04 Feb 2005
The word Atma (self) is common in both Jeevatma (soul) and Paramatma (Lord). The word collector is common in both district collector and bill collector. Suppose you are asking for the address of collector. The address of the bill collector is different from that of the district collector. The purpose to meet the collector must also be specified, which indicates whether you have to meet the district collector or bill collector. Therefore, self-realisation, which can mean reaching either Jeevatma or Paramatma must be clarified. If you reach Jeevatma, there is one type of benefit and if you reach Paramatma, there is another type of benefit. Benefit means attaining something, which you do not possess. Loss means losing what you have. Some people think that not losing something is also a benefit. But, benefit means really attaining something, which you do not have. If you attain Jeevatma, you will not have any loss. You have attained what you already have. In this case, you have become the Jeevatma which is pure awareness (Suddha chaitanyam). You have withdrawn the ‘I sense’ from the physical body [withdrawn the identification with the physical body; withdrawn from the notion, “I am the physical body”]. Then you have withdrawn the ‘I’ from the three qualities. Finally, you have fixed your ‘I’ to the pure awareness [“I am pure awareness”]. By doing so, you have attained peace, which is the inherent quality of the pure awareness. You have crossed all the problems. You had lost your peace in these problems. Now you have attained what you already have in yourself. By this, you have arrested the loss and you can consider this as a profit. Of course, this attainment is an intermediate state. This is only half of the journey. The rest half is to attain and please the Lord. The peace that you attain in the first half will be useful in the next half of the journey. The word Atma has four meanings:-
1. The human body made of five elements.
2. The three qualities.
3. The pure awareness.
4. The Lord (Paramatma or Parabrahma).
All these four meanings are applicable in only one place i.e., the human incarnation of the Lord. There is no other case in which these four meanings are applicable, because in the case of of a human incarnation like Lord Krishna, the external human body, the three qualities, the pure awareness and the Parabrahman exist. In an ordinary human being, the first three items exist and the fourth item is absent. Therefore, if you take the word Atma to mean an ordinary human being, a second alternative i.e., Paramatma (i.e., Parabrahman) exists and therefore there is a doubt whether the word Atma means a human being or Paramatma. In the case of a human incarnation this doubt does not exist because all the four items are together. Therefore, the best and doubtless meaning of the word Atman is only the human incarnation of the Lord.
The word Atma means that which pervades (Atati iti). Since the human body pervades some space, it is Atma. Since the three qualities pervade all over the pure awareness as waves pervade the water, the three qualities are also Atma. Since the pure awareness pervades all over the body, it is also Atma. Since the Lord pervades all over the world as substratum, He is also Atma. The human incarnation is perceived by the naked eyes and therefore satisfies the pratyaksha pramaana (detection by direct perception) of even Charvaka [an atheistic philosophy which accepts direct perception alone as the final means of knowledge]. The theory of Charvaka was mentioned as one of the six theories by Vidyaranya in his book called ‘Shat Darshana Saara Sangrahah’. All the pramaanaas are based only on the pratyaksha pramana [The other means of knowledge are inference, comparison and a reliable person’s word]. Even in inference (Anumaana pramaana), the fire is inferred by seeing the smoke. Unless you see the relationship between smoke and fire, how can you infer the fire? In the upamaana pramaana (simile or comparison to a known object) an unknown animal in the forest is said to be similar to cow. Unless you have seen the cow, how can you recognise that unknown animal? The fourth pramaana is ‘Shabda’ (statement of a reliable person). In this pramaana you believe the existence of the Kashi City when a reliable person tells you about it. In this pramaana also, unless he has seen the Kashi City how can he talk about it? Therefore, the atheist and scientist, who follow theory of Charvaka, must also be convinced with the human incarnation of Lord since He can be directly perceived.
Such a human incarnation is the Sadguru, who can give you the right knowledge, which is the true meaning of the Veda. Only by such knowledge, do devotion (Bhakti Yoga) and service (Karma Yoga) result. Knowledge is like a seed. It will give rise to the tree (Bhakti) and then the fruit (Karma or Seva) to the Lord. Without the seed we cannot get the fruit. But, if the seed does not produce the tree and then the fruit, there is no use of such seed. Therefore, the knowledge must lead to practice and without practice there is no use of knowledge. Shankara said that human birth is very rare. Even if the human birth is achieved, the desire for salvation is still rare in the human beings. Even if such spiritual desire exists, catching the Sadguru is very very rare (Maha purusha samsrayah). Sadguru is none other than Narayana, who comes down in the form of Nara (human being). Thus catching and pleasing the Sadguru is the end of sadhana (spiritual effort). The goal is attained here itself (Jeevanmukti). The Veda says that the goal comes down before your eyes and is not in any other world (Yatsakshaat aparokshaat Brahma). The Gita also says the same (Manusheem tanumasritaam). Datta is any human incarnation of the Lord that comes down as the Sadguru to preach the true knowledge of the scriptures. Datta means the Lord donated to this world in human form.
Datta does not mean a particular form of deity like Indra, Agni etc. The human being consists of three components i.e., the physical body (Sthula sharira), the three qualities (Sukshma sharira) and the pure awareness (Karana sharira). An ignorant human being leaves the human incarnation by seeing the external human body, which shows all the rules of nature like birth, death, hunger etc. Since Krishna is seen eating butter due to hunger, the ignorant person thinks that Krishna is an ordinary human being. Majority of people are ignorant due to the illusion of Sthula sharira (human body). These people fail in the very first test itself.
Some wise people think that the Lord is wearing external human body. Even the cloth of the king, can be cut by a blade. So, they think that the Lord is not the human body, but the soul inside, which is a mass of only all the good qualities (Sattvam) as in the case of Rama. They think that the Lord is the Sattvam quality only, which is Vishnu. This is represented by the single face of Datta (Eka mukha Datta). These people have committed two mistakes.
1. They think that the Lord is a quality and do not know that He is beyond any quality (Gunaateeta). Infact, He is the possessor of all these qualities and not any quality as said in the Gita (Nachaham teshu).
2. They think that He is only Sattvam quality (Vishnu) and not Rajas (Brahma) and Tamas (Shiva).
The three faces of Datta indicate that He is not any single face (quality), but He is the possessor of all the three faces. Therefore, to remove the ignorance of these people, He exhibits the other two faces (Rajas & Tamas). Krishna stole butter (Tamas) and Narasimha was very angry (Rajas). Datta came out of the lake embracing and kissing a naked lady (intense Tamas) and all the sages who were waiting on the bank of the lake ran away because they were expecting Datta to appear only as Vishnu having only good qualities (Sattvam). This is the significance of the three faces of Datta. Foolish people think that Datta is a peculiar specimen going around with three heads [Lord Datta is pictorially represented with three heads, each belonging to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva respectively]. Thus, even wise people fail in the second test because they think that the Lord is a quality and that too Sattvam quality only. The three qualities are the three coloured shirts. When you think that He is only the white shirt (Sattvam), He will appear in the red (Rajas) and black (Tamas) shirts. This proves that He is not any shirt and also that He is not in any shirt. Datta is not Sukshma sharira (the three qualities) or a Jeeva.
In the third test, the Advaita scholars cross the human body and the three qualities. They settle in the standstill pure awareness (Nirguna chaitanyam) which is again only the Kaarana sharira and not the Lord. They think that the Lord is pure awareness without the three qualities like standstill water without waves. The Advaita scholars try to touch the Lord through their self-effort i.e., self-analysis. By this, they can touch the pure awareness, which is Maya. Maya is the mind of the Lord. Maya is also pure awareness and is the power of the Lord. This Maya is like the ocean. The tidal waves [huge waves] in this ocean, which are the apparent modifications of Maya (Vivarta of Shankara) are the three qualities (Gunaas or bhaavaas) and these three qualities are called Brahma (Rajas), Vishnu (Sattvam) & Shiva (Tamas). A part of this Maya is modified into the inert five elements by which planets, hills, rivers etc. form. It is a real modification (Parinaama of Ramanuja) because the awareness is converted into inert matter. A part of this Maya entered some inert forms, which have become the various living beings. In every living being, a little quantity of Maya is present, which has small vibrations. These vibrations are the three qualities in the soul.
Therefore a soul is a drop of Maya (pure awareness) with small vibrations. The ocean of Maya with its tidal waves is surrounded by this cosmos made of five elements (Brahmanda). Similarly, the soul is also surrounded by a small body made of five elements (Pindanda). The Advaita scholars cross the body and the vibrations and finally settle in the standstill drop of Maya. When this drop is quantitatively extended, it becomes the infinite standstill ocean without waves. Thus, one can imagine a standstill ocean through his standstill drop. But, he cannot touch the substratum of the ocean even by imagination. He is a part and parcel of the dream, which consists of living and non-living beings. The mind of the dreamer (awareness) with the qualities or ideas, created the dream. A part of the mind is modified into the inert city. Another part of mind entered several inert forms which are like drops, making those forms alive as living beings. The waves of the mind have been reduced to vibrations of the drops in living beings. A human being can touch, at the maximum, the mind of God alone, which is the root cause of the dream. But the mind is not the dreamer. The Advaita philosopher, unable to know this secret, mistakes the mind (Maya) itself as the dreamer (Mayin or Lord). Since, he thinks that the ocean of awareness is the Lord, he assumes that he himself is the Lord, forgetting even the quantitative difference between the drop and the ocean in his false assumption. He removes the quantitative difference between the drop and ocean by saying that the space is not true. Then the tiny soul becomes the infinite Brahman. Very Good! Then why is this tiny soul which has become Brahman, not ruling the entire world and becoming Ishwara? He has committed two mistakes:
1. Assuming that awareness is the very nature of the Lord, the quantitative difference between the Lord and soul is forgotten.
2. The Lord is not the awareness because the Lord is beyond imagination.
Apart from these two mistakes, he is forgetting the existence of the super power in the Lord and absence of the same super power in himself. Krishna lifted the mountain on his finger and told the excellent Bhagavad Gita. The Advaita philosopher is unable to do these two things and claims himself to be the Lord. He is only seeing the similarity in the pure awareness. But, he is neglecting the difference in the power. Such attitude comes only due to the ambition to become the Lord and the egoism and jealousy towards Krishna. The Advaitist says that this world is a dream. But, this world is a dream for the dreamer, who is the Lord. The Advaitist is only a part and parcel of the dream. Even Shankara swallowed molten lead and asked his disciples to swallow the same. Shankara declared that He alone is Shiva (Shivah kevaloham) and not the disciples.
If you are ignorant, you will fail in the first test. If you are a wise person, you will fail in the second test. If you are an Advaita scholar, you will fail in the third test. If you have passed all the three tests and if you have recognised the Sadguru, you are said to have Atma Jnana. If you have reached the Sadguru, you have attained Atman. If you have become a servant and pleased the Sadguru, then you have Kaivalya, in which you are always associated and protected by the Lord in this world as well as in the upper world called Brahma Loka. The Lord is the ruler of your self and is called as Atmeshwara in the Veda (Atmeshwaram shashvatam).