Verses 23 to 28 (end)
Verse 23
swaroopam eva me jnaanam na gunah sah guno
yadi I
anatmatvam asattvam vaa jneya ajneya tvayoh patet II
Consciousness is my nature, not my quality.
If it is a quality, then the Athma is knowable (an object of knowledge) by
it. In that case Athma becomes
‘not-Self’. If the Athma is not knowable, it becomes ‘non-existent’.
Verse 24
aham-eva sukham na anyad anyad chet na eva
tat sukham I
amadartham na hi preyo madartham na svatah
priyam II
Bliss is myself and not different from me. If
it were different, it cannot be Bliss at all. For if it is not for me, it would
not be dear and if it is for me, it is not dear by itself.
‘I’, the Athma,
am Ananda Swarupaha because ‘I’, the Athma, alone am unconditionally
loved by me. Every object in the creation is either an
object of no love or an object of conditional love. All those objects which are not connected to
me are never an object of love. All the
related objects are the objects of love but not for their own sake. They are
objects of love for my sake, for my comfort and happiness only. For, such an object of
happiness will not be dear always. It may bring happiness at most times at the
best, but the same object will also bring unhappiness at certain times. For
example, an ice cream may bring happiness but too many will start making one
feel uncomfortable. Similarly, wife or husband may give one much happiness but
there will also be times when the reverse is true. The moment
the object is uncomfortable to me, I tend to reject the object temporarily or permanently.
There is only one thing in the creation
which is unconditionally loved by me and that is ‘I’, the Athma. And that ‘I’ which is an object of unconditional
love must be a source of unconditional Ananda. Whatever is a source of unconditional Ananda,
must have Ananda as its intrinsic nature. Therefore, ‘I’, the Athma, am Ananda
Swarupaha.
Verse 25
na hi naanaa swaroopam syad ekam vastu
kadaachana I
tasmaad akhanda eva asmi vijahad jagateem
bhidaam II
To have many natures is not possible at all
for the one same Reality. Therefore, undivided do I remain (exist), discarding
differences that belong to the world.
In verse 2, the author has said that Athma
is Sat-Chit-Aananda. A person may
mistake that these three, Sat Chit and Aananda are three parts of
Athma. But these are neither parts of Athma nor properties of
Athma. They are not properties of Athma
has been explained in the earlier three verses.
So the author explains in this verse that these three words do not refer
to three parts of Athma because it is clearly said that Athma is
part-less. That which can be parted is
called part. Anything made of parts will
gradually disintegrate as the parts will go apart slowly in time. If Athma is with parts then Athma
will become anityam. But we
clearly know that Athma is Nitya Swarupaha. Therefore, it
has to be part-less only. In Chandogya Upanishad, Athma is
defined as “ekam eva advitiyam”. While
commenting upon this statement it is pointed out that Athma is free from
all the three types of division, Sajatiya, Vijatiya and Swagatha
Bhedas. Swagatha Bheda refers
to internal division. That is one Athma itself cannot have internal
divisions like head, tail, right, left etc. Therefore Sat, Chit, Aananda cannot be
internal parts of Athma. One
division-less Athma is known by three different names from three different
angles. It is like one and the same
person is called son from the stand point of his father, is called husband from
the stand point of the wife and is called father from the stand point of the
son. When one looks at Athma from
the angle of temporary objects in the creation, Athma as the lender of existence
to those objects is called Sat. From
the angle of the temporarily sentient bodies, like human body that loses
sentiency when it turns a corpse, Athma is seen as the adhishtanam
which lends sentiency to those bodies and is named Chitrupaha. When people are happy now and then, Athma
is known as the source of that temporary happiness and from their standpoint, it
is said Athma is Ananda Swarupaha. Thus, from three different angles, the one Athma
without a second and without parts is called Sat- Chit- Ananda. But from its own standpoint, it is without
name and without form i.e. anamakam, arupakam.
Verse 26
parokshataa
paricchheda saabalya apoha nirmalam I
‘tat asi’
iti giraa lakshyam ‘aham-eka-rasam mahah’ II
When the
conditionings of remoteness and limitations are removed from the Immaculate One
(Ishwara), we get the meaning of ‘That (Thou) Art’, as indicated by Srutis. That, the great Light of Consciousness, is
me.
The infinite Brahman is the Pure Consciousness
without attributes. Due to Its apparent
association with the macro universe and micro individual body It is experienced
as remote and finite. Understanding and
contemplation of the Mahavakhya ‘Tat Tvam asi’, clears the veil
of misapprehension that covers Brahman and the 'Self'. ‘Tat’
is the pronoun used to denote Consciousness with the macro upadhi and is
called Paramathma with the attribute of remoteness. ‘Tvam’ is the pronoun used to denote
Consciousness with micro upadhi and is called Jivathma with the
attribute of finitude. Both appear
different as Paramathma is all-powerful, omniscient and immortal while Jivathma
has limited intellect, limited power and is mortal. Stripped of upadhis they
are one only having the same identity as Pure Consciousness which is my Real
Self.
Verse 27
upashaanta
jagat, jeeva, shishya, aachaarya, eeshwara bhramam I
swatah
siddham anaadi-antam paripoornam aham mahah II
Negation of
all ideas of world, Jiva, disciple, teacher, Lord – taking them as delusion –
is done. As Self-established, without beginning and end, and all-full do I
remain ‘the Light of Consciousness’!
In the state of Self-ignorance, one was
experiencing the world of names and forms. Wanting to liberate himself from
samsara, he approaches a guru as mumukshu and becomes his disciple. He worships the Lord regularly seeking His
Grace for Liberation. On attaining Self- knowledge and realizing his real Self
as Athma, the pure Consciousness that is the Supreme Brahman, how
he feels in his mind is described in this verse. He inwardly feels:
“I am free
from the limitations of time, space and objects and I feel full and
complete. I am self-evident and
self-effulgent. The relationships of the
world are no more for me. I am free from the delusions of names and forms be it
guru or sishya, Jiva or Iswara. I am beginningless and endless. I am the one
infinite Self-shining Sat-Chit-Aananda Swarupa Athma, that is Brahman”
Through this reminiscence of a realized Jnani,
the author has summed up his teachings in this concluding verse of teaching.
Verse 28
lakshmeedhara-kaveh sookti
sarad-ambhoja-sambhritah I
advaita-makarandah ayam vidvad bhringaih nipeeyataam
II
These verses of the poet Lakshmidhara Kavi,
are like autumnal lotuses. May the
‘Nectar of Non-duality’ present in them be joyfully drunk by all the ‘bees’ of
wise men!
The verses of
this text by Lakshmidhara Kavi are compared to the lotuses of the autumn
season. The
autumnal flowers are the best for making honey, being rich in nectar after the
monsoonal rains and heat of summer. The
knowledge of Athma, the non-dual Brahman, is like the nectar hidden deep within
its soft-petals. The learned sadhakas
and spiritual seekers are the bees whom the author is inviting to enjoy the
sweet essence of Advaita that he is presenting in his work. These verse are for reading and reflection with
devotion to get the taste of the makaranda of Advaita.
Acknowledgement
While concluding the series
of blogs on Advaita Makaranda I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude
to the speeches and writings on this subject, of:
1) Swami
Tejomayananda
2) Swami
Gurubhakthananda
3) Swami
Paramarthananda
4) Swami
Omkarananda
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