Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 21, August 5
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
Sravana Somavara Ekadasha Rudrabhishekam, and Sri Narahari Teertha Swami Aradhana have been successfully completed today.
We discussed the 1st verse of the 14th sarga: Jeevita Garhana – blaming Life. We are surprised at this theme. We want to have wishes and desires. Many people wish to enjoy life.
But what is important is to have an aim, a goal in life. Do not encourage wishes. Encourage goals. When you teach children to keep having wishes you are misleading and misguiding them.
You must have a clear picture of your goals. Dasaratha’s arrow hit a boy, not the animal he thought he was killing.
Ekalavya was tested by Drona. He knew of the extraordinary skill of this boy and decided to take it away from him because Drona envisioned that he would use his talent for a bad purpose. We wrongly feel that Ekalavya was betrayed. It is wrong to think so. Drona removed his finger to protect the world and to protect Dharma.
When if a scientist invents a missile and threatens everyone with a bad intention? Arjuna had the Pasupata Astra with him that could annihilate not just the Kaurava army but everything else with it, but he never employed it.
You must show children to live with a proper aim. You must teach them to weigh the pros and cons of every action.
Through nine holes in the body the life energy has entered. Through which hole it departs we do not know. If you close all the doors it will burst the body and go. A cat confined in a room will get wilder than a tiger to get out and will rip everything with its claws.
A snake charmer was called to catch the snake that people thought had entered their house. He does not find it. He searches all the possible places where it may be. He will alert the family to close the hole through which it might have escaped so that it does not come back. If people do not believe him but keep worrying, they will lose sleep for days on end due to fear. Will the family sleep?
Dasambhotlu had a snake dancing over him as he snored in his sleep totally unaware of its presence.
Our tension and stress destroy us. Guru’s instruction and guidance give us the experience of the Self.
The obsession for objects of the world is like the snake in a house. Those who realize the Truth will be free from such tension. Please wish to die without being a burden on anyone. People like to live at ease. Do not allow the attachment to worldliness to bother you. Then you are at peace. Self-Realization is the greatest remedy for removing unease and to live a happy life.
A man earned a lot. He was at court. He fell down. He was diagnosed with a severe heart problem. A yogi in regular clothes came and visited him in the hospital. The patient said, please stay here longer, because he felt tremendous peace in his presence. He recognized him as his old friend. The yogi said, I went to the Himalayas and did sadhana. I became distanced from tensions. The friend did likewise. He came home and his wife did not even recognize him. He went to the hospital and got checked. He was found to be most healthy. That is the benefit of doing spiritual sadhana. Generally those who live a peaceful life also die a peaceful death. Some rare person may live a calm life but die a painful death. Do not question me about it.
We heard that Sri Swamiji’s father, Sri Narahari Teertha Swami left his body calmly sitting in Padmasana.
Sakkubai’s story is another example: Her mother-in –law gave her no end of trouble.
Through Krishna Nama Smarana/remembering Krishna’s name, Sakkubai was able to endure it. Krishna used to come daily to aid her in all her chores. Have you visited her place? In Maharashtra they show you the grinding stone that she used. One day the idol of Krishna at the temple showed bleeding hands. The priest said he must have worked very hard at someone’s house. Suddenly it flashed in Sakkubai’s mind that she did not recognize Krishna even when he asked her for butter daily that it was the Lord who had been helping her doing all the rough work for her. For him she used to churn butter every day. When the time came, Sakkubai left her body painlessly.
Life span is Jeevita. What are the true negative features about it is what Rama is stating.
Even finding fault is not allowed in Vedanta. We have to understand that these statements are not an attempt to blame but to properly understand.
Some 90 year olds wish to live for 10 years more and yet some who are in their 20s are ready to end their lives.
The 90 year olds have seen much in life. If they wish for more time to complete their entire lifespan then it is not wrong. But if they wish to live for more enjoyment of pleasures, it is not wise.
Anyone can pray for a life that is without grief and for an easy death.
Anaayaasa maranam. What is aayaasa? Everything requires effort.
The mind of the ignorant is always restless as if there is a serpent inside it. The mind is not yet mature in its understanding of the Self. Then the body is uneasy. We all need to make an effort to earn spiritual wisdom. Then the body also will be at ease. We will then earn the grace of God. Jeevana/Life should not cause turmoil.
Only at bedtime I feel peace, the moment I wake up it is tension, many people say. Many claim that they are living for the sake of others. We should live for our sake but our life should be useful for several people. It is a great advice from Rama.
Who are the people who find life difficult and strenuous?
Those who are idle and do not put in any effort are not at peace. The solution is to put in effort that gives happiness. Those who do their daily prescribed routines with pleasure enjoy daily happiness. Such people are Karma Yogis. They have learned whatever is to be learned. They are endowed with vast knowledge. They know how to live a peaceful life.
Who are the happy people? Those who do sadhana find equanimity and peace. Their life is restful and happy. Everyone must make the effort to make life peaceful. It appears repetitive. But there will be a subtle difference in the different statement made in Vedanta. One must understand every single point. You cannot delete even a single word from Vedanta. Every step is important. You cannot skip any part. We keep forgetting. Hence, we have to keep listening and remembering. Then the understanding becomes firm. That is why one should constantly listen to Vedanta. It should go on incessantly. We should continually be aware that we are the soul.
Their minds are at peace regardless of what work they may be engaged in. Their bodies may be running but their mind is at ease and is resting.
In these days there is a lot of stress. In the olden days we did not hear this word stress. Especially in the software industry and in this computer age, many people are struggling with stress. They earn a good income but only those who can feel the presence of Guru and God in their daily life are blessed with peace.
Rama is telling himself. Generally noble people refer to themselves in the plural. They do not refer to themselves as ‘I’ but as ‘we’.
Dehaatmabhraanti – is the delusion that the body is the soul. Every month the Yatis/ascetics get their finger nails clipped, and their hair shaved. The cut off hair is discarded. Till the time that it is cut, you love it as a part of your body. But the moment it is separated from the body, you look at it with disgust, be it a nail or hair. Their intellect spreads far and wide. Other people’s pain they feel as if it is their own.
A disciple sleeps with a glass of water. He spoke in his sleep: O Guru, please drink this water. His concern is so great for the needs of the Guru that he spoke like that in his sleep although Guru was sleeping far away.
We are obsessed with this body. We think this is I. We are convinced that this body is ‘I’. That is the reason for our pain. Samsara is the cloud. This feeling is the lightning that illuminates it. All those who identify with the body are pained at the thought of leaving it. One needs to identify with the soul. The soul is unlimited. The knowledge of Self makes us whole, not fragmented. The interest and keenness one has in this body is remarkable.
One devotee was coughing. He went to the doctor. The doctor gave a medicine. He had blood in the phlegm the next day. He went back to the doctor. He was diagnosed to be in the 4th stage of cancer. Appaji said if he can survive this one day till he has surgery tomorrow, he will be fine. But that day he lost his life. I pray for his family to have strength.
You can cut the sky into pieces. You can cut the ocean into bits. But no one can give a guarantee about anyone’s lifespan.
Having thought of all these things, we now get more interested in the nature of the soul. That is why Rama says, it is like clouds that arrive in the autumn, the white clouds that do not give any rain. In Mysore even during Navaratri, it rains. Like waves in the sea, life is always unsteady.
In an oil lamp, the wick itself gets burned, when the oil gets exhausted. Sometimes before you can rush and add oil, the flame goes out. A clever person will quickly light another lamp before one goes out. Someone asked why do we do Deeparadhana when we have electric lights? You cannot light one bulb with another the way we can light one lamp with another. That is why.
When a girl goes to her in-laws, she is given a lamp to take with her, to keep their family lineage and tradition unbroken.
Guru’s lineage should be maintained through good disciples who receive initiation from Him. Children maintain the family lineage and keep it unbroken.
How can one believe this? Aswataree garbha .. Everyone likes to live just a little longer. It is natural. But preserving life is not in one’s control.
A donkey is small. A foal (the fetus of a horse) cannot be held in the womb of a donkey.
There is no taste for life for Rama. No pleasure in life. He has knowledge about life. A creeper gets carried away in the foam on the waters. What is life? What is lifespan? Why are we born? After doing much effort, after experiencing a great deal, and after acquiring a lot, people still ask at the end, what is the meaning of life? Why has God given us life?
He gave it so that we can ensure that we are not born again. Those who give it some thought will understand this.
Nobody should desire to be born again. Some wish for a higher birth next time. You look for pleasure. It will come along with pain, like Ugadi Pachchadi/chutney (with multiple tastes). It is foolish to say that you like multiple tastes and you wish to experience them all in future lives. Vedanta is prescribing a remedy that will prevent the disease called rebirth. As long as you have a head, you are likely to get a headache. If you do not have a head, then there is no chance of getting a headache. It does not mean that if you get a head ache you will get rid of the head instead of the ache. But if there is a way to prevent getting a headache, you should use that remedy.
If you gain knowledge, you get bliss. Such life is worth living which is a life of knowledge. Daily we must do sadhana. Do we examine our lives objectively? At least 0.1 percent effort we must put in to understand this. Trees are living. They have understanding. Sometimes when there is no other witness available, people sit under a tree and discuss their contractual agreement with the tree as the witness. In ancient folk tales you read of such instances. Trees give good shade, fruits, and fuel. From the root to the leaf, a tree gives benefit. The animals and birds in the jungle also live and die the way humans do. But humans waste their lives living a life worse than that of animals and birds. Sometimes a human gets cursed to be reborn as a tree in a jungle. He has to live like that for hundreds of years because no one will cut the tree and the tree will not be of benefit to anyone.
Only if one ponders carefully one will understand. But those whose minds get immersed in worldly life waste their human existence.
Sri Guru Datta