आशाया बध्यते जन्तुः कर्मणा बहुचिन्तया।
आयु क्षीणँ न जानाति तस्मात् जाग्रत जाग्रत॥
We are [The animal -humans are also addressed as animals here] bound by Expectations: various activities and excess thinking. so much so that we do not recognize the ebbing away of life. Therefore be awake! Be Awake!
This is a beautiful line to meditate upon. What binds us is always our own expectations. An expectation is a mental or physical destination. We predecide upon the destination we want to reach and then onwards we are constantly working to reach that destination. Constantly thinking as to how we can reach that destination.
What binds us is not really the activities, what binds us is not the thinking itself. what binds us is the "fixed" and very strong attachment to a destination. Our own expectations bind us. The activity does not have a capacity to bind us, we give it a capacity to bind us by first fixing an expectation.
Like, driving a car is absolutely fine. But if I have a destination pre-fixed: I must reach my office in 5 mins. Can we imagine the kind of tension and troubles it can create ?Just driving the car does not have the capacity to bind us or create trouble for us. But if we have set a destination "I want to not drive the car but go home and sleep", now ? Suddenly the activity becomes troublesome. The activity becomes a bondage.
So we all get bound by expectations through various activities and lot of thinking. The activities are not themselves binding but when we have huge expectations they become a bondage. and similarly thinking. When my thinking is centered around a set of expecations, it creates tension.
And in all these tensions and worries, as we are running after different destinations in life, suddenly we recognize that the life itself has passed away!!
Suppose we ask "Why these expecations?", the answer is obvious: "When i reach there, i will be happy"
Even if i reach any destination in life [success, career, family life, possessions etc], that happiness comes from within and never from without. It has always been compared to a dog chewing a dry bone. The dog chewing a bone thinks that the blood is coming from the dry bone, while the blood is oozing from its own injured jaws. Thats how it is. Happiness always comes from within. Its a pity that we have to depend on an external situation or circumstance for our happiness. And all our expecations are based on the false premise that happiness lies in some external destination --- some external situation would make me fulfilled.
So if we just drop the expectations. No where to go, nothing to do!
Absolutely Here, and no where to go!!
what else to do ?
And suddenly we see that we are very relaxed, blissful, lite etc!
now no matter what activities we involve in ... its absolutely fine.
We can even draw a few artificial destinations ... knowing pretty well that those destinations are just fancy destinations created for the purpose of a game and just move about in life. Just as , when we play a game of cricket, we create a boundary. the boundary is only to make it a game. We can also have losely held destinations, knowing fully well that We are the source of all Bliss and there is no where to go , nothing to do. Then, those lose destinations of life become simple lines of the boundary in a cricket or a football match. They do not bind us anymore.
Dropping expectations is liberation !
सम्पदः स्वप्नसँकाशाः यौवनँ कुसुमोपम्।
विधुच्चन्चचँल आयुषँ तस्मात् जाग्रत जाग्रत॥
All possessions are like what are seen in a dream, youthfulness is only for a short time , like a flower's lifetime. Life passes away like a lightening therefore be alert!
When we dream, we might possess a lot of valuable objects, but the moment we wake up all the objects are gone. In a dream if we say "This object should not go", that very idea will create lot of anguish. The dream objects cannot be held onto. This world that we experience is just a dream. Nothing more.
There is absolutely no difference between a dream and this world that we experience. Things come and they go. Any attempt to "Stop the Flow" is really stupid. Nothing can stop it.
What are possessions ? I posses a gold coin, say, does the coin feel that its mine ? I feel its mine. the coin does not have any such feelings. So when a thief comes and takes it away, i cry that "my" gold coin is leaving me! But the coin never says "See i am his coin, u cannot take me".
When we see this with respect to a gold coin, we feel its very trivial, but when we see our body in the same light ... we see ... the body ages. And the body does not have any complaints abt it!! We complain about the body's aging. The body simply flows. I may be worried that the body is aging, as i have projected an idea that this body is mine! But the body does not feel so.
If we observe carefully ... the whole world is simply flowing away. The stream of life does not stop. Its flowing constantly. Suppose we are sitting in a train, we clearly see the motion. we clearly see that everything is moving away. No scenary lasts long. The journey of life is no different. All this is passing away.
Like a lightening, our life is passing away. So swift. unfortunately, being a part of it, we miss the motion. We try to hold onto everything and trying to stop everything from moving
. By the very nature of things, the possessions shall pass away. They are like sceneries we see when we are sitting in a train and watching outwards. This journey of life is like a burning candle. its constantly burning away. Every moment I live is like another step I have taken towards death.
This is just the same as a dream. We have created a marked separation: this is waking life and this is a dream. But in reality, both are just the same. Everything is simply a dream. We need to recognize this fact and drop any attempt to hold onto anything. Coz things , by nature, pass away in a dream. One cannot stop a dream object from moving away.
Lets just do a small experiment. Suppose in my dream, I am dreaming all this, I left my home to office and right now i am in my office. where is my house ? In a dream, what ever i see is what is. My seeing and the objects being ... they are mutually dependent. I see my office, therefore it is, and the office is imagined and therefore i see. Thats the nature of maya. Everything is mutually dependent. When i am seeing my office ... in my dream ... where is my house ? No where !!
However, when i drive back to my home ... the home appears where it is ... how ? Merely based on memory! This is how it is in dream and thats exactly how it is in waking also.
This moment alone is!
when we see this, and release our mind of all the attachments for the objects of the world... we remain free!! We are naturally Alert, coz we have no burdens in mind. We are here, now! Thats what is Jagrata jagrata.
क्षणँ वित्तँ क्षणँ चित्तँ क्षणँ जीवितमावयोः।
यमस्य करूणा नास्ति तस्मात् जाग्रत जाग्रत॥
Money, memory and life are all momentary.
Lord Yama, the lord of death, does not show any mercy. Therefore be awake!!
Often we waste most of our lives accumulating more and more possessions and the moments of death draw near, thats when we recognize that it has been too late. We have spent all our times trying to accumulate objects of enjoyment, but have actually forgotten to live life!
Yama is just time... time does not show mercy on anyone. One cannot say "Oh! Please wait one more moment, there are a few more things to achieve"
Time does not give that sort of a flexibility. And no one knows when one shall simply fall and pass away.
Its like that and when I say this, I am not being pessimistic here. This is just the truth as it is.
This life is simply a journey. We are as if sitting in this vehicle called body and holding onto one or the other object along the way. The objects pass away, the vehicle is moving. i have no choice and i cannot even make the vehicle not move. and so , the vehicle is constantly moving and now I am constantly trying to hold onto the objects and cry every time an object leaves. And even the vehicle is slowly waning away! thats the kind of journey. Obviously the journey is a burden, coz of my attitude towards it. I do not accept it as a journey, I treat it as a permanant residence and therefore I suffer. This attitude needs to be changed. When we change our attitude and look at life as a flow, nothing to hold onto ... and we start living our life like a holliday thats when we start to enjoy it. We need to look at it like a pleasure trip: with pleasure always coming from within. Everything is beautiful, but the joy is really coming from within ... so everywhere, everytime I am at joy with myself. Thus reveling as self, this flow just goes on! no worries, no sorrows, no troubles : just present in the moment, in this moment alone... the past moment is gone never to be back again and the next moment has not yet come. Therefore revel in this moment.... being here, now!
यावत् कालँ भवेत् कर्म तावत् तिष्ठन्ति जन्तवः।
तस्मिन् क्षीणे विन्श्यन्ति तत्र का परिदेवना॥
As long as their karma lasts so long we see the animal here, the moment the karma is over, the animal is gone. what is there to brood over this ?
Karma theory is one of the most interesting vedantic models. A model, as in science [atomic mode for example] is not proved. It explains the happenings and we can use the model to predict what happens when we do a particular action. As long as the experiments do not show proof against it, the model remains valid.
Richard Feynman says in his Physics lectures: this is like a game of chess being played by the Gods. We are only allowed to watch the game and we form rules based on our observations. Every now and then we see a new move and we have to change the rules to accomodate that rule.
Thats how scientific inquiry goes. Karma model is the set of rules that govern the our actions and the results. Its a wonderful system. When its clearly understood, it resolves lot of mental conflicts by itself. coz there is clarity of vision it brings about . Let us see...
There are a few fundamental axioms of karma model :
a) Every action has a result.
b) The result takes shape only when the time is ripe.
Suppose i water a plant. The plant gives fruit only when season is ripe. just coz i acted now, i need not get a result immediately.
so when i act, there is a result. but the result may come now or may not come now. if it does not come now, it means it waiting in the backlog for appropriate time!!
What a clear model this is !
So someone works very hard, and fails in an exam. And then after a few years, he writes one more exam, and here he passes with very little effort ... why ? The previous preparation took shape here!! So the previous result which was waiting in queue too shape here !!
what a simple but clear model !!
so now ... when a particular result thats awaiting in the queue starts to take shape ... its like an arrow released from a bow! it started already ... its called prak-arabdha ... already started result. that is prarabdha karma.
this body is a result of prarabdha karma. we got this body as a result of some prarabdha karma. if my previous karma was bad, i would have got an animal body perhaps! so this body is a result of prarabdha karma ... given to us for the purpose of undoing some prarabdha karma ... through this body we get the result of some of the actions we did . and when the purpose of this body is done, it passes away!!
so the coming of the body and its passing away, all the results that we accure in between ... all of them are a result of prarabdha karma and the moment the karma is completed, the body is taken away ...
thats how its designed .
what is there to worry about all this ? whats there to brood over this ? every one is just going by his or her prarabdha ... thats the meaning of the verse .
The idea in presenting the karmic model is not to create a theory out of it.
These verses are to be meditated upon. Meditation, in this context, means to remain with their meaning.
When we do that, our excess attachment towards the objects of the world eventually reduces.
We need to bring this again and again to our mind and see things in that light.
These verses are true as they are. They are simple and very correct.
What one needs to do is just remain with the meaning and see things as they are.
ऋणानुबन्धरूपेण पशुपत्निसुतादयः।
ऋणक्षये क्षयँ यान्ति तत्र का परिदेवना॥
as per the debts of prarabdha karma, relations are developed in this world. animals, wife or children, they are all forms of debts of previous life. when the debts exhaust temselves, all these pass away, what is there to brood over this ?
Debts of prarabdha karma lead to various types of relationships. When two people come together, they come with their own bags of prarabdha karma and then their coming together is a way the prarabdha karma unfolds. Eventually as that particular karma gets exhausted, they separate away. Thats how the whole dynamics is. nothing can be changed in this -- just as the law of gravity cannot be modified. one just appreciates this fact and what ever errors in understanding exist in the nook and corners of our mind, we need to use this understanding to eliminate it.
So in every relationship, one needs to see that we people are together as there is some karma thats common between us and thats now unfolding. when this is done, we shall separate away. one needs to take this idea and see all relationships in that light. we are together because of karma runam the debts in karma. and when thats done we shall separate.
When we do this, our attachments reduce, we know that the relationships are short lived, so we spend the time we are together very comfortably. Each other's errors are forgiven, coz we know that karmas are unfolding differently.
indeed we all are travelling on different directions and different routes, we meet in between and then separate again!
So when this viveka, this understanding, is taken into the mind and we start looking at life as a flow we clearly see how this togetherness is only temporary; we develop vairagya. If we still remain attached and want a certain relationship to last longer than it is ... it means the understanding has not sinked in. There is no choice in this. in the flow of time we have absolutely no choice. we cannot chose to stop our travel in time. This needs to be clearly seen , do not really have any sort of choice over this and therefore any struggle against the flow of time is futile.
such understanding brings in lot of calmness are reduces conflicts of mind. it brings in acceptance.
पक्वानि तरूपर्णानि पतन्ति क्रमशो यथा।
तथैव जन्तवः काले तत्र का परिदेवना॥
As Even the ripe leaves of a tree drop one after the other
even this animal shall drop off, what is there to brood over this ?
These are really verses for meditation. The leaves of a tree drop and so also it is the case with this body, it shall also drop off. One needs to start looking at life thus. The aim is to completely accept that things shall all pass away long before the things actually pass away. When we develop that attitude we tend to look at life as a constant flow. Yesterday is a leaf that has already fallen away. Today is a fresh leaf and by tomorrow this shall pass away. This is how life is configured. This is how things are all going on.
If we brood over it , its only due to non-acceptance. We do not accept, coz our "identity" seems to depend on it. Since i do not know my true nature, I associate my identity with the objective world. The objective world seems to define me. Suppose I ask myself, who am i ? and the answer is a name, a degree, sex, religious beliefs etc --- what does it mean ? Am i the name or do i have a name? am i the degree or do i have a degree ? am i the body or do i have a body ?
To mistake what i have with what i am is a fundamental mistake that is the cause for all sorrows. I have a body, i am not the body. Do we see the difference betweeen saying i have a dog and i am a dog ?
People may not say that openly, but thats how they feel inside. Someone's dog is dying and this person needs to meet a psychiatrist. If we ask him "Why do you have psychological problems if your dog is dying", his reply would be "what am i if the dog is not there ?"
Thats how we define our identity with objects of the world. The objects dont make me. I AM, and everything else follows. But somehow i tend to identify with the objects and then the objects seem to define me... and as the objects die, we seem to worry and brood over it. To see the objects of the world as dying is the first step in losening this excess dependence on the objects of the world. We need to meditate on these verses and actually start seeing the world in this light. We need to see how leaves of this world are falling every moment. This is an attitude change. We need to develop this attitude and when we look at the world as a flow, we clearly see how beneath this flow is a changeless reality... the True ME, independent of all the changing entities. Thats when we no more try to hold onto anything - neither try to enforce something, nor try to stop something from happening: just pure witness. We now do not "be witness", we just "Are Witness", there is no choice in "being it" or "not being it". We are that witness and how else can we be that "Just Be"
एक वृक्षसमारूढा नानाजाति विहङ्गमाः।
प्रभते क्रमशो यान्ति तत्र का परिदेवना॥
Assembled on the same tree, birds of differed feathers.
as it dawns, they all leave one by one, what is there to brood over this ?
We are all like sojourners. We have our own paths and for a short period we come together in this journey and when the sojourn is over, the paths separate and we move away. The moment we forget that we are sojourners, we get attached to the people and events in life. Neither the people nor the events are going to last for ever, infact even as we see them they are moving apart constantly. And we suffer as we do not want it to change. Whenever we suffer, we can ask ourselves this interesting question: "What is it that we do not want to happen". We suffer means there is something happening an we do not wish that it happens. We are colliding with the events/ happenings. Thats when there is suffering. Whenever we find ourselves suffering, this is an interesting question we can put to ourselves " What is it that i am colliding with ?"
"what is it that i do not want to happen ?" and what ever that is, we can stop going against it. Thus when one stops colliding with anything that happens, one stands liberated. The tendency to collide with what is happening is there because we do not understand that there is no point in collision. Something is moving away, something else is coming towards, in both the cases there is no need to conflict. This attitude is called acceptance and is very essential for a sadhaka.
इदँ काष्ठँ इदम् काष्ठँ नध्यँ वहतिसँगतः।
सँयोगाक्ष्च वियोगाक्ष्च का तत्र परिदेवना॥
This and that corpse are flowing together in a river.
They remai n together for some time and then separate, what is thre to brood over this?
So what is really there to brood over this? Who is together and who gets separated in reality ? The Self is not at all touched by anything , whatsoever. And The bodies do not have a sense of togetherness. So who is getting seperated in reality ? From the standpoint of the bodies, there is no separation. From the stand point of the Self, there is no possibility of separation. Then who is getting separated ? Mind is doing this linking. How does it do that ? Please see... The body does not "Know", its a mere corpse. its floating in the river of time and when two corpse come together they do not "Feel" togetherness. When the corpse separate , they do not miss each other. Thats how they are. The Awareness which is the basis for all knowing is itself changeless and remains totally still and motionless. In that, there is no change possible. Awareness Just IS, it does not care whether these corpse come together or go away. A tsunami happens and millions of people die... Awareness is changeless still... not the least trace of movement. Such is awareness. Now mind associates the two and creates a sense of separation and togetherness and thats where all trouble starts.
Who is really this "I" which is really troubled or happy about these movements of the corpses ? If we see, the body does not know. Awareness does not care. Inbetween the body and the Awareness there are a few thoughts, but they come and they go that very moment !! However what happens is , a series of fast moving thoughts create the illusion t hat there is a real entity called "I" which is happy or unhappy with the events. There is really no "I". Hence no one to brood over all this! Just Be!
OM! Sri Guru charan arpitam astu! OM!
Bookmarks