The Yogaḥ of Liberation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa Article No. 4

Sūtrajālam

Wisdom with Words

Yogaḥ in the Purānas

Yogaḥ in the Viṣṇu Purānas

Yogaḥ of Liberation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

Article No. 4

[ This Article covers Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/12] to Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/33]

Ramesh Shama Alvar
August 18th, 2021

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/12]

पञ्चभूतात्मके देहे देही मोहतमोवृतः ।
अहमेतदितीत्युच्चैः कुरुते कुमतिर्मतिम् ॥ ६-७-१२ ॥

pañcabhūtātmake dehe dehī mohatamovṛtaḥ ।
ahaṃ mamaitadityuccaiḥ kurute kumatirmatim ॥ 6/7/12 ॥

पञ्चभूतात्मके pañcabhūtātmake-made up of the five fundamental great elements; देहे dehe-the body; देही dehī- the one embodied; मोहतमोवृतः mohatamovṛtaḥ-enveloped by delusion; अहम ahaṃ- I am; एतद etad-that very (body) ; इतित्युच्चैः ityuccaiḥ-loudly proclaims thus; कुरुते kurute-does; कुमतिर्मतिम् kumatirmatim-deficient Mind.

“When the sentient entity in the material body made up of the five great elements is enveloped by delusion and perplexity, it loudly proclaims, ‘I am that very body ’. It is done so by a deficient Mind.” ॥ 6/7/12॥

According to the Saṃkhya Doctrine in Hindu Philosophy, all things in the Universe have been made up from five Great Elements coming together in different combinations and proportions. The body is without doubt made up of the components of the Panca Mahābhūtas. But the Ātman is different. It is distinctly different from the Panca Mahābhūtas (Five Great Elements). In fact, it stands apart from all the building blocks of the Universe. It is not made out of any of the Great Elements or any other aspect of Matter. According to the Mandala-Brāhmaṇopaniśad [Brāhmaṇa 1, 4/3], the Ātman is the Twenty-Fifth Tattva or Eternal Verity. It stands apart from other 24 Tattvas starting with Mūla Prakṛti or Unmanifested Primordial Matter and going on through the Mahat Tattva or the great principle called Buddhi); Ahamkāraḥ (the Ego); Tanmātras (subtle sensations like sound, touch, light/form, taste, and smell generated by the gross elements; the five sense organs of perception; the five sense organs of Action; the Mind and lastly; the Pancabhūtas of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether.

Whatever the merits of the Saṃkhya Theory of the Universe, our point here is that this Theory holds that the Ātman has nothing to do with any component of the Material Universe. The Ātman is a conscious, knowing entity whereas the rest of the Universe is insentient and inert. Under the circumstances, the very idea that an inert and insentient body could be regarded as having the same characteristics as the sentient entity within that body is untenable. That is why the Ṣlokaḥ wonders how anyone could possibly ascribe the features of the Ātman to the Body and equate the two? We may also note here that if the Ātman as the conscious entity is totally apart from all Matter, the question of the composition of the Jivā in terms of matter as we know and are familiar with, does not arise.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/14]

कलेवरोपभोग्यं हि गृहक्षेत्रादिकञ्च कः ।

अदेहे ह्यात्मनि प्राज्ञो ममेदमिति मन्यते ॥ ६-७-१४ ॥

kalevaropabhogyaṃhi gṛhakṣetrādikaṃ ca kaḥ ।

adehe hyātmani prājñe mamedamiti manyate ॥ 6/7/14 ॥

कलेवरोपभोग्यं kalevaropabhogyaṃ-the body enjoying and deriving pleasure/satisfaction; हि hi-alone verily;गृहक्षेत्रादिकञ्च gṛhakṣetrādikaṃca-houses,land and the like; कः kaḥ-who; अदेहे adehe-non-corporeal; ह्यात्मनि hyātmani-Ātman; प्राज्ञो prājñe-the wise/learned; ममेदमिति mamedamiti-the sense that they belong; मन्यते manyate-hold the view.

“When the material body is the entity that derives pleasure, satisfaction from such things as houses, land and the like, what wise man would hold the view that these things belong to the non-corporeal Ātman?” ॥ 6/7/14॥

Sanskrit Words:

उपभोगः [ AK 1, 465/2] 1.(a) Enjoyment, eating, tasting. 2. Use, application. 3. cohabitation. 4.pleasure, satisfaction.

The idea that pleasure and pain and all similar pairs of opposites; like joy & sorrow; heat & cold; honour and dishonour, love & hatred; attraction & revulsion; pertain to the insentient body and not to the sentient controller of the body, is a wonderful aspect of Hindu Philosophy. This Philosophy holds that the Ātman or the Self is of the nature of pure consciousness. It is the one knowing entity in a completely insentient body. Yet many people are actually affected by the pairs of opposites. Strangely, one part of every pair of opposites is considered desirable and accepted while the other part is considered undesirable and hated/rejected. For instance, most people would welcome joy and reject sorrow; welcome pleasure while rejecting pain; welcome honour while rejecting dishonour to give some instances.

Both components of any given pair of opposites are fraudulent as far as the Jivātman is considered because, as we stated earlier, it is the body that experiences the pairs of opposites not the Ātman within. The Atman is fundamentally pristine and unaffected by Prakṛti and its Guṇā. Wait a minute ! This is not borne in practice. If all people do feel all the contrary emotions that the pairs of opposites generate in real life, could the proposition that the Ātman is fundamentally a pure conscious entity, pristine by nature, and unaffected by Prakṛti be false? No, it is true that the Atman is not affected by Prakṛti. It is also true that all the emotions of the pairs of opposites are experienced by the Body alone. Why then does an Ātman appear to feel the whole gamut of contrary emotions in the real world? Why does our experience of the material world seem so real?

The Universe has been designed by the Brahman to act as a vast ground for the sentient entities to experience the Universe and to work for emancipation, if they so wish. The Mind and the Sense Organs are pre-programmed to facilitate this mandated experience of the Universe by the Jivātman. This is done by the Mind and the Sense Organs acting in concert to gather sensory impressions, to process the data and to feed it to the knowing entity. Sri Krishna reveals to Arjuna:

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [2/14]

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।

आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥ २-१४॥

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkhadāḥ ।

āgamāpāyino ‘nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ॥ 2/14॥

मात्रा mātrā-mere/slight; स्पर्शाsparśā-contact (of the Senses with their objects); कौन्तेय kaunteya-O Son of Kunti; शीतोष्ण śītoṣṇa-heat and cold; सुखदुःखदाः sukha-duḥkhadāḥ-happiness or sorrow and the like; आगमापायिनो āgamāpāyino-come and go; अनित्या anityā-momentary/or not long lasting; तां tāṃ-them; तितिक्षस्व titikṣasva-be patient/endure; भारत bhārata-O Descendent of Bharatha

“O Son of Kunti, the mere/slightest contact (of the Senses with their objects generates) heat and cold; happiness or sorrow and the like. They come and go being momentary. Be patient and endure them, O Descendent of Bharatha !” ॥ 2/14॥

The Mind and the Sense Organs are not sentient. They can only transmit data but cannot know what the data means nor can they make any sense out of it. If the sentient entity were to touch a heated iron rod, only that sentient entity would know how hot the rod is. The iron rod itself can never “know” what it to be hot or cold at a given moment. It is up to the knower or the Sentient Entity within a body to decide what to do with the incoming sensory data. It is here that Hindu Philosophy makes the profound point that it is within a Jivā ‘s power to choose how it must handle the incoming data pertaining to the pairs of opposites. For instance, on the one hand, the Jivā can allow itself to fall for the very common delusion that there is no difference between itself and the Mind-Body complex. Or it can reaffirm its conviction that the Soul is different from the Body and that the Soul is the controller on the other. If the Self is convinced that it is the controller of the Body & the Mind, it can force the Mind not to give undue weight to either of the pairs of the opposites, treating them alike, treating them as arising from the contact of the Senses with their objects and enduring them in equal measure a they come and go and are transitory as advised by the Lord.

We can easily appreciate a well-wisher telling us to endure sorrow or pain or loss or dishonour because they will come to pass. It is amazing that Sri Krishna advises the Jivātman to endure both components of the pairs of opposites such joys as well as sorrows. Why should we endure an episode of joy when it is so welcome, so desirable, so soothing that no effort is need to endure it, and we feel we can experience joy forever. The word ‘endure’ seems to be misplaced when we experience joys and such welcome emotions. But Sri Krishna has used the right word for all the pairs of opposites, without exception, come and go and do not last. We must endure joyous things by not taking them too seriously because they tend to make us sad when the episode of joy ends as it must. For instance, the joy one feels on winning the Wimbledon Crown or the FIFA World Cup have a limited shelf-life.

The keen edge of joy is worn out by the passage of time. The honour and accolades initially showered on a Nobel laureate diminish slowly with time so that in due course, few have the time to lavish any praise at all. In fact the very theory for which the noble prize was given, may be disproved and replaced over time. The winner of anything must therefore endure the joy of winning. The one who is faced with pain or sorrow must also patiently endure them. For both parts of any pair of the opposites come and go and both have to be endured just as the joy of winning or losing the finals or of one’s Theory getting the Nobel Prize or being plagiarised by another to win the Nobel Prize. So it is with pain and suffering which are also transitory and do not last indefinitely. Sri Krishna’s words will ring true in all ages, countries, cultures and philosophies of life.

Although, it is the Mind-Body complex that gathers data with regard to the pairs of opposites and feeds that data to the conscious entity, it is up to the sentient entity to interpret it correctly in the light of what Sri Krishna has said about their origin and transitory nature or momentariness. That Jivātman who succeeds in mastering its Mind and compelling it to react to the pairs of opposites with equanimity, has a good chance of being unaffected by the conflicting emotions generated by the pairs of opposites. What then? Sri Krishna tells Arjuna in the next Ṣlokaḥ :

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [2/15]

यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ ।

समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते ॥ २-१५॥

yaṃ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha

sama-duḥkha-sukhaṃ dhīraṃ so ‘mṛtatvāya kalpate ॥ 2/15॥

यं yaṃ-who ; हि hi-of a certainty ; न na-not; व्यथयन्ति vyathayanty-is tormented/agitated/frustrated; एते ete-by these; पुरुषं puruṣaṃ-such a person; पुरुषर्षभ puruṣarṣabha- O Best of Men; समदुःखसुखं sama duḥkha sukhaṃ-who regards happiness and sorrow as the same; धीरं dhīraṃ-the wise/resolute; सो so-such a one; अमृतत्वाय amṛtatvāya-for immortality/mokśa ; कल्पते kalpate-competent/fit for.

“He who is not tormented/agitated/frustrated by these (the pairs of opposites like heat-cold, happiness-sorrow etc referred to in the previous Ṣlokaḥ ); who looks upon happiness and sorrow as the same; such a wise and resolute person, is of a certainty competent/fit for immortality, O Best of Men!”. ॥ 2/15॥

Sanskrit Words:

व्यथ vyatha [AK 3, 220/2] 1. To be sorry, pained, vexed, agitated or disquieted. 2. To be disturbed, ruffled 3.To tremble. 4. To be afraid, dried up, parched. 5. To cause distress, frustrate, 6. To lead or turn away.
कल्प kalpa [AGK 1, 559/1] 1. Practicable, feasible, possible. 2. Proper, fit, right. 3. Strong, vigorous;
able, competent.

The Sanskrit term द्वन्द्वा dvandva is wonderful. It encapsulates in one word the whole gamut of emotions human beings are subjected to in embodiment due to the contact of the senses with their objects. द्वन्द्वा dvandva is the generic term for all the pairs of opposing emotions/feelings/causes thereof like happiness-sorrow, heat-cold, pleasure-pain, honour-dishonour, wealth-poverty, love-hatred, austerity-greed, divine-demonic, cruel-kind, compassionate-sadistic etc. We have reproduced six ṣlokaḥ from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita wherein Sri Krishna has used the term द्वन्द्वा giving us fresh insights each time. These insights would be of great help to every Yogi to cultivate the right attitude of mind for Yogaḥ. Every human being regardless of age or calling would also benefit without doubt. From the context of each Ṣlokaḥ, one can judge the intricate nature of the pairs of opposites and the importance of tackling them properly for ensuring true happiness in our daily lives in general and for the pursuit of Yogaḥ in particular. We have given the meanings of all Sanskrit words and phrases used by the Lord in each Ṣlokaḥ We invite the student of Yogaḥ to read these Ṣlokaḥ carefully.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [2/45]

त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन ।

निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान् ॥ २-४५॥

traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna ।

nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho nirYogaḥ-kṣema ātmavān ॥ 2/45॥

” त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā-the Vedas deal with the topic of three Guṇā; निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन-nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna-O Arjuna, be free from the three Guṇā and; be निर्द्वन्द्वो nirdvandvo-free from the pairs of opposites; नित्यसत्त्वस्थो nitya sattva stho-always abide in pure Sattva; निर्योगक्षेम nirYogaḥ kṣema-be without any concern to acquire things and to protect what has been acquired; be an आत्मवान् ātmavān-be one established in the Self. ॥ 2/45॥

Here the first part of the compound term ‘निर्योगक्षेम’ i.e. ‘निर्योग’ may generate a doubt as to why such a term has been used and whether it could possibly mean ‘to be without Yogaḥ’ or ‘to be devoid of Yogaḥ’ just like the two similar sounding terms used in the same Ṣlokaḥ, namely, ‘निस्त्रैगुण्यो nistraiguṇyo-being free from the three Guṇā or ‘निर्द्वन्द्वो nirdvandvo-being free from the pairs of opposites’. The term Yogaḥ here does not refer to any formal Yogaḥ discipline such as Bhakti Yogaḥ or Karma Yogaḥ or Aṣṭāṅga Yogaḥ to name some. Rāmānuja [Gita Bhashya ibid.] has clarified that the term ‘Yogaḥ’ used in this Ṣlokaḥ is to be understood as referring to the acquisition of what has not been acquired; and the term ‘kșema’ refers to the preservation of things already acquired. These two human tendencies, namely to acquire things and having acquired anything to preserve them, act together to engage the Mind in material things. They increase attachment and make the cultivation of detachment difficult. Rāmānuja avers that abandoning both these tendencies is a must for an aspirant seeking to realise the essential nature of the Self. What Sri Krishna wants to convey to Arjuna is that if he observes these principles in thought and deed, the preponderance of the Rajas and Tamas in the psyche would be annihilated, and pure Sattva Guṇā would develop.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [4/22]

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः ।

समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥ ४-२२॥

yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ

samaḥ siddhāv asiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate ॥ 4/22॥

“यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो yadṛcchā lābha santuṣṭo- he who remains content with what chance may bring; द्वन्द्वातीतो dvandvātīto-getting clear across the pairs of opposites; विमत्सरःvimatsaraḥ-free from ill-will, समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ siddhāv asiddhau-treating success and failure alike; in the case of such a person कृत्वापि kṛtvāpi-even if karman were to be performed, न निबध्यते na nibadhyate-it would not cause bondage.”

“One who remains content with what chance may bring; who has gone across the pairs of opposites; who is free of ill will; who is able to treat both success and failure alike; in the case of such a person, even if karman were to performed (for any reason), it would not cause bondage.” ॥ 4/22॥

Sri Krishna has also said that for our karman not to be added to our past account and thereby cause bondage, there are three requirements. Firstly, there should be no expectations of any fruits [Gita 2/47]. Secondly, all actions should be surrendered to Sri Krishna in the sense that it is the Brahman who is impelling all the actions a Jivātman performs [Gita 3/30]. Thirdly, there should be no sense of agency attributable to the non-corporeal sentient entity [Gita 5/13].

A question may arise that if a person who meets the qualitative requirements of Gita [4/22] were to perform some karma either with a sense of agency or in expectation of some fruit, would that karma cause bondage? The answer is that such a person could never perform any karma with either the sense of agency or expectation of fruits. So the doubt is only hypothetical. The pairs of opposites confront every Jivā right from birth. As Sri Krishna says in the Gita [7/27], the pairs of the opposites are born from the generic emotions of desire and hatred.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [5/3]

ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति ।

निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥ ५-३॥

jñeyaḥ sa nitya-saṃnyāsī yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati ।

nirdvandvo hi mahā-bāho sukhaṃ bandhāt pramucyate ॥ 5/3॥

“O Mighty Armed (Arjuna), ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी jñeyaḥ sa nitya-saṃnyāsī-know that the wise person ever given to renunciation; यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati-who neither hates nor desires; and is निर्द्वन्द्वो nirdvandvo-beyond the pairs of opposites; such a person alone secures the joy of release from bondage.” ॥ 5/3॥

A Yogi who is able to control the Mind to the extent that neither hatred nor desire has a place in his or her thinking, is likely to also succeed in going beyond the pair of opposites spawned by hatred and desire. In that event, if the Yogi is also established in renunciation, he has very good chances of securing the ultimate goal of Yogaḥ, namely, release from bondage.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [5/25]

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।

छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ ५-२५॥

labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇa-kalmaṣāḥ ।

chinna-dvaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ ॥ 5/25॥

लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛṣayaḥ-Those Sages obtain the Bliss of the Brahman; who are छिन्नद्वैधा free from the pairs of opposites; यतात्मानः yatātmānaḥ-whose minds are well subdued and who are सर्वभूतहिते रताः sarva bhūta hite ratāḥ-who take delight in the wellbeing of all; who have been क्षीणकल्मषाः kṣīṇa-kalmaṣāḥ-cleansed of all impurities. ॥ 5/25॥

“Those Rishis/Sages obtain the bliss of the Brahman who are free from the pairs of opposites; whose minds are well under control; who have been cleansed of all impurities.” ॥ 5/25॥

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [7/27]

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत ।

सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ॥ ७-२७॥

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन icchā dveṣa samutthena-arising from desire & hatred ; द्वन्द्वमोहेन dvandva mohena-by the delusion caused by the pairs of opposite; भारत bhārata-O Descendent of Bharatha; सर्वभूतानि sarva-bhūtāni-all beings; सम्मोहं saṃmohaṃ-inftuation and bewilderment; सर्गे sarge-from birth; यान्ति yānti-move/drift towards; परन्तप parantapa- O Chastiser of Foes (epithet of Arjuna).

” O Descendent of Bharatha ! The delusion caused by the pairs of opposites that arise from desire & hatred cause all beings to move/drift from birth towards infatuation and bewilderment, O Chastiser of Foes !”. ॥ 7/27॥

Sanskrit Words:

समुत्थेन samutthena [AGK 3, 348/2] 1. 1 To stand up, rise 2. To rise from death or insensibility, return to life or consciousness 3. To rise together with 4. To arise or spring from. 4. To raise up, lift up, elevate 5. To revive, restore to life.
सम्मोहं saṃmohaṃ [AGK 3,360/2] 1. Infatuation, bewilderment, fascination.
यान्ति yānti/यानम् yānam [AGK 3,22/2] 1.going, moving, walking, riding. 2. a voyage, journey.

In this Ṣlokaḥ Sri Krishna explains the origin of the pairs of opposites. If the pairs of opposites arise from desire and hatred, the solution to controlling the adverse effects of the pairs of opposites lies in the control of desire and hatred. Somehow, a person has to become one who is “यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति yo na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati” or one who neither desires nor hates” as advised by Sri Krishna in Gita [3/5] we have cited earlier here. If the pairs of opposites arise out of the duo of desire and hatred, what might be the origin of that terrible duo ?

Delusion is caused by sense experiences described as pairs of opposites. Sri Krishna says in this Ṣlokaḥ that this delusion in the form of either attraction or revulsion for selective components of the pairs of opposites starts operating right from birth. But how can that be? It would seem that, according to conventional theory, a young child at birth should be oblivious of what is pleasurable or painful until it has learnt/relearnt from repeated experience. It would seem that a young child should arrive in the world with a clean slate. If so, it ought to be completely innocent of the concept of desire/hatred for anything at all at the start of life, and would have to learn from actual experience.

For instance, it would have to learn, for the first time at least, that touching a hot metal spoon is painful whereas the touch of mother’s soft hands or her crooning or lullaby is soothing. But in actual practice, it is seen that no child needs prior experience to understand what is painful and hateful and what is soothing and desirable. The child will cry or laugh from the moment of birth itself without any any actual prior experience of pain or joy after birth. Somehow, a piece of sugar or chocolate is instinctively accepted by a toddler when given for the very first time after birth whereas some salt or chilli powder is rejected or detested instinctively. How is that possible? The answer is that in truth we do not start any birth with a clean slate.

Sri Rāmānuja says [Gita Bhāśya 7/27] that desire or hatred for the pairs of the opposites such as pleasure or pain have their origin in the past experiences of the Jivā in previous births. The subtle impressions or Vāsanā formulated out of the previous experiences manifest themselves again as instinctive desire and hatred towards similar objects in every succeeding birth of all Jivā . These propensities are carried forward in birth after birth as vāsanā or subtle experiences.

If the inherited vāsanā happen to be undesirable in a particular Jivātman, that Jivātman’s nature would be to have love or hatred for various objects, in place of feeling happiness when united with Sri Krishna and misery when separated. We can infer from this insight that vāsanā form the basic propensity for likes/dislikes and for actions/reactions to given stimuli. If one knows the profile of the past vāsanā of a person, one can draw up an accurate map of that person’s basic character. Delusion is there to start with in a young child. It has no need to experience anything in the current life to desire or hate anything. The damage, if any, has already been done by the programming done by the child’s parents and ancestors in the past lives.

Sri Shankarācārya [Gita Bhāśya ibid] gives us the valuable insight that desire and aversion are opposed to each other like heat and cold. They beset every being in turn. Now, when desire and aversion arise on the occurrence of pleasure and pain or of the causes thereof, they cause delusion in all beings. That delusion creates obstruction to the rise of the knowledge of the Supreme Self or the Individual Self, by abrogating to themselves the intelligence of those beings. To one whose mind is subject to the passions of desire and aversion, there cannot arise knowledge of things as they are, even of the external world. It needs no saying that to a man whose intellect is overpowered by passion, there cannot arise knowledge of the Innermost Self since passion creates many obstacles in the way.

From the insights of the two great Acaryas we have cited above, we can deduce the following:-

If we inherit good Vāsanā, we have far better chances that the Knowledge of the Self or of the Supreme Self might arise in us at some stage than in the case of those who have inherited adverse or poor vāsanā.

2. In any given birth, we have no control over our inherited vāsanā since our ancestors have already finalised the nature of our vāsanā and passed it on to us even before our birth. It is in our hands to determine the nature of the vāsanā we would be passing onto our children and their children. We have to realise this fact early in youth and do something about it.

What can one do to counter existing adverse vāsanā and also make sure that better vāsanā are passed on to our children and grandchildren to come in the future ? There are many expedients. I have listed them in random order and not in any order of importance or priority. For instance, we have to firmly control the way our Minds interpret the pairs of opposites and pass on the impressions to the Sentient Being who is the knower. For this, the Mind has to be mastered fully. What next? As early as possible in life, we must do good deeds, avoid sins, and develop devotion. We must do Yogaḥ thoroughly to wipe out our past sins and and to bring the Mind and the Body under the Jivātman’s full control. We must not neglect our daily & occasional karman, we must seek the Company of the enlightened, and we must try hard to seek a Guru. Having followed all these guidelines diligently, if are lucky to get a Guru, we can take our mission forward from that point for changing the profile of the vāsanā we would be handing over as our most valuable legacy after death or attain mokśa whichever may be earlier. Imagine the priceless nature of the vāsanā a Jivā would inherit if it were to be born in the house of those who are, at the same time, pure, rich and exalted or better still, in the house of Yogis, where the child’s first lesson would be to understand the truth of the statement, ” वासुदेवम् सर्वम् इति vāsudevam sarvam iti” or ” Sri Krishna, the Para Brahman is all this.” What a head start a Jivā born in such a family would get !!

We conclude our discussions on the Vishnu Purāṇa Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/14] with following Ṣlokaḥ which sums up the topic.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [7/28]

येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम् ।

ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः ॥ ७-२८॥

yeṣāṃ tu anta-gataṃ pāpaṃ janānāṃ puṇya-karmaṇām ।

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṃ dṛḍha-vratāḥ

“But the doers of meritorious deeds, whose sins have come to an end, are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites. They worship Me, steadfast in their vows.” ॥ 7/28॥

येषां त्वन्तगतं yeṣāṃ tu anta-gataṃ-Verily of those who have exhausted; पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम् their sins as people who have done meritorious deeds; ते te-they; द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता dvandva-moha-nirmuktā-freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites; भजन्ते मां bhajante māṃ-worship me; दृढव्रताः dṛḍha vratāḥ-steadfast in their vows. ॥ 7/28॥

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/15]

इत्थञ्च पुत्र-पौत्रेषु तद्देहोतूपादितेषु कः ।

करोति पण्डितः स्वाम्यमनात्मनि कलेवरे ॥ ६-७-१५ ॥

itthaṃ ca putrapautreṣu taddehotpāditeṣu kaḥ ।

karoti paṇḍitaḥ svāmyam anātmani kalevare.॥ 6/7/15 ॥

इत्थञ्च itthaṃ-in this way; च ca-and; पुत्र-पौत्रेषु puttrapauttreṣu-sons and grandsons ; तद्देहोतूपादितेषु taddehotpāditeṣu-born out of the material body; कः kaḥ-who; करोति karoti-will do; पण्डितः paṇḍitaḥ-wise/learned; स्वाम्यम svāmyam-his own; अनात्मनि the corporeal/non-atman; कलेवरे kalevare-body.

“In this manner, when sons and grandsons are born from that material body which is not the Ātman which wise person will consider them as being his own?”

॥ 6/7/15 ॥

This is a decisive Ṣlokaḥ which, if imbibed and understood properly, can help in eliminating the infatuation or attachment all of us develop towards our children and their children to boot. It is a delusion to regard one generation of material bodies that we have produced and also the next generation of material bodies produced in our time to belong to the Ātman in us. The Ātman in all the material bodies that tend to delude us into a sense of personal attachment are pristine, untainted, eternal. Neither our own Ātman nor the different Ātman in the different bodies we call our children and grandchildren are personally related to us or to one another. They do not carry any IDs or other tags to indicate who owns whom. The relationships of son, daughter, grandchildren, father, mother wife and husband is with reference to material bodies alone. This Ṣlokaḥ correctly wonders and laments why any wise person should regard bodies made up matter as his own when he is himself is a non-corporeal entity and so are the other Ātman whose bodies he is attached to on corporeal grounds. One sentient entity does not produce another for all sentient beings are uncreated, always in existence and eternal.

Dhritarāṣtra was attached to Duryodhana to such an extent that he was overwhelmed by what is called as पुत्र मोह or the delusion that the material body named Duryodhana was his son and therefore precious to him. This delusion made the King ignore all the cannons of Dharma for which he and his son had to pay a very heavy price.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/16]

सर्व्वं देहोपभोगाय कुरुते कर्म्म मानवः ।

देहश्वान्यो यदा पुंसस्तदा बन्धाय तत्परम ॥ ६-७-१६ ॥

sarvaṃ dehopabhogāya kurute karma mānavaḥ

dehaś cānyo yadā puṃsas tadā bandhāya tatparam ॥ 6/7/16॥

सर्व्वं sarvaṃ-all; देहोपभोगाय dehopabhogāya-to enable the body to enjoy and experience pleasures; कुरुते kurute-performs ; कर्म्म karma-actions/deeds; मानवः mānavaḥ-human beings; देहश्वान्यो dehaścānyo-diferent from the body; यदा yadā-when; पुंसस्तदा puṃsastadā-then in the case of men ; बन्धाय bandhāya-bondage; तत्परम tatparam-highly protracted.

“Man performs karman to enable the body to enjoy and experience pleasures but when the Atman is different from the body, such karman become the cause of highly protracted bondage (being born again and again such bodies).” ॥ 6/7/16॥

There is that no doubt the Atman is different from the body. But the point is that the Ātman needs a body to experience the Universe, and to perform karman. In embodiment, the Ātman is trapped in a material universe. It cannot act without the Mind, the Senses, and the other organs of the material body. That is the aim of creating the Universe. It is part of the Brahman’s grand design that Jivātman should experience the Universe and strive for emancipation, if they are up to it. In order to experience this wide and wonderful Universe, a Mind is needed to control the senses, to coordinate the acquisition of sensory impressions by the Sense Organs, to collate the data, and to feed it to the only entity in the body who can make sense of the data and actually experience what the data has to offer. Neither the Mind nor the Sense Organs nor any other component of the body is sentient or conscious. They have no use for the sensory data they constantly gather so efficiently because they themselves are inert and incapable of ‘knowing’ as such. All the sensory information is meant only for the one and only one conscious entity within the body called the Jivātman.

Who controls the formidable Mind-Body Complex? Does it operate on its own? Well actually, left to itself, it does operate according to its initial pre-programming most of the time in our lives until we wake up to the fact that if we do not assert our will and bring the body-mind under our control, we would miss mokśa by a long margin and would have to endure at least one more birth, if not countless more. The “we” here refers to the Self within the body of course. The Universe has been created as a vast ground for the sentient entities to experience its innumerable wonders and all its other good or bad features. So the Mind and the Sense Organs are pre-programmed to constantly seek out the objects of the senses, to gather sensory impressions, to collate the data and to pass it to the Jivātman to make sense of the data. The Body and all its components inclusive of the Mind & the Sense Organs are inert. They are not the knowers. They are impersonal instruments that cannot understand the sensory data or make any use of it in any manner. The Jivātman is the only knower in the body who can understand the sensory data and make use of it. It is also the entity capable of controlling the body to perform particular karman on any given occasion.

Here a question will arise as to who is the doer of karman good or bad? Is it the body or the mind or is it the Jivātman or the Sentient Being who is the controller of the body and mind? Acārya Rāmānuja’s answer is unambiguous. He says, in the Sri Bhāshya, “The fact that the Jivātman is the doer of good and bad works and not Prakṛti has been stated in “Sutras 2/3/33 to 39.” He goes on to add [Sri Bhāshya (Thibaut) pp.] that if Prakṛti were to be the doer, all Jivās would be enjoying the same fruits uniformly. That is not so.

One may also wonder as to why the material-coalition of the body and the mind does not act from day one in a way that will help their spiritual Master to progress smoothly towards final liberation? There is no reason except that material-coalition is helpless. It has been pre-programmed according to the directive of the Brahman that the Universe has been created to act as a vast ground for the sentient entities to experience its innumerable wonders and all other features good or bad. Left to itself, the Body-Mind coalition will continue to facilitate worldly experiences and attachments until it is re-programmed or until the praana leaves the body, whichever is earlier. If the Mind-Body complex is not brought under control, it will induce the Jivātman to perform all sorts of karman, some good and some bad. This has to be understood before we blame the material-coalition for our failure in Yogaḥ or our disenchantment with our lives. It is very difficult to erase this default programming of the Mind-Body Complex. It is still more difficult to replace it with a new programme. But it can be done through Yogaḥ.

The Universe is a testing ground for the Jivā a to work for emancipation and to prove that it deserves mokśa . If the Jivātman is solely responsible for the deeds that the material-coalition performs, the Jivātman has its task cut-out. It must not allow the Body-Mind complex to perform karman that will entail bondage and instead force the “city of nine gates” namely the Body to perform such karman as will not cause bondage. To do that, it has to first bring the material-coalition under its own control. It has to replace the default programming at birth by a new programme that will facilitate not worldly experiences as such, but final liberation from all worldly experiences. In principle, all Jivās are eligible to strive for mokśa . But will all succeed ? Apparently not judging from the fact that the number of Jivās in Samsaara appears to be steadily increasing over time. Is the Brahman creating more and more Jivās and sending them into embodiment? This is unlikely as the Scriptures declare the Jivā to be unborn, uncreated and always existent. At the time of pralaya or great dissolution, the Brahman withdraws everything in every Universe created by Him into His own body. There they rest until it is time for the next Sarga. During the period of rest in the Brahman’s body, they are distinguishable from each other but are inseparable. The total number of Jivās since eternity has to be fixed since all Jivās are eternal and no Jivā is created at any time. Of the Jivās sent into the Universe during any Sarga all will not get liberated. Only an individual, desirous of attaining mokśa , who endeavours for it by adopting the prescribed sadhana, will no doubt achieve it with God’s grace. Others will face protracted bondage as this Ṣlokaḥ declares.

Yogaḥ aims to avoid this continued bondage sine-die. It is one of the most effective means available to the Jivā to assert its inherent power over the Mind and over the rest of Matter that the body is made up of and to make them do what all should be done for emancipation. The Jivā has to work hard for emancipation. Nothing is for free, not the least Mokśa.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/17]

मृन्मयञ्च यथा गेहं लिप्यते वै मृदम्भसा ।

पार्थिवोऽयं तथा देहो मृदंबवालेपनस्थितः ।। ६-७-१७ ।।

mṛṇmayaṃ hi yathā gehaṃ lipyate vai mṛdaṃbhasā

pārthivo ‘yaṃ tathā deho mṛdaṃbvālepanasthitaḥ ।। 6/7/17।।

मृन्मयञ्च mṛṇmayaṃ hi-made from mud verily; यथा yathā-just as; गेहं gehaṃ-house; लिप्यते वै lipyate vai-is plastered indeed; मृदम्भसा mṛdaṃbhasā-by a mix of clay and water; पार्थिवोऽयं pārthivo ayaṃ-earthly; तथा tathā-in the same manner; देहो deho-body; मृदंबवालेपनस्थितः mṛdaṃbvālepanasthitaḥ-kept stable by earth and water.

“Just as a house, made from mud verily, is indeed plastered with a mix of clay and water (to protect and preserve it); in the same manner, this earthly body is kept in a stable state by clay and water.” ।। 6/7/17।।

We are reminded in this Ṣlokaḥ that the mortal body is fragile and perishable and has to be maintained constantly by nourishment just as a clay-hut has to protected and preserved by periodic plastering with a mix of mud-water. But the Atman is imperishable and needs no nourishment for its continued existence. It is eternal by its very nature. So how can anyone develop the notion that the two are alike?

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/18]

पञ्चबूतात्मकैर्भोगैः पञ्चबूतात्मकं वपुः ।

आप्यायते यदि ततः पुंसो भोगोऽत्र किं क्रुतः ॥ ६-७-१८ ॥

pañcabhūtātmakair bhogaiḥ pañcabhūtātmakaṃ vapuḥ ।

āpyāyate yadi tataḥ puṃso garvo ‘tra kiṃ kṛtaḥ ॥ 6/7/18॥

पञ्चबूतात्मकैर् pañjabhūtatmakair-made from the panca bhutas or five elements; भोगैः bhogoḥ-partakes of; पञ्चबूतात्मकं pañcabhūtātmakaṃ-the the panca-bhutas; वपुः vapuḥ-the body; आप्यायते āpyāyate-grows fat, यदि yadi-if so, ततः tataḥ-then, पुंसो puṃso-man; भोगोऽत्र bhogo atra-has eaten in this case; किं क्रुतः kiṃ kṛtaḥ-done what?. ।। ६-७-१८ ।।

“If the body made from the panca-bhūtās partakes of the panca-bhūtās (in the form of food) and grows fat thereby, then what has man really eaten in such a case?” ॥ 6/7/18॥

Sanskrit Words:

आप्यायते āpyāyate/आप्यायन āpyāyan: [AK 1, 353/2] 1.Causing fulness or stoutness, promoting welfare. 3. The act of making full or fat. 4. satisfying. refreshing, pleasing.
वपुः vapuḥ: [AK 3,100/2] The Body

This Ṣlokaḥ drives home the point in a novel way that the Ātman should not be equated with the Body. If we ponder upon the implications of what the Ṣlokaḥ tells us, we will be able to strengthen our detachment from material objects. We are told that the human body (like all other bodies derived from Prakṛti) has to eat to stay alive. All bodies are made up of the same five fundamental elements and all bodies eat some food or the other derived from the very same elements. When such is the case, we have to ponder as to what the Ātman could really have eaten? The Ātman is not a product of Prakṛti as it is a conscious, completely spiritual and non material entity. The Ātman needs no energy, no replenishment of anything from Prakṛti to sustain itself as it is eternal. Under the circumstances, a spiritual entity cannot be equated with a material entity.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/19]

अनेकजन्मसाहस्त्रीं संसारपदवीं व्रजन् ।

मोहश्रमं प्रयातोऽसौ वासनारेषुगुण्ठितः ॥६-७-१९ ॥

anekajanmasāhasrīṃ saṃsārapadavīṃ vrajan ।

mohaśramaṃ prayāto ‘sau vāsanāreṇuguṇṭhitaḥ ॥ 6/7/19 ॥

अनेकजन्मसाहस्त्रीं anekajanmasāhasrīṃ-over countless thousands of births; संसारपदवीं व्रजन् saṃsārapadavīṃ-travelling on the path of wordly existence; मोहश्रमं mohaśramaṃ-striving/struggling due to delusion; प्रयातो prayaato-have advanced/gone too far; असौ-such people; वासनारेषु vāsanāreshu-by the vāsanā (accumulated over innumerable births); गुण्ठितः guṇṭhitaḥ-have been enveloped and blinded.

“Travelling on the path of worldly existence over countless thousands of births; striving/struggling due to delusion; such people have advanced too far (down that road), and have been enveloped and blinded by the Vāsanā (accumulated over so many births).” ॥ 6/7/19 ॥

Good vāsanā trigger an upward spiral in birth after after birth until the conditions become conducive for a Jivātman to receive the Buddhi-Yogaḥ to strive further for emancipation. Conversely, bad vāsanā set off a downward spiral. It is not clear how a Jivātman can come out of a downward spiral except to say that the mercy of God is as infinite as His Compassion and Empathy for erring and suffering Jivātman. Besides the Grace of God works in ways that the Scriptures themselves are baffled.

Sanskrit Words:

1. पदवीं padavīṃ/पदविःpadavih/पदवी padavii- [AK 2,333/2] 1. a way, road, path. 2. position, state, rank. 3. a place, site. 4. good conduct, behaviour.
2. व्रजन् vrajan/वर्जनम् vrajanam: [AK 3, 233/2] 1.roaming, wandering, travelling. 2. Exile 3.(vedic) a way, road 4. Sky.
3.गुण्ठितः guṇṭhitaḥ/गुण्ठ guṇṭha [AK 2, 36/2] 1. To encircle, surround, envelope, enclosed. 2. To hide, conceal.
4. प्रयातो prayāto/प्रयात prayaat [ AK 2, 477/1 ] 1. Advanced, gone forth, departed. 2. Deceased, dead.
5. असौ asau [Monier 122/1] 1.to do such and such a thing. 2. having such and such a name.

The next Ṣlokaḥ tells us that the rise of Knowledge can wash away the grime of centuries.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/20]

प्रक्षाल्यते यदा सोऽस्य रेणुर्ज्ञानोष्णवारिणा ।

तदा संसारपान्थस्य याति मोहश्रमः शमम् ।। ६-७-२० ।।

prakṣālyate yadā so asya reṇur jñānoṣṇavāriṇā ।

tadā saṃsārapānthasya yāti mohaśramaḥ śamam ।। 6/7/20 ।।

प्रक्षाल्यते prakṣālyate-completely washed away; यदा yadā-when; सोऽस्य so asya-of such people; रेणुर्ज्ञानोष्णवारिणा reṇujñānoṣṇavāriṇā-all the dust/grime (of ignorance/delusion) by the warm water of Knowledge; तदा tadā-then; संसारपान्थस्य saṃsārapānthasya-of those on the path of worldly existence; याति yāti-travellers; मोहश्रमः the toiling due to delusion; शमम् śamam -will cease/come to an end.

” When the dust/grime (accumulated due to ignorance/delusion) covering such people (with reference to the people referred to in the previous Ṣlokaḥ ) is completely washed away by the warm water of knowledge, only then, will the toiling/suffering of the travellers on the path of worldly existence, caused by attachment/delusion, will cease or come to an end. ” ।। 6/7/20।।

Sanskrit Words:

प्रक्षाल्यते prakṣālyate-completely washed away.
क्ष्ल् kṣāl [AK 2, 419/1] 1. to wash off, purify, clean.
उश्ना/उशना oṣṇa/uṣṇa-hot.
वारि vaari [AK 127/2] 1.water. 2. a fluid. 3. a kind of perfume.
वारिणा vāriṇā-using water or some fluid.
शमम् śamam/शम shama [AK 3 244/2] 1. to be calm, quiet or tranquil. 2. be appeased or pacified. 3. to cease, stop, or come to an end.
रेणु reṇu [AK #, 60/1] 1. Dust, an atom of dust, sand. 2. The pollen of flowers 3. A particular measure. रेणुरूषित -soiled with dust.
उष्णवारिणा uṣṇavāriṇā – using hot water

The analogy of a mass of dirt/grime accumulated due ignorance/delusion over many births being washed away by the warm water of knowledge is very graphic and pertinent. There is no doubt that many people will continue to toil because they continue to perform karman incessantly impelled by delusion/ignorance. They will continue to suffer pain and sorrow and the resulting mental tension without knowing why? They will never have a moment’s rest until death gives them relief as far as their current embodiment is concerned. The chances are that such people, without knowing the cause of their life-long problems, are likely to start in the same mode in the next birth, and take to similar karman dictated by attachment, delusion, and lack of knowledge about the spiritual aspects of life. It is a vicious cycle of Prakṛti/avidya acting together to induce karman detrimental to mokśa which causes rebirth and re-contact with Prakṛti/avidya to begin the cycle again.

At the same time, there are people have testified that they did experience great relief from the oppressive toil and suffering soon after they acquired knowledge of the true nature of the Self and the Brahman, the true nature of Prakṛti and of the true relationship between the Self and Prakṛti. It is, as if such fortunate people, soon after their awakening, began to see more and more clearly what life was all about, and what was conducive to the good and what was not. They realised their follies and stopped performing unwarranted karman. As a result, their toil and suffering reduced considerably. They began to experience greater peace than ever before. This, in short, is the benefit of spiritual knowledge and awakening.

The first impetus to begin the self-enquiry to determine whether one is on the right path or not, comes out of what may be called “Buddhi-Yogaḥ” or the discriminatory disposition of the Mind. If if it is present, it will motivate the Jivā to begin the process of self-enquiry or self-appraisal to determine whether it is on the right path. If self appraisal by means of one’s Buddhi-Yogaḥ reveals to the Ātman that it is on the wrong path, the same Buddhi-Yogaḥ will enable it to acquire the necessary knowledge to shift to the right Path. That will augur well for the future good of the Jivātman. The intensity of the problems of Worldly Existence such as unwarranted toil, pain, tension, and suffering would be slowly be attenuated, reduced and eliminated in due course.

Without Buddhi-Yogaḥ being bestowed upon it, the Jivā will continue as before and its drudgery and suffering will never cease. In modern computer technological terms, we can look upon ‘Buddhi-Yogaḥ’ as a software installed by Divinity to override the original software that came with birth. That original software had been designed to help the Jivā experience the Universe of Matter together with all its wonders, mysteries, attractions, enjoyments, colours & sparkle, and not the least, all the pairs of opposites. It has served the original purpose extremely well, only too well perhaps, if you consider the innumerable Jivās who have suffered unbearable adverse effects regularly on the Path of Worldly Life since human existence began. The new software is divine and not available for purchase. It is bestowed by God’s Grace. God’s Grace is a big mystery that has been described in various terms but never fully fathomed. One description of God’s Grace is that it is ‘Redemptive Mercy flowing out of Infinite Compassion’. It is bestowed on one who has taken to the right path and who has reached an advanced stage thereon.

It is very difficult to answer the question as to how the first spark of knowledge arises in a long-suffering Jivā, signalling the advent of the installation of Buddhi-Yogaḥ that empowers a Jivātman to change its fortunes. This main question could be split into two parts for better understanding of the problems involved in receiving/using that knowledge which would end the Jivā’s long suffering journeys on the path of samsaara over repeated births. The first part may be framed as follows: “Whence does this Buddhi-Yogaḥ come from ? Could its advent in a person be a chance occurrence or could it be by design?” The second question may be stated as follows: “If Buddhi-Yogaḥ is the result of a divine intervention, what are the parameters for selecting a lucky Jivā from amongst countless others to receive the Buddhi-Yogaḥ in the first place?”

Let us take up the first part of the main question. Sri Krishna says in the Gita [10/10]:

तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम् ।

ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते ॥ १०-१०॥

teṣāṃ satata-yuktānāṃ bhajatāṃ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi Buddhi-Yogaḥ taṃ yena mām upayānti te ॥ 10/10॥

तेषां – to those, सततयुक्तानां satata yuktānāṃ-constantly intent/absorbed/devoted to Me; भजतां bhajatāṃ-take recourse; प्रीतिपूर्वकम् prīti pūrvakam-overflowing with love; ददामि dadāmi- I bestow; बुद्धियोगं buddhi Yogaḥ-that mental disposition; तं taṃ-to them; येन yena-by which; मामुपयान्ति mām upayānti-obtain Me; ते te-they.

“To those are constantly intent/absorbed/devoted to Me; who take recourse to Me with overflowing love, I bestow on them that Buddhi-Yogaḥm or mental disposition by which they obtain Me.”

॥ 10/10॥

Sanskrit Words:

1. भजतां bhajatāṃ/भज् bhaj [AK 2, 555/1] 1.(a) share, divide, distribute. 2(b) to assign, allot, apportion. 2. to obtain for oneself, to partake of, 3. to accept, receive. 4 (a) resort to, to take recourse to. 4(b) to cultivate, follow.

2. सतत satata [AK 3, 322/2] 1. Constant, eternal, perpetually, ever lasting. सततं satatam Constantly, continuously, eternally, always.

3. युक्तानां yuktānāṃ युक्त [AK 3, 24/2] 1. Joined, united 2. fastened, yoked, harnessed. 3. Fixed or intent on absorbed or engaged in, devoted to.

Again the Lord says [Gita 10/11]

तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः ।

नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥ १०-११॥

teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñānajaṃ tamaḥ

nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā ॥ 10/11॥

तेषा teṣām- for these people; एव eva-alone; अनुकम्पार्थम anukampārtham-out of pity/compassion; अहम् aham-I; अज्ञानजं ajñānajaṃ-born from ignorance or false knowledge; तमः tamaḥ-the Guṇā of Tamas; नाशयामि nāśayāmy-destroy/dispel; आत्मभावस्थो ātma bhāva stho-dwelling in the innate disposition or nature of the consciousness of the Ātman; ज्ञानदीपेन jñāna dīpena-by the Lamp of Knowledge; भास्वता bhāsvatā-brightness/illuminating.

“For the sake of such people alone, out of pity/compassion for them, I use the brightness and illumination of the the Lamp of Knowledge to destroy/dispel the darkness of the Tamas Guṇā that pervades the consciousness of the Ātman born from ignorance or false knowledge.” ॥ 10/11॥

Sanskrit Words:

अनुकम्पा anukampa [AK 1,105/2] 1.To take pity or compassion on, sympathize with.
भावः bhāvah [AK 2, 566/2] 1. 1 Being, existence. 2.True condition or state, truth, reality; 3. Innate property, disposition, nature, temperament. 4. Inclination or disposition of mind, idea, thought.
भास्वता bhāsvatā 1. 1 Light, lustre, brightness. 2. I Majesty, glory, splendour.

This Ṣlokaḥ uses the analogy of darkness and light to drive home the point that in the consciousness of the Ātman, an impenetrable darkness builds up due to the effects of the Tamas Guṇā over many births. The nature of consciousness has been the subject of debate between the different Darśanas or Schools of Indian Philosophy. We present here a simplified model based on the Theory of Consciousness of Rāmānuja to explain how the darkness of Tamas interferes with the exercise of the power of consciousness possessed by a Jivātman.

It is generally accepted in Hindu Philosophy that both the Jivātman and the Paramātman are eternal and both are of the nature of pure consciousness. The Sentient Entity is distinctly apart from all Matter being the 24th Reality according to the Saṃkhya Philosophy which is widely accepted by most Indian Philosophers. The sentient entity in the body uses the powers of consciousness it possesses for two main purposes. One purpose is served by turning one particular power of consciousness inwards upon itself for a number of reasons, such as self-awareness, self-appraisal to know its real nature essentially in the sense that it is not the same as matter, that it has the power to control matter, that its destiny is final liberation and the attainment of the Brahman. Since this aspect of the Jivā’s consciousness is turned inwards we may term it ‘inward consciousness’ for ease of reference.

The other purpose served by the Jivā’s power of consciousness is to cognise everything that lies outside itself, starting with the Body in which it finds itself and moving outwards towards the rest of the external Universe. It is this type of consciousness that enables the Jivā to make sense of all the mass of sensory impressions gathered by the sense organs, processed by the Brain and fed to to the Jivā for experiencing the Universe. Since this part of the Jivā’s consciousness is directed outwards, we may call it ‘outward consciousness’ for convenience.

What is the effect of this ‘darkness’ on the two types of consciousness of the Sentient Being, one that is inward for self-examination, and the other turned outwards for examination of the Universe? If the darkness of the Tamas Guṇā were to affect the ‘inward consciousness’ of a Jivā, self-appraisal would not be possible in the darkness. The Jivā would not be able to understand its true nature and to decide what steps it must take to break out of the grip of Prakṛti to realise its true potential. Most important of all, such an afflicted Sentient Being would not realise who dwells within itself. If, on the other hand, the outward consciousness were to affected, the Jivā would not be able to understand the nature of sensory impressions flowing in from the outside and would not be able to regulate this flow to minimise further damage. It would also not be able to discern the dangers in the way the Mind and the Sense Organs operate jointly. It would not be able to exercise control over the duo, let alone try to change the default programming of the Body-Mind set up. In other words, Yogaḥ would be impossible in the darkness of the Tamas Guṇā. Unless this darkness is removed, the Jivā will not find any redemption from its sorrows. In general, as Sri Shankarācārya has said in the Gita Bhashya [7/27], “To one whose mind is subject to the passions of desire and aversion, there cannot arise knowledge of things as they are, even of the external world.”

It is clear from the two Ṣlokaḥ of the Gita cited above that Buddhi-Yogaḥ is bestowed by the Brahman Himself. That answers the first question, we raised earlier, as to the possible origin of Buddhi-Yogaḥ. Now to the second question as to how a particular Jivā is selected to receive the extremely rare good fortune of Buddhi-Yogaḥ. No doubt in the Gita Ṣlokaḥ [10/10], the Lord mentions two parameters for selection, namely,(1) who are सततयुक्तानां satata yuktānāṃ “those who are constantly intent or absorbed or devoted to the Brahman”; and (2) those who “भजतां bhajatāṃ-take recourse to the Lord, प्रीतिपूर्वकम् prīti pūrvakam-overflowing with love. There is no doubt that intense devotion and love can trigger God’s grace in the form of the badly needed “Buddhi-Yogaḥ”. But the problem is how does one get the very disposition that motivates one to bestow love and devotion to God of an extraordinary kind? It is a very complex and profound question.

That the rise of knowledge in the Sentient Entity is a very rare occurrence is proved by what we see around us. Of the millions leading their mundane lives on the Path of Samsaara or Worldly Existence in any age, a handful take to Yogaḥ whether it be the Yogaḥ of Knowledge, or to the Yogaḥ of Devotion or to that of Karma Yogaḥ or any other category of Yogaḥ. These are broad categories mentioned in Hindu Philosophy and Scriptures. It does not matter which specific category we may choose as representative of Yogaḥ such as the Hatha, Raja, Bhakti, Patānjali, Kriya or the Yogaḥ of the Yogaḥ Upaniṣad itself, which is the topic of this work. If we have a mind-set that divides everything in the Universe or all human endeavour into clear, clean, water-tight compartments, we will face trouble in grasping the true nature of the Brahman’s design of the Universe. We would have to drop that mind-set and accept the reality that everything in the Universe is inter-connected, inter-dependent, and inter-acting with each other, taking or giving something or some influences For instance, the Yogaḥ of the Yogaḥ Upaniṣad is not some pristine entity that is mutually exclusive from all human thoughts, endeavours, and aspirations.

It has borrowed from the Universe many things and made its own. It has given a lot to the Universe and its entities, fortunate enough to have been influenced by it, and who have made those influences their own. That is how the dynamic processes of all human endeavours, thoughts and Philosophies keep changing and evolving to adapt themselves to the Universe that cannot remain static. We hold that it is the will of the Brahman that over unimaginably large time-scales, all creation will go through cycles of birth, dynamic existence, death, re-absorption into the Brahman, and rebirths. This is no doubt this is theistic philosophy but it fits the facts. One section of Modern cosmology advocates very similar views of cycles of births and deaths of not one but many Universes. We urge that particular Reader, who may be from a non-theistic background or from a faith with non-Hindu philosophy, to bear with this Theistic Version of Cosmology until the while work has been read from end to end.

Hindu Philosophy & Shāstras mention a number of factors that are known to maximise the chances of a Jivā receiving that first impetus that enables it to turn from the forced Path of Mundane Karman to the Path of Knowledge, Devotion and performance of Karman conducive to eventual liberation. These have not all been mentioned in one place or text conveniently. They are scattered throughout in the writings of the Sages and Seers recording their yogic insights. We mention some here, not necessarily in order of importance or prevalence or chronology of occurrence in the lives of people. There would certainly be other more subtle and esoteric factors. We mention the following to generate discussions:-

Vāsanā & Saṃskāra inherited from one’s ancestors.
One’s own good karman done in one’s births over a period spanning innumerable rebirths.
One’s family and upbringing.
The advent of Grace.

Of these, Factor 2 is the only one in a Jivā’s ambit and that too with regard to the current birth. But good karman done at any stage in any given birth is never lost and do bear good fruits. But it is a mystery how a Jivā realises that it must do something about the profile of its karman. We do not know what impels a Jivā, at a given point of time in a current embodiment or in any future birth, to abandon karman that bind and to turn towards karman that help liberation. Good karman have a deep effect on a Jivā’s psyche and upon the Jivā’s family in the present as well as subsequent births. Good and bad karman have a snowballing effect in the present and succeeding births. Factors 1 & 3, are clearly not in a Jivā’s hands. The spiritual quality of one’s family and the type of upbringing one receives in a given birth depends upon the Vāsanā and Saṃskāra of one’s parents and ancestors. That will determine the Vāsanā & Saṃskāra embedded in one’s own genes. The Jivā has to be careful about what it is likely to transfer to the genes of those to be born in its family.

Factor No. 4 is the most mysterious of all. It is as if the Brahman has deliberately retained this option as a legitimate excuse to circumvent his own impeccable sense of Maryāda and enable Him to intervene in a case that has quite mysteriously evoked His boundless compassion. Grace is, by definition, unconnected with the merits of the case. One has no basis for saying that one has received God’s grace for any reason such as charity, good karman, devotion, worship, svādhyāya, observance of dharma etc for the reason that Grace is beyond analysis. The Brahman ‘maryaada, which is His self imposed restraint not to intervene in his own system, is iron-clad. It is observed by the Brahman scrupulously as we have seen in the Avatars and as the various Scriptures declare. Grace has been known to descend on anyone, whether asked for or unasked for, whether deserving or un-deserving, whether tenable or untenable according to the norms of any Philosophy or System of Logic of Mankind . That is all we can say about Grace.

Once a Jivā with the help of Buddhi-Yogaḥ comes back on track and takes to Yogaḥ, it need not worry about failure at anytime in the present or the future. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna had become apprehensive of the likely fate of one ‘who has fallen from Yogaḥ’ and he had confided his fears to Sri Krishna. Through his reassurance to Arjuna, Sri Krishna has given assurance to all Mankind down the ages for all times to come that one need not worry about a fall or failure having once taken to Yogaḥ.

Sri Krishna tells Arjuna:-

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [6/40]:

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते ।

न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद् दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ॥ ६-४०॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca:

pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate ।

na hi kalyāṇa-kṛt kaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati ॥ 6/40॥

“श्रीभगवानुवाच – The Divine Lord said:

पार्थ pārtha-O Paartha or Arjuna; न na-neither; इह iha-here in the present existence; न na-nor; अमुत्र amutra-in the next life or lives to come; विनाश vināśa-destruction; तस्य tasya-of the one (who has fallen from Yogaḥ with reference to Arjuna’s doubt raised in the previous Ṣlokaḥ about the fate of one who has fallen from Yogaḥ): विद्यते vidyate-will there be/will happen; न हि na hi-nor verily; कल्याणकृत् – one who does good deeds; कश्चिद् kaścid-any such person; दुर्गतिं durgatiṃ-bad fate; तात tat-dear one; गच्छति gacchati-go to/meet with. ॥ ६-४०॥

“O Pārthā! Neither in this very existence nor in the lives to come would there be the destruction (of one who may have fallen from Yogaḥ) nor would any person, who has done good deeds, O Dear One, ever meet with a bad fate, verily.” ॥ 6/40॥

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [6/41]

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः ।

शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते ॥ ६-४१॥

प्राप्य prāpya-; पुण्यकृतां puṇya kṛtāṃ-; लोकान् lokān-; उषित्वा uṣitvā-; शाश्वतीः समाः śāśvatīḥ samāḥ-countless years; शुचीनां śucīnāṃ-of the virtuous, pious, clean, pure & honest;; श्रीमतां śrīmatāṃ-wealthy; गेहे gehe-house; योगभ्रष्टो Yogaḥ-bhraṣṭo-the one fallen from Yogaḥ; अभिजायते abhijāyate-is born again.॥ ६-४१॥

“Having secured the worlds reserved for those who have done good deeds and earned high merit; and having dwelt therein for countless number of years, will be born again in the house of one who is virtuous, pious, clean, pure, honest, faithful and true.” ॥ 6/41॥

One may wonder if the Jivā that has stayed in the other worlds for a very long time described as शाश्वतीः समाः śāśvatīḥ-countless years, may not develop some Rajas or Tamas Guṇā with possible chances, however slight, of darkness re-establishing itself in the Jivā ‘s consciousness? After all, ‘countless years’ is a very long time and anything may happen. The answer is that the because the Jivā has stayed amongst the doers of good deeds and of high merit, it would be exposed only to the Sattva Guṇā no matter the duration of its stay there.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [6/42]

अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति धीमताम् ।

एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यदीदृशम् ॥ ६-४२॥

atha vā yoginām eva kule bhavati dhīmatām

etad dhi durlabhataraṃ loke janma yad īdṛśam ॥ 6/42॥

अथवा atha vā-or else; योगिनाम् yoginām-of a Yogi; एव eva-verily; कुले kule-in the house/family of ; भवति bhavati-could be born; धीमताम् dhīmatām-wise, intelligent, and learned ; एतद् etad-this (birth); दुर्लभतरं durlabhataraṃ-is very difficult to obtain; लोके loke-in this World; जन्म janma-a birth;यद् yad-which; ईदृशम् idrusham-as we can see ourselves.

“Or else he is born in the house of a high and noble family of wise, intelligent, and learned Yogis. But such a birth in this world is very difficult to obtain as we can see.”

॥ 6/42॥

Sanskrit Words:

कुलम् kulam [AK 1,598/1] 1. 1 A race, family. 2. The residence of a family, a seat, house, an abode. 3. A high or noble family, of noble descent.
धीमत् [AK 2, 235/2] 1. Wise, intelligent, learned

2.an epithet of Rishi Bṛishaspati.

What could be more precious and satisfying for a Jivā to be born in such a family. Not only would the parents of this Jivā be Yogis themselves but, in addition, they would be of a high status, noble-minded, wise and intelligent. The Jivā would be surrounded on all sides by learned and wise Yogis from day one. His elders would all be Yogis of high standing. One can imagine the spiritual quality of such family ambience. No wonder the Lord has said that such a birth would be very difficult to obtain.

In the next Ṣlokaḥ , Sri Krishna makes the point that in the event of a fall from Yogaḥ in one birth, the Jivā would be able to resume its Yogaḥ in the next birth from the same point at which it had been interrupted. More important than that is the fact that the Jivā would get the benefit of the same buddhi Yogaḥ or disposition of the Mind that had induced it to take to Yogaḥ. The Jivā would be poised to attain even more success in Yogaḥ according to the Lord’s assurance in the following Ṣlokaḥ :-.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [6/43]

तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम् ।

यतते च ततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन ॥ ६-४३॥

tatra taṃ buddhi-saṃYogaḥ labhate paurvadehikam ।

yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddhau kurunandana ॥ 6/43॥

तत्र tatra-there (in the new birth as described); तं taṃ-that very; बुद्धिसंयोगं buddhi-saṃogaḥṃ-the complete Buddhi-Yogaḥ; लभते labhate-would regain/get the benefit of; पौर्वदेहिकम् paurvadehikam-as in the former body; यतते yatate-strives; च ca-and; ततो tato-making use of that; भूयः bhūyaḥ-once more; संसिद्धौ saṃsiddhau-for perfection; कुरुनन्दन kurunandana-O Beloved of the Kurus

“There (in the rare type of rebirth just described), (the Jivā ) would regain/get the full benefit of that very Buddhi-Yogaḥ that it had in its former body; and making use of that, it would begin striving once more for perfection, O Beloved of the Kurus !” ॥ 6/43॥

The new software installed by Sri Krishna; as mentioned in the Gita Ṣlokaḥ [10/10] referred to in our comments on the Vishnu Purāṇa Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/20]; is not lost when the Jivā transmigrates into a new body. How wonderful and how kind of the Lord that the Jivā ‘s invaluable asset in the form of the requisite Buddhi-Yogaḥ is made available to the Jivā in the new body for striving further for even more success. This striving in Yogaḥ acquires an unstoppable momentum for the good of the Jivātman. What happens next is even more wonderful as far as this Jivā is concerned

Ṣlokaḥ [6/44]

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः ।

जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते ॥ ६-४४॥

pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hy avaśo ‘pi saḥ ।

jijñāsur api Yogaḥsya śabda-brahmātivartate ॥ 6/44॥

पूर्व pūrva-previous/old; अभ्यासेन abhyāsena-by the momentum gained by the practice of Yogaḥ while striving for more success; तेन tena-that ; एव eva-alone; ह्रियते hriyate-is drawn towards ; हि hi- verily; अवशो avaśo-helpless; अपि hi-as it were; सः saḥ-he who has taken birth in a family of ; जिज्ञासुर jijñāsur-the one merely desirous of knowing more about Yogaḥ (but could not start actual practice); अपि api-even one like this also; योगस्य Yogaḥsya-of Yogaḥ; शब्द śabda-; ब्रम्ह brahma-; अतिवर्तते ātivartate-goes across/transcends .॥ ६-४४॥

“By that momentum alone, built up through past practices of Yogaḥ while striving for greater success, as though helpless, he (who has taken birth in a family of Yogis of high order), is verily drawn towards (the ultimate goal of Yogaḥ). Even the one keen to know more about Yogaḥ (but could not begin actual practice for some reason) acquires the desire to start Yogaḥ and is eventually able to transcend the Shabda Brahman.” ॥ 6/44॥

The crucial thing is the regaining of the mental disposition for Yogaḥ that the Jivā had in the previous birth. If not, all progress would be lost and the Jivā would have to once again wait for the Grace of God for the reinstallation of the Buddhi-Yogaḥ. Rāmānuja says [Gita Bhāshya ibid.], “Like one awakened from sleep, the same Jivā strives again from where it had stopped Yogaḥ short of success. He resumes his Yogaḥ and strives so as not to be defeated by impediments. This person who had fallen away from Yogaḥ at some stage in the past, is now borne on towards Yogaḥ by (the momentum) of his previous practice, i.e., by the older practice with regard to Yogaḥ. This power of Yogaḥ is well known. Even a person, who has not engaged in Yogaḥ but has only been desirous of knowing Yogaḥ, i.e., has failed to follow it up, acquires once again the same desire to practise Yogaḥ.”

It is wonderful, as it is, that the actual practice of Yogaḥ in one birth should give so much momentum in subsequent births. We can understand that to some extent. But what is even more amazing and incomprehensible to most human beings, especially in this Age, is that, even in the case of one who had merely developed a desire to know more about Yogaḥ but could not start actual practice in a given birth, acquires in the next birth, the same desire to resort to the practice of Yogaḥ. Further, this desire or keenness, to know about Yogaḥ, enables such a Jivā to take up Yogaḥ in real earnest and to eventually transcend the Shabda Brahman i.e. Prakṛti or the Material Universe. Acārya Rāmānuja has given us the following insight about the term Shabda Brahman in the Gita Bhashya [6/44]:

“He then practises Yogaḥ, of which the first stage is Karma Yogaḥ, and transcends Shabda-Brahman (or Brahman which is denotable by words). The Shabda-Brahman is the Brahman capable of manifesting as Gods, Men, Earth, Sky, Heaven etc., namely (all forming part of) Prakṛti. The meaning is that having been liberated from the bonds of Prakṛti, he attains the Self which is incapable of being named by such words as gods, men etc., and which comprises solely of knowledge and beatitude..” [Gita Bhashya, Adidevananda, Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, MADRAS]

Adi Shankarācārya concurs that the Śabda Brahman represents the effects of Vedic Karman. He gives more insight [Bhāṣya ibid.], “The man who failed in Yogaḥ is carried on towards perfection by the force of the practice in the former birth. If he has done no unrighteous deed (adharma) which could overpower the tendency caused by the practice of Yogaḥ, then, certainly, the tendency of Yogaḥ would prevail. If adharma were to be stronger, then, even the tendency born of Yogaḥ would certainly be overpowered by adharma. But on the exhaustion of adharma ,the tendency caused by Yogaḥ would begin to produce its effects, that is to say, it would not be liable to destruction though it may have been in abeyance for long. Thus, he, as the context shows, who has failed in Yogaḥ—-who works in the path of Yogaḥ, only wishing to know its nature, even he would be able to free himself from the Word-Brahman (Śabda-Brahman), i.e., from the effects of the observance of Vedic Karman. What need is there to say that he who knows Yogaḥ and practises it with steady devotion will (surely) be free from its effects ?” [Bhagavad Gita with the commentary of Shankarācārya, Mahadeva Shastri, Govt Oriental Library Mysore, 1901]

Without these invaluable insights of our great Acaaryas, we would not be able to judge the depth of the Lord’s words. In fact, in the next Ṣlokaḥ , Sri Krishna underlines the importance of not committing adharma at any stage after the advent of the Buddhi Yogaḥ while waiting for the Buddhi-Yogaḥ to come to the fore and to reassert itself.

Gita Ṣlokaḥ [6/45]

प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः ।

अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस्ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥ ६-४५॥

प्रयत्नाद prayatnād-through diligent efforts; यतमानस yatamānas-the one who is striving; तु tu-but; योगी yogī-one who performs Yogaḥ; संशुद्ध saṃśuddha-made fully pure/devoid of ; किल्बिषः kilbiṣaḥ-all kinds of sins; अनेक aneka-numerous; जन्म janma-births; संसिद्धः saṃsiddha-fully perfect;ततो tato-thereafter; याति yāti-travels to/goes to; परां parāṃ-the highest; गतिम् gatim-refuge, asylum. ॥ ६-४५॥

“But through diligent efforts, the striving Yogi whose sins of all kinds have been nullified and who has been rendered pure over numerous births and who has become fully perfect (as a result), thereafter goes to the highest refuge or asylum.”

Sanskrit Words:

गतिः gatih [AK 2, 22/1] 1. Motion, going, moving, gait. 2. Position, station, situation, mode of existence. 3. Recourse, shelter, refuge, asylum, resort. 4. The course of events, fate, fortune.

We end our discussions on the wonderful Vishnu Purāṇa Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/20] and the several Ṣlokaḥ of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita having a bearing on the topic of Buddhi-Yogaḥ and its great benefits to the Yogi over several rebirths. It remains to be pointed out, that Sri Krishna has emphasised in this Gita Ṣlokaḥ that it is necessary for the Yogi to be संशुद्ध saṃśuddha-made fully pure/devoid of, किल्बिषः kilbiṣaḥ-all kinds of sins before he can transcend Prakṛti and attain the highest refuge. The Yogi must therefore keep clear of all sinful actions. If not, as Sri Shankarācārya has observed, residual adharma would bar the Buddhi-Yogaḥ installed earlier from coming to the fore to help the Yogi. We now take up the next Ṣlokaḥ of the Vishnu Purāṇa.

Sanskrit Words:

1. मोह [AK 2.666/2] 1.Perplexity, delusion, embarrassment,confusion; 2.Folly, ignorance, infatuation. 3. Error, mistake.
2. श्रमे śrame/श्रमः [AK 3, 283/2] 1.Toil, labour, exertion, effort. 2. Weariness, fatigue, exhaustion. 3.Affliction, distress.
3. शमं śamaṃ/श्म् [AK 3, 244/2] 1.To be calm, quiet or tranquil, be appeased or pacified (as a person). 2.To cease, stop, come to an end. 3. To be quelled, to be extinguished or quenched.
4. अन्तकरणः antaḥkaraṇaḥ-internal organs namely the Mind and the Sense Organs.
5. निर्व्वाणम् nirvāṇam [AK 2, 292/1] 1.Final liberation or emancipation from matter and reunion with the Supreme Spirit, eternal bliss. 2. Complete satisfaction or pleasure, supreme bliss, highest felicity. 3. Perfect and perpetual calm, repose 4. (With Buddhists) Absolute extinction or annihilation, complete extinction of individual or worldly existence.
6. अतिशयः atiśaya [AK 1, 63/1] 1.pre-eminence, excellence. 2. highest perfection of art. 3. Superiority (in quality, rank, quantity) 4. unsurpassed. 5. often in comp, with adjectives, in the sense of exceedingly.

The Lord gives a hint in this Ṣlokaḥ of the nature of nirvāṇam which Hindu Philosophy holds is final liberation from matter and reunion with the Supreme Spirit. It is one of indescribable bliss. Other qualities of nirvāṇam indicated by the English connotations gleaned from usage in various Sanskrit Texts are: 1. complete satisfaction or pleasure, supreme bliss, highest felicity. 2. perfect and perpetual calm, repose. It is also to be understood as being unsurpassed and free of all defects and impediments. We need more and more words to pin-down what cannot be described in words/speech or even in thoughts in principle but which has to be individually experienced.

The term nirvāṇam is interpreted by Buddhists as being, “absolute extinction or annihilation, complete extinction of individual or worldly existence.” Hindu Philosophy rejects nihilism and holds that all Jivātman are reborn as long as there are pending karman awaiting fructification.

There now follows a precise description of the Self or the Atman.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/22]

निर्व्वाणमय एवायमात्मा ज्ञानमयोऽमलः ।

दुः खाज्ञानमला धर्म्माः प्रकृतेस्ते तु नात्मनः ॥ ६-७-२२ ॥

nirvāṇamaya evāyam ātmā jñānamayo amalaḥ ।

duḥkhājñānamalā dharmāḥ prakṛtes te tu nātmanaḥ ॥ 6/7/22॥

निर्व्वाणमय nirvāṇamaya-full of supreme bliss/felicity ; एव eva-alone; अयम ayam-this; आत्मा ātmā-ātman (Self); ज्ञानमयो jñānamayo-it is entirely made up of consciousness; अमलः amalaḥ-pure and stainless; दुःख duḥkh-sorrow; अज्ञान ajñāna-ignorance or false knowledge; मलाः malaḥ-impurities/dirt;धर्म्माः dharmāḥ-properties; प्रकृते prakṛte te-belong to Prakṛti(Material Nature); न na-not; आत्मनः ātmanaḥ-to the Sentient Entity or the Ātman.

“Full of supreme bliss/felicity alone is this Aatma or Self. It is composed of consciousness and it is pure and stainless. Sorrows, ignorance/false knowledge, and impurities belong to Prakṛti ( Material Nature) not to the Ātman.” ॥ 6/7/22॥

Sanskrit Words:

मय maya [AGK 2, 613/1] 1. An affix used to indicate ‘made of’, ‘consisting or composed of’,’full of’.
अमल amala [AGK 1, 215/2] 1. Free from dirt or impurities, pure, undefiled, stainless, spotless. 2. pure, sincere. 3. white, bright, shining.

Modern physicists all agree that the fundamental building blocks of everything in the material Universe are hadrons, leptons, and quarks. At present, according to the current state of physics, these are the smallest constituents of matter and are not further divisible into anything smaller. Amazingly, our understanding of physics and cosmology today includes one huge speculation by most eminent scientists that more than 95% of our Universe consists of two types of matter. Scientists call it as ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’. Modern cosmologists use the term ‘dark’ because, these two forms of matter cannot be be observed by any instruments we know. We can only infer their presence indirectly through calculations to account for the total mass of the Universe that Scientists believe is needed theoretically to explain the expanding Universe. I cannot outline the nature of Prakṛti according to science in any more simpler terms.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/23]

जलस्य नाग्रिसंसर्गः स्थालीसङ्गात्तथापि हि ।

शब्दोद्रेकादिकान् धर्म्मां स्तत् करोति यथा न्रुपाः ॥ ६-७-२३ ॥

jalasya nāgnisaṃsargaḥ sthālīsaṅgāt tathāpi hi

śabdodrekādikān dharmāṃs tat karoti yathā nrupāh ॥ 6/7/23 ॥

जलस्य jalasya-of water; न na-there is not; अग्रि agni-fire; संसर्गः saṃsargaḥ-affinity/inter-mixing; स्थालीसङ्गात sthālīsaṅgāt-when the two are associated with each other via an earthen pot; तथापि tathāpi-even so; हि hi-verily; शब्दोद्रेकादिकान् sound of boiling, steam, and the like; धर्म्मां dharmāṃ-properties; तत् करोति tat karoti-that (due to the association of water in a pot placed over a fire) produces; यथा yathā-even so; न्रुपाः nrupāh- O King!

” O King! There is no affinity/inter-mixing between water and fire but when the two are associated via a pot (placed on a fire), just as the properties of sound of boiling, steam, and the like are caused (by the association of water in a pot over a fire.”

The pristine state of the Ātman is affected by contact with Prakṛti just as water is affected by fire when the two are brought into contact via a pot that separates them but allows the effects of the fire to be transmitted to water. Soon the water, otherwise tranquil and silent, begins to exhibit different properties not to be found in its independent state. The heated water begins to boil and produce sounds of bubbling, hissing of steam, and so on.

In the same way, the pure, undefiled, pristine Ātman is affected by contact with Prakṛti. The Guṇā of Prakṛti invade the pure Ātman and pollute its essential nature. As a result, the Ātman begins take more and interest in the ‘good things’ of life that Prakṛti has on offer or what it thinks are good for it. The Ātman tends to regard anything offered by Material Nature as good or desirable because of the pleasure they yield. Those features of Prakṛti that yield pain or sorrow are deemed bad and shunned. When the Ātman begins to feel that it is the same as Prakṛti, it loses the power to discriminate between what is good or bad, not in terms of pleasure or pain, but in terms of emancipation. Then its degradation is complete and only the re-installation of Buddhi-Yogaḥ by God’s Grace can halt its perpetual toil and suffering in Saṃsāra.

Some painful things in Prakṛti are not necessarily bad and to be shunned off-hand on the face of it. For instance, the pain or discomfort one feels in practicing indriya nigraha (control of the senses) or mitāhāra (temperance in food consumption) may appear painful at the outset but are pleasurable in the end. Prāṅāyāma is stressful in the beginning as the body finds it difficult, and often impossible to bear the discomfort, as the kumbhaka phase is increased. But Prāṅāyāma done properly is extremely beneficial as well as pleasurable in the end. Thus the Ātman should not decide what is good or bad for the main goal of embodiment solely on the basis of selective consideration of either of the components of the pairs of the opposites.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/24]

तथात्मा प्रकृतेः सङ्गादहम्मानादिदूषितः ।

भजते प्राकृतान् धर्म्मानभ्यस्तेभ्यो हि सोऽव्ययः ॥ ६-७-२४ ॥

tathātmā prakṛteḥ saṅgād ahaṃmānādidūṣitaḥ ।

bhajate prākṛtān dharmān anyas tebhyo hi so ‘vyayaḥ ॥ 6/7/24 ॥

तथात्मा tathātmā-that Ātman; प्रकृतेः prakṛteḥ-Prakṛti’s; सङ्गाद saṅgād-contact/association with ; अहम्मानादिदूषितः ahaṃmānādidūṣitaḥ-polluted by ego, pride and such like impurities ; भजते bhajate-apportion/partake of; प्राकृतान् prākṛtān-of Prakṛti; धर्म्मान dharmān-nature or properties or characteristics; अन्यास् anyās-distinct/apart; तेभ्यो tebhyo-from them; हि hi-verily; सोऽव्ययः so avyayaḥ-udecaying, immutable.

“Similarly, when that Ātman (with reference to the pure, stainless, and pristine entity described in Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/22] comes into contact with Prakṛti polluted by ego, pride and such like impurities, it partakes of/apportions to itself the nature and properties of Prakṛti even though it is undecaying, immutable.” ॥ 6/7/24 ॥

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/24]

तथात्मा प्रकृतेः सङ्गादहम्मानादिदूषितः ।

भजते प्राकृतान् धर्म्मानभ्यस्तेभ्यो हि सोऽव्ययः ॥ ६-७-२४ ॥

tathātmā prakṛteḥ saṅgād ahaṃmānādidūṣitaḥ ।

bhajate prākṛtān dharmān anyas tebhyo hi so ‘vyayaḥ ॥ 6/7/24 ॥

Sanskrit Words:

भजते bhajate [AGK 2, 555/1] 1. to share, distribute, divide. 2. To assign, allot, apportion. 3. To obtain for oneself, share, join, partake of.
धर्म्मान dharmān/धर्म dharma [AGK 2, 228/1] 1. religion, the customary observances of a caste, sect. 2. Law, usage, practice, ordinance, statute. 3. Religious or moral merit, virtue, righteousness, good works (regarded as one of the four ends of human existence). 4. Nature, disposition, character. 5. an essential quality, peculiarity, property, (peculiar) attribute. 5. Manner, resemblance, likeness.
अव्ययः avyayaḥ [AGK 1, 286/1] 1. not liable to change, imperishable, undecaying, immutable. 2. eternal, everlasting. 3. Unexpended, unwasted. 4. economical. 5.giving imperishable fruit.

The object of embodiment is to give every Jivā a chance to experience the Universe and to qualify for emancipation. Embodiment is an obstacle course at the end of which the Jivā can either attain liberation or a chance to try again. Why has the Brahman designed a challenging obstacle course? The answer is best known to the Brahman. All we can say is that in principle, it is better to work hard and attain a given goal than to be presented with that goal ex-gratis. Hard work and attainments will lose their value if we get everything free without a sweat.

Prakṛti places formidable obstacles in the path to liberation right from birth. Prakṛti is not to be blamed. It is only obeying the Will of the Brahman. Prakṛti is inert and lacks consciousness. It is an automaton that does efficiently what it has been programmed to do. It has the three Guṇā to assist it in the mission of making the examination for qualifying for mokśa most difficult. The Guṇā are used by Prakṛti to overpower the consciousness of most Jivā The Mind and the Sense Organs are also the products of Prakṛti which carry out the behest of the Brahman to facilitate the experience of the Universe by all embodied Jivā whether such experiences are good or bad. It is up to the sentient entity endowed with the powers of consciousness to exercise its discrimination. Therein lies the essence of the whole challenge of embodiment. Only a few Jivā who have received the Buddhi-Yogaḥ to neutralise the Guṇā, the Mind and the Sense Organs, eventually succeed in securing emancipation and freedom from further births. It is too big and too coveted a prize to be given away to all without making them earn it in an open competition.

A question may arise in the philosophical student’s mind that if the Jivātman were to be uncreated and eternal, the gradual liberation of the Jivātman, at however slow a rate, would eventually progressively reduce the number of unliberated Jivātman available for sending into embodiment in each recreation. Eventually, a time, in eternity if you like, may theoretically come when the non-availability of ‘unliberated Jivātman’ would be a reality. Then, a new Jiva would have to be created by the Brahman or the Process of Creation & Embodiment suspended or some alternative instituted.

We have no answer for this. According to our knowledge, a few Scholars have discussed this. This question is out of scope of the present work.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/25]

तदेतत् कथितं बीजमविद्याया मया तव ।

क्लेशानाञ्च क्षयकरं योगादन्यन्न विद्यते ॥ ६/७/२५ ॥

tad etat kathitaṃ bījam avidyāyā mayā tava ।

kleśānāṃ ca kṣayakaraṃ yogād anyan na vidyate ॥ 6/7/25॥

“In this manner I have narrated to you all about the seed of ignorance which is the cause of pain, distress, suffering, wrath and anger. Apart from Yogaḥ, there exists nothing else that can bring about the destruction, termination, and removal (of the adverse effects of Avidya such as pain, distress, suffering etc).” ॥ 6/7/25॥

तद tad-that; एतत् etat- in this manner (referring to the narrative just concluded); कथितं kathitaṃ-narrated; बीजम bījam-the seed; अविद्याया avidyāyā-of avidya or ignorance; मया mayā- by myself; तव tava-to thee; क्लेशानां kleśānāṃ-of the cause of pain, distress, suffering; च ca-and; क्षयकरं kṣayakaraṃ-which caues the destruction, termination, removal: योगात् yogāt-than Yogaḥ; अन्यन् anyan-apart from/other than; न na-does not; विद्यते vidyate-exist.

Sanskrit Words:

क्लेशानां kleśānāṃ [AGK 1, 631/2] 1. pain, anguish, suffering, distress, trouble. 2. wrath, anger. 3. care, trouble. 5. Worldly occupation.
क्षयः kṣayah [AGK 1,636/2] 1. Loss, decline, waste, wane, decay, diminution. 2. destruction, end, termination. 3.removal.

This Ṣlokaḥ makes it clear that Avidya or Ignorance is the root cause of all our endless pain, distress, suffering. The importance of Yogaḥ is underlined in this Ṣlokaḥ

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/26]

खांडिक्य उवाच

तन्तु ब्रूहि महाभाग!योगं योगविदुत्तम ।

विज्ञातयोगशास्त्रार्थस्त्वमस्यां निमिसन्ततौ ॥ ६-७-२६ ॥

Khāndikya uvāca:

taṃ bravīhi mahābhāga Yogaḥ Yogaḥviduttama ।

vijñātaYogaḥśāstrārthastvamasyāṃ nimisaṃtatau ॥ 6/7/26॥

खांडिक्य उवाच-Khāṇḍikyaḥ spoke:

तं taṃ-that (Yogaḥ); ब्रवीहि bravīhi-; महाभाग mahābhāga-illustrious, glorious; योगं योगविदुत्तम yogaḥviduttama-the best amongst the Knowers of Yogaḥ; विज्ञात vijñāta-enlighten/elucidate; योगशास्त्रा Yogaḥśāstr-the science of Yogaḥ; अर्थः artha-significance, import, meanings; त्वम tvam-you, yourself; अस्यां asyāṃ-in this (context) ; निमिसंततौ nimisaṃtatau-of the Race of the Descendents of Nimi (Grandson of Manu and Son of Ishvaku of the Solar Dynasty).

“Khāṇḍikyaḥ spoke:

Do speak O Illustrious and Glorious One ! You are the best amongst the Knowers of Yogaḥ. Please, yourself enlighten me upon the significance, import, and meanings (of Yogaḥ) in this context, you who are from the Race of the Descendents of Nimi (Great King of the Ishvāku Dynasty).” ।। 6/7/26 ।।

Sanskrit Words:

महाभाग mahābhāga [AGK 2, 624/2] 1. very fortunate or blessed, very lucky or prosperous. 2. illustrious, distinguished, glorious.
विज्ञात vijñāta [AGK 3, 145/2] 1. 1 Respectfully told, requested. 2 enlightened, made known, informed.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/27]

केशिध्वज उवाच:

योगस्वरूपं खाणिडक्य!श्रूयतां गदतो मम ।

यत्र स्थितो न च्यवते प्राप्य ब्रह्मलयं मुनिः ॥ ६-७-२७ ॥

keśidhvaja uvāca

Yogaḥsvarūpaṃ khāṇḍikya śrūyatā

ṃ gadato mama ।

yatra sthito na cyavate prāpya brahmalayaṃ muniḥ ॥ 6/7/27॥

केशिध्वज उवाच: Keśidhvaja uvāca-Keśidhvaja said:

योगस्वरूपं Yogaḥsvarūpaṃ-the nature of Yogaḥ; खाणिडक्य! Khāṇḍikya!-O Khāṇḍikya; श्रूयतां śrūyatāṃ-do listen; गदतो मम gadato mama-I shall be narrating; यत्र स्थितो yatra sthito-wherein having been duly established; न च्यवते na cyavate-there would be no deprivation or loss; प्राप्य prāpya-having obtained; ब्रह्मलयं brahmalayaṃ-absorption in or fusion with the Braman; मुनिः muniḥ-Sage.

“Keśidhvaja said: O Khāṇḍikya! Listen to the nature of Yogaḥ I shall be narrating. Once, Sages, having duly established themselves (in that Yogaḥ) go on to obtain absorption in the Brahman, for them there is no loss/deprivation or departure from that state. ” ॥ 6/7/27॥

Sanskrit Words:

गदतो [Sansk Dic for Spoken Sansk Online)] narrating, speaking about.
च्यवते cyavate/च्यवनम् cyavanaṃ [AGK 2,90/2] 1. moving, motion. 2. being deprived of, loss; deprivation. 3. dying, perishing. 4. Sinking, falling. 5. departure, deviation.
लयं layaṃ [AGK 3, 72/1] 1. 1 Sticking, union, adherence 2. lurking, hiding 3. fusion, melting, solution 5. Disappearance, dissolution, extinction, destruction, universal destruction. 6. Absorption of the mind, deep concentration, exclusive devotion (to any one object). 7. Rest/repose.

The term लयं layaṃ is profound with different interesting connotations in English that the Reader would find it useful to unravel and understand the complex and esoteric ramifications of Samādhiḥ. These connotations would also be useful to build up a mental picture of that state, which is the culmination of the Ashtānga Yogaḥ. The term ब्रह्मलयं brahmalayaṃ denotes the state of absorption in the Brahman. This is with respect to the Mind of the Jivātman.

Intense meditation of the Brahman can result in a vivid perception of the Brahman, in the Mind, as though seen directly with the eyes. But it cannot be a conventional picture of the Brahman akin to forms and colours we see in the universe or anything suggestive of an Avatār. By philosophical definition, the Brahman has no tangible features that can facilitate a vision of itself either with the eyes of the flesh or the expedient of thought/imagination of the Mind. It is best described as a vivid experience shorn of material features.

But the person who has had a vivid perception of the Brahman may fall back into ordinary consciousness. His Mind may or may not be able to sustain the intensity of meditation for that very long duration that the Scriptures say may lead to the vivid experience of the Brahman. But if the wise and determined Meditator; all of whose previous karman and sins have been eradicated; is able to sustain his central focus on the Brahman unbroken like a stream of oil being poured, and with extreme loving devotion for the given duration of time; he or she is likely to invoke the Grace of the Brahman and be granted mokśa or final liberation. The Scriptures say that after Mokśa has been secured, the Jivātman can opt either for (1) the state of kaivalya or (2) or for the state of merger with the Brahman. These are conceptual states and if one were to go into the possibility whether these states could be verified /established by Laws of Cosmology or Physics, one would not only be barking up the wrong tree but one would miss the charm of the thoughts that motivate Yogis all their lives.

An agnostic or worse still, an atheist, acts on the premise that the Universe is entirely made up of matter. Everything has come by chance and everything has evolved so far and will continue to evolve according to the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. Further, everything is subject to the Laws of Science and can be explained, one day or the other, by consistent mathematics. It is not within our scope here to discus these averments. The Hindu Philosophical premise is that there is a world of the spirit not related to matter and not subject to laws that govern matter. Further, with regard to our present topic on the states of existence after final liberation, Hindu Texts hold that both the eternal states of existence of the pristine Self after mokśa i.e. kaivalya or merger with the Brahman are independent of all matter. From both, there is no return to worldly existence and no there is no deprivation or loss but it is the latter of the two states that this Ṣlokaḥ alludes to in using the term ब्रह्मलयं brahmalayaṃ.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/28]

मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्ध-मोक्षयोः ।

बन्धाय विषयासङ्गि मुक्तयौ निर्व्विषयं तथा ॥ ६-७-२८॥

mana eva manuṣyāṇāṃ kāraṇaṃ bandhamokṣayoḥ

bandhāya viṣayāsaṃgi muktyai nirviṣayaṃ tathā ॥ 6/7/28॥

“The Mind of human beings alone is the cause of either bondage or liberation. Association with the objects of the senses is the cause of bondage and disassociation from the objects of the senses is the cause of mokśa or final liberation.” ।। 6/7/28।।

मन mana-the Mind; एव eva-alone; मनुष्याणां manuṣyāṇāṃ-of human beings; कारणं kāraṇaṃ-is the cause; बन्धमोक्षयोः bandhamokṣayoḥ-of bondage or liberation; बन्धाय bandhāya-of bondage;विषयासङ्गि viṣayāsaṃgi-association with the objects of the senses; मुत्तयौ muktayai-of liberation; निर्व्विषयं nirviṣayaṃ-disassociation from the objects of the senses; तथा tathā-accordingly.

Everything has come by chance and everything has evolved so far and will continue to evolve according to the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. Further, everything is subject to the Laws of Science and can be explained, one day or the other, by consistent mathematics. It is not within our scope here to discus these averments. The Hindu Philosophical premise is that there is a world of the spirit not related to matter and not subject to laws that govern matter. Further, with regard to our present topic on the states of existence after final liberation, Hindu Texts hold that both the eternal states of existence of the pristine Self after mokśa i.e. kaivalya or merger with the Brahman are independent of all matter. From both, there is no return to worldly existence and no there is no deprivation or loss but it is the latter of the two states that this Ṣlokaḥ alludes to in using the term ब्रह्मलयं brahmalayaṃ.

The Mandala Brāhmanopaniṣad [Brāhmana 2, 4/5-6 ] echoes similar wisdom when it says:

Ṣlokaḥ s [4/5 & 6]

सङ्कल्पादिकं मनो बन्धहेतुः ।

तद्वियुक्तं मनो मोक्षाय भवति ॥५॥

तद्वांश्चक्षुरादिबाह्यप्रपञ्चरतो विगतप्रपञ्चगन्धः सर्वजगदात्मत्वेन

पश्यंस्त्यक्ताहङ्कारो ब्रह्माहमस्मीति चिन्तयन्निदं सर्वं यदयमात्मेति

भावयन्कृतकृत्यो भवति ॥ ६ ॥

Ṣlokaḥ s [4/5 & 6]

सङ्कल्पादिकं मनो बन्धहेतुः ।

तद्वियुक्तं मनो मोक्षाय भवति ॥५॥

तद्वांश्चक्षुरादिबाह्यप्रपञ्चरतो विगतप्रपञ्चगन्धः सर्वजगदात्मत्वेन

पश्यंस्त्यक्ताहङ्कारो ब्रह्माहमस्मीति चिन्तयन्निदं सर्वं यदयमात्मेति

भावयन्कृतकृत्यो भवति ॥ ६ ॥

“The Mind, which is the root of all volition and the like, is the cause of bondage. The Mind, rid of all that, becomes conducive to liberation. The Yogin who possess such a Mind having deprived it of the impressions of all phenomena born of the eye and other senses disposed towards the external world of phenomena and looking upon the entire Universe as relating to the Atman, giving up his egoism, ever attuning his mind to the attitude; “The Brahman am I”; treating all this about him as “ That is the Atman”; fully discharges his duty, the moment realizes so.”

Let us discuss these two celebrated Ṣlokaḥ of the Mandala Brāhmaṇopaniśad [Brāhmaṇa 2, 4/5-6] a little. The Mind is a product of Prakṛti. It is a complex, marvellous, and fascinating entity no doubt. But it is after all entirely made up of some form of matter or the other. It is not the same as the sentient, conscious principle that the Jivātman is. In embodiment, the Jivā comes into contact with this Mind whose natural tendency is to gravitate towards material objects and to gather their sensory data through the sense organs that is likely to be interpreted as agreeable/disagreeable or enjoyment/pain or innumerable other pairs of opposites. Left uncontrolled by the Jivātman, the Mind, using the sense organs as its accomplices, drags the Jivātman into more and more new karman that add pressure to the already swollen up old stock of unexpired karman. This virtually debars the Jivātman from liberation for a very long time because the stock of pending karman has to be extinguished completely for securing liberation from the bondage of endless cycles of birth-deaths-rebirths. Under normal circumstances, Karman can only be exhausted by experiencing their fruits good, bad or indifferent. This is quite impossible if, our a number of rebirths, the rate of accretion is greater than that of depletion of karman.

In effect, the first order of business is to stem the tide. In order to do that, the Mandala Brāhmaṇopaniśad [Brāhmaṇa 2, 4/5-6] advises the Yogi to withdraw his Mind and the Senses from the phenomenal world; then to meditate upon the Brahman as the immanent Ruler and Controller of the Universe of cit and acit entities. This is in effect what the Vishnu Purāṇa Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/29] to follow also advises.

The two phrases used by the Mandala Brāhmaṇopaniśad [ Brāhmaṇa 2, 4/5-6] namely (1) “ब्रह्माहमस्मीति चिन्तयन् brahmāhamasmiiti cintayen” or “one should think that one is the Brahman” and (2) “सर्वं यदयमात्मेति sarvam yad ayam ātma iti”or “all this whatever is the Ātman” need some discussion. These ideas should be not be taken literally but as aids to meditation for the Yogi to formulate his thoughts and focus his mind upon the Brahman in the meditation. The first phrase “brahmāhamasmiiti cintayen” is an assertion of the intensity of imagination that the Yogi should muster in his Mind. It is measure of the desire or longing of the of the Yogi to merge with the Brahman. The Yogi is asserting at the same time that the Brahman and himself are closely connected in certain aspects. It cannot be taken to imply that the sentient principle in the Yogi’s body is identical with the Brahman in all aspects for that would contradict the Shrutis that affirm that the Brahman and the Jivātman are distinctly different entities. For instance, the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad [5.1] tells us that, “The destructible is the Avidya or Karma (Action). The immortal is the Vidya or Knowledge. He (the Brahman) , who commands both the Vidya and the Avidya is distinct from the Jivā .”

The second phrase in the same context, i.e. ” सर्वं यदयमात्मेति or “All this whatsoever is the Ātman” should not be taken to mean literal correspondence of all entities whatsoever with the Brahman but that the Brahman is the indweller of all and inner controller of all. It also indicates that all this is part of the Body of the Brahman and not that everything is a carbon copy of the Brahman or that each object is a replica of the Brahman.

The need to reign in the Mind and the Body is emphasised by the Yogaḥśhikhopaniṣad Ṣlokaḥ [6/67-69(1)], which says:

हसत्युल्लसति प्रीत्या क्रीडते मोदते तदा ।

तनोति जीवनं बुद्ध्या बिभेति सर्वतोभयात् ॥ ६७॥

रोध्यते बुध्यते शोके मुह्यते न च संपदा ।

कंपते शत्रुकार्येषु कामेन रमते हसन् ॥ ६८॥

स्मृत्वा कामरतं चित्तं विजानीयात्कलेवरे ॥ ६९(१)॥

“(When) one laughs, one shows exuberance, one sports with affection and similarly one feels happy; one ekes out a living with intelligence; one shows fear of danger from all quarters; one quarrels; one introspects upon being afflicted by grief; one is intoxicated with newly acquired fortune; one trembles at the vengeful acts of one’s foes; one is filled with lust and enjoys (intercourse with the other sex) with a smile; in all of these (these activities for instance), remember that it is the Body-Mind Complex in the human body that actually takes delight in sensual pleasures with the aid of memory.” [Yogaḥśhikhopaniṣad 6/67-69(1)]

Amṛutabindūpaniṣad describes a two-fold state of the Mind. It says [ibid.17-4] that:

यतो निर्विष्यस्यास्य मनसो मुक्तिरिष्यते । अतो निर्विषयं नित्यं मनः कार्यं मुमुक्षुणा ॥ ३॥

“When the Mind is freed from the desires generated by the objects of the Senses, it is said to liberated. Therefore, the Seeker of Liberation should constantly practise the eradication of the sense objects from his or her Mind.”॥ ३॥

निरस्तनिषयासङ्गं संनिरुद्धं मनो हृदि । यदाऽऽयात्यात्मनो भावं तदा तत्परमं पदम् ॥ ४॥

“Having renounced attachment to sense objects, when the state of the Mind is such that it is well controlled in the heart, and it fully supports the realisation by the Self that it is the Self, then such a state is the highest.” ॥ 4॥

Reading the different Ṣlokaḥ cited from the Yogaḥ Upaniṣad, the Reader would be able to appreciate the role and the importance of the Mind-Body Complex in the pursuit of Yogaḥ. If mastered, it would definitely cooperate. If not, it would doggedly oppose the Yogi at every step. This natural opposition to the activities conducive to Yogaḥ and Mokśa has been pre-programmed accordingly from birth. It comes as a default-package in embodiment from the start. It is designed to facilitate sense experiences and perpetuate bondage. It is not its fault. It is not conscious and not wilfully bad or evil. It is helpless in the matter. It is very difficult to remove or replace the default programme with a new one that is more helpful to Yogaḥ and Mokśa .

But it can be done through the dedicated practice of Yogaḥ under a Master. In short, it may be said with complete assurance that Yogaḥ is designed to enable the Yogi to Master the Mind-Body Complex by deleting the old pre-programming that came with embodiment and re-installing a new one conducive to the attainment of mokśa . The next Ṣlokaḥ of the Vishnu Purāṇa speaks of the withdrawal of the Mind from the sense objects and focussing it on an object far better and nobler than any material object.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/29]

विषयेब्यः समाह्टत्य विज्ञानात्मा मनो मुनिः ।

चिन्तयेन्मूक्तये तेन ब्रह्मभूतं परेश्वरम् ॥ ६-७-२९ ॥

viṣayebhyaḥ samāhṛtya vijñānātmāmano muniḥ ।

cintayenmuktaye tena brahmabhūtaṃ pareśvaram ॥ 6/7/29॥

“The Sages/Yogis well versed in the science/knowledge of the Atman strip away from the Mind all the objects of the Senses and then, for securing liberation, they meditate upon the Being who is the Brahman and the Supreme Ruler of All.” ॥ 6/7/29॥

This Ṣlokaḥ highlights the inbuilt power of Dhyāna with the Mind cantered on the Brahman. The analogy of the piece of iron and the magnet is apt. The Ṣlokaḥ tells us that if the Mind of the Yogi were to be taken as a piece of loadstone or iron and the Brahman as a magnet, just as the piece of iron is involuntarily drawn towards the magnet by the force of magnetism inherent in a magnet, likewise the Brahman’s power is such that the Mind of the Jivātman would be drawn closer to the Brahman, the more the Mind were to focus on the Brahman.

Magnets and the effects of magnetism according to the Theory of Magnetism in modern physics is complicated. Considerable mathematical calculations and sophisticated measurements are required to estimate the force or torque at a given point in the field on a given object susceptible to magnetic force. Here we shall only briefly use a simplified model of magnetism to compare the difference between the force of magnetism in the material world as seen upon material objects and the effects of the Brahman’s force upon a human mind. The radius of action of a given magnetic field is defined by the distance from the centre of a source of magnetism beyond which it cannot exert any force on moving charges, electric currents and upon magnetic material bigger/heavier than a given size. The radius of action of a given magnetic field depends upon the strength of the source of the magnet.

The force of attraction exerted upon the Mind when the Brahman is being meditated upon is different from that of magnetic attraction/repulsion exerted by magnets on material objects. Firstly, magnets operate only in the material plane but the Brahman operates both in the material as well as spiritual planes. Magnets have no effect on non-material entities like the Ātman but the Brahman can exercise his power on all objects sentient or non-sentient. There is no limit to the radius of action of the Brahman with regard to anything in the Universe. These properties subsist by definition in the Brahman in Hindu Philosophy.

Dhyāna has to be intense and sustained. It has to be surcharged with devotion. Only then will the Brahman’s force of attraction be felt by the Ātman.

Sanskrit Words:

भावं bhāvaṃ/ भावः bhāvah [AGK 2, 566/2] 1. being, existing, existence, abiding in. 2. becoming, occurring, taking place. 3. state, condition, state of being.
आत्मभावं ātmabhāvaṃ-the state of abiding in the Ātman (Brahman).
विकार्य्यम vikāryam [AGK 3, 136/1] 1. The sense of individuality (अहंकार ahamkāra)

4 .शक्त्या śaktyā [AGK 3, 238/1] easily pulled/affected.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/31]

आत्मप्रयत्नसापेक्षा विशिष्टा या मनोगतिः ।

तस्या ब्रह्मणि संयोगो योग इत्यभिधीयते ॥ ६-७-३१ ॥

ātmaprayatnasāpekṣā viśiṣṭā yā manogatiḥ

tasya brahmaṇi saṃyogo Yogaḥ ityabhidhīyate ॥ 6/7/31॥

आत्मप्रयत्न ātmaprayatna-the efforts put in by the Ātman; सापेक्षा sāpekṣā-with the expectations of; विशिष्टा viśiṣṭā-the special or unique; या yā-the system of Yamāḥ and Niyamāḥ and the like (implying the rest of the Aṣṭāṅga Yogaḥ); मनोगतिःmanogatiḥ-generating that the mental thinking or flow of thoughts; तस्या tasya-his; ब्रह्मणि brahmaṇi-of the Brahman; संयोगो saṃyogo-union ; योग Yogaḥ-Yogaḥ; इति ity-as such ; अभिधीयते abhidhīyate-is deemed

“The efforts of the Ātman put in through Yamāḥ/Niyamāḥ (and other limbs of the Aṣṭāṅga Yogaḥ System) with the object of generating the unique mental thinking or flow of thoughts conducive to union with the Brahman is deemed Yogaḥ.” ॥ 6/7/31॥

This Ṣlokaḥ gives us some valuable insights into the System of Yogaḥ under discussion in the whole of Book 6/Chapter 7 of the Vishnu Purāṇa. Firstly, the Yogaḥ taught in this Purāṇa has been defined in this Ṣlokaḥ as the epitome of the efforts put in by the Ātman for reaching the goal of union with the Brahman. Secondly, the system used by the Ātman for this purpose consists of following the disciplines of Yamāḥ/Niyamāḥ and the like. That system has to be the Aṣṭāṅga Yogaḥ or the Yogaḥ of Eight Limbs starting with Yamāḥ & Niyamāḥ and ending with Samādhiḥ. Thirdly, the modus operandi of the System of Yogaḥ referred to here can best be summed up as the assumption of full control of the Mind by the Self. The main task of the Self is to turn the orientation of the Mind from its outward direction pointing towards Prakṛti to the inward direction pointing towards itself and more important towards the Supreme Self who is the indweller of the Self.

Fourthly, since the principle aim of the Yogi who has taken to Yogaḥ is union with the Brahman, it means that attainments acquired along the way such as (1) siddhis or supernatural powers and capabilities (2) restoration of youth, vitality and health (3) mokśa or kaivalya (4) prolonged stay in the Heavenly Worlds full of happiness and enjoyments and free of suffering/strife, etc are all incidental and subsidiary to the main purpose of Yogaḥ. No Yogi can afford to hold any of the subsidiary aims in mind as being the Main Aim while striving on the Path of Yogaḥ. These are some of the insights we have been able to extract from the profound and esoteric Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/31] of the Vishnu Purāṇa.

“Of the one yoked to all the mandatory karman of the distinctive and highly specialised (disciplines of Yogaḥ); who has performed them completely and perfectly, with the object of moving closer to the aim (of Union with the Brahman), it may be said that, such a one is, indeed, called a Yogi desirous of mokśa .” ॥ 6/7/32 ॥

Sanskrit Words:

अत्यन्त atyanta [GK 1, 65/2] 1. excessive, much, very great or strong. 2. Complete, perfect, absolute. 3. endless, perpetual, permanent, everlasting. अत्यन्तम् atyantam 1. Exceedingly, excessively. 2. very much, to the highest degree.
वैशिष्ट्य vaiśiṣṭya/वैशिष्ट्यम् vaiśiṣṭyam [AGK 3, 216/2] 1. distinction, difference 2. peculiarity, speciality, particularity. 3. Possession or endowment with some characteristic attribute.

Ṣlokaḥ [6/7/33]

योगयुक् प्रथमं योगी युञ्जानो ह्यभिधीयते ।

विनिष्पन्नसमाधिस्तु परं ब्रह्मोपलब्धिमान् ॥ ६-७-३३ ॥

Yogaḥyuk prathamaṃ yogī yuñjāno hy abhidhīyate ।

viniṣpannasamādhistu paraṃ brahmopalabdhimān. ॥ 6/7/33॥

योगयुक् Yogaḥyuk-one yoked to Yogaḥ; प्रथमं prathamaṃ-at the outset; योगी yogī-Yogi; युञ्जानो yuñjāno-“a brāhmana who is engaged in the practice of Yogaḥ to obtain union with the Supreme Spirit” or a “Yogi who has joined himself to Yogaḥ”.; हि hi-verily; अभिधीयते abhidhīyate-is called as; विनिष्पन्न viniṣpanna-to become accomplished/effected; समाधिः samādhi; तु tu-but; परं paraṃ-the Hghest; ब्रम्ह brahma-Brahman; उपलब्धिमान् upalabdhimān-one who has attained the Brahman.

” A yogī who has yoked himself to Yogaḥ, is, at the outset, called a ‘yogi yuñjāno, which means, “A Brāhmaṇa who is engaged the practice of Yogaḥ in order to obtain union with the Supreme Spirit” or a “Yogi who has joined himself to Yogaḥ.” But when (at the end of the advanced stage), his Samādhiḥ has become accomplished or effected, he is called as the ‘one who has obtained the Brahman’. ॥ 6/7/33 ॥

Sanskrit Words:

युञ्जान [AGK 3, 26/2] 1. joining, uniting. 2. proper, fit 3. Prosperous, successful. 4. a driver, charioteer. 5. A Brāhmana who is engaged the practice of Yogaḥ to obtain union with the Supreme Spirit. 6. a Brāhmana.
विनिष्पन्न viniṣpanna/विनिष्पाध्य [MW 971/3] to

be accomplished or effected or fulfilled.

Background: The Sorrow of Radha, from the Tehri Garhwal series of the Gita Govinda Date: ca. 1775–80, The Met

Sūtrajālam

Wisdom with Words

Yogaḥ of Liberation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

Article No. 4

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Menu Options

Menu Options

Menu Options

Menu Options

Menu Options

Menu Options