Vivekachudamani – 3

 Select verses 10 to 14

Verse 10

brahma satyaṃ jaganmithya, ityevamrupo vinischayaḥ |

so’yam nityanityavastu-vivekah samudahrtah ||20||

A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the universe is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and the unreal.

            Viveka is defined in this verse. Universe is unreal because it is not permanent. Even as per science it came into existence 3.7 billion years ago at the time of ‘Big Bang’ and started evolving.  What has a beginning will also have an end one day.  Further the entire universe is within Time and Space and so is perishable. Therefore, it is anithyam.  Brahman, of whom we can learn from the scriptures only, is beyond Time and Space and is eternal and is revealed as a nithya vasthu.  The firm conviction that Brahman alone is eternal and the universe is ephemeral only is called Viveka, the discrimination between nitya and anitya vasthu. 

Verse 11

tadvairagyam jihasa ya, darsanasravanadhibhih |

dehadibrahmaparyante, hyanitye bhogavastuni ||21||

The desire to give up all transient enjoyments gained through seeing, hearing, etc., and also experiences gained through equipments ranging from a mortal body to the form of Brahma is called ‘detachment‘.           

     Vairagya is defined in this verse.  Vairagya is renouncement of all forms of attachment to all objects of experience and all beings of this world and other worlds. This comes as a natural result of the vigorous discrimination that everything other than Brahman is impermanent.  So one with Viveka recognises the pleasures and beings of this world and of the other worlds as well, as impermanent only and gives up the desire for them. Vairagya follows Viveka, but it does not follow automatically in view of the emotional value of worldly pleasures and relations.  So one has to cultivate it deliberately.  It is also not running away from them or hating them but only handling them with objectivity, dispassion and non-involvement.

Verse 12

virajya visayavratad, dosadrstya muhurmuhuḥ |

svalaksye niyatavastha, manasah sama ucyate ||22॥

The tranquil state of mind when it rests constantly upon the contemplation of the goal after having again and again detached itself from myriad sense objects through a process of continuous observation of their defects, is called Sama.

            Sama, the first of the six virtues, is defined in this verse.  Sama goes hand in hand with Vairagya and means mastering the mind or controlling the mind.  Perfect mind-discipline means that the mind goes where one wants it to go and when one wants it to go and not to go anywhere and anytime by itself.  Mind cannot be allowed to have a freedom of its own and it has to follow the direction of the intellect. As mind’s job is to generate thoughts this amounts to managing the thoughts.   The thoughts should be so managed as to constantly think of the short-comings of the sense objects and worldly pleasures that promotes worry and anxiety and the glory of the goal of Moksha that frees one from the fetters of samsara and blesses one with peace and tranquillity.    This discipline of mind, keeping the thoughts focussed on the goal of Moksha, not allowing it to wander in the field of sense objects is called Sama. 

Verse 13

vishayebhyah paravartya, sthapanaṃ svasvagolake |

ubhayeshamindriyanam, sa damah parikirtitah ||23॥

Steering both kinds of sense organs (of knowledge and action) away from their sense objects and placing them in their respective centres of activity is called Dama (sense-control).

            Dama, second of the six virtues is defined in this verse.  Whereas Sama is Mano nigraha, control of mind; Dama is Indriya nigraha, control of the sense-organs.  The sense organs are gateways of the mind to the outer world.  So they determine what enters the mind.  Senses are extrovert by nature and run after their sense objects without any discrimination. It is only through sound intellect and good habits they can be kept on track under control.  Kathopanishad compares sense organs to horses, sensory objects to the path it traverses on, mind to reins and intellect to the charioteer.  Neither reins nor horses should be allowed to determine the direction of the chariot. Only the charioteer should.  Same way mind and Indriyas must be under the control of the intellect and the intellect to be properly developed through satsang, and study of scriptures and moral and ethical literature. Dama requires constant alertness and is will-based, like Sama.

Verse 14

bahyanalambanam vritteh, eshoparatiruttama |

sahanam sarvaduhkhanam, apratikarapurvakam |

cintavilaparahitam, sa titiksha nigadyate ||23b,24॥

The best Uparati (self-withdrawal) is that condition of the thought-waves in which they are free from the influences of external objects.  Titiksha or forebearance is the capacity to endure all sorrows and sufferings without struggling for redress or for revenge, while always being free from anxiety or lament over them.

            Uparati, the third of the six virtues and Titiksha, the fourth of the six virtues are described in this verse.  The simple meaning of Uparati, also called Uparama, is mental quietude or calmness.  By the practice of Sama and Dama, one makes the mind quiet while Uparati ensures the continuity of that quiet condition. Through Uparati one ensures that mind does not revert to the extrovert state and run after the external objects.  It is achieved through reduction of extrovert activities and turning the mind away from sensual objects and from worldly longings. This comes naturally when one practices Sama and Dama with Viveka and Vairagya and attains inner tranquillity. This is as described in Sthitha prajna lakshana in Bhagavad Gita (2-58); “Withdrawing the senses from the sense-objects like the tortoise withdrawing its limbs on all sides”

            Titiksha is the ability to endure without reacting, complaining, or blaming oneself or others for contrary experiences at the physical level like heat and cold, at the emotional level like joy and sorrow, and at the intellectual level like praise and censure, whether conducive or non-conducive. Titiksha is tolerance of conditions outside one’s control, natural, social or physical without losing one’s cool, avoiding mechanical response without deliberation which becomes mainly the cause of many revengeful actions.  This enables one to have a tension-free calm mind that is suitable for reflection on scriptural teachings regarding Reality, Brahman.

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