12 Nov 2006
Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only
The knowledge consists of three components (Triputi) 1) The goal; 2) The soul and 3) The path of the soul to please the goal. The knowledge of the world is not dealt separately because the knowledge of the soul itself is the knowledge of the world since the soul is a part of the world. When the devotees criticize the knowledge, they should specify the component of the knowledge. The devotee cannot criticize the goal because the goal is God. The knowledge of God generates the attraction (devotion) to God. This component is spoiled by Advaitins, who say that the soul in every human being is God. In this component, the devotees are almost correct; who selected a particular energetic form like Narayana is only God. In the same way, if Advaitins say that a particular human being like Krishna is only God, the Advaitins are equal to the devotees. In such case, Advaitins can be even treated as greater devotees because they have selected the relevant human form rather than the irrelevant [to the earth] energetic form. The devotees might have become Advaitins, had they told that every energetic form (Every angel) is God. Therefore, the devotees have surpassed the Advaitins in this component. But still in this component, the devotees are not perfect. They have neglected the human form of God and are after the irrelevant (to the earth) energetic form. They are fixed to a particular energetic form only (like Narayana) and reject the other energetic forms like Shiva and Brahma. This violates the omnipotence of God to be in various forms simultaneously.
The second component is the soul or the world. For Advaitins the goal and soul are one and the same. For them, only world without the soul is left over. The world is unreal for them. It is correct if the world is limited to Maya only. For the devotees, the soul is a part of the world only. In this point also the devotees have surpassed Advaitins. The devotees say that the world is real and therefore, the soul is also real. If everything is real, where is the liberation? You should be liberated from unreal to attain the real. When the soul is real like God, there is no need of liberation of the soul from the real world. A reality (soul) need not be liberated from another reality (world) to attain some other reality (God). If the world is confined only to Maha Maya and Mula Maya, the world is real. When the body disintegrates, only the form of the body is disappearing. The awareness (soul), the forms of the energy like light, heat etc., and the matter remain real. In this case even the feelings or thoughts (qualities) remain real accompanying the soul as Vasanas. The soul qualified by these feelings is Jeeva. Jeeva remains real after death, who travels to the upper world in the energetic body. This does not mean that feelings are real and can be treated as Maha Maya. The feelings can be destroyed by the real knowledge and therefore, the feelings are also Maya only like the form of the body. The devotee should cross this Maya with the help of knowledge given by God (Second chapter of the Gita) so that the devotee is no more attracted by the world even if he comes out of the devotion for some time to take rest. In this aspect the Advaitins surpass the devotees who have analyzed the world correctly. But the Advaitins should remember that Maya is only unreal where as the other two (Maha Maya and Mula Maya) are real.
Shankara says that the soul should get liberation from Maya only (Maya mayamidam akhinam Hittva…). He gave the definition of the world as Nama and Rupa only. Nama is the name. Rupa is the form. The form of matter is pot. The form of awareness is feeling like love, cruelty etc. The pot, love, cruelty etc., are the names. Only Maya is to be discarded (Hittva). If you take the world as Maya, Maha Maya and Mula Maya, then the whole world is a mixture of reality (Maha Maya and Mula Maya) and unreality (Maya) as per Shankara (Satyanrute Mithuni Krutya…). A mixture of reality and unreality can be neither stated as full real or as full unreal and is called as Mithya by Shankara (Sadasat Vilakshana…). All this is from the angle of the soul. From the angle of God (relative God) [sagunam] the world is real but unreal being negligible. A very little part of the primary energy is modified into the world and thus, it is very much negligible before the infinite ocean of primary energy charged by God. Therefore, for God also, the world is Mithya since it is real but negligible.
Devotees Must Accept the Knowledge of Maya
Therefore, the devotees must accept the knowledge of Maya in order to protect their bond with God. Such knowledge of Maya acts like pesticide whenever Maya attacks the soul. The knowledge of God acts like water and fertilizer for the generation and growth of devotion-plant. The knowledge of Maya protects this plant from infection so that the plant becomes a strong huge tree. Thus, knowledge is generator like water, developer like fertilizer and protector like pesticide for the devotion-plant. It is only out of innocence the devotees criticize the knowledge. They can eliminate the impurity from the knowledge and use it properly for the overall development of devotion. The devotee is just like a seed without water, fertilizer and pesticide. If the knowledge is rejected, he cannot attain any fruit for his devotion-seed. Similarly, mere knowledge without devotion is the impossibility to get any fruit from water, fertilizer and pesticide.
Analysis of Maya
The analysis of Maya reveals that the unreal factors cause the real disturbance. All the worldly bonds are just feelings on certain forms. The bond (feeling) and the bonded (form) are found unreal on analysis. The form of a beautiful girl is unreal because the reality is only Matter. The glamour of shining is only a color generated based on certain frequency of the light energy. Thus, color is an unreal form of light. The sweet love expressed by her is also unreal form of awareness. Therefore, the beautiful form of matter, the glamorous color of light and the sweet love of the awareness are totally unreal if isolated from their corresponding real matter, real light and real awareness. If this Maya is not analyzed, even a great sage like Vishwamitra sitting in constant devotion to God was dragged out by the dancer from the heaven. Similarly, all the worldly bonds are only feelings established by some rigid social convention. The bonds in this life did not exist in the previous birth and will not exist in the future birth. They are only temporary and hence, unreal (Tat krutakamhi... Shankara). Reality is eternal. Once, King Janaka asked the sages to tell about the previous birth of his queen. The sages kept silent for a long time. But the sages revealed the truth due to continuous pressure from Janaka. They told that the wife was his mother in the previous birth! Since the bond is unreal, neither she was mother nor is she the wife of Janaka. Mother and wife and son and husband are unreal bonds, which are the unreal roles in the drama. Both are simply actors taking different unreal roles in different dramas to entertain the Lord. The relationship between the souls is only a colleague type only, which is eternal in all the dramas (lives). Therefore, there is no meaning of kith and kin and the outsiders. All the souls are equally related to each other, if the reality is realized. Hence, the entire world is a single family of God as its head (Vasudhaika Kutumbakam).
All the fights between the human beings in the name of family-outsider, caste, sex, nationality, religion, language etc., are only due to the illusion of Maya that is prevailing over the soul. Arjuna killed several kings in the battles previously when his brother performed Rajasuya sacrifice. But in the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna could not kill the opponents since they were his relatives. You are taking bribe from an outsider for the sake of over-enjoyment of your family and you are going to hell for that. Your sin is not shared by your family members who enjoyed the extra wealth. On this point Valmiki, a robber was transformed into sage. Boys are dejected and sometimes commit suicide since the unreal love and the unreal beauty of a girl is not attained. This is the climax of the illusion (Maya)! With reference to Maha Maya, this Maya (beauty and love) are unreal. If you cannot come out of the illusion in the lowest level, how can you cross the other levels of illusion like Maha Maya and Mula Maya to attain God? Arjuna was also overcome by this basic illusion and treated the unreal relatives as the real kith and kin. He was unable to identify the Lord acting as his driver as his real kith and kin. He was worried about the incidental death of those unreal kith and kin. Therefore, the Lord [Krishna] laughed at the very outset (Prahasanniva… Gita), because, even the lowest Maya was not conquered by him [Arjuna]. With the help of analysis of Maya, all the devotees in this universe should be united as one family irrespective of religion, caste etc.
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