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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00146 Jun 2006

 
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The avidhyA, nescience, being anAdhi, beginningless and powerful 
according to the advaitin, the perception of duality cannot be 
removed by the mere knowledge of Brahman through the vedantavAkyas. 

        Therefore besides the study of the  vedantavakyas  dhyAna  
and upaAsanA have been prescribed by the vedntavakyas themselves 
which can be seen in the texts like ' omithyEva AtmAnam dhyAyaTHa, 
meditate on the Self as OM,'(Mund. 2-2-6) 'AthmAnamEva lokam 
upAseetha, one should meditate on the Self alone,'(Brhd.3-4-
15) 'AthmA vA are drashtavyah manthavyah nidhiDHyAsithavyah,the Self 
is to be seen, thought and meditated'(Brhd.6-5-6).  The 
word 'knowing,vinjAna' is also to be taken in the sense of meditation

        Now what is meditation? Ramanuja defines it as 'dhyAnam cha 
thailadhArAvath avicchinna smrthisanthAna roopam,' continous flow of 
remembrance like the stream of continously dripping of oil. 'DhruvA 
smrthih ;smrthilambhe sarvagranTheenAm vipramokshah,'(Chan.7-26-2) 
when the constant,(dhruva) remembrance, (smrthih) is attained all 
knots are rent asunder. Thus  DHruvAsmrthi is prescribed as the means 
of liberation. Here remembering is synonymous with seeing. as shown 
by the text, 'bhidhyathE hrdhayagrantTHih cchidhyanthE sarvasamsayAh 
ksheeyanthe asya karmANi thasmin dhrshte parAvarE,'(Mund.2-2-9) when 
that, (Brahman) is seen all knots are broken, all doubts vanish and 
all karma are destroyed. Similarly the word nidhiDHyAsithavyah also 
refers to BrahamasAlshAtkAra only.

        Remembrance when become intent ,Dhruvasmrthih, is the same as 
seeing. Sruthi says, 'nAyamAthmA pravachanena labhyah na meDhayA na 
bahunA sruthEna yamaivEsha vrnuthE theEna labBhyah thasyaisha AthmA 
vivrNuthE thanoom svAm,'(Mund.3-2-3) the self cannot be attained 
through talk or contemplation or by hearing . Only to him  whom the 
Self chooses to manifest,  the Self reveals itself.' From this 
statement of the sruthi, says Ramanuja, it is obvious that Self 
cannot be realised by sravaNa, manana and nidhiDhyAsana, as professed 
by the advaitin. 'YamaivEsha vrnuthE THeNA labhyah,' means the one 
whom the Athman chooses to reveal itself must be priyathama, most 
loved, implying, to him also the Athman is priyathama, most dear, ' 
priyathama Eva varaNeeyo bhavathi, yasya ayam nirathisayapriyah sa 
Eva asya priyathamo bhavathi.' 

         This has been proclaimed by the Lord Himself in 
Bhagavatgita, 'nAyam vedair na thapasA na dhAnEna na chEjyayA sakya 
Evam vidho dhrashtum dhrstavAnasi mAm yathA bhakthyAthvananyayA 
sakyah,'(BG11-53-54. Iam not to be seen as you see me now, through 
knowledge of the vedas nor penance nor gifts nor by sacrifice except 
through singleminded devotion.' And 'purushah sa parah pArtha 
bhakthyA labhyasthvananyayA', the Supreme being can be attained only 
by devotion.

          The Lord  says that He will give jnaAna only to those who 
ever united with Him through avicchinnasmaranNa, unbroken flow of 
meditation and love, 'thEshAm sathathayukthANam bhajathAm preethi 
purvakam dhadhAmi buddhiyogam tham yEna mAm upayAnthi thE, thus 
enabling them to  attain liberation. This constant remembranca with 
love is bhakthi.

        Let the meditation with bhakthi be instrumental for the true 
knowledge of Brahman, that is, brahmasAkshAtkAra, perception of 
brahman, but where is the necessity for the karma enjoined in the 
karmakAnda of the vedas?

        Ramanuja answers that the karmas like yajna  are the sAdhana 
or means for such dhruvasmrthi, constant remembrance with love.The 
efficacy of karma in securing brahmajnana has been stressed by the 
suthrakara himself in the third pAdha by the suthra'yajnAdhisrutheh 
asvavath,'(BS3-4-26) there is need for all karma,because the 
scriptures prescribe yajna etc,  ' thamEtham vedhAnuvachanEna 
brAhmaNA vividhishanthi yajnEna dhAnena thapasA anAsakEna,'(Brhd.4-4-
22) the seekers of brahman wish to realise it (Brahman) by study of 
the vedas, by sacrifices, by charity,by austerity which does not 
cause destruction, meaning, when done in moderation,thus asserting 
the instrumentality of vaidika karma  for dhruvasmrthi. As the 
constant remembrance, dhruvasmtrthi which continues till death,  is 
the only means of realisation, the various karma prescribed for the 
varnAsrama have to be followed throughout life. 

        Nevertheless the samadhamAdhi are enjoined as subsidiaries to 
meditation and have to be practised by the householder while doing 
his duties. The view that performance of work and practice of 
samadhamAdhi are mutually contradicting  is refuted by the suthrakAra 
himself. 'SamadhAdhyupethahsyAth thaTHApi thu thadviDHeh 
thadhangathayA theshaAm avasyAnushTHE yathvAth,' (BS3-4-27) they have 
to be practised because they are enjoined as subsidiaries to 
meditation.

        Ramanuja then explains what are viveka and  other spiritual 
disciplines. 
1.Viveka, 
        Discrimination between what is right and what is wrong is 
needed for physical purity. There are three kinds of food to be 
avoided, as enjoined in the sruthi. They are known as jAthidhushtam, 
that belonging to prohibited class of food, like eating garlic, 
Asrayadhushtam, prohibited on account of  asraya, source like 
chAndAlAdhidhravya, coming from impure houses and nimittha dhushtam, 
contaminated food like remains of food eaten by someone 
else,ucchishtam, or polluted by hair etc. Omitting these kinds of 
food   is viveka with reference to body, resulting in kAyasuddhi, 
physical purity.The purity observed in eating helps one to attain 
satthvasuddhi which in its turn helps to attain 
dhruvasmrthi, 'AhArasuddhou satthvasuddhih satthva suddhou dhruvA 
smrthih.' (Chand.7-26)

2. Vimoka
        Vimoka is to be free from desire, kAma. As shown in the Gita, 
dhyAyatho vihsayAn pumsah sangasthEshoopajAyathe sangAth sanjAyathe 
kAmah kAmAth krodhOpajAyathe,' When one thinks about  the sense 
objects longingly there comes attachment which gives rise to desire 
which, when thwarted, becomes krOdha thus leading him to ruin. The 
text 'shAntha upAseetha,'(Chand.3-14-1) implies the control of kAma 
krOdhAdhi, resulting in mental purity.

        

3.AbhyAsah
        Gita defines abhyAsa as 'sadhA thadbhAvabhAvithah,'(BG8-6) 
being ever absorbed in the thought of Brahman.

4.KriyA
        'PanchamahAyajnAdhyanushthAnam shakthithah kriyA. The 
observance of the five mahayajnas, namely brahmayajna, study and 
teaching of scriptural texts,devayajna, worship and other ritualistic 
offerings . Pitryajna, srAddha, tarpaNa etc. to pitrs, manushya 
yajna, service to humanity like charity, hospitality etc., 
bhoothayajna, service to all creatures through kindness and ahimsa. 
Mundaka Upanishad says, 'kriyAvAnEsha brahmavidhAm varishtah,' 
(Mund.3-1-4) the performer of the devotional practices is the 
foremost among the knowers of the Self.

5. kalyANAni
        Possession of good qualities which are specified as follows:
Satya, truthfulness, Arjavam, uprightness of thought word and deed, 
dayA, unselfish attitude of kindness,dhAnam , generosity, anabhidhyA, 
devoid of desire to possess what belongs to others or to take 
revenge. anavasAdhah, without sorrow for the past and fear for the 
future, in short, dhainyam, diffidence, which stands in the way of 
Self realisation, as made out by the sruthi 'nAyam AthmA balaheenEna 
labhyah,' the Self cannot be attained by weakminded, and 
anuddharshah, absence of uddharsha , feeling of elation, which is the 
opposite of  avasAdha, despair.

        Ramanuja  further illustrates his point by taking another 
sruti text, namely,'vidhyAm cha avidhyAm cha yah thath vedha uBHayam 
saha avidhyayA mrthyum theerthvaa vidhyayA amrtham asnuthe,'( Isa.11)
he who knows both vidhyA and avidhyA,  having conquered death by 
avidhyA attains immortality through vidhyA. Here the word avidhyA , 
says Ramanuja, means the duties of the varnAsrama laid out in the 
vedas. If it is ignorance that is meant, one could not conquer death 
with it. 'karmaNA mrthyum jnAnothpatthiviroDhi prAcheenam karma 
theerthvA apohya vidhyayAamrtham brahma asnuthE ithyarThah.' By 
performing karma without attachment the past karma which is 
obstructing the rise of jnAna i is exausted and then by jnAna  
Brahman is attained.

        The karma which is jnAna virodhi, opposed to jnAna denotes 
both merit and demerit, puNyapApa rupa. PuNya is also termed as jnAna 
virodhi as it results in birth in order to enjoy the fruit of puNya. 
Rajas and thamas conceal the knowledge of Reality, yaThArTha jnAna 
Avarana while the satthva is yaTHArThajnAna hethu, causes the rise of 
the knowledge of Reality. 'sAtthvAth sanjAyathE jnAnam,'(BG.14-17)

        So to attain Brahman the activities of the respective  varNa 
and
 Asrama are to be undertaken in order to understand the nature of 
karmA and the  transitoriness of the fruits of karma. So the study of 
purvamimAmsA is precedent to that of UttharamimAmsA.
        
        
        

        






















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