Remembering Lord at the time of death

Gita essays – 13

While concluding His teaching on Jnana Vijnana yoga (ch.7) Lord Krishna stated that when a jijnasu bhaktha acquiring Jnanam and Vijnanam surrenders to the Lord he blossoms into a Jnani bhaktha knowing all about the Para prakrithi and Apara prakrithi of the Lord and he does not lose sight of the Lord even at the time of death.   But this the Lord conveys with a twist employing six technical terms which put together stand for Para plus Apara Prakrithi.  So at the start of 8^th chapter Arjuna, a keen student that he is, asks seven questions with a desire to understand properly the six terms and the secret of remembering the Lord at the time of death.

What is that Brahman? What is adhyatmam? What is karma? What is said to be adhibhutha? What is said to be adhidaiva, O Krishna! (8–1)

Who is adhiyajnaḥ? How does (he remain) here in the body? And how are you to be remembered at the time of death by those who have practiced self-control? Oh Madusudana. (8-2)

Lord answers the first six questions in verses 3 & 4 and answers the seventh question from verse 5. We shall first see the answer to the first six questions.

1)    The imperishable Supreme is the Brahman.

2)    The imperishable Brahman when seemingly functioning through a Jiva is called Adhyatmam. Consciousness looked at from the universal level is called Brahman and the same Consciousness looked at from individual level is called Adhyatmam.

3)    Karma refers to all actions which is the cause for the birth of all beings.

4)    Adhibhutha is the entire inert perishable universe

5)    Adhidaiva is the Hiraṇyagarbha who blesses all the organs of all beings.

6)    Adhiyajna is the Lord as the presiding deity of all the actions of the individual

After answering questions 1 to 6 briefly, Lord Krishna starts answering elaborately how the Lord can be remembered at the time of death. The dominant thought-pattern at the time of death determines the place of rebirth as well as the type of rebirth.  But the thought pattern at the time of the death is determined by the predominant thought pattern throughout one’s life. Hence, Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to remember the Lord at all times, whether at work or play, so that even at the time of death also his thoughts will centre on the Lord only.  He assures Arjuna that thinking of Lord at all times with his mind and intellect fixed on Lord, he will without doubt attain the lotus feet of the Lord after death. Though it may appear difficult, one can succeed with constant effort and sincere practice. For when one cultivates such spiritual thoughts as strong habits and thereby creates good vasanas when the will is stronger, at deathbed when will is weaker these good vasanas will propel his thoughts towards Lord only.  This is achieved by a nishkama saguna Brahma upaska whose thoughts are always on Lord and Liberation and he will attain krama mukthi, as Lord promises.   

Saguna Brahma upasana is meditation on Lord on any one of His forms, as Ishta devata or on a symbol to represent the Lord.  This upasana can be done seeking material benefit here or in the next world, when it is called sakama upasana.  When upasana is done for spiritual benefit alone then it is called nishkama upasana. When saguna Brahma upasana is done as a nishkama upasana seeking Liberation only, the upasaka remembering the Lord at the time of death travels to Brahma loka after death and in Brahma loka receives Brahma Jnanam at the feet of Lord Brahma and gets Liberation at the time of next pralaya without taking birth in earth again, in the meantime.  This type of mukthi is called krama mukthi.   In this upasana, form or symbol that is used to fix the mind on the Lord during upasana is called alampanam.  This alampanam is called prathima alampanam when it is of form like Rama, Krishna, Devi etc., and it is called pratheeka alampanam when it is a symbol like Om, saligramam etc.   Lord first talks about nishkama upasana with a prathima alampanam in verses 9 &10:

Whosoever meditates upon the Omniscient, the most ancient, the ruler (of all), who is subtler than the subtle, the sustainer of all, whose form is inconceivable, effulgent like the sun and beyond the darkness (of ignorance), (8-9) (continued in 8-10)

At the time of death, with unshaken mind, endowed with devotion and by the power of Yoga, fixing the whole life-breath in the middle of the two eyebrows, he reaches that resplendent Supreme Person. (8-10)

In the above two verses we have a beautiful description of the Divine Lord.  He is ‘Omniscient’ because He knows everything as He is everything. It is from His inscrutable power of Maya that the Universe including time and space emerged and so He is ‘most ancient’. As ‘ruler of all’ through His law He regulates all actions of the Universe including the movements of stars and galaxies. As there is nothing bigger than Him, so also there is also nothing smaller than Him and so ‘subtler than subtle’. As He is the very life in all beings He is the ‘sustainer of all’.  He is the very subject, the Consciousness behind all feelings and thoughts and so He is ‘of inconceivable form’. He is self-luminous and in his light everything else shines including sun and the moon and stars and so He is ‘effulgent like the sun’.  He is the master and controller of Maya and so ‘beyond the darkness of ignorance’. These can also be taken as pointers for meditation on Supreme. The upasaka should control the karmendriyas and jnendriyas and through Yoga withdraw Prana through the Susumna nadi to the top of the head between the eyebrows at the time of death.  In that condition, he should meditate on the Supreme Lord with single minded devotion and he goes to that Supreme Lord after death i.e. attains krama mukthi.

In verses 12 & 13 Lord Krishna talks about nishkama upasana with a pratheeka alampanam. 'Om' being the symbol representing Ishta devata here, this is called Omkara upasana.

Having restrained all the sense organs, having confined the mind to the heart, and having fixed one’s Praṇa on the top of the head, engaged in the practice of Yogic concentration, (8-12) ( continued in 8-13)

Uttering the monosyllable ‘Om’ which is (the name of) Brahman and remembering Me, one who departs, leaving the body, attains the supreme goal (8-13)

Here Lord Krishna outlines steps to be taken to achieve control over thoughts at the time of death to remember the Lord:

1)    Practicing control over sense-organs

2)    Confining mind in the ‘heart’

3)    Drawing Prana to the head

4)    Staying occupied in Yogic concentration

5)    Keep on uttering the single syllable ‘OM’

6)    Remembering the Lord constantly

A Nishkama upaska, has control over sense-organs even in normal times, when interacting with the world.  Now they  stand totally withdrawn into mind as in sleep.  The mind like the bird taking refuge in the nest in the evening rests in the heart, the seat of the Lord in the body. Prana also travels to the head, leaving each organ one by one.  Silently chanting ‘Om’ with the Lord alone in his thoughts, he leaves the world casting off his body never again to return i.e. attains krama mukthi. A person who is sincerely committed to the practice of meditation of Lord, with single minded devotion, can realise Him easily, again affirms Lord Krishna.

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Bhakthas and Bhakthi

Gita essays – 12

The virtuous people who offer worship to the Lord are termed bhakthas and they are classified into four categories by Lord Krishna (7-16). They are:

1)    Aartha bhaktha – Swami Paramarthananda calls him as 'crisis bhaktha'.  He thinks of the Lord intensely when he faces a crisis and at normal times thinks of God only at his convenience.  For him God is a means to get his problem solved and not the end, end being resolution of the problem be it economical, physical, personal or social. He is a sadhana bhaktha, whose knowledge of Lord is limited to Apara Prakrithi only.

2)    Artharthi bhaktha – He worships Lord for material prosperity, which includes progeny, position etc.  He is a regular worshipper, no doubt, and not crisis-driven like Aartha bhaktha but he has always a demand for fulfillment in his prayers.  For him too, God is not the end but only the means to achieve material gains. He is also a sadhana bhaktha, whose knowledge of Lord is limited to Apara prakrithi only.

3)    Jijnasu bhaktha – He has no personal axe to grind in his prayers and he is interested in acquiring total knowledge of God that will add strength to his worship.  For him Lord is the means as well as the end.  He is a sadhya bhaktha as Lord is not sadhanam, the means but sadhyam, the end as well, but his knowledge also is limited to Apara Prakrithi only and he is seeking the total knowledge of the Lord.

4)    Jnani bhaktha – He has knowledge of both Para prakriti and Apara prakrithi and for him God is neither the means nor the end but his real Self and his worsip is out of fulfillment of all wants, not for fulfillment of any wants. He is a Siddha bhaktha.

Aartha bhakthi and Artharthi Bhakthi are called sakama bhakthi, as both are for personal benefit and material gains. Jijnasu bhakthi and Jnani bhakthi are termed nishkama bhakthi, as the worship is not motivated by personal gains or material benefits.  

After giving the four categories of bhakthas, Lord mentions that all of them are noble, no doubt, but among them all, the Jnani Bhaktha is the best as he has steadfast and single pointed devotion to the Lord and he holds the Lord very dear to him. He also knows the Lord is His own Self and what is dearer to one than his own Self.  As sage Yajnavalkya tells his wife Maitreyi  in Brihadaranyaka Uanishad (2-4-5) “न वा अरे सर्वस्य कामाय सर्वं प्रियं भवति, आत्मनस्तु कामाय सर्वं प्रियं भवति (Na va are sarvasya kamam sarvam priyam bhavati, atmanastu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati.)” meaning “Verily all is not dear not for the sake of all but it is for one’s own sake that all is dear.”  Lord also reciprocates Jnani’s ananya bhakthi by holding the Jnani bhaktha dear to him and declares he is not different from Him.  Narada Bhakthi Sutra in its sutra 67 echoes Lord’s words:  “भक्ता एकान्तिनो मुख्याः(bhakta ekantino mukhyah)” which means “Devotees, whose single goal is the Lord Himself and whose single-pointed devotion towards the Lord is for its own sake, are the best”   Lord also tells that such Jnani bhakthas having ananya bhakthi for the Lord with the advaitic Jnanam of  Jiva Brahma Ikyam are rare as this maturity of Athma Jnanam is reached only after many Janmas in which one may be passing through several stages of aartha, artharthi, jijnasu bhakthi before his steadfastness is rewarded through Lord’s Grace and he blossoms into a jnani bhaktha with the knowledge of Lord’s Para prakrithi as well.  As a Jnani bhaktha, he becomes Jivan muktha, attaining videha mukthi after death.

After discussing Jnani bhaktha, Lord talks about the sakama bhakthas who have only knowledge of Lord’s Apara prakrithi and worship Him in His various forms to get their wants and desires fulfilled.  In whatever form they worship the Lord with full faith and sincerity, Lord sustains their faith in that form by answering their prayer in that form Itself. They do not know that all forms are only forms of the one Supreme Lord, Brahman, as His Apara prakrithi and all the fruits they seek are only of finite and limited nature, keeping them firmly in samsara.  Only knowledge of Para prakrithi, Brahma Jnanam, is the ultimate reward one should seek as it is totally fulfilling and satisfying and also liberating from samsara and they know not of this knowledge. They are ignorant of the Lord’s superior nature which is changeless and transcendent and in their ignorance they consider Him as the Unmanifest that has assumed manifestation. They mistake the changeless One behind the many as the One among the many in their ignorance. Lord then diagnoses the cause for their ignorance as Avarana sakthi, the veiling power, of Maya, which Lord now calls as Yogamaya ( he earlier referred to it as ‘My Maya’). This power of the Lord that is keeping them ignorant of the eternal, birthless, unsurpassed nature of the Lord as Para prakrithi, can be overpowered only when they curb their extrovert nature and shift their attention from the objects and pleasures of the world to the lotus feet of the Lord and surrender to Him seeking sincerely His Grace.  Lord alone knows fully and completely the past, present and future of everyone and everything and has no problem of ignorance about anything. As Maya is under His control Avarana Sakthi does not affect Him. But Jiva is under Maya’s control and under the spell of Maya does not know of Lord’s Para prakrithi and suffers from samsara.

This ignorance starts from birth itself due to delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion.  Not knowing the source of the unlimited real happiness within themselves due to this delusion they seek it in the outside world and spend their entire lifetime running after it. This Sri Sankara beautifully portrays in Bhaja Govindam (verse 7) thus:

बालस्तावत्क्रीडासक्तः (balastavatkriḍasaktaḥ)

तरुणस्तावत्तरुणीसक्तः ।( taruṇastavattaruṇisaktaḥ)

वृद्धस्तावच्चिन्तासक्तः (vṛiddhastavaccintasaktaḥ)

परे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्तः (pare brahmaṇi ko'pi na saktaḥ)  

The childhood is spent in attachment to playfulness. Youth is spent in attachment to women. 

Old age is spent in thoughts (of past events or present helplessness). And there is hardly 

anyone who gets attached to Parabrahman.

Some noble person with enough punyam starts to think of the Lord in crisis and starts as an aartha bhaktha.  When this becomes a habit, with increase in punyam he turns into an artharthi bhaktha. Later in that life itself or in succeeding lives he grows into a jijnasu bhaktha, as his punyam grows. For the fortunate few all this growth can happen even in one or two lives. And then seeking to end samsara and get Liberated, he seeks a Guru and studies sastras with his help and he is well on the road to become a Jnani bhaktha.  When he surrenders to the Lord with Vijnanam, he totally gets rid of his delusion with dualities, with his mind becoming free of raga and dwesha, and his desires changing into preferences.  He becomes jnani bhaktha knowing all about the Para prakrithi and Apara prakrithi of the Lord.   Being established in this knowledge, he does not lose sight of the Lord even at the time of death and enjoys both Jivanmukthi and Videhamukthi.

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The nature of Brahman – Higher & Lower

Gita essays – 11

The eighteen chapters of Bhagavad Gita are divided into 3 sets of 6 Chapters each explaining the Truth of the Mahavakya – “Tat Twam Asi”  meaning `You Are That', You standing for Jiva and That for Brahman.  The first 6 Chapters of Gita explain the significance of the term `Twam' (You standing for Jiva). The next 6 Chapters from the 7th to 12th explain the term `Tat' (That standing for Brahman). The last 6 Chapters from 13<sup>th</sup> to 18<sup>th</sup> explain the meaning of the term `Asi' (Are standing for Ikyam).  This Division is made only to indicate the pattern of thought flow from one chapter to another in these six chapters.  According to Swami Paramarthananda Isvara svarupam, Isvara upasana, and Isvara kripa are the three topics highlighted in the six chapters starting from chapter 7.

In the last verse of chapter 6, Lord Krishna stated that that the yogi who devoutly worships Him with his mind fully focussed on Him is the best of yogis. In the first verse of the chapter 7 He follows this up by stating how He can be known in full without any doubt.  “Hear from me, Arjuna, how taking refuge in ME and practicing Yoga with a mind which is totally absorbed in ME, you will come to know ME completely and doubtlessly”.  We should remember here that Lord Krishna is not speaking these words as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva but as the cosmic Supreme, Brahman, who has taken the mortal body for the protection of the virtuous and destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of Dharma, as he had stated earlier (Ch.4 – 8).  What He means by complete knowledge He clarifies in the next verse (7-2)

ज्ञानं तेऽहं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः।(Jnaanam te’ham savijnaanam idam vakshyaamyasheshatah)
यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोऽन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते।।(Yajjnaatwaa neha bhooyo’nyaj jnaatavyamavashishyate)

I shall completely impart to you this Jnanam along with Vijnanam gaining which knowledge nothing more remains to be known in this life.

The knowledge of Nirguna Brahman is called Vijnanam and the knowledge of Saguna Brahman only, is called here Jnanam.  Jnanam with Vijnanam makes knowledge of Brahman total and complete. Because Brahman is everything and everything is in Brahman, everything automatically becomes known when one gains total knowledge of Brahman.  If one wonders why so few only have the complete knowledge of Brahman, Lord explains that among the innumerable human beings, only a few develop a desire for Liberation and go for such a knowledge.  Even among the few who develop such desire, only a few have the access for the means of attaining the knowledge and strive for it.  Even among those who strive, only a fortunate few who have conquered their vasanas and strive with patience and perseverance succeed in acquiring the true and full knowledge of Brahman.  Hence people with correct and complete knowledge of Brahman are rare in the world.

After this brief introduction, Lord Krishna starts giving the knowledge of His nature as Brahman from verse 5.  Brahman is a mixture of two principles known as the higher principle, the Para prakr̥ithi; and the lower principle, the eight-fold Apara prakr̥ithi; and both of them are beginningless, eternal.  The five elements, earth, water, fire, air, and space in their subtler aspects and the mind, intellect, and ego in their samashti form make up the eight constituents of Apara prakrithi. This is called lower because it is changing, inert, finite and dependently existent.  The higher principle, Para prakrithi, is the Consciousness principle, the very life-factor in all beings, in Lord’s words.  This is called higher because it is changeless, sentient, infinite and independently existent

In short, Brahman has two aspects to His nature, changing matter principle and changeless Consciousness principle, Para prakrithi and Apara prakrithi.  It is the Para prakrithi expressing itself through the Apara prakrithi that causes the “Universe of happenings”, as Swami Chinmayananda puts it.  So Brahman, as a combination of two prakrithis is the srishti, sthithi, laya karanam of the universe. He is the material cause as well besides being the intelligent cause and as material cause He pervades the karyam, Universe. He explains quoting various instances to show that in fact there is no creation apart from Him and He alone is the very essence of everything.

He also declares that there is no one superior to Him and He is the “uncaused cause” of all and He holds together everything in creation as the unseen string holds together the seen pearls in a necklace.  The same idea is conveyed by Poet Subramania Bharathi in his song:

காக்கை சிறகினிலே நந்தலாலா!-நின்றன் (kakkai siraginile Nandalala-ninran)

கரிய நிறம் தோன்றுதையே, நந்தலாலா! (kariya niram Thonruthaiye, Nandalala)

In the wings of crow I see only your dark colour , Krishna!

All things (including the different states of mind under the influence of the three gunas, Satvam, Rajas and Tamas) are in The Lord but He is not in them just as all waves are in the ocean but the ocean is not in them.  As Sri Sankara observes it is the matter that depends upon the Consciousness Principle for its existence and the Consciousness principle is not in any way dependant on matter.  Brahman with the three gunas, Satvam, Rajas and Tamas, unmanifest, is called Nirguna Brahman and the other with the three gunas Satvam, Rajas and Tamas manifest is called Saguna Brahman. The three gunas together are known as Prakrithi or nature and also as Maya.  Everything in creation including Jiva, the individual, has all the three gunas but in varying proportions. Jiva under the deluding influence of Maya fails to recognize the higher nature (parā-prakṛti) of Brahman, which as Athma lends him life, making him sentient.  Lord Krishna also advises how to get over Maya’s illusion.

दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया। (Daivee hyeshaa gunamayee mama maayaa duratyayaa)

मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते।।7.14।।(Maameva ye prapadyante maayaametaam taranti te)

This divine Maya of Mine which consists of the (three) gunas is difficult to cross over.  Only those who surrender to Me cross over this Maya.

Lord here refers to Maya as divine and mine because Maya is the power of the Lord through which the He makes the world manifest.  Sri Sankara calls Iswara a Mayavi, magician, in his Dakshinamurthy stotram(Sloka 2). If Iswara is magician, Maya is His magic. So one can get over its effects through His Grace only.  Therefore He says that only those devotees who surrender to Him in devotion will be able to get over its effects and recognise His higher nature. While He tells in this verse who can overcome the power of this magic and discover their innate Divinity, in the next verse He points out who cannot free themselves from its spell,.  “They do not devote themselves to Me – the evil-doers, the deluded, the lowest of men, deprived of their discrimination by Maya and following the way of the Asura or evil-doers.”   To escape the spell of Maya, one has to go beyond the three gunas, which are its constituents.  To go beyond the three gunas, one has to become first a Satva dominant person.  Unless one becomes ethical, Satva-predominant, one cannot become really spiritual. And one has to be really spiritual to convert oneself to be an instrument of Divine eventually and cross over Maya with His Grace. So if one is not a true devotee of the Lord, one cannot shake off the shackles of Maya.

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