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My Research Notes on VC-Part- 24
Sankara and Ego
Sankaracharya had a disciple who had been serving him for a long time but was not still given any instruction by him. Once while seated alone, Sakara heard the footsteps of someone coming behind. So he calledout,
Who is there?
The disciple answered, It is I.
The Acharya thereupon said,
If this I- is dear to you, then either expand it to I-nfinity or renounce it altogether .
If you find that you cannot drive off this feeling of I, let it remain as a Servant I .
Thee is not much to fear from ego, which is cantered in the thought.
I am the servant of god; I am His devote.
—Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa
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Now let us take Viveka Chudamani (VC) slokas
In slokas 101, 102 Sankara lists physical defects or disabilities such as blindness, deafness and say that it does not affect Atma/Self.
Then he explains how we become egoistic.
From Sloka 101 , he explains three gunas Tamas, Rajas and Satva. The qualities described for the three types of people are already in the Bhagavad Gita
Except the oft repeated Rope and Snake example nothing is interesting from secular angle.
For original slokas in Nagari lipi, in Sanskrit, please use wisdomlib.com
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101. Blindness, weakness and sharpness are conditions of the eye, due to its fitness or defectiveness merely; so are deafness, dumbness, etc., of the ear and so forth – but never of the Ātman, the Knower.
102. Inhalation and exhalation, yawning, sneezing, secretion, leaving this body, etc., are called by experts functions of Prāṇa and the rest, while hunger and thirst are characteristics of Prāṇa proper.
103. The inner organ (mind) has its seat in the organs such as the eye, as well as in the body, identifying with them and endued with a reflection of the Ātman.
104. Know that it is Egoism which, identifying itself with the body, becomes the doer or experiencer, and in conjunction with the Guṇas such as the Sattva, assumes the three different states.
105. When sense-objects are favourable it becomes happy, and it becomes miserable when the case is contrary. So happiness and misery are characteristics of Egoism, and not of the ever-blissful Ātman.
106. Sense-objects are pleasurable only as dependent on the Ātman manifesting through them, and not independently, because the Ātman is by Its very nature the most beloved of all. Therefore the Ātman is ever blissful, and never suffers misery.
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Pleasure in Deep Sleep
107. That in profound sleep we experience the bliss of the Ātman independent of sense- objects, is clearly attested by the Śruti, direct perception, tradition and inference.
108. Avidya (Nescience) or Māyā, called also the Undifferentiated, is the power of the Lord. She is without beginning, is made up of the three Guṇas and is superior to the effects (as their cause). She is to be inferred by one of clear intellect only from the effects She produces. It is She who brings forth this whole universe.
109. She is neither existent nor non-existent nor partaking of both characters; neither same nor different nor both; neither composed of parts nor an indivisible whole nor both. She is most wonderful and cannot be described in words.
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How to destroy Maayaa? Sakkara’s Cliché Rope and Snake
110. Māyā can be destroyed by the realisation of the pure Brahman, the one without a second, just as the mistaken idea of a snake is removed by the discrimination of the rope. She has her Guṇas as Rajas, Tamas and Sattva, named after their respective functions.
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Three Gunas
111. Rajas has its vikṣepa-Shakti or projecting power, which is of the nature of an activity, and from which this primeval flow of activity has emanated. From this also, mental modifications such as attachment and grief are continually produced.
112. Lust, anger, avarice, arrogance, spite, egoism, envy, jealousy, etc., — these are the dire attributes of Rajas, from which the worldly tendency of man is produced. Therefore Rajas is a cause of bondage.
113. Āvṛti or the veiling power is the power of Tamas, which makes things appear other than what they are. It is this that causes man’s repeated transmigrations, and starts the action of the projecting power (Vikṣepa).
114. Even wise and learned men and men who are clever and adepts in the vision of the exceedingly subtle Ātman, are overpowered by Tamas and do not understand the Ātman, even though clearly explained in various ways. What is simply superimposed by delusion, they consider as true, and attach themselves to its effects. Alas! How powerful is the great Āvṛti Shakti of dreadful Tamas!
115. Absence of the right judgment, or contrary judgment, want of definite belief and doubt – these certainly never desert one who has any connection with this veiling power, and then the projecting power gives ceaseless trouble.
116. Ignorance, lassitude, dullness, sleep, inadvertence, stupidity, etc., are attributes of Tamas. One tied to these does not comprehend anything, but remains like one asleep or like a stock or stone.
117. Pure Sattva is (clear) like water, yet in conjunction with Rajas and Tamas it makes for transmigration. The reality of the Ātman becomes reflected in Sattva and like the sun reveals the entire world of matter.
118. The traits of mixed Sattva are an utter absence of pride etc., and Niyama, Yama, etc., as well as faith, devotion, yearning for Liberation, the divine tendencies and turning away from the unreal.
119. The traits of pure Sattva are cheerfulness, the realisation of one’s own Self, supreme peace, contentment, bliss, and steady devotion to the Ātman, by which the aspirant enjoys bliss everlasting.
120. This Undifferentiated, spoken of as the compound of the three Guṇas, is the causal body of the soul. Profound sleep is its special state, in which the functions of the mind and all its organs are suspended.
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Bhagavad Gita- 14-11 to 13.
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Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa explains in simple terms;
What is Maya ? (maayaa)
It is lust which forms an obstacle to spiritual progress. Souls enmeshed in worldliness cannot resist the temptation of Kamini- Kanchana (kaamini- kaanchana) Woman and Gold and direct their minds to god.
Evils of Egotism
Egotism is like a cloud which keeps God hidden from our light. If it vanishes by the mercy of the Guru, God is perceived in all His glory.
When shall I be free?
When that I – vanishes from you.
I and mine – this is ignorance
The cup in which garlic juice is kept retains the odour, though washed several times. Egotism is such an obstinate aspect of ignorance that it never disappears, however hard you may try to get rid of it.
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Tiru Valluvar, author of Tamil Veda Tirukkural, says
யானென தென்னுஞ் செருக்கறுப்பான் வானோர்க்
குயர்ந்த உலகம் புகும்–குறள் 346:
Who kills conceit that utters ‘I’ and ‘mine’,
Shall enter realms above the powers divine.—Kural 346
—subham—
Tags- My Research Notes on VC-Part- 24, Ego, Three Gunas, Adi Sankara, Ramakrishna, Viveka chudamani (VC)
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