[Advaita-l] Two significant analogies in the bhAShyam

[Swami Sarvabhutananda]

OM
appreciate ur observation.
wishes. SSBA

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 3:51 AM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

> While commenting on the mantra 3.1.8 of the MunDakopaniShat -
>
>  'na chakShuShA gRhyate nApi vAchA
>  na anyairdevaiH tapasA karmaNA vA.
> jnAnaprasAdena vishuddhasattvaH
> tatastu taM pashyate niShkalaM dhyAyamAnaH.'
>
> // Brahman is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other
> senses, nor by penance or good works. A man becomes pure through serenity
> of intellect; thereupon, in meditation, he beholds Him who is without
> parts. //
>
> Shankara raises a question, in the context, thus:
>
> 'kim punastasya grahaNe sAdhanam?'  [What then is the means to
> know/apprehend Brahman?] and delineates on the mantra-word 'jnAnaprasAdena'
> [by serenity of the mind] thus:
>
> AtmAvabodhana-samarthamapi svabhAvena sarvaprANinAM jnAnaM
> bAhyaviShaya-rAgAdidoSha-kaluShitam aprasannam ashuddham sat na
> avabodhayati nityam sannihitamapi Atmatattvam, malAnavaddhamiva Adarsham,
> vilulitamiva salilam.
>
> [Though the intellect in all beings is intrinsically able to make the Self
> known, still being polluted by such blemishes as attachment to external
> objects etc., it becomes non-placid and impure and does not, like a
> *stained
> mirror or ruffled water*, make the reality of the Self know, though It is
> ever at hand.]
>
> tadyadA indriyaviShayasamsargajanita-rAgAdimalakAluShyaapanayanaat
> Adarshalalilaadivat prasAditaM svaccham shAntam avatiShThate tadA jnAnasya
> prasAdaH syAt.
>
> [The favourableness of the intellect comes about when it continues to be
> tranquil and pure on having been made clean like a mirror, water, etc. by
> removal of the pollution caused by the dirt of attachment that springs from
> the contact of the senses and sense-objects.]
>
> So much from the bhAShyam.
>
> Here, what is worthy of noting is the appropriateness of the two analogies
> Shankara uses in respect of the state of the mind:
>
> 1. The mirror covered/stained by dust, etc. and 2. Ruffled water.
>
> In Vedanta sAdhana, we have known that two important aspects are involved:
> 1. Chitta shuddhi and 2. chitta ekAgratA.  The former is brought about by
> karmayoga and the latter by upAsana/dhyAna yoga.  Coming to the analogies
> Shankara uses, the stained mirror requires cleaning it and this corresponds
> to the cleansing of the mind, chitta shuddhi, by karma:  chittasya
> shuddhaye karma...(vivekachUDAmaNi).  And the state of the ruffled water
> has to be remedied by the calming, or settling of the water by attaining to
> placidity.  This is akin to the resorting to dhyAnayoga of the sixth
> chapter of the Bh.Gita for attaining chitta ekAgratA and shAntatA.
>
> That this twin-discipline is a sine qua non for realizing the Truth is what
> the mantra in reference is all about.   The very mantra-words '
> vishuddhasattvaH' and  'dhyAyamAnaH' are so very nicely adorned,
> embellished, as it were, by the two analogies Shankara gives in the
> bhAShyam.
>
> Om Tat Sat
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