[Advaita-l] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 6

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
d. Mumukshutvam
 
mumukShutva.n kim ?  What is Mumukshutvam?
 
mokSho me bhUyAd iti ichChA. The craving that I
should attain  Moksha  (Liberation).
The intense desire for liberation is usually
compared to the desire of a person trying to jump
into a pond whose hair has caught fire. Mumukshu
is one who has only this burning desire for
liberation. This is the basic qualification and
drives the acquisition of all other qualifications.
 
etat sAdhanachatuShTayam . (The Author
concludes) These are the four-fold
qualifications.
 
tatastattvavivekasyAdhikAriNo bhavanti . Having
obtained these qualifications, they
become "adhikaris" (the eligible) for the enquiry
into the Truth. This qualification alone matters
for one to pursue a discriminative enquiry into
the Truth! Once a person becomes qualified,
he/she does not need bhakti yoga, ashtAnga yoga,
karma yoga etc., since they are only necessary
to make a person qualified!
 
2. Tattva Viveka (Enquiry into the Truth)
 
So far, the Author has introduced the
topic, the role of the teacher and student, and
the set of qualifications required for the
enquiry into the Truth. Now he comes to the
subject matter and constructs the first question
(from the student):
 
tattvavivekaH kaH ? What is Tattvaviveka ?
 
AtmA satya.n tadanyat sarvaM mithyeti . The Atman
alone is Real and all others are Unreal.
The answer contains two parts 1. AtmA The
Self (is) satyaM = Truth or Real and 2) tadanyat sarvaM =
Everything other than That (is) mithyA = unreal;
What are Satyam or Real and MithyA ? Satyam
that which does not undergo any change over
time. The things which exist but undergo change
or modification over time are mithyA. E.g. the
fundamental substance - gold can be made as a
chain, bracelet, ring etc. Even though the
fundamental substance is the same, each one of
the derivatives will have a name - nAma (chain), form
- rUpa (shape) and an action - karma (function). Here,
the substance, gold is satyam and all oranaments
(with nAma rUpa karma) are mithyA. Otherwise, mithyA
(or anAtmA) can change from one condition
to another while, the substance, gold remains the
same. Also, since mithyA has no substance, it
cannot exist independently of satyam. So also, the
Self - Atman - is satyam, and the rest are mithyA.
In this knowledge alone, one understands that "I
am independent, and free" and Moksha is to
discover That.
 
This is the essence of Tattva Bodha, and
also the essence of all our scriptures. The student
does not know or understand what Atman is at
this point in time. But, this answer enables the
student to proceed further with a lot enquiries
to further the topic. Thus, the author provides a
platform or forum on which a set of connected
enquiries and presents a set of negations in the
course of understanding Atman.
 
 
(Continued in next post)