Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 43, September 1
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Guru Dhyanam: Gurur Brahmaa, Sri Bhooyuta.. , Ajnana .. Akhanda, Dehe …, Akhandam ..
Yoga Vasishtha Dhyana Slokas:
yatassarvāṇi bhūtāni pratibhānti sthitāni ca
yatraivōpaśamaṁ yānti tasmai satyātmanē namaḥ || 1
jñātā jñānaṁ tathā jñēyaṁ draṣṭādarśana dr̥śyabhūḥ
kartā hētuḥ kriyā yasmāt tasmai jñaptyātmanē namaḥ || 2
sphuranti sīkarā yasmāt ānanandasyāṁbarē vanau
sarvēṣām jīvanam tasmai brahmānandātmanē namaḥ || 3
Brahmanandam, Sri Vasishtham Namami, Ramaya, Aapadaamapahartaaram, Om Purnamadah,
Om Santissantissantihi
We have learned previously about the bad things about childhood, youth, the attraction between the opposite sexes, and bad habits like drinking alcohol.
Who are the old people? A 20 year old who is idle and useless to himself and others is old. But an 80 year old who is active and useful to others and himself is a youth.
Dasaratha was 60,000 years old. Rama was only 15 years old when he is speaking here. That time scale of that Yuga is difficult for us to understand. The people in those days have left skeletons 20 feet long.
Why did Rama live for 11,000 years? Why did Krishna live for 120 years?
Jnana gives strength to the mind. In old age, the body gets tired if it runs. But when the mind runs, there is no tiresomeness.
Swamiji said: When I had a black beard and I gave discourses, people did not appreciate. But with a white beard, now even if I cough, people clap/applaud.
22nd sarga – Jaraa jugupsa – dislike for old age – all the troubles of old age are listed. Sri Rama gives us the reasons why we should turn our attention to God well before we reach old age.
Sri Rama is very brilliant. We agree with Rama that childhood and youth have their faults. But we question his dislike for old age, when people become mature. What is wrong with old age?
Childhood does not wish to die but youth swallows up childhood. Old age swallows youth, like a serpent swallows its own young. A young banana plant is supposed to kill the mother banana tree. Similarly, old age is born of youth and kills its own mother. It is very cruel. It has no kindness. This is Rama’s logic. With that view, one must notice the bad things about old age. Do not say to Rama: Do not blame the old people. May parents and grandparents are old. Rama is not blaming the old people. He is blaming old age. We must be aware of the truths about old age.
A lotus fails to bloom when frost hits it. Like breeze drives away the clouds in the autumn season, old age is like poison. It takes away our life. Guru’s advice is the only antidote against old age/poison. To avoid repeated births, it is important to purify the mind. That is the science to make it easy to avoid repeated births, which will cause us nothing but trouble. Why are we so ignorant and why are we neglecting to avoid bad karma? Sadguru’s advice must be accepted. What is the use of receiving Amrita given by Sadguru and throwing it on the ground? What is the use of not drinking it? One must consume the nectar given by Sadguru and apply the rules in one’s life.
Everyone knows that all kinds of diseases begin in old age. Just like frost kills a lotus plant and a flooded river uproots a tree, old age is harmful to individuals. One who drinks poison will gradually die. Age is like that. The only amrita that would save one who has swallowed poison is the remembrance of God. One who fails to get a remedy for the poison will slowly lose his life. Jnana is the amrita that will serve as the only antidote.
In old age, people are neglected and are ill-treated. Women and men lose their attraction and are not found appealing to those of the opposite gender. Despite suffering so many blows in life, why are people not learning their lessons to lead a good life and maintain a pure mind? We have to proceed to the spring time after winter which is like old age. Spring time here is merging with God. As seasons change, man also must change. Sri Rama says God has given us so many changes in life so that we will learn our lessons.
People who revere a person while he or she is alive, suddenly fear the dead body of that same person, including the spouse, children, servants, relatives, and friends.
We see this occurrence, and yet we are turning away from God.
Old age captures us by the hair and forcibly torments us. It will not allow us to do japa or sing bhajans. It makes us weak and fatigued. It drains our energy and our intellectual capacity. Till then we have wasted life, by not using our intelligence to know God. For that reason, discretion leaves us the way a chaste wife leaves when a mistress steps in.
Those in youth must be forewarned about the pitfalls of old age. Servants laugh, children and relatives ridicule, and even friends make fun of people who are senile due to old age.
An eagle sits on a large tree but not on a small plant. With reduced strength, greed and avarice increases during old age. The tendency to hoard increases in old age. It is like a huge bird landing on a tree. This huge tree called old age gives shelter to all kinds of bad feelings, like huge birds. Please give up the attachment to things out of useless sentiment. Unless you sacrifice your attachment, you cannot gain freedom.
Krishna asked: Please give me something to eat. Draupadi said there is no food left. Krishna said look again. She searched again and found one grain of food sticking to the vessel. She gave it to Krishna. Krishna ate that and it filled the stomachs of 80,000 people who accompanied Sage Durvasa when he visited the Pandavas in the forest during their exile. Unless you give, you do not gain.
Santa – means three things, Satsang/company of the pious, namrata/humility, and tyaga/sacrifice – these three qualities have to be cultivated. Unless the old are discarded, the new cannot be obtained. You must give up high school to go to college.
The doctor identifies a certain thing and says: this has caused the disease. Give this up. Smoking must be given up to get well from lung cancer. Those who cling to bad things will suffer a great deal as a consequence.
During old age, greed, desire, and attachment keep increasing. The old people like to hoard and cling to things.
Once the eagle called greed lands on the tree called old age, no virtues will come, just as no other birds will land on the tree at that time. An ant carries a heavy load of grains. But it does not get to enjoy what it hoards. Some other creature or some unfortunate calamity will destroy its treasure. One must give up attachments to people and things. One must think of God and practice spiritual discipline from childhood and through youth, to avoid trouble in old age.
Kama/desire, if it finds a place in an old person, it further reduces the lifespan. It is highly recommended that passion is kept under control. The lack of virility in old age creates a burning desire in the heart and the helpless feeling and the inability to satisfy the desire scorches the person. The lustful passions must be given up. Your attachment for things and people must be directed towards God. Vishnu should be regarded as the lord and the object of desire. One’s perception should be changed.
Some people are told all wise things since childhood. They are born in a good family. They are named by Swamiji.
They keep having darsan of Swamiji since childhood, and they listen to good advice repeatedly. But why do they not practice the good counsel? They are filled with regret that they carry this huge luggage of wasteful attachments and have wasted their lives without paving the way to liberation.
In old age the fear increases that sins have been committed and no spiritual merit has been earned. One who leads a good life, lives happily and dies a peaceful death like Bhishma.
Bhishma had the good fortune to be in the direct presence of Krishna and had the boon of leaving the body at will, remembering Sadguru, Krishna, Rama, and merge in the Paramatma. We have the options and the opportunities to earn such a great state by leading a virtuous life. In old age one should not have to spend time in regret. One should avoid it.
One has the tendency to overeat. Instead of eating 10 idlis, eat only nine. Do the reduction in food intake gradually. What is the use of fasting on one day and overeating the next day? Practice self-control. Some people eat a small quantity several times a day, which is recommended. One fourth of the stomach’s capacity must be left free for good digestion. One should eat and be contented. Never leave a meal with discontent. Salt, sugar, and milk should be gradually reduced in the meals. Dairy products are all included in ‘Milk’.
Take milk, but reduce the quantity. The intake of the three white items should be reduced gradually. It is important to protect one’s health. To have the desire to eat, and not have the capacity to eat is pathetic. It is better to give up the desire to eat.
The shackles of desire lead the mind towards worldly temptations. They do not lead the mind towards God. They bind the mind to the world and repeated births.
The crane damages the tree that gives it shelter. Desire is like that. It harms the body and mind which give it shelter.
After old age death follows. Should one leave the body due to old age, or due to death? No need to fear death. Like twilight is followed by night, old age is followed by death.
That is the essence of the Upanishads.
After twilight, darkness descends like death. The curtain falls at the end of the play. Old age is the flowers and fruits and for consuming them death like a monkey waits to jump and grab them.
One should plan for the advanced age and begin early in childhood itself to seek God. One should be aware of this sequence of events.
Perhaps even in the absence of rain a country can flourish. Look at Dubai. So many luxuries they have created there. This is our body. We decorate it and pamper it. But when old age comes, what happens to it? The way an eagle desires to eat meat, there are three types of diseases – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These three when they are in imbalance cause diseases. Those who suffer from Kapha make horrible sounds. So many different sounds come out of the throat. Kulasekhara Alwar laments that Kapha prevents him from chanting and singing God’s names. When Swamiji sings, we sing along. On our own we fail to sing. The eagle called old age desire to consume the body as its food. A girl sees a lotus. She places it on her head for a short time. Then she tosses it to the ground. This old age also tosses our body into death in a short time.
Due to cold breeze infants shiver. Due to old age the body shrivels.
Because of frost lotus flowers wilt. Ignorance makes our lives wilt. Jnana will make us flourish. Knowledge about God is most important. Only the body ages, not the mind. The mind must ever be cheerful. At 72 years of age, Swamiji is so active and travels long distances effortlessly. He practices flute regularly. The body alone ages.
The mind should be kept happy and enthused about things. That is the secret of Vedanta and Advaita. Many people who practice Vedanta eat only one meal a day but remain very blissful, healthy, and enthusiastic. Karma is like the flow of a river. It will follow its course. There is no need to fear it or worry about it. Use the water as required for your comfortable survival and no more.
Old age sits on the head and causes cough. So to prevent it, in youth we must exercise and take care of ourselves.
Kaleswara, the Lord of Time accepts as food the white pumpkin.
They light a lamp on top of it and offer it to God. The ash gourd has a white coating which is compared to the grey hair on the head of the aged.
Generally old people worry about the people whom they will leave behind. It is foolish to worry like that. Just like in the aircraft you are asked to put on your oxygen mask first before helping others, the old persons must first help themselves, and then only they can set a good example to others to lead good lives. One, who is drowning, should first try to save himself. Share your food. But in gaining knowledge, you have to be selfish.
Never argue foolishly that everyone is foolish, so why should I earn knowledge? You must prepare ahead of time. Do not wait till old age to gain spiritual knowledge. With poetry, with so many examples, and so many similes, each and every topic is explained here in detail by Sri Rama. Rama is doing this for our benefit. Like an ignorant person he is acting and analyzing these common and important topics. There is no one else but Rama, who has conquered both the inner enemies and the outer enemies.
We will continue tomorrow. There are many more things to discuss.
Om Santissantissantihi.
Sri Guru Datta