Knowledge Supreme!

 ‘Transcend all limitations, acquired qualities- gunas, and surrender to HIM’. He says, sarva dharman parityajya maamekam sharanam vraja | “Worship Me only, adore Me, I shall take care of you, give you what you want and protect what you have”. Let there be no doubt about it”.

     The varnashrama mentioned in the Gita is not about the castes and sub-castes and creeds, divisions and sub-divisions amongst the Hindus, or the philosophies, or schools of thought, etc. God never makes any distinction and division amongst His own creation! These are of our own making and, as such, not important to us in spiritual pursuits and attaining to unity consciousness, Self Realization- ‘Atmasakshatkara’.  Hinduism does not preclude other religions. It is all inclusive eternal/sanatana dharma- a broad term that applies to all the people who followed it. It is a universal religion, sanatana dharma, equity, justice, and righteousness granted to all living beings. Hinduism also called sanatana dharma, an eternal system is just a broad-minded, open-minded way of life that is all-inclusive. The fundamental principle here is the whole world is one family (vasudhaiva kutumbakam). It gives freedom to follow whatever faith one likes. It is not even a religion or the faith in God and rituals. What is important here is the fundamental principle of creation of jiva on the earth and its fate or destiny. It is discernible that the “embodied soul clamours for release from its eternal bondage.” As such, every jiva strives for release from this bondage. However, mukti or salvation does not come from intellectual jugglery but the knowledge of Brahmn, “Realization of the Self”- atma-jnyan. This calls for a totally different type of mind-set, life-style than the one that has been so far adopted. It calls for higher knowledge (para vidya), the highest level of wisdom (Viveka), and renunciation (vairagya) and a sincere effort to cleanse the blemishes, arishad-vargas acquired so far. This is what is quite interesting here. No amount of worldly knowledge will help here. What is required is just child-like simplicity, absolute faith, and surrender to the higher power that be; these will definitely help in the pursuit of the jiva to get liberated from the repeated embodiment and eternal bondage.

    Salvation is not a wishful thinking. It needs a practical approach through yoga. The only way to get rid of the whimsical nature of the mind is to tame it and use it for the purpose of liberation of the soul from eternal bondage. Some people say, the soul is always free and it is the ignorance that makes it feel. It is exactly, this ignorance that one has to remove with the help of divine knowledge (divya-jnyana) that is within the embodied soul that the seeker should find out. Salvation lies in transcending all the barriers of time, space, causality, influences of mind, buddhi, and ahankara, establish oneself in his true self, the atman. One who is established in his Self has attained his Self.

  Nobody knows, for certain, what is the ultimate truth. There is no well laid path to salvation, or for that matter, is there anything such as salvation, at all? Salvation for whom, some people ask?  Let’s make these points very clear from the sacred text of Bhagavad-Gita. This world is compared to an inverted Banyan, fig tree (urdhvamula ashvathha vruksha). All jivas, including the devi devata (Gods and Goddesses), tapo-janah inhabit this tree above and the insects and germs occupy below. By their good deeds, a man may go up the ladder to reach the realms of manes, devas, and Rishis and brahm, or go down the ladder to animal, insects and germs to be crushed any moment. The human being is stated to be a ‘blessed-one’ that reached this level by right thoughts and good deeds. However, nothing precludes the lower jiva from reaching higher and higher levels of consciousness and thereby attain to godliness. Even plants and animals, birds and things, such as, stones and metals attain to these divine levels and get worshiped!  For example, a mall plant like tulsi, bilva, or a tree like Fig tree (Oudumbra), the Banyan (Peepul) are considered sacred and worshiped; so also, the birds and animals like cow and bull, rat, peacock, crow, lion, or tiger and even pigs and dogs are divine creatures. There are the sandalwood carvings, stone sculptures in marble, Shalagrama or Basalt, copper, brass or alloy-metal (panchaloha) engravings of idols worshiped. These come under archavatara of Gods (Pancharatra).

  Thus, nothing precludes living beings in this world from attaining to divine status. Divinity is inherent in all moving and non-moving beings. The purpose of creation of jiva is thus believed to be to bring out the divinity inherent in it and make it realize its true nature. However, there is yet another level of understanding here; it is either that of scepticism- what if, or ‘nothing counts’! This is ignorance. Ego rules the roost and diversities and dualities do not end. Hence the jiva should drop all its idiosyncrasies. There is nothing like good or bad here. Whether one does good or bad deeds, anyway, the jiva has to come back here to experience the fruits of its action. But, if the account is closed once and for ever, there is no need to visit this mortal realm. The Atman is free to roam about as a micron, an ionic energy particle, or a photon forever. Till the embodied jiva attains to this pristine state of purity it has to struggle on this earth. Hence, all the Jnyanis try to cleanse of their karma kleshas, remove the vasanas, samskaras, and memories and become pure like a crystal that can refract whatever light that falls on it and prove nothing as its own!

   The perturbed jiva now can look into its past with the help of this narration- journey of the soul, an autobiography, and try to get released from all bondage. All the Upanishad statements quoted here are intuitional knowledge of great sages derived in a transcendental state, samprajnya Samadhi. These are as good as one’s soul’s reverberations, antaratma dhvani. One has to remember the fact that as long as we possess a bank account we have to run to bank whether to pay back the loans with interest, or collect the FD/CD interest. So also, the jiva has to repeatedly take to birth again and again until all its karma kleshas are cleansed by yoga, dhyana, meditation and, even the good deeds here will only bring attachment and bondage. This is the reason why some saints and sages have given up worldly activities and take to solitary living. There is no gainsaying the fact that good deed and service will help liberation, mukti or moksha. Here lies the difference. Even the so called ‘self-lessness’ is inwardly strengthening ego that thwarts liberation. Nothing but the total abnegation of the self will help here. The blemished soul, smeared with karma kleshas, moha, lobha and antahkarana should revert to its pristine purity cleansing off all its stains.

     The soul is bound to acquire pollutants such as gunas- tamas, rajas and sattva, attachment, desire, anger, selfishness, greed, avarice, ego, etc. as long as it is attached to earth- depending on food, water and air. This has prompted many a yogins to stop taking food and water and controlling breath. This is the secret of advanced yoga. One cannot be here as well there; it is like riding the two horses- suti and the asuti,worldly and the other-worldly, aihika and the paramarthika or ‘Self’ and ‘the other’- one of total liberation, and the other an eternal bondage.

  In fact, when i set out on journey to earth, as a speck of stellar dust, many Great Sages who were shining Stars of different magnitude warned me to be careful as to where I am going. They too had visited this Mrutyu lok once. They got rid of this shackle with great difficulty. Dhruva is one such great who chanted the name of Narayana all the way to the heavenly abode. All others hold him as a model and follow him.