today's
aadhyaatmaa
lesson
---------------om brhmahye
namah......................
PREVIOUS POSTINGS
naarad muni
in skand puraan asks saarsvat-muni
this question: (slok
1.2.34-39):
"Some praise satya (Truth).
Others praise tapasya (penance) and
sauch
(cleanliness).
Some praise sankhya darshan
(philosophy). Others speak of yog shaastra
(system).
Some praise kshmaa
(forgiveness) and tittiksh (forbearance) as well as
excessive straight-forwardness.
Some praise maun-vrat
(vow of silence). Some say that learning is the greatest thing.
Some praise purna GNaan
(complete knowledge). Some praise param asaktah
(supreme detachment).
Some know the dharmik vidhio of
agnistom as the greatest thing.
Some praise the GNaan (knowledge)
of aatmaa (soul), with which one views a lump of earth
or a stone or a lump of gold alike.
When this is the state of GNaan
in the world, people are deluded and confused in the matter of what
should be done and what should not be done.
People begin to argue as to which is
the best GNaan among the above and which is the GNaan
which contributes the most towards our welfare?
You who are conversant with dharma,
it is your dharma to say which of the above GNaan
is the greatest to be pursued by the noble aatmaa.
Which GNaan achieves all
purushartha (purpose, goals and objectives) of life?"
saarsvat-muni
replied: (slok 1.2.40-41):
I shall speak about the essence that sarasvati-devi
told me. Listen to it.
"The entire vishva (universe)
is of the nature of a shadow. Origin and destruction are its guno
(characteristics features). vishva is transitory like
the bending and breaking of the eyebrows of a veshyaa
(courtesan).
dhaan
(wealth), jivan (life), yovan (youth) and
kaam (worldly pleasures) are unsteady like reflection of
the moon in water.
After performing dhyaan1
on this fact intelligently, one should resort to sthaaNu2
and daan (giving of charitable gifts as prescribed
by ved and shaastra which will be
explained later in the study)."
EXPLANATION OF 1: dhyaan
dhyaan is the 7th ang of the 8-ang
yog practice (please refer to TODAY'S PRAYER and VED PAGE for
learning about yog practice in daily life).
dhyaan is defined as a process of
meditation, reflection, thought, contemplation, through which divine
intuition or discernment is received.
Through the process of dhyaan one can form a
mental representation of the personal attributes of a dev or devi
or brhmah or any creation.
Explanation of 2: sthaaNu
sthaaNu is an epithet of shiv-dev who
is a manifestation of the tamas-gun-shakti of creator brhmah.
With this genesis of sthaanu, shiv-dev is
also given the attributes of brhmah-self which are firm,
fixed, steady, stable, immoveable and motionless. Figuratively, the
meaning is take refuge in brhmah to avoid the transitory and ephemeral
nature of this creation and all that is experience in creation. Only brhmah
is eternal. All brhmah's creation have origin in
brhmah and hence cyclically perishes at the end of one's cylce
of each life journey by being re-absorbed in brhmah for rebirth
to partake the karma-pahl (fruits of karma)
of each and every karma performed in sansaar
(worldly life).
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok 1.2.42):
SHruti1
says that a person inclined towards the rite of daan
is not liable to commit paap (sins). Similarly, the SHruti1
avers that a devotee of sthaanu does not undergo births and
deaths.
Explanation of 1: Please look up SANSKRIT GLOSSARY
under SHruti
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.43-45): Listen
to the gaathaa (a dharmik verse or song not contained in shruti
in ved but comes from smruti) proclaimed
and sung by saavarNi-muni once
upon a time:
"sthaanu
manifested as brhmah in the
naam (name) and ruup
(form) of shiv-dev is swami
or ishvar (lord) whose vehicle is the bull.
This shiv-dev
is truly tattvaM dharma
(essence of dharma).
This mahaa-dev
(= sthaanu or shiv-dev) is
honoured and adorned. He is called param (most
excellent) dharma.
Only swaami
Hara (= shiv-dev) redeems one from sansaar-saagar
(the ocean of worldly existence).
sansaar-saagar:
-
is where one gets immersed in its
waters,
-
is where dukh
(misery) is the whirlpool,
-
is where tamas-gun
(attributes which are non-sattvik or adharmik like
anger, greed, laziness) is intense,
-
is where dharma
and adharma
constitute the water,
-
is where
krodh (anger) is the marsh and mud,
-
is where ahankaar
(arrogance) and mada
(intoxication due to raag
or attachment) is the crocodile,
-
is where lobh
(greed) is the cause of all pain and difficulty,
-
is the bubble, and
-
is of which abhimaan
(false pride) and gourav
(prestige) is the majestic depth extending as far as paataal
(7 netherworlds where asuraao
have residence and where narak (hell)
exists) .
But sansaar-saagar
is provided and graced with the vehicle of the sattva-guN."
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.46-47):
"Though one's sharir
(body) is asaar (useless,
worthless, unsubstantial, without strength, without value, weak,
feeble, infirm, fragile), one must extract the following tattva
(vital essence of the body) from one's sharir:
-
daan
= giving of charitable gifts to deserving living beings;
-
vrut
= good and virtuous conduct in conformance with established rule,
usage, traditions, laws and duty with firmness and to achieve
fame;
-
vratt
= observances in daily life prescribed by
ved and shaastra
to acknowledge and worship brhmah and all 33 karor
(330 million) devo who
empower all that one can do in life, sustain life and provide
prosperity and continuity of lineages;
-
vaach
= language, speech, power of oratory;
-
kiirti =
fame, renown, glory, light, lustre, splendour, growth with
expansion;
-
dharma =
living daily life as with the laws, rules and regulations as
prescribed by ved and shaastra to conform to one's varna and one's
aashram and with a basic tenet to co-exist with fellow creations
in harmony and with a lifestyle which will never to injure any
fellow creations by thought, words and deeds;
-
aayus =
life, duration of life, vital power; and
-
parop.karan
(perfroming sevaa to
fellow creations for their welfare and well-being; benevolence;
philanthropy).
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.48):
"If one gets all of the following,
one has attained the benefit of one's birth:
-
Attachment to dharma,
-
chintaa
for kiirti (fame, renown, glory, light, lustre, splendour, growth with
expansion), (chintaa = reflection, consideration,
thinking. chintaa is one of the 33 subordinate bhaav
(feelings) in a living being).
-
good indulgence in daan
(charitable gifts to deserving persons),
-
absence of kaamanaa
(interest and attachment in the sensual objects)."
TODAY'S POSTING
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.49):
"In this bhaarat-varsh1,
after taking the birth as a mankind, which is not sthir
or niSHchal (stable)
and nitya or
akshay (permanent), if one does not pursue activities
conducive to the kalyaan (welfare
and well-being) of aatmaa,
then that aatmaa is
certainly deceived by the person."
EXPLANATION OF 1: bhaarat-varsh:
-
bhaarat-varsh
is one of the seven continents described in ved forming part of pruthvi-lok
or bhuu-lok which is the domain in this
brhmaand (egg of brhmah which is a universe)
where mortal living beings can take birth and are supported by
pruthvi with all that is required for the sustenance and
continuity of life.
-
The taking of a birth by an aatmaa
as an embodied being in bhaarat-varsh is said to be very rare and
auspicious as this is the only birthplace in the entire universe
from which moksh can be attained by an aatmaa.
moksh cannot be attained in any other seven lok
(worlds - bhuu-lok,
bhuva-lok, svar-lok, mahar-lok, jan-lok, tapas-lok and brahmaa
or satya-lok, look up lok in SANSKRIT
GLOSSARY) or in any of the seven paataal-lok
( nether worlds) where asuraao lives and where
narak (hell) exists as one the domains of existence.
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.50):
"Birth as a manushya
(mankind) is difficult to be obtained by devo
and asuraao. After
obtaining the birth of a manushya,
one should perform those karma which
would prevent one from falling into narak
(hell). Human birth is the
foundation of all that happens in this creation. It is conducive to
the achievement of all purushaarth
(goals and objectives of life) of artha,
kaam, dharma and moksh."
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.51-52):
"Even if you do not perform
karma to gain anything, at least save the capital of
your punya by all means. The
ship of your body (to travel during this life time) has been bought by
you at a great cot of punya
(merit) in order to cross the dukh-saagar
(ocean of pain and sorrow of journey through this sansaar).
Cross this sansaar before
the ship of the body breaks (meaning before death in this life
time)."
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.53):
" A person could get a body having
no vikaar and dosh
(diseases and dysfunctions) from the fruits of previous punya
karma. But getting such a body is very difficult. But
even after getting such a perfect body when one does not get away from
sansaar (world), one
becomes the slayer of one's aatmaa.
Such a person thus regarded as niich,
annarth and dusht (a person who is
moral-less, adharmik and cruel)."
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.54):
" tapasvio
and yogio
(ascetics including rushio and munio)
perfrom tapasya1; sacrificing
priests perform havan (= yagna1)
and daan
is given - all these are eagerly
pursued for the sake of obtaining par-lok1
(other world then the mortal domain of bhu-lok
such as svarga-lok, svar-lok, etc)."
kaatyaayam asked:
"Of these two, namely daan
and tapasya, which is more
difficult? Which yields greater benefit after death?
1: Please look up these sanskrit words in SANSKRIT
GLOSSARY on this web site to fully understand the meaning of the slok.)
TODAY'S POSTING
saarsvat-muni
continues to reply: (slok
1.2.55):
"There is nothing more difficult
to perform in pruthvi-lok
(domain that support mortal living beings) than daan.
This is perceived directly with the vishva
(universe) as the witness."
(saarsvat-muni will
continue to reply IN THE NEXT POSTING to enlighten us as to who we are as human
forms of embodied aatmaa and
what is the purpose of life of this human body with embodied aatmaa)
....om shaanti shaanti
shaanti...
....om
tat sat....
(This presentation is prepared by shree champaklaal
dajibhaai mistry who acknowledge his debt to guru brahmaa-dev,
vyaas-muni, naarad-muni and saarsvat muni for their transmission of
original ved GNaan in sanskrit version of skand puraan. The above
presentation is based on sanskrit to English translation of skand
puraan by shree Dr. G. V. Tagare, G. P. Bhatt as published by Motillal Banarasidass
Publishers to whom shree champaklaal and PVAF acknowledges a debt with
offering of pranaam. The above presentation contains additional ved
text to the original puraan text for ease of understanding and learning
without corrupting the original text and its original GNaan.
Explanatory text from other ved sources is also added in brackets to
further facilitate the understanding and learning where it is deemed
necessary)
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