"moksha patha"

 Chapter IX of the Bhagavd-Gita speaks of Liberation, mukti, moksha, as revealed by Sakshat Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Here it is very clear that the humans born here on the martya loka (death-knell?) have no chance of liberation, mukti or moksha. The reason is very simple. All the mortals are giverned by karma- prarabhda (past), sanchita (present), and the agami (future). Not only we suffer due past sins, or enjoy here in this life due to our past good deeds (purva punya), but go on incuring more an more of these! There seems to be no wnd to our greed. In ur desire or greed to achieve, attain, or get something we spend all our time engaging in some sort of a work (karma) or the other. This is a never-ending process with no solution in sight.

  However, Bhagavan Sri Krishna advises us (calls us fools/mudhah) through Arjuna, a confused mind (vikshipta manah), of unstable mind ( chanchala chitta), to take recourse to the principle of surrender (Sharanagati tattva) to the Higher Self, the Almighty. He clearly states, "Come to Me, I shall take care of you". maam upetya tu kounteya sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyami ma shucha, punarjanma na vidyate".

What more do we want? But, do we have unflinching faith, unswerving single-minded, firm devotion (dhrudha bhakti)? Does our ego allow us to bend our head to the 'All-powerful  Unknown'? Thus, no wonder, we are condemned to this mrutyu martya loka. Only His Grace will release us from this eternal bondage arising out of accrued fruits of past ctions, prarabhda karma. We are so folish, that we do not know where we are heading toward and never realize that we are going in a too narrow a ptha that is leading us to a dead end and, has no space even to turn back!

'Supreme Knowledge'

 The 'Supreme Knowledge', the highest knowledge one can gain, is that of spiritual nature rather than the worldly transactional one. Here it is important to note that Indian Sages, saints and great Rishis have perfected this through practical means such as yoga and scriptural studies (nidhidhyasana) under an able teacher. The spiritual knowledge gained from study of scriptures like the Veda, Upanishads should be supplemented by practical exercises as enunciated by great Sages like Sri Moudgalya Rishi, Vashishtha Muni, Vishvamitra, Sandipani, Patanjali, Jaimini, Kapila,  Achyutapreksha, Guru Sri Raghavendra Swami, Patanjali Shastri, and many others. Besides, there are a number of Ashrams and Gurukula where Samskruta Bhasha is taught and Vedic studies are conducted. Temples played a very important role in this regard. The teachers insisted that the Vedic Texts are learnt by heart and loudly chanted with phonetic perfection. A little variation in sound while uttering the syllables and words or , if misplaced in order of presentation would create havoc! For instance, the word 'amruta' (elixir) becomes 'mruta' (dead) if prefix 'a' is missing! In fact, the teachers were aware of the alternate meanings of words that numbered almost twenty and taught grammar and composition carefully. Such an ancient system of study of Vedic Texts are still practiced in many parts of India and original scriptures (samskruta grantha) are preserved in Oriental Institute, Mysore, Sringeri (Karnataka), and Kashi (Varanasi), and many other places in Kerala. Many Western scholars have shown keen interest and efforts are made to preserve these scriptures these in recent years. 

  What is this 'Supreme Knowledge'? There are almost twenty four divisions of vidya, ('Knowledge') in the Vedic tradition such as Veda, Vedanga, Veda Shakhya, and Veda Pratishakhya. etc. Jnyan Vijnyan yoga of Chapter 7 and 'akshara brahma' (The Immutable Brahman) of Ch. 8. clearly state that the attainment to the highest 'brahmn' is very easy easy (sulabha) to an adept who constantly remembers the Lord and adores Him at all times. It is satata dhyan, chintana (thinking with focused attention), manthana (churning), nidhidhyasana are advocated here in order to attain to the highest, param padam. Here it is important to note that the Benevolent Blessed Lord reiterates that not only 'Knowledge' (Jnyan), but a  Knowledge with Experience, vishesha or vishishtha jnyan. Thus, no knowledge is complete with practical experience!

"Param Padam"

  The highest seat, 'param padam' is 'brahmn'. This is also the beginning of the universe! The 'universe' (brahmanda) begins and ends with brahmn. However, it is very difficult to define the concept of universe since it is an everlasting expanding one without a trace of its beginning or end in sight! It is also called 'eternity'. the word 'sanatana' is used to explain this concept. But, it is very clear that everything that one thinks of, or perceives comes within this concept of eternal 'sanatana dharma'. Geometrically speaking, it is the point at the center (focus), as well as, the periphery. It is like the fulcrum and the outer rim of a wheel! No wheel is complete without these two- the center and the periphery of Time and space connected by the spokes of qualities (guna).  

  When we say, 'everything comes within the ambit of this running wheel of Time and Space, it is needless to say that all living beings are also governed by the same set of rules governing the space and time. The beginning of the universe may be traced to the 'Will' of the supreme Lord. 'He Willed' is the Vedic doctrine. The supreme Lord said, "I Am Alone, I Shall Become Many". Lo! there appeared the multitude of diverse universe of all organic and non-organic elements and their compounds. The first to come is the lightest of the gaseous element Hydrogen and then all others like Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, and other non-metallic and metallic elements ensued! Now, what we see as the biotic formulations of C+H+O creating numerous carbohydrates and hydro carbons form the basis of Energy and Life. L I F E is the Energy aspect, the pranic energy that sustains all living beings. This is nothing but creative Knowledge, Technology, Ability to sustain the creation and Transform objects. In a way, this Light, Intellect, Force and Energy is all that govern the universe!

 Now, once we know the basic structure of this universe  (of Elements and Compounds) it is very important to know about the purpose, the goal of creation.  In a sense, the very purpose of life is 'to know'. The question of attainment is thus answered in clear terms. One who is born human, equipped with power of thinking, ability to know, understand, should realize the true nature of the Self. The Self (Atman) is the core of the substance. It is the essence of all that exist. Hence, the goal of life is to gain 'Atma jnyan'. A person of attainment is thus the person with the knowledge of the Self. In the initial stages, it is essential to have  a realized person as the teacher who may guide in this spiritual path. Later on, one should go on a well defined path of our ancient Rishis taking recourse to study of scriptures, nidhidhyasana, yogabhyasa, and get into higher state of transcendental meditative State and realize brahmn.   

"The Problem"

  If you ask "What is the 'problem'? some say, "No problem, absolutely no problem". Not that they do not have any, but they do not want to discuss in public. Some people go on narrating their problems whether others hear them or not! They want to pour down their problems on others and lighten theirs. They feel happy only when they talk all sorts of their family problems, health and other problems with others! But, little they do realize that not all are their well-wishers and friends and may even make fun of them. 

  There are situations in life when some sudden problems appear and solutions are hard to find. If it is too unbearable, they people ask, 'Why Me?' Really problems occur due to changing conditions in personal life as well as in Nature. It is inherent nature of this world that problems occur every minute from morning to night and day after day. But, people do not realize that all mortals born here, on this earth, called the 'mrutyu loka', have to face some problems or the other in their daily life.  In fact, some problems are self-created! Their greed make them run after sensuous world and they fail to realize the true nature of this fleeting transitional world governed by time and space. The limitations imposed by time and space are not realized by the ordinary people. Only a realized 'Guru' can guide them. 

  There are different types of 'problems' created by different factors or agents. The problems created by changing weather conditions, food scarcity, failure of rains and drought, and natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, etc. may, at first, seem insurmountable. However, these are also effectively managed by disaster management techniques like weather forecasting, quick transport, rehabilitation, etc. But, the most important problems that man creates for himself is by his foolishness. In his eagerness to create more physical wealth, some people prosper by cornering resources, store essential commodities and create scarcity in market, loot and cheat in an organized manner. Even the governments of State and Centre directly or indirectly create problems for the people by several means. Lack of control over inflation, exploitation of common man by unscrupulous elements in market that lead to artificial scarcity, fluctuations in prices, as also, high taxation are some of the problems. However, wherever there are problems there are solutions.

   But, one thing is certain. There are no solutions to problems that people suffer due to their ignorance, folly, and past sins or prarabhda karma. Only God will help, that too, if one ardently prays to Him. 

The Gayatri Mantra

 There is a tradition among the Brahmin and Kshatriya communities to conduct thread ceremony to boys at the age of eight years. This is to initiate the boys to perform tri-kaal Sandhya (Morning, Afternoon and Evening) worship offering arghyam (water to Sun-God), i.e., to pray the Sun-God to activate our inherent intelligence and bestow the power of right thinking and act according to the sanatana dharma, samyak-prajnya (Unity Consciousness). This prayer is said to be the one that all the Gods and Goddesses pray to their most Revered Lord (varenyam), the Star ((Sun, nearest one to us) who is the source of Light, Intelligence, Energy and Force (L I F E). A Star is, indeed, the atomic power generating entity containing all the essential ingredients of the Universe in itself! It(te Neutron-Star) is in fact the beginning and the end of Creation! There are the giant Stars, Dwarfs and the others that are innumerable spread vast in the never-ending Space, the Sky. The astronomers point out that there are Stars (the bright ones) shining at far off distance and the Light rays emanated by them reach us after millions of years! Hence, it is beyond our imagination to get a simplified picture, image, of our Universe!

  Now, there are many epics, Vedic Texts, Upanishads that eulogize the Gods and Goddesses that protect us. The Supreme Lord is said to be Sri hari Narayana. He is the symbolic representation of all that exist here. He is indeed the path of our (nara/ mortals facing rebirth) eternal journey (yaana). These epics and other ancient scriptures depict Shakti (power) in different names and forms! First, it is said that the Supreme Lord was resting on the cool body of  Seven-hooded Adi Shesha in the Ocean of Milk (sudha sagara), symbolic of  elixir, purity, full of vigor, strength, creative power, knowledge and ability to reproduce and transform, etc. etc. 

  Chaturmukha Brahma is portrayed a the symbol of Creative Power and personified as the Creator. He is provided with four faces to look in four directions (in fact, had five faces and the one looking upward was later removed! Brahma is endowed with power of Knowledge (Saraswati), Resources (aishvarya / Lakshmi), Intelligence (Buddhi) ,Mind (Manas), etc. all the Vedic knowledge is attributed to Brahma. It is stated that Brahma created His Manasa- putra (son as an Imageries?) and imparted the Ekayana Veda, that was later divided into four functional divisions as Rk, Yajus, Saman, and the Atharvan. This is the foundation of Hindu Dharma that eternal (Sanatana).

  Thus, all the Gods and Goddesses (Devi Devata) in praise of the supreme Lord Sri Hari Narayana ('ga' meaning 'sing') and pray for activating the power within (the buddhi, the discriminative power) and bestowing the power of right thinking and right action. 

There are four pada (metre) in this mantra. The firs one deals with the vyahruti- Realms of our Existence. These are seven loka- Bhu, Bhuvah, Svar, Mahar, Janah, Tapah, and Sat. The jiva that begins as a mortal can climb up these seven levels and reach the Highest, param padam by Yogic practice in transcendental meditation.

  The Second pada deals with the Gods and Goddesses called 'Savitur' who are the Lords of Elements, the Vedic Gods. Essentially the same Goddess who appears as Sandhya in the evening, is called Nisha in the night and Usha in the morning. She is the Gayatri, Savitri, and the Durga and kali late in the night. These are Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Under-world. Some are depicted as the Realms of Holy Men, Divine Beings, and some are the realms of smaller creatures. Bhu (the earth) is the realm of land and water suitable for growth of Vegetation and a source of food for animals (bipeds and quadrupeds), Birds, and fit for human habitation.

  The last quarter,  pada, is one of prayer to activate our 'dhee' or Intelligence so as to live ecofriendly, wisely in cooperation with all other co-inhabitants.

  Thus the Gayatree mantra is a very sacred mantra that protects all those who devotedly pray the Sun-God to bestow His grace. Bhaskara, Vibhakara, Aditya, Suryanarayana, sahasra dyuti kirana, are the other names of the Sun-God. One must pray the Surya-Gayatri as follows:

 Om Adityaya vidhmahe, shasradyutikiranaya dheemahi tanno surya prachodayaatu ||

Om Bhaskaraya vidhmahe, Vibhakaraya dheemahee, tanno surya prachodayaatu ||

'Minus One'

 We are taught basic mathematics with writing and learning multiplications and divisions, addition and subtractions from 1 to 20. Most of us carry on our life with this elementary knowledge without bothering much! However, things are different at higher levels. Statistics also comes as another big problem for those who hate numbers! The author is one such who scraped thru with just passing marks after (dis)grace marks were added at the SSLC level. Disgusted, I dropped the very subject and took to History at the College level, only to face the problem of the Rulers, their dynasty (die nasty?) with years of their regime! Thus, numbers became a big problem! 

  This problem continued up to the Ph. D level where Quantitative Geography with statistical analysis and Factorial Scores had to be calculated and mapped to show the regional disparities (pertaining to the 27 Talukas with 39 Factors) run on an IBM Computer. It is for the first time that such an attempt was made in socio-economic studies in Asia (during 1980). This is how the number game is attached to our destiny!

  Now, coming to this Minus One (-!), its significance was not realized till our Bharat Ratna Former President Sri APJ Abdul Kalam ji. It is this Minus One (-1) that opened up space technology. It deals with Gravity and determine the escape velocity to send the spacecraft into Space. It is not something that our contemporary scientists and mathematicians found out! It is the Vedic doctrine that starts with the mantra-

  purnamdah purnamidam purnasy purnamaadaaya purnamevaavashishyate !    

It is further stated in the Vedic texts that this doctrine is the path of Self-Realization. This turns the spiritual speaker inward by withdrawing the manas, buddhi, ahankara, and the ten sense organs (five jnyanedriya and five karmendriya). Thus, Minus One (-1) takes us inward by discarding all the 25 principle that governs our contact with the external sensuous material world, stated as the illusory one by Sri Shankaracharya. 

 Thus, Minus One is the beginning of the backward journey in Space Time Complex. If Zero (0) is the meeting point of both the forward and backward journey. In fact, every individual has a past and a future. It is all about our past karma (prarabhda) and the coming (Agami) one that binds us to this mortal existence on this mrutyu loka called Planet earth! The only way to break the shackle and get liberated is to begin our mathematics of life from Minus 1.

Four Steps to 'Kaivalya'

 When we enter a temple, we have to cross seven doors before reaching the sanctum sanctorum. So also, there are seven floors in the Gopuram of the temple at the entrance. These are indicative of the steps one has to take to attain to freedom from bondage- kaivalya, muki, moksha or the param padam. When we stop indulging in the worldly affairs that look like the annual fair, jatra, Car festival of rejoice before entering the precincts of the Deity in a temple city, we tune ourselves to a spiritual or divine mode, There are four steps to reach the inner santum sanctorum from the busy streets of the temple. These are first reaching the temple town and go to the temple street. Reaching the temple is like salokya, the realm of the temple zone. Next is sannidhya, reaching the temple. The third realm is that of going near the Lord or Devi, that is sameepya. Finally we reach inner garbha gruha, the kaivalya dhama, and stand in the presence of the Deity. This is sayujya. We feel a sense of satisfaction, spiritual attainment. This by itself a kaivalya.  

'Kaivalya' is said to be the final atainment to the 'Highest', the 'Supreme'. There is nothing beyond this. However, it is not clear as to what is this 'Highest Attainment'. Is this just accumulation of wealth, gaining applauds, power, name and fame? Or,just attaining peace and joy without external support? Probably, it is quite satisfying if one attains peace and joy while living now and here, not after death. We hear people say RIP, Let him/her soul rest in peace! If one is not peaceful while living, how can there be peace after death? Whether one likes it or not, this so called Soul, Atman is not something to rest! It is a dynamic Reactor that is generating an powerful unending 'Energy' without any supply of fuel from outside. But, 'Life is not one of bed of roses all the way'. There are thorns in the rose stick.

  Born as living beings, struggling to fulfill the daily needsof hunger, thirst, and greed, there can never be peace and joy, all the time. Joy and peace become a mirage in a life full of needs, never ending desire, and much worse, each sense organ (there are ten of them), craving for (tens of thousands) gratifications. The tendency of these sense organs is always to look out for their fulfillment. They feel disgusted when they fail to get what they want. The sense organs are ignorant. They cannot think on their own. They all depend on the whimsical Mind (manas) which is not Intelligent and discriminatory by itself. Unless the Mind is guided by the discriminative intelligence, buddhi, it is difficult to have peace and joy.

 The Mind is the culprit. This unintelligent, rather foolish, whimsical, ignorant, mind is the cause of all misery. It is impossible to control and guide the five sense organs (jnyanendriya) which are always out-going. Only a stern master who has determination and mastery in the techniques of Mind-Control can fix it! There is mano laya yoga, mano nasha technique. It is so simple, but difficult to practice. The technique of mind ontrol is simple; just observe the childish Mind it keeps quiet! It is just like a stern look at the pet dog that is wagging its tail all the time. Just give a stern look, it stops wagging its tail! 

 The yogic practice of just observing the mischievous mind, uncontrolled and misguided, due to ignorance, calls for a rigid practice of yoga, samyama. First, one should realize the illusory nature of this sensuous world and, then discard passion and love for pleasure of the senses. Renunciation, Sage Vasishtha imparts laya yoga to Sri Ramachandra. He advices Sri Ramachandra to be impassionate, avoid any indulgences, and be equanimous.   

  On should know that life is an endless journey, getting in and out at every station. Birth and death is the shackle, a chain; however, there are some weak links that can get us released! One should find such weak links and cut it and get out of bondage. The conquest of the senses through techniques of 'Mind Control' is the cutting player that can easily cut the chain. So, meditate on brahmn. Meditation is the only cure for the distressed minds.

 Thus, one can gain happiness, joy and peace, here while living, and that is kaivalya. Kaivalya is not something to attain going somewhere (in the Himalayas) and, not even very difficult to attain! 

 The principle is "Just Keep Quiet (JKQ)".  This will help win the mad mad race. So I J K Q.