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GURUPURNIMA DISCOURSE, 2008
His Holiness Swami Rajarshi Muni
Kayavarohan,
18 July, 2008.
After presenting my respects to Dadaji and Bapuji I am
motivated by the sacred festival of Guru Purnima today to say a few
words. You are all aware that in the past I had adopted seclusion and
was fully engaged in yoga sadhana between the years 1979 and 1992. But
in 1993 I had darshan of Lord Lakulish (Dadaji)
who commanded me to work for the resurgence of Indian culture.
Accordingly, I had again to throw myself into a life of activity. I
performed that duty right up to the end of 2006. I wondered sometimes
why Dadaji gave me a command that compelled me to place a cut on my
yoga sadhana. Of course, commands of incarnate ones couldn’t possibly
be wrong. I recently found an answer to this question when I was
studying the Gyaneshwari Gita.
The
Sixth Chapter of the Bhagvad Gita has a sloka to
the effect that “Yogis should stay alone in seclusion and with body and
mind under full self-control, without harboring any desire and
accumulating anything, undertake constant meditation of the self”.
(6:10). Commenting on this sloka Saint Gyaneshwar
throws light on it as follows: “Lord Krishna says, ‘O Arjun!
The path of yoga that I shall now expound to you is the Emperor of all
paths. Such is this yoga that under its tree of activity are visible
all manner of fruits of liberation. Starting with the path of action
the path of inaction can be reached. Maharshis have in the past become Siddhas
(Adepts) from Sadhaks (ordinary practitioners) only by treading the
path of action. The Sadhak starts from the path of action which
originates in the north and arrives to the path of inaction in the
south. He should tread this path of inaction while staying alone and in
one place”.
The
meaning of this statement of Saint Gyaneshwar is that the Yogi must
certainly gain the experience of the path of action. Only after that
can his sadhana of the path of inaction become fruitful. The knowledge
of both action and inaction is necessary. It is said in the Bhagvad
Gita (16:7) that: “Men of evil natures do not know what is action and
what is inaction. Therefore they lack purity, right conduct and truth.
Such men are tamoguni (ignorant). They undertake
action as they like without understanding, without considering if it
will result in gain or in harm, and thus never attain inaction”.
Their
action is like that of the silk worm. The silk worm makes an abode by
spinning a cocoon around itself. In this way it gets trapped and
imprisoned within its own cocoon. This worm does not in the least fear
this situation. It does not consider how it will escape the confines of
this prison. Now consider the grave consequence. Collectors of the
silken thread know that there is a worm within the silkworm’s cocoon.
Should they attempt to extract this worm live from the cocoon it would
result in the silk thread breaking in many places and the
silk being rendered useless. Therefore they boil the cocoon so that it
may unravel without breaking the threads. When well and properly
boiled, the cocoon comes unraveled without damage but in the process
the worm inside endures great suffering and dies. In the same way the
human who engages in all manner of ill-considered action without
knowledge of the path of inaction endures sufferings in the fires of
hell.
The
authors of the Scriptures have delineated two paths –Pravritty
or path of action and Nivritty or path of
inaction. The path of action is the path of Karma Yoga. The path of
inaction includes the path of Jnan
(enlightenment) and Vairagya (renunciation). The
path of Karma is adequate for Sadhaks engaged in the world. But the
path of Jnan-Vairagya is appropriate for the
renunciant (Sannyasi). However, the Sannyasi should have experience of
the path of karma too. Only after that can he gain success on the path
of Jnan-Vairagya. The Sannyasi should become sattvic
(endowed with the quality of purity) because true Jnan
is attained only on the attainment of purity in one’s nature and as Jnan
goes on increasing Vairagya (sense of detachment)
also goes on accruing.
The
Srimad Bhagvad Gita says: “When the light of Jnan
(knowledge) begins to guide all the indriyas
(sense organs) of this body, it should be understood that there has
been an increase of Sattva Guna (purity)”.
(14:11). In his commentary on this stanza Saint Gnaneshwar writes: “As
the light of the moon suffuses the whole sky on the night of the full
moon so too, on the increase of sattva guna (purity),
does the sadhak’s tendency develop in all forms of Jnan (knowledge).
His vasanas (latent desires) being
destroyed, his mind does not any more incline towards the path of
action”.
This
shows that the path of inaction can be truly entered only through good
and proper prior knowledge of the path of action through experience.
Only the Sadhak in whom there has been an increase of sattva
guna (purity) attains proper knowledge of action and
inaction. On a mixture of milk and water being placed before the swan,
it separates the milk from the water with its beak and drinks only the
milk. In the same way, the Sadhak endowed with Sattva Guna
(purity) properly understands kartavya ( what is
worth doing) and akartavya (what is unworthy of
doing), becomes engaged in the path of liberation (through action that
does not bind) and renounces the path of bondage (path of action which
binds).
Concerning
this it is said in the Bhagvad Gita also: “O Arjun, the intellect that
knows action and inaction, kartavya and akartavya
(that which is worthy of doing and that which is not worthy of doing),
fear and absence of fear and bondage and liberation, that intellect
is Sattvic intellect”. (18:30). Sattvic
intellect being capable of discriminating between the real and the
unreal properly understands Samsar (world of
existence) which is the cause of bondage as well as Moksha (liberation)
which is eternal happiness.
So,
in short, only after properly knowing both action and inaction should
the Sadhak reside in seclusion and remain steadfastly engaged in Dhyan
Yoga (meditation). I understand that Dadaji must have
commanded me to undertake a life of action for a few years in keeping
with this principle. It is beyond doubt that he would have commanded me
so in my own interest alone. After being engaged in action for twelve
years to the best of my ability, I have once again adopted the path of
inaction with Dadaji’s permission I am pursuing secluded
sadhana since about the past year and a quarter. You must no doubt be
wishing to know how my sadhana is proceeding and what progress it is
making.
My
sadhana is proceeding well. Being fully engaged in secluded sadhana
without any external interference, I am continuing to experience
Dadaji’s special grace. Through his grace I continually
receive divine strength and move towards inching nearer to my ultimate
spiritual goal. However, everything is not attainable merely by
remaining in seclusion. That requires difficult yoga practice. It is
said in the Shankh Smriti that: “The Yati
(ascetic) does not attain success merely by bearing the staff or
observing silence or seclusion but attains the highest attainments only
through Yoga”. (5:12).
The
path of inaction does not imply living restfully in seclusion. The
sadhana of the path of inaction is many times more difficult than that
of the path of action. In this, the Sadhak has to transcend the
boundaries of worldly existence and reach the realm of divine
existence. In other words, he has to attain the divine body and become
immortal. Once the Sadhak has reached the Divine Realm there is nowhere
further for him to go nor undertake any further sadhana. This is true
rest or freedom from action. A Hindi poet, Prasad, presents this matter
well: “It is not the goal of this path to rest in an abode of inaction
but to reach that horizon after which there is no further
path”.
There
are believed to be two paths for the yoga Sadhak: Uttarayan
and Dakshinayan (Northerly and Southerly) or Shukla
and Krishna (Bright and Dark) or Archiradi
and Dhumra (Flaming and Smoky). Those on the Uttarayan
or Shukla or Archiradi path
attain the light of Self and leave this world and merge in the
Ultimate. They attain liberation and do not have to be reborn to return
to this world. They transcend the solar galaxy and reach the realm of
liberation and become like the Ultimate Reality. On the other hand, the
yogis established on the Dakshinayan, Krishna
or Dhumra path are in an indeterminate state of
mind at the time of leaving this world, knowing only twilight that is
neither bright nor dark, and attain only to Chandralok
or the realm of the Moon or realms within the ambit of illumination by
the Moon. There they endure happiness or suffering according to their
destiny. In those realms they are unable to progress further.
Hence they are reborn and return here.
The
Parashar
Smrity says: “Only two types of humans in this world
transcend the solar galaxy and attain to the Ultimate Reality: one is a
Sannyasi with Yoga and the other is the one who dies fighting in the
battlefield”. Here, it is not a matter of a mere Sannyasi alone but a
Sannyasi adept in yoga. A Sannyasi cannot transcend the solar galaxy or
attain liberation without yoga sadhana. It is said in the Bhagvad Gita:
“O mighty-armed Arjun, Sannyas without the practice
of yoga merely ends up in being painful but the Sannyasi
endowed with Yoga soon attains to Ultimate Reality”. (5:6).
The
Parashar
Smrity also says that the warrior killed in battle
transcends the solar galaxy and attains to Ultimate Reality. The
battlefield referred to here is not the ordinary, normal battlefield.
It is the battlefield of yoga that is referred to where the Yogi
battles in his sadhana with the forces of death. One who dies in the
external battlefield of the world attains to Heaven but cannot attain
to the Ultimate Reality. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagvad
Gita, “O Arjun, you shall attain Heaven if you die in the battlefield
and shall enjoy the kingdom of the earth if you should win. Therefore,
rise with the determination of engaging in this battle”. (2:37).
Elsewhere in the Gita it is said, “O Parth! This fortuitously obtained
battle is an open door to Heaven. Only fortunate Kshatriyas gain such
opportunities”. (2:32).
This
shows that those who die while fighting in the external battlefield of
the world attain to Heaven. On the other hand, those who meet death
while doing battle in the internal spiritual battlefield attain to the
Ultimate Reality as delineated in the Parashar Smrity
and gain liberation. This also means that it is much more difficult to
do battle in the spiritual battlefield than it is in the external
battlefield of the world. The former is a very hard and difficult path
where the traveler has to joust with death. A poet has rightly said,
“This is a difficult path where one has to set the feet on the sharp
edge of a sword; only he makes it across who walks with his severed
head in the palm of his hand”.
Waging
war in the internal spiritual battlefield is not the task of any
ordinary Sadhak. It requires infinite fortitude and courage. Concerning
this, some poet has said, “This path is not for everyone; it is only
for some rare one to tread”.
From
this you must have all understood what I am doing in my secluded
sadhana. It is natural that you should be keen to know about it and
about the ongoing progress of my efforts. Earlier, for many years, I
used to tell you about it but have not made any special mention of it
since the last some years. Earlier, it was the ordinary phase of
sadhana but the present phase is of a special nature. This phase is of
the sadhana of liberation which is most secret and has been described
in the Gita as “Rajguhyayoga”. Scriptures have
forbidden the revelation of too much information about it. It is said
in the Rudrayamal Tantra: “If the yoga by which
liberation is attained is revealed, that yoga is destroyed. Therefore
one who desires his kalyan (welfare) aught not to
reveal it”. Thus, it is ordained that it be kept concealed, secret. The
yogi who reveals anything about this phase of ‘moksha-sadhana’
(practice for liberation) falls from his spiritual level.
Concerning this it is said in the Gandharva Tantra:
“Revelation of these experiences reduces lifespan and the sadhak is
destroyed. Therefore they should not be revealed”. In the
Bhagvad Gita also Lord Krishna commands Arjun, “This most secret
knowledge that I have expounded to you, reveal it not ever to one
devoid of tapa (austerity) or bhakti (devotion).
In
view of these boundaries ordained by the Scriptures, I too do not
consider it desirable to throw too much light on the present state of
my sadhana. Still, I present a bhajan
(hymn or devotional composition) I wrote some time ago about
my seclusion and the goal of my sadhana. Rather than having it read,
everyone will enjoy the bhajan more if it is
sung. So our singer-disciple Pramodbhai Suthar will sing this Bhajan
before you.
My
heartfelt blessings to you all and Jai Bhagwan.
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