vivekachudamani 1

8/14/2019 VIVEKACHUDAMANI 1

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VIVEKA-CHUDAMANI

By: ShankaracharyaCommentary: Swami Ranganathananda

Edited: Swami Shuddhidananda

Summary: Satyendra Nath Dwivedi

SHANKARACHARYA

The life of Shankara, in its merely outward incidents, may be told in a paragraph.But the quantity and quality of thought that he packed into the short span of hislife of thirty-two years have earned for him a place among the worlds immortals.

Possessed of extraordinary powers, this young boy, highly intelligent and deeplyconscious of his vision, has worked wonders in the cultural, philosophical andreligious fields of Indian life. Within a short period of thirty-two years he changedthe mind of India.

We find clearly from a study of Shankaras career that his purpose was to reduceto unity and harmony, under the hegemony of Vedanta, the multiplicity ofconflicting thought systems, without destroying the integrity of the prevalentfaiths. Unity was his aim unity in diversity and not uniformity. Diversityconnotes richness.

In Shankara we find that immense sympathy, a desire to understand other pointsof view, and a patient effort at critical appreciation of thoughts and things. Withan iron resolve attuned to a deep affection and loyalty for the people and theculture of his vast country, and with a strong conviction that he was born tostrengthen the one and enhance the other, we find him taking up this problemwith a firm determination to produce cosmos out of chaos in the world of cultureand in the mind of man in India. And his sustained struggle of a lifetime brings to

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India a measure of unity, harmony and order in religion, thought, and culture,which is a record unparalleled in the history of man.

A single individual whose only companion was his glowing spirituality,vast intellect, and deep sympathy going the length and breadth of India

and conquering its mind and heart is something unique in history, even inIndian history. He captured both the intellects and the hearts of men. Heestablished an empire of spirit, of love, and of lofty spiritual idealism.

The environment that existed at the time of Shankara is of great interest to ustoday. Those were the times when men paid homage to intellect and character.Those were days when men of culture and intellect, and the rare ones with newideas, were respected all over the country. In a sense this has been sothroughout our history. All fights were on the intellectual level, on the ideologicallevel. We find, at the time of Shankara, peoples minds ever ready to receive newideas. There was an intellectual receptivity to truth.

The most enduring appeal is that which affects the intellect, the mind ofpeople, and which, through its inherent truths and beauty, graduallypenetrates into the heart, producing deep convictions and rational faiths.

He was a great parivrajaka, a traveler, in the true sense of the term, ever incontact with nature and man. He was ever on the move, preaching and teachingand uplifting the people wherever he went. Shri Krishna had said in the Gita:I have nothing to gain for myself and yet I work hard so that good maycome to society. Shankara, who became the able commentator of ShriKrishnas teachings, was the embodiment of what Shri Krishna taught.

Having no desires of his own to satisfy and having nothing to gain forhimself, we see Shankara going from place to place in order to uplift thepeople, to enlighten them.

Shankara took steps to ensure the continuity of his great work by setting up tenOrders of monks (the Paramahansa parivrajakas) a band of roving andteaching monks and establishing four monastic centres of India and entrustingthem to the care of monks noted for their intellect, character, and vision. Thelocation of these centres at Sringeri in the South, at Puri in the East, atDwaraka in the West, and at Badrinth deep in the Himalayas in the North reveals his far-seeing genius as also the vision of the geographical and culturalunity of India.

He was a teacher of unity. His spirit was universal. His mind was inclusive andnot exclusive. He taught not merely toleration, but also dynamic acceptance.

Wherever there is emphasis on unity, there is knowledge; its fruit is concord andhappiness and beneficence; and wherever there is emphasis on diversity it isignorance; and it results in conflict and misery, says Shankara.

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INTRODUCTION TO VIVEKACHUDAMANI

The central theme of Viveka-Chudamani is God in its transcendental, impersonalaspect beyond mind and duality. In our tradition this path is called the JnanaMarga the path of knowledge, the other being Bhakti Marga, the path of

devotion to a personal God. In the Bhakti Marga divine grace is central, whereasin the Jnana Marga it is self-effort that is primary.

Our ancient teachers discovered a transcendental dimension to human life.There is the body and the sensory system through which the soul experiencesthe external world, but the soul itself is beyond physical and sensory limitations.Spiritual life is the progressive attempt of the soul to free itself from the meshesof the body and senses and experience itself in the transcendental plane.The sages in India studied various possibilities hidden in human beings. Infinitepossibilities are hidden in every one of us. We have to unfold these possibilities,both at the physical and the spiritual planes. At the physical plane we have to do

it by controlling external nature and, thereby, build a healthy economically strongand politically stable society. At the spiritual plane we should do it by becomingmasters of the internal nature and, thereby, become fulfilled and bring peace toall.

Vedanta proclaims that immortality is the prerogative of every human being. It isbuilt into us. Having discovered this truth, the sages proclaimed it to all. The sageof Shvetashvatara Upanishad has ecstatically proclaimed: O children ofimmortality, listen to me, I have a profound message for you. What is themessage? In this very body there are mortal and immortal dimensions. By

pursuing truth we can experience the immortal, and pursuit of truth, whether in

physical science or in spiritual science, stands on the bedrock of Viveka,discrimination. Viveka being the most precious jewel, Shankara called thistreatise Viveka-Chudamani, the crest jewel of discrimination.

The true form of reality should be known by ones own clear eye ofunderstanding (bodha-chakshu) and not through the proxy of a scholar; the trueform of the full moon should be known by ones own eyes,; how can it be knownby proxy.

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VIVEKA-CHUDAMANI

THE BASICS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

I bow to Govinda, whose nature is Bliss Supreme, who is the Sadguru, whocan be known only from the import of all Vedanta, and who is beyond the reachof speech and mind.

It is difficult for living beings to obtain a human birth, more so in a male body;

rarer than that is brahmana-hood; rare still is the attachment to the path ofVedic religion; higher than this is erudition of the scriptures; discriminationbetween the Self and the non-Self, realization, and continuing in a state ofidentity with Brahman these come next in order. [This kind of] liberation is notto be attained except through the well-earned merits of a hundred crores ofbirths.

The power of imagination is an exclusive human feature. In the increased area ofthe cortex of the human brain, nature developed a mechanism capable of aseries on new processes observation, memory, comparison, evaluation,selection and judgment. In and through this, man achieved two things. Firstly he

discovered the path leading to the processing of raw experience into knowledge,of knowledge into power, and of power into control and manipulation of theenvironment. Secondly, he discovered his sense of self-awareness, as thesubject behind the fleeting mental images.

When we utilize our faculty of discrimination to discriminate between the Self andthe non-Self, we get the firsthand experience of Brahman. We then continue inthat state of identity with Brahman. One then lives in that consciousness ofBrahman all the time. This is the highest state.

Shankara urges us to understand the importance of our human birth, so

precious, and direct all our energies towards this Supreme End.

There are three things which are rare indeed and are due to the grace of God namely, a human birth, the longing for liberation, and the protecting care of a

perfect sage.

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There is an element of freedom in every man. There is a focus of light inside us,though glimmering in our present state, which is the true focus of freedom. Thatis the Atman, the Divine spark, which is beyond nature. The little semblances offreedom we all experience in our day-to-day life is due to light of the Atman,

which percolates through the intellect, mind, senses and the body. It makes allthese faculties energized and vital.

Vedanta deals with freedom at the spiritual level. Freedom is essentially aspiritual value, which gets manifested in the social and political fields. Vedantapoints out at the true focus of freedom, which is gained only by the practice ofself-discipline. It is the science of acquiring true freedom that is dealt in this greatbook.

In a beautiful verse Shrimad-Bhagavat expresses a deep concern about mansfailure to make the best use of this rare opportunity. It says:

Having obtained at the end of many births, this human form which is difficult toobtain, and, though perishable, capable of conferring on man, in this very life, thehighest spiritual freedom, the wise man should strive earnestly, before deathovertakes him, for spiritual freedom, which is highest excellence. Sensual delight

can be had in all other bodies (hence human body need not be dedicated tothat). [Shrimad-Bhagavat 11.9.29]

Let noble people quote scriptures and sacrifice to the gods, let them performrituals and worship the deities, but there is no liberation without the realization ofones identity with the Atman, no, not even in the lifetime of a hundred Brahmastogether.

Work and wealth can provide us with different commodities of this world but notimmortality, because immortality is a self-existent eternal entity. That ever-existing immortality has to be just realized by the extraordinary experience ofspiritual illumination, which alone destroys our ignorance about our true nature.

Most of us are in a deluded state. We have taken ourselves to be this flimsybody-mind complex, thinking that we are male, female, young, old, poor, rich, etc.

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The root of all our suffering is this deluded understanding. Shankara thereforeasks us to shed the powerful light of reasoning and discrimination to remove thisdelusion caused by ignorance. Then alone we can gain the conviction about ourtrue nature as Supreme Consciousness.

Success depends essentially on a qualified aspirant. Time, place, and othermeans are but auxiliaries in this regard.

If we are fit, we can wade through the most unfavorable circumstances, else,even favorable conditions will fail to take us far.

Hence the seekers after the Reality of the Atman should take to reasoning, afterapproaching the Guru, who should be the best of the knowers of Brahman, andan ocean of mercy.

Vedanta, and so also Shankara, lays great stress on scriptures and Guru. TheGuru must be an ocean of compassion, and should be the best among knowersof Brahman. He must be a man who knows the truth. Then alone he can help theaspirant.

An intelligent and learned man skilled in arguing in favour of the scriptures andin refuting counter-arguments against them one who has got the abovecharacteristics is fit recipient of the knowledge of the Atman.

The path of self-realization primarily demands a heroic spirit, courage, and astrong conviction in the truth as stated by the Upanishads and the Guru.

When we slowly start searching for our higher dimensions, mind becomesnaturally withdrawn from lower things, bringing about a spontaneous and joyousrenunciation. When we think of higher things, attachment to the lower thingsdrops off automatically. This is the type of positive renunciation taught in

Vedanta. It makes us give up the fleeting joys of the world by showing us thesource of all joys.

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Regarding this, the sages have spoken of four means of attainment, whichalone being present, the devotion to Brahman succeeds, and in the absence ofwhich, it fails.

First is enumerated discrimination between the Real and the unreal; next comesaversion to the enjoyment of fruits (of ones actions) here and hereafter; (next is)the group of six attributes, viz. calmness and the others; and (last) is clearly theyearning for liberation.

A firm conviction of the mind to the effect that Brahman is Real and the universeis unreal, is designated as discrimination between the Real and the unreal.

The Supreme Truth is that Brahman alone is true. The universe, as it appearsthrough our senses, is unreal. From Brahman this universe has come, in It theuniverse remains, and again the universe merges into Brahman.

In our present state of existence, consciousness muddles in the mire of thesense organs and the body, which are changeful and mortal. But, in fact,consciousness alone is the true changeless Entity behind the changeful mind,senses, and the body, which are all perishable. It is the true Self of man.

Vairagya or renunciation is the desire to give up all transitory enjoyments(ranging) from those of an (animate) body to those of Brahma-hood (havingalready known their defects) from observation, instruction and so forth.

At the highest spiritual level we renounce not merely the objects of this universebut the universe itself, which our separatist ego had conjured up. Then, with ourmind purified, we see this universe as non-different from Brahman.

The resting of the mind steadfastly on its Goal (viz. Brahman), after havingdetached itself from manifold sense objects is called Shama or calmness.

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Turning both kinds of sense organs away from sense objects and placing themin their respective centres is called dama or self-control. The best uparati orself-withdrawal consists in the mind-function ceasing to be affected by externalobjects.

How to take the man and put him on the road to freedom with the equipmentmade nature has given to him is the main concern of Vedanta. Nature hasequipped us with a wonderful instrument this body-mind complex, with thewondrous brain at the top.Our body-mind complex, the equipment given to us by nature, must be properlycleaned, kept fit and fine for spiritual pursuit, just like a workman keeping histools in good condition. The practice of shama and dama bestows on him therequired fitness. Backed by uparati these make for a steady inner state.

The bearing of all afflictions without caring to redress them, being free (at thesame time) from anxiety or lament on their score, is called titiksha orforbearance.

For human beings, along with physical endurance there has to be mentalstrength to cheerfully face the ups and downs of life and remain steady, becausehuman life is not just physical but psychic and spiritual.

We are continually tormented by the ups and downs of life in the form of joy andsorrow, success and failure, honor and humiliation, etc. Contrasting types ofexperiences come to us tossing our mind into various moods of elation and

dejection.

Acceptance by firm judgment as true of what scriptures and the guru instruct iscalled by sages Shraddha or faith, by means of which the Reality is perceived.

Not the mere indulgence of thought (in curiosity) but the constant concentration

of the intellect (or the affirming faculty) on the ever-pure Brahman, is what iscalled Samadahana, or self-settled-ness.

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Mumukshuta or yearning for freedom is the desire to free oneself, by realizingones true nature, from all bondages from that of egoism to that of the body bondages superimposed by ignorance.

Among things conducive to liberation, devotion alone holds the supreme place.The seeking after ones real nature is designated as devotion.

9The Guru is one) who knows the spirit of the scriptures, is sinless, unsmittenby desire, and is best among the knowers of Brahman, who has found his placein Brahman, is calm like fire that has consumed its fuel, who is a boundless

ocean of motiveless mercy, and a friend of all good people who humblyapproach him.

There are some good people, calm and great-souled, who go about doing goodto the world as does the spring; having themselves crossed this ocean of relativeexistence, they help others also to cross the same without any selfish motive

whatsoever.

(The Guru said:) Fear not , O learned one, there is no death for thee; there is ameans of crossing this sea of relative existence; that very way by which sageshave gone beyond it, I shall inculcate to you.

World does us no harm, but worldliness does. This world in itself is neither goodnor bad. Our understanding about it and the way we handle it makes it eithergood or bad. To live in the world is not the same as being worldly. Whenworldliness enters us, this human system becomes unfit for higher evolution andbecomes stagnant.

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The path to God is an ancient path. This is the language used in the Upanishadsand also by Buddha. Buddha said that he was not making a new path. The pathalready existed and was trodden by many in the past. For sometime it was not inuse and therefore grass and weeds had grown over it. Buddha said that he was

just cleaning up that path for us, a path which was an ancient one.

Reasoning on the meaning of the Vedanta leads to efficient knowledge, which isimmediately followed by the total annihilation of the misery born of relativeexistence.The Upanishads say that one should first learn the truth from the scriptures or theguru, then think about it deeply, and, finally, live in that truth by becoming onewith it. This is the method of spiritual realization in Vedanta.

Faith, devotion, and the yoga of meditation these are mentioned by the Shrutias the immediate factors of liberation in the case of a seeker; whoever abides inthese gets liberation from the bondage of the body, which is the conjuring ofignorance.

It is verily through the touch of ignorance that thou who are the Supreme Selffindest thyself under the bondage of the non-Self, whence alone proceeds theroad of births and deaths. The fire of knowledge, kindled by the discriminationbetween these two, burns up the effects of ignorance together with their root.

Our present bondage has come upon us due to ignorance. And from this aloneproceeds the round of births and deaths. We are essentially the Supreme Self,ever free; only we dont know this truth.

The fire of knowledge, kindled by the discrimination between the Self and thenon-Self, burns up the effects of ignorance together with their root. This is thecomplete destruction of bondage.

(To continue)

Summary: Satyendra Nath Dwivedi

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vivekachudamani 1

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