Sannyasa - Part 20 of 20

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Nothing should be missed here. One should not move forward without having done the earlier one. Nor should one have anything to do with the earlier one once he has moved forward.

When a cloth is washed, we do mix a lot of water and wring the cloth for the dirt to go. But once the dirt is gone no more wringing is necessary.

If we keep wringing the cloth after that it will only damage the cloth. What is necessary now is to dry it up in air. This is the going to the jnAna path!

The air and sunlight evaporates the water in the cloth. But jnAna evaporates the cloth itself.

It is not just a total end of the cloth. The Jiva cloth is there no more, but now it has become a golden sheet of Brahman.

The nishThA in the Atman that the Jiva was engaged in is not any more the action of the Jiva, the Jiva is not there any more, the Existent Thing (*sad-vastu*) that was in an experiential form in the culmination of the nishThA – that alone remains.

It is the Peace Ultimate, it is the parAyaNaM talked about as the peak state. *nishThA shAntiH parAyaNaM …* says the Vishnu sahasranAmaM.

Sannyasa - Part 19 of 20

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The svadharma that the Vedas talk about is the division into the varNas and the allocation of duties to each.

There is also prescribed what a Brahmachari should do, what a householder should do, what women should do and so on .

So the nishThA that comes from the authority of the Vedas means the nishTA in the discharge of all karmic obligation. Thus one should do one’s karma completely.

That is what gives purification of mind. And then follows Atma-jnAna as well as the end of all bondage.
When one does karmas according to the prescriptions of the Vedas, first it drains all the dirt from the body by those sheer karmas. Not only that.

Simultaneously the dirt of the mind is also rinsed and wrung out. Afterwards one stops doing his karma but now goes into the karma of the mind by doing dhyAna.

And still later even that dhyAna stops and he reaches the stage of jnAna.

So the sequence is first dharma nishThA, then karma-nishThA and finally jnAna-nishThA.

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Sannyasa - Part 18 of 20

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How does that purification of mind happen? He gives it in the first half.

Svadharma-nishhTA : (he who is) fully and firmly established ( nishhTA) in one’s own dharma.

Tayaiva Atma vishuddhiH : By that alone the mind gets purified Well, how does one know what that svadharma is?

The answer is already there in the very bveginning of the shloka:

Shruti-pramANaika-mateH: The nishhThA of svadharma comes from the unique faith and comviction that the religious sanction comes from only the vedas.

What the Vedas say is the authority. With that faith one goes about doing his svadharma as the be-all and end-all.

That is svadharmaika-nishhThA.
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Sannyasa - Part 17 of 20

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*shruti-pramANaika-mateH svadharma-
nishhTA tayaivAtma-vishuddhir-asya /
vishuddha-buddheH paramAtma-vedanaM
tenaiva-samsAra-samUla-nAshaH //*

The latter half of the shloka says:

‘tenaiva samsAra-samUla-nAshaH’ :

through that alone the samsAra bondage is cut along with its roots.

Through what?

‘paramAtma-vedanaM’ : the sparking of the jnAnaM about the paramAtmA.

‘Vishuddha-buddheH’ : to the one who has had his mind purified.
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Sannyasa - Part 15 of 20

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‘To do karma and also to do dhyAna simultaneously’ is incompatible. So long as one is in karma stage, associated with that there will be several relationships.

*sangAt sanjAyate kAmaH …krodhaH … * as the Lord has said (B.G. II – 62), a single such association will set up a chain relationship of kAmaM, krodhaM, etc. and finally end up in *buddhi-nAshAt
praNashyati* (intelligence is destroyed and the individual is lost).

That is why the Acharya says in Vivekachudamani (147/149) “karma-koTibhiH na shakyaH” – even if a crore of karma is done, the bondage will not cease.

*viveka-vijnAna-mahAsinA vinA dhAtuH prasAdena sitena manjunA* --

It can be cut asunder only by the grand sword of sAdhanA starting from nitya-anitya-vastu-viveka (discrimination between the unreal and the real) up to the vijnAna stage when one gets the wisdom of experience, by the Grace of God.

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Sannyasa - Part 14 of 20

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Truth is the absolute ultimate, no, it is tapas (austerity) that is ultimate. No again, it is dama (control of mind); it is only shama (control of the mind) -- and so on goes the Narayanavalli, detailing the greatness of one after the other (Mahanarayana Upanishad. Anuvaka 78).

But finally, it says: “It is none of these that is ultimate. SannyAsa is the Ultimate Principle. The Creator Brahma Himself has said so”.

When one reaches the higher rungs of the ladder of sAdhanA to know the Atman, it is possible only by the SannyAsi who has left karma behind. Atma is inaccessible by karma.

It has to be enquired into, meditated on, further meditated on, and then in due course even that meditative action has to stop – only in that stage one can know the Atman.
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Sannyasa - Part 13 of 20

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When a matter occurs in the Gita, then there is no higher certificate needed!

If we question whether the matter of sannyAsi having the only right for shravaNa etc. has occurred in the teachings of the Lord, the answer is yes!

“All karmas finally end up in jnAna” (IV – 33, 34), says the Lord and continues “The seers of Truth will teach you the jnAna. One should bow to them, be in servitude to them, and learn by questioning and further questioning”.

Ending up of karmas means thereafter it is only sannyAsa. Does it not then mean that “Only such a sannyAsi has the eligibility to receive the teaching of jnAna”?

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Sannyasa - Part 12 of 20

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In Brahma-sUtras, the sannyAsis are referred to (III-4-17) as *Urdhvaretas*. This means those who don’t waste their energy in low activities of the senses, but take it Brahmasutras and also upward into noble paths.

Reading through those portions of the the Achary’a Bhashyas on them, it is clear that they (the SannyAsis) are the ones who are qualified for the third stage in advaita-sAdhanA.

A jnAni has to be a sannyAsi; should be.

Brahmasutra has another name for it: ‘Bhikshu-sutra’. Bhikshu means sannyAsi. One who lives, not on one’s home-food, but on BhikshA (formal ritualistic begging) is called a bhikshu.

The book that is totally dedicated to enquiry into Brahman being called ‘bhikshu-sUtra’ shows that it is the sannyAsi who has the right for this v idyA.

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Sannyasa - Part 11 of 20

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An ‘atyAshrami’ is one who is either in the SannyAsa-Ashrama or one who is even higher than that, namely one who is a jnAni whom no ShAstraic injunctions touch.

The Svetasvataropanishad (VI-21) seems to be teaching Brahma VidyA only to such atyAshramis. There is an Upanishad called Kaivalyopanishad. The Acharya used to quote from it often.

In the beginning of that Upanishad it says the atyAsharami goes to a solitary place, sits in a straight Asana, controls his senses and mind and meditates on the Shiva svarUpa, his Atman.

After shravaNa, come manana and nididhyAsana. Just as it says: "Only after becoming a sannyAsi the shravaNa process takes place" so also there is also an authority for saying Only a SannyAsi has the right to do manana and nididhyAsana: *mananAdau sannyAsinAM adhikAraH*.

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Sannyasa - Part 16 of 20

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If one has to dedicate one’s life to cut this bondage, one has to get away from family, relationships, profession and even all religious obligations.

But one thing should not be forgotten. It is not as if any one can just throw away religious obligations of karma and become a sannyAsi.

The Acharya has never said so. He has ruled that such a right is there only for those whose minds have been purified.

How to purify the mind? The emphatic direction of the Acharya is to discharge all the karmic obligations systematically and without default.

The same Acharya who said that even a crore of karma cannot give you release from bondage, in his great compassionate anguish at the dim prospect of this being misused by immature people who may throw away the karmic obligations as well as their svadharma and thus destroy themselves, has, right in the next shloka, cleared this matter:

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Sannyasa - Part 10 of 20

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In the same mantra, the question is raised: "How will a jnAni behave?".

And the answer comes; "Howsoever he may behave, he is just such, he is a jnAnai".

In other words he is not regimented by any shAstra or regulation. For such a person , where is the need for the rule that he should adopt the fourth Ashrama among the four Ashramas?

So we should not interpret "AtmAnaM viditvA" to say "after learning by experience" but should interpret it as "understanding by the intellect".It is clear therefore "He who confirms by his intellectual understanding that what he has heard and learnt from the advaita-shAstras is true, now throws away all his desires and becomes a sAnnyAsi" is what is said here.

There is a custom of offering me a PoorNa-kumbha (the formal ritual reception with a vessel full of purified water). At that time, as well as in your marriages and other functions when you offer the sacred offering to the Achareya, there is a mantra which is recited by the Pundits.

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Sannyasa - Part 9 of 20

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In BrihadAraNyakaM also (IV-4-22) the qualifications for sannyAsa are enunciated: "The one who wants the spiritual world, renounces the present world and his home.

Because that is how in ancient times the learned ones whoi studied the spiritual vidyA just discarded the desire for kith and kin, desire for wealth and property and desire for the other worldly attractions and they left home literally as beggars".

In every work there are always expressions of different opinions but following them there is also the reconciliation passage that comes later. So also in this BrihadAraNyakaM, earlier to this passage in (III-5 ) it says "AtmAnaM viditvA", that is, cognising the Atman, ‘discarding desires for kith and kin, wealth and property and the other world, they run away as beggars’.

Here the words "AtmAnaM viditvA" looks like saying ‘after one has cognised the Atman’. It appears that this means, in contrast to what was said earlier, namely the earning of eligibility for SannyAsa for the sake of earning the Atma-jnAna, it is now said that sannyAsa takes place after the acquisition of jnAna.

This is a legitimate question; but the answer comes if we carefully examine the context.
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Sannyasa - Part 8 of 20

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The object of this shravaNa is to obtain mukti as nirguNa-brahman right where you are without having to go anywhere. Inferior to this is the union with saguNa-brahman by going to Brahma-loka along the path of the Sun.

Even for that, according to Mundakopanishad (1.2.11) a mature Jiva – who is learned and also accomplished with the qualities of shama, dama, etc. has to leave home, go to the forest, and do penance, living by bhikshA. So does it not mean that one who receives the teaching on NirguNa-brahman has to take SannyAsa first?

The next mantra talks about him. He examines the whole world-experience and decides: "Everything revolves around karma. Our goal of the Atman will not be accessible to/by any karma. So let me abandon all karma". In other words he is ready to take up SannyAsa. But it has to be done only through a guru.

So he goes in search of a guru. The words ‘only through a guru’ is because of the emphasis *guruM eva* in the Upanishad. The Acharya explains why *guruM eva* occurs there: "Even a scholar who is knowledgeable on everything should not make his own efforts and hope to independently obtain Brahma-jnAnaM".

Later in the same Upanishad (III-2.4) it says, ‘It is not only by a man devoid of spiritual strength or a man overcome by delusion that the Atman is unattainable, it is not attainable even by one who is doing the austerities but who is ‘alinga’, that is, one devoid of the symbol that represents sannyAsa’.

This is the way the Acharya comments on the word ‘alinga’ in the Upanishad.
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Sannyasa - Part 7 of 20

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Tayumanavar, in one of his songs, refers to the three processes, ‘shravaNa, manana and nidhidhyAsana’.

Tirumoolar follows the ‘shravaNa’ word by *guru-vuru-cintittal* meaning the memorisation of the mantra taught by the guru. The Tamil word *uru* here means mantra-japa that is manana.

By thus memorising and repeating the mantra one is automatically led on to the next stage of ‘nidhidhyAsana’.

There is an old saying *sannyasya shravaNaM kuryAt* -- one should do the ‘listening’ part only after taking up sannyAsa.
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Sannyasa - Part 6 of 20

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Also there is a tradition that the new SannyAsi who is getting the dikshhaa must also get the additional mahAvakya that occurs in the ShAkhA to which he belonged before he took SannyAsa.

There is also a further tradition that first the PraNava ("Aum") is taught and then the mahAvakyas.

To hear and listen to such mahAvAkya teaching is what is called ‘shravaNa’ in Brahma-VidyA-shAstra.

The direct meaning of ‘shravaNaM’ is ‘hearing/listening’.In the Tamil Tirumandhiram Verse #139, Tirumoolar means by this word ‘Receiving the mahAvakyopadesha’.
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Sannyasa - Part 5 of 20

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That Guru takes care to dispense the mahAvAkya teaching only after checking the Sishya’s eligibility and after initiating him into SannyAsa.

That eligibility is nothing other than the progress, to a certain extent, in Viveka (Discrimination), VairAgya (Dispassion), shama (sense control), dama (mind control), etc. in the SadhanA-set-of-four.

The Vedas have 1180 shAkhAs (branches). Each ShAkhA has an Upanishad of its own and every Upanishad has a mahAvAkya. Though there are thus more than 1000 mahAvakyas, four of them, one for each Veda, have been held as important.

It appears from ‘Visveshvara-smRti’, which details the SannyAsa Dharma, ‘Nirnaya-sindhu’, an anthology of Dharma ShAstras, and from other authoritative sources for Dharma ShAstra, and knowledgeable tradition that at the time of SannyAsa dikshhaa (formal initiation) these four mahAvakyas are to be formally transmitted from the Guru to the initiate.

And there is also scope for the teaching of other mahAvakyas.
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Sannyasa - Part 4 of 20

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Moreover this is protected water. There is a watchman! Only if he allows you, you can draw water. That watchman is called the Guru!

The conglomerates of sound vibrations called mantras suck in several ways the Power and Grace of the Absolute, that is permeating the entire space and produce for us the many beatifics of this world and the world beyond.

Among such mantras the mahAvakyas that identify the JivAtmA with the ParamAtmA without any distinction are at the peak. The Acharya speaks of them (in Aitareya Upanishad Bhashya 1.3.13) as sounds that wake you up to Atma-jnAna, the advaita jnAna that lies dormant in the JivAtmA that is sleeping in Ignorance.

It is the Guru that trumpets the drum of the MahAvakyas, wakes you up, as it were, from your sleep, thus waking you up to Enlightenment.
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Sannyasa - Part 3 of 20

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To hope to obtain Brahman-realisation by just continuous thinking about it is like a man who wants to have a bath, starts all the way from digging up a well for the purpose.

But to reach the same goal through the mahAvakyas of the Upanishads is like drawing water from an already constructed well.

Of course you have to draw the water – not like opening a tap and using the downpour from it. The drawing of sufficient water from the well depends on the size of the bucket or the pail, the depth of the well and other factors.

The Samskaras of the individual influence the efforts to be made just as the smallness of the bucket will force you to draw water several times.

But when you compare this with the process of our digging up of a well – well, that is the comparison I mentioned.
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Sannyasa - Part 2 of 20

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Only after taking up SannyAsa one gets the eligibility and right to receive the teaching of the mahAvAkyas that the Vedas proclaim in forms like "This Jiva itself is Brahman".

Brahman also means Veda.

Since the Vedas which are verily Brahman themselves declare Jiva as Brahman the mahAvAkyas get that exclusive spiritual power.

Just by knowing well that Jiva is brahman and by meditating on that will not make that goal a fact of experience. That declaration has to be repeated as a japa through the conglomerate of the letters of these veda-mantras and has to be meditated upon as a regimen; that is what makes the goal accessible.

‘Accessible’ does not mean ‘easily accessible’! I only said it in a comparative sense.

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Sannyasa - Part 1 of 20

Even though no one here may (or should have to) reach that stage, I have to talk about it since the very first part of true advaita sAdhanA starts with sannyAsa.

All links and bondages have to be cut asunder completely. It is not so for others. All seekers, however, have to work for reducing their attachments to a certain extent.

It is therefore good to learn about the SannyAsa stage at least to the extent of hearing about it. If we have to know about the Atman, we have to be constantly thinking about it as the only task and only goal.

The grand goal being Brahman, one has to totally dedicate oneself to that goal and be attached to that only task. If we have other attachments, interests and also try to do this, that mAyA and this jnAna cannot coexist.

We cannot succeed in fanning a fire by simultaneously pouring water on it. It is the renunciation of all other tasks and goals that is called SannyAsa.

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