Iswara’s Grace

Sri Krishna says in Gita (9-29) “समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योस्ति न प्रियः”। (Samoham sarva bhutheshu na may dweshyosthi na priyaha)  I am same to all beings; there is none hateful or dear to me.  This declaration He makes not as the son of Devaki but as Paramathma, whom we shall refer to as Iswara.  But we feel in practice some seem to be recipients more of Iswara’s Grace or Iswara Kripa or Anugraha than others.  What is the yardstick to qualify for the special Grace, one may wonder. I want to analyse it in this blog in the light of other statements Sri Krishna makes in the same chapter.

As Sri Krishna says ‘I am same to all’, He does not choose anybody to shower special Grace; rather He showers His Grace equally on all.  It is only we through our actions need qualify ourselves to take advantage of His Grace.  Acharya Sankara  illustrates this through an example.  In winter people light a fire and sit around it.  The fire gives the same warmth to all, but the one who sits near it seems to receive more warmth than the ones sitting a bit far off.  Swami Paramarthananda gives an example from current scenario. Solar energy flows same to all, but the one who has erected a solar panel gets the benefit of electricity from it to escape power-cut.  The one who has attained a higher degree of mental purity, through selfless prayer, worship and actions done in karmayoga spirit makes oneself eligible to take advantage of the Grace like the farmer who has tilled the land and sowed the seeds beforehand, gets greater benefit from the rains and reaps a good harvest as compared to the one who has neglected the field and let the water go waste.  This Sri Krishna himself states in the second line of the above quoted verse: ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहं॥ (Ye bhajanthi tum am bhakthya mayi te teshu chapyaham) But those who worship me devoutly, abide in Me and I too am in them. This means that more you get closer to Him the more you feel His nearness to you.

Now the question is “How to get closer to Him?  Does it need special sadhanas like Vrata, Upasana, Yagna or a special Puja somewhere?”  Sri Krishna Himself has given the solution earlier in the same chapter in verse 29.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् । (Yatkaroshi  yadasnasi yajjuhoshi dadasi yat) 

यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥ (Yattapasyasi Kaunteya tatkurushva madarpanam)

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, whatever you do by way of penance,O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me.  

This attitude converts the very life itself of bhaktha as a worship of Iswara.  There is no division as secular and religious work, as all work is treated as worship, being an offering to Iswara. With such an attitude one will not stray from the path of dharma; rather he will give up any bad or immoral habits, acquired earlier.  Sri Girish Chandra ghosh, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a good dramatist but also a great drunkard.  When he confessed his inability to give up drinks, Sri Ramakrishna asked him only to offer every glass of drink to him before taking it. Gosh did accordingly but could do so only for one day and from the second day onwards, he could not bring himself to offer the drinks to his master and so gave up the habit of drinks itself.  When one invokes God in all of one’s actions sincerely, one acquires selflessness in actions. As God comes more in one’s life, the less the play of ego in one’s life, as what is ego but edging god out and replacing it with ‘I’. 

Sri Krishna goes on to list a few actions, the first among them being food.  The food we take has a great impact on our thoughts.   The more satvic the food the more satvic tends to be our mind.  In Chandogya Upanishad Sanatkumara tells Narada “आहारशद्धौ सत्वशुद्धिः” (Aahara suddhau satva suddhihi) When nourishment is pure, thought processes of the mind also become pure.  When one performs religious acts or sadhanas offering them to Iswara, he eschews selfish motive in performance.  As one gives everything with the mindset that he is giving to none other than Iswara, he cultivates humility and eschews arrogance that comes from a feeling of superiority as giver.

Such a virtuous, selfless, egoless action done with humility and with dedication to Iswara earns one Punya, good karma-phala.  Swami Paramarthananda in his lecture on God’s Grace observes that God's Grace is only another name for the ripe Punya-phala that becomes ready for tapping, because God as karma-phala dhata has no preferences and only acts as per the law of karma laid down by Himself to regulate our lives.  When the accrued Punya becomes ripe for tapping is not within one’s knowledge.  So when one enjoys the benefit of ripe punya-phala it looks as though one is enjoying special Grace.  So if one wants the favour of special Grace let him through righteous, selfless, egoless actions performed with humility and devotion, earn the Punya-phala and make oneself  eligible to receive the Punya-phala as His Grace, which may be then or later, depending upon when it becomes ripe and ready for tapping.

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Practical Vedanta of Swami Vivekananda

Let us first see briefly about Vedanta, the philosophy of the Upanishads.  Hindus, in spite of their differences in rituals, forms of worship and philosophical doctrines have a common factor i.e. their allegiance to Vedas, which is believed to be eternal and revealed by God to a few Rishis who could divine it through their refined mind.  The Upanishads generally form the end portion of Vedas and contain the theological truths revealed by the Vedas.  The philosophy expounded in the Upanishads is  known as Vedanta and this term can be interpreted as 1) the end and goal of Vedas or 2)  the essence of the Vedas and also as 3) the end portion of Vedas.  Speaking of Upanishads, Swami Vivekananda says, “Bold, brave, beyond the conception of the present day, stand the giant minds of the sages of Upanishads, declaring the noblest truths that have ever been preached to humanity, without any compromise, without any fear.....Truly it has been said of the Upanishads by Ramanuja that they form the head, shoulders, the crest of the Vedas” (Lahore address,1897) ). (Hereafter  volume no. and the page no. of collected works only will be given in brackets, when quoting Swami Vivekananda). 

The term Vedanta also denotes the major group of surviving schools of  Hindu philosophy, Dvaita, Visishtadvaita and Advaita, although by usage this term denotes Advaita Vedanta only now.   In expounding his philosophy of practical Vedanta, Swami Vivekananada, enunciated that these three are not contradictory systems though Dvaita, Visihtadvaita and Advaita differ in their interpretation of Upanishads in defining God, Universe and individual and their relationship to each other.  He stated that in the three systems there is the gradual working up of human mind towards higher and higher ideals till everything is merged in the wonderful unity which is reached in the Advaita system, the unity of everything in and as Brahman and Brahman as and in everything.  He pointed out that one system is based on another and there is gradual unfolding of the theme. It is like advancing from truth to greater truth to ultimate truth.  “The old idea was to develop one at the expense of all the rest.  The modern way is harmonious development. ---- He who gets the whole must have the parts too.  Dualism is included in Advaitism” (7,87)”  He attempted to make Advaita not the preserve of scholars and pundits but acceptable to material West, and understandable to common people of India without compromising its core principle. This view he expressed in his letter to Alasinga Perumal of Chennai, where he wrote” The dry abstract Advaita must become living-poetic- in everyday life: out of hopelessly intricate mythology must come concrete moral forms: and out of bewildering yogi-ism must come the most scientific and practical psychology – and all this must be put in a form so that a child may grasp it. That is my Life’s work”. (5,104).  He could do it as he had the “head of Sankara and heart of Buddha”.  Without devaluing the other two systems, he tried to re-state and re-interpret the Advaita Vedanta of Acharya Sankara with modern idioms, to meet modern challenges keeping in mind the great saying of Vedas “एकं सत् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति” – Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudah Vadhanthi(The Truth is one, wise men call it differently).

Acharya Sankara summed up Advaita philosophy as “Brahma Satyam, Jagan Mithya, Jivo Brahmaiva na apara”-Brahman only is real, Universe is only mithya, apparently real, Individual’s Athma is not different from Brahman”.  Swami Vivekananda in his interpretation, gave more emphasis to the part that individual’s Athma is same as Brahman, Jiva-Brahma ikyam, to emphasise the divinity of each individual soul, Athma, with no emphasis on the part about the mithyatvam of the Universe.  He wanted the wisdom of Upanishads to be no more the Rahasya, kept screened from the weak downtrodden masses of India who were in the grip of superstitions, in the name of religion and resigned to their miserable lot conditioned by centuries of social taboos.  So wherever he talked he made it a point to emphasise their divinity, reminding people of Upanishad calling them “Amrtasya  putrah”, heirs to immortal bliss.  He wanted the people to develop “muscles of steel and nerves of iron” to meet the challenges of life and to banish fear from their hearts.  A few quotations from his speeches, to this end I am giving below:

Religion is the manifestation of divinity already exist­ing in man.(3.482).

Superstition is a great enemy of man.(1.15).

Man stands on the glory of his own soul, the infinite, the eternal, the deathless—that soul which no instru­ments can pierce, which no air can dry, no fire burn, no water melt, the infinite, the birthless, the deathless, with­out beginning and without end, … before whose glory space melts away into nothingness and time vanishes into non-existence. This glorious soul we must believe in. Out of that will come power. (3.130) 

 We want Shraddha, we want faith in our own selves. Strength is life, weakness is death. ‘We are the Atman, deathless and free; pure, pure by nature. Can we ever commit any sin? Impossible!’—such a faith is needed. Such a faith makes men of us, makes gods of us. It is by losing this idea of Shraddha that the country has gone to ruin. (5.332)

The conceptions of Vedanta must come out, must remain not only in the forest, not only in the cave, but they must come out to work at the bar and the bench, in the pulpit, and in the cottage of the poor man, with the fishermen that are catching fish, and with the students that are studying. … If the fisherman thinks that he is the Spirit, he will be a better fisherman; if the student thinks that he is the Spirit, he will be a better student. If the lawyer thinks that he is the Spirit, he will be a better lawyer, and so on. (3.245).

When talking about Brahman as the only Reality, he emphasised also the oneness of all with Brahman.  So the Universe being one with Brahman is also Real, as it is pervaded by Brahman.  The Universe is only apparently real, when you see it as different from Brahman.  For him Brahman is the noumenon, the unchangeable and Universe is the phenomenon, the changeable.  Swami Vivekananda states that the Vedanta does not in reality denounce the world. What it seeks to teach is the deification of the world and not its annihilation - giving up the world as we ordinarily think of it, as it appears to us and to know what it really is. He stated that world is to be deified quoting the opening mantra of  Isavasyopanishad which says "ईशा वास्यमिदगं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् “ (Isavasyam idam sarvam yat kim ca jagatyam jagat) - All this, whatsoever moves on the earth, should be covered by the Lord." He amplified this idea when he stated:  “The central ideal of Vedanta is oneness. There are no two in anything, no two lives. There is but one life, one world, one existence. Everything is that One, the difference is in degree and not in kind. It is the same life that pulsates through all beings, from Brahman to the amoeba, the difference is only in the degree of manifestation. We must not look down with contempt on others (2,299)”.   And in emphasising all is Brahman, he also tried to emphasise the unity of personal God, Iswara and Impersonal God, Brahman calling the latter Absolute and the former relative.  He felt all the views of Brahman being based on genuine spiritual experience of the Acharyas should be accepted as true of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.

The same harmonious approach he adopted in defining the paths to reach the goal of Realisation of one’s True Self.  For him, each one of the yogas, karma yoga, bhakthi yoga, raja yoga and jnana yoga  is capable of serving as direct means for the attainment of  Moksha.  In support he quotes Gita where Sri Krishna’s talks about karma, dhyana, Bhakthi and jnana and also talks of yoga buddhi in their performance to reach Him.  Yoga buddhi is the intense desire seeking union with God.  He also defined Maya not as illusion but as a triad of space, time and causation, which are only ideas or concepts in our mind and has no place in Brahman.   Swami Vivekananda himself gave a  capsule summary of his practical Vedanta philosophy in one of his speeches as: “Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to mani­fest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.” (1.257). This incorporates the harmony and humanism he always emphasised along with the essence of Upanishads as revealed in the Mahavakhyas like “तत् त्वं असि Tat Tvam Asi” (you are that only) spelling out Jiva-Brahma-Ikyam.

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Parabhaktha, the Jeevanmuktha

Arjuna in his query regarding Gunatheetha, has also asked how one can transcend the three gunas (Gita 14-21). Lord Krishna, in his reply, discusses this in two verses 14-26 & 27 after briefly enumerating the qualities of Gunatheetha. He prescribes ananya, nish-kama bhakthi to ‘Him’ i.e. unswerving all-time devotion to ‘Him’ seeking no material benefits but only ‘His’ Grace, as a sadhana for transcending the gunas in verse 26, and in verse 27 explains who that ‘He’ is. It is not that Krishna, son of Devaki-Vasudeva, with a form and a body that is mortal and subject to changes which Arjuna is seeing before him, but the Uttama Purusha, the eternal, immutable Supreme, who pervading the three worlds sustains them, and is called the Paramatma (15-17). Such a bhakthi is called parabhakthi, the supreme devotion and one who has this bhakthi is parabhaktha, the supreme devotee. This parabhaktha is one who through total surrender to Paramatma, rises above the gunas, overcomes the spell of maya, sheds his identification with body-mind-complex, realizes his true Self as Athma, and continues to live in the body as Jeevanmuktha, free of samsara, until the exhaustion of prarabhdha.  “Such a bhaktha who holds me extremely dear, I too hold him dear” Lord Krishna has declared earlier (7-17). The characteristics of this bhaktha, whom Lord Krishna holds dear, the Parabhaktha that is Jeevanmuktha, Lord Krishna lists out in detail in 7 verses, from 13 to 19, in chapter 12.  Since the qualities of a Parabaktha are listed elaborately here, they are listed in groups and not individually.  They are:

1) अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च adveshta sarva bhuthanam maitrah karuna eva cha– Parabhaktha bears no hatred, ill-will or malice towards all other creatures, humans included, and he is friendly and compassionate towards one and all.

2) निर्ममो निरहंकारः nirmamo nirahamkaraha – He is free from the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. He is always conscious of his real identity as sakshi ‘I”, and the ego ‘I’ he uses for transactions with the world as slave ’I’.  He has no attachment either to his meagre possessions, nor to any relationships.

3) समदुःखसखः क्षमी sama-dukha-sukha kshami – He views with equanimity, pleasure and pain, and he is of forgiving nature.  In fact, in his vision, there is nothing for him to forgive as he lives in the present, carrying no memory of past wrongs or insults, and in the present, as he does not identify himself with the name and form, any offence or insult, does not touch him.

4) संतुष्टः सततं योगी santhushtah satatam yogi – He is always happy and contented and is firmly established in meditation.

5) यता्मा दृढनिश्चयः yatatma drdha-nischayaha – His body, mind and senses are under his control and he is a man of firm conviction

6) मय्यर्पितमनोबद्धिः mayyarpitha mano buddhihi – His mind and intellect are ever dedicated to Paramatma

7) यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकोन्नोद्विजते च यः yasmanno dvijate loko lokanno dvijate cha yaha - He feels oneness with the world and his heart is full of love for all other living beings, and his calm, peaceful, compassionate composure is one that is not  affected by the happenings in the external world, nor does it cause agitations in the external world.

8) हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्त: harshamarsha bhayodvegair mukthaha – As regards inward agitations, he is also free of them for excesses of joy, fear, intolerance, and anxiety do not touch him.   Whatever feelings or emotions that come to his mind, they have no force, and are short-lived.

9) अनपेक्षः सूचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यतह: anapekshah suchirdaksha udhasino gathavyathaha – Here another set of mental qualities are described. His mind has no dependence on external things, is pure, alert, unconcerned and untroubled

10) सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी sarvaarambaparityagi – He has renounced all ego-centric selfish undertakings.  Whatever he does is for universal welfare and social good and without any selfish motive. 

11) यो न हृ्ष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति yo na hrishyathi na dweshti na sochathi na kankshathi – He does not become elated when something agreeable happens nor does he suffer pangs of regret if something disagreeable happens.  He does not grieve over a loss or long for a gain.

12) सुभासुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान् subhasubhaparityagi bhakthiman – He is ever devoted to Paramatma.  As he is beyond dharma and adharma, right and wrong, he is not concerned about the punya or papa attached to his action.  Acharya Sankara, while discussing Jeevanmuktha in Tattva Bodha states in section 13 that any punya arising out of his action will accrue to those who praise, adore and worship him, while papa, if any, will go to those who insult or abuse him.

13) समः सत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानपमानयोः samah satrau cha mitre cha tatha manapamanayoh – He is the same to all whether they are his well-wishers or ill-wishers as he has love for all.  He treats alike honour and dishonour, i.e. with total nonchalance.

14) शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः sithoshna sukha dukheshu samah sangavivarjitaha – He is free from all attachments, including his body-mind-complex. So he is immune to bodily and mental discomforts and disturbances, and his placidity suffers no change in all circumstances affecting the body-mind, like climate changes from one extreme to other or swings in experiences like pleasure and pain.

15) तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनि tulyanindasthuthrmouni –  His equanimity is undisturbed by praise or blame. He does not indulge in loose talk or gossip and enjoys silence as a means of communion with his Self. This state of silence arises out of intoxication with the supreme love for the Supreme Lord.  This is described in Narada Bhakthi sutras in sutra 6 as मत्तो भवति, स्तब्धो भवति, आत्मारामो भवति matho bhavathi, sthabdho bhavathi, athmaramo bhavathi i.e.  he becomes intoxicated with devotion, and enjoys silently that state of ecstacy, united in the Self, that is Paramathma.

16) संतुष्टो येनकेनचित् अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिः भक्तिमान् santhushto yena kenachit anikethah sthiramathihi bhakthiman  –  In all places he feels at home, while calling no place as his home. He is happy and contented with whatever he has or gets and has no demands from anybody and no expectations in life.  He has a steady mind, fixed in devotion to Paramatma.

This parabhaktha, Lord Krishna describes as ब्रह्मभूतः Brahmabhuthaha, one who has attained Brahman, in verse 54 of Chapter 18.  A Parabhaktha is indeed a Parama Jnani, as it is true in reverse as  well..

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Stithaprajna, the Jeevanmuktha

In the blog “Jeevanmuktha”, I referred to Arjuna’s curiosity regading Jeevanmuktha which is reflected in the question he asks Lord Krishna (2-54), about the Sthithaprajna  lakshana. This question can be summed up as ‘How does a Sthithaprajna live, talk and behave?’  Lord Krishna answers this question through a description of Sthithaprajna’s inner state and outer behaviour in detail in verses 55 to 72.  The Sthithaprajna referred to is same as Jeevanmuktha only and both these terms Acharya Sankara uses in Viveka Chudamani, in his description of one who has realized Brahman and stands firm in the knowledge that his real Self is Athma , that is none other than Brahman.  This description is given in verses 426 to 445 of Viveka Chudamni, of which 16 are devoted to outline the hall-marks of Jeevanmuktha.  In this blog let me explore briefly the exposition of Lord Krishna, as given in verses 55 to 72 of Chapter 2 of Gita. In line with my earlier blog on Jeevanmuktha I am using that term only in the place of Sthithaprajna, in this blog as well. Lord Krishna in these verses gives not only the characteristics of Jeevanmuktha, but also tips and message of warnings to the sadhakas as well, which I may not dwell upon.

In the opening verse of his reply i.e. verse 2-55, Lord Krishna states that Jeevanmuktha completely casts off all desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self.  When he says ‘casts off all desires’, it does not mean Jeevanmuktha  is totally desireless, but only whatever desire he has, they are non-binding and selfless ones only.  His desires are in the form of preferences only and they arise out of a sense of fulfilment and a sense of contentment. As he is aware of his oneness with Brahman, the infinite Self, he has no sense of want for finite things.  Brihadaranyaka Upanishad uses three words to describe such a person, आप्तकामः aptakamaha, आत्मकामः athmakamaha and अकामः akamaha (4-3-21).  Aptakamaha is one whose desires have all been fulfilled; athmakamaha, one whose desire is for Athma only and akamaha, one who has no desires to fulfil.  As Jeevanmuktha’s desire is for Athma only and as that too he has realized, being firmly established in  Athma-jnanam, he is free from all desires and so he is athmakamaha, aptakamaha and akamaha. The peace, contentment and infinite bliss he enjoys in all places and in all circumstances is reflected in his interactions with the world. This state of internal bliss he enjoys at all times is stated in Mundakopanishad  that calles such a person as आत्मक्रीडः, athmakreedah, and आत्मरतिः, athmarathihi (3-1-4), the one who sports in himself and delights in himself . This state is possible because of his firm knowledge that there is nothing beside his Self and all that exists is his Self only.

Lord Krishna follows this up in the next verse, verse 2-55, stating that Jeeanmuktha’s mind is not depressed by sorrow nor is it carried away by excitement in happiness and he has overcome the three harmful emotions of attachment, fear and anger.  This emphasises the mental stability that comes from the state of desirelessness described in the earlier verse. His mind being always rooted in Brahman, does not run after material things nor does he feel attached to relationships or possessions. He has overcome the barrier of binding desires and attained realization of Brahman, who is asangha, unattached, and Sat Chit Aananda, as his true Self and so he has no need for external props for happiness, like possessions and relationships.

Lord Krishna outlines the ladder of fall for a person in the verses 62 & 63  in which he states that what starts as dwelling on sense objects, grows into attachment, and develops as desire for them, which when frustrated  sows the seeds of anger that leads to delusion, loss of intellect and finally to destruction.  For a Jeevanmuktha the base itself, dwelling on sense objects, is knocked out by Athma Jnanam, Self-knowledge and so he is free from its corollaries that include attachment, desire and anger. As he sees Brahman everywhere and that Brahman is his very Self, there is no duality for him, As there is no second thing, there is nothing to fear for fear comes only from a second entity as stated in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, द्वितीयाद् वै भयं भवति, fear comes only from a second entity(1-4-2). Further as Athma, his real Self is eternal, he as Athma is neither born nor is there death for him and so there is no fear of death, as well.  As his mind is under the control of the intellect and his intellect is firmly established in Athma-Jnanam, he is not swayed by what happens to the body or in the external world, be it joy or sorrow.  His control over the mind is exemplified in verse 2-58, wherein it is stated that he can withdraw his senses from sense objects at will, as tortoise withdraws its head into its shell when it senses danger. Like the ocean that absorbs unaffected the rivers entering into it, the mind of Jeevanmuktha does not lose its peace or placidity due to any desire entering into it. He has attained what Buddhists call as ‘Bodichittam’, a mind wherein anything can enter but nothing can disturb its peace.

His behaviour as far as the external world is concerned is given in verse 57, wherein it is stated that he moves everywhere without getting attached to a place, person or thing, treating with equanimity, the opposites be it good or evil, pleasant or painful. He is a samadarsi with samathvabhava, not swayed by likes and dislikes for people, events or things. His samatvam, unlike a karmayogi’s is spontaneous, involving no effort and is firmly based on Jnanam. When an ordinary person interacts with the world he is swayed by the happenings around him and he is alive to the pleasures and pains. For him the world is very much real and so reacts to the events around him and concerning him.  He is very much ignorant of his true nature and feels bound by samsara. For a Jeevanmuktha, there is no division between jiva, jagat and Brahman nor there is a sense of bondage. For an ordinary person, only the dream world is unreal and the waking world is very much real. For a Jeevanmuktha, who has realized his true Self as Turiyam, pure consciousness or unity consciousness, the waking state is as much unreal as the dream state and he is untouched by its happenings in the same way the waker is not affected by dream state happenings. Lord Krishna in verse 69 colourfully refers to this with the statement that what is night for all beings is day for Jeevanmuktha and where Jeevanmuktha is awake, all beings are asleep. Lord Krishna concludes the description here calling the state of Jeevanmuktha,  Brahmisthithi, the state of Brahman, and giving the assurance that at whatever age or stage one gains this Brahmisthithi, there is no going back for him and he attains oneness with Brahman from that moment.

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