Adhyatma Rahasya : Secret of Spirituality ….3

 

The sequence of spiritual development:

Gatha 42: Negating the ignorance within myself with the power of indifference continuously, my own nature gets realised within myself and  gradually it would reach the pinnacle also.

When the soul discovers the existence of great qualities like consciousness and bliss etc. within himself and finds that these qualities have not reached their peak of their possible development then he finds ignorance as the possible cause for the same. Here the process for negating that ignorance has been described as subscribing to indifference which is nothing but subsidence of ragas. As the ragas becomes less and less, i.e. the power of indifference increases, the ignorance would reduce and the development of qualities of soul would enhance. This  procedure only would enable to reach the peak  of his qualities sometime.

The contemplation of the Yogi:

Gatha 43: In spite of appearing to be many from the aspect of paryaya, on account of accumulation  of shapes of all the substances within them; even then from the aspect of dravya, I am one only. In reality no word can describe me- I am indescribable.

Here the contemplation of yogi is described. He thinks that since eternal times his paryayas had the subjects of some substance or other. This way from the aspect of paryayas, it is full with shapes of so many different substances. Even then from the aspect of dravya I am one only within so many paryayas. Therefore I cannot be described by a single word which may describe my full form.

Means for ordination of soul:

Gatha 44: Therefore for attainment of that indescribable Param-Bramha ( highest status of soul)- I ordain my mind with the contemplation of very miniscule shabda-bramha   ‘ Soham ( I am that)’.

In the previous gatha the soul was defined as  indescribable with a single word. Therefore for the attainment of that supreme soul status, the yogi ordains his mind with the miniscule word ‘Soham’.

The contemplation of Param Bramha with Shabda-Bramha:

Gatha 45: Within the pond of the form of heart, the lotus flower of the form of dravya mind having eight half open leaves have bloomed with the illumination of dhyan form yoga which reveals the supreme flame form myself.

With the ordination of spirit of ‘soham’ in the mind, in the contemplation state, the soul experiences that his dravya mind of the form of lotus flower having eight leaves have bloomed and opened fully with the illumination of meditation form sun. The illumination form great flame is myself.

The state of soul-experience:

Gatha 46: with the destruction of darkness of Moha and stoppage of senses and mind form wind ( perturbations), I am zero with respect to all other dravyas and non-zero with respect to self. Such supreme flame is observed by my inner sight  within me.

With the elimination of Moha bhava i.e. with the destruction of darkness of Moha, the activities of mind and senses terminate. At that stage, for a few moments, the soul is able to experience the pure nature of self by means of inner vision. That form is devoid of all other substances but still replete with own darshan, gyan, bliss etc. qualities. Thus experiences the soul immersed in Dhyan.

Samvar and Nirjara by means of supreme concentration:

Gatha 47: Observing myself within me as described above, I attain supreme concentration and experience blissful soul- from this aspect I myself am Samvar and Nirjara form.

In this manner, observing self within self, the soul attains supreme concentration and experiences the bliss of the soul. On account of this one attains Nirjara as well as Samvar i.e. the karmas accrued in the past are shed away while influx of new karmas is blocked thereby attaining samvar.

Regrets for the past mistakes by the Yogi:

Gatha 48-49: In spite of being equipped with infinitely infinite conscious powers from the aspect of shuddha nishchaya naya, on account of being ordained with eternal ignorance, I have immersed myself with my senses and mind in the external world and believing the body only to be of the nature of self, I believed the loss and gains of the body only to be the loss and gains of myself.

In these two gathas as well as in the next gatha the Yogi is reviewing the mistakes carried out in the past. He is thinking that since eternal times,  he had the delusion form  ignorance of soul being the body only due to which he had been functioning with senses only for knowing the external subjects. Therefore whichever paryayas- bodies he acquired, he treated them as soul. The gains of body with the association of healthy food etc. and the losses due to sickness etc. , he has treated as gains and loss of the soul only. All this has been his eternal folly since he is not the body form which is corporeal and momentary. He is in reality equipped with infinitely infinite conscious power which always remains consistent.

The Yogi contemplates further:

Gatha50: In the same way, believing the body occupied by  the soul of my wife etc. to be their soul,  I shared their happiness-unhappiness i.e. imagining them to be mine, I  enjoyed their happiness-unhappiness as my own.

The Yogi is continuing to contemplate that just as he believed his body to be his own soul, in the same way he has believed the insentient bodies of his wife-sons to be their souls. On account of this belief he has shared their happiness-unhappiness of their bodies also. This has been his mistake all along which he has realised now.

Now with the elimination of delusion, the experience of bliss:

Gatha 51: Now with the elimination of ignorance, knowing the souls of self and others in the form of souls and bodies in the form of bodies, I am now tasting corruption free equanimity form nectar.

The manifestation of soul on realisation of eternal mistake is described here. Now he knows soul as soul and body as body whether it belongs to self or others. In this manner he is experiencing the equanimity. Such equanimity cannot be experienced by believing the soul to be transitory like body  surrounded by happiness or unhappiness.   

The detached state of  Yogi:

Gatha 52: My soul is the of the form of consciousness occupied with knowledge of substances and detachment. My senses are neither dead, nor alive; neither asleep nor awake.

This gatha makes reference to the mysterious state of the soul attained when  it is engrossed in the knowledge of the self and detachment; at that time the senses attain an indescribable state which can neither be called dead or alive, neither asleep nor awake. They are not dead since they have capability of experiencing their subjects. They are not alive since at that moment they are not engaged in experiencing their subjects. They are not called asleep since their activities are not hampered by fruition of   sleep inducing karmas. They cannot be called awake since in spite of having freedom of upayoga they are not engaged in their activities. The upayoga remains engaged in realisation of self and detachment.

 The detached state of Yogi is described with an example:

Gatha 53: With the awakening of progeny of pure knowledge preventing the generation of previous ignorance form ordination, my imagination also would not remember anything of the past memories etc.. 

Earlier the past ordination was such that it used to induce Sankalp-vikalpa in the mind continuously. Now with generation of progeny of pure knowledge in stream form, this tendency has been blocked. Even if at any moment the memory of an external object arises, would it get engaged in remembering it ? No it would not. The internal stream of pure upayoga would continue to flow unhindered. 

The spirit of enhancement of own experience by the Yogi:

Gatha 54: For continuous enhancement of own  experience, realising the nature of self and experiencing it in stationary form, relinquishing the undesirable external substances and accepting the venerable own nature, my spirit is to experience the jewel-trio form own nature.

The Yogi continuously aspires for enhancement of own soul experience. It is his aspiration that he should relinquish the raga-dwesha form unvenerable external substances and accept the venerable conscious blissful form self. Thus he should experience his own pure jewel trio form own nature continuously.

The great devotion of Yogi:

Gatha 55:  Discarding the ashubha upayoga, taking recourse to shubhopayoga by practice of shruta(scriptures), I should remain in Shuddhopayoga for as long as possible, this alone is my highest allegiance.

Here the sequence of attaining shuddhopayoga is described. First ashubhopayoga is discarded and recourse is taken of shubhopayoga. This is attained most effectively by studies of scriptures. Thirdly attainment of shuddhopayoga and remaining in that as long as possible is the goal of yogi. He has full faith in this sequence.

The divisions of Upayoga in the form of ashubha-shubha and shuddha:

Gatha 56: The manifestation/activities  of soul in the form of raga-dwesha-moha is Ashubhopayoga. The affection towards dharma preached by Kevali is Shubhopayoga. The soul manifestation immersed within own conscious nature is Shuddhopayoga.

Here the forms of the three types of upayoga is described. The manifestation of soul in the form of raga-dwesha-moha is called ashubhopayoga. The affection towards the Muni dharma and shravak dharma as preached by Kevali bhagwan is shubhopayoga. Immersion within own conscious nature is shuddhopyoga.

The form of Yoga:

Gatha 57: “ that pure form is myself only, that pure form is myself only” – engaging in such spirit, the immersion of soul within own pure nature is some indescribable Yoga.

“That shuddha form paramatma is myself only”- continuous contemplation of the above with complete faith leads to immersion within own pure nature. That is the Yoga or Samadhi form dhyan which is indescribable with words since words do not have capability to explain it. That is something which is experienced in own pure soul wherein the waves of raga-dwesha-moha do not arise. Where those waves are present, that soul cannot experience the soul.

The fearlessness of the Yogi engaged in pure soul nature:

Gatha 58: The Yogi engrossed within own pure knowing conscious form supreme bliss does not fear anything, instead fearlessly he experiences own supremely blissful self only.

Here the result of being engrossed in own pure conscious nature is described and told that such yogi does not fear anything – whatever be the form of disturbance or commotion- he continues to enjoy the experience of own self. 

To Be Concluded…..

Adhyatma Rahasya : Secret of Spirituality ….2

 

Characteristics of flame of consciousness:

Gatha 22: The real attribute of the soul is its inward directed  Upayoga from the aspect of self. This is very different from the attributes of other non-conscious substances which are always seen differently.

The characteristics of the flame of consciousness is Upayoga directed inwards which is quite different from those of other non conscious objects which are devoid of characteristics of Upayoga itself.

Establishment of difference between self and others by means of characteristics:

Gatha 23: If the characteristics of two substances are different then those substances are different only, just like water and fire. The same difference of characteristics exists between our soul and other substances. In this way it is logically established which is irrefutable with Praman.

The logic is that if characteristics are different then the substances are different just as water and fire are. The same difference is observed between own soul and other substances. This is indisputable.

The form of Upayoga and its divisions:

Gatha 24: The engagement of conscious soul in contemplation of self and others(substances) only is Upayoga. From the aspect of hearing the upayoga engaged towards sound is Darshan. The Upayoga engaged in knowing the substances is Gyan. The soul is engrossed with both darshan and gyan.

The manifestation of jiva towards  realisation of self or others is known as Upayoga. From the aspect of hearing the upayoga engaged with words as its subject is darshan while from the aspect of knowing the upayoga is Gyan. Jivas have both the upayogas.

Means for purification of soul- Shuddhopayoga :

Gatha 25: The person engaged in Dhyan, without getting corrupted with Moha, Raga or Dwesha  in his pure soul, is thus  engaged in shuddhopayoga . With this  he attains purification. 

The purification of soul is achieved by contemplation of the pure nature of soul. By engaging in the Shuddha upayoga i.e. free of raga, dwesha and moha, towards own pure nature one attains purification of soul.

Means for destruction of ragas etc. form impurities:

Gatha 26: To prevent generation of ragas etc. form strong enemies and enable their destruction, one should always contemplate of his own pure conscious form soul meticulously.

Raga, dwesha and moha are impure bhavas which are harmful enemies of soul. To prevent their generation altogether and destroy them immediately if at all generated, one should always meticulously  contemplate upon his own pure conscious nature.

Forms of Moha, Raga and Dwesha:

Gatha 27: Raga is of five kinds namely, prem ( affection), Rati (attraction), Maya (deceit), Lobh (greed) and hasya (laughter). That raga only is termed as Moha with the incorporation of divisions of Mithyatva. The dwesha is of six kinds of the form of anger etc.

The forms of raga, dwesha and moha are defined by this Gatha. Raga is of five kinds namely prem ( three kinds of veda forms manifestations i.e. male, female and neuter.) rati , maya, lobh and hasya. Of these lobh and maya are termed as Kashaya (passions) while prem and rati are no-kashaya (minor kashaya). Dwesha is of six kinds namely krodh, maan (pride), arati ( aversion), shok (sorrow), bhaya( fear), and jugupsa ( disgust). Here krodh (anger) and maan are kashyas while remaining four are no-kashaya. The raga bhavas when associated with Mithyatva i.e. the fruition of darshan mohaniya  karmas are termed as Moha. In some places the manifestations in the form of Mithyatva alone are called as Moha.

Results of indulgence in Raga-Dwesha form activities:

Gatha 28: In reality the raga and dwesha are completely ignorable, however the ignorant jiva, induced by the karmas, ‘this is favourable to me’ thus believing indulges in raga with some things, and ‘this is harmful to me’ thus believing, indulges in dwesha towards other things. In this way he suffers the inducement of karmas.

Raga and Dwesha both are causes for bondage of karmas hence they should be completely ignored and renounced by the Mumukshus, even so ignorant jivas imagine the other substances to be favourable or unfavourable and therefore indulge in raga or dwesha towards them, hence accrue karmas and suffer the consequences.

Imagination of happiness and unhappiness in sensory subjects is ignorance:

Gatha 29: Due to bondage of karmas, in favourable Gatis (births) one attains enjoyments of sensory subjects. In unfavourable Gatis, he suffers a lot. All this ignorance is generated out of Moha which is worthy of destruction by knowledge now.

Here the form of ignorance has been highlighted. Imagining benefits of sensory subjects as happiness and miseries of sensory subjects as unhappiness is ignorance. The cause for such ignorance has been declared as Moha since on fruition of moha only the jiva imagines sensory benefits as cause for happiness or otherwise, wherein the karma bondage is being accrued in both cases. Samyak Drishti jiva does not have such desires and has an attitude of detachment towards fruition of past karmas.

From aspect of Nishchaya naya, soul is Sat-Chit-Anand (existent-conscious-blissful):

Gatha 30: From aspect of Nishchaya naya, the Adwait Bramha form is myself only comprising of sat-chit-anand (existent-conscious-blissful). By practicing this continuously I immerse within my pure soul.

Here the process for immersion in own pure soul is described. One should continuously practice the contemplation from the aspect of Nishchaya naya that the Bramha of the form of sat-chit-anand is myself only and none else. There is no other Bramha existent otherwise. My pure form is adwait with Bramha.

Existent nature of soul:

Gatha 31: From the aspect of own dravya etc. form foursome (dravya, kshetra, kaal, bhaav), being of the nature of Utpad-Vyaya-Dhrovya (generation-destruction-permanence) I am existent only. From  the opposite aspect of other dravya etc. foursome I am non-existent only. – I experience this.

Here the sat (existent) and asat (non existent) natures of soul are described. The sat is observed from two aspects. One is that every existent dravya has nature of Utpad-Vyaya-Dhrovya (generation-destruction-permanence) at every moment. If it does not have this feature then it is asat only. Secondly each dravya is sat from aspects of dravya-kshetra-kaal-bhaav while it is asat from aspects of other dravya’s dravya-kshetra-kaal-bhaav. Anything which does not conform to these characteristics is asat.

Soul is not of the form of the Universe:

Gatha 32: Experiencing the differences between all the substances in certain aspects, the way the universe is, I am not the same as it. Further the way I am, the universe is not the same as me.

Here the sat form is further highlighted. The  self is different from all substances of the universe in certain aspects hence I am not same as the Universe. In fact each substance is different from each other in certain aspects.

The consciousness form of soul:

Gatha 33: The one which has been knowing since eternal times in some way, who is knowing today in this way and who shall continue to know till endless time in another way; I am such conscious substance.

Here the chit (consciousness) form of soul is highlighted. The soul is of the nature of consciousness which has the nature of knowing. From eternal times, the soul has been knowing and will continue for ever. Soul is such consciousness form substance.

The generation-destruction-permanence nature of soul:

Gatha 34-35: Just as a substance getting destroyed at a given moment in the form of previous paryaya, gets generated in the form of present paryaya, remains existent at all times and is recognized as “ this is same” by means of Pratyabhigyan (recognition); in the same way the entire lot of substances are experienced in the form of generation-destruction-permanence. I too am a conscious substance, hence in the stream of eternal progeny I  am also manifesting in the forms of my conscious paryayas- i.e.  destructing every moment from the aspect of previous paryaya, generating with respect of later paryaya, I am remaining conscious substance at all the times-different form all other non-conscious substances.

In the previous gatha consciousness form of soul was  described which is a general aspect. In this gatha the generation-destruction-permanence nature of dravya is described which is a specific aspect. In this aspect it is observed that every dravya has the nature of generation-destruction-permanence at every moment. There is no dravya which is devoid of this property. The generation of present paryaya is the moment of destruction of previous paryaya while dravya remains the same. All the three occur at the same moment. Soul also being dravya has the same characteristics.

Now it is told that the consciousness form soul has qualities and paryayas:

Gatha 36: The substances comprise of qualities and paryayas. The qualities are all together while paryayas are sequential. The consciousness is quality of soul since it exists eternally and can never be separated from jiva.

Here the dravya is described in terms of qualities and paryayas (modes). The qualities of substances are all together and paryayas manifest sequentially. Consciousness being an extraordinary quality of soul is eternal which can never be separated form soul.

The special characteristics of Ajiva dravyas and the form of Arth Paryaya:

Gatha 37-38: The pudgala dravya has quality of being corporeal, dharma dravya assists both jiva and pudgala in their movements. Adhrama dravya assists in stationing them. Kaal dravya assists all dravyas for manifestation. Akash dravya assists in  locating each dravya in space. These are special qualities of each dravya. The Arth Paryayas of each dravya are very minute and destructible at every moment.   

The extraordinary qualities of remaining five dravyas are described here. The Pudgala matter is corporeal, Adharma dravya assists in mobility of jiva and pudgala while Adhrma assists in immobility of them. Kaal provides the basis for manifestation of all dravyas. Akash provides space for all of them. Paryayas are of two kinds. One is called Arth paryaya which manifests at every samaya hence is very minute and cannot be noticed. The second is Vyanjan paryaya which is described next.

The Arth and Vyanjan paryayas of dravyas:

Gatha 39: The Vyanjan paryayas of jiva and Pudgala are describable (by speech), have limited life period, stationary and corporeal. These Jivas and pudgalas are one with their Arth and Vyanjan paryayas and those paryryas are one with dravya.

The manifestation of dravya sequentially every moment i.e. in transitory manner is called paryaya. These have been stated to be of two kinds Arth and Vyanjan paryayas. While Arth paryayas are classical momentary hence really not noticeable except by Kevali bhagwan, the Vyanjan paryryas are describable since they have finite duration.

The experience of consciousness:

Gatha 40: Just as in a necklace, while the pearls and the whiteness are experienced separately, even then they all are necklace only; in the same way in the soul substance, ‘I am conscious’ – this is realised. In my eternal dravya the consciousness and its manifestations merge together and are experienced as one.

The soul has been described with a metaphor of necklace. In a necklace the pearls and whiteness etc. are experienced separately, in the same way the soul is conscious substance form dravya having quality of consciousness and paryayas manifesting in conscious form. The soul substance is one with them just as necklace is one with pearls and whiteness. Just as wearer of necklace experiences the necklace only, in the same way soul substance, in spite of being of the form of qualities and manifestations is experienced as soul form only.

Form of the blissful experience of soul:

Gatha 41: The bliss which is never known to Chakravarthy, Indra, Ahamindra, etc. , such perennial bliss I experience within myself.

Here the other specific quality  of the soul i.e. ‘Anand’ has been described which is not available in any other dravya  similar to consciousness quality. The pure own soul experiences the bliss and realises that such an experience is not known even to Chakravarthy, Indras, Ahamindra etc.  The happiness experienced by them is senses based  and hence is dependent. It becomes clear that when the soul experiences its true nature then how blissful is that experience that the worldly pleasures become inconsequential.

Continued…..

Adhyatma Rahasya : Secret of Spirituality.....01

 

Preface

Adhyatma Rahasya is a creation of Pandit Ashadharji sometime in year 1245 who is well known for his books on Anagar and Sagar Dharmamrita which are important reference books of Charitranuyoga. Apparently he wrote this Adhyatma Rahasya as per the desire of his father and he wanted it to be included as addendum to Sagar Dharmamrita as chapter 18^th (in that book) but due to some reasons he could not do it and so it was treated as a separate book. It has 72 Gathas in it which deal with the subject of spirituality  and yoga. These are written based upon churning of several scriptures popular at that time like Samadhi Sangrah, Tatvanushasan, Ishtopadesha etc. Hence the material is derived from them. The Gathas are fairly simple and straight forward. Still their meaning is quite deep and mystical.

                                                Adhyatma Rahasya ….1

Gatha 1 :  Those who gave away their own positions to Bhavya devotees engaged in worshipping them, I offer obeisance to Shri Mahaveer Swamy and Shri Gautam Swamy.

In this invocation, the importance of devotion is highlighted. With devotion the Bhavya jivas can attain the highest goal of Moksha. Here obeisance is offered to Bhagwan Mahaveer and Gautam swamy in the same sentence which has special meaning. It serves as a proof of the process. Just as Bhagwan Mahaveer gave away his own position to Gautam swamy who was his devotee, the same way all other devotees of theirs can expect to achieve their goal. Another aspect to be noted here is that even though Mahaveer swamy gave away his own position, it does not mean he vacated it. It has to be taken in the sense of a lamp lighting another lamp without forgoing its own illuminating nature. Thus we have both lamps available serving the same purpose.

Gatha 2: Obeisance to the great Guru, who has illuminated the path by the lamp of the form of preachment, due to which the practitioner of yoga becomes eligible for wooing the Moksha form Lakshmi.

In this invocation, obeisance is offered to that Guru who would enable devotees to attain the goal of Moksha. The path is also indicated as being that of Yoga. The preachment of right guru would enable one to practice the right yoga so as to attain the objective of Moksha.

The form of most proficient in yoga is revealed:

Gatha 3: That yogi is the most proficient in Yoga, whose Shruti, Mati, Dhyati and Drishti have been realised within his own soul by the virtue of great Guru.

In continuation with previous gatha, here the form of right Yoga is being described. The Yogi has to become proficient in four powers namely shruti, Mati, Dhyati and Drishti. These are going to be described in the next gathas. The preachment of right guru would enable him to attain the proficiency desired.

Firstly the form of own soul is described:

Gatha 4: The one which is ever illuminated within the centre of heart form lotus of fools as well as wise ones and is addressed by the words ‘I am soul’ clearly, that is called as own soul.

Here it has been told that though all soul are alike in terms of capabilities, each soul is individual when it comes to development. Each of us experience this soul as “myself” and its physical location is also defined in the body. For attainment of objective by means of yoga, the individuality of each soul has to be borne in mind.

The form of pure own soul :

Gatha 5: The one who does not have Moha (delusion)  with respect to anyone nor has raga(attachment)  or dwesha (aversion), such own soul manifested in the form of darshan-gyan and equanimity “is pure own soul ” – know this.

Own soul when it gets rid of Moha-raga-dwesha and manifests in the form of Samyak darshan-gyan-equanimity , at that moment it should be treated as pure own soul. Here the term equanimity denotes samyak charitra. Here the own soul is described to be of two forms pure or impure from the aspect of paryaya or manifestation.

Characteristics of Shruti :

Gatha 6 : That preachment of Guru, which organises and positions indisputably the objective as preached by Aapt (omniscient) i.e. the pure soul subject of dhyan (meditation) – dharma dhyan and  Shukla dhyan  by means of Pramans ( right knowledge) of the form of Pratyaksha (direct knowledge) and Agam (scriptures); that is known as Shruti.

Here the form of Shruti is described. It is not just general preachment of Guru, but a specific preachment which organises the preachment of omniscient into dharma dhyan and Shukla dhyan such that it does not have any contradictions with Pratyaksha etc. form Pramans. The subject of preachment is also told as pure soul and means have also been told to be dhyan (meditation).

Characteristics of Mati as described in Adhyatma :

Gatha 7 : The own pure soul as rightly described by means of Shruti, the logic by means of which it is established, should be known as ‘Mati’ in this scripture of Adhyatma.

The words of Guru are typically in the form of preachment or direction, but they are absorbed more efficiently without doubt by means of logic which makes them unshakable. Such logic and explanations are termed as Mati which is also known as Budhhi or Smriti. Therefore Shruti is directly followed by Mati.

Characteristics of Dhyati:

Gatha 8: That Buddhi which remains continuously (sequentially  one moment after another)  stationary within own pure soul, which does not deviate to the knowledge of other substances other than own pure soul; such Buddhi should be known as Dhyati.

When the intellect manifesting in the form of own pure soul becomes so much focused and stationary that it does not even touch the subject of anything other than pure soul, then such state is described as Dhyan and the buddhi manifested in such form is described as Dhyati. Here it has been made clear that if the Buddhi is indulging in any subject other than pure soul then it cannot be described as Dhyati.

Characteristics of Drishti:

Gatha 9: That intrinsic spirit which has realised the soul of Shruta ( core of Jina’s preachment), which directly experiences the knowledge bodied own pure soul, that should be known as ‘Drishti’ in this Adhyatma Shastra.

Subsequent to Dhyati, the direct observation of own pure soul in the  form of experience is known as Drishti. This is a non physical inner vision wherein the own pure soul is experienced to be free of ragas etc. form impurities and of the nature of knowledge.

Characteristics of Samvitti (own experience)  and Drishti:

Gatha 10: The one which experiences very well, the objective (bliss) by its characteristics, that Samvitti (own experience) itself is Drishti. Here the objective of Samvitti is soul and characteristics are darshan and gyan.

In several scriptures the subject of Drishti has been termed as Samvitti i.e. own experience which experiences the soul by means of its characteristics darshan and gyan.

The Glory of Drishti :

Gatha 11: That Drishti directly experiencing  own pure  soul only, destroys all vikalpas causing miseries, that alone is famous Param Bramha form and that alone is venerated by all Yogis with reverence.

Here the glory of Drishti is described which experiences own pure soul in shuddhopayoga. This Drishti destroys all vikalpas which cause misery and sufferings to the soul. This Drishti alone is Param Bramha form since it helps attain own pure soul. Remaining immersed in knowledge form soul, Being contented and satiated with the same is supreme Dhyan. This only leads to knowledge and blissful form keval gyan.

Objective of churning the ocean of shruta:

Gatha 12: For attainment of the Drishti for experiencing  own pure soul or the Samvitti only, the wise people first churn the ocean of shruta (scriptures) and that churning results in nectar form Moksha also. Rest all is worthless husk only for some intellectuals which they use for demonstrating their intelligence.

Intelligent people practice churning the four Anuyogas form ocean of scriptures which leads to attainment of Drishti which enables direct experience of own pure soul. With the same blissful experience i.e. Moksha is also attained. Thus these two are the objectives of practice with scriptures. If this objective is not attained then that practice of churning ocean of scriptures results in  mere flowery speeches only which are invented by those intelligent people.

The forms of Vyavahara and Nishchaya great Gurus:

Gatha 13: With the nimitta of whose preachment, it  results in attainment of that Drishti, he is great Guru in Vyavahara sense. From aspect of Nishchaya, own soul is the great Guru. Hence it is the inner voice.

Yogi is able to attain shruti, mati, dhyati, and Drishti in that order with the nimitta of right guru. The Drishti is described to be in the forms of Gurus of  Nishchaya naya  and Vyavahara naya. The Vyavahara Guru is one whose words form preachment functions as external nimitta for attainment of Drishti and Nishchaya Guru is our own soul which functions as inner voice for attainment of Drishti.

The form of Moksha Marg:

Gatha 14: The jewel trio i.e.  Samyak Darshan-Gyan-Charitra  form own pure soul only is the real Moksha Marg. Hence that alone is subject of enquiry of Mumukshus (people desirous of Moksha), that alone is desirable and observable.

This statement is from the aspect of same Nishchaya naya only which describes own pure soul to be the Guru. In that Drishti when own pure soul is of the form of samyak darshan-gyan-charitra then that is the real Moksha marg. Then which other Moksha marg should be enquired by Mumukshus ? Only the jewel trio form own soul should be the guide. He does not need to search anywhere else.

The Vyavahara and Nishchaya forms of Jewel trio:

Gatha 15: The attitude towards pure conscious own soul of its realisation, experience and stationing within self are sequentially darshan, gyan and charitra in secondary (Vyavahara) way. The application of Upayoga (attention) in the realisation, experience and stationing within self are darshan, gyan and charitra in primary (nishchaya) sense.

The forms of jewel trio in nishchaya  and Vyavahara senses are clarified here. Here the realisation of own pure conscious blissful  soul is called ‘darshan’, its experience is ‘gyan’ and stationing within the same is ‘charitra’. The shubhopayoga form manifestation towards the realisation, experience and stationing is vyavahara samyak darshan-gyan-charitra. The application of upayoga in the realisation, experience and stationing is nishchaya samyak darshan-gyan-charitra. For both kinds of jewel trio the subject is pure conscious blissful soul only.

The form of Nishchaya Jewel  trio

Gatha 16: The soul manifested into the form of Jewel Trio, with the concentration of his intellect experiences his own soul having belief in the same, such that he immerses within own soul being experienced.

Here the glory of concentration of experience is highlighted and told that with its effect, the experiencing own soul engages with his intelligence in the realisation of pure own soul and having faith in the same he immerses within own pure self. This immersion only is the highlight of charitra quality whose prime reason is the belief in pure own soul which is realised by own intelligence. Therefore the intelligence of realisation of own soul is quite important. Those who consider the body to be soul, they are deluded Bahiratma who cannot attain spiritual development till they have the same delusion.

Nature  of the Samyak Gyan form intelligence:

Gatha 17: The intelligence which observing all substances in their natural form, always  faces  own soul, that alone has been called as intelligence here. Then O Brother! Realise the relationship of soul with that intelligence.

Here Budhhi is termed as right intelligence which observes and knows the substances as per their nature and not less or more or wrongly. Such Buddhi only has been called Samyak Gyan. Soul has close relationship with buddhi and one cannot exist without the other. Those who realise buddhi as soul form, even if their intelligence is low, they realise their soul and one day they can attain its highest development. As against this those who do not understand the relationship of buddhi with soul and believe the buddhi to be the result of insentient substances- earth, water, fire, air – they are devoid of knowledge of soul and hence cannot have spiritual development.

The procedure for relinquishing everything else other than own experience:

Gatha 18: “ I am just me” with such knowledge of self , I renounce the consciousness of the soul towards other substances in the form of  “ I am this” , “ I do this ( I am its doer)” , “ I enjoy this ( I am its enjoyer)”.

Here own soul has been directed to remain stationary and firm within pure self with the preachment that “ this alone is me and nothing else” – thus one should not wander consciousness in body etc. The thoughts- “ this body is me, I do this or I enjoy this” should be discarded since they develop relationship with external substances and are hindrance in the knowledge of pure soul.

 Motivation for nirvikalpa form own soul experience:

Gatha 19: “ I am the only one” – relinquishing such internal  thoughts , one should observe the indestructible flame (soul) indescribable with words within himself.

In continuation with the preachment given in previous gatha, it is told that one should not remain engaged in the internal thoughts of “ I am the only one” and proceed further to observe the flame form soul which is indescribable as well as indestructible. Thus here the motivation is provided for spirit of own soul experience.

Means for soul vision:

Gatha 20: Whatsoever is picturised by the soul as ‘this is me’, each of them should be discarded as ‘ this is not me- this is not soul’. With the stoppage of appearance of such vikalpas, the soul illuminates in pure conscious form unceasingly.

Again in continuation with previous gatha, where the encouragement for soul darshan has been given, in making that effort, what all is visualised by the soul should be treated as non-soul and discarded. When such visualisations stop due to non-generation of vikalpas, then soul itself appears in pure  conscious form. This is process for Atma darshan. 

The Universal form of soul and its perceptibility  with Keval Gyan:

Gatha 21: That soul is the screen  for imaging infinite subjects of knowledges and hence is universal form. In spite of not being subject of speech or vision (of worldly people), it is perceptible with keval gyan (omniscience) form vision.

In Gatha 19^th  it was being preached to experience the indestructible flame form soul. Now its form is being described like that of a screen on which all the subjects of knowledge are imaged and thus are known. Therefore even though the worldly people (Chhadmastha) cannot see it, the keval gyan can observe it directly.

Continued…….

Aapt Pariksha...( Validation of Omniscient )- 4 ...Concluding part

 

                                                            Validation of Arhat

After refuting the Aapt nature of Ishwara, Kapil, Sugat and Bramha, now the  aapt nature of Arhat is established. Like earlier clarified, there are three qualities essential to have in Aapt : 1) Omniscience, 2) Destruction of Karma mountains and 3) leadership in the path of Moksha marga. Hence these three are established one by one in the next three chapters. Then Acharya concludes in the last chapter declaring the objective of his prayers.

                                                Validation of Omniscience of Arhat

Karika 87 : In this shloka Acharya declares that such Aapt is Arhant only who is venerated by all Munis. Further to establish his qualities, sufficient proofs are available which cannot be refuted.

Karika 88 : That logic is as follows- Distant objects are directly observed by Arhant since they are objects of knowledge , just as we observe the nearby objects clearly.

Here the inference logic is being invoked. All the objects of knowledge have a quality that they are subjects of knowledge of someone or other. No such object exists which is not known to anybody. This quality of substances is known as Prameyatva i.e. the quality of being subject of knowledge. Just as one infers from the smoke on the mountain that there is fire in the mountains. This is known as Anuman or inference. The inference tells that although only smoke is seen, there is fire and someone could see the fire.  In the same way every object of knowledge has the quality that someone can know it. Here inference is being drawn that since all objects have that quality of being known hence someone can exist who can know them all. This cannot be refuted. After all it is observed that people have different extents of knowledge. Someone knows less and someone is highly intelligent. In fact the animals know much less. Hence it is inferred that there can be somebody who would have highest level of knowledge who could know all.

(Mimansaks): This logic is flawed since Prameyatva quality exists even in distant mountains like Sumeru etc. and minute Paramanu etc. but we cannot see such distant objects nor we can observe such minute things like Paramanu with direct knowledge. Therefore how can Arhant know them directly?

Karika 89 : (Jains):  There is no flaw in the logic provided since all of such objects like distant Sumeru and minute Paramanu are party to it.

Firstly it is clarified that when distant objects are mentioned, then there are three types of distant objects- 1. Distant because of distance like Sumeru Mountain. 2. Distant with respect to time. All past and future objects of knowledge are distant with respect to time such as Ram, Ravan etc. 3. Distant with respect to nature. The minute objects like Paramanu are distant with respect to nature. Here all the three types of distant objects are accounted for in making the assertion.

There is no rule that the objects which we cannot observe with direct knowledge, cannot be known to anybody with direct knowledge. After all there are lots of minute objects in the world which are seen by people by means of microscope etc. and the distant objects which are not seen by us,  can be observed by eagles or people with help of binoculars etc. Hence we have to necessarily accept that those objects which cannot be seen by us, can be seen by someone or other directly.

A doubt was raised that  the reason provided for the inference is corrupt since it is applicable to other side of the argument also. This is clarified as follows:

The inference is all distant objects are known to Arhant. The reason given is ‘since they are subjects of knowledge’. Here the doubt was raised that other objects like Paramanu etc. are not accounted for. The clarification is that distant objects are of three kinds as described above hence all the possible objects are accounted for hence there is no corruption. The same aspect is told in next karika.

Karika 90: All the objects distant by distance, time and nature such as dharma etc. are proven to be directly known to Arhant bhagwan. These include six kinds of dravya from aspect of dravya, five kinds of Astikaya from aspect of kshetra, nine types of tatvas from aspect of kaal, and seven types of tatvas from aspect of bhava.

Karika 91: (Mimansak): All the direct knowledge in the world is by means of the senses only and no sensory knowledge is capable of knowing paramanu etc. minute substances. Hence how do you believe the minute substances etc. to be subjects of direct knowledge of Arhant Deva?

(Jains): How do you know that all the direct knowledge is by means of the senses only and in all the three loks and in all the three periods of time, no one is there who does not have knowledge beyond senses? When you do not know people of past and future as well as distant places by means of senses directly, then how can you tell if the people of past or future have direct knowledge with senses or with knowledge beyond senses? Another thing is that knowledge by itself is substance beyond senses, then you cannot even decide about a person present in front of you at present itself that what type of knowledge he has at that time. Then what is there to talk about the knowledge of people of past and future? Thirdly if you have the direct knowledges of all the people of all the three periods, i.e. you know with your direct knowledge that nobody can know all the substances with his direct knowledge, then  your knowledge cannot be sensory at least. Since you have the knowledge of the knowledges of all the people, then your direct knowledge would have to be believed to be knowledge beyond senses and by accepting so, you yourself would be established to be omniscient. Hence there would not be any logic in your opposing the existence of omniscient. Hence you should accept, the direct knowledge as well as the knowledge beyond senses.

Another thing that whatever is directly known to us is anyway known to Arhant and there is no argument about that. The argument was only about the distant objects with respect to time, distance and nature. Therefore in this inference they also have been proved to have directly seen.

(Mimansaks): When all the objects do not have Prameyatva ( being subjects of knowledge) then how can you establish with the reasoning of Prameyatva, the feasibility of direct knowledge of all the substances?   

Karika 92-94 : (Jains): There is no substance in the world which is not Prameya i.e. the subject of knowledge of someone or other. Mimansaks themselves accept that they do not oppose the existence of knowledge of all the substances by means of six pramans namely pratyaksha, anuman, upaman, shabda, arthapatti and abhava. The subjects of knowledge only are called Prameya hence with their statement itself the existence of Prameyatva is established in all substances. Further from the statements of Vedas also, Mimansak believe the knowledge of minute and large substances. Therefore Vedic knowledge also establishes the existence of prameyatva in all the objects. Hence the argument of Mimansaks is refuted by their own Vedas. 

 (Mimansaks): Normally the reasons are accepted when their absence and presence both are satisfactory. In the proof for omniscience you give the reason of Prameytva (being subject of knowledge) but you do not define what happens in  the absence of Prameyatva.

Karika 95: (Jains): All the objects of the world have several dharmas(qualities) within them. There is no substance without those qualities. Each substance exists since eternal times to endless time without its absence. Whatever does not exist also does not exist eternally. Therefore the substances have quality called existence. Each substance keep undergoing modifications in its condition continuously but it does not transform into another substance. Therefore we can formulate the ruling that those substances which are not subject of knowledge of Arhant deva, are not Prameya either. In this manner the absence condition of Prameyatva is also defined.

Karika 96: In this manner with this logic Arhant deva is established to be knower of all the substances by his knowledge beyond senses and there is no hindrance to this logic.

(Mimansaks): In the Arhant deva believed by you, the omniscience is not proved by any of Pramans like Pratyaksha, Anuman, Upaman, Arthapatti , Agam. In fact all these five are hindrance to the praman. Therefore one should accept absence of omniscience in Arhant deva.

Karika 97 (Jains): Firstly we ask Mimansaks that they refute the existence by means of sensory Pratyaksha (direct) knowledge or Atindriya (knowledge beyond senses) Pratyaksha? The sensory direct knowledge does not have the capability to know that no one is Omniscient in all the three loks and all the three periods of time. Even if we accept that, even then the existence of omniscient cannot be refuted. Since the person who is refuting the existence of omniscient in all the three loks and all the three periods of time by knowing all the people of these times, then himself is established to be omniscient. Therefore the sensory direct knowledge cannot be hindrance to existence of Omniscient. Regarding direct knowledge beyond senses, it  serves to establish the existence of omniscient rather than be hindrance.

(Mimansaks): Even if direct knowledge is not accepted as hindrance, the other Pramasn like Anuman, Upaman, Arthapatti and Agam do prove to be hindrance for existence of omniscient.

Karika 98 : (Jains): These four Pramans also do not refute the existence of Omniscient since they establish presence of a thing rather than its absence.

Karika 99: (Mimansak): ‘Arhant is not knowledgeable of all the substances since he is a speaker and purush (man). Those who are speakers and are men are not knowledgeable of all substances like Bramha etc.’ (Mimansaks believe Bramha also to be a deva and they believe Vedas only to be praman.)

Karika 100: (Jains): The statement above does not refute the existence of omniscient since being speaker or being man does not oppose omniscience. In fact as the knowledge increases the oratory is seen to increase accordingly. Therefore these reasons do not negate the presence of omniscient. Hence Anuman (inference) praman does not refute the omniscient.

Karika 101: (Jains):   The knowledge of another thing which appears like something is described as Upaman Praman by Mimansaks. (Jains call it Prtyabhigyan or recognition). For example saying that his face is like moon. Here by seeing the presence of moon, the face of someone is being compared to it. Now in using this praman to refute the existence of omniscient, firstly you have to show the presence of omniscient and then tell that another person is like him or unlike him. In any case you have to firstly  accept someone as omniscient to use this praman. On the other hand if you say that all the people of all the three loks and all the three periods of time are not omniscient like some person, then also you have to have knowledge of all the persons of all the three loks and all the three periods to make the comparison. This too  is not possible.  Therefore Upaman Praman also cannot serve to refute the presence of omniscient.  

Karika 102: (Jains): Someone said ‘ Devadatta is quite fat even then he does not eat in the day.’ By means of Arthapatti praman it is understood that since Devadatta does not eat in the day hence he must be eating in night to justify his fatness. Otherwise an apatti (impossibility) is experienced. Now in applying this Arthapatti praman, no impossibility is experienced by accepting the presence of omniscient.

(Mimansaks): The preachment of omniscient is an impossibility.

(Jains): How do you know that the preachment of Omniscient is an impossibility?

(Mimansaks): When the non-human Vedas exist for preachment then how can omniscient provide preachment. (Mimansaks believe that Vedas are not written by any human and they provide all the knowledge).

(Jains): Question arises that the one who is preaching the Vedas is omniscient or non-omniscient? If you say omniscient then it refutes your claim that the existence of omniscient is an impossibility. If he is non-omniscient then then he could be preaching  false meaning of Vedas and Vedas cannot be accepted as Praman.

In this manner Arthapatti praman does not refute the existence of omniscient.

Karika 103-104: (Jains): Non-human Agam ( Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda, Atharveda etc.) cannot be hindrance to existence of omniscient since you yourselves say that all the statements there establish procedure for prayers. Nowhere these prayers negate the presence or absence of omniscient. If your Agams are not preached by omniscient then it raises doubt on their validity as well as statements. Therefore Agam praman also cannot refute the existence of omniscient.

Karika 105-107: (Jains): Lastly the abhava praman deals with absence of a thing when it is known to be present. For example someone has seen a pot. Then he can say that the pot does not exist in a particular place i.e. there is Abhava of pot in this place. If the person does not know the pot he cannot talk about its Abhava. In the same way if you have not known omniscient then how can you establish his Abhava ? Again to establish his absence one has to know all the people of all the three loks and all the three periods of time. This automatically renders one as omniscient.

(Mamansaks): We can establish the absence of omniscient by Jains’s knowledge of the three loks which is claimed to have been preached by omniscient.

(Jains): Our knowledge of the three lokas and omniscient etc., do you accept it as Praman or Non-Praman? If you accept it as Praman then you cannot refute the omniscient known by that knowledge. If you call it Non-Praman, then your non-praman knowledge cannot be believed to refute the existence of omniscient.

(Maimansaks): Jains themselves believe that to establish the absence of a thing, one has to have knowledge of that thing . Now you negate absolute permanence or absolute  transitoriness saying that these are Mithya (Untrue). On the other hand you do not have knowledge of such substances.

Karika 108: (Jains): Since substances are not singular i.e not having single property and they are multifaceted, this automatically refutes the existence of singular substances. Therefore even if we accept it or not, such substances do not exist which are singular. But you cannot say the same regarding omniscient that he does not exist anywhere in the world.

Karika 109-110: (Jains): With the refutation of possible objections towards existence of Omniscient and without establishment of omniscience in Vaisheshiks, Samkhya, Bauddha etc. believed devas namely Ishwara, Kapil, Sugat etc. , the omniscience is established to be in Arhant Deva.

Further he only is established to be destroyer of mountains of karmas, since within his soul the qualities opponent of karmas have enhanced . Just as a thing gets warmer, it would keep becoming destroyer of coldness, in the same way his quality opposing karmas keep enhancing, therefore his karmas keep getting destroyed. In this manner the validation of omniscience of Arahant is carried out by means of arguments favouring his presence and secondly by establishing that there are no valid arguments against his existence.

         Establishment of  the Karma destroying nature of Arahant

Three qualities of Arahant were described earlier- omniscience, capability to destroy karmas and leadership in the path of Moksha marga. The first was established in previous chapter. Now the Karma destroying capability is described.

Question: You established Arahant as omniscient, that is alright. But karmas exist since eternal times having tradition  of cause-effect relationship. How can anyone be their destroyer ?

Answer: Although they are eternal, even then if the opposing reasons are profound then there is no hindrance towards their destruction. Just as seed and sprout are eternal but with adequate reasons such as fire, they can get totally destroyed.

Question: What is the means for destroying mountains of Karmas?

Karika 111 : Karmas are of two kinds. First is those karmas which have been accumulated so far. Second is the karmas that are accrued for future. Now prevention of accrual of karmas is called “Samvar” and the destruction of previously accumulated karmas is called “Nirjara”.

The influx of karmas is stopped by Samvar which is attained with the jewel-trio of right belief-right knowledge-right conduct of the Jiva. These are accompanied with five Samiti (carefulness), three gupti ( restraints), ten dharmas(observances), twelve bhavana (reflections), 22 Parihsh-Jai (subduing of sufferings), five charitra (conducts). (The details of these should be seen from other Jain scriptures). The Nirjara is attained with rigorous penance both internal ( purification of soul) and external (related to body) in addition to practices described for Samvar.

Karika 112: The attributes for destruction of karmas are most profound in Paramatma since he has acquired such purification of soul of highest order just as heat is able to destroy the cold nature of water even though such nature is eternal.

Now the form of Karma-mountains is described:

Karika 113-115: The karmas acquired by Jiva are of two kinds: dravya karma and bhava karmas. Dravya karmas are pudgala (matter) by nature which are of eight kinds and which are conjoined with the jiva on bondage of karmas. The bhava karmas are the corrupted manifestations of the consciousness of the Jiva with the nimitta of fruition of previously accrued dravya karmas. These bhava karmas are of the nature of passions of anger, deceit, pride, greed etc. Thus these are experienced by the Jiva and thus are  in some aspect indifferent from the jiva.

The accumulated dravya karmas in bulk form are described as mountains here. Further it should be known that their separation from the jiva on  becoming inactive itself is called destruction. In reality the karmas are not destroyed since matter can never be destroyed. Their becoming inactive alone is destruction.

Validation of leadership of Arhant in the path of Moksha

Firstly the meaning of Moksha is described:

Karika 116: The realisation of the soul on destruction of Karmas completely by means of Samvar-Nirjara, is termed as Moksha- this is accepted by all the theists.

Now it is told that some atheists dispute existence of Moksha. But that is not worth paying attention to-

Karika 117: Some atheists dispute the existence of Moksha but such negation does not have any proof. Hence their utterances are meaningless and not worth paying attention to by wise people.

Now the path to Moksha is described-

Karika 118: The path to Moksha is really the unity of Samyak darshan-Samyak gyan- Samyak Charitra and not otherwise. Believing any other way is contradictory.

Now it is told that the preacher of  Moksha Marga is Arahant only-

Karika 119: The real preacher of Moksha Marga without any hindrances is Arahant who is omniscient.

                           Validation of reverential nature  of Arahant

So far in accordance with the third karika of this book, the omniscience, destroyer of karma mountains and leadership in path of Moksha, qualities of Arahant were described. Now with respect to fourth part of the same karika, his reverential nature is also being described-

Karika 120: Arahant is free of defects and is like an ocean of qualities. He is reverential to all saints for the purpose of attainment of all his great qualities. This is the implication of the third karika in brief.

Now it is told that why wise people worship Veetrag, omniscient, promulgator of Moksha marga 

Karika 121: The one who is afflicted with Moha can not be Guru (aapt) since he cannot promulgate the path to Moksha. Without promulgation of Moksha marga, the realisation of soul, experienced with the destruction of all karmic impurities, cannot be attained by the disciples. This is the reason O Arhan! O Prabhu! You alone are free of Moha and know all the Tatvas clearly like a sapphire gem kept in the palm of hand. Therefore you are the most reverential guru, supreme aapt for the realisation of the soul. 

                                                Conclusion

Now conclusion is carried out by means of three Karikas-

Karika 122-124: This Aapt Pariksha is quite capable of complete refutation of all the opposing Aaptabhasa ( false Gurus). Hence wise people should always keep it in mind for the attainment of Moksha Lakshmi.

Shrimat TatvarthaSutra scripture is like an extraordinary ocean generating great jewels. In its beginning Acharya Umaswami has written the Mangalacharan as karika 3 here for the invocation of  destruction of hindrances. That itself is like a Tirtha which illuminates the path of all followers. Shri SamantBhadra Swami also has written Aapt Mimamsa for explaining the same. Same Mangal invocation has been used by myself (Vidyanand) with my limited capability for derivation of true path and means  in the form of Aapt Pariksha.

In this way this Aapt Pariksha has been written for elimination of all controversies related to Aapt.

                                                            The End