The twenty values mentioned by Bhagavan Shri Krishna in the 13th Chapter of Bhagavad Gita are called jnana and are pathway to the ultimate goal of Self-realization. Last week we saw five of the twenty values which we need to progress on the spiritual path.The next in sequence is:
6. Acharyopasanam -- Upasana, seva of acharya, guru, who is giving us the upadesha of moksha. Guru, the one who is teaching us about Brahman, one who is giving us the knowledge of the Supreme, is the one we should be tuned to. That tuning happens with seva. Ultimately we have to understand what the acharya has understood and is experiencing. And he is trying to convey to the student the state that he is established in. When we are tuned to the teacher then it becomes easier to comprehend what the teacher is conveying. Just like a mother and a child are tuned to each other and the child understands the moods of the mother. In just the same way, when the student serves the teacher then the student gets tuned to the teacher.
Like, Hanuman was tuned to Sri Rama. Even when he was away from Bhagavan, he knew the feelings of Bhagavan. For instance, they were to begin the search for Sitaji, when Sugreev suggested that they should wait for the monsoon season to be over. Everyone agreed. But when the rains were over, Sugreev did not remember his words. But Hanumanji remembered and he told Sugreev to begin the search at precisely the same time that Sri Rama too was remembering, 'now is the time to begin the search for Sitaji!'
The turning point in life of great saint of Maharashtra, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj came when he met his teacher. His teacher told him, ‘you are Brahman. You are supreme Reality, pure existence, consciousness and bliss. You are not this body, mind and intellect. You are not the ego. You are not what you think you are but you are Brahman. Hold on to it. Even though might not know or might not accept it, it might not be understood now or you might not experience it but hold on to this. Now go!’ And Nisargadatta Maharaj held on to this devoutly. Just by holding on to the words of the teacher, he ultimately reached the state of enlightenment. Holding on to this one statement took him to his ultimate destination.
Upasanam literally means sitting near the teacher. Near does not mean physically near. We are looking at this world from ego standpoint so we find it totally jumbled up. Achrya upasanam means seeing from the standpoint of the teacher, looking from where the teacher is looking. Then everything will become clear. Achryopasanam is very important value which one has to cultivate. We have to drop all our notions and be tuned to the teacher.
So a sincere seeker is so tuned to the teacher, that knowledge happens when the guru shows a mudra. There is story of Dakshinamurti. Lord Shiva took avatar as Dakshinamurti and he taught some rishis. But he taught using the sign language – chinmudra. Through that, every of their doubts got dispelled. Arjuna understood after the Lord in 700 shlokas. Parikshit had to listen to 24000 shlokas of the Bhagawat. There are 1 lac shlokas in Mahabharata. Depending on our capacity, we comprehend. But if we are tuned to the teacher then it becomes easy to comprehend.
7. Shaucham –- cleanliness. As they say cleanliness is next to Godliness. What is Cleanliness? It includes everything from our interaction with the world to our speech. Our speech should not contain words which are not good and which create disturbance. The words which remind one of something negative, should not be uttered. We should keep our environment clean. Our body, our clothes should be clean. Our mind should be clean. All the sadhana like japa, upasana, puja are to clean our mind. The mind is considered unclean when it gets attached to everything, like iron does to magnet. Some minds get attached to everything ... to houses, furniture, people. Or it gets repulsed from people and things, i.e., finding fault and turning away from people and things. Such mind is called an impure mind. Such mind is not available for meditation or contemplation.
First one has to clean the mind. Cleanliness of the mind, speech, intellect is shaucham. Buddhi also becomes cleansed by right understanding. Reading too many books and understanding too many things does not make us wise. Some professors of philosophy know a lot -- what is samkhya yoga, purva mimansa, uttar mimamsa ... everything. They know what Madhwacharya says and what Shankaracharya says. They know all the Samhitas. But they don’t have opinion of their own. Such a person does not gain anything. It is like going to the supermarket, looking at all the products, but what did you buy? Knowing lot does not help us. We should be convinced about the goal and the path. If there is confusion in the mind of the driver as to the destination, he cannot take us there. Purity of buddhi brings clear understanding. There should be no confusion. Purity of mind means no raga-dwesha. Purity of speech, purity of vyavahar should be there. This is cleanliness, shaucham. This will help us recognize and get established in our own Self.
8. Sthairyam is steadfastness on the path and steadfastness as to the goal, hence commitment to attaining it. Not leaving the path till the Supreme is attained. Even in relationships, the course is unsteady. This is experienced even in marriages. Unsteadiness creeps in and one may dither or flounder on the path. The path to moksha is verily a relationship with the Lord that is being forged. A small difficulty is enough for the seeker to despair and give up. Steadiness is very essential. One should be absolutely steady on the path of moksha. It might take time. It does not matter. One should not be impatient or deterred by difficulties. Whatever time it takes, whatever effort it requires or whatever obstacle shows up on the path, one should walk steadily. One should not look for another path or goal.
9. Atmavinigraha – Self-control. This is control over the body, the mind, the senses. We should have control over them. Some people do not have control over their tongue. They have no control over speech and eating. Tongue is very powerful. Swami Vivekanandaji used to say that only if we can conquer our tongue with ease, we can conquer the whole world easily too. We should have control over our thinking. Sometimes you see that in a discussion among friends, the topic changes and they move to another topic and do not even realise this. By the end of the conversation, it has moved all over the world. There should be control in group discussions. One should keep the discussion confined to the topic. That is atmavinigraha. Control over our thinking, feelings, senses is important. It is said about Bhagavan Shri Rama that He would not take even one step without proper understanding. For this, one must control then guide one's mind and senses.
10. Vairagya: The whole world is the object of our senses. Our house, wealth, people are all objects of our senses. They are all a combination of shabda, sparsh, rupa, rasa and gandha. The whole world is a combination and permutation of these five. Vairagya means to have no like or dislike for anything. There should be no bhogavritti. There should be detachment from the world. By 'detachment' is meant the world should not be our goal and we keep doing whatever is required to fulfil our kartavya, our duty.
(Recall our earlier definitions.) The focus of life is not world -- which is kshetra; but it should be on the kshetrajna. Unless we detach from the world we cannot attach to the Self. So, be in the world but remain detached, apart from it. It is like a ship; it is in the waters, and to move in the waters successfully, it should not sink in the water, it should not allow the water to enter inside. Then it remains steady above the waters.
Likewise, if the world start entering our system then we can’t move ahead in this world where we have to be. So don’t let the world disturb you; neither get attached to it nor get repelled from it. Just swim around in it.
A Mahatma once gave the example of surfing in the sea. He said, ‘you have to stand on the surfing board, then rise with the rising wave, fall with the falling wave. But in both situations, be on top of the wave!’ When we go to someone’s house as a guest, we appreciate and use his possessions. But when we leave, we do not carry his stuff with us! We know that it does not belong to me. I am here temporarily. I cannot take anything with me while going. Similarly, we have come into this world knowing that it does not belong to us. We should just enjoy. the scene.
This is called vairagyam. Vairagya is not hatred for the world. Vairagya means neither like nor dislike. One is free. The world belongs to Bhagavan I just have to do my duties and leave peacefully in the midst of the play of things and people.
Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati will give discourses in English on Bhagavad Gita - Chapter III, from 1st July, 2014 to 7th July, 2014 from 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm at Chinmaya Mission, 89, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 110 003. All are welcome to attend.
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