Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 60, October 10
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 are now discussing the 28th sarga. Sri Rama is explaining many topics. Vedanta’s Advaita philosophy is explained.
Creatures are taking birth in various different forms. It is very strange. What is it that does not change in this world?
O Sadguru, tell me of that which does not change.
Ghata ..
In this worldly life, a pot turns to cotton and vice versa. This is a strange statement and sounds crazy. The secret in this is that everything gets transformed. Only the Parabrahman remains without change.
A broken pot was thrown in the field. The mud merged with the dirt. The farmer sowed cotton seeds. The dirt then grew into cotton. Our worn clothes become one with dirt after disintegration. All creatures and objects go back to the five elements. Everything changes in this world. All things and objects are continuously changing. Therefore this example is given. How to place trust in this ever changing world? One was a wicked fellow and now he has become devout. He was fine till yesterday today he is wicked. Of course, the former is very rare.
Our attention should be directed towards Sadguru and not the world.
Tano..
What we hear of in Vedanta are six conversions in life. He goes through these Shadbhava Vikaras – and then ends his life, it is said. How do this body and feelings change?
Rama is listing only five of the changes.
Tanoti is vriddhi – growth
In the mother’s womb it was small. In the father it was much subtler. Then it grows.
Viparinaama – Utpaadayati is change. We see this also. In infancy the resemblance is hard to tell. After a year it can be stated. Changes occur in features and behavior.
Apakshayam (Atti) – the body disintegrates. Wrinkles and shrinkage occur.
Nihanti is decay and dissolution.
Aasrujati is rebirth. These are the five types of transformation.
Asti is the sixth in Vedanta. It means being.
Do you believe in God?
Yes.
What is He like?
The answer should be He is. He is in whatever way you visualize Him to be. Whatever form you give him, He is that. Lord was everywhere. He did not enter into the pillar after Hirnayakashipu kicked it.
How can Asti be a change? It is a permanent state. Before and after all Yugas, even after Maha Pralaya He is there. All planets disappear. Everything merges in him. Nothing else is there before or after. He alone is. It is not change. Being is not change. Being in the ashrama is itself great. How you utilize your time here is up to you.
Asti is not change or modification.
A great Vedanta scholar listed this as a vikara. But it is not so. We have forgotten that we are none other than the Paramatma. This is Parama Santi and Parama Sukha, ultimate peace and ultimate bliss.
Many philosophies are there. Of them there are 3 main ones.
Ekasatta vaadam says unnadi okade sivudega – Only Siva exists. Whatever is, is only one. It is the Paramatma. It appears as many. Scholars call the one by many different names. Datta, Lakshmi Narasimha, Visalakshi, and so on. We have not yet grown to the level of conceptualizing this.
Even looking at the ocean all the time, you still cannot drink the water or bathe in it. You have to convert the salt water to potable water through processing.
He appears in many forms. Same Swamiji performs puja, conducts concerts, and creates the Shuka Vana. Many actions.
Saraswati gives knowledge, Lakshmi gives wealth, and Maha Gowri gives Jnana. All are one.
Sattadvaividhya vaadam – not possible to have two in this world. Satta is truth. Describing it as two. Drishti and Srishti vaadam What we see and seeing. To make it easy to understand, these two are created. This creation helps us to understand the Paramatma.
Satta traividhya vaadam – only one Paramatma is there. Then there is vyavahara satya – worldly truth, the truth about the individual, family, society and so on, which is partly true, or temporarily true. Pratibhatika satyam – is seeing the rope as a snake or seeing an oyster shell as silver.
No silver or snake is there. Only within you the thought came. Sun’s rays make it shell shine. You have desire for wealth. It is your illusion, imagination in your mind that you have found silver. Many such delusions occur in this life.
Of these the first, Asti – is the most important. It does not change, does not take rebirth, and is always there. We must worship it.
Asti, is there.
Bhati, is glowing.
You think a small boil is cancerous. The doctors say not to worry. You are not convinced. The tests show that it is not cancer. The light of knowledge that dispels fear is bhaati. Those who try to know Him know peace and bliss.
Priyam – gives happiness. What is dearest to you. We are the dearest to ourselves. Only if we love ourselves we can love others. Your self-love must impel you to cross this ocean and get to the other shore.
Rupa – form either with Chaitanya/consciousness or jada/inert
Nama is name.
The first two belong to Paramatama alone. He is nityam/eternal and satyam/truth. We must seek to know Him.
The last three are in all of us. We all have name and form and we seek happiness. Sat chit anandam. Satyam jnanam anantam brahma.
The above are known as the amsa panchakam.
Asti is not vikaram. He is in a subtle form in mother womb and does not change. The others are vikaras. They keep changing.
Sri Rama says he wants to know that which never changes.
Asoorena …
Sri Rama is highly well read and knowledgeable.
A warrior without training fights a great war. A terrorist kills hundreds for no reason. Those who are undeserving become kings. When you construct a building, the cement mixer has sand, granite pieces, and water. Everything gets mixed. It is poured on the slab. Once it is all mixed it becomes a different substance altogether. You cannot tell the separate substances. People‘s nature also changes similarly. This populace is ever changing. Jada and Chaitanya are always mixing. Without consciousness and movement nothing can be done. That is important. We must ever be aware of the consciousness within us. The battery must be charged. Otherwise the computer will shut down. Chaitanya is like a battery. Charge it with Sadguru Seva, meditation, japa, and so on. Jada becomes active due to it. Like waves the world moves towards change. A tree grows because there is life in it. A dead tree does not grow.
Sri Rama is no revising old topics. Different stages of life keep rotating. We cannot place trust in our own bodies. How to trust anything outside?
The inner light is to be meditated upon.
The mind is like an actor and does as per the directions given by the director. Once it laughs, then cries, and then remains peaceful. We have become slaves to the mind. All our affairs are related to the mind. Mind has existed for many lifetimes. This entire play of life is nothing but mind game. That is what Sri Rama says to us.
Destiny creates here and there so many things in this world. Giving delusion, happiness, and sorrow.
The small boy builds a beautiful sand castle and then stomps on it and destroys it. The fault with creation is that destiny plays mercilessly like that with its own creation. We should be concerned not with the creator who creates and destroys, but with the Paramatma within. Rama asks: Is it ajnana/ignorance, anger, or revenge on the part of destiny to behave like that?
The same verse as before is repeated here except that the word is chinoti instead of tanoti.
Spreading or gathering is chinoti. Like gathering grains. The farmers pile up grains and seeds and sow them. We are born, we grow, and so on. When is this happening? Endlessly it happens. There is no stop to this. After Pralaya, how long does it take for re-creation? In God’s time scale it happens in a blink. For us it may be several Yugas.
Samsara is a pravaaha, a continuous flow. To cross a river, you have to get a boat or use a bridge. It will never stop its flow. At Maha Pralaya anyway I will merge with Siva, many people say out of ignorance. It is foolish. We must get Jnana. We merge at Pralaya and then we get re-created. But we wish to permanently merge into Paramatma. We are drawn to Sadguru we must maintain our close relationship with Sadguru.
The curtain will never be removed. We must get to the other side of the curtain.
Aavirbhava ..
Being born and again merging. We are all participating in this samsara. For dangers or fortunes, there is no reliability. Neither of them lasts. Do not give room for arrogance due to wealth. Do not give room for distress due to misfortune. Earn with dharma and give to charity. We must understand the comment by Sri Rama like this.
Verse
Chaturachaara
I am the most intelligent, some people think. Even they are victims to danger because in a moment Time consumes them. We should not become arrogant due to our capabilities.
Last verse now.
Sama vishama
After getting fully ripe, some fruits fall from the tree. Some fall down as raw fruits, and some as semi ripe fall down. All are of different ways. Not only of earth, but also of the netherworld, and the higher worlds also, including Brahma, all are perishing by the power of the dreadful breeze called Time. This tree is the widespread samsara. All three worlds and all creatures are included in this. What is it to us? Don’t think like that. Fallen fruits are useless and will not be gathered either for sale or for export.
The fruit that is eaten by a parrot is fulfilled in its birth. Or a fallen fruit must be reborn with the seed taking root, or the fruit must be eaten by someone or some animal. That gives fulfillment for that life. With Time we should not simply fall and be wasted. We must utilize our time well.
This concludes this sarga.
Sarva Padaartha anaasthaaa — is the next sarga.
Verse
Sri Rama tells his guru.
I have now explained my state of mind. I have seen all these faults. When does one become a devotee? Only when one sees things that are wrong with the world. We sit in a temple with devotion. Mantras are being chanted. Still, the mind is wandering. One eye of the mind sees the world. The other eye sees God. Not squinty eyes. This is a dosham/defect of the mind.
Children sit for study and yet their mind is on play. One must recognize the evil of the world before sitting for prayer. Then keep the mind steady on prayers. Unless one sees the defects in the world, one cannot become a devotee. Bad habits and addictions have ill effects that must be publicized. If someone propagates the benefits of smoking, people will take to smoking. One must see the truth as it is.
All décor in a temple has to do with God. You do not keep photos of movie stars there. One’s attention should be totally directed towards God. It should not be a casual visit. Then it is a waste of time. The records will show the temple had numerous visitors. But you have not gained anything by your visit. Why these decorations in the temple or ashrama, you must investigate and allow your mind to be drawn towards God.
All the defects of the world are burning my mind. I am losing interest in pleasures says Sri Rama. It is a sign of getting close to God. Rama says I have no interest in enjoying pleasures.
Today is Friday, Abhishekam to Sri Datta Venkateswara. Please have darshan.
Jaya Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi
Sri Guru Datta