| Listen to Prabhaata-rashmih Audio |
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
We make a lot of talk and also a practice about religion, morality, ethics etc., but in actual fact, all these are methods and processes to touch the mind and improve the quality of the mind. What is meant by improving the quality of the mind? For generational reasons, the mind is associated with external objects and external desires. Because all people are looking at the world and world objects, there is naturally a clash of interests and a clash of pursuits, and because of this fact, a lot of corruption, contamination, impurity and the like, creep into the mind. And, in all probability, when we are born, just like the biological heredity, we also have a psychological heredity of all this.
By a process of religious life, spiritual life, devotional life or yogic life, what we propose to do is to touch and involve the mind and make it free from undesirable influences. This process consists of a twin pursuit. Try to understand more and more about the qualities and virtues which you should incorporate and have. Be exposed to them, be exposed to them, and when you are exposed to them and you feel a fondness for them, automatically the qualities will start growing in you.
At the same time you should also be watchful about what are the negative elements which are hiding in the mind. Try to detect them and remove them. What is the process? Understand that these are negative and undesirable and this understanding alone will act on the mind and will set it right.
The purpose of reading the scriptures, listening to them, cogitating or ruminating over them is to give the mind an association with all these good things. When we read Bhagavad Gita, about seven hundred verses; when we read Bhagavatam, generally it is said to be eighteen thousand verses; all these are – great associational impact it makes on the mind. I think by simply reading and imbibing, you will be able to automatically display these virtues.
When I read in Srimad Bhagvatam, maybe years back a particular verse like this:
This is a description our avadhūta makes before Yadu Chakravarty, the ancestor of Krishna. Yadu Chakravarty happened to notice this avadhūta and he was very much impressed. Those were days when Maharajas or Rājās used to be given elaborate instruction in our scriptures. Just like instructions in archery, this Vedic learning also was important. Now naturally the Maharaja would have known about the great and ascetic people and particularly the greatness and glory of asceticism.
So, when he found a young avadhūta remaining absolutely free, not interested in the world, he was very much impressed. So, he stepped down, went to him, showed, gave all the respect, demonstrated his respect and then said, “When the whole world is afflicted and tormented by a number of things, all are mental, tensional processes, how is it that you are remaining unruffled and unallured by all the things around? It is just like a great tusker standing in the depth of the Ganga waters, which are very, very cool. The whole world is under the hot sun. At the same time, this elephant seems to be standing immersed in cool waters of Ganga. It is something like this. So, will you please tell me how you are able to manage your mind? What is that wonderful insight or enlightenment by virtue of which the world allurements are completely ineffective so far as you are concerned? Naturally you have a great inner glory, possession, some great wealth or treasure you have! Will you please tell me something about it and disclose it?”
Then he started a conversation, saying that, “I have got 24 teachers. All of them are, in reality, not that everyone taught me in person coming to me. The teaching and learning took place in myself. I looked at all these different sources and elements and my intelligence started working about it. So every object of some kind of a value or a worth I saw, be it a person, be it a creature, be it the panchabhūtās, be it something else, my intelligence started interacting with them, trying to observe and whatever qualities I wanted I started feeling that they already represent. Like that I learned from the earth, I learned from the wind, I learned from the sea and waters, I learned from fire, I also learned from sky, space, ākāśa. Then going to different places, I learned from the trees, I learned from the mountains, I learned from a prostitute, Pingala. I learned from a kumāri to be married. I learned from an archer, an arrow maker.” So many things he cites.
Now he says: बहवो बुद्ध्युपाश्रितः bahavo buddhyupaśritāḥ. "All these teachers are primarily based on my own intelligence. It is my intelligence that started introspecting over these sights and illustrations and whatever qualities I wanted to imbibe, I started developing, growing, rearing, imbibing and displaying.”
Why I am saying this – everywhere it is this wonderful exposure, but people don’t understand the value of exposure. So many people read Srimad Bhagavatam. They read the letters and words. I think there are so many things in Srimad Bhagavatam or even in Bhagavad Gita. This particular verse –
muniḥ prasannagambhīro durvigāhyo duratyayaḥ |
anantapāro hyakṣobhyaḥ stimitoda ivārṇavaḥ ||
A good muni will be given to mauna. Mauna initially is vocal silence. Secondly, it is mental and intellectual silence, thereby leading to the so called Nirvikalpa or Niśchala Samādhi. This is called mauna. Whoever is given to this practice, whoever considers that this is the goal, and this is the greatness of life, he is a muniḥ. Given to always introspection over the scriptural statements, illustrations, proclamations, pronouncements, declarations etc., and then he starts dwelling upon them. As Shankara would put it in the Kaupīna Panchakam:
When I first read it in Calcutta, I was so inspired by this Panchaka.
What a beautiful metre, words etc! Those people who wear a loin cloth and ramble in this world, uncaring, untormented, delighting always in their own self, rejoicing, revelling, exulting in the Veda vākyās which proclaim the truths about the mind, the truths about the inner purity, inner enrichment, inner elevation and expansion, ultimately ending up with the soul, the infinitude that you can think of.
Vedāntavākyeṣu sadā ramanto
In reading, in listening to, in thinking about these wonderful declarations, it is just like a hungry man eating a delicious meal! Now here, the mind has the hunger, and the meals are the Vedic declarations. So he is able to listen to, and not only listen to, (but) exult, revel and rejoice! This is what he does!
Vedāntavākyeṣu sadā ramanto
Bhikṣānnamāthrena ca tuṣtimantaḥ
How does he live? He does not live by any effort of his! There are so many people in our country who appreciate, adore, worship this kind of a tradition of asceticism. So he will have no trouble at all! He will go and stand in front of any good householder and then say, “Om Namo Narayanaya!” The moment this mantra is heard, the mistress of the house will understand that some ascetic has come, I must give him something he wants. He doesn’t want dress. He doesn’t want money. He doesn’t want any comfort. He only wants something to be fed to the jaṭarāgni. This is something that everybody does. So she will immediately prepare something, whatever is available and give him. And when she gives, he doesn’t have a vessel with him, he only closes his palms, joins his palms and he receives whatever is given. He says – “I don’t want too big a quantity. Give me a small quantity. I will go to the other places also. I don’t want to rob you from whatever you have prepared for your family members. Give me a small share.” One or two handfuls he will get, he will eat it, go to the next house – maybe three or four houses, the stomach is full.
Bhikṣānnamāthrena ca tuṣtimantaḥ
By doing so, are they obliging him? No! No! He is obliging them. He is actually giving them an opportunity to give something to a great spiritual ascetic! By so doing, they are themselves getting absolved of all the contaminations, sinful elements in them. This is the greatest holy act a householder can do! If a householder prepares food and feeds his children, there is nothing but conventional procedure! Only when you give food to somebody who is not included in your family, especially when he comes and seeks it like this as an ascetic does, that becomes the greatest offer.
We may perform the Aśwamedha yāga and other things and all these things are poured into the fire. The fire is not hungry at all. We are all burning – dispossession is what takes place that is good. But here you will find a great ascetic in whom jaṭaragni is burning. That Agni is being fed by a householder. Can you imagine? It is much greater than Aśwamedha yāga. I always say, Mahabali performed Viśwajit yāgainstructed by Sukracharya and horses, chariots and so many other things came and he became very powerful and he evacuated Indra and the others from their respective abodes. Aditi was very much hurt. She went to her husband and sought, “What shall I do, my heart is burning, because my children are displaced.” He said that, “Don’t worry about it. Perform Payovrata. What is Payovrata? Lying on the floor, drinking only milk as food, spend thinking about the Lord.” That simple vratam she performed in the corner of a room of her house which nobody knew about. Mahavishnu came himself and said, “I will be born of you as a special incarnation and meet Mahabali in a very peaceful, austere and ascetic manner. It is not an instance where I have to fight with him.” This is what happened.
Similarly here you will find this offer to the ascetic is far greater and holier than even Aśwamedha yāga.
Vedāntavākyeṣu sadā ramanto
Bhikṣānnamāthrena ca tuṣtimantaḥ
viśokamantaḥkaraṇe carantaḥ
They are travelling. Where? Within their own mind. Mind has infinite distances within itself. So they will think, introspect, and by that process they are travelling in their own mind. Such people,
kaupīnavantaḥ khalu bhāgyavantaḥ
Though they wear only a kaupīna, loin cloth, they are the most fortunate people.
This is what avadhūta says – muniḥ prasannagambhīraḥ. He is extremely cheerful and contented. And in that he is very profound, deep and magnificent! It is not a prasannata that a child gets when a toffee is given. He doesn’t have anything to acquire or gain for in this world. He is filled with his own self. So much so that all desires are eliminated. All wants and complaints disappear and he becomes self-ful, self-contented and the ānanda is flooding and inundating in him.
Durvigāhyo duratyayaḥ. He cannot be measured, his inner worth or profundity, abundance cannot be measured. He cannot be excelled or exceeded also - Duratyayaḥ.
Anantapāraḥ - He is unbounded like the ocean. His mind is far greater than the world. That is why the world is perceived by the mind.
Akṣobhyaḥ - He doesn’t get agitated or tense.
Stimitoda ivārṇavaḥ - He is unshakeable, in spite of the tremendous evaporation taking place from the surface and the inflow of the number of rivers with slush, dirt etc. into it from different areas, the ocean remains in its own profundity, depth and magnitude. Like that!
Now when I read this verse, I found, arey, what is this! These are the human dimensions that a devotee or a seeker of truth can imbibe, master and display! Then what more do we want? Before this, money is useless! Wealth is nothing! Name, fame recognition etc. are useless! This is the greatest inner treasure, inner profusion, inner abundance, inner fullness.
Now when you hear these values, what do you think? Just imagine! Our books, particularly scriptural texts, they are distributing this treasure through every verse that is written there.Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
