Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 37, August 23
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
19th Sarga – Baalya jugupsa – Sri Rama gives his Upadesa.
We get stressed out in daily life and we reminisce over our happy younger days. We wish to be young again. We feel that childhood was great.
As per Vedanta, the opinion is different. According to Vedanta, childhood is a manifestation of ignorance. We are in the illusion that the young need not put in any effort and that everything is handed to the child.
Saisava, baalya, and pundra are phases in childhood.
Kaumara comes afterwards.
Sri Rama has explained in detail earlier, all the faults contained in the body with numerous examples. It is not intended that we should give up the body. The intention is that we must change the condition of the body by seeking guidance from Guru. Unless there is interest in obtaining spiritual enlightenment, for which the body is a required instrument, it is useless having the body.
People go into the sea to collect floating pieces of wood to use as fuel. Sri Rama is comparing the pieces of wood to people occupying human bodies. Of all the wood that is collected, only a few pieces deserve to be called humans, who live like humans, using proper intelligence. Only a few follow their Dharma as humans. Others are living like animals. At least live now with humanity. Later you may seek to become divine.
Nara is one who likes to have everything under his control. Such a man is unable to bring himself under his control. He is in the lineage of Manu, our common ancestor. We forget that we are Manu’s descendants. Those who behave like demons do not deserve to be called humans. Out of selfishness some commit heinous crimes. Some kill and torment innocent persons for no obvious reason. I am unable to see any merit in the body. I am searching for virtues and am unable to find them, says Rama.
The body is like a frog under a rock. Before it knows what is happening, it grows old and leaves its body. We do so many tasteless things and we are so fickle-minded. We are full of Rajo Guna, encouraged by the body. It is impossible to know the nature of the body.
Atheists identify themselves with the body. They think that they are their body. Such a wrong notion must be discarded. So strongly some people adhere to the body. People identify with their name. That is somewhat better than being fully attached only to the body. Sri Rama despises such people.
Whoever says, I am associated with the body, I despise. They are the worst kind of people. We should attempt to become Purushottama – the highest amongst men. One should seek the God within.
We get our body fixed/repaired when the body malfunctions. A limb that is harmful and beyond repair is amputated. Think that this body is a place where I reside. This is the room that I occupy. I am not the body. I am not associated with the body. When we think of the body, there is much anxiety. But in sleep when we forget the body, there so much peace. We then travel inward, leaving the consciousness of the body.
We are having a wrong perspective. Ahanakara/ego is used in a wrong way by the body and it deceives us. Because of the ego merging with the body, we are getting duped. Our intellect is getting clouded by the tricks played by the body. We become unaware of how beautifully God is protecting us. Our intellect is neglected and relegated to disuse.
We run after falsehood, knowingly. We neglect to seek truth. It is all because of the tricks played upon us by the body.
Many people are afraid of discussing this topic. It is very essential to know this. A medical student has to be taught the truths about the body, disease, and death, regardless of his fear. We cannot escape. We are running away from knowing the truth. There is nothing here to be afraid. If we know the truth, then we can enjoy peace and comfort. Many people are afraid of Garuda Purana.
At that time when someone dies, they play the Bhagavad Gita. People go there, do not listen to the recording of Bhagavad Gita. They speak about idlis, the shamiana/temporary shelter/tent, and engage in other gossip.
The Bhagavad Gita is played not because it is going to help the departed soul; it is for our benefit. This bereavement will occur to anyone in life. It is natural and no one can escape the sorrow of losing beloved ones. We must definitely pray for the departed soul, that it should have a smooth journey. Swamiji has given us the Gita Saara. Listen to it with attention. It gives great courage and assurance. Gita describes the eternal indestructible nature of the soul. The people have not gone anywhere. Only the body has dropped off. The Yoga Vasishtha is like a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. This gives a commentary on the Upanishads in the greatest detail.
Merely listening to Bhagavad Gita gives such comfort. Pondering over it will yield great understanding. Those who study Vedanta do not run away from the world. They do not stop being productive. In fact they become more productive.
Like a bubble, this body is transient. Like a leaf caught in a whirlpool, it keeps swirling. The body does not merge with God, like a bubble does in the ocean. We need to develop mental strength.
One who has a back ache may meditate even lying down. But one, who is hale and hearty, when he sits for meditation, wiggles and squirms in discomfort because of the body.
Many blame parents for their birth. Parents merely wish for a child. This particular individual earned his birth with these specific parents due to his past karma. He speaks arrogantly even with God. God never asked for your birth. Each person earns his own birth. Chandrasekharayya went away from the ashrama against Swamiji’s order and returned with broken bones. He then blamed Swamiji for what happened to him. No one escape one’s karma.
People demand the kind of life they wish to enjoy in this body. They speak out of utter ignorance and delusion.
God has not given anything. We have brought everything upon ourselves, a fair body, a dark body, a sickness, and so on.
This whole life, this body, and everything is illusory. Because of our wish, this body and these circumstances have come. Just like in a dream, all these are occurring.
Sri Rama says I feel disgust for this body.
Not all dreams are good dreams. Dreams are sometimes frightening. In our tradition, as per Vedanta, where dreams are declared to be untrue, we do not wish that dreams should come true. Definition of dream in the western sense, is actually what you wish to achieve that appears to be beyond your capacity, that benefits everyone.
Your dream of snakes and scorpions, your wounds and injuries, no one wishes to come true.
Clearly we see that all these dreams are false. Like lightning, this body comes and goes. Those who serve and pamper the body too much will end up in great grief. The body must be brought under our control through Yoga, Pranayama, and regular exercise and discipline.
The body deceives us by posing as if it is going to last forever. We must regard this as a blade of grass. I reject the idea that this body has any worth, says Sri Rama.
When we offer to Ganapati a blade of grass, we offer him our body symbolically.
Ravana, Rama will see you as a blade of grass, declared Sita. Rama loves me for the heart I possess. Not for my body. You are possessed with lust for my body.
We must grow in spirituality.
Let us try to view childhood from the eyes of Sri Rama. Let us understand why he dislikes childhood.
Baalya Jugupsa/distaste for childhood.
Like waves is this worldly life, ever turbulent.
We get some doubts. Till now Rama blamed the body. But we feel that some benefits are there in the body. Rama detests childhood. We feel that small children are divine.
Bhagavatam describes the childhood of Krishna in great detail. In the Ramayana the description of the childhood of Rama is very brief. Balya Leela and miracles of Krishna are beautifully described in the Bhagavatam. In Potana’s Telugu version it is excellent.
Those who have no children will be blessed with children if they do Bhagavata parayana. The entire world will appear like their children even if they do not beget children.
Putana is sent to poison the child Krishna with her poisoned breast milk. Sakatasura in the form of a wooden cart tries to kill the child Krishna, and the demon is killed by the child.
A funny story that I read somewhere: Perhaps I should not mention it here. Had Krishna been born in this Kali Yuga, the story says, we would not have access to his miraculous stories of childhood. Putana’s breast milk will be rejected by the modern Krishna. He drinks only bottle milk/formula. He is a weakling, Putana will report to Kamsa, over her cell phone. No need to worry that Krishna will become strong enough to kill Kamsa.
Sakatasura (demon in the form of a wooden cart) comes to kill Krishna. In Kali Yuga, Krishna will get into an auto-rickshaw to go away to school. Shakatasura will make a call to Kamsa. All the children have left in the auto. The kid Krishna was hanging onto the rod at the side of the vehicle, because the auto rickshaw was so overcrowded.
Kamsa is assured over the phone that no harm will come to him from Krishna.
Yamalarjuna bhanjana, the two tall trees kept waiting for Krishna to come dragging the grinding wheel between them to fell the trees and release them from the curse. But Yashoda does not tie the baby to the grinding wheel. Now she has a mixie (an electric blender).
Now Krishna ate dirt, it was reported by the boys to Yasoda. She is aghast because there is no dirt anywhere for him to eat. It is all concrete. Some potting soil Krishna ate. He opened his mouth for his mother upon her insistence. Instead of the 14 worlds, he showed her all his school books. That is the universe for me, he says.
Even in fun we should not speak like that about Sri Krishna. I beg forgiveness.
How the children suffer these days!
Even the amount of play that we enjoyed in our childhood, they do not enjoy now. The math they study now in 5th grade, was taught in college, in our days. Now the children are pushed to achieve beyond their limit. But it is all good. This is what is needed for this age.
We think that childhood is glorious. But Vedanta disagrees. Sri Rama gives his view:
The moment life begins, even in infancy, sorrow begins.
Rama has given examples for the sorrow: helplessness to begin with.
A deer or calf runs when it is born. The animals know how to find food. A bird calls its mother. Its mother knows what its baby is saying. The baby bird may take some time to fly.
Until the infant learns to crawl, he stays immobile. Unless someone protects him, he cannot take care of himself. He cannot express himself.
The bird parent knows what the baby bird says.
A human mother or doctor does not know why the baby is crying. There is no intelligence in the baby. Once slightly grown, it always wishes to play. The baby has extreme desires, yearning for milk, for comfort. Human babies are very incapable in infancy.
Another doubt people express. What is the use of knowing about childhood? We have passed that stage. What is the use of learning about it now? Because of our ignorance we wish for childhood again, which will earn for us another lifetime. This yearning will take us away from seeking liberation.
A child keeps crying because he cannot get what he wants. By constant crying, he weakens his body and invites sickness. You take a huge elephant and tie it to a pillar. It is miserable. Such is a child’s life.
Saisava – at this stage what are the problems? Even the sick and the aged do not suffer so much. Neither in youth nor in danger do such severe problems arise.
The baby’s face is smiling and attractive. But the child has his tensions and difficulties. Such anxieties even at the time of death one does not experience.
Childhood is worse than death. The unsteady actions are animal-like. He behaves like an animal, going on fours. His actions are all like those of animals.
Childhood is a reflection of solidified ignorance. Various ideas come into the mind of a child. But they are not worthy ideas. It is a strange stage. Whether the thoughts run towards the world, or himself, is not known. Those who observe, think that the stage is nice. But the one who is experiencing it is miserable. The child is afraid of water, fire, heat, strong breeze, and cannot tolerate any extremes. Repeatedly the child cries. No other stage in life is as frightening as childhood, to the one who is going through that stage, not the ones who are observing it.
The child goes after playthings that are harmful to him. Its mind desires what is dangerous for him. His ideas are not beneficial for him. The ideas coming out of ignorance drag the child into dangerous situations.
We have survived that stage by God’s grace. We have to express our gratitude.
Children suffer from all kinds of restrictions. Everyone is ordering and restricting them; parents, relatives, caretakers, and everyone else, all are confining him.
The child does things that do not yield any benefit. That is a defect of childhood, says Sri Rama.
He is bossed over by everyone. He does much mischief and troubles everyone. How can I praise this stage?
Till age 5 the mischief that they engage in, the cruelty they show towards insects out of ignorance, God is said to forgive, in the Kali Yuga. During Krta and Treta Yugas such actions were not condoned.
The child enjoys killing insects. He relishes giving them pain. He throws a banana peel. If someone slips and falls because of it, he laughs.
Like an owl’s life, that lives in darkness, is this stage called childhood.
Very bluntly Rama says, those who think that childhood is good, are fools and idiots. They are ignorant and their statement is false.
During childhood, the mind is not steady. Such a bad state leads to bad consequences. That is why even in childhood, discipline must be enforced. Otherwise, the person will not cooperate. You can make a plant bend to your wish, but not a fully grown mighty tree.
O Guru, what more can I say? The faults in childhood are ten times more than those at any other stage, declares Rama.
Mind is naturally fickle. In childhood, it goes to an extreme. When two quarreling children are at home, the house becomes chaotic. We must keep observing the minds of the youngsters. Their speech expresses their sentiments. Unless they are encouraged to speak, we will not know what is going on in their minds. Like the darting eyes of a woman, the child’s mind is ever changing.
At all times, and in all actions, the child is undependable. There is no one who can bring the child’s mind under control. That is why children are placed in schools for proper training.
The way a wealthy man is surrounded by people, all troubles surround the child. How can one like childhood?
If a child asks for something, (some children do not ask for anything and even that causes worry), he will keep pestering forever for new playthings. Until they are given, the child will throw tantrums. We see this problem in childhood.
Another huge blemish is; a child does not know what is good for him and what is not. Such ignorance is appalling. The child happily plays in its own excretions. Once he grows up, he detests such behavior.
Like a mad dog, the infant plays in its own urine and shit. How to appreciate it? Like a god we are told to treat a child. How to accept that?
The crying of the child is incessant. It is so jarring and uninterrupted. Like the water that is poured on a hot pan evaporates in a moment, the crying also stops suddenly without any explanation.
The child is crying and the tears are instantly drying up also. How to understand and appreciate it?
Childhood, with an unsteady mind and an unsteady body is tough to control. Some parents feel that a past life enemy has come in the form of a child to torment them.
He wants what he sees, and what he cannot see. He wants what is good for him, and what is harmful for him. He is totally stubborn in his ignorance and in his demands. He is adamant about getting what he wants. He jumps from heights. He jumps into water. His thinking is all crooked.
Sri Guru Datta