the jnani rises to the exalted
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 ? ” “ 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 advaita ; 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 mankind, without any distinction of the
learned and the ignorant, lose themselves in the fleeting
bodily pleasures and consequently suffer from a series
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
188
Force is ever homogeneous, unexcelled, eternal. The
seductive power of the sense objects is as momentary
as the flashes of lightning. In the presence of Soul
Force, 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 Hiranyagarbha, 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.
190
We can hardly
forget that pleasant night when, after such intense
privations, we enjoyed a full meal and sound sleep
without fear and anxiety 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 obstacles like laya, vikshepa, kashaya and rasaswada, man’s
mind soars higher and higher like birds to the very
zenith of Nirvikalpa 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 permeated with the noble penance and energy of the
great rishis, has exceptional powers of easily leading
minds to peace and concentration.
...According to him salvation consists
in the destruction of the sorrow originating from
illusion 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
All these
relative truths are acceptable because they help towards
the realization of the ultimate and absolute truth that
Jivatma and Paramatma are one.
It is therefore doubtless that
out ultimate objective is the attainment of Advaita,
not of Dwaita.
When one has actually seen a piece of clay, all the
transformations of clay are as good as seen. For
effect IS not different from its cause Pitcher, etc ,
are but the nominal variations of the clay So the
clay alone is true Similarly there is one Truth
(Brahman) on knowing which one knows everything.
Did you get that knowledge from your master ”
So also, it is from
this minute, subtle, eternal thing imperceptible to the
senses that this big solid world, perceptible to all
puraan senses, takes its ongin Learn with great
attention O Swethakethu, that eternal object, Brah-
man, IS yourself You arc that Eternal Thing
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.
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 ”
294-imp-
By very careful reasoning they determined
the nature of Reality and found everlasting bliss,
jl'lndccd, thinking alone helps in determining the
irnaturc of Reality. No amount of penance or ritualistic worship can take us to the goal. Penance, by itself,
cannot destroy the I-Comciousness.
That can be footed out only by 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 Htraiiyagarbha, are
strung on the ego-sense called adliyasa, by the Vedan-
tins (Saririka Bhashya ) The impression that some-
thing IS what It IS not — the notion that the soul is the
body (which it is not)— is what is called adliyasa or
ahamkara Ahamkara-us saiiisara The escape from
Samsara (cycle of births and deaths) is called moksha.
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 hie.
(0 Lord of Bliss aad Knowledge, Lord of Cowhcrdcsscs,
Save me from egoism, spare me even here
But O Narayana, Dispensei of Boons,
If at all I feel like ‘ I ’, let me feel cvcrylhing as * 1 *.]
It was this State of Jnamnukti that was predominating
his thoughts
He who has transcended egoism, experiences ever-
lasting joy, finding himself the Paramatman, in every-
thing,
209
..men who, having uprooted all egoism, found all things
equal and attained Godhood.
The truth is, there is nothing
in the world, spiritual or material, which faith cannot
achieve. To a man of faith, no penance however
hard or rislg', is impossible ; in fact such things
become quite easy.
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