondage is the
[result of keen discrimination He who knows not
he IS bound, will not try to set himself free He
who does not desire freedom, cannot find any interest
m the search after Truth or in philosophical discussions
Philosophical discussions lead to philosophical wisdom
Knowledge of Truth leads to Soul Force Soul
Force is ever homogeneous, unexcelled, eternal The
seductive power of the sense objects is as momentary
las the flashes of lightning In the presence of Soul
iForce, power of the sense objects loses all lustre and
appears as a glow-worm in the presence of the Sun
The Soul Force is the great force in whose presence
all earthly power, the power of the emperor, the power
of even Himnyagarbha, becomes infinitely negligible
When man attains that power, all his bonds break,
and he comes to enjoy a free, blissful life with a feeling
of eternal contentment and finality So long as man
mistakes the body for the self, and consequently
entertains feelings of “ I ” and “ mine ”, he can
hardly reach the portals of Soul Force Most people
caught in the toils of Illusion waste their lives, not
only without attaining Soul Force or self-knowledge,
but even without realising that they are in a state of
bondage Among all mankind, who has the strength
to overstep the limits of the wide realm of the mighty
Illusion which holds sway over everything, and engulfs
all men and women in the shoreless sea of desire and
dances intoxicated, blowing the trumpet of her victory
that signifies undisputed sovereignty
On that plateau of
solitary grandeur, I spent most of my tune in meditation
It IS not impossible to keep the eyes open, engage
ourselves in various activities and at the same time
see the Paramalmaii, even as we see Him directly
in our meditation while we sit with our eyes closed.
Yet if the latter course is preferred, it is only because
we desire to reach the sublime state of supreme peace
without the obstructions of perceptible things, and
because concentration gradually develops into one’s
second nature Having consciously overcome obsta-
cles like laya, vikshepa, kashaya and rasaswada, man’s
mmd soars higher and higher like birds to the very
zenith of Nirnkalpa Brahman, and finds rest and
happiness there To those who have realized, this
kind of samadhi is a source of bliss , to the seekers,
it proves helpful in reinforcing knowledge There is
no doubt that the congeniality of time and place goes
a long way towards making the mind still and pointed
like the flame in a windiess room and leading it on
to the state of Nirvikalpa and bliss. It may be stated
with certainty that the Himalayan atmosphere per-
meated with the noble penance and energy of the
great rishis, has exceptional powers of easily leading
minds to peace and concentration
The dwaita that treats
of Jiva (soul), Iswara (God) and Jagat (universe) is
nothing but advaita. It is therefore doubtless that
our ultimate objective is the attainment of Advaita,
not of Dwaita. This may be illustrated here by an
interesting short story
....Thus for all this
material world the ultimate cause — the material as
i|Well as the instrumental cause is the Parmatma and
‘ naturally the Paramatma alone is real ; all tile world
existing in speech being changeful and unreal.
Various rivers such as the Ganges, the Godavari
and the Sindhu empty themselves into the sea and
become one with it. From that moment it is impossible
to distinguish them. In the same way, all living beings
reach the Undivided Reality and when they return
to the earth, they do not know that they are come from
that Reality. “ O I Swethakethu, That thou art ;
O Swethakethu you are that eternal Brahman ; that
Brahman is yourself
...Gandhara blindfold thief
Even so,
man is blind folded by the veil of illusion He is
captured by the thieves, Dharma and Adharma, and
left in the forest of this body so full of woes. Then
the kind master takes pity on him, removes the veil
from his eyes and sets him on the right road to his
goal. The man being clever enough to understand
advice, and being contemplative by nature, escapes
from the wood and reaches the Eternal Object Under-
stand, therefore, that the advice of the master is
the chief means of attaining that Eternal Entity
' “ That thou art, O Swethakethu, you are that Eternal
Entity That Eternal Object is yourself ”
Brahman which is the substratum of the universe.
I'ljHaving found deliverance even while on earth, he.
lived in supreme contentment and heavenly bliss for
(ever more.
I Such were the lines on which the ancient rishis
thought.
By very careful reasoning they determined
the nature of Reality and found everlasting bliss,
indeed,
thinking alone helps in determining the
nature of Reality.
No amount of penance or ritualistic
jhvorship can take us to the goal. Penance, by itself,
cannot destroy the I-Conciousness.
That can be
'footed out only on the direct perception of Reality
resulting from thought. Until that is done there
cannot be real peace and freedom from suffering.
All creatures, from the worm to Hiranyagarbha, are
strung on the ego-sense called adliyasa, by the Vedan-
tins (Saririka Bhashya )
Abidance in Brahman is the unbroken flow of
mental moulds informed by Brahman. When the
mind is engaged in a state of samadhi, how can the
concept of body and other objects extraneous to the
Atman arise in it ? Concept of the Atman and concept
of the non-Atman cannot exist in the mind at the
same moment. How can there be activities connected
with the body, etc., in the absence of a strong attachment
to such objects ? As the enlightened ones abiding in
Jnana are beyond the reach of activities, sanyasa
comes to them quite spontaneously. The advocates
of sanyasa, therefore, argue that during the stage of
preparatory practice, sanyasa in the form of the
renunciation of action is indispensable ; in the stage of
attainment it becomes natural ; that Karma and Jnana
cannot therefore exist in the same person at the same
time ; that the Karma of Janaka, Vidura, etc., was
merely the reflection of it and that only worldlings
obsessed with the idea of sense enjoyment oppose the
idea of sanyasa.
Faith — unswerving faith — alone is the
supreme means to the supreme goal.
Let there be a duahty, once the fabrications of the
mind have been suppressed or let there not be, what
IS certain is, that is the peerless state of tranquility.
Let a tigress roar terribly in front of a sage merged
in profound meditation or let a hourt sing sweetly
before him , his state of tranquility is unaffected
by them all, because the mind that grasps does not
operate in regard to its objects, but remains concen-
trated and so tranquil. Therefore, though there are
external objects they are as good as non-existent and
thus no longer promote agitation.
Again, that is
the reason why certain teachers have laid it down as
a rule that by liquidating not the world created by
God, but the world created by man, that is, by under-
mining the fabrications of the mind of man, certain
tranquility is attained.
The conclusion of all spiritual
sciences and of all great sages is that agitation or
trans-migratory existence is the summation of all
possible relations between subject and object , while
liberation or tranquility is the cessation of such
summations In the restricted state of the mind the
veil, namely, the objective complex, disappears and
then, like the sun with the disappearance of the clouds.
296
the supreme truth of tranquility shines forth vividly.
Though this ultimate truth has been indicated in
manifold ways by various philosophers, there is no
doubt about its umty. A real difference cannot
result from difference of labels or processes of thought
What has been established thus far is that high souled
sages attain that unsurpassed tranquility which is
untainted by association with a variety of names and
forms.
They do so by attaining the stage of the
restricted mind after, thorough discipline, discarding
the distractions of the mind and sense organs and
body.
Now rises the question what the state of the
sages is when the body, senses and the mind function.
Is theirs a plight of wretchedness full of agitation,
such as that of the ignorant ? Never. In the midst
of agitation they experience, without a break, internal
tranquility. Since the principle of tranquility always
shines forth in their minds, never is tranquility hidden
from them. How can there be darkness in light ’
How can there be agitations in tranquility "> Don’t
ask, how bhss can dwell in pain When a man stands
waist deep in the cool water of a deep pond m summer
when all around it is scorching heat, simultaneously
half his body feels the heat while the other half coolness
Seetha dwelling under the asoka tree in Lanka, sur-
rounded by ogresses, is said to have, at once, experi-
enced the torments of hell and consequent upon her
constant recollection of her lord, the qmntessence of
bhss
Even so, the sages also may find unavoidable
I the activities of the sense organs and the mind, impelled
by past actions as well as the consequent sensations
of pain and pleasure.
Even in the midst of such deep
distraction the great souls who have firmly realized
the essence of tranquility still continue to experience
it Without a moment’s break for, such tranqmlhty
shmes m their mmd When we say the supreme truth
jmamfests itself or tranqmlhty is expenenced we mean
the same thing. Famous is the utterance of the
teacher (Sankara) q- lassie fharil’
which means
“ Not for half a moment do the sages
remain without the experience of Brahman ”
In other words, their mind takes on the form of
Brahman which leaves them not even for the briefest
midst of external activities the mmd, no doubt, assumes
from moment to moment, the forms of objects Never-
theless,
what IS extremely difficult for an ordinary
type of knower is achieved by eminent sages, namely,
to keep unaffected the mental grasp of the truth of
Brahman.
Just as the body-bound souls never miss
the experience of the body even in the midst of the
uttermost distractions, so the shining forth of Brahman
IS experienced without any difficulty by the knowers
of Brahman who delight in Brahman and who are
non-different from Brahman.
The fact is, it is easier for them to do so. It becomes their very nature/
For such sages who are hardly less than God Hunself,
and who habitually find themselves on (he summit
of such experience, there is concentration of mind
both when the mind is restricted and when it operates
towards objects. Though, thus, both the states of
concentration and distraction are alike to them, it is
assumed, from the point of view of duality, that in
one state, there is the apprehension of objects while,
m the other, there is none of it
hose who have seen God
see Him everywhere and at all times. The seer is
himself God. Then why should he fear himself 7
How could he be affected by sorrow ? There is
nothing strange if we, whose minds were continuously
occupied with the thought of God and who saw,
beyond all doubt, that all movable and immovable
beings are but so many forms of God, were not frigh-
tened by the objects that terrify the ignorant who
identify themselves with their bodies. In short, we
were not distracted by the terrors and anxieties which
haunt the minds of common people whose love of
the body and considerations of personal safety set
their imagination feverishly busy. At no time did we
, experience there anything but cheerfulness.
To them there is this brief reply ; Only a
bird that flies through the air, knows the nature of the
flight ; similarly, only a sanyasin who travels in the
world can know nothing about the secrets of the
inner world. Among wise men there is a well-known
saying, “ Only the knower knows the knower.
There may still be persons who ask, “ what is
the meaning of saying that those who have obtained
the vision of God see him always and everywhere ?
What is God’s shape ? What is the form of His
vision ? ” It is impossible to answer such questions
at once with words. How can one describe the true
form of God in words and make others understand
It ? Even those who have actually seen It fail to
describe It completely. Descriptions, however de-
tailed or extensive, cannot hope to touch all Its aspects.
The way to know It, is by actual experience and there
is no other way. The srtiifs and learned men have
described it in a thousand ways— as the Omniscient,
the Omnipotent, the Supreme Limit of A/swarya,
the Creator-preserver-destroyer, the shoreless, honey-
like, Ocean of Sweetness, the Light that renders
billions of suns dark by comparison, the Inner Being
that controls all beings movable and immovable, the
Embodiment of Truth-Knowledge-Bliss, the One All-
pervading like space. One without sound, touch or
form — so on and so forth. Indeed, we may admit
that all these descriptions are descriptions of the
Supreme Soul and to some extent help to convey the
notion of what It is, but all these fall far short of
giving men a complete idea ; for It is far above all
description. We cannot circumscribe It with words.
Like a fruit that floats on the surface of water, the
Paramatma rises above the floods of eloquence.
Howsoever high the water rises, the fruit still floats
lover it. Similarly, the supreme soul keeps on rising
'above the swelling words ; It is never submerged.
The descriptions are all right There
IS notlung wrong with them Lord Vishnu’s hands
are four in number, not two, or eight His complexion
IS dark blue, not white or red But how can these
pieces of knowledge help man to apprehend the charm-
ing beauty of His Divine form t None, except His
sole devotees who have seen Hun with their own eyes,
can know the celestial splendour of that Divine vision
Similarly, the supreme soul is beyond words , It is open
only to personal experience If that is so, shall we
say that all the varied descriptions of the Paramatma,
attempted by the srutis and smniis are in vain ?
Cer-
tainly not Who says they are m vain ’ If they
help towards the reahzation of Truth, let them do so
I do not deny the help rendered by the discussion of
Truth by the sastras and learned men.
If God is thus beyond description, how can the vision of God
be descnbable '>
Since the form of a pot can be
described, it is possible to describe, also, the vision
of the pot.
The vision of an indescribable thing
must necessarily be indescribable.
What is the instrument with which one may perceive the Supreme Soul
With our eye we perceive pots, etc With the mind
we perceive desn-e, anger, etc But with neither,
shall we perceive It which is beyond name and form.
The ancient rishis who had realized Truth describe
it as beyond words and mind.
Like God, the vision
of God too is beyond words.
When the mind assumes the form of a pot, it becomes the perception of the
pot. Like that, when the mind, rising above name and form, assumes the state of Brahman it is called the perception of Brahman, by the Vedantins.
But Brahman has no form, it is formless. Who can
perceive the formless Brahman ? How can the limited
mind comprehend the formless and unlimited Brah-
man ?
It may be argued that when the mind is free
from all its functions of imagination, it intuits Brahman,
pure, one without a second, which shines forth in its
own splendour without a veil ; then it is futile to
maintain that there is a perceiver and a perception of
Brahman.
It will then follow that the intuition of
Brahman has nothing in common with phenomenal
perceptions of the objective world,
that, in fact, the
perception of Brahman is the Rajasic experience of the
non-objective.
Such are the conclusions of Vedanta.
Even as God is. His perception also is surpasingly
marvelous and transcendent. Hence it is impossible
to grasp either from mere descriptions thereof. On
the other hand, both of them have to be immediately
intuited. That is the upshot of this context.
306
Their minds begin to flow continuously towards the Lord, and experience pleasure in doing so.
If the jnanis find their joy in meditating upon formless
Brahman, the Bhaktas revel in the contemplation of the
Divine form.
Of course there-are not two gods, one with form and another without it. God is one and so a Bhakta who loves the Divine form intensely to
the exclusion of everything else, has nothing more to
gain.
Let no one be under the illusion that the direct
perception of Parabramha who has no form and
no attributes, alone leads to salvation,
that the Bhakta
has not attained it, that he is yet to achieve it and that
until he does so, the purpose of his life remains un-
fulfilled.
If God has such a form without attributes —
a form whose perception alone will lead to salvation —
will not He disclose it to His true devotee one
day or other and lead him on to the supreme goal ?
The seeker of moksha should, therefore, refrain from
indulging in wordy quarrels regarding the form or
the formlessness of Brahman. If he is a bhakta let
him concentrate his mind upon the form of the Lord ;
if he is a jnani let him try to acquire steadfast knowledge
of the formless, through earnest study and discipline.
The supreme, the ultimate, goal of Bhakti and Jnana
is the same. There is no doubt it is Nirvana through
, the realization of Brahman. Certainly, those people
who move slowly, step by step, towards the goal
uttering the holy names of God in full faith, are
immensely more fortunate than the unqualified persons
who tumble down headlong into perdition during
their attempts to scale the difficult and dangerous
heights of Brahma-Jnana. The path of Bhakti is the
royal toad to the presence of God. It is open to all
types of people, whether learned or ignorant. It is
also the easiest to follow. That is why the great seers
of God, both inside and outside the Vedic pale, have
recommended it whole-heartedly as the noblest route
to the great goal, popularised it among the people
tortured by the threefold sufferings of life. If there
is God, there is no doubt. He must be omniscient,
as well as omnipotent. He can assume any form in
which his devotee worships Him and bless him, granting
him a vision in that particular form. There is nothing
illogical or unscientific in the idea. Nor is it contrary
to experience. If those who worship the formless
Brahman presume to ridicule the Bhakta when he
cries out “ O Lord of Kailas, O Lord of Vaikunta,
save us. save us, 0 Lord ”, they only make themselves
ridiculous.
To abandon all love of worldly
pleasures and immerse one’s -mind completely in the
love of God, can be the consummation only of great
punya.
Whatever be the form of God, only a mind
which has freed itself totally from worldly entangle-
ments, can be filled with Divine love.
For people whose vasanas (inborn dispositions) have been washed
away by the flood of Divine love, the advaitic (?)knowledge
cannot be far, if at all they want it.
Believe firmly in the existence of God — believe that He is — believe
that He is the Father of the Universe who preserves
everything— then, it does not matter in what form you
' worship Him, on what pedestal, or in what world you
place Him ; then, there is no doubt, the Omniscient
I ,One, immanent in everything and everywhere, will
I [bestow His grace upon you. When a Bhakla, filled
with the longing to see his Beloved, cries out as if his
heart would break,
“ My Lord, My Lord, O Parmatma,
when shall I behold Thy lovely form with these eyes
of mine ?”. Only people who have tasted the Divine
sweetness of that intense love, can understand it.
Seeing that Bhakti and Jnana are equally good, wise
ones should never waste their precious time arguing
,, excitedly about the superiority of the one or the other,
llwhat vdse men. ought to do is to adopt one of these
I'aaccording to their qualifications and inclinations,
[pursue it steadily, see God and thus fulfil the purpose
of this invaluable human birth.
Those who possess such love of God, love such
solitary places as Gomukha, whichever proclaim the
glory of the Lord.
imp bhakti solitude gomukh..helps atain samadhi easily
Parted from her lover, his beloved
sits in the corner of her lonely chamber where every-
thing reminds her of him, thinking of him in secret.
To her even the sound of a single foot-step seems
intolerable. She hates every distraction which disturbs
the contemplation of her lord. Even so, the bhakta
hates all interruptions to his prayers, and all distrac-
tions which break up his continuous contemplation of
God whom he loves most intensely.
For such bhaktas, can there be a place more congenial than the solitary, peaceful Gomukha? There is nothing here which
docs not help the enjoyment of contemplation and
prayer. What is here to hinder it ?
This solitary
place is. extremely suitable to people who see God,
who love God or who meditate upon God, for they
require no external assistance in their activities, but
a cultured mind. Solitude serves them best to perfect
their discipline. This Gomukha region is unrivalled
not only in its perpetual solitude but also its clear,
pure, spiritual atmosphere and so it aids the bhakta
as well as the jnani to reach easily the state of samadhi
which is the culmination of jnana, bhakti and dhyana.
But, for the karma yogi who is trying to perform his
duties as acts of devotion, without any desire for
reward, this place is not suited so well. He can
bathe here devoutly, gain God’s grace and thereby
destroy sins and acquire mental purity. He can
reinforce his faith in God by observing the glory of
the Creator which manifests itself everywhere in this
Divine land, but unlike the other three types of yogis
he cannot afford to stay on in this region and at the,
same time carry on his duties as a karma yogi for a
karma yogi has to depend necessarily upon external
objects for his activities. In the view of ancient
......few people in the world have the great good fortune
to enjoy supreme happiness in this grief-stricken
world, through a life like mine ; that the common
people, whose minds are dragged along by innate
tendencies and weighed down by the burden of worldly
cares, are not entitled to taste even a drop of this great
peace ; that,
even as it is impossible to enjoy royal
luxuries by desire alone without the necessary means
such as wealth and position, for common people
without the necessary devotion to truth, eradication
of inborn tendencies, attainment of quiescence, etc.,
it is impossible to attain the highest spiritual peace
by desire alone ;
the first duty of the common people
therefore is, not to throw up their duties and take
to a life of solitude, but to lead a life of Nishkama
Karma for the purification of their minds. On getting
this message and taking the holy bath at Gomukha,
my visitors hurriedly departed, as if they were aware
of their disqualification too well to stay on.
From personal experience I can
record here that on those occasions the shades of
trees afforded me far more comfort than well-fumishcd
houses. How can that be ? When disagreeablcness
ends, that is itself agreeableness. That disagreeable
feeling is sorrow and agreeable feeling pleasure, is a .
well-known scientific fact. That means, the cad of
adverse sorrow is the beginning of pleasure. The
greater4he sorrow, Uie greater is the pleasure on its
elir In the rainy season, the rain pours ...........
The
reason is, in the total absence of adverse circumstances,
the feeling of pleasure does not attain extraordinary
proportions. The denser the darkness, the greater
is the brilliance of the light that destroys it
The main theme of this work is
that the free principle of the atman or Self, referred
I to by the term " I ”, dwelling in ‘ the cavity of the
heart ’ of all, one with the principle known as God,
Brahman, etc , is the cause of the existence, sustentaUon,
and rctraclion of the unucrsc Not only of this work,
It IS the theme of all the Upamshads too.
Apart from the spiritual principle of the Self there is no other
God.
Those who know the Self know God too
Other than the principle of the Self, there is neither a
witnessing God or some sort of a sovereign, manifesting
Himself in a definite form, reigning supreme in some
far away world ' Not this which people worship "
sentences like this found in our
Upamshads, refuted, thousands of years ago, once
and for all the theory of a witnessing God.
This non dual reality alone is true.
All other entities arc
subject to ch ingc and so arc perishable Hence
follows also that they arc unreal Tins Self, this
Brahman, unlimited by time, space and other entities,
without sulfering any diminution of its immutability,
projects the Umserse from ether downwards How ’’
How can there be projection w itltout the cause suffering
any alteration ’ A specific power that resides in
Brahman projects this world without altering its
substratum in the least ficnee Brahman eternally
remains in itself homogeneous, unchanging This
power IS designated /iioja, as it produces extraordinary
variciy, prakrlli as it is the material cause of the
Umserse It has also several other names Tins
variegated power, rather Brahman m conjunction
with this variegated power, assumes the form of the
universe If so, it follows, that the world which
appears to consist of tlic five elements is none other
than Brahman Since spint is one only and never
two, what affirms itself as ‘ I ’ ‘ I ’ in each of the living
bodies and in fact is tlic spiritual jtia, must also be
non-dilfercnt from Brahman There is no reason to
imagine that spirit differs with the bodies m which
it dwells. If the inert world even is not different
from Brahman, how can the Jiya which is spiritual
differ from It ? Thus both the world and jiva are
■ non-different from the spiritual, unitary Brahman,
which though immutable, is said to change due to the
operations of its power. That the world and the
-Jiva are not independent entities is the main conclusion
of Badarayana, the author of the Vedanta Philosophy,
and of Sankara and others who follow him. Brahman,
then, is the Truth of all truths.
The knowledge of
Brahman is the immediate perception of non-difference
between Brahman on the one hand and oneself and
the universe on the other.
An uninterrupted reveling in this non-dual Brahman realized as the quintessence of the world is the supreme goal of life.
What has been attempted in this book is to present in an easy,
intelligible manner. The truth of the identity between
jiva and Brahman. This timeless truth, viz,, the
non-duality (of reality) has been set forth here along
with the means and the auxiliaries that promote the
experience of this truth.
Whether it is on the peaks
of the Himalayas, on Mt. Kailas or on the shores of
Manasasarowar, I find the same Perfect Being. I
find the same self-luminous thing at all places, at all
times, in all objects and in all states. I find only that
object of Truth and nothing else. I hear nothing
else. I touch nothing else. I taste nothing' else — I
smell nothing else. I am not thinking of anything
else. I do not find my joy in any object other than
that Object of Bliss.
The present writer is a sanyasi,
who has, after the acceptance of Sanyasa, made the
Himalayas his abode — a great lover of solitude,
engaged unintermittentiy in the contemplation of the
Paramatma — a firm believer in Sanyasa, not only as a
desirable stage in human life, but as the holiest part
of It — one who looks upon Sanyasa as a miraculous
means of converting worldly existence, which is
generally regarded as sad and melancholy, into some
thing full of bliss.
He concedes, also, that for certain
people the very thought of the soul is impossible
until they have totally abandoned all distracting
activities.
That is all true But, m spite of all this,
the writer of this book does not believe that house-
holders and other Asramilcs are disqualified to lead a
spiritual life or that, for people m other Asrams it is
impossible to meditate upon the Soul I have expressed
this opinion elsewhere, but I am repeating it here to
stress that view over again In the midst of action,
think of the Soul Surrounded by wife, children and
grandchildren, still think of the Paramanm with
devout lose Think, constantly, of the power that
activates your hands, legs, etc Always use them to
Ido things good and desirable
Allow not yourself
to be tempted by the intoxicating wine On the
contrary, drink, drink your fill of the Nectar of Life
for ever more and find everlasting BLISS '
Om Santi ' Santi ' ' Santi ' '
................................
9
Here, where those sadhus were engaged in
study and meditation in the solitary hermitages on
the banks of the Ganga, days pass like seconds and
it is certainly a cov’etable experience. But it is open
only to a limited number of people who have realized
the unsubstantial, painful and illusory nature of
worldly life, who have, therefore, given up such life
for a life of devotion and contemplation. No wonder,
it is open only to a few. Divine law does not entitle
every one to everything. Let him, who longs for
such experiences, qualify himself for them and then
he will have them, not otherwise. Of course, there
are people who consider a life of contemplation as
an idle life, a life of renunciation a primitive life, a
life of rigorous spiritual discipline a life of foolish
self-torture, a solitary life a sort of solitary confinement,
and spiritual experiences the vague imaginings of a
disordered brain. Let such people enjoy themselves
in their own way. For the time being, they are
entitled only to such joys. If they have the grace
of God, they may, in a short time, that is, in the
course of a few lives, realize the vanity of worldly
life and turn round to the path of Truth.
It is a well-known characteristic of
beautiful, solitary forests that they intensify man’s
feelings, whether it is devotion or physical love.
It helps concentration in a state of meditation. That
is why sadhus resort to such forests to develop their
devotion and practise concentration.
To bathe in the ice cold Ganga, to drink her
waters, to eat strange food, to endure the extremes of
heat and cold, — these are the rigours to which South
Indiana are eKposed at Hnshikesh But even these
penances are only external. There is another type of
idisciphne— discipline of the mind which alone leads to
Self-realization. The man whose mind is not discip-
|hned profits little by a stay at Hnshikesh or Kailas
On the contrary, a person who has such discipline
may dwell in the midst of alarms, in his own home
or in the city, and yet reach the state of Peace, though
gradually.
18
In the increasing worldliness that encompasses
man in our time, he finds little time to look into
himself and discover the Inner Spirit. People domi-
nated by rajogima can hardly pass a day without
seeing other people and mixing themselves with
worldly things. They cannot spend a few days in
solitude.
The real difference
between a jnani and an ajnani in their attitude to suffer-
ing is to be found in the JnanCs serenity which remains
lUnrufUed in the face of pain and sorrow. It is born
jout of the conviction that worldly existence is illusory
and the soul alone is eternal.
34
Even as Purusha and Sakti
are inseparable, Brahman and Prakrili are indivisible
He who has realized God, finds Him everywhere and
m everything Nothing is, except Brahman Brahman
appears under different names and in different forms
and nothing else
56
....it is not easy to reach that stage, of
Supreme Bliss, where all distinctions disappear, where
all activity ceases. There may be a few great souls
who enjoy the state of Samadhi but even their minds
and senses arc not beyond the reach of the mighty
Illusion. One may ascend to the highest peak of the
Himalayas ; but unless one is exceptionally fortunate
and possesses tireless industry, deep faith, true know-
ledge and the highest degree of detachment, one
cannot overcome Illusion completely and reach that
final blissful state of merger tvith the Supreme
Great indeed is the power of Vmragya
(indifference to worldly things) When Vairagya
dawns, tenderness changes into hardness, weakness
into strength and grief into joy It makes the impossi-
Ible easily possible But true Vairagya is difficult to
attain, because desire and attachment spnng from
multifarious sources Desire is a Hydra headed mons-
ter Cut off one head and you find several taking its
place Overcome sexual desire and it is soon replaced
by the desire for wealth Overcome that too, then
the attachment to the body shows itself with un-
precedented strength Get over that attachment also
and then the desire for immortal fame calls aloud like a
lioness from the caverns of the heart Even the wisest
and the most learned of mankind are ensnared by the
desire for fame. Verily, desire for fame is the last
linfirmity of noble minds. It can be overcome by
only wise and heroic efforts. Very often, common
people are misled into taking this hankering after
fame as the love of one’s community, of one’s country
or religion. He who engages himself in national or
religious work to perpetuate his name is no true
patriot or saint. People may pretend that the pros-
perity of their country or religion is the sole objective
but their real aim may be self-aggrandizement. In
English there is a familiar saying, “ Even the Devil
jknoweth not the mind of man”. The Omniscient
alone knows the real motives of one’s conduct. Desire
is something subtle and beyond the comprehension
of the senses. Our surmises based on externals are
therefore liable to go wrong, and they do often go
wrong.
True Vairagya is the result of thought. The other
kinds of Vairagya, resulting from various other causes,
can, at best, be only weak, temporary and halting.
85
Remember, man cannot reach Brahman
without attnbutes except through attributes Wor-
shipping stone or earth, or other materialistic objects
as Brahman, cleanses the mind and helps to concen-
trate it A mmd cannot qualify itself for the realiza-
tion of Truth except through the worship of both the
gross and the subtle Beginners in spiritual practice
sometimes try to grapple with the Abstract straightaway
and they invanably fail To concentrate the mmd
upon Brahman, one must begm with worship So,
for people who are only imperfectly qualified to enter
into meditation, pious descnption of the objects of
worship hke stone or earth or idol, are not without use
Salagram or Snalmgani or some such stone, as if it
were God, Yogis advise their followers to concentrate
their minds upon mbhi chakra (the navel wheel),
Hndayapmnlankam(fiie\olas of the heart), Nasikagram
(tip of the nose), Jihwagram (tip of the tongue),
Bliroomaclltyam (centre of the brows), etc , and followers
of the Upamshads direct their pupils to worship
“ aima ” (physical body). Prana (air) and various other
materialistic things Why do they do so ’’ They
do so because all of them agree that without first
gaming a certain degree of concentration by fixing
the mind upon physical objects, it is difficult for people
to focus their minds upon the abstract Brahman
Constant supposition by itself cannot make a thing
real There ts nothing absurd in worshipping some-
thing unreal for the improvement of the mind When
a man has realized the eternal Truth by distinguishing
between the true and the untrue with the help of
concrete objects, he may no longer requite that mode
of worship, bIf that IS so, tlie detailed description of
some image, holy place or beautiful thing, which is
suitable for the worship of gross-minded people and
which will help towards the purification and concen-
tration of their minds, cannot be open to censure,
though, from one point of view, the description may
appear to be that of a purely imaginary thing, as
unreal as the child of a barren woman If it serves
seekers after Truth to some extent in tlieir quest,
my effort in writing these pieces of description shall
I not be in vain I know Truth is that endless luminous
iiKnowledge transcending the three gunas and action
know 1 am That and am supremely happy in that
ut until such realization, the substitution
of the unreal for the Real, is not undesirable or pur-
poseless
Knowledge. I believe whatever I do, whether I
read or write, eat or breathe, play or ramble, or remain
in a state of mental concentration (samadhi) is for the
good of my brethren.
There is no doubt, careful observers can learn not
only through scriptures but also through daily experi-
enee, something about the wonderful power of God.
The impossible becomes possible for no apparent
reason, and untrained observers do not understand
its secret. God’s power enters everywhere, whether
into the hearts of cities or of unexplored mountains.
Man’s powers are circumscribed, but God’s power
has no limits, that is, there is no power above God’s
to limit it by Time, Space, etc.
my heart was filled with
devotion once again God’s ways are irresistible
Who can check His power “> We quietly submitted
to his will and stayed on without any more hesitation
According to modem histo-
rians Hindu gods and goddesses are merely creatures
of ancient Hindu imagination. But to the faithful,
even today, they are perfectly real, and capable of
personal and direct contact. In the past many devotees
have realized them. Even in our age there are some
who have found peace and joy through sueh realization.
Let the logicians argue how they will, the faithful
are not going to be perturbed by their arguments,
and there is no reason why they should be.
It IS the One Reality that sustains and supports all
that IS unreal There cannot be two Realities or two
Independent things It is illogical If there are two
Realities the one must necessarily limit the other
The limited cannot be independent , It cannot control
all else
I Tlie Truth of truths is contained in the Vedmuc
jtheory that only the One thing which is unlimited and
whicli is the basis of everything else, is the Reality
Modem Science supports this theory with its deduction
that all universe originates from an unlimited and
indestructible force Whether others accept it or not.
Truth IS always Truth
That Truth is One can never
be denied As a result of modern scientific develop-
ments and formulation of new systems of philosophy,
old beliefs and theories may undergo modification
but the theory, that Reality is One, that it is the basis
of everything, that it is the final cause, that the life
force that pervades all objects and shines perpetually,
can never be called in question.
That
is inevitable ; the people of thoughtful temperament
cannot find peace and quietude until they do so
Moksha (liberation) is in the realization of one’s
oneness with God We speak of gods and goddesses,
devotion and devotee, only in an inaccurate way,
only from the stand point of a d\aitbi After the
realization of oneness with God, there is no distinction
between God and devotee and the word “ devotion ”
has no meaning Hanuman’s words to Sri Rama-
chandra express a splendid truth
“ Regarded as a body, I am your slave , as a life, I am
your part, but in truth, you and 1 are one— there is
no distinction ” To the thinker there is only One
Living Thing and It undergoes no change
116
Certainly Yoga is one of the higher methods of realizing
God It is far supenor to iSafcn-worship
It is also
true that, in certam cases, men are able to know truth
only through cultivating yoga, even though they
might have previously spent years in study and medita-
tion But the yoga must be of the correct type ema-
nating from the Upamshads and handed down by the
great rishis It mist be learnt from true teachers
The world should know how dangerous it is to expen-
ment with Rechaka, Pooraka, etc , without first studying
carefully their basic prmciples, their nature and results
from a real master of yoga Some people are under
the impression that yoga consists simply of the several
steps of Pranayama, such as Rechakam, Poorakam, etc.
Some other consider acts hke ffeti and Dhouti to be
yoga Yet others mistake it for the vision of stars or
of the sun and the moon within If a person succeeds
in raising himself howsoever httle from his seat he is
deemed to have attained the very hnut of yoga. None
of these is yoga Even if one is able to do all this,
he may be no Yogi Even if be fails to do any of these,
■he may still be a yogi Then what is yoga "> What
'is the true nature of the yoga dealt wiUi in the sastras
and regarded by the wise as helpful m the effort to
(realize God ?
Yoga IS defined as “ That is, it
consists in attaining complete control over the vacillations of the restless mind.
The process involves eight
steps mt, fintn, antm, mvnum, UcUi^k , uiyw, am
and tiHlfit First, one should master m, film and
possess even a rudimentary knowledge of the yoga
system.
While I was at Jwalamukhi I met one such
young sadhu, who had given up the company of wise
men and was wandering here and there in vain.
117
Pranayama means
the conquest of prana by practising Rechakam, Poora-
kam and Kumbhakam
letting it out gradually
(exhaling) is known as Rechaka. The complete
stoppage of breathing (neither inhaling nor exhaling)
is designated as Kumbhakam and that is the most
important part of Pranayama. Not only the Hatha.
Yogis but the Rajayogis also accept Pranayama as an
essential element of yoga.
Physical
health, however important, is only physical health.
However long a tree might live, it is no more than a
tree. Rajayoga, therefore, accepts pranayama merely
as a means to an end, namely, control of the mind.
Pranayama should be practised slowly and with
great care. Prana is like the lion : to tame him into
a cat is a difficult task, indeed. If one succeeds in
doing so, he of course reaps great benefits ; if he fails,
he may have to face dangerous consequences.
The man
who conquers the individual prana by regular and
patient practice, simultaneously conquers the collective
prana. All one’s physical and mental powers proceed
from one’s individual prana , similarly all the acts of
the Universe originate with the collective prana
Thus by conquering the individual prana, the yogis
conquer the collective as well.
In fact, collective
prana and individual prana are not two different
entities but one and the same.
So the devotees of the
yoga philosophy claim enthusiastically that a yogi
who has effected the complete conquest of the individual
prana will have the sun and the moon at his beck and
call, because he has obtained control over the collective
prana. However, we need not examine the validity
of these claims here as they relate simply to the realm
of possibilities
After the conquest of prana one should practise
Pratyahara. Pratyahara is the technical term for
withdrawing the mind from the pursuit of the senses
Ordinarily, the mind is flowing out through the clefts
in the surrounding rocks A sound is produced some-
where near us , we hear it, whether we like it or not
Somebody comes , we notice the arrival whether we
like to do so or not. Thus, irrespective of our likes
and dislikes, we are being continually attracted by
sights and sounds And our mind, enslaved by the
senses, is engaged in a relentless pursuit of them. If
we do not check this lamentable vagrant tendency, our
mind cannot turn inward and fix itself upon anything.
It IS a well-known fact that we become aware of external
things only when the sense organs, the senses and the
mind come into contact with them. If one’s mind
and one’s senses do not come into touch with each
other, no knowledge results. Until we are able to
control the sense organs, the senses and the mind
119
which are all separate but which become one empirically
and keep them in their proper places, we shall have to
remain slaves to our senses and it will be impossible
for us to concentrate our mind upon any one object.
And therefore it is plain, one cannot become a yogi
‘ until one is able to regulate the connection and the
disconnection of the mind and the senses.
As it is the
prana that carries on the processes of connection and
disconnection irrespective of one’s will, one shall be
able to withdraw the mind from the senses, on one’s
developing the control of prana by the practice of
pranayama.
Once a man has developed his power of Pratyahara, he must proceed gradually to dharana, dhyana, samadhi etc.
These are the ’Tn’TTjfTO: (Subject
of imagination) of the mind.
To begin with, one must
try to concentrate upon physical objects. From the
contemplation of the physical, one can pass on to the
spiritual. There is great variety among the objects
of contemplation according to the varying tastes of
the practitioners. The lotuses of the mooladhara
and the shining “ lights ” are some of the favourite
concrete aids to contemplation. The Bhaktas generally
prefer the divine forms of Vishnu, Siva, etc. In fact,
every object helping to check the constant wave-like
movements of the mind, and enabling the mind to
flow out like a single stream,is good enough.
This
pinning down of the mind according to one’s tastes,
to spiritual or physical objects such as an imaginary
bright light in the heart or between the eyebrows or
on top of the head or on Vishnu, Siva or Devi, is
called dharana.
If this control of mental activity is
continued for a long time it is called' dhyana.
The
state in which the distinction between meditation and
meditator disappears, and the object of meditation
alone shines, is called samadhi.
Samadhi lasts longer
than dhyana.
When a man has succeeded in attaining
'dharana, dhyana and samadhi with the help of corporeal
means, his next effort must be to reach these states
through incorporeal means.
According to the Yoga
prakriya (yoga dialectics) the Panchatanmatras, Ahan-
karam, Mahattatvam and Pradhanam are such incor-
poreal objects ; according to the Vedantik school of
thought they are Adhyalmika prana, Adhidaivika prana
and the mind,
“ Only when the mind has passed
through these various stages and got rid of the impu-
rities of Rajas and Tamas, it can comprehend the
Self which is the finest of the fine, with no form or
attribute.
Through the dharana and dhyana the mind
gains strength and rises into the prolonged state of
Samadhi.
When mind has become one with the Self,
as the camphor becomes one with the fire, or the salt
becomes one with the water, all distinctions between
the meditator, the meditation and the meditated dis-
appear and the Self begins to shine by Itself.
This
last and highest state of mind is called by the Yogis as
Asamprajnata ; it is called Nirvikalpa by the Vedantins.
This state of samadhi raises a sadhaka (trainee) to a
siddha and a layman to a yogi.
He alone is the real
yogi who has transcended the three mental states,
Tamasa, Rajasa and Sattvika and reached that supreme
state of self-abidance.
Nobody else deserves that
name. Others in their ignorance, only confuse the
ends and means. It is therefore the supreme duty
of a student of yoga to understand the real nature of
yoga and pursue it enthusiastically and whole-heartedly.
“utiil a)iiiti — is a well-known principle of
yoga. There are several stages in the practice of
121
yoga.
One must proceed step by step from the lower
to the higher stage.
But if, by God’s grace, one has
already transcended some of these stages, one can,
of course proceed directly to the next stage.
If a
man has attained dharana without practising pranayama
and pratyahara in this life, he need not waste his time
or energy practising those earlier exercises.
Similarly,
if his mind, in its innate purity, can readily concentrate
upon the abstract, he need not court corporeal aid.
So every one must examine one’s mental equipment
and proceed higher and higher as it may be possible
in each individual case.
The science of Yoga acknow-
ledges Asamprajiiala as its highest goal.
It recognises
him who has reached that state as the supreme yogi.
It also admits that there is nothing illogical if qualified
persons reach the goal at one leap, while persons less
qualified have to reach it by the regular practice of
Pranayama, Pratyahara, etc. '
121-22
Brahman is the ultimate Truth. He who has
accepted It has accepted everything ; who knows It
knows everything ; who has gained It has gained
everything.
But nobody knows that Brahman, nor
desires to know It.
Nobody seems to possess that
purity and fineness of mind which makes one desire to
attain Brahman.
People are engaged in the relentless
pursuit of ephemeral and limited worldly pleasures.
To get at those flimsy joys and to preserve them they
waste the precious human life. They appear inordi-
nately proud of such possessions. Alas ! Even man is
not his own. Then how can these external things
become his possessions ? All these pleasures are
but the infinitesimal part of the bliss of Brahman
Few indeed are the people who aim at that supreme
Bliss If people fail to perceive their ultimate goal,
it IS all on account of Maya. Now and at all times,
here and everywhere, the delusive power of Maya
functions unchecked. There seems to be no limit to
her powers.
A strong will enables man to endure great
hardships and accomplish difficult tasks.
126-27
westerners..vairagya impossible..argument..
But I feel it is
carried too far We cannot accept the view that it
IS a sheer impossibility to check the mind and the
senses from running after worldly pleasures. This
view is against both logic and experience.
With constant practice one can conquer lust,
greed, etc., in course of time.
Only, a temporary
lull in the passions should not be taken for total
conquest or annihilation. It hardly requires to be
stressed here that the acceptance of sanyasa before
one has conquered his desires and acquired perfect
control over mind and body, is sinful and will easily
prove a passport to hell. It is necessary that the
sanyasi of the present and the future should learn
this lesson from the experience of their predecessors.
The fact is, a scmyasin experiences only bliss,
at all places and at all times. Even in what others
consider as sorrow, he finds jo/. Pain as well as
pleasure is Brahman and, therefore the same. All
this world of joy and sorrow is superimposed upon
Brahman. If that is so, joy and sorrow, man and
woman, mountain and serpent, sea and city are all
forms of Bliss which is Brahman. If there are some
so-called learned men, who, in the pride of their
learning, pooh-pooh the idea of a world other than
the ground thereof, they do so out of their ignorance
and we need not mind them. The truth is, people
whose studies and speculations are confined only to
the four grosser elements have no right to speak of the
shadowy things beyond the reach of the elements and
the senses. It will be ridiculous if they begin to
meddle with abstract matters which transcend the
senses and baffle mechanical experimentation and
verification. In the determination of abstract things
what really counts is the fearless cogitation of the
philosophers who have seen Truth face to face and
who base their ideas upon their own direct experiences
and inferences. Even in ancient times men were not
wanting in this land who contradicted the theory that
the world is essentially its ground. Was not the theory
of Pancbakhyati (the five theories of error) well-known
to the Vedantic Scholars of India 7 Thoughtful people '
will never be prepared to recognise this amorphous
world of ceaseless change as the ultimate reality.
All the existing systems of philosophy are based
on faith One who lacks faith is bewildered by the
variety of systems and is unable to follow any The
reason is, it is impossible to realize Truth by sheer
logic alone No system of philosophy has done it
yet and none is likely to do so m the future Philo-
sophers arrive at their subtle conclusions with the aid
of inference.
But there are certam hidden, abstract
truths which even inference cannot reach up to One
can reach them only through one’s firm faith in the
mahatmas and the Sastras Without faith it is impossi-
ble to ascertain those great truths and without ascer-
taining them it IS impossible to take practical steps to
reach them.
How can I define the greatness of the
faith that is at the root of all prosperity here and
hereafter? How can I describe the skill and the
uniqueness of the faith that renders the most difficult
penances most easy ''
133
There is no doubt regarding the
partiality of our ancient rishis for solitude.
They
never neglected their souls for the enjoyment of worldly
pleasures.
They firmly believed that the gain of all
the world was no compensation for the loss of one’s
soul.
They were never satisfied with anything less
than realization.
Unlike the people of our generation
they never stopped with words.
They found contentment only in the enjoyment of long periods of Samadhi.
They never considered the fall of the human body as a
“ condition precedent ” to the enjoyment of perfect
spiritual bliss. Such bliss could be enjoyed in the
state of Samadhi even before the soul had freed itself
from the body.
“ O my husband, my sister is already
a mother ; why don’t I become one ? ” asks the wife
reproachfully. “ My dear, so long as I live, you won’t
have a child ; but when I am gone, you will certainly
bear children ” replies the eunuch. If a woman
cannot bear children while her husband is alive, how
can she have them after his death ? The reply merely
indicates the pitiable impotency of the man,
Our ancients liken to the eunuch of the story the
theoretical jnanis who fail to find spiritual peace and
comfort in the present life and look forward to actual
experience in another. There is nothing improbable
about our peace-loving rishis resorting to the congenial
heights of the Himalayas for the practice of Samadhi.
It is true there are other places also in the Himalayas
credited with the residence of Vasishta. Of all such
places honoured by the name of the great rishi, this
place, Vasishta, so close to thcsnow-covcrcd mountains,
so beautiful and so remote and yet so convenient
because of the hot springs, was perhaps the best suited
for the great rishi’s residence.
139
hough at the
back of every one’s mind there is the conviction that
there is God and that His greatness is unbounded,
it lies like a precious gem in the dark depths of the
mind hidden by the tides of worldlincss. When
this surging tide of worldly pleasures ebbs away
and leaves the mind high and dry, the gem of faith
appears sparkling with its own bright lustre. That
generally happens only when a man has reached the
rock bottom of despair. When he feels utterly helpless
and hopeless, his heart at once flows out in prayer,
“ O God, Ocean of Mercy, help me, save me, O Lord ! ”
This is an everyday occurrence. At the Lutang Pass,
we had the same experience. Reduced to total helpless-
ness, my companions began to cry out with the sincerest
feelings of devotion “ Thrilokeenath Ki Jai ”. Though
my companions were all sadhus, most of them had
inot the full reliance on God. When I found how
Itheir minds were immersed in faith, at least for the
I time being, I praised the mercy of God. God’s
(grace can metamorphose in a moment an atheist into
a saint.
Between the mood into which a
cultured mind enters on a sight so beautiful and the
Nirvikalpa Samadlii a Vedantin experiences, there is
not much of a difference If a world differentiated
by name, form, etc , and characterised by love and
hate, pleasure and pain, etc , and variegated by concep-
tions of friend and foe, wife and children, etc , and
complicated by the differences of the learned and the
Ignorant, master and servant, man and woman, and
so on, IS absent in a state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, a
world of such differences has no place m the beautiful
realm of Nature either That is why the wise ones
regard "the intuition of nature as the contents of
Samadhi
145
It is the light of the sun and the moon that
lights up all the beauty of Nature. That light is
perceived by the eye. The eye itself receives the
light because of the mind. The mind functions because
of the inner spirit. But for the mind the eye cannot
function ; but for the spirit the mind cannot work.
jWithout the reflection of the spirit, the inner mind
cannot make the eye, etc., take in the impression of
'any object.
Thus it is clear that it is the inner spirit that is
at the root of all beauty. I am that spirit which ever
shines unsurpassed. A man’s highest state is the
Jnanasamadhi in which he enjoys total identification
with that spirit. Compared with that state, all action
and in-action are petty and insignificant. Yet, forced
by inherited tendencies, even enlightened ones are
drawn by God into the vortex of worldly activity.
When an enlightened one is awakened by God from
that high state of Samadhi in which there is absolutely
no consciouness of the body and the senses, and when
the body and the senses begin to function again, the
person still continues to enjoy the stale of Alma
samadhi. In spite of such activity the enlightened one
does not swerve from the state of Atma samadhi.
But at last,
rising above all such perishable, though immediately
pleasant, things, their thoughtful minds turned towards
that One and only Object of perfect Bliss, which
transcends all attributes and action, and which is
limited by neither Time nor Space. Then they realized,
by thought as well as direct experience, that there
can be no two Truths and Truth is necessarily and
always One. God, whose form is the Vedas, rcvc.Ticd
that Truth to their uncontaminated minds.
153
The forest did not frighten me ; it filled me
only with a sense of pleasant wonder. A well trained
and controlled mind stands a man in good stead better
than armies. It saves him from cowardice as well as
perils. My mind was well disciplined and fortified
by meditation on God, and by the exhilarating enjoy-
ment of Nature. So it was free from all pranks and
caprices. On reaching the top of the mountain I
rested there for a while and entered into a state of
samadhi in the midst of such natural, Divine loveliness
When, on hearing the glories of the Lord recounted,
the mind melts and flows uninterruptedly towards the
Almighty, it is called Bbakti.
162
The Snili also
assures ns that the only means of destroying ignorance
IS the attainment of the knowledge of the Self So
It IS clear there is no other road to salvation To the
mansion of Moksha there is no entrance except through
Jnana Bhaku and Yoga lead man to the door of
Jnana and not directly to the Home of Salvation
The darkness of ignorance lifts only on the rise of the
sun, Jnana, not on the appearance of the stars like
Bhaku
So says the Swethaswathara Sruti If only one
can fold the sky like a piece of parchment, can he
cross the sea of worldly sorrows without the knowledge
of the Supreme Soul It is the view of all the Sruus
that there is no vessel to ferry man across the ocean of
worldlmess except Jmsm But then, what is this
Jnana 1 Jnana means the full and firm realisation of
the Self— a realization beyond all doubt, change,
contradiction Neither the control of breath or mind,
nor the performance of Nishkama karma, neither
devotion to the gods, nor the performance of penances
like Knchlira and CImndrayana, nor yet pilgnmaging is
Jnana , it is all ajnana Whatever is related to egoism
is ajnana , when the I consciousness ends, it is Jnana
Moiy does this Jnana ongioats ? How doss a mart
who identifies himself with the body and thinks “ I
am rich, I am happy ” or “ I am poor, I am unhappy ”,
turn away from this immoral worldly life and enter
that life of the Soul with the thought, “ I am Brahman,
the bodyless, ageless, deatliless Bliss ” '> Enquiry into
Truth, carried on with the help of holy men, is the chief
means of attaining true knowledge.
All the great
teachers of the past unanimously hold Sanyasa, which
means the renunciation of all action, to be an essential
element of spiritual contemplation.
Nevertheless, indifference to worldly pleasures, control of body and
mind, eagerness to attain salvation, places and time
without distractions and other factors are necessary
to an intensive search after Truth.
Without these,
mind can hardly become calm and pointed enough to
attain Truth.
If a man enters upon a life of thought
with all these necessary equipments, he will certainly
reach the state of Jnana before long.
Jnam is the
result of contemplation ; it annihilates all ajnam.
jUntil one reaches the climax of Jnana one cannot be
said to have attained true firmness of mind or fulfilied
one’s purpose of life.
The extinction of worldly desires and the enjoy-
ment of spiritual peace ate the result of one’s devotion
to Jnana, A jnam enjoys Brahmananda or supreme
bliss without interruption, not after death but in this
life itself. It is beyond words to define Brahmananda,
but it can be experieneed by the knowers of Brahman,
By tasting a particle of salt, one can infer the taste
of a mountain of salt. Similarly, from the enjoyment
of worldly pleasures which are but the infinitesimal
part of Brahmananda, common people can guess at
the greatness of Brahmananda itself. The mind that
gets abated on accouiA tS "dte dusiit *io erijoy ■uoi'id'iy
pleasures, gets calm and Salrik as a result of such
enjoyment and in that Salrik state of mind Brahmananda
is experienced in howsoever small a measure. Thus
what is called worldly pleasure also is Brahmananda.
pleasure except Brahmananda Even as we speak
severally of pot-space {Ghatakasa\ Mutt-space {Mattct-
kasa), etc , the same joy is spoken of differently accord-
ing to differences of touch, hearing, etc Worldhness
transforms the unlimited, insuperable, eternal Brahma-
mnda, into something limited, superable, destructible
How can those great ones who enjoy uninterrupted
Brahmananda, and are ever content, hanker after the
fleeting pleasures of the world '> Brahmananda is
unrelated to worldly things , it depends solely on
Self realization So it is in no way affected by the
pains of acquisition, etc If anybody still argues that
there can be no joy except through the expenence of
earthly pleasures, he should be classed with the owl
that avers there is light only in the night and not in
day time '
It deserves to be specially mentioned that the
state of knowledge which is the sole source of ever-
lasting peace can be attained only by right thinking
and not merely by dhyana or samadhi
Some do
mistake them for jnana They are under the impression
that the practice of dhvana is the be all and end all
of existence and that a man who practises dhyana for
half an hour or an hour daily has completed his
spiritual duty and so he is free to do anything after-
wards They are labouring under the mistake that a
person who reaches the state of Nirnkalpa Samadhi
for a minute or two, has attained his goal and that he
has already reached sahat/an even wide aive 7t is
only when we examine whether this man of Nirnkalpa
Samadhi has attained an unwavering state of spiritual
devotion, that is a devotion beyond doubt, that we
realize the hollowness of his Jnan mukli It may
briefly be said that this class of people are the unfortu-
nates who have not been able to understand clearly
the cause, the nature and the result of jmna and
dhyam through association with real mahatmas
Dbyana and Samadiu may be regarded as co-
operative factors contnbuhng to the perfecbon of
Jnana , but they are neither Jnana nor the cause of
Jiiana One may attain that exalted state of jnana
where one finds oneself m everything and everything
in oneself, only through cultivating detachment and
Vedantio thinking Neither Halo samadhi nor Jada
samadhi can take him to that goal where one experiences
eternal contentment
All learned people admit that the paramount
duty of a sanyasin (who has renounced the world)
is the uninterrupted practice of spiritual discipline
’which alone leads to Moksha
Multiplicity of worldly concerns binds down a
sanyasin as much as any householder.
Except m a
life of retirement, free from worldly affairs, where
can we expect a' taste of liberty 7 Under the illusion
that freedom and happiness are to be found in riches,
titles and position, people waste their invaluable lives
in the vigorous pursuit of these shadowy phantoms.
Taking a poisonous cobra for a garland of flowers,
they lift it up with their hands and place it eagerly
round their necks.
175
Irresistible
indeed is the power of Maya which misleads even the
great souls who desire to take the path of wisdom
177- imp
The Vedic dharma is of two types : Karma Yoga
(Pravarthi marga) and Jnana Yoga (Nivarthi marga).
Those who are still attached to worldly interests are
entitled only to the former while people who have
abandoned all desires relating to wife, child and wealth
may follow the latter. Prosperity attends the followers
of Karma Yoga in this life and the next, whereas the
Jnanayogis attain the highest goal of life, viz., Moksha.
Most people in the world, deluded by their desires,
stick to the path of Karma and fail to break away
from the cycle of births and deaths. Few indeed
exert themselves to attain the supreme goal, leaving
off the path of pravarthi and cultivating wisdom and
detachment.
imp-
Spiritual truth is extremely difBcult to comprehend.
It is only very rarely wc come across people who
ardently desire to leam it ; it is still more rare to find
people who are entitled to teach it.
Except from
well qualified teachers none can understand it pro-
perly.
He who seeks to learn it from quacks may
be subjected to an endless series of calamities ; it is a
case of the blind leading the blind. Neither reaches
the goal. It therefore follows that those who desire
true knowledge should secure the help of those who
have attained it themselves. Let no man think,
j‘ Of what use is to me an acharya ? By means of
my own intelligence I will obtain the knowledge of the
jsoul Truly, up to this moment, no man has
'attained Truth except with the help of a true giim
land a study of the works on spiritual science. None
jean trust to his native intelligence alone to take him
Ito the supreme goal.
Unlike the things of the objective world, spiritual
truths cannot be perceived by one’s senses or even by
mere intellect and therefore, only those disciples who
possess the necessary qualifications and who, having
learned the Truth from noble preceptors, constantly
meditate upon it, realize the Truth.
The soul is not bom ; it does not die. It is
eternal. Body perishes, but soul survives. It is
devoid of attributes ; it cannot be heard, felt, seen,
tasted or smelt. It is self-luminous. It is smaller
than the smallest grain and bigger than space. It
shines in the cavern of the intellect of all living beings
from Brahma to the ant. It is the cUaitanya (cons-
ciousness) that enables living beings to see, taste,
smell, etc. It is what illuminates the objects of waking
or dreaming or- sleeping. It is the same atman that,
dwelling in the body, makes it inhale or exhale, etc.
It is the basis of all universe. Coloured by the power of
Maya it is called hwar ; particularised by the body,
senses, etc., it is known as Jiva. The same fire assumes
different shapes according to the varying shapes of
the firewood ; similarly, the universal Self, the One
without a second, associating with different bodies
and appears variously. It permeates everything, mova-
ble or immovable ; it induces every act and yet remains
unaffected by it. It is as free as space. Perceived
by the mind and the intellect, it is imperceptible to
the eye, the ear, etc., yet it is not mere nothing. It is
Truth unaffected by time. It is the fight that makes the
Sun, the Moon and the stars shine, without ever
suffering diirunution. It is the limitless ocean of bliss,
of which the pleasures of the senses are but an
infinitesimal part. It is the seed of the mighty tree of
samara, with all its spreading branches. For the crea-
tion, preservation or destruction of the universe, there
is no cause other than this atman. The sun and fire
give off heat, the air keeps moving, Indra sends down
rain, Yama punishes sin — ^all on account of the fear
of this atman. The atman is the basis of all universe
and its controller ; yet, it is free, pure, changeless,
inactive. It has no gunas (attributes) and no shape.'
It is beyond the power of words to describe. It is
self-luminous.
He who perceives this truth directly and without
doubt crosses the sea of samsara and attains salvation.
No more does he return to this miserable existence of
births and deaths, sorrows and sufferings.
What is
commonly spoken of as “ I ” in relation to everybody
is directly known to all in its general form ; but in its
particular shape it remains unknown. “I am the
free, immortal and blissful spirit ” is a realization that
seldom comes to men.
179
God has created human beings with their minds
turned naturally outward, that is, towards the pheno-
menal world. The mind of course is open to imagi-
nings and doubts. Hence it is really difiicult for
man to withdraw the mind and the senses from their
worldly preoccupations and find God in himself.
Out
of thousands but one controls the mind and senses
through Vairagya and the earnest desire to secure
salvation, turns the mind inward and finds satisfecthm
in the realization of the souL
The true man is he
who resists the temptations of the senses, overcom-f
their irresistible attractions, and realizes Truth.
Th'
roan who fails to trti&c this He for the seareh
Truth or at least for the zegnisition of those
which will ultimately lead him to Truth, is really
wasting his precious chance. Nothing is more regretta-
ble, than wasting human life m eating, sleeping,
fearing, mating, etc., like brutes. Tlie people who,
enslaved by the senses, spend their time coveting this
and that, subject themselves to death — that is, they
continue to be chained down to the cycle of births
and deaths.
But those heroic souls that have con-
quered their minds and their senses, know how fleeting
worldly pleasures are and therefore they give them up.
They aim only at immortality, they live for it ; they
exert themsehes ceaselessly to reach it.
The sole
means of salvation is the true knowledge of the one
and only Soul.
It may be called differently as Jnana
or Iswara according to the different ways of looking
at It, but It is the same cliailanya. This knowledge is
the true knowledge. It can be gained by a proper
study of the Upanishads.
imp
The knowledge of diflerence consists in conceiving
of as many souls as there arc bodies and regarding the
individual soul as diflerent from the universal soul.
Tills knowledge is unreal ; it cannot render one
immortal (and therefore incapable of conferring im-
mortality). On the practical plane we may speak of
“ You ” and “ I ” but in reality there is no plurality
of the soul. Those who are not fully qualified to
realize in themselves the supreme soul, should worship
the pranata. They must constantly pronounce it
“ Om, Om, Om ”. The weak-minded should pro-
nounce it loud and long like the tolling of a bell ;
people with stronger minds must pronounce it more
slowly. At the same time they must try to concentrate
on Nirgiim Brahman. Those who are unable to do so may
concentrate their minds upon the “ Om ” sound itself.
181
This exercise of Pranawpasana gradually produces
the knowledge of the soul Yoga which controls the
senses and the mind also helps to reahze the soul
The soul. The Atman, is what enables the body, the
senses, the mind and the intellect to function We are
the soul The soul is Brahman The world is the
soul In truth nothing exists apart from the soul
Indifference to worldly plea-
sures is the chief requisite for spiritual advancement
Whether a man dwells at home or m the forest, if he
has Vairagya, he is a sanyasm One may put on the
saffron gown and go on mumbling the mantras, but
he is no sanyasm unless he has the true Vairagya
There seems to be nothing absurd m the idea of a
householder’s (whether man or woman) immersmg
himself or herself m Divine thought even as the
great rishis m their Himalayan ashrams did, provided
he or she has the necessary Vneka (discretion) and
Vairagya
Though the acceptance of
sanyasa is not a condition precedent to the attainment
lof Divine knowledge, Vairagya is a necessary requisite
and this is borne out by the example of Maitreyi
herself who was the very embodiment of Vairagya.
My dear, labour not
t'lunder the delusion that cxter..al things are the source
iof happiness. Give up all attachment and cling to
Vairagya. Indeed, even now you are rich in Vairagya ;
yet, I tell you all this only to strengthen your spirit of
Vairagya : Withdraw your mind from all transient,
terrestrial concerns, give it peace and practise concen-
tration, so that you can sec God as clearly and as
directly as I see you. Now I will tell you how you
can fulfil the purpose of life by realizing the blissful
'soul freely and completely. O Maitreyi, perceive
your soul by hearing, thinking and meditating. He
who aims at realizing the soul must, first of all, with
the help of the Mahatmas who have realized Italready
and suitable books understand to some extent the
nature of the soul.
From then he may learn that
soul is one without a second ; that It is omnipresent ;
that It is the same sotil that manifests itself as jiva
(in all living bodies ; that It itself is Brahman, the
ultimate cause of the universe.
Then he must con-
vince himself of this truth by independent reasoning.
Once he has done that he must meditate upon it intensely and without break.
The process is called
\Nididhyasan.
In the course of such concentrated,
devout meditations the mind merges with the soul
and in that state of samadhi he perceives It directly
The numberless doubts which assailed him before
now resolve themselves completely.
Is there a soul
different from the body ? If there is, does it possess
any attributes or functions? or is it pure without
attributes ? If it is without attributes, does it differ
from body to body ? or is it one and the same ?
Such doubts and the illusory idea that “lam this body ”
ingrained in us in the course of several lives, now melt
into thin air. He is convinced that the boast of
heraldry and the pomp of power and pelf are nothing
but vanity. With the conviction that high birth or
low birth, wealth or poverty, pleasure or pain, good
or evil, desire or anger, all pertain only to the body
iland not to the soul,
the jnani rises to the exalted
I state of jivanmukli where he realizes beyond all doubt
i“ I am the soul, pure and blissful — the One without
a second. That is the ultimate goal of man.
For
him there is no gain greater than the realization of the
soul — ^no greater pleasure to enjoy — no higher duty
to perform. Self-abidance is the paramount duty,
paramount joy, paramount gain.
It is the supreme knowledge, O Maitreyi,
Self-abidance is the sole means
of attaining immortality : so, if you aim at immortality,
spare no effort towards reaching that state of self-
abidance.”
Brahman is infinite and like a lump of salt. It is
homogeneous in taste — that is to say, it is the mass of
being, intelligence, bliss. It is free from the differences
of three kinds. Being without parts it has no internal
difference ; since there is nothing positive like it,
it has no difference from things like it ; Nonentity
alone is different from it, but a nonentity cannot
be a counter entity of difference (or similarity) whence
Brahman has no difference from things unlike it.
iThus Brahman, entirely free from diversity, appears
un the phenomenal stage to be many, though it is in
fact one ; though unlimited by time and space, etc.,
it appears to be limited ; yet, always in its own grandeur
It shines all by itself.
Brahman is one-without-a-second. It transcends
nature. Therefore, questions pertinent to the objects
of nature are out of place in relation to It. Questions
like, “ where did Brahman originate ? ” “ When did
Brahman originate ? ” are as ridiculous as “ Please
see, have I a tongue 7 ” “ Is my mother barren ? ”
When It is without a second, how can it have a cause ?
Interrogatives like “ where ” and “ when ” are irrele-
vant to advaila ; they have their place only in the
illusory world of duality.
187
Out of
the thousands who inhabit the town, only a small
number attended these discussions as a rule But it
IS nothing to be wondered at, since most people
naturally prefer gossip to serious discourses on philo-
sophy Only a few virtuous souls with real wisdom
realise that sensuous pleasures which cause bondage
are ultimately the source of sorrow, and cultivate a
spirit of detachment in an effort to attain the Divine
Joy All mankmd, without any distinction of the
learned and the ignorant, lose themselves in the fleeting
bodily pleasures and consequently suffer from a senes
of calamities such as births and deaths and illness
Yet, paradoxical as it is, they fancy that state of bondage
to be happiness The very awareness of bondage is the
[result of keen discrimination He who knows not
he IS bound, will not try to set himself free He
who does not desire freedom, cannot find any interest
m the search after Truth or in philosophical discussions
Philosophical discussions lead to philosophical wisdom
Knowledge of Truth leads to Soul Force Soul
Force is ever homogeneous, unexcelled, eternal The
seductive power of the sense objects is as momentary
las the flashes of lightning In the presence of Soul
iForce, power of the sense objects loses all lustre and
appears as a glow-worm in the presence of the Sun
The Soul Force is the great force in whose presence
all earthly power, the power of the emperor, the power
of even Himnyagarbha, becomes infinitely negligible
When man attains that power, all his bonds break,
and he comes to enjoy a free, blissful life with a feeling
of eternal contentment and finality So long as man
mistakes the body for the self, and consequently
entertains feelings of “ I ” and “ mine ”, he can
hardly reach the portals of Soul Force Most people
caught in the toils of Illusion waste their lives, not
only without attaining Soul Force or self-knowledge,
but even without realising that they are in a state of
bondage Among all mankind, who has the strength
to overstep the limits of the wide realm of the mighty
Illusion which holds sway over everything, and engulfs
all men and women in the shoreless sea of desire and
dances intoxicated, blowing the trumpet of her victory
that signifies undisputed sovereignty v
190-imp
God is everywhere and at
all times , He sees everything He understands the
needs of all and supplies them as He knows fit But
Iman is hardly aware of this truth , even if he is aware
of it, he does not fully believe it. Some evil in him
'obstructs complete self-surrender
On that plateau of
solitary grandeur, I spent most of my tune in meditation
It IS not impossible to keep the eyes open, engage
ourselves in various activities and at the same time
see the Paramalmaii, even as we see Him directly
in our meditation while we sit with our eyes closed.
Yet if the latter course is preferred, it is only because
we desire to reach the sublime state of supreme peace
without the obstructions of perceptible things, and
because concentration gradually develops into one’s
second nature Having consciously overcome obsta-
cles like laya, vikshepa, kashaya and rasaswada, man’s
mmd soars higher and higher like birds to the very
zenith of Nirnkalpa Brahman, and finds rest and
happiness there To those who have realized, this
kind of samadhi is a source of bliss , to the seekers,
it proves helpful in reinforcing knowledge There is
no doubt that the congeniality of time and place goes
a long way towards making the mind still and pointed
like the flame in a windless room and leading it on
to the state of Nirvikalpa and bliss. It may be stated
with certainty that the Hlmalayan atmosphere per-
meated with the noble penance and energy of the
great rishis, has exceptional powers of easily leading
minds to peace and concentration.
But Vedavyasa proves, with reference to
authorities, that soul is the pure spirit without quahties
It IS the One without a second It is Brahman The
direct experience of It is what is called liberation
Kaivalya or Moksha consists not merely in the annihila-
tion of sorrow, but in the positive bhssful realization
of one’s true Self This Vedantic view expounded by
Vyasa conveys undoubtedl/the eternal, the paramount
[truth, the goal of all human endeavour
Similarly there is one Truth
(Brahman) on knowing which one knows everything.
Did you get that knowledge from your master ”
All movable and immovable objects have their
origin in Brahman. During the period of Preservation,
they depend upon Brahman for their existence. During
the period of Dissolution, they merge with It. Such
is Brahman and it is infinitely subtle. Tliat alone is
the one real thing that exists at all times, past, present
and future.
Various rivers such as the Ganges, the Godavari
and the Sindhu empty themselves into the sea and
become one with it. From that moment it is impossible
to distinguish them. In the same way, all living beings
reach the Undivided Reality and when they return
to the earth, they do not know that they are come from
that Reality. “ O I Swethakethu, That thou art ;
O Swethakethu you are that eternal Brahman ; that
Brahman is yourself
Gandhara story
Once a native of Gandhara fell into the hands
of thieves They bound him, bhnd-folded him and
took him to an extensive wilderness and left him there
The poor man, knowing not even the directions, began
to cry out in terror “ Thieves have blind folded me
and left me m this wilderness ” A passer-by heard
his cries and out of pity went to him and set him free
The good Samaritan told him where Gandhara was.
206 WANDERINGS m THE ffiMALAYAS
how far away, and which route he should take to
reach his native place The traveller took him out
and set him on the right road to Gandhara Having
understood the directions and being clever enough to
draw out inferences, he made his way back to his
native village and reached home in safety Even so,
man is blind folded by the veil of illusion He is
captured by the thieves, Dharma and Adharnia, and
left in the forest of this body so full of woes Then
the kind master takes pity on him, removes the veil
from his eyes and sets him on the right road to his
goal The man being clever enough to understand
advice, and being contemplative by nature, escapes
from the wood and reaches the Eternal Object Under-
stand, therefore, that the advice of the master is
the chief means of attaining that Eternal Entity
' “ That thou art, O Swethakethu, youi are that Eternal
Entity That Eternal Object is yourself ”
Swethakethu, who was already well
qualified to realize Truth, listened to his father’s words
with wrapt attention and grasped the truth like a myro-
balan in one’s palm— the truth that the soul itself is the
,] Brahman which is the substratum of the universe.
I'ljHaving found deliverance even while on earth, he.
ilived in supreme contentment and heavenly bliss for
(ever more.
I Such were the lines on wiiich the ancient rishis
thought.
By very careful reasoning they determined
the nature of Reality and found everlasting bliss,
jl'lndccd, thinking alone helps in determining the
nature of Reality.
No amount of penance or ritualistic
jhvorship can take us to the goal.
Penance, by itself,
Itannot destroy the I-Comciousness.
That can be
'footed out only on the direct perception of Reality resulting from thought.
Until that is done there
cannot be real peace and freedom from suffering.
The state in which one has destroyed egoism, realized
the soul, and found the soul in everything movable or
immovable, is called mukn (liberation).
The attain-
ment of that state is the highest purpose of life.
The Hindus as well as the Buddhists originally
designed the fourth asraina as a help to the determina-
tion of reality by undisturbed thinking.
But in course
of time, the Buddhist lamas, like the Hindu sanyasins,
forgot the ultimate objective and contented themselves
with wandering along crooked and remote tracks
leading nowhere, or still worse, vegetating like
trees, moving along no path at all.
264
If a Brahmin 15 defined as one in whom Satwtc qualities
are found to perfection, it will easily be seen that only
he can have the desire to enter sanyasa and lead a
dtvine life and not anybody else.
In support of their contention, the cham-
pions of renunciation pointed out that a mere statement
of the fact that ’* I am Brahman ** is not tantamount
to the realization of Brahman, that Brahman can be
realized only through long and arduous discipline of
both body and mmd, in peaceful solitude , that, in
the case of people immersed day in and day out in
the belief that “ I am the body ” it is by no means
easy to dispel the perverse notion, by merely repeating
imp
occasionally, “ I am Brahman ” and that, therefore,
the stage of sanyasa wherein there is complete
renunciation of desire and total avoidance of excite-
ment, is indispensable to all true seekers of Brahman.
To the enlightened who abide in Bralmtan, sanyasa
is a matter of course. The truth is, they have already
become Brahman.
Abidance in Brahman is the unbroken flow of
mental moulds informed by Brahman. When the
mind is engaged in a state of samadhi, how can the
concept of body and other objects extraneous to the
Atman arise in it ? Concept of the Atman and concept
of the non-Atman cannot exist in the mind at the
same moment. How can there be activities connected
with the body, etc., in the absence of a strong attachment
to such objects ? As the enlightened ones abiding in
Jnana are beyond the reach of activities, sanyasa
comes to th
em quite spontaneously.
The advocates
of sanyasa, therefore, argue that during the stage of
preparatory practice, sanyasa in the form of the
renunciation of action is indispensable ; in the stage of
attainment it becomes natural ; that Karma and Jnana
cannot therefore exist in the same person at the same
time ; that the Karma of Janaka, Vidura, etc., was
merely the reflection of it and that only worldlings
obsessed with the idea of sense enjoyment oppose the
idea of sanyasa.
“ Of what use to this world
full of action, sustained by action and propelled by
action, are the swiyasins who have renounced the
world and its activities to live immersed in samadlii
and bhajan 1 To this question, the sanyasins’ answer
is quite simple. Their very state of non-action is in
itself a mighty blessing to the world. More than all
the learned disquisitions of erudite scholars, more
than all their profound treatises, the Nirvikalpa
Samadhi of a sanyasin touches the heart of humanity
and elevates it to a higher plane. Their desireless
non-action does greater good to the world than the
swiftest and the most frantic activities of the revolu-
tionaries. What is more, sanyasa is mightier than
armies and is boundless as the sea.
255
In matters spiritual, our sruUs, smritis
.and acharyas advise us, the first thing we have to do
before anything else, is to save ourselves If a man
who has not saved himself, attempts to save others,
lit will be as dangerous as the blind leading the blind.
293
In the mind of one standing near Gomukha,
under the high, dazzlmg, snow covered peaks of the
Himalayas, and watching the things all round him
with eyes wide open in wonder, there can be no room
at all, at least for that duration, for common worldly
thoughts, sorrows or memories of past experiences
That is, the mind then reaches a state of concentration,
devoid of all distracting thoughts It is then steeped
in meffable joy at the sight of the snow divmely
beautiful in its own nght, and led forward mto a state
of saroadhi beyond all doubts and fancies This
experience is common to all, without any distinction
of the learned and the ignorant, the pious and the
impious, the one ivbo knows the Tn!& and the one
who does not However, only the sage who has
reahzed God can distinguish his bhss as truly satvik
and divine Only he can identify his concentration
with the divine trance great yogis have claimed to have
achieved Satvik joy is something that can be attained
only through long and arduous discipline. At Gomu-
kha one reaches it without effort. The heavenly
bliss that one comes to experience in the midst of
such natural beauty, is infinitely superior to the common
pleasures of the rajasik type. How can the rajasik
pleasure, occasioned by the sight of a flirtatious woman,
rival the Satvik bless of visiting a real mahaima^
who is the very embodiment of peace ? Who do not
know that the ' one is the source of never-ending
disasters while the other is the fountain-head of untold
blessings ? There is pleasure when one beholds the
beautiful, God-made peaks of the Himalayas ; there is
pleasure, also, in witnessing a man-made, obscene
iilm. But the differences between them should not be
[forgotten : the one originates satvik joy that leads
|God-ward, the other produces rajasik pleasure, which
ileads man away from Him.
Tranquillity is truth ; truth is beauty ; beauty is
bliss and bliss is Divinity— this seems to be the lesson
loudly preached by each particle of snow, stone, each
petal and grass blade as is bound to strike a man of
enlightenment. Then it follows inevitably that nega-
tion of this transmigratory world consisting of the
[agent, the means, and the act. When I say that this
beauty, at once natural and Divine, is a surer means
to enable the mind to rise in repose in the state of
boundless tranquillity — speaking from experience —
it is possible that men of erudition, proud of their
mastery over different sciences and yogis proud of
their laborious mystic practices may oppose it ; never-
theless, it is an unshakable truth. It is my thirst for
the nectar of tranquillity that drives me to wrestle
with the difficulties of travel in these inaccessible
fastnesses and reach that spot every year. It is this
tranquillity, this bliss that adepts seek in the bustle of
cities through long processes of meditative practice
and the consequent dwindhng of the innate tendencies
of the mind Tranquilhty is the innate nature of all,
I at IS a self-existent reality Therefore there need be
no striving to produce it Where is the need for
effort to bring into being what IS ? Though it is, m
Ignorance, referred to as non-existent, though tranquil-
hty IS own inborn nature, being wrapped up by agita-
tion, It is not experienced Abolish this agitation and
tranquillity reveals itself.
Effort, then, is needed not
to generate tranquillity but to bamsh agitation
The
mass of light, the Sun’s disc, is concealed by clouds
The clouds only need move away and immediately
the solar disc which appeared to be non-existent,
reveals itself Here there is no question of producing
the solar disc and making it shine In the same way,
with the cessation of agitation tranquilhty nses (hke
the Sun) But what is the nature of this agitation 9
It IS nothing but the transmigratory existence
consisting of agency, relation and act or of name,
form and act How 7 The real nature of tranquilhty
IS experienced in dreamless slumber even by morons
Later there is waking from that state, that is to say
“ I, I ” asserts itself for the first time as agency Then
desire and so forth begin to operate Next, the sense
organs hke the eye, the ear, etc , awake and operate
m regard to their objects Together with that, crop
up attitudes, affirmative or negative, and concepts
such as happiness, unhappiness, etc It is the conglo-
meration of the egoistic sense and so forth and their
activities, thus engendered, that is known widely as
distraction and that is agitation This transmigratory
existence is nothing but the summation of these discrete
masses and their operations The physical orgamsm,
transmigratory existence, name, form, distraction,
pain, agitation — these are but the synonyms denoting
one and the same thmg Even so, tranquilhty, truth,
beauty, bliss, self, God, Brahman — these are but
different names of one and the same Thmg The
source of this agitation or intranqmlhty is well-known
to be the inner organ which assumes such form as
V‘ I ”, “ this ”, “knower”, “known" In brief, agita-
tion is the various fabrications of the inner organ
and tranquilhty is their cessation
Let there be a duahty, once the fabrications of the
mind have been suppressed or let there not be, what
IS certain is, that is the peerless state of tranquillity
Let a tigress roar terribly in front of a sage merged
m profound meditation or let a hourt sing sweetly
before him , his state of tranqmlhty is unaffected
by them all, because the mmd that grasps does not
operate in regard to its objects, but remains concen-
trated and so tranquil Therefore, though there are
llexternal objects they are as good as non-existent and
llthus no longer promote agitation Again, that is
the reason why certam teachers have laid it down as
a rule that by liquidating not the world created by
God, but the world created by man, that is, by under-
mining the fabncations of the mmd of man, certain
tranquillity is attained The conclusion of all spiritual
sciences and of all great sages is that agitation or
transmigratory existence is the summation of all
possible relations between subject and object , while
liberation or tranquillity is the cessation of such
summations In the restncted state of the mind the
veil, namely, the objective complex, disappears and
then, like the sun with the disappearance of the clouds.
the supreme truth of tranquilhty shines forth vividly
Though this ultimate truth has been indicated m
manifold ways by various philosophers, there is no
doubt about its umty A real difference cannot
result from difference of labels or processes of thought
What has been estabhshed thus far is that high souled
sages attain that unsurpassed tranquillity which is
untainted by association with a variety of names and
forms
They do so by attaining the stage of the
restricted mmd after, through disciplme, discardmg
the distractions of the mmd and sense organs and
body Now rises the question what the state of the
sages IS when the body, senses and the mind function
Is theirs a plight of wretchedness full of agitation,
such as that of the ignorant ? Never In the midst
of agitation they experience, without a break, internal
tranquilhty Since the principle of tranquilhty always
shmes forth in their minds, never is tranquillity hidden
from them How can there be darkness in light ’
jHow can there be agitations m tranquilhty "> Don’t
ask, how bhss can dwell in pain When a man stands
waist deep in the cool water of a deep pond m summer
when all around it is scorching heat, simultaneously
half his body feels the heat while the other half coolness
Seetha dwelling under the asoka tree in Lanka, sur-
rounded by ogresses, is said to have, at once, experi-
enced the torments of hell and consequent upon her
constant recollection of her lord, the qmntessence of
bhss Even so, the sages also may find unavoidable
I the activities of the sense organs and the mmd, impelled
by past actions as well as the consequent sensations
of pain and pleasure Even m the midst of such deep
distraction the great souls who have firmly realized
the essence of tranquillity vnll continue to expenence
It Without a moment’s break for, such tranqmlhty
shmes m their mmd When we say the supreme truth
jmamfests itself or tranqmlhty is expenenced we mean
Jthe same thing. Famous is the utterance of the
teacher (Sankara) q- lassie fharil’
which means “ Not for half a moment do the sages
remain without the experience of Brahman ”
In other words, their mmd takes on the form of
Brahman which leaves them not even for the briefest
midst of external activities the mmd, no doubt, assumes
from moment to moment, the forms of objects Never-
theless, what IS extremely difficult for an ordinary
type of knower is achieved by eminent sages, namely,
to keep unaffected the mental grasp of the truth of
Brahman Just as the body-bound souls never miss
the experience of the body even in the midst of the
uttermost distractions, so the shining forth of Brahman
IS experienced without any difficulty by the knowers
of Brahman who delight in Brahman and who are
non-different from Brahman The fact is, it is easier
llfor them to do so. It becomes their very nature
For such sages who are hardly less than God Hunself,
and who habitually find themselves on (he summit
of such expenence, there is concentration of mmd
both when the mmd is restricted and when it operates
towards objects
Though, thus, both the states of
concentration and distracbon are ahke to them, it is
assumed, from the point of view of duality, that in
one state, there is the apprehension of objects while,
m the other, there is none of it
But, m spite of them all, we, sanyasins,
felt there supremely happy. It is a fact adnutted by
all wtsemen that, for all the ills of life, there is no
panacea so effective as the realization.
No fear however great, no sorrow however
mighty, can upset the everlasting peace of one who
has realized Brahman. Those who have seen God
see Him everywhere and at all times. The seer is
himself God. Then why should he fear himself 7
How could he be affected by sorrow ? There is
nothing strange if we, whose minds were continuously
occupied with the thought of God and who saw,
beyond all doubt, that all movable and immovable
beings are but so many forms of God, were not frigh-
tened by the objects that terrify the ignorant who
identify themselves with their bodies. In short, we
were not distracted by the terrors and anxieties which
haunt the minds of common people whose love of
the body and considerations of personal safety set
their imagination feverishly busy. At no time did we
, experience there anything but cheerfulness. There
[may be people who wonder how we were able to
preserve fearlessness and cheerfulness in the midst
of terrors. To them there is this brief reply ; Only a
bird that flies through the air, knows the nature of
I iflight ; similarly, only a sanyasin who travels in the
world can know nothing about the secrets of the
inner world. Among wisemen there is a well-known
saying, “ Only the knower knows the knower
There may still be persons who ask, “ what is
the meaning of saying that those who have obtained
the vision of God see him always and everywhere ?
What is God’s shape ? What is the form of His
vision ? ” It is impossible to answer such questions
at onee with words. How can one describe the true
form of God in words and make others understand
It ? Even those who have actually seen It fail to
describe It completely. Descriptions, however de-
tailed or extensive, cannot hope to touch all Its aspects.
The way to know It, is by actual experience and there
is no other way.
The srtiifs and learned men have
described it in a thousand ways— as the Omniscient,
the Omnipotent, the Supreme Limit of A/swarya,
the Creator-preserver-destroyer, the shoreless, honey-
like, Ocean of Sweetness, the Light that renders
billions of suns dark by comparison, the Inner Being
that controls all beings movable and immovable, the
Embodiment of Truth-Knowledge-Bliss, the One All-
pervading like space. One without sound, touch or
form — so on and so forth. Indeed, we may admit
that all these descriptions are descriptions of the
Supreme Soul and to some extent help to convey the
notion of what It is, but all these fall far short of
giving men a complete idea ; for It is far above all
description. We cannot circumscribe It with words.
Like a fruit that floats on the surface of water, the
Paramalma rises above tlie floods of eloquence.
Howsoever high the water rises, the fruit still floats
lover it. Similarly, the supreme soul keeps on rising
'above the swelling words ; It is never submerged.
But how can these
pieces of knowledge help man to apprehend the charm-
ing beauty of His Divine form t None, except His
sole devotees who have seen Hun with their own eyes,
can know the celestial splendour of that Divine vision
Similarly, the supreme soul is beyond words , It is open
only to personal experience If that is so, shall we
say that all the varied descriptions of the Paramatma,
attempted by the srutis and smniis are in vain ? Cer-
tainly not Who says they are m vain ’ If they
help towards the reahzation of Truth, let them do so
I do not deny the help rendered by the discussion of
Truth by the sastras and learned men. If God is
thus beyond description, how can the vision of God
be descnbable '>
Since the form of a pot can be
described, it is possible to describe, also, the vision
of the pot The vision of an mdescnbable thmg
must necessarily be indescribable. What is the mstru-
ment with which one may perceive the Supreme Soul
With our eye we perceive pots, etc With the mind
we perceive desn-e, anger, etc But with neither,
shall we perceive It which is beyond name and form.
IHhe ancient rishis who had reahzed Truth descnbe
l|lt as beyond words and mind Like God, the vision
of God too is beyond words When the mmd assumes
the form of a pot, it becomes the perception of the
pot. Like that, when the mind, rising above name
and form, assumes the state of Brahman it is called
the perception of Brahman, by the Vedantins. But
Brahman has no form, ft is formless. Who can
perceive the formless Brahman ? How can the limited
mind comprehend the formless and u nlimi ted Brah-
man ? It may be argued that when the mind is free
from all its functions of imagination, it intuits Brahman,
pure, one without a second, which shines forth in its
own splendour without a veil ; then it is futile to
maintain that there is a perceiver and a perception of
Brahman. It will then follow that the intuition of
Brahman has nothing in common with phenomenal
.perceptions of the objective world, that, in fact, the
perception of Brahman is the Ijasic experience of the
non-objective. Such ate the conclusions of Vedanta.
Even as God is. His perception also is surpassingly
marvellous and transcendent. Hence it is impossible
to grasp either from mere descriptions thereof. On
ithe other hand, both of them have to be immediately
intuited. That is the upshot of this context.
Our far-sighted adiaryas who lived long, long
ago, have enjoined upon the people of Kaliyuga,
a life of devotion to the best of their ability, perhaps
because they foresaw that in this terrible age, charac-
terised by an insatiable thirst for carnal pleasures
and polluted by sensuality, it would be difficult, if
not impossible, to practise Nis/ikaiiia Karma or carry
on Dhyana or Samadhi in a strict, scientific way.
As is well-known, the repetition of holy names is the
easiest step in a life of devotion. Any worldling,
any sinner, can cry out “ O Siva ! 0 Krishna 1 ! ”
For people engaged in the relentless pursuit of worldly
pleasures it is -verily impossible to shed all desires or
set their minds on God or even make them meditative.
So, in this Age, pursuit of Bhakti h the easiest as well
as the most important means to reach the goal. There
can be no difference of opinion on this point. In the
early stages, repetition of holy names and prayer, the
singing of hymns and listening to religious discourses
help the love of God to sprout up and as it grows
and flourishes, the uncontrollable craving for sensual
pleasures is tamed, and men gradually become intros-
pective.
Their minds begin to flow continuously
towards the Lord, and experience pleasure in doing so.
If the jmnis find their joy in meditating upon formless
Brahman, the Bliaktas revel in the contemplation of the
Divine form. Of course there-are not two gods, one
with form and another without it. God is one and
so a Bliakla who loves the Divine form intensely to
the exclusion of everything else, has nothing more to
gain. Let no one be under the illusion that the direct
perception of Parabrahma who has no form and
no attributes, alone leads to salvation, that the Bliakla
has not attained it, that he is yet to achieve it and that
until he does so, the purpose of his life remains un-
fulfilled. If God has such a form without attributes —
a form whose perception alone will lead to salvation —
will not He disclose it to His true devotee one
day or other and lead him on to the supreme goal ?
The seeker of moksha should, therefore, refrain from
indulging in wordy quarrels regarding the form or
the formlessness of Brahman. If he is a bhakla let
him concentrate his mind upon the form of the Lord ;
if he is a jnani let him try to acquire steadfast knowledge
of the formless, through earnest study and discipline.
The supreme, the ultimate, goal of Bbakti and Jmna
is the same. There is no doubt it is Nirvana through
, the realization of Brahman. Certainly, those people
who move slowly, step by step, towards the goal
uttering the holy names of God in full faith, are
immensely more fortunate than the unqualified persons
who tumble down headlong into perdition during
their attempts to scale the difficult and dangerous
heights of Bralmia-Jnam. The path of Bhafcti is the
royal toad to the presence of God. It is open to all
types of people, whether learned or ignorant. It is
also the easiest to follow. That is why the great seers
of God, both inside and outside the Vedic pale, have
recommended it whole-heartedly as the noblest route
to the great goal, popularised it among the people
tortured by the threefold sufferings of life. If there
is God, there is no doubt. He must be omniscient,
as well as omnipotent. He can assume any form in
which his devotee worships Him and bless him, granting
him a vision in that particular form. There is nothing
illogical or unscientific in the idea. Nor is it contrary
to experience. If those who worship the formless
Brahman presume to ridicule the Bhakla when he
cries out “ O Lord of Kailas, O Lord of Vaikunta,
save us. save us, 0 Lord ”, they only make themselves
ridiculous.
To abandon all love of worldly
pleasures and immerse one’s -mind completely in the
love of God, can be the consummation only of great
punya.
Whatever be the form of God, only a mind
which has freed itself totally from worldly entangle-
ments, can be filled with Divine love.
For people
whose vasanas (inborn dispositions) have been washed
away by the flood of Divine love, the admitic knowledge
cannot be far, if at all they want it.
very imp-
Believe firmly in the existence of God — believe that He is — believe
that He is the Father of the Universe who preserves
everything— then, it does not matter in what form you
' worship Him, on what pedestal, or in what world you
place Him ; then, there is no doubt, the Omniscient
I ,One, immanent in everything and everywhere, will
bestow His grace upon you.
When a Bhakta, filled
with the longing to see his Beloved, cries out as if his
heart would break, “ My Lord, My Lord, O Parmatma,
when shall I behold Thy lovely form with these eyes
of mine ?
” only people who have tasted the Divine
sweetness of that intense love, can understand it.
Seeing that Bliakii and Jiwna are equally good, wise
ones should never waste their precious time arguing
,, excitedly about the superiority of the one or the other,
llwhat vdse men. ought to do is to adopt one of these
I'aaccording to their qualifications and inclinations,
[pursue it steadily, see God and thus fulfil the purpose
of this invaluable human birth.
Those who possess such love of God, love such
solitary places as Gomukha, whichever proclaim the
glory of the Lord. Parted from her lover, his beloved
sits in the corner of her lonely chamber where every-
thing reminds her of him, thinking of him in secret.
To her even the sound of a single foot-step seems
intolerable. She hates every distraction which disturbs
the contemplation of her lord. Even so, the bhakla
hates all interruptions to his prayers, and all distrac-
tions which break up his continuous contemplation of
God whom he loves most intensely. For such bhaktas,
can there be a place more congenial than the solitary,
peaceful Gomukha?
imp...could be very imp
There is nothing here which
docs not help the enjoyment of contemplation and
prayer. What is here to hinder it ? This solitary
place is. extremely suitable to people who see God,
who love God or who meditate upon God, for they
require no external assistance in their activities, but
a cultured mind. Solitude serves them best to perfect
their discipline. This Gomukha region is unrivalled
not only in its perpetual solitude but also its clear,
pure, spiritual atmosphere and so it aids the bhakla
as well as the jimni to reach easily the state of samadin
which is the culmination of jnaiia, bhakti and dhyana
But, for the karma yogi who is trying to perform his
duties as acts of devotion, without any desire for
reward, this place is not suited so well. He can
bathe here devoutly, gain God’s grace and thereby
destroy sins and acquire mental purity. He can
reinforce his faith in God by observing the glory of
the Creator which manifests itself everywhere in this
Divine land, but unlike the other three types of yogis
he cannot afford to stay on in this region and at the,
same time carry on his duties as a karma yogi for a
karma yogi has to depend necessarily upon external
objects for his activities. In the view of ancient
acharyas, karma yoga means the performance of the
duties like Agmhotra enjoined by the snitis and smrilis
according to the rules of Varna ashrama dharma.
Such actions must be undertaken m a spirit of dedica-
tion, without any desire for reward The educated
moderns, however, mterpret karma yoga differently.
They say, it was all right that in ancient days, when
the struggle for existence was by no means so keen as
it IS today, when all were good and prosperous and
life was like a song, our forefathers worshipped the
gods With yajnas (sacrifices) and thereby punfied their
mmds But our Age is different from theirs , the
population is going up by leaps and bounds , the
struggle for existence is getbng keener and keener
everyday Now it is the visible, miserable fellowmen
who deserve our attention and demand our service,
Inore than the invisible gods So, the Kaima yoga
jof today is the all round, selfless service of humanity
dnected towards their common good and not the
performance of the useless and out moded yajnas of
the Antediluvian Vedic type. Such arguments are not
to be laughed away Though the worship of God is
essentially the same at all times and in all places, the
modes and materials of worship may differ from place
to place and from time to time We cannot reject,
as somethmg quixotic, the idea that in the karma
I woga which consists m the worship of God by good
I ™cds, the acts may vary according to tune and place.
'Their contention, that even as God’s grace is not
affected by the difference in flowers and offenngs
used for worship, karma yoga will not be vitiated and
Divine Grace will not be withheld on account of
changes in the acts of worship, appears to be quite
reasonable The belief in the eternal character of
the rules of Varna ashrama dhanm and even of the
Vedas from whicii these rules are supposed to be
deduced, has almost disappeared even from the
very birth place of Varna ashrama dharma.
315
The dualism of action, cause and etfect is itself
Samsara. Freedom from it is freedom from Sanmra.
If action is Samsara, non-action is the cessation of
Samsara.
So even the uneducated can easily perceive
that the states of waking and dreaming which involve
action, cause and effect, are Samsara whereas the
state of deep slumber (sushupU) is the cessation of
Saiimra.
If a man, out of his love for action (even
if he has no desire for the fruit thereoO does not
long for the everlasting peace of non-action in this
life itself, out of that love, may wish for a fresh lease
of life after die fall of the present body. How can
one suppose that a seeker after Truth, who knows
that this worldly hfe of birth, disabhng old age and
death is misery, that the escape from it is Moksha
and that Moksha is the same as Brahnan (which is
homogeneous at all times, immovable and eternally
peaceful) and who having known It, sticks resolutely
to It, or endeavours to stick to It, will find delight in
the continuance of the duahstic view and the tension
of conflicting action resulting from it, while fearing
the eternal peace of non-action ’
imp
If he does not desire for a state
unfettered by the body, why should he undertake the
Herculean labours requited for the acquisition of
the Knowledge of Truth, for the destrucUon of inborn
tendencies and the annihilation of Karma ’> That
means, a region of non-action like Gomukha, though
a source of terror to people of action, becomes a dear
refuge to lovers of supreme peace, whose vasanas
have been uprooted and whose minds have attained
quiescence, even like Brahman Itself
If some who
had attained the state of Brahman (that_state_oLnon-
action) had yet laboured m the cause of umversal
happiness, itisnotfor any one to approve or disapprove
of it Who can overcome one’s own nature ? What
I mean is only this even a jnam will have to experience
pleasures and pains according to the measure of his
^engagement inaction , the expenence of such pleasures
and pams is itself Samsara , and that the state of
supreme peace, the state of Moksha, is altogether
untouched by Samsara
..few people in the world have the great good fortune
to enjoy supreme happiness in this grief-stricken
world, through a life like mine ; that the common
people, whose minds are dragged along by innate
tendencies and weighed down by the burden of worldly
cares, are not entitled to taste even a drop of this great
peace ; that, even as it is impossible to enjoy royal
luxuries by desire alone without the necessary means
such as wealth and position, for common people
without the necessary devotion to truth, eradication
of inborn tendencies, attainment of quiescence, etc.,
it is impossible to attain the highest spiritual peace
by desire alone ; the first duty of the common people
therefore is, not to throw up their duties and take
to a life of solitude, but to lead a life of Nislikama
Karina for the purification of their minds.
On getting
this message and taking the holy bath at Gomukba,
my visitors hurriedly departed, as if they were aware
of their disqualification too well to stay on.
When disagreeablcness
ends, that is itself agreeableness. That disagreeable
feeling is sorrow and agreeable feeling pleasure, is a .
well-known scientific fact.
The denser the darkness, the greater
is the brilliance of the light that destroys it.
When a reader goes
through these descriptions with interest and pleasure,
he will also absorb several spiritual truths, without
effort or difficulty Thus there is nothing illogical
if a peculiar and remote end means relationship
comes into being here between the understanding of
Truth and the description of the glory of the Himalayas
With a view to draw the attention of the seekers
after perfection to the mam conclusions from among
the many we have set forth above, we shall briefly
discuss them here The mam theme of this work is
that the free principle of the atman or Self, referred
I to by the term " I ”, dwelling in ‘ the cavity of the
heart ’ of all, one with the principle known as God,
Brahman, etc , is the cause of the existence, sustentaUon,
and rctraclion of the unucrsc Not only of this work,
It IS the theme of all the Upamshads too Apart
from the spiritual principle of the Self there is no other
God Those who know the Self know God too
Other than the principle of the Self, there is neither a
witnessing God or some sort of a soscreign, manifesting
Himself in a definite form, reigning supreme in some
far away world ' Not this which people worship "
‘ ^ u fa gnit ld ' sentences like this found in our
Upamshads, refuted, thousands of years ago, once
and for all the theory of a witnessing God This
non dual reality alone is true All other entities arc
subject to ch ingc and so arc perishable Hence
follows also that they arc unreal Tins Self, this
Brahman, unlimited by time, space and other entities,
without sulfering any diminution of its immutability,
projects the Umserse from ether downwards
How can there be projection w itltout the cause suffering
any alteration ’ A specific power that resides m
Brahman projects this world without altering its
substratum in the least ficnee Brahman eternally
remains in itself homogeneous, unchanging This
power IS designated /iioja, as it produces extraordinary
variciy, prakrlli as it is the material cause of the
Umserse It has also several other names Tins
variegated power, rather Brahman m conjunction
with this variegated power, assumes the form of the
universe If so, it follows, that the world which
appears to consist of tlic five elements is none other
than Brahman Since spint is one only and never
two, what affirms itself as ‘ I ’ ‘ I ’ in each of the living
bodies and in fact is tlic spiritual jtia, must also be
non-dilfercnt from Brahman There is no reason to
imagine that spirit differs with the bodies m which
it dwells. If the inert world even is not different
from Brahman, how can the Jiya which is spiritual
differ from It ? Thus both the world and jiva are
■ non-different from the spiritual, unitary Brahman,
which though immutable, is said to change due to the
operations of its power. That the world and the
-Jiva are not independent entities is the main conclusion
of Badarayana, the author of the Vedanta Philosophy,
and of Sankara and others who follow him. Brahman,
then, is the Truth of all truths. The knowledge of
Brahman is the immediate perception of non-difference
between Brahman on the one hand and oneself and
the universe on the other.
An uninterrupted revelling
in this non-dual Brahman realized as the quintessence
,of the world is the supreme goal of life.
What has
been attempted in this book is to present in an easily
,;jintelligible manner, the truth of the identity between
. ijiva and Brahman. This timeless truth, viz,, the
non-duality (of reality) has been set forth here along
witli the means and the auxiliaries that promote the
e-xperience of this truth.
Whether it is on the peaks
of the Himalayas, on Mt. Kailas or on the shores of
Manasasarowar, I find the same Perfect Being. I
find the same self-luminous thing at all places, at all
times, in all objects and in all states. I find only that
object of Truth and nothing else. I hear nothing
else. I touch nothing else. I taste nothing' else — I
smell nothing else. I am not thinking of anything
else. I do not find my joy in any object other than
that Object of Bliss.
In conclusion, I pray all my fellow-men who
possess enough intelligence and some purity of mind
j(|to work for the realization of Brahman, which alone
fulfils the purpose of human birth.
The present writer is a sanyasm,
who has, after the acceptance of Sanyasa, made the
Himalayas his abode — a great lover of solitude,
engaged unintermittentiy in the contemplation of the
Paramatma — a firm believer in Saiiyasa, not only as a
desirable stage in human life, but as the holiest part
of It — one who looks upon Sanyasa as a miraculous
means of converting worldly existence, which is
generally regarded as sad and melancholy, into some
thing full of bliss He concedes, also, that for certain
people the very thought of the soul is impossible
until they have totally abandoned all distracting
activities That is all true But, m spite of all this,
the writer of this book does not believe that house-
holders and other Asramilcs are disqualified to lead a
spiritual life or that, for people m other Asrams it is
impossible to meditate upon the Soul I have expressed
this opinion elsewhere, but I am repeating it here to
stress that view over again
In the midst of action,
think of the Soul Surrounded by wife, children and
grandchildren, still think of the Paramanm with
devout lose Think, constantly, of the power that
activates your hands, legs, etc Always use them to
Ido things good and desirable Allow not yourself
to be tempted by the intoxicating wine On the
contrary, drink, drink your fill of the Nectar of Life
for ever more and find everlasting BLISS '
Om Santi ' Santi ' ' Santi ' '
आणीक दुसरे मज नाही आता ,
नेमलीया चित्ता पासोनिया , पांडुरंग ध्यानी पांडुरंग मनी ,
जागृती स्वपनी पांडुरंग ,
पडिले वळन इंद्रीया सकळा ,
भाव तो नाराळा नाही दुजा ,
तुका म्हणे नेत्री केली ओळखन ,
तटस्थ हे ध्यान विटेवरी
No comments:
Post a Comment