Vivekachudamani – 17

 

Select verses 89 to 96

Verse 89

sadhubhih pujyamane’smin, pidyamane’pi durjanaih |

samabhavo bhavedyasya, sa jivanmukta ishyate ||440||

One who feels the same when his body is adored by the virtuous or tortured by the wicked, is considered a jivan-mukta.

            Continuing to describe Jivanmuktha, Acharya says that whether he is adored by good people or tormented by wicked people, he has a samabhava, sameness of mind, towards all of them. He is neither elated by praise nor depressed by abuse. Praise and abuse mean the same to him.  He does not react either positively or negatively to external world.

Verse 90

vijnatabrahmatatvasya, yathapurvam na samsrtih |

asti cenna sa vijnata-brahmabhavo bahirmukhah ||442||

For one who has realised the nature of Athma being Brahman, there is no reaching out for sense-objects any more. If there is, then one has not realized Brahman, being an extrovert.

            One who has realised Athma as Brahman, has no vasanas. Only when there are vasanas, mind and intellect turn towards objects, emotions and thoughts. When the mind and intellect are turned inward and there they discover the greatest of all happiness, then there is no samsara for the individual.  But if they run after the sense-fields of experience and one is subject to sukha and dukha, then one has not realized the svarupa of Brahman as his Real Self and he is not a Jivanmuktha even though he might have mastered the scriptures.

Verse 91

aham brahmeti vijnanat, kalpakotisatarjitam |

sancitam vilayam yati, prabodhat svapnakarmavat ||447||

With the Realization “I am Brahman”, the actions of a hundreds of crores of kalpas get destroyed, like the actions of the dream-life on waking up.

Verse 92

yatkrtam svapnavelayam, punyam va papamulbanam |

suptotthitasya kim tatsyat, svargaya narakaya va ||448||

Can the meritorious acts or sinful deeds that a person has imagined doing in a dream take one to heaven or hell when one has woken up?

              For a Jivanmuktha, the accumulated karma of all the past karmas, sanchitha karma, gets completely destroyed, just as results of activities done in a dream.  On waking up, the results of all dream-state activities completely cease to act upon the awakened individual.  Similarly, for one who has realised ‘I am Brahman’, all the accumulated karmas in the individual’s karmic account under sanchitha karma, is reduced to nil. This dream example is elaborated in verse 92. The punya karma done in a dream is not going to help the individual to gain punya to go to heaven, nor papa karma done will condemn him to hell.  Just as money won in a lottery in dream will not help him on waking up and crime committed in dream will not send him to jail on waking up.

Verse 93

svamasangamudasinam, parijnaya nabho yatha |

na slisyate yatih kinchit, kadachidbhavikarmabhih ||449||

Being unattached and indifferent, a Realised person is not tainted a little by the future actions like the sky

Verse 94

na nabho ghatayogena, suragandhena lipyate |

tathatmopadhiyogena, taddharmairnaiva lipyate ||450||

The space, because of its contact with the jar, is not tainted by the smell of the liquor in it. So too Athma is not affected by the attributes of the upadhis because of its contact with them.

            Agami karma is also destroyed for Jivanmuktha as he has neither karthrutva buddhi nor bhokthruthva buddhi in his actions.  The example of sky is given to show Athma is unattached and actionless. The Athma is described as being indifferent (udaseena) to indicate that in its presence all the activities take place but in none of the activities it is involved. Space is present everywhere.  The contents in space can never contaminate it. A pot of liquor may contaminate the air with its smell, but not the space. The space in the pot cannot be conditioned by the contents of the pot.  Similarly, though the Jivanmuktha lives in the body, the body cannot condition him as at all times he is conscious of his oneness with Brahman.  Jivanmuktha is no longer a ‘human being’ trying to live a spiritual life, but a ‘divine being’ trying to live a worldly life.

Verse 95

jnanodayat purarabdham, karma jnananna nasyati |

adattva svaphalam laksyam, uddisyotsrshtabanavat ||451||

Like the released arrow directed against the target, the karmaphala that has begun fructifying before the rise of Self-knowledge does not go away by self-knowledge without yielding fruits.

Verse 96

vyaghrabuddhya vinirmuktah, banah paschattu gomatau |

na tishthati cchinattyeva, lakshyaṃ vegena nirbharam ||452||

An arrow released with the idea of striking a tiger does not stop when it turns out to be a cow. It still strikes the target with full force.

            After talking about sanchitha and agami karmas in the previous four verses, guru takes up the prarabhdha karma.  Prarabhdha karma is the one that has given rise to this body and it has started fructifying before the rise of Self-knowledge. It does not get dissolved like the other two when Self-Realisation takes place. It continues to exist performing its role even after Self-Realisation just as an arrow already released runs its full course.  This example is further explained in verse no. 96.  While hunting in the forest a person shot an arrow at a target, mistakenly thinking it is a tiger. After shooting he realised it was a cow but this late realisation did not stop the arrow from striking the target. Similarly, the realisation ‘I am Brahman’ will not arrest the course of prarabhdha midway.

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