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ந கர்மணா ந ப்ரஜயா த
ந கர்மணா ந ப்ரஜயா த
ந கர்மணா ந ப்ரஜயா த
ந கர்மணா ந ப்ரஜயா த⁴நேந த்யாகே³ நைகே அம்ருʼ தத்வ-மாநஶு: । பரேண நாகம் நிஹிதம் கு³ ஹாயாம்
விப்⁴ராஜ-தே³ தத்³ யதயோ விஶந்தி வேத ³ ந்தவிஜ்ஞாந-ஸுநிஶ்சிதார்தா:² ஸந்யாஸ-யோகா³ த்³ யதய-
ஶ்ஶுத்³ த⁴ஸத்த்வா: । தே ப்³ ரஹ்மலோகே து பராந்தகாலே பராம்ருʼ தாத்பரிமுச்யந்தி ஸர்வே ॥ த ³ ஹ்ரம் விபாபம்
பரமேঽஶ்மபூ⁴தம் யத்புண்ட ³ ரீகம் புரமத்⁴யஸம்ஸ்த ² ம்। தத்ராபி த ³ ஹ்ரம் க ³ க ³ நம் விஶோக-ஸ்தஸ்மிந்
யத ³ ந்தஸ்த-து³ பாஸிதவ்யம் ॥ யோ வேதா³ தௌ³ ஸ்வர: ப்ரோக்தோ வேதா³ ந்தே ச ப்ரதிஷ்டி² த: । தஸ்ய
ப்ரக்ருʼ தி-லீநஸ்ய ய: பரஸ்ஸ மஹேஶ்வர: ॥
Not by work, nor by progeny or by wealth, but by renunciation alone have some
attained immortality. That (immortality) which is even beyond the heaven, is attained
by the self-controlled renunciates (as the Self) shining in their heart.
Can karma-yoga lead to moksha?
Yes, you can gain knowledge by karma-yoga, in that it prepares you for knowledge. It is
not just another form of yoga. We mistakenly think that we will perform karma-yoga.
Nobody can ‘do’ karma-yoga. There is no particular action called karma-yoga. Some
people believe that in giving as charity or in doing some sevā, they are doing karma-
yoga. Karma-yoga is only possible when your goal is moksha, and the entire life is one
of proper attitude. For instance, your conduct and duties in marriage or parenting are
also part of karma-yoga. You can thus convert your activities in life into a means for
your own growth; that is karma-yoga.
Na prajaya, not by progeny. Na dhanena, not by wealth. There are predominant desires
such as the desire for wealth, fame, and power in this world, and the desire for the
heavens, etc. Punya-karma is dharma, dhana is artha,
and praja is käma. Dharmartha-kama is not moksha. You have to deliberately
choose mokşa. Dharma is useful in that it becomes a basis for conducting your life, and
then the whole life becomes yoga.
Brahman is not hidden because everything is Brahman. The knower is Brahman, the
knowledge is Brahman, and the known is Brahman. Every thought isBrahman; nothing
is outside Brahman. Therefore, Brahman cannot be hidden by anything. One of
the Upanişad says that if a person could cover space with a cloth, he would
cover Brahman! This means all that is here is Brahman. Even while you say, “I don’t
know Brahman,” it is Brahman that is talking to me. It is as self-contradictory as
saying, “I have no tongue,” or “I am dead.” This is denial of Brahman. You cannot
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The buddhi is dark with respect to Brahman, the most obvious. If you have not seen an
object, it is out of sight and, therefore, out of mind, but Brahman, being oneself, is
never out of sight; it never goes out of mind. Therefore, it is our ignorance that conceals
its presence.
Yad vibhrājate, that which shines. It is that which shines in the form of ananda,
the atman, consciousness. Vividham bhrājate, or viseşena bhrājate. In the form of this
entire jagat, that ananda alone is shining all the time on the platform of
one’s buddhi as jñātr-jñāna-jñeya, the knower, knowledge and the known. Otherwise,
how does one recognise any thing? Everything is in the buddhi. All these galaxies ‘out
there’ are ‘in here’ within our buddhi.
ॐ वे दान्तविज्ञानसु निश्चितार्थाः
सन्यासयोगाद्यतयः शु द्धसत्त्वाः ।
ते ब्रह्मलोके तु परान्तकाले
परामृ तात् परिमु च्यन्ति सर्वे ॥
vedantavijnanasuniścitārthah
sanyásayogadyatayah śuddhasattväh
te brahmaloke tu parantakale
paramṛtāt parimucyanti sarve.
Those who make proper effort and whose minds are pure, who have well-ascertained,
clear knowledge of Vedanta, because of a life of sannyasa, they, at the time of the
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resolution of the individuality in Brahman, are all released from (even) the unmanifest
(karma).
Vedāntavijnanam. Vedanām antah Vedantah, at the end of all the Vedas is Vedanta,
the upanişad. What is it that is unfolded by Vedanta? It is the knowledge of I,
the atman, being the whole, the limitless brahma. All of Vedanta is contained in one
sentence, ‘tat tvam asi -You are That.’ There is an obvious difference between Isvara,
the Lord, and you, the individual. He is almighty and all-knowledge, whereas, you have
limited might and limited knowledge. Yet, you are equated to Iśvara! The difference is
obvious and therefore the equation. If the non-difference were obvious, we would not
need an equation, and, if the difference were real, there would be no equation either.
You need an equation only when the difference is obvious but not real. This is the
knowledge which is to be gained by Vedanta.
There are two types of errors: one that needs a one-time correction, and another that
needs to be corrected repeatedly. The second type of error needs to be corrected again
and again not because of re-appearance of ignorance, but because of a habit of taking
oneself to be other than what one is. That is where the problem is. This is viparīta-
bhavana, habitual error in jñana. This habit could be there because of the deeply
ingrained orientation that, “I am only this much.” To neutralise it one requires certain
kind of contemplation. That is why a life of sannyāsa is necessary, sannyasayogāt.
Suddhasattväh are those whose minds are not assailed by raga-dveșa, likes and
dislikes, because of their having lived a life of karma-yoga. The word sattva has many
meanings. Anything existent is called sattva. It also means one of the three gunas. The
third meaning is the thinking faculty that is born of the sattva-guna. Suddham sattvam
eṣām te. Suddhas is clean or cleansed, sattva is the mind, eşām, for whom, te, they, are
called suddhasattvāh. They live a life of sannyasa which is characterised by a pursuit of
knowledge to the exclusion of everything else.
Sannyasayogāt. Having given up the pursuits of security and the pleasures of the world,
such people take to a life of sannyasa for the pursuit of knowledge. Their commitment
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to knowledge is more important than the life-style of sannyasa. By taking up this life,
they are yatayah. moksha is the prayojana result, of vedäntavijñāna. They discover the
freedom in ätman and have no doubts whatsoever, that the atman is free. The notion
that it is bound and confined falls apart.
Brahma eva lokah brahmalokah. Brahman itself is the loka, the self because of which
all experience is possible. Lokyate anena iti lokah. Loka is the consciousness because of
which you become conscious of everything. Tasmin brahmaloke parimucyanti sarve-in
that Brahman they are all released. From what?
Parāmṛtat, that which is para or different even from the causal state, amṛta. The causal
state never goes away. It manifests, then becomes unmanifest, manifests again, and
again becomes unmanifest, and so on. Nothing really dies; the whole jagat and
the jiva can become unmanifest, and then manifest. The unmanifest condition is
called parāmṛta. Para means kārana, the cause. It is amṛta; it does not die away.
That, which abides in the city of the body, in the lotus, which is the intellect, and in that
small space, that, which is free of all hurt and guilt, free from sorrow, and of the
nature of Parameśvara, should be meditated upon.
Upasitavyam, to be contemplated upon. What is it? The self which is free from papa,
is śuddha and is vipāpa. Papa-rahitam, nityasuddham, ātmānam, the self that is free
from papa and is always pure. That self is visoka, free from sadness, meaning that it
is sukha-svarūpa, the very nature of happiness. Visoka is freedom from hurt
and vipapa is freedom from guilt. The atman that is free from hurt and guilt should be
meditated upon.
The one who is the syllable (om) that is uttered at the beginning of the Veda and is
well- established in the upanişads, the one who is the cause, the truth of that causal
principle which is resolved (in himself), he is the Lord, Maheśvara.
Svara is om, the single syllable. Vedādau means in the beginning of the Veda or before
chanting the Veda. Proktah, it is always chanted. Vedante ca pratiṣṭhitah, pratipaditah,
it is well established, unfolded, in Vedanta.
Tasya prakṛtilīnasya. Prakṛtih līna yasmin, him, unto whom the entire prakṛti resolves
totally. All nama-rupa being prakṛti, resolves entirely into the causal form, the
unmanifest condition, and then emerges again.
Yah parah sa maheśvarah. Yah parah, that is the parah. Prakṛti-līna is the unmanifest
cause of everything. That which transcends the avyakta, the unmanifest, avyaktāt
parah, that which is the satya of the avyakta.