[Advaita-l] Idam na mama

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 9:00 AM, Srikanta Narayanaswami <
srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com> wrote:

> The starting shloka of Ishavasya Upanishad beautifully summarises this
> theme:
> Ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kinca jagatyam jagat!
> tena tyaktena bhunjita ma gridha kasyaciddanam!!
>
> The Upanishath doesnot say "you should not enjoy'.it says "ma gridha
> kasyacit
> danam.Don't be grredy as tgo covet another's money.
>

(Even as I was composing the following reply Jaldhar ji's message popped
up.  I am posting this anyway.)


The bhAShyam says:

//Through renunciation protect yourself.  You who have thus renounced
desires, do not covet, do not cherish any desire for wealth.  Do not long
for कस्यस्विद् धनम्  anybody's - either your own or somebody else's wealth.
This is the meaning.
OR the meaning is this: Do not covet.  Why?  कस्यस्विद् धनम्.  This question
(कस्य?) is used in the sense of denial: आक्षेपार्थे प्रश्नः न तु प्रश्नार्थे
because nobody has any wealth which can be coveted.  The idea is this:
Everything has been renounced through this thought of the 'Lord' - All this
is the Self so that all this belongs to the Self, and the Self is all
Therefore do not have any hankering for things that are unreal.//

Here is an interesting anecdote on 'renouncing', tyAga, dAna:

Paul Brunton asked Ramana: Should I not give up all possessions?

Ramana: The possessor too.

This reply of Ramana is reminiscent of the VAmana-Bali episode.  The Lord,
as vAmana, the young brAhmaNa, sought three foot steps measure of land.
When by the first two steps the entire universe was measured up, there was
nothing for Bali to give for the third step.  He knew what was remaining to
be given away and that was himself, the ego.  He offered his head for the
Lord to place his foot for the third step, signifying that after having
given up all possessions, the possessor too had to be given up in order that
the tyAga, dAna, was complete.

Br.Sri Nochur Venkataraman, the famous exponent of Bhagavatam and Vedanta
narrated the above.

Regards,
subrahmanian.v