Jnana Nishta

            

(adapted from Swami Paramarthananda’s Gurupurnima talk)

            Liberation, Moksha, is presented in the scriptures with several synonymous Sanskrit words like Brahma Nishta, Athma Nishta and Jnana Nishta etc. Of these Jnana Nishta is a significant word as it indicates the type of spiritual journey.  The word Jnanam means knowledge, Self-knowledge, in this context, and Nishta means abiding in the knowledge all the time which means not forgetting that knowledge during worldly transactions.  So abiding in Self-knowledge all the time is Liberation, Moksha.  This means the spiritual journey for Liberation is a knowledge journey that involves using the intellect.  Upanishads also make it clear that Athma, the Self, being subtle it is essential to have a refined intellect to gain this knowledge. 

This spiritual journey, that is intellectual, is divided into three segments, of which the first segment is Jnana yogyata prapthi; Jnana prapthi and Jnana nishta prapthi being the other two segments in that order.  Jnana yogyatha prapthi means to equip oneself intellectually to engage in the pursuit of this knowledge.  This involves understanding the importance of jnanam and understanding the need for a Guru and understanding the importance of scriptural study. In addition to the intellectual preparation, emotional preparation is also needed as one must have an undisturbed mind to absorb the teaching.  This emotional preparation is done through the practice of sadhana chathushtayam, the four-fold means of practice to be cultivated by a serious student of Self-knowledge, comprising viveka, vairagya, samadhi shadka sampatti and mumukshutvam.  This is discussed in detail in Sri Sankara’s work, Tattva Bodha. Further the practice of two sadhanas, karma yoga and upasana yoga are prescribed in this first segment.  While practicing the karma yoga and upasana yoga one does not treat them as an end in itself for getting Moksha but as a means of preparing the mind and intellect for the next level called Jnana prapthi. In fact, in upasana yoga the meditation is not on getting Moksha but on getting ready for Self-enquiry, emotionally and intellectually. One should not treat the karma yoga and upasana yoga as end in the themselves but as means to acquire chittha suddhi and chitta ekagratha which will facilitate gaining Jnanam at the next level, Jnana prapthi.

                The Jnanam discussed in Vedanta sastra is Athma-Jnanam, Knowledge of one’s Self, i.e., Athma, that is Brahman.  Scriptures alone deal with this knowledge, the knowledge of Self, the observer.   The physical sciences analyse only the observed universe and phenomena and not the observer Self. This Self-knowledge is gained through two exercises, Sravanam and Mananam.  Brihadharanyaka Upanishad gives the prescription for Athma Jnanam in the words of Sage Yajnavalkya to his wfe, Maitreyi (2-4-5) “Atma va are drstavyah srotavyo mantavyo nidhidhyasitavyo Maitreyi” O! Maitreyi, Athma is to be discovered through Sravanam, Mananam, Nidhidhyasanam”.  Of the three the first two i.e. Sravanam and Mananam come under Jnana prapthi and the third Nidhidyasanam comes under Jnana Nishta prapthi, the third and last level that we shall see later.  Sravanam is consistent, systematic study of Sastras under a competent Guru. The scriptural teaching by a competent Guru helps as a verbal mirror to discover one’s true Self removing Self-ignorance. This is emphasised in Mundaka Upanishad (1-2-12): “tat vignanaartham sa gurumevaabhigaccheth samithpanih shrothriyam Brahmanishtham (To know That (Athma), he (the seeker) should go to a Guru, who is both learned in the scriptures and established in the knowledge, with the sacred fuel in hand (as a disciple))”.  One learns there that the limitless Brahman, which existed before the universe came, which exists now also and which will ever exist; that Brahman is not one of the objects in the creation but it is nothing but one’s Real Self.  One cannot accept easily that one is not the limited individual but the limitless Brahman and to convince oneself one has to remove all questions and doubts one’s intellect may raise.  This process of raising questions and doubts and having them cleared through one or more steps of deep thinking, group discussion with fellow students, seeking Guru’s help is called Mananam. Thus through Sravanam and Mananam one gets “Aham Brahma asmi (I am Brahman)” Jnanam, the knowledge of the identity of Brahman and Athma, the individual self, doubt-free.  Thus shifting jiva bhava to Brahma bhava is Jnana prapthi.

            Now after gaining this Jnanam that one’s real Self is Athma, the Brahman, one needs to assimilate and internalise the knowledge so that one is conscious of the Brahma bhava in all interactions with the external world.  This is done at the last level, Jnana nishta prapthi which is called Nidhidhyasanam process.  Nidhidhyasanam helps internalisation or assimilation of the doubt-free knowledge, deconditioning all the negative emotions developed in the dark room of ignorant mind. This is done by constantly meditating on the teaching which is free from all doubts. While Mananam is for removal of intellectual obstacles, Nidhidhyasanam is for removal of mental and emotional obstacles like worry, guilt, anger, fear, hurt etc. This is called Vedantic meditation as it involves meditating upon the Vedantic teachings including Mahavakhyas. Through this process deliberate negation of Jiva Bhava along with the weakening of mamakara and ahamkara accompanied by the conscious assertion of Brahma bhava is done. And when one revises one’s status, parallelly the status of Moksha will also get revised. Moksha is usually described as freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Now with Jnana prapthi one discovers that his Real Self is Athma that is Brahman, which is eternal and has no birth or death and not the mortal body-mind complex that is subject to birth and death. So for him now Moksha is a siddha vasthu, an attained one, in fact an ever-attained one, and not a sadhya vasthu, a goal to be reached. So there is a shift in outlook from ‘seeking Moksha’ to ‘claiming Moksha as one’s svarupam’.  So attaining Jnana Nishta, one not only changes from Jiva Bhava to Brahma bhava totally but also revises one’s Moksha status. There is an incidental benefit of emotional improvement due to the weakening of ahamkara and mamakara and reduction of raga and dvesha.  Such a person who has attained Jnana Nishta is called a Jivanmuktha.

---------------------------

Vivekachudamani – 8

 

Select verses 36 to 39

Verse 36

yo vijanati sakalam, jagratsvapnasusuptisu |

buddhitadvrttisadbhavam, abhavamahamityayam ||126॥

That which knows everything that happens in the waking, dream, and deep-sleep states; That which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its thoughts; That which is the essence behind the ego; That is “This”, the Athma.

Verse 37

yah pasyati svayam sarvaṃ, yam na pasyati kaschana |

yaschetayati buddhyadi, na tadyam chetayatyayam ||127||

That which sees all but which no one can see; That which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine; That is the “Athma”.

Verse 38

prakrtivikrtibhinnah suddhabodhasvabhavah,

sadasadidamasesham bhasayannirvisesah |

vilasati paramatma jagradadhisvavasthasu,

ahamahamiti saksat saksirupena buddheh ||135||

The Paramathma shines directly as “I”, “I” in all the three states of experience like waking etc., as the witness of the mind, illumining without exception all this –elements and elementals- with forms and the formless, itself remaining changeless.

In the previous verse no 35, Acharya explained partly the svabhava of Athma.  In these verses unfolding further he states first in verse 36, “Athma is the one that lights up the three states of experience – waking, dreaming, deep sleep and the distinct experiences in all of them”.  In all the three states of experience the Athma is invariable.  That invariable presence of Athma is said as sakshi.  As sakshi, it is a passive knower contributing consciousness to every knowing act. It is a knower of the presence of mind and its thoughts in the waking and dream state and also the absence of mind in the deep sleep state through its mere presence. Kenopanishad(I.6) describing Brahman, that is Athma, the Real Self, says: “That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended—That alone know as Brahman----“.  Again Brihadharanyaka Upanishad (3.4.2) says: “You cannot see the seer of seeing; you cannot hear the hearer of hearing; you cannot think of the thinker of thinking; you cannot know the knower of knowing. This is your Self (Athma)that is within all----“.   Athma, the Self, which is same as Brahman, the Paramathma, is the Pure Consciousness, the five features of which is summarised by Swami Paramarthananda as below:

1)    It is not a part, product or part of the body.

2)    It is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens the body

3)    It is not limited by the boundaries of the body

4)    It continues to exist/survive even after the death of the body

5)    It is not accessible after the death of the body because of the absence of the body-medium.

Athma is different from prakrithi, the cause and vikrithi, the effect, but prakrithi and vikrithi are not separate from Athma.  Maya is prakrithi and the universe made of five elements is the vikrithi. Of the five elements, three have form viz. fire, water and earth; and two elements viz. air and space are formless. Athma, as Paramathma illumines all these elements and elementals without itself undergoing any change. Athma is the aham “I”, which does not undergo any change and remains the same always and not the ego, ahamkara that is subject to change.  Even though Athma seems to play the role of seer, hearer etc., and that involves some kind of a change, that change is with reference to the ego and not the Athma.   Athma illumines the ego as well just as it illumines all the three states of experience as sakshi aham.

Verse 39

atranatmanyahamiti matih, bandha eso’sya puṃsah

prapto’jnanajjananamarana-klesasampatahetuh |

yenaivayaṃ vapuridamasat, satyamityatmabuddhya

pushyatyuksatyavati visayaih, tantubhih kosakrdvat ||137||

Due to ignorance, a person identifies Athma, the Self with the anathma, not-Self.  This is the bondage and brings in its wake the miseries of birth and death. Through this, one considers the unreal body as Real, identifies with it and nourishes, bathes and preserves it with the help of sense-objects. Thereby, one becomes bound like the silk-worm in its cocoon woven by its own threads.

    Acharya answers the first question of sishya in this verse, after talking about Athma and anathma.  The first question was – What is the nature of bondage?  The eternal, unchanging Athma, the pure Consciousness is the Real Self. The mortal, changing body-mind complex i.e. the three-fold body is the anathma, not-Self.  One in ignorance identifying one’s Self with anathma instead of with Athma is bondage. Body by itself is not bondage, only the mistaken identification of one’s Self with the body is the bondage.  Athma and anathma are not two parallel entities.  Anathma is mithya depending entirely on Athma.  The ‘I’ sense in anathma, the gross, subtle and causal bodies, is the mistake which is the cause of all problems, and is the bondage.  The bondage which is in the form of Self-confusion is the cause for samsara, the afflictions in the form of birth, death etc.  Looking upon the body as Self, ‘I’, one nourishes it, anoints it and protects it, but in spite of one’s care and attention, body falls ill, ages and grows old; making one sad.  The one who thinks that he is protecting the body with the objects is only setting a trap for himself like the silkworm.  The silkworm spins a cocoon around itself for safety, but the very cocoon becomes the cause of its death. Human beings weave a cocoon of objects for their protection and get trapped into the cycle of birth and death.  The Athma-buddhi in the anathma is the bondage. 

-----------------------

Jnana Yoga

Jnana yoga can be defined as the set of disciplines that help us to acquire Self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is the knowledge of our Real Self, the sentient force behind our body-mind complex, that is called Athma. So Jnanam in Jnana Yoga stands for Athma Jnanam.  As Yoga stands for Sadhanam, means, Jnana Yoga represents a course of disciplines to acquire Athma-Jnanam.  Means of knowledge is called Pramana and in the earlier blog on “The Six Pramanas” we have seen that we employ consciously or unconsciously six pramanas to gain knowledge of various objects we come across. They are Pratyaksha, Anumana, Upamana, Arthapathi, Anupalabdhi, and Sabda.  Of these the first five pramanas can help one to gain knowledge of external objects only as these only are subject to perception by one’s five Jnanendriyas; eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.  So one cannot employ any of these five pramanas singly or severally to gain knowledge of one’s inner Self, Athma, as Athma being the subject is not subject to objectification.  So one employs the sixth pramana, Sabda pramana in the case of Self-knowledge. 

Sabda Pramana is the verbal testimony from an authentic source, free from defects. Sastras only are such an authentic source for Athma Jnanam.  So study of Sastras becomes the process for Jnana Yoga.  Brihadharanyaka Upanishad gives the prescription for Athma Jnanam in the words of Sage Yajnavalkya to his wfe, Maitreyi (2-4-5) “Atma va are drstavyah srotavyo mantavyo nidhidhyasitavyo Maitreyi”  O! Maitreyi, Athma is to be discovered through Sravanam, Mananam, Nidhidhyasanam”.  Discovery of Athma itself constitutes Athma Jnanam as we are already experiencing Athma, without knowing its Real nature.  So when ignorance of Athma, Athma Ajjnanam, is dispelled through Sravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhyasanam, Athma Jnanam is acquired.  So these three stages in the discovery of Athma are the three stages in the study of Sastras, which constitutes the path of Jnana Yoga. So we can redefine Jnana Yoga as acquiring Self-knowledge through the analytical study of Sastras, consisting of Sravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhyasanam. 

Sravanam is consistent, systematic study of Sastras under a competent Guru.  The scriptural teaching by a competent Guru helps as a verbal mirror to discover one’s true Self removing Self-ignorance.  This is the first stage of Jnana Yoga.  This stage helps removal of ajnanam and acquisition of self-knowledge. Then comes the second stage of Jnana Yoga.  As even one is receiving the teaching, several doubts come in one’s mind and the teacher does not want the student to blindly believe what he says as this is a matter of understanding correctly using one’s intellect and not a matter of believing with one’s heart. Therefore the Guru allows the student to think rationally and until the student is intellectually convinced, the Guru is ready for any amount of discussion. This interaction and clarification of all doubts, rendering the acquired knowledge doubt-free is called Mananam. This is the second important part of Jnana Yoga.  So through Mananam all the intellectual obstacles are removed and the knowledge is converted into conviction.

Nidhidhyasanam helps internalisation or assimilation of the doubt-free knowledge, deconditioning all the negative emotions developed in the dark room of ignorant mind. This is done by constantly meditating on the teaching which is free from all doubts.  While Mananam is for removal of intellectual obstacles, Nidhidhyasanam is for removal of mental and emotional obstacles like worry, guilt, anger, fear, hurt etc.  This is called Vedantic meditation as it involves meditating upon the teachings including Mahavakhyas.  While Sravaṇam and Mananam makes one Prajna, Nidhidhyasanam converts him to Sthithaprajna,the Jeevanmuktha.

The above analysis is from the angle of Advaita Vedanta that gives primary importance to Jnana Yoga for as per Advaita Vedanta one’s Real Self is no different from Brahman, the Absolute and one gains the realization of Jeeva-Brahma Ikyam through Jnana Yoga which takes one to Jeevan Mukthi.  In Dvaita and Visishtadvaita primary importance is given to Bhakthi Yoga and Jnanam is only treated as accessory to Bhakthi and they do not subscribe to the principles of Jeevan Mukthi and Jeeva-Brahma Ikyam. Let us continue to explore Jnana Yoga from the angle of Advaita Vedanta only, a little more. 

In Gita, Lord Krishna states that Athma Jnanam, (which He calls Jnanam), is the proper understanding of anathma (called Kshetra) and of Athma (called Kshetrajna) 

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।13.3।। 

Kshetrakshetrajnayor jnaanam yattat jnaanam matam mama.

The knowledge of Kshetra and Kshetrajna is considered by Me as true Knowledge.

Earlier Sri Krishna has defined Kshetra as one’s body and later elaborates it to include in anathma,  the world plus the body plus the mind along with all their conditions.   Swami Paramatmananda sums up anathma  as ”achetana (insentient), saguna (with attributes), savikara (subject to change) tattvam”.  Sri Krishna also defines Kshetrajna as the one and same in-dweller of all the bodies, who is none other than Himself.   This is the principle of Pure Consciousness which is called Jevathma in body and Paramathma in the context of whole creation and which goes by the general name of Athma.  Swami Paramarthananda  gives the features of Athma tattvam i.e. Pure consciousness as:

1)    Consciousness is not a part, product or part of the body

2)    Consciousness is an independent entity that pervades and enlivens the body

3)    Consciousness pervades everywhere without boundary limitations

4)    Consciousness continues to survive the body, the manifesting medium

5)  The surviving Consciousness is not available for transactions due to demise of manifesting medium. 

Sri Krishna illustrates this with two examples as follows:

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते।
सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते।।13.33।।

Yathaa sarvagatam saukshmyaadaakaasham nopalipyate;

Sarvatraavasthito dehe tathaatmaa nopalipyate.

 As the all-pervading space is not defiled, because of its subtlety, similarly the Self, present everywhere in the body (The singular number is used to denote a class, i.e. all bodies.) is not defiled.

यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः।
क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत।।13.34।।

Yathaa prakaashayatyekah kritsnam lokamimam ravih;

Kshetram kshetree tathaa kritsnam prakaashayati bhaarata

As the single sun illumines this whole world, similarly, O Arjuna, Kshetrajna  illumines the whole Kshetra

Realisation of this Athma as one’s Real Self is called Self-Realisation, the goal of Jnana Yoga. For knowledge of Self is acquired as Self-realisation only.  Because all other questions may be understood intellectually, but not the final question: Who or what is the Self?   The answer to Who/What is the Self? must be from the Self by It-Self and it can come through realisation only. 

Sri Krishna also affirms this later:

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा।
भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम्।।13.35।

Kshetrakshetrajnayor evam antaram jnaanachakshushaa;

Bhootaprakritimoksham cha ye vidur yaanti te param

Those who know thus through the (discerning) eye of wisdom (opened through Jnana Yoga) the distinction between the Kshetra (anathma) and the Kshetrajna (Athma) and of the liberation from cause, of the beings and bhuthas (elements), they attain the Supreme.

For all the beings and bhuthas, cause of being is Prakrithi or Maya and liberation from cause denotes Mithyathvam.  So the above statement is to be interpreted as “Those whose discerning eye of wisdom is opened through the process of Sravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhyasanam to the true knowledge of Athma and anathma and to the Mithyatvam of Nature and Universe (anathma) attain the Supreme Bliss of Paramathma (becoming Jeevan Muktha).”

-------------------------