Sutras 43 to 50
Sutra 43
Dussangaha
sarvathaiva tyaajyah
Bad
company must be shunned by all means
Sutra 44
Kama
krodha moha smritibhramsa buddhinaasa sarvanaasa karanatvat.
Being the
cause of desire, anger, delusion, loss of memory, loss of intellect, and utter
ruin.
Sutra 45
Tarangaayitaa
apime sangaat samudraayanti.
These,
although starting as small waves, (become) like an ocean because of (bad)
company.
Dussanga here means association
with people pursuing only the worldly goals and having no value for spiritual
growth. Such association will drag the
spiritual seeker down, and it is to be avoided in every possible way. How it can
ruin the quest for the parama prema bhakthi of the spiritual seeker is
described in detail in the Sutra 44.
In Sutra 44 sage Narada gives us
the indications of what bad company can do to a seeker, in words very
reminiscent of Lord Krishna’s advice to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita
(2-62&63) which is as follows:
Dhyaayato
vishayaan pumsah sangas teshupajaayate;
Sangaat
sanjaayate kaamah kaamaat krodho’bhijaayate.
(2-62)
When a man thinks of the
objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment desire is born; from desire
anger arises.
Krodhaad bhavati sammohah
sammohaat smriti vibhramah;
Smritibhramshaad
buddhinaasho buddhinaashaat pranashyati. (2-63)
From anger comes delusion;
from delusion the loss of memory; from loss of memory the destruction of
discrimination; from the destruction of discrimination, he perishes.
Association with persons
who have only material thoughts and material pursuits and no spiritual
interests or inclinations, brings into the mind a steady march of sensuous
thoughts which develop in time into an irresistible desire (Kama) for
their possession and enjoyment. When
this could not be fulfilled, anger (Krodha) arises on whatever stands in
the way. When anger mounts up, delusion
(Moha) starts. This leads gradually to loss of memories of his spiritual
quest (smrithibrahmsa), loss of rational discriminative intellect (buddhinaasa)
and finally to complete ruin of his spiritual life (sarvanaasa). This tragic fall in spiritual quest was the result
of the desire for material objects and sense pleasures that had been kindled
and kept alive by the bad company. So sage Narada advises that dussangha
is to be avoided always by all means and only satsangha is to be cultivated always.
Sage Narada also warns in Sutra 46
that the negative qualities, which start out as only small
problems, would turn into unmanageable huge problems, like small waves that
grow into oneness with the big ocean, due to the influence of bad company. Chapter 3 ends with this Sutra.
Sutra 46
Kastarati
kastarati mayaam? Yah sangam tyajati, yo mahaanubhaavam sevate, nirmamo
bhavati.
Who crosses (Maya),
who crosses the Maya? He who gives up attachment, he who serves a great
soul, (he who) becomes free from the sense of “mine-ness” (sense of possession).
Chapter 4 starts with this Sutra,
wherein sage Narada himself raises the question, how to cross the Maya
and starts answering it in five Sutras.
“mama Maya duratyaya (Maya of mine is difficult to
cross over.)” says Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita (7-14). Crossing Maya means becoming free of
samsara, and in this Sutra and succeeding Sutras, sage Narada describes various
steps necessary to attain it. They are:
- · One needs to give up attachment for material
objects. This means giving up desires
for worldly objects which can be done only by cultivating value for spiritual
growth and attachment to God. Attachment
to spiritual growth and God helps one to give up worldly attachments.
- One should resort to a great person, a Strotriya
- Brahmanishta teacher, seeking studentship and offering oneself in
dedicated service. Association with this great teacher in service to him and
study of scriptures purifies the mind.
- One must free oneself of the feeling
of my-ness, the feeling of possession.
The possessions by themselves can be kept but the mental slavery to them
through the feeling of my-ness, that gives them power to bind one, is to be
given up. What is given up is not the
physical possessions but the mental attitude of possessiveness in respect of
them. When my-ness is gone, the worry
and anxiety, the pride and ego, associated with it is also gone, allowing one
to concentrate in one’s spiritual quest.
More steps follow in the coming Sutras.
Sutra 47
Yo vivikta-sthaanam
sevate, yo lokabandham unmulayati, (yo) nistraigunyo bhavati, (yo) yogakshemam
tyajati.
(One) who
resorts to a lonely and a quiet place, (one who) roots out his bondage with the
world by roots, (one who) gains freedom from the three gunas, and (one
who) gives up all anxieties for acquiring and preserving.
Sutra 48
Yah karmaphalam tyajati,
karmaani sannyasyati, tato nirdvandvo bhavati.
One who
gives up fruits of actions, one who renounces actions and thereby becomes free
from the play of the pairs of opposites.
In the above two Sutras sage Narada continues to enumerate the prerequisites of an aspirant for spiritual growth, who wants to cross the Maya. They are: -
·
The seeker needs to retire to a quiet place and engage
in contemplation of God. A quiet place does not have
to be a cave in the mountains; it can be a puja room at home or even a
quiet corner where one can be alone with oneself and keep the mind focussed on
God.
· The seeker must root out his attachment to worldly activities.
Rooting out the attachment is like pulling the weeds out by their roots to stop
them from growing back. Attachments can be similarly rooted out only by getting
rid of the root cause, the ahamkara and mamakara.
·
The
seeker must gain freedom from the three qualities of body and mind, namely, tamas,
rajas and satva. This freedom comes from the understanding that
he is not the body-mind complex and his real Self is the Athma
·
The
seeker must give up all anxieties for acquiring (yoga) and maintaining (kshema)
worldly objects. Lord Krishna has also guaranteed
in Bhagavad Gita (9-22):
Ananyaashchintayanto maam ye janaah
paryupaasate;
Teshaam nityaabhiyuktaanaam yogakshemam
vahaamyaham.
To those men who worship me alone,
thinking of no other, of those ever united, I secure what is not already
possessed and preserve what they already possess.
·
The seeker must give up karma phala (fruits of actions) meaning
that he should not entertain any raga or dwesha for karmaphalam and
accept it as God’s prasada.
· The seeker needs to give up all ego-centric actions. This and the previous injunction free one from the play of pair of opposites like pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, failure or success etc.
Sutra
49
Vedaanapi
sannyasyati; kevalam-avichhinna-anuraagam labhate.
Who
gives up even the Vedas; attains the pure unbroken love.
Sutra
50
Sa
tarati sa tarati, sa lokaanstaarayati.
He
crosses, he crosses (and) he helps other people to cross.
This Sutra 49 consists of two parts. In the first part,
last of the essential requisites “to cross the Maya” is described. The second part describes what is achieved
through all these efforts. Vedas here
stands for the ritualistic portion of Vedas. In the second part it is said that
he gains kevalam avichinna anuragam, pure, unbroken, continuous love,
that was called earlier parama prema, amrithasvarupa. The one-ness with God in
love, makes one a Self-realized person and attaining this devotion with love, one
does not stand in need of the rituals prescribed by the Vedas. So Vedaanapi sannyasyati does not mean
he renounces Vedas, but only there is no more need for him as Lord Krishna says
in Bhagavad Gita (2-46)
Yaavaanartha udapaane sarvatah samplutodake;
Taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanatah.
To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of as much use as is a reservoir of water in a place where there is a flood.
The one who has gained one-ness with God in love has also freed oneself from the shackles of samsara i.e. he has crossed Maya successfully. This statement is repeated to add emphasis to it. Not only has he crossed Maya, he also helps other seekers to cross Maya, says sage Narada in Sutra 50. Chapter 4 ends with this Sutra.
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