311: Issue 10
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I bow my head to Hanumanji, the son of Wind God, messenger of Bhagwan Sri Rama, leader of the
monkey army, who is fast as the wind and quick as the mind, who is the master of his senses and is the
most distinguished and wise.
In This Issue
Vedanta Sandesh
Spreading Love & Light
Hari om!
Monthly eMagazine of Vedanta Mission
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The individual jiva sullied with ignorance is made pure by constant revelling in right knowledge.
Having brought about the awakening, ‘the awareness of Self ’ (akhandakar vritti) then drops off by
itself, just like the dust of the cleaning nut in water.
Agyan kalusham jivam: The individual is just the teacher says that be very clear on this front, you
sullied by ignorance. Life is beautiful and we all are have to just take resort of right knowedge alone,
also basically fine. There is no other problem, ex- nothing else and you wiill be on road to live a free
cept that we ‘do not know’ the truth of ourself. So and fine life. Neither the ignorance nor its multifari-
Vedanta Sandesh - April 2009
ous effects, our baseless conclusions, ever touch and punish them, with a cool mind. Our mind is our
the self, which is immaculate, pure and ever-free & mind, and it is our bounden duty to keep it clean
limitless. The game is all in the mind, and to know and wise. There is no compulsion and inevitability
this itself is such a relief, because now the things for us to grieve, feel helpless etc. All ‘that’ is our
come in our hands. We cannot and also need-not problem. The wise see opportunity and blessing in
manage the world outside, but we can certainly every situation, and that is what real wisdom is all
manage our minds, and thus efface the biggest of about.
any problems in our personal lives or in the world, So let it be any problem, be sure that the
and that also just by properly opening our eyes of power of knowledge is infinite, it can do anything.
wisdom. This is the glory of such diagnosis and state- Whether it is pertaining to the ‘seen’ or to the ‘seer’,
ments, and this is also the beginning of the process right knowledge will indeed redeem us from all pains
of our empowerment and freedom. It is indeed a and sufferings. Interestingly, even the thinker is also
very big statement, and worthy of being given a se- a mere thought. That ‘I am a limited being’ is a con-
rious thought. clusion of an ignorant mind. Indeed the jiva is sul-
Kalush are impurities, and they stand for all lied by ignorance, and suffers. So read the line as
that which not only gives pain and grief to us, but ‘the Jiva is sullied by agyana and all the subsequent
they also bring about the degradation of our facul- kalush’, or even ‘the jiva is sullied by agyana which
ties. The sparkling eyes of a child shows how im- is the real kalush’.
maculate God had sent us here, but shortly as we Gyanabhyasat Vinirmalam: By practise
‘grow up’ something goes very fundamentally wrong, (abhyasa) of knowledge (gyana) they are completely
and the eyes lose their sparkle and reveal the deep- purified (vinirmalam). Gyana is that light and under-
rooted hurt, pain or thirst. So obviously all this is standing which roots out all problems. Start with any-
just man-made, just because of his ignorance. No thing which bothers you, go deep into it, analyse it
wonder good thoughtful, sensitive and wise people objectively, and you will be surprised to discover that
who are at peace with themselves and are inspired the so called problem even has a dimension of some
by nothing but selfless love are not very easy to great blessing. Whether it is kama (desire), krodha
find. What we deserved was to revel in infinite peace (anger) or anything else pertaining to things outside
and bliss, but what we unfortunately find around is too, always believe that some ignorance and mis-
people just praying for just ‘some’ peace of mind. A understanding alone sustains it, so just go deep into
big fall indeed. All that which is responsible for this it with the help of some more learned & wise people
downfall are called kalush, and it is indeed very se- and see them lose their fangs. Turn all problems
rious matter. It needs to be understood and handled into innocent situations by right knowledge.
at all cost. We need to go into each problem thor- Having handled the various problems pertain-
oughly and discover that the problem of these pains ing to the things outside, one should finally turn to
and problems is only subjective and not anything the very root of all problems, ignorance and mis-
extraneous. This appreciation itself takes lot of time apprehension about our own Self. To the extent we
to dawn, and majority of us wonder the veracity of handle our thoughts pertaining to the world outside,
such statements, that it is ‘our ignorance’ which is to that extent our mind gets time, energy and dispo-
the cause of our problems. As an example, if some- sition for self-enquiry.
one insults or even hurts us, then how is ‘my’ igno- We know that of the various means of knowl-
rance responsible for the pain brought about by such edge (pramana) available to us, none except the
an incident? Well, no one has said that we will never Sabda Pramana can be applicable for Self-Knowl-
face any untoward incidents and bad people out- edge. Atma is obviously not something which can
side. These things will always be there, but it is not ever be seen or experienced by us, because we
necessary that if someone has a bad mouth, then I are the very experiencer, and never an object of
should necessarily have a bad heart too. It is obvi- experience. Seer is always different from that which
ous that when we suffer the bad deeds of some- is seen. This basic fact negates all such possibili-
one, then we had some baseless expectations even ties that we can ever ‘experience’ the Self, as we
from such evil and ignorant people, that is why we have been experiencing various other objects. The
suffer. We are always free to ignore such people, self-knowledge is of entirely different class, because
smile off their stupidity, or have pity on them and here we want to know the very knower. Even though
rather help them, or if need be, even be very firm the subject can never be objectified, yet strangely
Page # 5
we have notions and definitions about ourselves. ate that these unique self-knowledge scriptures do
This itself reveals how our notions are baseless. not take a positive approach, but a negative one.
Atma is not known as an object, but can be known They dont ‘reveal’ directly, but just negate. They just
by the words of the wise ones. That is what sabda remove the clouds so that the sun can reveal itself
pramana is all about. Vedanta shastras are that effortlessly. The test of properly studying the vedantic
Sabda Pramana, and they are revelatory in nature scriptures is complete and effortless cessation of
and not informatory. What this means is that never all efforts and duality, and direct awareness of that
be satisfied with mere superficial information got which is non-dual and infinite - as our very Self. This
from these unique scriptures that ‘You are Brahman’ direct awareness of the Self to be Brahman is called
etc, but continue to pursue the knowledge till direct Akhandakar-Vritti, and it comes by sravana &
realization dawns. manana of the vedantic scriptures from an enlight-
The notion that ‘I have understood what ened teacher. Till this vritti comes one should never
vedanta is talking about, and now I have to dedi- have any notion of having studied the scriptures;
cate myself for various sadhanas’ is only indicative and if we directly and clearly know this fact, then
that we take the scriptures as mere informatory, and obviously there will be no role of any subsequent
revelation depends on some other sadhana. In ef- validation. This knowledge all the more quietens our
fect it implies that real knowedge or awakening takes efforts rather than motivates us for any unique or
place by some subtle effort etc., rather than mere divine ‘experience’.
knowledge. All efforts are called karma and are al- This raises one more prevelant doubt, and
ways done by some karta, and the earlier shlokas that was pertaining to the one we discussed in the
very categorically stated that ‘it is not by any action connecting introduction of this verse. Some people
whatsoever, but by knowledge alone that moksha think that when quietitude of all the thoughts is the
is got’. So any such pursuit is yet another moha, objective then, injecting more thoughts in the mind
and it also devalues the role of scriptures and also will only amount to making the clouds of thoughts
ones guru, because ultimately it is not the scriptures all the more dense, and in this way this knowledge
and guru, but our self-effort which liberates us. Well, shall become an impediment rather than a bless-
come to think of it, will such a pursuit help us to go ing. The teacher belies all such fears and says that
beyond our ego, or fatten this ego all the more. A such fears come only when someone is not aware
sanyasi is one who has seen the limitation of all our of the basics of a thought.
efforts, gross or subtle, and now just wants to open Thought is not knowledge, but is a means
his eyes, rather than ‘do’ something different. If we for knowledge, and the moment knowledge dawns,
have really understood that we are Brahman then the thought drops, leaving behind the knowledge of
why do we require any validation. The very neces- that object. Thought is indicative of our conscious
sity of these sadhanas reveals that really speaking or unconscious efforts ‘to be consious of’ something,
personally we still believe ourselves to be the doer and therefore depending on our priorities and needs
and also the experiencer who is now looking for- appropriate thoughts alone come in our minds. The
ward to some validation, and not that which tran- total bank of our accumulated wisdom is our knowl-
scends all this, the Brahman. If we still continue to edge, and at no point we have ‘thoughts’ of all the
believe this, then where is the question of any knowl- things about which we have gained knowledge.
edge having been dawned, we are still ignorant of Thoughts are like spoon, which help bring in the
the fundamental facts and the message of scrip- food-like wisdom of some aspect of the things of
tures. Self-Knowledge dawns when all efforts what- our concern, and having fed the food in the mouth
soever have ceased, and later the effect of knowl- all spoons are taken out, so also the teacher says,
edge too is - all the more complete and effortless krutva gyanam, having brought about the knowl-
‘quietitude’. edge, swayam nashyet, it drops off itself, jalam
So the vedantic scriptures should always be katak renuvat, like the dust of katak nut, which also
seen as revelatory and never informatory; in this settles down after precipitating the suspended im-
way we shall give proper place to knowledge. Such purities in dirty water. This katak seed is seen to
a person shall continue to analyse fine details of have alum like qualities and was used in ancient
our various superimpositions, till all of them get ne- times to clean water. Alum, as we know precipitates
gated, and we stand as we are, in all our glory and all the suspended impurities in water, and then when
purity. In this context it is also important to appreci- these heavier precipitates along with alum too settle
Vedanta Sandesh - April 2009
down at the bottom of the container, we are left be- thought, it reveals the self, and then drops. leaving
hind with crystal clear water cleansed of all its vari- behind just the liberating wisdom. Khand means
ous suspended inorganic impurities. This is the ex- fragmentation or duality and akhand means non-
ample which comes in the mind of the acharya to dual and undivided. Awareness of non-dual alone
reveal the uniqueness of this Akhandakar-Vritti. effaces all duality. The moment we ‘become con-
In all other thoughts, except that of the atma, scious’ of our non-dual dimension, we transcend all
there is an inevitable continuity of thoughts, because thoughts and duality and just ‘be’ the limitless. Ha-
the experiencer continues to exist, but in this case bitually the experiencer may again raise its head,
there is no such possibility. Technically speaking, in so we are suggested by the scriptures to again bring
the case of all other thoughts, there is first the vritti- into our minds this fact, again and again, till our iden-
vyapti, and then the phal-vyapti; while in the case of tification with the experiencer ends fully. This vritti
atma-gyana there is only the vritti-vyapti and no phal- by its very nature reveals the truth and drops, we
vyapti, because we dont need to be conscious of therefore ‘need’ to again deliberately bring it, till all
the very self-effulegnt consciousness. This will our deep rooted notions about ourselves get ne-
amount to using a lamp to see whether the sun has gated fully. This vritti alone is opposed to ignorance,
arisen or not. Thus this akhandakar-vritti is a unique so make the best use of it till the dream fully ends.
Page # 7
Breath of Life
hari om,
there are some speakers who are seen to say that all the five koshas are
just energy layers, and even atma is some divine energy. well, please
understand that such speakers are not even aware about the
fundamentals of vedanta. these ignorant ones have obviously never sat at
the feet of any wise & knowledgeable master to study these divine
scriptures, and are talking all baseless things, and they just need to be
ignored.
Consciousness is the first layer of our personality is made up of matter, and the second of
prana. this prana alone can be rightly translated as energy. the next layer
not something of thoughts. thoughts are all about 'being conscious of something', and
when we attribute importance to something then such thoughts do get
which is felt, Kena very powerful, and there is an experience of the flow of energy in that
Upanishad points direction. manomaya is therefore said to be the atma of pranamaya. then
there is the vigyanamaya kosha, which is the very basis of these thoughts.
to consciousness this layer is of the nature of our decisions & discernments. these things
alone generate thoughts, and then we have the layer of the experience of
as 'that' by which joy, the motivation of which is the basic drive behind all our decisions.
things are felt. atma transcends all these five layers, and is of the nature of pure
consciousness.
- Poojya Guruji
consciousness is not something which can be felt, energy and matter
alone can be felt. kena upanishad points to consciousness as 'that' by
which things can be felt, and not that which is felt. that which is felt is the
expanse of maya, which is basically inert matter, but 'in flux'. as per
einstein matter and energy are inter-convertible, that alone is the essence
of his famous relativity equation of e=mc2, where e stands for energy, m
stands for matter and c stand for time. when the scale of time is
doubled then matter is converted into energy, we reduce the
time then energy presents itself as matter.
swami atmananda
Page # 9
Spring Time
– Mallik Bulusu
qualities like fearlessness, and above all knowledge. On the occasion of his jayanti (9th
April), we offer our pranams at the feet of this great Acharya of Bhakti and Sewa. If
Bhagwan Sri Ram represents what God and perfection is all about, then Hanumanji
represents what an ideal devotee and sewak of God should be like. He is indeed one of
the best 'role model' which every sadhaka should have in their hearts.
While the uniqueness of Hanumanji is basically his divine qualities, magnanimous
vision and selfless motivation, yet when we revere someone, we bring into our minds all
the various aspects of their personality. He is said to be of Vanar yoni. The word Vanar
itself is very interesting. We can break the word as va(or)+nar(human), meaning inspite
of his deceptive looks he alone appears to be truly human. Vanar word is commonly
translated as monkey, which in symbolic language normally represents our monkey-like
mind. Initially the mind of everyone keeps dancing and jumping like a monkey, but with
right knowledge transforms itself into an embodiment of all that we cherish and aspire
for. No wonder Hanumanji in- spires the masses so much. It is
worthwhile to mention here that in India, there are far more
temples of Hanumanji than even of Bhagwan Sri Ram, his
master. This in no way deval- ues his great master, but all those
who are aware of the story of Ramayana, will know that it is the
blessing of Bhagwan Sri Ram himself that, may my devotee be
revered more than myself, sim- ply because emulation of the
qualities of a devotee is the way to their inculcation, and when
we truly become like Hanumanji, then the darshan of Lord Ram will never be a far cry.
From the worldly point of view he was the son of Anjana and Kesari, yet he is also
called as Pavan-putra and also manifestation of Lord Shiva. To know the secret of all
this we need to go back and bring into our minds the unique situations which lead to his
birth. It is said that Brihaspati (the guru of devatas) had an attendant by the name of
Punjikasthala who was cursed to assume the body of a female monkey. The curse was
to be removed on her giving birth to an incarnation of Lord Siva. Accordingly, she was
born as Anjana and, together with her husband Kesari, lived a life of dharma and purity.
Anjana performed intense tapasya for a great many years, during which period she
worshipped Lord Shiva who being pleased with her granted her a boon. She asked that
Lord Shiva be born to her so that she may be freed from the curse. On the other hand,
when Maharaj Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya was given the sacred pudding by Agnideva
to share among his wives so that they may have divine children; by divine ordinance, a
bird (kite) snatched a fragment of that pudding and, whilst flying over the forest, dropped
it where Anjana was engaged in worship. Pavandev (the deity presiding over the wind)
delivered that fragment of pudding to the outstretched hands of Anjana who immedi-
ately swallowed it. With that grace, she, in due course, gave birth to Hanumanji. Thus
we find that Lord Shiva incarnated as Hanumanji in the bodily form of a monkey through
the grace and blessings of his god-father Pavandev, with Anjana and Kesari as his
earthly parents. That is how these various names are used for Hanumanji.
Page # 11
On Wings of Spring
Dormancy stirs
the little cocoon
The blush of youth
Caressed by the scented winds,
Hue-smitten soils
race to the blue horizon
The swell of Spring
cracks the shell
and wings spread wide
Joining the rhythm
of this (nature's) Alchemy
– Uma Parthasarathy
a ti
Lakshmana and his wife Sita. The three of them started to live on the
banks of the river Falgu. News reached the forest that Dasharatha had
died in their absence and a shraddha (funeral) ceremony had to per-
formed for the dead king. Rama sent Lakshmana to a nearby village to
get the necessary ingredients. Time passed and Lakshmana did not
return. Rama then went to get the ingredients and look for Lakshmana.
But Rama too did not return. It was almost noon and the ceremony had to
be performed before noon. In desperation, Sita decided to perform the
ceremony herself. She went and bathed in the Falgu river and lit an
earthen lamp. She then made the offerings (pinda) to the dead ancestors
herself. Immediately, a voice was heard. Sita, you are blessed, it said.
We are satisfied. In utter amazement Sita watched some disembodied
hands appear in the air to accept the offerings. Who are you? Asked Sita.
I am your dead father-in-law, answered the voice. The funeral
ceremony has been successful. I have accepted your offerings. But
The Cursed Ketaki or Rama and Lakshmana are going to believe me, said Sita. They will never
Kewada Flower believe that such disembodied hands appeared out of thin air to accept
the offerings. They have to, answered the voice. You have four wit-
nesses. The first is the Falgu river. The second is the cow over there. The
third will be the fire. And the last one will be the ketaki bush. Rama and
Lakshmana returned and said, Cook the food quickly. There is very little
time left. We have to complete the funeral ceremony before noon. Sita
“A ship in port is safe, told them what happened, and naturally, the two brothers did not believe
her. They made fun of her and suggested that she was lying. Sita called
but that's not what ships upon her four witnesses, but each denied that it had seen anything.
Without arguing any further, Sita cooked the food and Rama made offer-
are built for.” ings to his ancestors. A voice was then heard from the sky. Why are you
calling us again? it said. Sita has already satisfied us. I refuse to believe
that, said Rama. Indeed, it is true, retorted the voice. Ask the sun god.
The sun god confirmed that everything had happened just as Sita had
said it had. Rama and Lakshmana were ashamed that they had doubted
Sita and were also impressed with the power of her virtue. But Sita
cursed the four false witnesses. She cursed the Falgu river that it would
henceforth only flow underground. She cursed the ketaki flower (panda-
nus odoratissimus) that it would never be accepted by Shiva as an offer-
ing. She cursed the cow that its mouth would henceforth become impure.
It had, after all, lied with its mouth. The hind sections of the cow would
however continue to be pure. And finally Sita cursed the fire that it would
consume everything indiscriminately. That is the reason why a ketaki
flower must never be used to worship Shiva.
Page # 13
Mar’09 VM / VA Programs
Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow:
Poojya Guruji conducted a week long Gita Gyana Yagna at Hariom
Mandir, in Lucknow from 2nd to 8th Mar.
The subject matter of the week long discourses were Gita Chapter 3
and Panchadasi Chapter 10. In the evening Gita discourses the subject mat-
Vedanta Mission / Ashram Programs
ter was Karma Yoga, where Bhagwan not only talked about the place and
role of karma, but also the art of right action in terms of Yagna-Bhava. The
chapter ended by enumerating the obstacles faced while taking any resolve.
In the morning session was the Natakdeep Prakarana, in which the self-knowl-
edge was revealed with the example of a stage of drama. Both the discourses
series are available on the net.
situated just on the coast. The temple overlooks the beautiful coastline. This
temple has not only religious sanctity but also has historic importance. It was
destroyed so many times by Muslim invaders, and therefore the first thing
which independent India did was to restore this temple to its ancient glory.
The present state govt too has made the place very nice & secure. Everyone
got a nice darshan and enjoyed their stay there.
Check out the detailed Photo Albums of the various functions on VM News Blog at
http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/
Page # 15
Foreign Tour of Poojya Guruji
Page # 17
Hari om !
Om Tat Sat