Friday, 26 September 2025
The Desires
Thursday, 28 December 2023
The three Beginnings
प्रस्थानत्रयी / The Beginning.
--
The Three Questions :
Who / What motivates you?
Who / What inspires you?
Who / What activates you?
And the three answers respectively :
The Ignorance, - The Inertia,
The Knowledge - The Memory,
The Intelligence - The Wisdom.
In a single aphorism as pointed out in the Gita :
प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति ।।
Your innate Nature itself will prompt into action.
Why?
Again, a verse from the Gita :
अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति।।
नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः।।
The essential nature, groping in the dark of ignorance, with no foundation or the support any, full of conflict and doubt, seeks to find out the answer.
The Nature (प्रकृति / Prakriti) itself is the covered under itself in the very dark of itself - तमसाच्छन्नं - as is described in the : nAsadIya sUktaM / नासदीय सूक्तम्, as if in a tunnel, ridden with ignorance, lacking support any, afflicted with doubt, tries to overcome them all and to rest within its own eternal timeless bliss and peace.
"Who" denotes the Conscious presence; - the sentient Purusha.
"What" denotes the inert and insentient Prakriti.
The individual is but the Real "Who" has thear two aspects only.
***
Sunday, 26 February 2023
विहाय वैरिणं कामं
अष्टावक्र गीता
अध्याय १०
श्लोक १
विहाय वैरिणं काममर्थं चानर्थसंकुलम्।।
धर्ममप्येतयोर्हेतुं सर्वत्रानादरं कुरु।।१।।
(विहाय वैरिणं कामं अर्थं च अनर्थ-संकुलम्। धर्मं अपि एतयोः हेतुं सर्वत्र-अनादरं कुरु।।)
अर्थ : (अध्याय ९ के अंतिम श्लोक ९ में कहा गया, कि वासना ही संसार है और संसार का परित्याग वासना के परित्याग से ही होता है, इस दसवें अध्याय के प्रथम श्लोक में उस वासना को ही काम कहा गया है।)
काम अर्थात् कामना जो कि सम्पूर्ण अर्थ-अनर्थ के समूह का मूल है, का परित्याग कर, उस धर्म का भी परित्याग कर दो जो कि काम का भी हेतु है, इस प्रकार काम का सर्वत्र ही अनादर करो।
टिप्पणी : श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता अध्याय २ के इस श्लोक से तुल्य है :
विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः।।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति।।७१।।
--
ಅಷ್ಟಾವಕ್ರ ಗೀತಾ
ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೧೦
ಶ್ಲೋಕ ೧
ವಿಹಾಯ ವೈರಿಣಂ ಕಾಮ-
ಮರ್ಥಂ ಚಾನರ್ಥಸಂಕುಲಮಲಮ್||
ಧರ್ಮಮಪ್ಯೇತಯೋರ್ಹೇತುಂ
ಹರ್ವತ್ನಾರಾದರಂ ಕುರು||೧||
--
Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 10
Stanza 1
Be indifferent to everything having given up Kama (Desire) -the enemy, Artha (worldly prosperity) which is attended with mischief as well as Dharma (sense of duty) which is the cause of these two (Kama and Artha).
***
Tuesday, 27 December 2022
Turning out a new leaf.
In Between - The Role of Destiny (daivam) :
--
The Chapters 3 to 6 of Ashtavakra Gita are a bit difficult to comprehend and understand correctly with no least doubt about the sense and the meaning.
A few days ago through some divine hint, I chanced upon to glance over my old books. There were several like :
Crumbs From His Table
Day by Day with Bhagawan
Mahayoga of Sri Ramana Maharshi,
And,
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.
In one of the Books as referred to as above, a devotee asks Sri Ramana :
"Are only the incidences of importance like career, marriage, death and such other chief events chalked out in one's life, or those also which are just of trivial importance, like the glass that is there on the table with some or little water in it?"
To this Sri Ramana said:
"Everything is destined to happen the way it has been chalked out."
"Not a leaf stirs without God's Command."
The words said above also bear the same truth.
This is exactly what could be treated as the daiva; as is pointed out in Shrimadbhagvad-gita chapter 18, verse 13,14,19 :
पञ्चेमानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे।।
साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम्।।१३।।
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम्।।
विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्।।१४।।
ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः।।
प्रोच्यते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छ्रुणु तान्यपि।।१९।।
Along with let us associate the one of chapter 6, verse 34 :
सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्याः प्रकृतेर्ज्ञानवान अपि।।
प्रकृतिं यान्ति भूतानि निग्रहः किं करिष्यति।।३४।।
(श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता - अध्याय ६)
--
Then we can perhaps see and understand how a jnaani stays undisturbed aloof and unperturbed though may outwardly seem so to others.
--
अष्टावक्र गीता
अध्याय ३
श्लोक ५
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि।।
मुनेर्जानत आश्चर्यं ममत्वमनुवर्तते।।५।।
अर्थ : यह आश्चर्य ही है कि समस्त भूतमात्र में आत्मा (अपने) को ही और आत्मा (अपने) में समस्त भूतमात्र को देखता हुआ मुनि भी अपनी प्रकृति से प्रेरित होकर तदनुसार ही बर्ताव किया करता है।
(और इसलिए लौकिक और सांसारिक नैतिक मूल्यों का पालन करने का बन्धन उस पर लागू नहीं होता।)
--
ಅಷ್ಟಾವಕ್ರ ಗೀತಾ
ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೩
ಶ್ಲೋಕ ೫
ಸರ್ವಭೂತೇಷು ಚಿತ್ಮಾನಂ ಸರ್ವಭೂತಾನಾ ಚಾತ್ಮನಿ||
ಮುನೆರ್ಜಾನತ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಂ ಮಮತ್ವಮನುವರ್ತತೇ||೫||
--
Ashtavakra Gita
Chapter 3
Stanza 5
It is strange that the sense of ownership should continue even in the sage who has realised the Self in all and all in the Self.
***