2.1 Bliss that is Perfect and Full

2.1 Bliss That Is Perfect and Full

Thayumanavar Hymns

Hymn 2.1  (1/10)

Except by way of words and rituals
I had not practiced even casually
Anything that contains mind and breath.

As though I was longing for renunciation
I hold serious discussions.
And when I forget all thoughts of it,
I go to sleep.

When I think that I will have to shuffle this body
I swoon in fear, my heart trembling.

Long long indeed is the distance between
The blissful state of Transcendent Silentness
And this ignorant one.

Knowing the devilish ways of this lowly cur,
Please grant a way to contemplation of Supreme Bliss.

Oh! You, the Heavenly Wishing Tree *[1]
That grants all ripe rich boons
To those who don’t enter the forest of Attachments *[2]

Oh! You, Who fills all visible space
In unbroken continuity!
You, the Bliss that is Perfect and Full

FootNotes:

[1] A miracle-tree in the world of Indra, the king of celestials, yielding whatever desired.
[2] Attachments – Pasas: Primal impurities of the soul, three in number:
1) egoity (anava),
2) karma (chain of action and reaction through births) and
3) maya (illusory knowledge)

1.3 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

1.3 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

Thayumanavar Hymns

Hymn 1 – Verse 3  (3/3)

That which is Nondual,
That Word which is the the unique Light, 
That which the scriptures proclaim aloud,

As the Wisdom of Wisdom
As the Bliss that fills
As the Primal One,

As the Form of the Real Self,
That which faiths contend about,
That which is sought for support,
That which is Permanent,
That which is Fullness,
That which is without support,
That which is our support,
That which is Peace,
That which is the state of Void,
That which is Eternal Pure,
That which is untouched by the materiality of the universe,

That which is unaffected by events,
That which is Changeless,
That which shines as impassive neutrality,
That which is Blemishless,
That which is Formless,
That which is in thought
Without thought cognizing it,
That which is Divine Light Effulgence,
That which is Uncreated,
That which flourishes in the Jnana void,

That God Supreme,
Let us in meekness worship.

 

1.2 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

1.2 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

Thayumanavar Hymns

Hymn 1 – Verse 2   (2/3)

 

Countless the habitats lived,
Countless the names borne,
Countless the kith and kin possessed,
Countless the bodies by karma caused,
Countless the Karmas daily perfomed,
Countless the thoughts entertained,
Countless the name and fame acquired,
Countless the heaven and hell experienced,
Countless the Gods worshipped,
Countless the faiths followed –

And so, realizing through jnana and grace
Our God of Turiya form *[1]
The Divine Cloud that pours the rains of limitless rapture
Flowing through the dome of heaven
And through the love-filled eyes of fervent devotees,

Who chant the names countless
That scriptures countless recount,

The Treasure vast of silentness
That Wisdom Bliss of inexplicable state,
That Immensity

Let us in meekness worship.

*[1] – Turiya is the fourth state of pure silent consciousness, – beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep.


1.1 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

1.1 Adoration to Omnipresent God That Is The Presence of Holy Grace

Thayumanavar Hymns

Hymn 1 – Verse 1  (1/3)

What is It?
What is That Which Is, Which is not just here or there but Is everywhere, As unrestricted shining effulgence, Filled with perfect bliss, Filled with grace and divine love, —
What is it, which willed To contain the countless universes In boundless space And there flourishes as Life of life, –
What is it, which stood Transcending thought and word, 
What is it, which remained As the ever contentious object Of countless faiths claiming, ”This, my God,” ”This, our God” —
What is it, which exists as Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Love-filled and Eternal –
What is it, which knows No limits of Night and day –
That indeed is what is agreeable to thought,
That indeed is what fills all space in Silence.
That indeed is what we in meekness worship.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 10

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 10

 

THE YOGA OF THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA

Sanjaya recounts the condition of Arjuna, who was agitated due to attachment, fear and confusion.

Lord Krishna rebukes Arjuna for his dejection, and urges him to fight. After failing to convince Sri Krishna through his seemingly wise thoughts, Arjuna realizes his helplessness and surrenders himself completely to the Lord, seeking His guidance to get over the conflicts in his mind.

The Lord takes pity on him and proceeds to enlighten him by various means.

King Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya to describe what happened during the war. The following ensued.

1.
Dhritaraashtra Uvaacha:
Dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah;
Maamakaah paandavaashchaiva kim akurvata sanjaya.

1.
Dhritarashtra said:

What did the sons of Pandu and also my people do when they had assembled together, eager for battle on the holy plain of Kurukshetra, Oh Sanjaya?

2.
Sanjaya Uvaacha:
Drishtwaa tu paandavaaneekam vyudham duryodhanastadaa;
Aachaaryam upasamgamya raajaa vachanam abraveet.

2.
Sanjaya said:

Having seen the army of the Pandavas drawn up in battle array, King Duryodhana then approached his teacher (Drona) and spoke these words:

3.
Pashyaitaam paanduputraanaam aachaarya mahateem chamoom;
Vyoodhaam drupadaputrena tava shishyena dheemataa.

3.
“Behold, Oh Teacher, this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed by the son of Drupada, your wise disciple!

4.
Atra shooraa maheshwaasaa bheemaarjunasamaa yudhi;
Yuyudhaano viraatashcha drupadashcha mahaarathah.

4.
“Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada, of the great carriage (mighty warriors),

5.
Dhrishtaketush chekitaanah kaashiraajashcha veeryavaan;
Purujit kuntibhojashcha shaibyashcha narapungavah.

5.
“Drishtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit, and Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best of men,

6.
Yudhaamanyushcha vikraanta uttamaujaashcha veeryavaan;
Saubhadro draupadeyaashcha sarva eva mahaarathaah.

6.
“The strong Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna), and the sons of Draupadi, all of great chariots (great heroes).

7.
Asmaakam tu vishishtaa ye taan nibodha dwijottama;
Naayakaah mama sainyasya samjnaartham taan braveemi te.

7.
“Know also, Oh best among the twice-born, the names of those who are the most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army! These I name to thee for thy information.

8.
Bhavaan bheeshmashcha karnashcha kripashcha samitinjayah;
Ashwatthaamaa vikarnashcha saumadattis tathaiva cha.

8.
“Yourself and Bhishma, and Karna and Kripa, the victorious in war; Asvatthama, Vikarna, and Jayadratha, the son of Somadatta.

9.
Anye cha bahavah shooraa madarthe tyaktajeevitaah;
Naanaashastrapraharanaah sarve yuddhavishaaradaah.

9.
“And also many other heroes who have given up their lives for my sake, armed with various weapons and missiles, all well skilled in battle.

10.
Aparyaaptam tad asmaakam balam bheeshmaabhirakshitam;
Paryaaptam twidam eteshaam balam bheemaabhirakshitam.

10.
“This army of ours marshalled by Bhishma is insufficient, whereas their army, marshalled by Bhima, is sufficient.

 

 

Tripura Rahasya – Chapter Two

Tripura Rahasya – Chapter Two

Tripura Rahasya : The Secret of the Three States of Existence

UNREALITY OF THE WORLD

Sri Ramana Maharshi considered “Tripura Rahasya” as one of the greatest works that expounded Advaita Philosophy. He often quoted from it and regretted that it was not available in English. As a consequence Sri Munagala Venkataramaiah, an ardent devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi, took up the work of translation in 1936.

1. Just as the great ocean of milk became still when the Mandara Mountain (with which it was churned by the Devas and the Asuras) became still, even so the illusion of samsara comes to an end when the mind is stilled.

2. Samsara rises when the mind becomes active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind, therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent desires (vasanas).

3. This worthless, burnt out samsara is born of one’s imagination and vanishes in the absence of imagination. It is certain that it is absolutely unsubstantial.

4. The idea of a live snake in a picture of a snake ceases to be entertained when the truth is known. Similarly samsara ceases to exist when the Truth is realized, even if it continues to appear.

5. This long-living ghost of a samsara which is the creation of the deluded mind of man and the cause of his sufferings disappears when one ponders over it.

6. Oh Rama, Maya is such that it brings delight through its own destruction ; its nature is inscrutable ; it ceases to exist even while it is being observed.

7. Dear boy, wonderful indeed is this Maya which deludes the entire world. It is on account of it that the. Self is not perceived even though it pervades all the limbs of the body.

8. Whatever is seen does not truly exist. It is like the mythical city of Gandharvas  or a mirage.

9. That which is not seen, though within us, is called the eternal and indestructible Self.

10. Just as the trees on the bank of a lake are reflected. in the water, so also all these varied objects are reflected in the vast mirror of our consciousness.

11. This creation, which is a mere play of consciousness, rises up, like the delusion of a snake in a rope, i.e, when there is ignorance, and comes to an end when there is right knowledge.

12. Even though bondage does not really exist, it becomes strong through desire for worldly enjoyments ; when this desire subsides bondage becomes weak.

13. Like waves rising up from the ocean the unstable mind rises out of the vast and stable expanse of the Supreme Self.

14. It is because of that which always, of its own accord, imagines everything quickly and freely, that this magical show of the world is projected in the waking state.

15. This world, though unreal, appears to exist and is the cause of life-long suffering to an ignorant person, just as a non-existent ghost is the cause of fear to a boy.

16. One who has no idea of gold sees only the bracelet. He does not at all have the idea that it is merely gold.

17. Similarly towns, houses, mountains, serpents, etc. are all in the eyes of the ignorant man, separate objects. From the absolute point of view this objective world is the subject the Self itself ; it is not separate from the Self.

18. The world is full of misery to an ignorant man and full of bliss to a wise man. The world is dark to a blind man and bright to one who has eyes.

19. The bliss of a man of discrimination, who has rejected samsara and discarded all mental concepts, constantly increases.

20. Like clouds which suddenly appear in a clear sky and as suddenly dissolve the entire universe appears in the Self and dissolves in it.

21. He who reckons the rays as non-different from the sun and realizes that they are the sun itself is stated to be nirvikalpa the undifferentiating man.

22. Just as the cloth, when investigated, is seen to be nothing but thread, so also this world, when enquired into, is seen to be merely the Self.

23. This fascinating world rises like a wave in the ambrosial ocean of consciousness and dissolves in it. How then can it be different from it,  i.e. consciousness, in the middle, i.e. when it appears ?

24. Just as the foam, the waves, the dew and the bubbles are not different from water, even so this world which has come out of the Self is not different from the Self.

25. Just as a tree consisting of fruits, leaves, creepers, flowers, branches, twigs and roots, exists in the seed of the tree, even so this manifest world exists in Brahman.

26. Just as the pot ultimately goes back to mud, waves into water and ornaments into gold, so also this world which has come out of the Self ultimately goes back to the Self.

27. The snake appears when one does not recognize the rope; it disappears when one recognizes the rope. Even so this world appears when the Self is not recognized ; it disappears when the Self is recognized.

28. It is only our forgetfulness of the invisible Self which causes the world to appear just as the ignorance of the rope causes the snake to appear.

29. Just as the dream becomes unreal in the waking state and the waking state in the dream, so also death becomes unreal in birth and birth in death.

30. All these are thus neither real nor unreal. They are the effect of delusion, mere impression arising out of some past experiences.

Thus ends the Second Chapter in Sri Tripura Rahasya.

Do your work as worship without attachment to results – Vivekananda

Do your work as worship without attachment to results – Vivekananda

 

The only way to rise is by doing the duty next to us, and thus gathering strength go on until we reach the highest state. 

There is a sage in India, a great Yogi, one of the most wonderful men I have ever seen in my life. He is a peculiar man, he will not teach any one; if you ask him a question he will not answer. It is too much for him to take up the position of a teacher, he will not do it. If you ask a question, and wait for some days, in the course of conversation he will bring up the subject, and wonderful light will he throw on it. He told me once the secret of work, “Let the end and the means be joined into one.”

When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being. Right performance of the duties of any station in life, without attachment to results, leads us to the highest realization of the perfection of the soul.

It is the worker who is attached to results that grumbles about the nature of the duty which has fallen to his lot; to the unattached worker all duties are equally good, and form efficient instruments with which selfishness and sensuality may be killed, and the freedom of the soul secured.

We are all apt to think too highly of ourselves. Our duties are determined by our destiny to a much larger extent than we are willing to grant. Competition rouses envy, and it kills the kindliness of the heart. To the grumbler all duties are distasteful; nothing will ever satisfy him, and his whole life is doomed to prove a failure.

Let us work on, doing as we go whatever happens to be our duty, and being ever ready to put our shoulders to the wheel. Then surely shall we see the Light!

 

Swami Vivekananda
Complete Works – Volume 1
What is Duty? (4)

Duty and Love go together – Vivekananda

Duty and Love go together – Vivekananda

 

Duty is seldom sweet. It is only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly; it is a continuous friction otherwise. How else could parents do their duties to their children, husbands to their wives, and vice versa? Do we not meet with cases of friction every day in our lives? Duty is sweet only through love, and love shines in freedom alone.

Yet is it freedom to be a slave to the senses, to anger, to jealousies and a hundred other petty things that must occur every day in human life? In all these little roughnesses that we meet with in life, the highest expression of freedom is to forbear.

The position of the mother is the highest in the world, as it is the one place in which to learn and exercise the greatest unselfishness. The love of God is the only love that is higher than a mother’s love; all others are lower. It is the duty of the mother to think of her children first and then of herself. But, instead of that, if the parents are always thinking of themselves first, the result is that the relation between parents and children becomes the same as that between birds and their offspring which, as soon as they are fledged, do not recognise any parents.

Blessed, indeed, is the man who is able to look upon woman as the representative of the motherhood of God.

Blessed, indeed, is the woman to whom man represents the fatherhood of God.

Blessed, indeed, are the children who look upon their parents as Divinity manifested on earth.

 

Swami Vivekananda
Complete Works – Volume 1
What is Duty? (3)

Duty not universally same – Vivekananda

Duty not universally same – Vivekananda

 

The Bhagavad-Gita frequently alludes to duties dependent upon birth and position in life.

Birth and position in life and in society largely determine the mental and moral attitude of individuals towards the various activities of life. It is therefore our duty to do that work which will exalt and ennoble us in accordance with the ideals and activities of the society in which we are born. But it must be particularly remembered that the same ideals and activities do not prevail in all societies and countries; our ignorance of this is the main cause of much of the hatred of one nation towards another.

An American thinks that whatever an American does in accordance with the custom of his country is the best thing to do, and that whoever does not follow his custom must be a very wicked man. An Indian thinks that his customs are the only right ones and are the best in the world, and that whosoever does not obey them must be the most wicked man living. This is quite a natural mistake which all of us are apt to make. But it is very harmful; it is the cause of half the uncharitableness found in the world.

When I came to this country (USA) and was going through the Chicago Fair, a man from behind pulled at my turban. I looked back and saw that he was a very gentlemanly-looking man, neatly dressed. I spoke to him; and when he found that I knew English, he became very much abashed.

On another occasion, in the same Fair, another man gave me a push. When I asked him the reason, he also was ashamed and stammered out an apology saying, “Why do you dress that way?” The sympathies of these men were limited within the range of their own language and their own fashion of dress. Much of the oppression of powerful nations on weaker ones is caused by this prejudice. It dries up their fellow feeling for fellow men. That very man who asked me why I did not dress as he did and wanted to ill-treat me because of my dress may have been a very good man, a good father, and a good citizen; but the kindliness of his nature died out as soon as he saw a man in a different dress.

Strangers are exploited in all countries, because they do not know how to defend themselves; thus they carry home false impressions of the peoples they have seen. Sailors, soldiers, and traders behave in foreign lands in very queer ways, although they would not dream of doing so in their own country; perhaps this is why the Chinese call Europeans and Americans “foreign devils”. They could not have done this if they had met the good, the kindly sides of Western life. 

Therefore the one point we ought to remember is that we should always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes, and never judge the customs of other peoples by our own standard. I am not the standard of the universe. I have to accommodate myself to the world, and not the world to me. So we see that environments change the nature of our duties, and doing the duty which is ours at any particular time is the best thing we can do in this world. Let us do that duty which is ours by birth; and when we have done that, let us do the duty which is ours by our position in life and in society.

There is, however, one great danger in human nature, viz. that man never examines himself. He thinks he is quite as fit to be on the throne as the king. Even if he is, he must first show that he has done the duty of his own position; and then higher duties will come to him. When we begin to work earnestly in the world, nature gives us blows right and left and soon enables us to find out our position. No man can long occupy satisfactorily a position for which he is not fit. There is no use in grumbling against nature’s adjustment. He who does the lower work is not therefore a lower man. No man is to be judged by the mere nature of his duties, but all should be judged by the manner and the spirit in which they perform them.


Swami Vivekananda

Complete Works – Volume 1
What is Duty? (2)