[Chaturamnaya] Upadesa-pancakam of Adi Sankaracharya - 2

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)
 
 
In this text, Sankaracharya does not discuss the universal disciplines which are common to all. He only prescribes the
special disciplines to be taken care of at the four ASrama stages of life.
 
The contention of the Acharya is that, a person who follows the four stages of ASrama, will be able to discover the
goal of life and to accomplish the goal. Thus upadeSa-pancakam talks about the disciplines related to these four stages
of life.
 
The four stages of Life as given in scriptures:
 
The primary emphasis of the Brahmacharya ASrama is the study of scriptures [1]. The scriptures teach the duties of each of
the stages of life, the do’s (vidhi) and don’ts (nisheda). The term brahma refers to Vedas and charI means the one who
follows.
 
The second stage is Grihastha ASrama, where one takes to a life of various activities – Karma - specific to a particular
VarNa. The karmakANDa portion of the Vedas discuss these karmas. When one follows these set of activities with the right
attitude, one becomes a karmayogi and gains mental purity – cittaSuddhi: - which gives the person freedom from rAga-dvesha
(likes and dislikes) leading to an attitude of equanimity – samatvam.
 
The third stage is VAnaprastha ASrama, where the extravert physical activities are reduced gradually, replaced by
mental disciplines in the form of meditation – upAsana. The upAsanakANDa of the Vedas gives various types of meditation.
When one goes through this discipline withdrawing from physical activity, one may either go out of the house and may lead
a quieter life at home without interfering with the affairs of the house. Such a life committed to meditation will give the
capacity to focus – citta-ekAgratA. When one goes through the GrihasthASrama and VAnaprathASrama, one gains purity of mind
and focus of mind.
 
The final stage of life is sannyAsa ASrama, where one renounces completely and becomes free from all psychological
dependencies. If they are physically and mentally renounced, one becomes an external sannyasi; but if one renounces them
mentally alone, one becomes an internal sannyAsi. The primary discipline of this ASrama is jnAnayoga – pursuit of spiritual
(or Self) knowledge, which corresponds to the jnAnakANDa portion of the Vedas. By following this path one can become
a jnAnI – wise person, or to put in another language, one becomes a jIvanmukta: - one who has discovered inner freedom –
liberation.
 
Adi Sankaracharya talks about these four stages, namely, study of scriptures (vedaadhyayanam) in brahmacharyASrama;
karmayoga in grihsasthASrama, upAsanA in VAnaprasthASrama and jnAnayoga in SannyAsASrama.
 
 
(To be Continued)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </archives/chaturamnaya/attachments/20151113/243d2054/attachment.html>