GARUDA PURANA - DARBHA GRASS AND SESAME SEEDS

Garuda Purana 2

Garuḍa asks several questions to Viṣṇu on death and Kṛṣṇa patiently clarifies all his doubts. This series will deal briefly on the answers provided by Kṛṣṇa.

A corpse should be cleansed with the mixture of water and cow dung and darbha grass (kuśa grass) should be spread on the place and the corpse should be placed on the darbha grass. If this is not done, evil spirits will enter the corpse. Corpse should be placed only on the ground and not on cots or elevated platforms. A circle should be drawn around the corpse. On drawing the circle, Brhmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Goddess Lakṣmī and Agni, the god of fire enter this circle. If this circle is not drawn, his soul does not get a proper womb for rebirth and remains as a ghost, which lives in the air for a long time.  It does not receive śrāddha (rituals to ancestors) and water. 

Sesame seeds are used in all śrāddha rituals.  Sesame seeds are considered as sacred and can destroy evil spirits and can burn all the sins committed by the deceased. Thirst of the corpse is quenched by offering libation with water and sesame seeds.  Kṛṣṇa says that darbha grass has grown from His hair and sesame seeds from His perspiration.  Brhmā is in the root end of darbha, Viṣṇu in the middle and Śiva in the tip. Darbha grass should be placed in the hands of a person who is dying. Salt is also effective in removing sins of a person, as salt has originated from the body of Viṣṇu.  Gifting (dāna) sesame seeds and salt are considered as more sacred than other gifts. Gift of salt when a person is dying takes the person directly to the heaven.

Kāla, the god of death, also known as Yama detaches the soul from the body of a person at the appointed time and nobody can prevent this. Kāla’s assistants push the dying person’s breath out of his body and they take out his soul.  At the time of death, the normal balance between five types of prāṇa-s is disturbed pushing the udāna upwards, causing a peaceful death.  Peaceful death happens only for those who are devoted to the Lord during their lifetime.  Those who have always spoken truth, have unstinted faith in the Lord and always follow the virtuous path also die peacefully.  Those who speak lies, deceitful devotion, preach ignorance, abuse Vedas die unconsciously.  Their mouths become dry and they die because of suffocation.  Their death becomes violent.

The souls of those, who have committed sins during their life time spend their time in hell and are born again in the earth.  Here soul does not mean the Brahman, but the causal and subtle bodies encasing the Soul. A soul is called jīva when it is covered by causal and subtle bodies.  The epic then proceeds to say the different types of rebirth the jīva takes such as plant, animals, human, etc depending upon the sins committed by them.  After their death, they go to hell. 

Garuḍa Purāṇa then proceeds to explain different types of hells and each of these hells are described horrifically.  The jīva-s are tortured in these hells, depending upon the intensity of their sins. All the hells are ruled by the god of death, Yama.  For those who lived virtuous lives, their jīva-s are taken to the heaven.  Once their good karmic accounts are exhausted, they are made to fall from the heaven and are born to noble couples.  Love, anger and ego are described as thieves of the body and mind is their head.  Kṛṣṇa says that if the Self is not realized during one’s life time, they are equated with beasts.

(to be continued) 

GARUDA PURANA

Purāṇa-s are considered as the Sacred Scriptures laying down guidelines for religious and pious living, mostly in the form of stories or verses.  The exact dates of these purāṇa-s remain unknown.  Garuḍa Purāṇa is said to be approximately 700 years old. It is also said that the original purāṇa-s have undergone changes over a period of time.  Generally, only eighteen purāṇa-s are often discussed and Garuḍa Purāṇa is one among them.  Major portion of this great Scripture is in the form of conversation between Garuḍa, the vāhana (vehicle) of Lord Viṣṇu and sage Kaśyapa.

Garuḍa Purāṇa has three kāṇḍa-s (sections).  They are ācāra kāṇḍa, which generally deals with rituals, dharmaśāstra, etc; dharma kāṇḍa or preta (corpse) kāṇḍa, which deals with death and allied subjects; brahma kāṇḍa which deals with the supremacy of Lord Viṣṇu, with criticism on māyā and avidya.

In this new series, titled Garuda Purana, second section viz. Preta Kāṇḍa dealing with death and associated rituals will be discussed briefly.  

VISHNU SAHASRANAMA 201 - 207

201. Saṁdhātā संधाता

Saṃdhātṛ mean the one, who joins together. As the One, who upholds the universe, He connects one’s karma with jīva.  It is only the karma that determines the quality of a person, with the soul merely remaining as a witness. A soul manifests through three types of bodies – causal, subtle and gross bodies, through which karmas manifest. Law of karma is the law of the Lord.

It can also be interpreted that He causes the bondage of jīva with Him.

202. Sandhimān सन्धिमान्

Realisation of the Brahman is possible only if all the fruits of actions are surrendered to the Brahman.  If actions are performed with intent on the fruits of actions, karmas accrue causing the postponement of liberation.

Since all His true devotees surrender their fruits of actions to Him, this nāma adores Him as the enjoyer of the fruits of their actions.

203. Sthiraḥ स्थिरः

Sthira means changeless an exclusive quality of the Brahman. Brahman is eternal.

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gītā (II.24), “The Soul is eternal, omnipresent, immovable constant and everlasting.”

204. Ajaḥ अजः

Repetitive nāma-s at 95 and 521.

There are various interpretations to this nāma. Aja means the one who drives and according to this meaning this nāma refers to the Self, without which nothing can move.  Thus he becomes the driver of the universe. After all, the Self is subtler than the causal body. 

Aja also means the māyā, the concealing and projecting power of the Brahman. Without the presence of māyā, creation is not possible and māyā permeates throughout the universe.  When one is able to transcend māyā, he is able to realize the Self-illuminating Brahman.

It is also said that this nāma refers to His act of destroying the evil to uphold righteousness.  This is confirmed in the next nāma.

205. Durmarṣaṇaḥ दुर्मर्षणः

Durmarṣaṇa means unmanageable.  Viṣṇu’s wrath is unmanageable for the evil doers. Viṣṇu’s primary responsibility is to uphold dharma as He is the Lord of Dharma.  Anything contrary to the dictums of śāstra-s is considered as an act of evil and the embodiments of such evils are generally called as demons.

This is further explained in the next nāma.

206. Śāstrā शास्त्रा

Śāstra means the compendium of rules for upholding dharma.  It is a guide to the way of living a pious and religious life.  By following the dictums of śāstra-s, one can control his senses.  For example, there is a treatise called Saṁkṣepa Dharma Śāstra, where dharma is explained as the way of living without hatred, attachments and desires and does not act against conscience.  The underlying principles of all the śāstra-s are the four Vedas. 

With the change of time, śāstra-s are also undergoing changes.

207. viśrutātmā विश्रुतात्मा

Viśrut means celebrated and learned person and ātma refers to the Self-illuminating Brahman, praised by the Vedas.  Upaniṣad-s also praise the Brahman as the embodiment truth, knowledge and infinity; and existence, consciousness and bliss.  Advaita Vedānta says that all that exist in the universe is only the Brahman.

This nāma praises Viṣṇu as the all knowing Brahman.

VISHNU SAHASRANAMA 193 - 200

193. Bhujagottamaḥ भुजगोत्तमः

Bhujaga means a serpent.  Viṣṇu always relaxes over the body the mythical serpent Ananta and this famous posture is known as anantasayana.  Kṛṣṇa has a great liking for this divine serpent Ananta (Bhagavad Gītā X.193). Ananta and Vāsuki refer to the same serpent. Ananta also means infinite and it can be said that Viṣṇu rests on infinitude, an exclusive quality of the Brahman.

194. Hiraṇyanābhaḥ हिरण्यनाभः

Hiraṇya means gold and nābhi means navel.  From His hiraṇyanābhi arose the lord of creation Brahmā. Anything associated with creation is cited as golden.  Another example is hiraṇyagarbha, which also refers to Brahmā.  Brahmā is different from Brahman or Brahma. According Purāṇa-s Brahmā is the god in charge of creation. 

195. Sutapāḥ सुतपाः

Sutapa refers to the one who practices great austerities.  During His incarnation as Nara and Nārāyaṇa, He performed severe austerities.

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (I.i.9) says, “From the Brahman, who is all knowing and whose austerity is knowledge, originated all shapes and forms (referring to the entire creation).”  Since the Brahman is an embodiment of knowledge and by using that knowledge, He creates.  Without the highest level of knowledge, all the intricacies of creation could not have been taken care of. Examples are human nervous system, gravitational force of different planets, etc.

The highest level knowledge can be attained only by practicing severe austerities and as a result of which, mind disconnects from the materialistic world and gets connected to the spiritual world.  

196. Padmanābhaḥ पद्मनाभः

Repetitive nāma-s at 48 and 346.

Padma means lotus and this nāma says that Viṣṇu has lotus like navel, from which the lord of creation Brahmā originates.  This is the grosser meaning of this nāma.

Subtly, this nāma refers to maṇipūraka cakra or the navel cakra, which shines like gold (refer nāma 194) and after activating this cakra one has to cross Viṣṇugranthi, the knot of Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is worshipped in maṇipūraka cakra. Because of this, He is Padmanābha.

There are lot similarities between Viṣṇu and lotus flower. His eyes and feet are also compared to lotus flower.

197. Prajāpatiḥ प्रजापतिः

Repetitive nāma at 69.

Some scriptures say that Prajāpati and Brahmā are the same, whereas some others say that they are different and that Prajāpati is lower in status than Brahmā.  Brahmā first created Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaka, Kratu, Vasiṣṭha, Dakṣa, Bhṛigu and Nārada known as Dakṣa Prajāpati-s.   

Since Viṣṇu is the creator of Brahmā, this nāma affirms that Viṣṇu is the Supreme Lord of creation.

198. Amṛtyuḥ अमृत्युः

Mṛtyu means death and a-mṛtyu means without death.  An exclusive quality of the Brahman is eternity.

Kṛṣṇa says, “ayam na mṛtyate”, which means ‘this (the Self) do not die.”

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (I.ii.25) says, “death is a mere condiment of the Self.”

199. Sarvadṛk सर्वदृक्

He is capable of seeing all the happenings of the universe.  Brahman always remains as a witness.  He is not the cause for one’s karmas.  Karmas are self made, through one’s thoughts and actions.

Puruṣasūktam says, “Puruṣa (the Self) has thousands of heads, eyes and feet” and He sees through those infinite eyes.  Infinite eye refers to the individual soul and is seated within.  

200. Siṁhaḥ सिंहः

Siṁha not only means the lion, but also refers to a powerful person.  It also means the Self or the Ātman.

This nāma also refers to His Narasiṁha avatar, the most ferocious of all His avatars. This nāma says that just like the lion being the king of all animals, Viṣṇu is the king of all beings.  Though there cannot be any comparison between Viṣṇu and a lion, such comparisons are common to enable the spiritual seeker to understand the supremacy of the Brahman.

VISHNU SAHASRANAMA 192

192. Suparṇaḥ सुपर्णः

Suparṇa refers to the mystic bird discussed in Rig and Yajur Vedas.  The shape of a bird is used as fire altar in agnisayana.  Agnisayana is a huge Vedic fire ritual spread over a period of twelve days. It is interesting to know why ṛṣi-s  have chosen the shape of a bird to perform this ritual.  The shape of the bird is conceived to carry the yajamāna (on whose behalf and at whose expense this sacrifice is performed) of the ritual to the heavens. Mostly these types of rituals are performed for the benefit of the people in general, engaging several learned scholars well versed in all the four Vedas. Those days kings used to fund these types of rituals and such kings are called yajamāna. The construction of a huge altar for the agnisayana is mainly for the purpose of restoring Prajāpati also known as Brahmā, the god of creation. It is said that Prajāpati sacrificed his life for the creation of the universe. Prajapati’s body is said to be mortal and his breath – prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna and samāna is said to be immortal. The significance of this agnisayana is to resurrect Prajāpati, who has initially manifested beneath the fire altar. The agnisayana altar is of five layers constructed with specially made bricks. The first, the third and the fifth layers are also filled with pebbles to enable Prajāpati to breathe. From non-ritualistic point of view, these three layers are considered as earth, air and ākāśa. The second and the fourth layers represent fire and water. These are the five sheaths of body referred in Vedānta as pañcakośa.

From the ritualistic point of view this bird is considered to carry the yajamāna of the ritual to the heavens. Yajur Veda says that the bird’s head is Tṛvṛt or Stoma (the verses in the Vedas that give protection to the yajamāna), its eye as Gāyatri (the famous Gāyatri mantra for seeking noble mind and thoughts. It also refers to gāyatri meter), its body as Vāmadeva Sāman (verses of Sāma Vdea), it’s both the wings as bṛhat and rathantara (both are names of melodies in Sāma Veda), its tail as the place for conducting this yajña, its limbs as meters (number of letters in a mantra. This is also called chandas and Gāyatri meter is supposed to be the best), its hooves as the masters of knowledge, its name is Yajur mantras and the bird is called as garutmat (possibly meaning the bird garuḍa. Garuḍa is one of the vāhana-s used by Lord Viṣṇu, who is the ultimate authority for any yajña.). One of the soma oblations in this yajña is Gāyatri mantra. Interestingly the Gāyatri mantra finds a place in Yajur Veda next to the verses on suparṇa, the Vedic bird. Gāyatri mantra finds a place both in Rig and Yajur Vedas. Finally a request is made to this bird to go to the heaven and then fly to the world of light, carrying the yajamāna. The five of its parts viz. its head, trunk, left wings, right wings and tail are mainly identified with five basic elements and manifestation of these five elements such as organs of action, sensory organs, organs of perception, five sheaths etc.

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (III.i.1) also refers to two mystical birds by saying dvā suparṇā.  These two mystical birds refer to self (individual soul) and the Self (Brahman). The Upaniṣad says that these two birds exactly look alike, conveying the truth that there is no difference between the individual soul and the Brahman. The individual self (the first bird) eats the fruits of the tree in which these birds are seated watched by the Cosmic Self (the other bird).  The mental condition of the first bird changes depending upon the quality of the fruits it eats.  Since the other bird is merely a spectator, its mental condition does not change. Though these birds are the same, only their attitude differs. Upaniṣad beautifully highlights the ‘difference’ between the self and the Self.  

Since Viṣṇu is the Lord of all fire rituals, He is adored here as Suparṇa.  It can also be said that Viṣṇu is praised here as the One, whose vāhana is Garuḍa, the mystic bird. 

VISHNU SAHASRANAMA 185 - 191

185. Aniruddhaḥ अनिरुद्धः

Aniruddha means the one who cannot be controlled, a quality of the Brahman. This nāma conveys the omnipresent nature of the Brahman. The power of the Brahman manifests through different energies resulting in various shapes and forms. None can stop this divine energy from manifesting. Brahman is a strict disciplinarian. Everything functions in the prescribed manner fearing His wrath, says Upaniṣad-s.  Viṣṇu incarnates in various forms to destroy the evil and establish virtuousness.  Hence He is Aniruddhaḥ.

186. Surānandaḥ सुरानन्दः

Sura means thought about the Divine.  This refers to the state of jīvanmukta, whose thoughts are always immersed in His bliss or ānanda. Sura also means gods and in this context this nāma says that Lord Viṣṇu gives happiness to gods and goddesses. The form of Viṣṇu is the embodiment of bliss and as the upholder of the universe, He prevails everywhere. His mere presence gives happiness. What He has, He gives. 

The comfort of air-conditioning can be realised only if one enters the air-conditioned premises.  In the same way, only if one enters into His fold, His bliss can be realized. What is required on the part of the aspirant is to put his step forward towards Him and He is ready to make him happy.

187. Govindaḥ गोविन्दः

He had restored the planet earth that was sunk very deep in the world of demons.  Because of this, Viṣṇu is adored as Govinda.

Go means cattle and vinda means gaining, which can be interpreted as the chief of cow herds. Go also means humans and Govinda is their protector.

Go also means voice and He pervades the universe in the form of Śabdabrahman.  Sound originates from Him.  Govinda also refers to ordinary consciousness, mind and sense (वाक्च सत्वं च गोविन्द बुद्धौ संवेशितानि ते) and in order to attain Him, one has to control all this.

The very utterance of the word Govinda removes pains and miseries.

188. Govidāṁ patiḥ गोविदां पतिः

Go means knowledge. Vedas and Vedānta-s are the source of knowledge. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gītā (XV.15), “I am the only object worth knowing through Vedas; I alone am the father of Vedānta and the knower of Vedas too.”

This nāma goes to prove that Brahman can be realized through knowledge.  Vedas and Vedānta-s provide such knowledge.

189. Marīciḥ मरीचिः

Marīci means the Lord of all beings.  It also means ray of light.  Brahman is in the form of Self illuminating light.  Kṛṣṇa has used the word marīcaḥ in Bhagavad Gītā (X.20) to refer to His effulgent nature.

The Self is Self-illuminating and is placed within the causal body.  Kaṭha Upaniṣad says that illumination of the sun and the moon is insignificant before the Self-illumination of the Brahman.

190. Damanaḥ दमनः

Damana means taming.  When one departs from the virtuous path, He brings him back to his senses and make to him to pursue the virtuous path again.  A small trigger is enough to make a person to slip from the virtuous path.  It is like a tiny spark that is capable of destroying entire cotton warehouse. Only in order to avoid this trigger, one has to constantly look inwards and stay connected with the Self within. Viṣṇu is so compassionate, He always tames His devotees and ensures that they do not stray away from the virtuous path.

191. Haṁsaḥ हंसः

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (II.ii.2) says, “haṁsaḥ śuciṣat”.  Here haṁsaḥ refers to the omnipresent Brahman and śuciṣat means heaven. 

Haṁsa refers to swan, often referred to as the mythical bird.  This bird is capable of segregating water from the milk when they are mixed together.  This concept refers to segregation of knowledge from the mundane existence.  Knowledge and ignorance always prevail together and if one is serious about liberation, like this mythical swan, he has to drink only the knowledge leaving ignorance aside.

There is a mantra called haṁsa mantra which is also known as ajapa mantra. The two petals of ājñācakra are also compared to two swans. 

VEDANTA - FINAL LIBERATION

Vedānta series 37

All the three types of karmas can be destroyed, says Tattvabodha. Sañcita karma can be destroyed by knowledge about the Self.  The concept of “I am Brahman” alone can destroy sañcita karma.  Karmas can manifest only through the gross body.  Since the yogi is not concerned with his body, karmas cannot affect him.  Whatever happens to his body, be it pleasure or pain, does not distract his consciousness fixed on the Brahman.  He always stays connected with the Brahman, and pursuant to which he remains in the state of perpetual bliss or ānanda. Bodily pains and sufferings are too trivial for him.  He has reached the stage of jīvanmukta after attaining complete knowledge about the Brahman and later realizing that he himself is the Brahman (Self realisation).  From this state, he quickly moves on to universality.   He has understood by his experience, that attachment to his body and materialistic living is the root cause of all his sufferings.  He knows that his soul is not bound by the limitations of his body, as he can  see the Brahman everywhere.  He truly understands the omnipresent nature of the Brahman.

A jīvanmukta has attained that state only after personally realising that he is not the doer and also knows that he cannot be the doer. When he is not the doer, he is not concerned with worldly experiences. Attachment to the worldly experiences is due to ignorance. The cause for his realisation and experience is the spiritual knowledge, which he has attained through scriptures and from the words of his guru.  This supreme knowledge is capable of burning all his karmas.  This is compared to roasted seeds.  Roasted seeds cannot sprout because all the parts of a seed – seed coat (comparable to the gross body), endosperm (comparable to the subtle body) and embryo (the causal body) are burnt due to the heat. Though a roasted seed continues to exist, it cannot sprout because all its sheaths are burnt. In the same way, jīvanmukta’s karmas are burnt, because all his three of bodies are burnt and incapacitated to transmigrate.  When subtle and causal bodies are burnt, his karmas and impressions of his subconscious mind are also burnt.  Where there is no cause, there cannot be any effect.  He continues to exist with his body and gets liberated at the time of his death, not to be born again. After all, water in a broken pot cannot be transferred to a new pot.  Thus sañcita karma will be burnt.

Prārabdha karma also does not affect him, as he does identify himself with his body.  He has become a jīvanmukta because of his disconnect with the material world.  Only those, who are interested in materialistic life, are concerned with gross and subtle bodies, through which they accrue karmas.  The one, who has shed his identity with the bodies, never accrues karmas.  This is because, his sensory organs are not connected to the materialistic world; and second, his mind is always pervaded by the Brahman, pursuant to which sensory inputs are rejected by his mind.  This is a situation, where impressions, even if any, cannot be recorded anywhere. As the impressions alone cause karmas, he does not accrue further karmas and hence there is no question of accrual of prārabdha karmas in this last life. His living is compared to a lotus leaf in water.  Though the lotus leaf exists in water, it does not get wet, where  water is the materialistic world and the lotus leaf is jīvanmukta.    

Tattvabodha now declares a secret.  It says that those who praise and worship such a jñānin acquire the good karmas done by that jñānin.  Brahman decided that all the good karmas of that yogi should not go waste.  Since the Lord is companionate, He decided that those who serve and adore such a jñānin will get the good portion of the āgāmi karmas of the jñānin.  On the contrary, if someone disrespects him, hates him or hurts him, he acquires bad portion of the āgāmi karmas of the jñānin, if any.  This can practically be experienced in the presence of a true jīvanmukta by the feel of positive vibrations emanating from the jñānin.    

Therefore, at the time of his death, he does not have all the three types of karmas.  Sañcita karma is burnt by his knowledge. Prārabdha karma is also burnt by the knowledge and no further karmas accrue, because he lives a life like a lotus leaf in water.  Āgāmi karma is spent away by transferring it to those who worship him and treat him with utmost respect.  When his karmic account is totally nullified, he gets ready for final liberation, leaving his body to the elements of nature, from where it originated. 

The one who has realised the Self has crossed the ocean of saṃsāra.  Saṃsāra refers to transmigration arising out of indulgence in worldly life.  If one gets relived from saṃsāra, it means his consciousness crosses all the limitations and boundaries to become one with the Brahman, who is all pervasive. A realised person does not care about the place where he leaves his body, for consummation to the elements of nature.  For him, the city of Banaras on the banks of holy Ganges and a place where dogs eat corpses do not matter at all.  He is not worried about the rituals and rites to his body, as he knows such rituals and rites cannot manoeuvre his soul.  This concept is applicable only to a jñānin and those who continue to be associated with materialistic living have to strictly follow the dictums of the Holy Scriptures. This is where the shallow spiritual knowledge plays havoc.    

Jīvanmukta now becomes videhamukta, the one without a body. According to Gabriel Pradīpaka, “the videhamukta had to abandon his body due to the extreme intensity of the experience that flashes in him immediately. He could remain around here as the Self sometimes, but not supported by anything  (not even subtle or causal).”  For a jīvanmukta, there is no difference between these two stages. Even when he was existing in his physical body, he never paid attention to his body and the difference between these two is of relevance only to those who live a materialistic life.  This means that difference between jīvanmukta and videhamukta is of relevance only for spiritual novices.  Death is yet another happening in our lives, like eating and sleeping.    

Liberation happens after the destruction of inherent spiritual ignorance.  Every soul is veiled by ignorance.  This spiritual ignorance can be destroyed only by the fire of knowledge.  When māyā is destroyed, a spiritual aspirant completes his spiritual journey.  When the veil of māyā is removed, he understands his true nature, that he is the Brahman.  He confidently affirms, “I am That”. Reaching the higher realms of spirituality is not that easy.  Knowledge and experience alone helps.  A true guru can impart enough spiritual knowledge, but it is up to the aspirant to understand and explore those holy teachings. All the pleasures derived from associating ourselves with the materialistic world are momentary.  Pleasure and pain always alternates like the pendulum of a clock.  Neither of them is permanent.  They unfold according to the imprints of our karmic account.  Our thoughts and actions cause karmic imprints.  There are several ways to commence spiritual journey.  The ideal entry would be to develop concern and compassion for other beings, be it man or animal.  There has to be a first step in any ladder and one has to have the right intention to climb up the ladder. The first step is after all, the most important one.  

This concludes the series on Vedānta.

VEDANTA - KARMA

Vedānta series 36

Karma is nothing but the impressions of cause and effect of all our relationships that get embedded in our soul.  The soul does not move alone.  It carries with it, the karmic embedment and the impressions of our subconscious mind. Karma and subconscious mind is almost the same, still different.  Both cannot act on their own, and have to necessarily act through the conscious mind.  Karma is the sum total of our thoughts and actions, not only of this life, but also previous lifves.  Karma also transmigrates along with soul. A person’s quality of life is determined only by the quality of his karma.  If the sum total of his past thoughts and actions are good, he is bound to be comfortable and enjoy the life. If his karmic account is bad, he has no choice except to suffer.  Any amount of prayers does not absolve him from the adversity of his karmic account. Law of karma is the law of the Lord, and the Lord never violates His own laws. Law of karma is the natural justice system prescribed by the Lord.  After all what we sow, we reap.  We can freeze our karmic account by surrendering the effects of our actions to the Lord.  From that time onwards, we do not accrue further karmic accounts. However, we have to spend the balance in our karmic account according to its quality. This stage is called jīvanmukta.

Every soul has three types of bodies - gross, subtle and causal.  The inner bodies, subtle and causal, hold the karmic embedment and also the impressions of the subconscious mind.  These two inner bodies, subtle and causal are not formed afresh in each birth.  They always remain the same through innumerable births.  The impressions of the subconscious mind and karma-s mature at the appropriate time to manifest and pursuant to which, one undergoes pleasure or pain.  The impressions of the subconscious mind pave the way for karma-s to manifest.  If we become devoid of desires and attachments, we do not leave impressions in our subconscious mind. Ungratified desires form potent impressions in our subconscious mind. When we come into contact with the matters associated with these impressions, the impressions of the subconscious mind squeeze themselves into our mind and make our karma-s manifest.  Karma-s alone cannot manifest.  They have to manifest in conjunction with our subconscious and conscious minds.

Karma-s form the potential seed for all our actions, including our thoughts, feelings, speech and deeds. Let us assume that a person is an extremely pious and soft personality.  He never thinks of animosity and hatred. Some person, unknown to him suddenly springs up before him and begins to hurt him through words causing his anger to rise uncontrollably. At the height of his anger, he tends to use some harsh words.  This harsh word metamorphoses into hatred and enmity and their associated consequences.  If his karmic affliction is too bad, it leads to murder and death of either one of them.  This is a typical case where karma manifests to transform one’s life either bad to good or good to bad.  

Broadly, karmas are caused due to the following five activities, and they are spiritual ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and desire to live. These are the five factors that generally cause karmas.  There are other factors also, but only these five are the predominant causal agencies that cause karmas.  If these five aspects of life are annihilated, we do not accrue karmas.  A jīvanmukta gets rid of karmas only by annihilating them.  These five are known as the seeds of karmas and if the seeds are burnt, obviously they cannot sprout. It is not necessary that karmas should cause only miseries and pains.  Karmas can also accelerate a person's spiritual liberation.  The highest benefit that karma can endow us with is our liberation. It is the quality of karma that matters.

Karmas are of three types - sañcita karma, prārabdha karma and āgami karma.  Sañcita karma is the sum total of karmas accumulated in all the previous lives and latently present in this birth. This continues to be inactive through the present life.  Prārabdha karma is that portion of sañcita karma carved out to manifest in the present life.  Āgami karma is the sum of total of sañcita  karma +/- karmas accumulated during this life time.  Therefore, at the beginning of his next life, his sañcita karma could be more or less depending upon the karmas that he accumulates during his present life.

Let us understand this with an example.  At the end of one’s death, his karmic account has a balance of 100.  This 100 becomes his sañcita karma. At the beginning of his next birth, only 30 is drawn for manifestation in that birth, which is known as prārabdha karma.  Now there are two possibilities.  One, he spends the entire 30 and dies.  Second, after spending his 30, he further adds 40.  In the first instance, his āgami karma would be 100 – 30 = 70.  In the second instance, his āgami karma would be 70 + 40 = 110.  If his āgami karma is 70, probably he will have two or three births.  If it is 110, he will have four or five births.  Thus karmas are either added or spent during a life cycle.

There is no connection between soul and karma.  Soul does not make anyone to act.  It is only the impressions of the conscious mind or the subconscious mind that make a person to act.  These actions in turn cause karmas, as he performs all his actions with intent on the result  of activities.  He goes for employment to make money to nurture family. His ultimate aim is the money.  If someone is going to give him that kind of money every month, he will decide not to go for employment.  Therefore, he performs an action only to get benefits. All the actions that are performed with intent on the result  of actions cause karmas.  If he performs good actions, good karmas accrue and if he performs evil actions, bad karmas accrue. As long as he has attachment towards the benefit of his actions, he continues to accrue karmas, whether good or bad. There is no other way to get rid of his karmas, except to detach himself from the result  of his actions.  We have to go on discharging our duties to our fullest satisfaction, remaining unattached to the results  of our actions.  There is no other way to arrest the accrual of further karmas in our karmic account.

An individual soul, deluded by illusion (māyā) and ignorance (avidya and ajñāna) considers itself as the doer, forgetting its inherent nature. The illusion and ignorance arises because of ego. When actions are performed with ego, obviously there are some motives behind our actions.  These motives are the results of desires and attachments. A jīvanmukta is the one, who understands this concept thoroughly.  Though he also performs all actions as we do, he does the same action without any selfish motive.  Hence, karmas do not accrue to him.  Karma, ego and subconscious mind are interrelated and interdependent.  The one without the other cannot act on their own.  Your karma cannot manifest if you have dissolved your ego. Therefore, it is said that ego is nothing but the karmic conglomeration.  As long as, your karmic account exists, either good or bad, your ego will also co-exist.  This is because karmas cannot be destroyed, and should be exhausted only by experience. The only way you can prevent further karmic accruals is to remain detached from worldly affairs. It does not mean that you should not lead a normal life.  You can still lead a normal life, but become detached.  Declare and affirm that all the actions you do are surrendered to the Lord.  If your affirmations are done with sincerity, you will be alleviated from the pains of karmas.

Apart from the individual karma, there is also a concept called group karma. Group karma is where many individual karmas together manifest at one point of time. Typical examples are accidents and nature’s fury like earth quakes. In such circumstances, many people die at the same time. 

Karma is carried by his causal body along with soul and impressions of his subconscious mind. This soul + karma + subconscious mind combine is deposited by a man in the form of sperms in a woman. Though several sperms are deposited, only a single sperm fertilizes the egg of the woman.  During conjugation, air also known as prāṇa plays a significant role.  Procreative fluid is blown by the power of air into the ova and is pulled by the air present in the uterus.  The soul along with the other two gets impregnated by the activities of the air and gets embedded in the foetus.  The moment this entry takes place, the soul forgets about all its previous experiences. As long as the soul remains in the womb it understands its true nature.  Once the child is delivered and the moment it inhales its first breath, it forgets about its true identity, and gets engulfed with the effects of māyā.  It is only the karma that ultimately chooses its future association with a body.  At the time of death, soul leaves the body with embedded karmas. The sum total of both karmas and subconscious mind till the end of the present life goes out of the body along with the soul. Again air, with extreme pressure pushes the soul out of the body, causing death.

VEDANTA - JIVANMUKTA

Vedānta series 35

A person who got liberated by realising the Brahman during his present life is known as jīvanmukta.  Tattvabodha beautifully explains this:

evaṁ ca vedāntavākyaiḥ sadgurūpadeśena ca sarveṣvapi bhūtesu yeṣāṁ brahmabuddhirutpannā te jīvanmuktāḥ ityarthaḥ

एवं च वेदान्तवाक्यैः सद्गुरूपदेशेन च सर्वेष्वपि भूतेसु येषां ब्रह्मबुद्धिरुत्पन्ना ते जीवन्मुक्ताः इत्यर्थः

What is important to observe here is the usage of the phrase sadgurūpadeśena, stressing the importance of teachings of a guru. It is only in rarest of the rare cases, where men attain emancipation without personal guidance from spiritual preceptors. Generally, without the guidance of a guru, liberation is not possible.  If spiritual ambition is very strong, he or she may also be guided by someone remotely.  Particularly, intricacies of great sayings or mahāvākya-s can be explained only by a true guru in person.  Learned gurus avoid imparting of spiritual knowledge in groups, as the status of all the disciples may not be the same.  Hence, in the final stages of their teaching, they interact with each of their disciples directly.  The role of a guru is like a gold smith.  Melting of gold is a general task; whereas, making of each ornament is an arduous and skilled task. This task depends upon the nature of an ornament. The same yardstick cannot be used to make different ornaments such as bangles, necklace or studs.  In the same way, a true guru may not use the same yardstick to impart ultimate spiritual knowledge to everyone. 

The above verse says that both Vedānta and guru alone can make spiritual realisation complete. A man is said to have been liberated, only if his spiritual journey culminates in realising the Self within.  He alone is called a jīvanmukta.  He continues to live even after realising that he is the Brahman. He casts off his identity with the types and sheaths of body.  He understands that the Self within is the cause for his very existence.  Instead of associating himself with the effect (body), he identifies himself with the cause (Brahman).  He is jīvanmukta. 

Tattvabodha asks jīvanmuktaḥ kaḥ or who is jīvanmukta? It answers this question by saying “na puruṣaḥ (I am not a man), asaṁgaḥ (unattached), saccidānanda-svarūpaḥ (in the nature of existence-consciousness and bliss), prakāśarūpaḥ (illuminating), sarvāntaryāmī (the inner spirit of all that exist in the universe), cidākāśarūpaḥ (formless form) aparokṣa jñāna (the one who experiences and observes the true nature of I.”  These are the attributes of jīvanmukta.  A jīvanmukta is the one who attains liberation during the existence of his body, but not bound by his bodily form. He always remains unattached to the materialistic world.  Brahman has been explained as Saccidānanda, and a jīvanmukta knows that he is not different from the Brahman. Brahman alone is Self-illuminating and a jīvanmukta truly affirms that he is the Brahman and he realises the illumination of the Self within.  He also knows that the Self within his body is omnipresent in nature and is present in all the beings of the universe, as a result of which, he is able to see the Brahman everywhere and the universal brotherhood automatically dawns on him.  He is aware that his gross body is perishable and hence does not attach any significance to his body and is least interested in other shapes and forms.  He does not see through his biological eyes and uses his spiritual eye (the third eye or ājñā cakra).  His awareness is on the seat of the Lord (cidākāśa refers to vastness of the Self.  It can be literally translated as the sky (infinity) of consciousness.  It is also said to be the seat of the Light from where OM emanates. According to Śaiva philosophy, it is the conjoining point of Śiva, Śaktī and nara).

If we observe a jīvanmukta, it can be noticed that he has gained complete knowledge about the Absolute.  It is not the knowledge gained through the senses, but the knowledge gained through his personal experience.  Pañcadaśī explains this by saying, “Thus a man distinguishes the Self from the five sheaths, concentrates the mind on the Self, according to the scriptural dictums, becomes free from the bonds of repeated births and deaths and immediately attains the supreme bliss.”

Kṛṣṇa describes the qualities of sthitaprajña in Bhagavad Gītā (II. 55-65). “When a man relinquishes all the desires of his mind and contented in the Ātman, he is considered as sthitaprajña.  He, whose mind is neither shaken at the time of misery, nor attached to happiness,  totally free from desires, fear and anger, whose mind is unattached to anything, neither excited nor disturbed while beholding good or bad, whose knowledge is permanent is known as sthitaprajña.  When a person withdraws all his body parts inwardly like a tortoise, his wisdom attains steadfastness (as he gets disconnected from the external world).  For the one who restrains from the sensual pleasures, still the yearning for such pleasures does not get exterminated.  But, for sthitaprajña, after realising the Supreme Self, even such yearnings cease to exist. One who represses all his senses and fixes his consciousness on me and surrender unto me, his senses are under his control and his intellect becomes steadfast.  Dwelling on sense objects causes attachment, which leads to craving, craving leads to anger, anger leads to delusion, delusion leads to loss of memory, loss of memory leads to loss of intelligence and loss of intelligence leads to disintegration. But, a man with self control, without desires and aversions, with subjugated senses and still associated with material world attains internal calmness.  If internal clarity is attained, all his grief will be annihilated.  His knowledge soon becomes well established in the Supreme Self.”

There is no difference between sthitaprajña and jīvanmukta, though it could be argued that jīvanmukta is the highest.

VEDANTA - I AM THAT

Vedānta series 34

Towards the end, Tattvabodha discusses about realising the Self.  It further explains the difference between Īśvara and jīva.  The one with ego and limited knowledge is jīva and the one without ego and omniscient is Īśvara.  Jīva is limited by both by ego and knowledge which is exactly opposite to Īśvara, who is infinite (not limited by ego) and omniscient (not limited by knowledge).  When jīva realizes its unity with Īśvara, jīva can honestly say ‘I am That’ and this is Self realization.  ‘I am That’ or ‘you are That’ or ‘aham Brahmāsmi’ are called mahāvākya-s.  Mahāvākya-s mean great sayings and are found in Upaniṣad-s, as Upaniṣad-s alone declare the Brahman by negations, affirmations and by drawing perceptible comparisons. 

How jīva can affirm that he is Īśvara? Apart from māyā, two important factors that prevent realisation of the Self are ego and knowledge.  Both ego and knowledge are the limiting factors in jīva.  Since Īśvara is devoid of any limiting factors, he becomes omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. From this, one can understand that Īśvara and jīva are opposite to each other. Because of the limiting factors of jīva, it develops fear, anxiety, desires, attachments, and all the associated complexities.  Because jīva is limited by ego and knowledge, its consciousness is also limited and is known as individual consciousness. These are absent in Īśvara because he is not limited by anything and hence, all his attributes and qualities are prefixed by omni. Because of no limiting factors in Īśvara, his consciousness is known as universal consciousness in its purest form.   When they are opposite to each other, how can jīva realize that it is not different from Īśvara?  When mahāvākya-s use the word ‘you’ it refers to a person who identifies himself with the gross and subtle bodies. The word ‘That’ in mahāvākya-s refer to Īśvara, where there are no limiting factors.  Everything associated with Īśvara is infinite.

Jīva can realize that it is not lower than Īśvara, provided the perception of jīva undergoes a radical change from limited to infinite.  A jīva has two options before it.  One is to remain as jīva, totally limited by everything. Because of the presence of all limiting factors in it and no limiting factors in Īśvara, jīva illusively considers Īśvara as the one seated on a pedestal.  In other words, jīva considers Īśvara as someone superior to it, though in reality, jīva is not different from Īśvara.  This ignorance in jīva is caused by māyā.  Unless one understands māyā, it is difficult to transcend māyā and unless one is able to transcend māyā, he cannot realise the Self, also known as the Brahman, the sat-cit-ānanda.

One’s consciousness has to traverse beyond the three bodies, tattva-s, indriya-s (organs of action and perception), anthaḥkaraṇa and everything else to identify with the all pervading Īśvara. Realisation of the Brahman happens only if all the thoughts in the mind are completely eradicated leading to the state of samādhi, where the Brahman alone pervades. A spiritually advanced person is able to establish his connection with the Brahman only in the state of samādhi and with good amount of practice, he becomes a jīvanmukta.