MOVE Series Sept 08 : Bhakti, Gyanam, and Vairagyam (Advaitha def etc)
The final portion of the Vedas constituting about 20% is devoted to means of attaining liberation or self-realization. These being the final portion are termed Vedanta or “gyana kanda” and are more commonly referred to as “Upanishads”.
The main thrust of these, are,
(a)The Universe as we perceive/experience, is a delusion (Maya)
(b)The above perception lends itself to an obsessive attachment to our physical self.
(c)These perceptions, since are born out of ignorance can disappear only through “Gyanam” (Knowledge) and not by actions (karmas) as prescribed by Vedic texts, as every action could only result in our taking repeated births and deaths, in accordance with our karmas ( Prarabda).
(d)It is only by doing ones duties, without attachment (vairagyam) and without any expectations as to the fruits of such actions, one could qualify/graduate to pursue the path to self realization/or Gyanam.
(e) Whence this happens, and with the help of a guru, (who would no doubt be one to assess your qualification) one meditates on the Aum” and by a repeated process of elimination (naiti,naiti… or not this, not this,) attains liberation and realizes that “he or she” is none other than the “Omnipotent, All pervasive Universal and Effulgent Brahmam. And after this, there is no return to the endless cycle of births and deaths
It was sage Vyasa who is credited with bringing the Vedas to pen for us mortals by compacting the huge volume into just 4 in number, and which earned him the title of Veda Vyasa. After finishing this monumental work, it is said that the sage, quite contrararily, to a feeling of “fulfillment”, felt increasingly uneasy in mind. The Gods, thereupon, directed him to extol the Bhakti aspect, to rid him of this misery. This led to the magnum opus called the “Srimad Bhagavatham” which is a comprehensive treatise on Bhakthi.,
It is said that, when the lord Krishna, was preparing to leave this mortal world, says in an answer to his disciple Uddhava’s query,- as to how and where His followers would then be able to find Him- that He would permanently reside in the magnum opus “Srimad bhagavatham”.
With such an elevated status allotted to devotion/bhakthi, it is not surprising that the very preamble to the epic starts with the story of Bhakthi in the form of a young girl whose two sons “gyana & vairagya”, grow prematurely very old, causing an acute embarrassment to the girl, and is in extreme distress.
The story, goes on to say that as per the advice of sage Narada, the girl goes to naimisharanyam, where Sutha Maharishi, is extolling the glory of the Lord to sanatkumaras, and the moment the bakthi bhava is felt, both the sons regain their youth. The moral of the story? Without Bakthi, Gyana, and Vairagya,alone can lead you nowhere, and similarly, without, the latter two, Bakhti, can only result in sorrow.
Almost in sync with this predominant importance given to bhakthi, Adi Shankara, in His devotional hymn, to goddess Annapoorani, prays for a bhiksha of gyanam and vairagyam.
This heavy pre-amble is necessary to understand the rationale for my doubts, which arise out of this. These are
(a) From the Upanishadic texts, it would appear, that only after the renunciation of all karmas, and with complete vairagyam, when one meditates, one attains Gyanam and liberation. Thus when Shankara asks for Gyanam and Vairagyam, a doubt arises as to whether there is this possibility of realization, without Vairagyam. The natural sequence would thus have to be Vairagya, gyana siddhyartam. Or is this just to be taken as a poetic liberty.
(b) Also, when gyanam is the final deliverance from the cycle of births and deaths, how is this being depicted, as a prematurely- old, young son of bhakthi, especially since the ultimate purpose irrespective of the “path” is “gyanam”.
(c) There is this argument that in kaliyuga since the caliber of people is considered inferior to ones in the other yugas, and since the gyana path is beyond their capability, the Bhakti marga is prescribed. This would mean that the only karma would be bhajan & keertan. The Vedic prescriptions of karmas would therefore cease to have any meaning. Can this be true? There are indeed innumerable references to Lords giving “Moksham” to even sinners, for merely uttering a single name of the Lord, which re-enforces this view.
(d) And finally, in the phalasruti of Vishnu-sahasranamam, it’s said that no misfortune ever visits the vasudeva bhakta;however the pratyaksha experience suggests, that His devotees, are invariably poor and in perpetual suffering. Kunti’s plea that He continues to give her trouble is a poignant proof of this.
All of these beg the following questions
(a) How does a reasonably devout seeker, get succor, or at least comfort-levels that one is in the right path. Or do the Gods, join in chorus with the orthodox traditional set, to condemn any and all skepticism as blasphemy.
(b) If a Lord Krishna were to be in our midst, how does one recognize Him?
(c) If only a genuine Guru can lead you to the gyana path, how does one get access to Him? Or one is to resign himself to doing his karma, or just do Bhajan/kirtan and wait endlessly, for blessings to arrive. And He in His absolute wisdom, continues to test you, and give the Ajamilas of the world not only constant iha-loka sukham, but perhaps even moksham. And the moment you show signs of any skepticism, punish you, as per the seemingly unending prarabdam
There is a scene in the film “Ten Commandments” where the king Ramasses, after losing everything, says “ Moses’ God is the real God”.
While my orthodox, traditional, disciplined, upbringing, rejects this idea, the growing shocks to the “faith” is tempting me to see merit in Ramasses’ quote.
The only problem is where and how do I find or recognize the real God.
Any answers????? Vichu
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