[Chaturamnaya] Upadesa-pancakam of Adi Sankaracharya - 11

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)
 
 
एकान्ते सुखमास्यतां परतरे चेतः समाधीयतां
पूर्णात्मा सुसमीक्ष्यतां जगदिदं तद्बाधितं दृश्यताम् ।
प्राक्कर्म प्रविलाप्यतां चितिबलान्नाप्युत्तरैः श्लिष्यतां
प्रारब्धं त्विह भुज्यताम् अथ पर, ब्रह्मात्मना स्थीयताम् ॥ ५ ॥
 
In the previous sloka, Sankaracharya gave certain instructions which are complimentary to nidhidhyāsana. They are supportive
sādhanās – the primary one being dwelling upon the teaching. If one follows those instructions, the mind will remain poised
or tranquil and the mind will become free from extravert thinking. That means, the mind will get quality time, and during
such times, the Acharya says,
एकान्ते सुखमास्यताम्  — may you be seated in a secluded place so that one is not bothered by any one, and
परतरे चेतः समाधीयताम्  — may you fix your mind upon the supreme Brahman
(cetaḥ — mind; samādhīyatām — may you fix)
पूर्णात्मा सुसमीक्ष्यताम् — may you see the fact that ātmā  is ever pūrṇaḥ. That means, one doesn’t miss or lack anything in life.
 
Then what  about the world? As long as the world – anātmā is there, ātmā cannot be pūrṇaḥ. Because they both will constitute
duality. So, as long as I see the world anātmā as diff from me, I, the ātmā will be limited.  And so Sankara says, may you
negate anātmā, the world, in the vision of ātmā. Then, how is it possible? By having the vision that ātmā as cause –
kāraṇam which is satyam, and seeing the anātmā as mithyā. So, He says,
जगदिदं तद्बाधितं दृश्यताम्  — May you negate this  world by the vision of ātmā.
tad bādhitaṃ — tena ātmanā bādhitaṃ dṛśyatām — may you see this very clearly and this alone Sankara has said:
brahma satyaṃ jaganmithyā
jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ |
anena vedyaṃ sacchāstram
iti vedānta ḍiṇḍimaḥ ||
 
And once a person has pursued nidhidhyāsanam, for sufficient length of time, then the jñānam becomes established in oneself.
And then, this vision becomes spontaneous without requiring any more effort. As spontaneous as the knowledge of oneself as a
human being or a male or female,  ahaṃ brahmāsmi also becomes as spontaneous, and that is called jīvan muktiḥ. At this stage,
even nidhidhyāsanam is not required any more.
 
In the last two lines, Sankaracharya  instructs to lead a life of a jīvan muktiḥ and then, at the time of death, one becomes
a videha muktaḥ also. To help us understand jīvan muktiḥ and videha muktiḥ, Sankaracharya introduces the three-fold karmās,
namely, saṃcita karmā, āgāmi karmā and prārabdha karmā. The following principles constitute the law of karma:
1. Every action has got two types of results, known as, the dṛṣṭa-phalam, the visible result and the adṛṣṭa-phalam,
the invisible result.
2. The invisible result or the adṛṣṭa- phalam is of two types su-adṛṣṭa or puṇya and the other is dur-adṛṣṭa called pāpa.
3. Which action produces puṇya or pāpa is determined by śāstrās only.
4. Puṇya and pāpa will later give pleasurable and painful experiences respectively.
5. The gap or the duration required for puṇya or pāpa to produce the respective experiences, is unpredictable by us –
it is inherent in them.  It is like different seeds sprouting after different  duration of time. Because, that being the
nature of the seed, it cannot be questioned.
6. Since the time taken cannot be predicted, some of the puṇya-pāpa, may not fructify throughout this janmā, because of
which, an individual dies with puṇya-pāpa balance.
7. For experiencing the balance puṇya-pāpa, one requires punar-janmā – which is only a natural extension. However,
in the next janmā, even though one exhausts some of the puṇya-pāpa, one also acquires some more, thus accumulating more
puṇya-pāpa. Thus every jīvā, has got a huge stock of puṇya-pāpa, accumulated in countless janmās ,which is called
saṃcita puṇya-pāpa or saṃcita karmā.
8. Out of that huge bundle of saṃcita puṇya-pāpa, only a portion gets ready for fructification, and that portion
is called prārabdha saṃcita puṇya-pāpa or prārabdha karmā, which alone is responsible for the present birth, present type
of body, male or female, healthy or sick, born to rich or poor parents and even the duration of life.
9. And when one  exhausts the prārabdha, whatever fresh puṇya-pāpa one acquires, is called āgāmi. And in the āgāmi also,
some portion may fructify in this janmā itself and some may not, which will join the saṃcita bundle at the time of death.
Thus, prārabdha and a part of āgāmi are experienced in this janmā.
10. After death, from saṃcita bundle, another portion fructifies, which will become prārabdha – and punarapi maraṇam
punarapi jananam cycle of an ignorant person continues for ever.
 
 
(To be Continued)
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