Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 53, September 21
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
In this 27thsarga, Sri Rama is now reviewing all the information given previously.
There is no language as great as Sanskrit. Everyone must learn some amount of Sanskrit.
Indravajravrittam is the new chandas/poetic meter. Till now it was the anushtup chandas. Why this change of meter? Vajra is diamond. Something as hard and indestructible as a diamond or the Vajrayudha/Diamond-like weapon of Indra is required to be employed against our ignorance for it to be destroyed.
He is employing the Vajrayudha on our ignorance. Butter will not work as efficiently as a weapon for achieving this purpose. Guru’s anger is a blessing for us. Sometimes it is required for our ignorance to be destroyed. When a thunderbolt falls on ignorance and removes it, then Jnana will sprout.
Effort/action only results in tiredness when we perform actions with desires and not with Jnana. Those who believe that with action liberation can be attained, are mistaken, says Sri Rama.
Many people have different types of knowledge. But these do not give liberation. The knowledge that transcends all these worldly skills is that which grants liberation.
Yesterday Sri Rama enumerated the qualities of great souls.
The Bhagavad Gita also gives the qualities of a muni in the shloka:
Duhkheshwanudvigna manaah …
That one, who remains unaffected by joy, sorrow, and fear is a realized soul. Sri Rama says great souls, not munis. Those who are not depressed by failures and those who do not gloat with pride, bloated ego, and arrogance with success, are truly great. Their fame spreads far and wide in all directions.
By treating their guests with courtesy, they fill the homes of guests with prosperity. With Satva Guna they gain the grace of Goddess Lakshmi. Those who are prosperous now, had earned Satva Guna in their previous lives. Tolerance, a forgiving nature, and compassion towards the downtrodden are the qualities of the ones who are filled with Satva Guna. I do not see such people, says Sri Rama. When Lakshmi is not in Her full form, we get grief and poverty. Only with Satva Guna she becomes full. One who is ever fearless is very rare to find, says Sri Rama.
Fame itself is transient. One cannot be courageous at all times everywhere. It is very rare.
Even if we sit inside a cave or a cave-like home, or even a home built of a substance as hard as a diamond, it is impossible to avoid joys or sorrows. Joy and sorrow are dependent upon our past karma. Many wonder how some people have attained great siddhis. It is by their past merit that they have attained them.
Jada Bharatha, in the Mahabharata, believed after he obtained some Jnana from a housewife, that even before we are born, God has already arranged for our food. He left his begging bowl and went and sat in a forest. A traveler gave him all his food thinking that this man appeared holy. A crow dropped a fruit for him to eat. After a month passed, seeing this man’s great fortune, soon the name spread that there is a holy man in the forest and all the people of the town began bringing him food daily, including even delicacies.
A man was told that he would die from danger caused by water. He avoided the ocean and lived far away from water, in a desert. From drinking water he died.
King Parikshit died from a snake bite in spite of all the precautions he took to avoid death. It is Karma that never ever leaves us no matter how far we try to run from it. We have to remove our ignorance. Parikshit listened to Shuka’s discourse on the entire Bhagavatam in just seven days and attained Jnana. That is why he fearlessly ate the fruit offered to him. The fruit contained the worm that turned into a venomous snake that caused his death as a result of the curse he incurred due to his misdeed.
We consider those who give us pleasure as good people. Those who give us unhappiness, we consider as bad persons. These feelings about people keep changing. Family, spouse, children, wealth, and fame we get attached to. They appear as nectar but in truth they are all like poison. Very soon, very unexpectedly all these attachments break and give us great pain and misery. We believe that these relationships and possessions are the be-all and end-all in life. This conviction makes one forget Sadguru and God. Any poison that is consumed is going to make one lose consciousness and then lose life itself. Even a little bit of attachment will gradually grow and turn into poison and will lead us away from the path of liberation.
Ayurveda prolongs and protects life. Unless life is protected dharma cannot be performed.
We look for short term benefits. One who is hungry wants food then and there. We are accustomed to this principle. But to extend this to other affairs is wrong. One can give up dharma on the rarest occasions, only for protecting life in dire circumstances. Viswamitra once was forced to eat food fouled by saliva. Just one morsel he ate to save his life. Thereafter he did not eat. Only if you are alive, you can practice dharma. Just to save your life and the lives of your near and dear, in a life-threatening situation it is okay to deviate from dharma; not otherwise.
All these other things in life are not permanent. At the end of life none of this gives any great happiness, as liberation does. While we are still surrounded by the objects of attachments, we must make an effort to free ourselves from these bondages.
To explain this Sri Rama says, remember this:
We keep asking: The body gives happiness. Why are we finding fault with the body? The reason is that worldly comforts are insignificant. Only the permanent happiness obtained through Jnana is significant and worthwhile. Poison served in a golden goblet is still poison. We must avoid it with determination.
Ordinarily, how do we lead our lives? We go after pleasure. But does this pursuit not give us unhappiness at the end? No one else is going to take our misery then, when we are old and dying. We ourselves have to experience the agony. Disease and old age problems come. Regretting then that so much of Adharma has been committed throughout life, remembering all those incidents of one’s mistakes and sins, is of what use?
The Guruvinda seed/a red and black seed does not see its own black spot on the underside. We find fault with everyone in the world. We consider ourselves as great. If someone is praised, at once people say something negative about that person. If someone is praised for his charitable nature, immediately the comment comes: Oh I know that all his charity is from money he earned by unethical ways. Any time you blame someone, their sins accrue to you, says Swamiji. Their karma becomes our burden. Whoever is blamed and abused, transfers his sins to the one who abuses him.
An old man who is senile and cannot even recognize his own relatives, will begin to deeply regret his evil actions committed throughout his life. When such a state of helplessness comes to a person, it is a sign that his end is approaching.
In the end there is a huge struggle to hang onto life. He feels great repentance then that he did not use his life for any good purpose. While alive, while still youthful and strong, we must use our time to earn merit by performing noble deeds. In the end we must remain at peace and be comfortable in our thoughts. Therefore, Sri Rama says, throughout life one must engage in being dharmic/virtuous and noble.
The time is up to leave this house. The lease is about to expire on the house. The wife reminds the husband to look for another house. The owner is requested for an extension. He refuses saying that you have spoiled the premises. Then you begin looking for another home. We are also going to be in the same position. The soul keeps looking for a new home when it is time to leave this body. At that time the sinful life lived will cause great regret because it is these actions which will determine the future home.
Your own home is waiting for you, the home of God. Once you reach there, you will never get evicted. Why do you keep looking to again find another rental property? Sadguru reminds you by showing you the documents, the Sastras/scriptures. Sadguru assures you that you have a permanent home you can go to, where you can go in peace and comfort. There is nothing there to give any unhappiness. It will be a blissful state. A Jnani alone experiences such a restful state.
Many people do not express their concerns outwardly. In Telugu it is called ‘Mekapotu gambheeryam’/bravado. That inward struggle and unhappiness is worse where it is all held within and not given an outlet.
Some people appear as if they are doing noble deeds. What about them? Sri Rama says yes. They appear like that. But like a peacock feather that keep shaking, their is trembling with fear and regret for a life wasted in futile occupations and pretended goodness. Their noble actions were all performed with a selfish motive. Why should one act per dharma? For its own sake, an act of dharma should be performed. But we use dharma for earning personal benefit. Outwardly, it appears as if the good deed is done nobly. But underneath there is a layer of selfishness.
By deception to earn 1000 rupees and out of it, to give to charity 100 rupees; Is this dharma? No. If you earn one rupee as per dharma and give only one cent/paisa in charity, you earn more benefit. When we earn using deceit, we incur great sin.
During youth, many wrong doings were done. Now, on the death bed, how can such a man find any repose? Therefore, be dharmic for dharma’s own sake. Pray for health and wealth so that you may use your resources for noble purposes only without any selfishness. Unless you have life and health you cannot lead a life of dharma.
If God were to ask what you will give Him in return for the life that He has given you with which you have enjoyed so many comforts, what will you say to Him?
We try to do business deals with God and Guru. We try to outsmart them. It is very wrong.
Amrita is very precious, even if it is just one drop. Let us listen with attention these drops of wisdom from Sri Rama and pray for Sadguru’s grace that we absorb this knowledge and utilize it for a good purpose.
Today at 10:30 AM the Shuka Vana Inauguration is going to take place. In the evening there is going to be a welcome function for Sadguru Sri Swamiji to learn about his recent trip to foreign countries including Iceland.
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Guru Datta
Om Santissantissantihi