The teachings of Lord Krishna to Udddhava before His departure from earth is known as Uddava Gita and this forms part of Srimad Bhagavatam. The teaching is spread over 24 chapters. During His teaching, Lord Krishna narrates the occasion when He imparted teaching to Sanaka and his brothers, the manasaputras of Lord Brahma i.e. Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanathkumara and Sanatsujatha. Uddava then wants to know when and in what form he taught them for as one close to Lord Krishna, he would have known it if He had taught them as Krishna. Then Lord Krishna recalls the occasion and teaching. This section of the Uddava Gita i.e. slokas 16 to 42 of Ch.8, is known as Hamsa Gita.
The sons
of Lord Brahma, hereafter referred to as Sanathkumaras, approached their father
and asked about a problem concerning the mind and the world. The mind is caught in the world through
varieties of experiences. The world
enters the mind in the form of vasanas i.e. every object one experiences enters
the mind in the form of vasana or memory.
Even when one does not perceive the world as in dream state, these
objects keep coming in the mind. Thus,
the mind enters the world and world also enters the mind. This continuous interaction produces variety
of emotional problems involving raga, dwesha, kama, krodha
etc. The human mind, thus preoccupied,
knows not how to withdraw. Thus, every human being is caught in a trap caused
by the lock-horn position of mind and world. How to get out of this trap was their
question. Lord Brahma, being preoccupied
otherwise, could not immediately offer a solution to this problem, and thought
of his father, Lord Vishnu, for help.
Lord Vishnu appeared before them in the form of Hamsa, the
swan. Lord Krishna, being the
incarnation of Lord Vishnu, recalls this advice to Lord Brahma and his sons as
advice from Him. This advice is called Hamsa
Gita. (verses15 to 19)
When Sanathkumaras
saw the divine bird, they could understand that it is from the outer world. So, they approached Hamsa Bhagavan with
their father, and prostrated before Him.
Then one of the brothers asked Hamsa Bhagavan, “Who art
Thou?” Instead of giving a simple answer,
He answered them with a Vedantic explanation.
If the question is from the standpoint of Athma, the question is
not relevant because there is only one Athma and that Athma is
without attributes and does not have any features to identify as so and
so. On the contrary, if the question is
from the standpoint of body-mind-complex, even then it is still not relevant because
the body-mind complex of every living being is made of the same Pancha Bhutas
i.e. space, air, fire, water, and earth, only. By answering in this manner, He
has shifted their attention to Athma, which is one with Brahman, where
there is no division. Then i.e. from verse 24, He starts addressing their
original problem. (verses 20 to 23)
Hamsa Bhagavan started telling that whatever one experiences through all the karmendriyas, jnanendriyas
and anthakaranam is none other than Bhagavan Himself. For the world
itself, including the Jivas, is only the incarnation of Bhagavan only.
As Lord Krishna has said in Bhagavad Gita (7-7):
Mattah parataram
naanyat kinchidasti Dhananjaya;
Mayi sarvamidam protam
sootre maniganaa iva.
O Dhananjaya, there is nothing else whatsoever higher than
Myself. All this is strung on Me like pearls on a string.
Jiva is eternally identified with Brahman and his
apparent connection with sense-objects is due to the superimposition of the
mind on one’s Real Self. So, as body-mind
complex is only a upadhi for oneself, one should turn away from them
with the understanding of their unreality and shift one’s attention to Jiva,
the owner, who is Paramathma only.
Developing vairagya for body-mind complex one must withdraw from the
mind and sense-objects and concentrate one’s attention on Jiva, the Chaitanya
tathvam i.e. Brahman, the supreme Lord. Due to one’s ignorance one gives reality to
objects and their experience. One should discriminate between Reality and
relative Reality and should practice abiding in Reality i.e. Self, the Athma
i.e. Brahman with the understanding that the body-mind complex, the
anathma, is only relative reality. (verses 24 to 26)
The three gunas;
satvam, rajas and tamas; which are the three attributes of mind and the three avasthas;
jagrat, svapna and sushupthi; which are three states of mind, belong
to anathma only. Athma,
having no attributes, is beyond the gunas and being sakshi
Chaithanyam, is only a witness to the three avasthas. With this understanding one should
disassociate oneself from mind and sense-objects and meditate on Athma. Ego, the sense of individuality arising out
of identification with the finite body-mind complex is the cause of bondage. By fixing the mind on the infinite i.e. Self
that is Brahman, one should give up identification with the finite i.e.
body-mind complex. (verses 27 to 29)
Mistaking oneself to be
finite and the world to be real and that everything in the world is different
and distinct from each other, one cultivates a notion of plurality. Based on this wrong notion, one’s ego
superimposes joys or sorrows on objects, creates likes and dislikes for them,
enjoys or suffers them and becomes happy or unhappy temporarily. These are only
like dream experiences caused by the sleep of ignorance that makes these
experiences appear real, like dream-world looking real to the dreamer in
dream state. When the dreamer wakes up, he
is not elated or depressed by the dream experiences, since he knows their
unreality. In the same way, when the waker arises from the sleep of ignorance,
realising his Real nature, he is not affected by experiences of the waking
state and is free of samsara because of his acquired understanding that
the entire world with all its plurality and differences is only mithya. A dreamer, wandering in the forest in dream is
woken up by the roar of an approaching lion in the dream. Similarly, the wisdom
of Self-knowledge imparted by a Guru, wakes one up from the sleep of ignorance
and dream of erroneous notions. (Verses 30 and 31)
In the waking state, mind and the senses are in full use and one experiences the outside world as
separate from one. In the dream state,
dream world is experienced as separate from one, though it is a projection of one’s
mind. In the deep sleep state, both the
mind and senses are withdrawn and so is free from the experience of plurality. The experiences of each of the three states
are negated in the other two states and so the three states are unreal. However, ‘I’ the experiencer of three states,
am common and remain present in all the three states. The existence of the ‘I’
thought proves the existence of ‘I’ the Self, who is the very illuminator,
witness, essence, and substratum of the three states. The waking, dream and deep slate belong to
the ego and are falsely projected on the Self by Maya. The Self is ever free of the three
states. This knowledge of one’s true
Self is gained by the knowledge gained from a Guru through Sravanam, Mananam
and Nitidyasanam. Self-knowledge destroys the ego and, on its
destruction, one abides in the Self within i.e. Brahman. (Verses 32 and
33)
One must see this
perceived world as an illusion, a play of mind, and unreal like a dream. The various forms that one sees are due to
the play of Maya and is not real. A tip of light (firebrand) is rotated
to create innumerable patterns While the tip remains the same; the one
appearing as many. Similarly, the mind,
the world and life too are constantly changing, giving birth to innumerable
forms, creating new patterns and relationships which are not real as it is the
one Consciousness alone that appears as the manifold world. Just as the patterns of the firebrand are
false, the plurality of the world too is false.
Therefore, withdrawing one’s attention from the external world and
becoming free from cravings, with the knowledge of its mithyathvam, one
must meditate on the inner Bliss i.e. Brahman. When the mind starts enjoying inner Bliss all
extrovertedness ends. All actions arising out of ego and egocentric desires
end. When such a Realized person comes out of his meditation, he is no longer
deluded, attracted, or bound even when he interacts with the world. He remains
unaffected by the world, like a person not running after mirage water knowing
its falsity. Just as the world does not delude him, the condition of body and
mind does not bind him. Such a person is a liberated one even while living, a Jivanmuktha.
(Verses 34 and 35)
The man of realization, always immersed in Self-knowledge, is like an intoxicated person, unmindful of
the environment or the condition of his body. He uses the body as a vehicle to
carry on his work, taking care of it when it is tired or sick or hungry. He
knows that the life is sustained by prarabdha karma, and life does not end
until the prarabdha karma is exhausted. Like the fan
that continues its rotation for some time after switching off, the body
continues to function depending on the momentum of prarabdha karma, even
after Self-realisation. The one who has
attained Self-realisation does not get attached to the world after attaining
realisation, and functions in the world until he attains Videha mukthi
at death, treating it as a dream. (verses 36 and 37)
Ending His teaching, Hamsa
Bhagavan now revealed His identity as Lord Vishnu, by responding to the earlier
question ‘Who are you’. And then He revealed
also His glory as the supreme goal of all in life. Though He is the abode of
all virtues and qualities, He is by nature Nirguna, free of all
qualities. He does not depend on
anything for his existence and He is firmly established in His glory. He is the Self of all and so all are dear to
Him. On listening to these words, Lord Brahma and Sanathkumaras, with their
doubts now cleared, worshipped Him with supreme devotion and sang hymns in
praise of Him. And the Lord returned to His abode and Hamsa Gita also ends.
(verses 38 to 42)
Acknowledgement
I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the
speeches and writings on this subject, of:
1)
Swami
Tejomayananda and
2)
Swami Paramarthananda
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