Adi Shankaracharya the movie, by G.V.Iyer

Adi Shankaracharya the movie, by G.V.Iyer
Original review: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Many corrections added later.


Watched the movie Adi Shankaracharya (Amazon link) by G. V. Iyer. It was a wonderful experience to watch a movie made in Sanskrit, the language, that was enriched by Sri Shankara, who was not just an exegete, philosopher and reformer, but also a great poet and enriched the beauty of the language with his memorable works.

Background: The film begins at the time when religion in general and sanAtana dharma (Hinduism) in particular was in a state of turmoil. Buddhism had started losing its forte and Hinduism was going in the wrong direction. The big battle Shankara had to fight, was not --as this author assumed to be-- with Buddhists, but with the blind practitioners of Vedic rites (mainly the followers of pUrva-mimAMsA). For example, animal sacrifices were stopped, but sacrifices were made of animals made of dough. The Upanishadic realization of the true purport of karma-kaaNDa (in the context of parama puruShArtha) was lost. No one was concerned about the fundamental aspects of reality and truth. The holy city Varanasi, the city where Annapurna and Vishveshwara reside, the city on the holy banks of the holy Ganges, was echoing with DukRRi~n karaNe [a grammar rule], rather than shivo.aham [I am Shiva], the chant of the unity of individual self with the supreme spirit.


Shankara and his "companions/friends"

The life story in the movie begins with a narration of how Shiva Guru, Shankara's father, asks him to treat mRRityu [death] as a friend. mRRityu approaches Shankara as a boy and both become friends. At the time of Shankara's (upanayana) initiation, he meets another boy, praj~nAna [wisdom] and makes him his other friend. These two friends, "praj~nAna Sharma" and "mRRityu" grow up with Shankara and stay with him (except for brief times). Whenever the friends are together, they sing the shlokas ".... vishvam bhUta bhavya-bhavat prabhum" [He who has inner vision is the Lord of the past, present, future] by praj~nAna Sharma. mRRityu chants “AkAshAt-patitam-toyam” [every drop of water from the sky merges with the sea]. The movements of the friends are very carefully orchestrated ones.

In another scene, Shankara's friend praj~nAna Sharma moves away from Shankara when the latter says to a shUdra in Kashi, as is customary for a saMnyAsi, to move away. When Shankara realizes the truth, praj~nAna comes back to him again. The encounter of praj~nAna with Mandana Mishra's parrot, is enlightening. So is his deserting of Shankara's disciples when they become envious of Sureshwara.

[In another scene involving Shankara's friend mRRityu]
Shankara first meets mRRityu at the time of death of his father Siva Guru. mRRityu was already there when Shankara reaches home from Sringeri to meet his mother. Many times, mRRityu is angry at Shankara, as he (Shankara) laughs in a mocking fashion at mRRityu. When Shankara is ill, Shankara laughs again, observing the paradox of mRRityu taking care of his body, when actually he (mRRityu) should be destroying it.

Final embrace of Shankara and his friends: In the Himalayas, Shankara has a debate with his friend praj~nAna. When they embrace, praj~nAna merges into Shankara. mRRityu who was angry because, Shankara (always laughs at him mockingly) is also asked by Shankara to embrace him. He does after Shankara's persuasion "in spite of the fact that I laugh at you, you still have been with me. So you are my friend. So embrace me." He embraces Shankara and that is the last when we see of (mortal) Shankara.

Disciples of Shankara

Other than his friends, Shankara is always accompanied by his disciples.

Vishnu, the boy who accompanies Shankara at Narmada, and is assumed to be dead by him by drowning, meets him again at Kashi and is taken as a disciple. Vishnu is named Padmapada by Shankara.

Totaka, becomes the disciple in Kashi. He is so named because he composed a beautiful verse on Shankara in the toTaka metre ending with the lines sha~Nkara deshika me sharaNam.

In another scene, Shankara observes a boy, who is thought to be a lunatic by his parents. It is clear that Shankara knows the truth about the boy being an Atma-j~nAnI. Shankara asks the boy "Who are you? Where are you coming from?". The boy replies "All pervading, yet unpolluted I am Atman," and is taken as disciple by Shankara and named as Hastamalaka (hasta = hand; Amalaka = myrobalan fruit) [He can perceive the eternal truth of Self, without effort.].

Shankara is redirected by Kumarila to Mandana Mishra, a great scholar in pUrva-mimAMsA which puts emphasis on rituals, rather than renunciation leading to knowledge of Reality and Truth. Shankara defeats Mandana Mishra in a debate, takes him as disciple, and names him Sureshwara.

Ubhaya Bharathi, who acts as the judge during the debate, and declares Shankara as the winner accompanies them wherever they go. Shankara sees in her, his mother and even Sarada devi herself. When Shankara assigns the disciples places to go to establish schools, and assigns to himself bhuvana trayam (the three worlds), he asks her to be with him always.

A (brief) Transcript of the movie
[Copyright holders of this film, please see note at end of post.]

Pranava. Gayatri. Titles. The sacred words of other faiths of India: Shaivites, Jains, Buddhists. Father Shiva Guru chanting Gayatri. Aryamba, Shankara's mother watering Tulsi plant. Shankara's father Shiva Guru completing oblations.

Initial Learning: Shiva Guru knows that his time (to depart from this life) has come. Takes it with poise. Remembers the words from Bhagavad Geetha (meditate on Me at the time of death). Calls baala Shankara near him. Tells him "idam sharIram ashAshvatam, aham gamiShyAmi shAshvata padam" (This body is mortal. I am going to the eternal abode). Asks him to treat mRRityu as a friend. Asks Shankara to recite the shloka he taught him. Shankara recites:

aakaashaat patitaM toyaM yathaa gachchhati saagaram |
sarvadevanamaskaaraH keshavaM prati gachchhati ||
[A traditional prayer or a subhAshita]

Shankara meets mRRityu, the boy who asks himself to be treated as a friend. Shiva Guru breathes his last. (Traditional Brahminic) Initiation of Shankara. Shankara meets praj~nAna and makes him his friend. Introduces his friends to his teacher. Asks alms from a lady, who is too poor to offer anything but an Amalaka fruit. Recites kanaka-dhAra stotram beginning with a~NgaM hareH pulakabhuushhaNamaashrayantii to bless her with wealth. The Lady explains her husband does not hoard, even a morsel. So all she can give is AmalakAs. Shankara sees that the neighbour of the lady is hoarding. Refuses alms from him. Neighbour repents and asks his people to distribute all his wealth.

Learns from his teacher that sannyaasa is the way to equanimity. Teacher explains to him the greatness of sannyaasa, brahmacharya and the greatness of Govinda Bhagavadpaada. Shankara wants to renounce. Mother disapproves.

Shankara observes a brAhmin whom he knows, punish a coconut-thief by giving him something to eat and gifting him some coconuts. The brAhmin also makes the thief promise never to steal. When asked, the brAhmin explains to Shankara dehasya-daNDanam kShaNikam; mano daNDanam chirasthayi (Physical punishment is temporary. A teaching would go a long way in correcting a person.) The proof is in sanAtana dharma lifestyle. Teacher further explains that renunciation as explained in Upanishads is the key to understanding truth.

Is attracted to wearing the saffron cloth as an emblem of renunciation. Swims far to retrieve the white cloth he was wearing, while a crocodile catches hold of his foot. praj~nAna gets mother Aryamba to the river and she agrees for him to be a sannyAsi to be saved from death in the crocodile’s grasp. Watches the play of Nachiketa-Yama done in Kathakali style. Takes the permission of mother and leaves home. Promises to come back for her last rites.

Search for Guru: Sees how powerful death is and how people are not understanding it the right way. Sees caste prejudice. Faints. Is taken care of by tribals. Reaches Gokarna in Northern Karnataka, and meets his friend Vishnu. Vishnu follows him. They travel through Madhya Pradesh. Explains to Vishnu, who asks if Shankara is breaking the four-fold stages of life ordained by Vedas, that anyone qualified can choose to become a sannyasin after Brahmacharya. Reaches Narmada banks. Narmada takes away Vishnu. Prays and quells the power of Narmada. Reaches the cave dwelling of Govindapada.

[At the cave of Govindapada]: Meets Govindapada. Convinces Govindapada and other people at the aashram that he is a competent student. Composes the dasha-shloki – with the refrain tadeko.avashiShTaH shivaH kevalo.aham and his understanding of knowledge of Self. When Govindapada asks "With this mortal body, how can you cross the ocean of existence?" Shankara replies "body is subject to birth and death; but not Atman [dashashlokii]. The unreal has no existence; the real never ceases to be" [Gita]. Govindapada blesses Shankara: paramahaMso bhaviShyasi (may you become a paramahamsa) and takes Shankara as disciple. Shankara sees that Badarayana-Vyasa's vedanta-granthas are getting neglected as writes bhaashya for these. Using the story of Satyakama-Jabali and statements like mrittikA eva satyam, convinces other disciples that sarvaM khalvidaM brahma (from Chandogya) is the truth. Other disciples offer prostrations at his feet.

Kashi: Sees that people are reciting and analyzing rules of Panini grammar on the banks of the holy Ganges. Takes Vishnu as disciple and names him as Padmapada. People respect Shankara in Kashi. Takes Totaka as disciple. Recites Bhaja Govinda shloka to the scholar who was reciting grammar rules. The words bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM govindaM bhajamuuDhamate reverberate in Kashi. Is paid respects by the King of Kashi. Meets his friends praj~nAna and mRRityu again at Kashi.

Chandala incident. Shloka 2 of maneesha panchakam which goes as

brahmaivaahamidaM jagachcha sakalaM chinmaatravistaaritaM
sarvaM chaitadavidyayaa triguNayaa.asheshhaM mayaa kalpitam.h |
itthaM yasya dR^iDhaa matiH sukhatare nitye pare nirmale
chaaNDaalo.astu sa tu dvijo.astu gururityeshhaa maniishhaa mama || 2||

I am quite convinced that he is the great Master, be he a Brahmin or an outcaste, who, dwelling on the pure and infinite Brahman thinks of himself as that very Brahman, of whose manifestation the whole Universe is,though apparently the Universe is assumed to consist of different things, due to ignorance and the three Gunas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas).

Praises Kashi that dispelled his ignorance.
kaashyaa.n hi kaashyate kaashii kaashii sarvaprakaashikaa .
saa kaashii viditaa yena tena praaptaa hi kaashikaa .. 4..
[kAshi pa~nchakam]


Takes Hastamalaka as disciple. Meets an old scholar (said to be Badarayana-Vyasa himself) and they both discuss Brahmasutras Meets Kumarila who is immolating himself as a penance for 'deceiving' the Buddhist monastics to learn their philosophy. Kumarila cannot comment on Shankara's work. Story of how Kumarila defeats Buddhists and why he has to perform immolation. Kumarila however, sees the work of Shankara, approves it, and asks Shankara to go to Mahishmati (on the banks of Narmada) to meet Kumarila's disciple Mandana Mishra.

Mahishmati, on the banks of Narmada: Reaches Mandana Mishra's place. Begs for a debate. Debate begins. praj~nAna observes that the parrot of Mandana Mishra is bound in a cage and eats only pepper. Offers sweet grapes to the parrot and frees it. Shankara defeats Mandana Mishra and takes him as a disciple. Sees his mother Aryamba Ubhaya Bharathi, the wife of Mandana Mishra, and says "experience is more important than knowledge". Camps at Sringeri with disciples.

Sringeri: When Sureshwara questions about the futility of ritual Vedic rites, Shankara sees he is mature and assigns him the task of writing commentary on his work on Brahmasutras. Other disciples get envious and Wisdom walks away from them. The others feel that the task should be given to either Padmapada or, Hastamalaka the brightest one. Shankara laments, if he cannot keep unity among his devotees, how can he do the same over Bharatavarsha? Shankara explains that he made the decision based on "experience is better than seniority or scholarliness". Disciples still show reluctance. Bharathi devi laments. Sureshwara gives back the Bhashya Granthas. Shankara asks Padmapada to write commentary and Padmapada realises his mistake and asks Shankara to make Sureshwara do it. Shankara instead says Padmapada should do it.

As Ubhaya Bharathi is serving them food, Shankara and his disciples recite Annapurna Astakam.

nityaanandakarI varaabhayakarI saundaryaratnaakarI
nirdhuutaakhiladoShapaavanakarI pratyakShamaaheshvarI .
praaleyaachalava.nshapaavanakarI kaashIpuraadhIshvarI
bhikShaaM dehi kR^ipaavalambanakarI maataa.annapuurNeshvarI .. 1..


Oh! Mother Annapurna! renderer of the support of compassion, the bestower of eternal happiness, the donor of gifts and protection, the ocean of beauty, the destroyer of all sins and purifier, the great goddess, the purifier of the family of Himavan, and the great deity of Kasi, (thou) grant us alms.

Shankara wants his four disciples to start schools (pITham) at Dwaraka, Badri, Puri and Sringeri. He assigns himself the three worlds (bhuvana trayam).

Back to home: praj~nAna wants to see mother Aryamba. Shankara agrees and both immediately leave. mRRityu was already there when both reach their home. Aryamba dies. Shankara asks to do final rites. Brahmins around object to that and expel him. He realizes the illusory nature of everything. Sees he still has his friends with him. Remembers the brahmin-(who-punished-the-thief) and Govindapada who were lamenting on the lack of Dharma in the Veda BhUmi.

Conquest: Reaches Kanyakumari. Prays to Goddess Kanyakumari. His disciples start to chant the prayer, and everywhere there is the echo, of the beautiful call (nay thunder) from Mahanarayana Upanishad about Renunciation being the lone means of obtaining Knowledge.

na karmaNaa na prajayaa dhanena tyaagenaike amR^itatvamaanashuH .
pareNa naaka.n nihita.n guhaayaaM bibhraajate yadyatayo vishanti ..
vedaantavij~naanavinishchitaarthaaH sa.nnyaasayogaadyatayaH shuddhasattvaaH
te brahmaloke tu paraantakaale paraamR^itaaH parimuchyanti sarve
dahra.n vipaapa.n varaveshmabhuuta yat puNDariikaM
puramadhyasa{\m+}stham.h
tatraapi dahre gagana.n vishoka.n tasmin yadantastadupaasitavyam.h
yo vedaadau svaraH prokto vedaante cha pratishhThitaH .
tasya prakR^itiliinasya yaH paraH sa maheshvaraH
[14-17]


Reaches Kanchipuram. Makes more people his disciples. Story of Raikva (of the Upanishads). Feels how great each of his four disciples are. Ugra Bhairava comes and asks Shankara to become a sacrifice to Kali for the purpose of nirvana of kaapalika. Shankara follows. A Lion (the vaahana of the devi) kills Kaapalika. Shankara prays to Goddess. Reaches Somnath, Marble rocks of Narmada river, Prayag, Benares, Devaprayag (Himalayas). Has conquered India.

Himalayas: Disciples observe that Shankara is ill. Prays to Himalayas Shiva and Ganges (lalATaM lAvaNya-dyuti-vimalaM AbhAti tava yat dvitIyaM tan-manye makuTa-ghaTitaM candra-shakalaM / Saundaryalahari #46)

Prays to Ganges. Shankara encourages his disciples. All walk towards Himalayas.

[The voice over and Shankara.]

[The Supreme Truth is one, which is the all-pervading Self, True knowledge of Self leads to liberation. He who know the Self controls the gross, living, mental, rational and supra-rational being.

Shankara is the Sun of the spiritual sky
Before the rays of knowledge, the ordinary Sun is pale as moon
I bow to the sun of knowledge, in thought, word and deed.]

As Shankara is walking to the top of a mountain top, the other faiths --represented by Jainas, Buddhists, (possibly) Shaivites, (possibly) Kaapalikas-- fall behind.

Final Debate: Shankara alone reaches the top of the mountain. Wisdom asks him if there is anything more to be achieved. Shankara and praj~nAna debate on how can the humans torn by sorrow and ignorance be liberated. praj~nAna feels that the theory that Shankara proposes is subtle and complicated. praj~nAna feels that Ishwara anugraha mixed with devotion alone leads to Advaita in humans and asks him to not lament about the realization of humans. Shankara says that he is not lamenting and is sure everyone will be liberated. In the meanwhile, mRRityu comes and says time is up. Shankara declares to mRRityu that he is Brahman. mRRityu gets angry and leaves him. Shankara explains to praj~nAna the oneness of reality. praj~nAna accepts the reasoning. After the debate, Shankara embraces praj~nAna. praj~nAna merges into Shankara. After some persuasion by Shankara, mRRityu also embraces Shankara. Disciples lament and then console themselves that Shankara Acharya will always be in their intellect.

Praise be unto Him who conquered other philosophies: Sankhya, Yoga, Naiyayika, Vaiseshika, Purva Mimamsa and became the master of Uttara-Mimamsa. He is the King of Spiritual world.

Voice of Shankara: I accept every faith. he who has no attachments is verily the Self, the Universal Self.

I bow down to the Self which is pure knowledge.
Who with pure intellect and fortitude controls this sensual body.
And shuns sensation will be free from attachment
He whose mind is unattached, subdued in thought, desire-free,
and free from action, through renunciation, attains perfection

Ego-free, free of false conviction of Bravery, free of thoughts of anger and lust humble and pure, then he is worthy of becoming Brahman. Madhuram, Manoraharam, Anandam. [Charming, Pleasant, Blissful] Come along all of you.


(aakashaat patitaM toyaM saagaraM prati gachchhati |)

puurNamadaH puurNamidaM puurNaat puurNamudachyate |
puurNasya puurNamaadaaya puurNamevaavashiShyate ||
OM shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH ||


I bow down to Shankara, the master of Advaita!

Memorable moments:

• The identification shlokas of the friends of Shankara are played everytime they are in action.
  
  
• The Nachiketa play done in Kathakali, the traditional dance form of Kerala.
  
  
• Punishment" of the thief by the Brahmin.
  
  
• Kumarila: Story of Kumarila, a great scholar of Kashi, who wanted to learn the secrets of Buddhists so that he can defeat them. He achieved his objective of defeating Buddhists. Kumarila laments to Shankara that when the Buddhists pushed him off an abyss, he should have said "Let the eternal Vedas save me" instead of saying, as he said, "If Vedas are eternal, let me be saved". This resulted in him being saved, but he got blinded in an eye. By the time Shankara meets him, Kumarila had defeated his Buddhist master, and is immolating himself because he broke the Buddhist tradition of not respecting the master.
  
  
• Hastamalaka: The entire episode of Hastamalaka is very moving. Shankara sees a young boy who acts like a mad person. It is Shankara's keenness which makes him observe that the boy is laughing at the fish that are living in the water and dying when they land on the bank. The boy is clearly amused at the futileness of the whole existence in this dualistic world. If he is laughing at the highest fear, namely death, he should be staring at the greatest truth. This is what is shown when he is playing and stares at the Sun (a representative of the Brahman) directly. The interplay introduces his parents who are worried about him and explain him his situation. The funny part is, they are explaining their own ignorance is mis-apprehending the boy's illumination. Shankara asks the boy "who he is". The boy replies "he is the eternal Atman". Shankara asks the parents to give the boy to him and gives him the ochre robe.
  
  
• The release of Mandana Mishra's parrot: In Maahismathi, Shankara meets Mandana Mishra of the pUrva-mimamsa fame. Mandana Mishra has a parrot that recites that Vedic rites are the final authority. The parrot, of course is a symbolism for Mandana Mishra himself. While Shankara and Mandana Mishra are debating, praj~nAna finds out that the parrot eats only pepper and chooses to remain in a cage. While Shankara and Mandana Mishra are debating, praj~nAna offers the parrot sweet grapes. The parrot says that it likes the sweet grapes. At the same time, Shankara is gives the winning argument. praj~nAna offers the parrot why he wants to remain in a cage, rather than being free. praj~nAna says that ants will take many life times to climb a mountain, while a parrot with wings can fly over to the top immediately. Shankara at the same time, asks Mandana Mishra why he chooses to take the slow path of Karma, when renunciation will make him free immediately. praj~nAna frees the parrot and at the same time, Mandana Mishra accepts defeat. Shankara takes Mandana Mishra as disciple and names him Sureshwara.
  
  
• Kerala Style Vedic recitation, as well as many Upanishadic passages rendered beautifully.
  
  
• Shankara and his disciples reciting annapoorna ashtakam is very moving.
  

Explicit References from the Upanishads: The movie is full of upanishadic allegories, and every dialogue questions the fundamental aspects of perception and reality. Explicitly, it shows the following references from Upanishads: Two birds from Mundaka, Nachiketa from Katha, Satyakama-Jabali and Raikva. Chanting in the background from Isha Upanishad and of course, the Gita.

Possible anachrony: The teacher of Shankara and is making them recite vAgarthAviva sampR^iktau shloka, which is the first shloka from Raghuvamsham, written by Kalidasa. I thought that Kalidasa was preceeded by Shankara, not otherwise.

Postscript correction (Not an anachrony): A couple of searches reveals that Kalidasa is a 5th-6thcentury poet. Since Shankara is generally ascribed to the time 7-8th century, the use of the shloka may not be an anachrony.

General comments about the movie:

Miracles: Traditionally Shankara's story is associated with many miracles, like the experience with the Amla devi, Padmapada's lotus, the fading of garlands when he is debating with Sureshwara, he taking another form to argue kaamashAstra with the wife of Mandana mishra etc. The movie does not have any of these. Maybe G.V.Iyer felt that the dramatization that comes with showing miracles may alter the way the teachings of Shankara are shown.

Acting: Sarvadaman Banerjee was very good as Shankara. He also acted later, as Sri Krishna in the T.V. serial by Ramanand Sagar and also as Sri Krishna in G.V.Iyer's Bhagavad Geetha. Bharat Bhushan as his father and the friends praj~nAna and mRRityu, the four disciples and Ubhaya Bharati act well. G.V.Iyer himself acts as Veda Vyasa.

Music: The direction of music for the movie was by Manganampalli Balamurali himself, who even sang some songs with his melodious heavenly voice. There are names of other doyens, like Nookala chinna Satyanaraya among others in the initial credits list. The first raaga of the movie, of course, had to be Sankara Bharanam [Adornment of Sankara]. Shankara and his disciples singing Annapoorna astakam was memorable. The background score is by B.V.Karanth, who does a good job.

Dialogues: The dialogues for this Sanskrit movie were penned by a noted Madhwa scholar Dr.Bannanje Govindacharya from Karnataka. He won the 2009 Government award Padma Shri. (Thanks to Shri Subbu-ji for the reference in the comment!).

Awards: This film was made in 1983. and won the national awards for "Best Feature Film", "Best Screenplay", "Best Cinematography" and "Best Audiography". The script, screen play, production and direction of the movie was by G.V.Iyer himself (the producer of the film was G.V.Iyer himself, rather than Subbarami Reddy, as advertised on the DVD. Subbarami Reddy, to his credit, did produce G.V.Iyer's later movies.). The awards were enriched by the movie, thanks to the committee.

DVD details: There are some minor errors in continuity. The movie is around 2:40 hours, rather than 2:00 hours as written on the cover of the DVD. The dialogue is available in Sanskrit as well as Hindi (which I did not opt for). The subtitles are in English (as well as French, which I did not opt for) which is good, with minor errors. The great part of the subtitles is that they go into narrative mode when mantras are recited, instead of transcribing mode, which could be thought of as disrespecting the tradition.

Later works by G.V.Iyer: Ganapathi Venkaramana Iyer (born 1917), from Karnataka. It seems in 1992, G.V.Iyer made a film on "Bhagavad Geetha", that was again appreciated by critics. To watch that movie. Also, a brief look at the filmography of G.V. Iyer reveals that G.V. Iyer's 1983 move was no flash in the pan. He followed it with films like: Madhavacharya (1986), Ramanujacharya (1989), Bhagwat Geeta (1993), and Vivekananda (1994).

To watch them!

==

Note to the copyright holders of the film: I have really loved this movie and thanks (more than a trillion times) for making it. I have put up the transcript for the (educational) benefit of myself, and for my friends, who may not have access to the movie. If you have any objections to me making the transcription available on the web, please let me know and I will remove it from the web.

Note to the readers: I sincerely appreciate the help of Shri Sunder-ji who helped me in making numerous corrections to this. The remaining faults in the review, of course lie with me. I also appreciate the readers who made pointers to this review and appreciated it and wanted it to be corrected. It was my fault that it was not done in time!

Shri Ramaraju Bhaskar is writing the review in Telugu. Parts of it are vailable at the following link.


sarvaM sha~NkaraarpaNamastu |
sarvaM keshavaarpaNamastu |
parabrahmaarpaNamastu |
shriichakrapuranivaasinii raajaaraajeshvarii lalitaa parameshvarii devyai arpaNamastu |
shrii raamaarpaNamastu |
shriikRRiShNa parabrahmaarpaNamastu | Read the rest of this entry >>

Everywhere Vs. Nowhere

It is said that, when HiranyaKasipu asked his son Prahlada, "Where is Hari?" Prahlada saw Hari everywhere. At the same time, HiranyaKasipu saw Hari nowhere.

It is obvious that this can be interpreted in a theistic way.

In an Advaitic way, this can be thought of as a competetion between the Advaitists (who see Brahman everwhere) and the ShunyaVadis, who are incapable of the feeling of fullness/infinite-perfectness. Read the rest of this entry >>

About Advaita from Philisophy Foundation

Found the following about Advaita from Philosophy Foundation (actually went to the following link of one Advaiti, which was forwarded by a M).

The essence of every human being is what Emerson called the Oversoul, which is our true Self — universal, all-encompassing, and blissful, the source of all knowledge and of cosmic consciousness.

The person who is in touch with this essence is confident without arrogance and tolerant without weakness; is efficient and economical in actions and immediate and deep in understanding; is undismayed in all circumstances and at home everywhere.

These possibilities lie within everyone, obscured by assumed limitations of body, senses, mind, and heart. This concept of the unity of all is Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual philosophy of self.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Question on Kailash Nath and its reply (from advaitin mailing list)

In Advaitin mailing list at yahoo groups, Question regarding Kailash Nath, Krishna Prasad asks,

Dear Scholars,
We all know Kailash Mountain is the only GOD's abode we can go with this physical body and comeback, they say in the shores of Manasarovar there are wish fulfilling trees etc. If the ancient people can see Lord Shiva and Parvathi in Kailash, why can't we see now. and they say Ravana have danced with Kailas mountain. and he want to carry it to Sri Lanaka, is it only stories or is it really happened? Please clarify. Symbolism and other things we can explain but in this mayaic world is it true??

In the reply, "Purusha" gives an answer:

A seemingly simple question with profound implications. I am not a scholar but a simple spiritual pilgrim but I am taking the liberty of answering your wonderful questions.

You write :

(Kailash Mountain is the only GOD's abode we can go with this physical body and comeback, they say in the shores of Manasarovar there are wish fulfilling trees etc.)

This is true. Kailash is situated in Manasarovar, Himalayas and many pilgrims go on Tirthayatra to this holy place. That is the ouTwatd pilgrimage that everyone is aware of.

However, there is an inner pilgrimage- The human body itself is a sacred holy place where the soul's journey starts from the Muladhara chakra and reaches the Sahasarachakra, upon which the YOGIS reach the goal of Self Realization is realized. . In this Sahasara chakra of Thousand petalled Lotus , Devi (shakti) herself sports with her eternal consort (shiva) in cosmic union. This is the celestial abode of the yogis - this is the 'Kailas' of all self realized yogis. Devi herself is the Wish fulfilling tree ( kalpavriksha) who resides as Kundalini Shakti ( Devatma Shakti - Divine Power) in the Muladhara chakra.

This is the great Kundalini Sadhana practiced in Tantric circles. Shankara talks about this type of Sadhana in his Saundarya Lahari.

Many self realized souls after successfully completing Inner pilgrimage undertake outer pilgrimage like Adi Shankara for Loka Sangraham or Loka kalyanam. The parivrajaka sanyasis do the same. So did Swami Vivekananda.

Also, Parvati is Prakriti and Parameshwera is Purusha. Purusha is Soul. Prakriti is Cosmos. They are not opposite principles , conscious and unconscious . They are here recognized as identical in the highest spiritual experience.

VERSE 51 in Avadhuta Gita says thus: As water, when water has been poured into water, has no distinctions, so purusa and prakrti appear nondifferent to me. (http://www.starwon.com.au/~soham/avadhuta/chap01.htm)

Shivaa and Shiva are 'One' - duality is only in the mind.

Narada Bhakti sutra says: Athato Bhaktim Vyakhasamah ... [meaning: Now we shall explain the path of devotion. Meditate on the great cosmic couple and Reach Kailash with your mind, body and soul.] Athato.....

Best regards

As a response to this post, Chittaranjan Naik says:

I don't know why i say this, but you are no ordinary being. I see Shiva in you. Thank you for the lead.

I could not have said it better. Read the rest of this entry >>

How conscious can we be (and ought to be)?

SJ has just returned from a Laser show where he observes a braid of lasers with DSOM and WOZ. Naturally, he links the show back to his favorite topic of consciousness and asks some questions.

Now if you move to an orthogonal view you get only a point losing a huge chunk of data, the line. Isn't that because you tried to simplify your view as you went down the dimensions? Isn't it important to tag the cube as a cube even while moving down the dimensions?

Possibly, one way to do it is to classify everything as Brahman. You see oneness in evrything and feel Advaita. I believe that trying to do this is very important and a huge step towards realization.


Consciously, I looked forward for the emerging patterns, even though, all the while, I knew this was all an illusion. So was I really conscious?


Assuming you were conscious that it was an illusion, there is a related question: Were you conscious that you were conscious? Yes, because you asked the question 'was I conscious?' Were you conscious that you were conscious that you were conscious? I donot know. Were you conscious that you were conscious that you were conscious that you were conscious? I have no clue. Were you ..... [extend the questionare further.]

We can either

extend the idea further and ask, what is the transitive closure of the consciousness chains? or,

try to break away from such incomputable thoughts.

I call them as incomputable thoughts, as such questioning leads to a possible infinite length path in the thought chain. If we have an infinile length path, a temporal mapping of the thoughts -- given that we have finite resources -- can finish only after infinite time. This means that the though chain is an incomputable computation.

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What does the Judeo-Christian-Islamic-God or Indic-Ishwara do?
He knows everything. So, he can do infinite computation.

What does Buddha do?
Given that Tathagata [The Buddha referred to himself as the Tathagatha, the 'thus gone one'- the one who has reached enlightenment.] is said to have broken the cycle of births and deaths and hence has effectively stopped time, He has ofcourse broken the thought chain.

What does Taoism say about what we should do (and hence Lao Tzu) say we should do?
'When I am thinking, I am just thinking. When I am eating, I am just eating'. This means that the thought chain has been broken. (length of thought chain = 0)

What does Guru Datta do?
He said 'I am free and donot think about either past or future and hence remain as a child, effectively free'. He also has effectively broken the thought chain. (length of thought chain = 0)

Which brings us to the theorem of today: an incomputable thought can be terminated and stillness of mind acheived by humans, as it has been by others before. This is because, the state of all the above "humans", Buddha, Tao, Guru Datta, are attainable by other human beings.

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But, I have to ask, is consciousness asking the question 'was I conscious'? or just using the senses as they are(just seeing? just hearing etc.)?

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When Mr. SJ asks:

...
So are the lasers clearing the maze for us; then what was it that we saw earlier, wasn't the laser creating an illusion for us. What is real, what was illusion?

I just like to say, if it is real, it is permanent. Never goes away. Read the rest of this entry >>

The Ananta Yoga Learning center

The Ananta Yoga Learning center has lots of online books, including Ashtavakra Gita, Avadhuta Gita, The Gaudapada Gita(?).
I think the moderator bindu also maintains vivekananda mailing list.
More info later. Read the rest of this entry >>

Watch list: Sri Adi Shankaracharya Movie

To buy/watch the movie: Adi Shankaracharya. More info:

Adi Shankaracharya - $ 22.99
Brand - Cinebella

ValueIndia proudly brings to you Adi Shankaracharya - a film by G.V. Iyer. Award winning feature film about the founder of the Advita Philosophy. In Sanskrit with English/French subtitles.

Information - National Award for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Audiography.

More Details - Based on the life of one of the greatest thinkers the Indian sub-continent has ever known, Adi Shankaracharya is a stunning achievement in the annals of world cinema. It is also the ONLY film ever made in the classical Sanskrit language. By the 8th century, Hinduism had become a slave to Brahmin cults rather than as the all-embracing philosophy of mankind that it was originally conceived as and was theologically challenged by other belief systems including Buddhism. It was into this scenario that Shankaracharya was born. In a quest to broaden his knowlegde, he renowned the world and set out on a life and mind-affirming journey with death and wisdom as his twin companions. On the way he wrote several commentaries that have changed the way mankind looks at religion and theism and the eternal quest for inner truth. Today there are several centres across the world devoted to the propagation of Shankaracharya's teachings.

PS: more info: Music director, M. Balamurali Krishna (link via advaitin mailing list of yahoo groups). Read the rest of this entry >>

Hindu Gurus and more links

Francois Gautier (one of my favorite columnists in rediff) writes in In defence of Hindu gurus, about why Communists hate Hindusim. As summarized by sj in the teachings of Hindusim(and elsewhere), It seems that the disunity of Hindusim seems to be its greatest strength. If you attacking the pope, people may harm Christianity. How do you attack a religion wih so many Gurus? Though, I donot agree to this suggestion of Mr. Gautier at the end:

Again, in all humility and conscious of the limitation of mind compared to some of these great gurus whom I have met, I propose that a Supreme Spiritual Council, composed of at least seven of the most popular Hindu leaders of India, be constituted, maybe under the leadership of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the most travelled of all these, the one who has disciples and teachers of all religions, both from India and the West.

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In Atanu's blog, a comment by someone named you know who gives reference to an article from WSJ titled: It's the Demography, Stupid . Mr. "You know who" summarizes the article very succintly as the following:

Basically, the article says this –
1. Socialism+Atheism = Bad idea = Europe,Canada,USA democrats.
2. Socialism+Theism = Sustainable = India, parts of Asia, Japan
3. Capitalism+Theism = Good idea = USA republicans
4. Capitalism+Atheism = Confused souls = The ACL cartel
Dr.Atanu is trying to take #2 & make it #3 wrt India.
The cartel is trying to take #2 & make it #4 wrt India.

(I am not sure what ACL cartel means. Also, I am still reading the WSJ article. I like the summary though. It is a very good characterization.) Read the rest of this entry >>

An Year of Incompleteness

A belated update on a post on Lance's weblog: An year of incompleteness. Read the rest of this entry >>

Happy New Year!

We begin with the wonderful Creation Hymn from: Hymns from Rig Veda (link thro' Chandahas's blog):

A time is envisioned when the world was not, only a watery chaos (the dark, "indistinguishable sea") and a warm cosmic breath, which could give an impetus of life. Notice how thought gives rise to desire (when something is thought of it can then be desired) and desire links non-being to being (we desire what is not but then try to bring it about that it is). Yet the whole process is shrouded in mystery.


Where do the gods fit in this creation scheme?


The non-existent was not; the existent was not at that time. The atmosphere was not nor the heavens which are beyond. What was concealed? Where? In whose protection? Was it water? An unfathomable abyss?

There was neither death nor immortality then. There was not distinction of day or night. That alone breathed windless by its own power. Other than that there was not anything else.

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning. All this was an indistinguishable sea. That which becomes, that which was enveloped by the void, that alone was born through the power of heat.

Upon that desire arose in the beginning. This was the first discharge of thought. Sages discovered this link of the existent to the nonexistent, having searched in the heart with wisdom.

Their line [of vision] was extended across; what was below, what was above? There were impregnators, there were powers: inherent power below, impulses above.

Who knows truly? Who here will declare whence it arose, whence this creation? The gods are subsequent to the creation of this. Who, then, knows whence it has come into being?

Whence this creation has come into being; whether it was made or not; he in the highest heaven is its surveyor. Surely he knows, or perhaps he knows not.

Happy New Year to all! May we all realize Truth-Consciousness-Bliss (and beyond these) in everything we do! Read the rest of this entry >>

The teaching of Hinduism

Link via Kavitha: Hindu American Foundation counsel Suhag A Shukla I am not for rewriting Hinduism vs. Harvard Professor Michael Witzel I am not a Hindu hater.

The two interviews pose some very nice questions on what Hinduism means and how can it be taught. I always felt, someone has to be born in India to understand the Sanatana Dharma. In that way, an ambuity gets ingrained in your thinking, which is not possible in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. This ambuity makes the "Hindus" more tolerant than others and the "religion" of these "believers" among the greatest religions of the world.

An example of the fundamental question: "how many Gods?": The unique Brahman? The Trinity? The six of the classic theistic schools? The ten avatars of Vishnu? The twenty-four of Vishnu as in the Srimad-Bhagavata? The three crore as it is said in proverbs? The innumerable ones that are the presiding dieties of each village or individual families?

As some reader pointed in the discussions after Ms. Shukla's interview, Hinduism is the only one which gives a choice to be a disbeliever! Read the rest of this entry >>

Alizadeh's Semidefinite Programming page

The link The Semidefinite Programming page is maintained by Farid Alizadeh. Also, the link: Papers on semidefinite Programming has a collection of (quite a few of) the classic papers on SDP and Ellipsoid method. Read the rest of this entry >>

Terror attack in IISc

News link from a dear friend of mine: Terror attack at IISc, Bangalore; 1 killed, 4 injured. My condolences to the family of Prof. Puri, who was killed in the attack. I sincerely hope that all the injured academecians recover and the perpetrators are caught and put to justice.

This blogger knows one of the victims, Prof. Vijay Chandru from his days at IISc, as his first semester faculty advisor, with a warm heart and resourcefulness. Prof. Chandru went on to set up the Simputer.org with others in the CS-dept. Of course, not joining either Simputer (or better, strand genomics) of BLR --and sticking to the organization he was working in-- was one of the most toughest and painful decisions that this blogger had to make.

According to the following news item: Outstanding Social Scientists/Scientists:Science and Society" award to Prof. Vijay Chandru,

"Outstanding Social Scientists/Scientists:Science and Society" award to Prof. Vijay Chandru

The Hari om Ashram Trust Award entitled "Outstanding Social Scientists/Scientists:Science and Society" award for the year 2003 in the recognition of the outstanding work done has been confereed upon Prof. Vijay Chandru. The award carries a sum of Rs.50,000/- and the citation.

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More links:
Abinandanan, a Professor from IISc has the following to say: Terrorist attack in IISc (link via DDD).

IndiaUncut has the following to say: From HITTs to LISTs? and has the following theory, which classifies possible targets of terror attacks: Soft targets for hard terrorists and also the following: Terror, and the game we love.
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PS: A very strongly worded editorial from Indian Express: Congress’s software (link via secular-right).
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Upadate(01/02/06): Subbu says

Prof Chandru is recovering fine. His operation on the shoulder was successful. Another operation would be required in a couple of weeks. Two bullets hit him.

Read the rest of this entry >>

One year from 26th Dec 2004

I thought nukes were a problem of the past,
and that terrorism is a fear that will not last,
nature told me that it never was too kind,
to the masses of mankind,
fury was unleashed across the coast.
==

Remembrance Week - 26th December, 2005 - 1st January, 2006 (link via IndiaUncut). Read the rest of this entry >>

Smile for success, tremble at power of information

Smile for Success (link via India Uncut).
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The power of Google Earth that can make govts. shake, vs. the feelings of someone who could reconnect to their place using the same power. Read the rest of this entry >>

Arvind Sharma's book on Sleep as a State of Consciousness

Thanks to a request of a dear friend of mine, I could read parts of this book again and write this review.
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This post, and the ones following it, are on the book Sleep As a State of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta by Arvind Sharma. As the title explains, Prof. Sharma delves deeply into the avasthatraya aspect of Advaita. Prof. Sharma says in the introduction that "understanding this aspect of Advaita is the first, and possibly most important aspect of Advaita".

The book is organized as to how various philosophers of ancient and moden India --who have cast their long shadows on Advaita-- have thought of, and reasoned about the aspect of avasthatraya(the trichotomy of states), in Advaita.

In concrete, the contents of the book are as follows:

sleep in Prasthanatraya

sleep in Mandukyacharica (or Mandukya Upanishad)

sleep in Sankara Advaita

sleep in Later Advaita

sleep in Moden Advaita

Prasthanatraya is the three texts: Upanishads, Brahmasutras and BhagavadGita. The Mandukya Upanishad is one of the Upanishads, on which Gaudapada who preceeded Sankara (to whom Sankara originally wanted to be a disciple of?), is said to have a written a commentary, which in turn had a special influence of Advaita. Sankara of course, is the exegete from 8th century who cast, possibly the longest shadow on Advaita, Vedanta, Sanatana Dharma, and other Indic religions.

The later Advaita is about the points of view of Sureshwara, Padmapada --who were famous disciples of Sankara and set up the Vivarna school-- and Vacaspati Misra of the 9th and 10th century --who set up the rival Bhamati school-- and others. The two schools differ on various aspects: (1) "where does ignorance originate from": According to Vivarna, Brahman-Atman is the locus of avidya. Bhamati, on the other hand holds that jiva is the locus of avidya. (2)The other difference is the question of "the preexistence of Brahman vis-a-vis the creation" (did the creation of Brahman preceed the creation? If so how?). Another major later-Advaitin is Vidyaranya of the 14th century, who arguing about the characterizations of bliss experienced by human beings, explained on the blissful nature of dreamless-sleep. The chapter has points of views of other later-Advaitins, namely: Sadananda and Dharmaraja.

In the modern Advaita, the discussion is mainly about Swami Krishnananda (of the Divine Life Society), Ramana Maharishi.

In the introduction itself, Prof. Sharma asks,

This monograph deals with the question of sleep in Advaita Vedanta. But the theme presupposes that the phenomen of sleep is an issue of some kind for Advaita Vedanta in particular, or Indian philosophy in general. For the reader who does not share this presupposition, such questions as the following will naturally arise: 'why should philosophers be concerned with sleep as an epistemological or religious problem? Why are Indian philosophers concerned with it? Why do Advaita philosophers view sleep as an important philosophical dilemma, and why are they losing sleep over it?'

Giving a reply to the above question, Prof. Sharma smartly makes an analogy of Advaita with Physics and Chemistry. In Physics, the material world is reduced to either matter or energy. Chemistry on the other hand, reduces substances to the periodic elements. In a similar way, Prof. Sharma says, Advaita reduces the multiplicity of human experience into the avasthatraya, so that some "reasonable analysis" could be done. Prof. Sharma points out that this classification is extremely rational and experiential and not necessarily revelational or scriptural. (My posts on Prof. Sharma's other books: on his book on Advaita Vedanta and on his book on the experiential approach to Advaita.)

from the Sankhya yoga of Gita:

II.69: What is night to all beings, therein the self controlled one is awake. When all beings are awake, that is the night of the sage who sees.

To be continued... Read the rest of this entry >>

An Advaitic interpretation of the Lord's prayer

Swami Prabhavananda gives a wonderful Vedantic interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. I find it a little too theistic. The following is an attempt to interpret the Lord's Prayer in an Advaitic way:

9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

O Jiva, pray in the following way:

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.

O ParaBrahma which is the highest abode of the Atman,
Whatever names (and forms) are you worshipped, let them be sacred,
and You are everywhere, in the world, in the Maya and in the Atma.


Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

The realization that the Atman is not different from the Brahman will dawn on all the individual jivas.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.

Let the grace of seeing through Maya be in every jiva. Let there be cessation of all bonds with Maya.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
However powerful the avidya maya be -- or the one that has its beginnings in Vidya -- help this Atman stay away from its powerful clutches.


For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Let this happen in all the Jivas in the world and Let every Atman realize this truth, consciousness and Bliss forever. Let it be so.

Om. Peace, Peace, Peace
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May the Christ within us grow. May we conquer the evil of avidya-maya, grow beyond maya and obtain God-realization! Read the rest of this entry >>

Monotheistic religions

This is from the foreword of The Way to God by Arun Gandhi:

When Grandfather confessed to his Christian friends how much he was impressed by the Sermon on the Mount he was asked, "Why don't you become a Christian?" "When you convince me that all Christians live according to the Sermon on the Mount, I will be the first to change my religion," he responded.

From an idea I got from reading Atanu's blog, the following is a possible debate about monotheistic religions vs. multi-theistic religions:

She: Isn't monotheistic religion much better than multi-theistic religion?

I: I would assume you like democracy better than communism. Yes?

She: Yes.

I: I would also assume that you like a free market rather than a monopoly of the market. Yes?

She: Yes, but what have any of these got to do with religions?

I: In the religious sense, multi-theism is equivalent to democracy in politics and free-market in economics. The moment I get ready to pray to the idols of two gods, which are beside each other, I understand that there are multiple ways to the same truth. It also makes me (and some other people) question: what is the power behind the gods. What are the qualities that can make me a replica of God. That is one advantage of multi-theism. Mono-theism OTOH, has the disadvantage that you have to accept that God is God, because He is God. You accept that apriori. It (monotheism) is good in the sense that, if you understand the core of what He said, to His chosen people, you are at peace. However, if there is some aberration in the communication, either due to the words of the chosen people, or due to your (mis)interpretation, or due to the fact that words donot have the power to communicate some ideas, then you are a dangerous entity. This is because, you believe in something blindly, and believe that it is the only truth.

She: Yes, that's a good analogy. But, idol worship could also go haywire. It could leave confused masses. It could also leave masses who accept anything less than Truth.

I: Yes. good observation. Idol worship could result in masses being ignorant of the truth. However, it is my opinion that it is a less dangerous way.

She: That's right, but how is it less dangerous?

I: Do you agree that middle way of Buddha is a beautiful concept?

She: Yes

I: Do you also agree that it is extremely difficult to practise it?

She: Yes.

I: Do you agree that multi-theism is more middle-wayed than mono-theism?

She: Yes. So, you are saying that as moderation in everything is what Buddha preached, mono-theism is a non-middle-wayed-way. The opposite of which is multi-theism.

I: Yes multi-theism is inherently more moderate and more tolerant that mono-theism and should be practised when there is a choice between the two.

From Atanu's blog, I got the link to a blog which opposes Monotheistic religions tooth and nail: It is Monotheism is evil. Though some ideas on that blog are extreme, have a set of valid points.

The following is a quote from the movie Gandhi:

I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Serpent and the Rope watch: Tristan and Isolde

The references to Tristan and Isolde, one of the classic love stories of the west, in The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao are many. This link has the abridged story (one more abridged one here).

The story is being made into a movie. Here is a trailer.

Wagner has an opera on the same. According to this link (again)

Tristan and Isolde is considered one of the most emotionally gripping operas ever written, and is, perhaps, Richard Wagner's greatest work.

To listen to it.
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update(12/21): Shyamala Narayan's Raja Rao: Man ans his works has the story of Tristan and Iseult. Also, it has a comparision of The Serpent and the Rope with The Waste Land by T.S.Eliot.

A much later update(01/14): According to the review in NYTimes and also other places, it seems the movie was not well made. Read the rest of this entry >>

Emerson on Indian texts

Emerson, has the following to say about the texts from India:

"In all nations there are minds which incline to dwell in the conception of the fundamental Unity. The raptures of prayer and ecstasy of devotion lose all being in one Being. This tendency finds its highest expression in the religious writings of the East, and chiefly in the Indian Scriptures, in the Vedas, the Bhagavat Geeta and the Vishnu Purana. These writings contain little else than this idea, and they rise to pure and sublime strains in celebrating it."(Essays, X, p. 120)

More impressions here. Reading the book: Vedic Religion and Philosophy by Swami Prabhavananda. The above quote was written on the book, possibly by the person who donated it to the library of Colorado College.

PS: As it is that time of the year, I have again ordered the book The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda from library. Will post on the same. Read the rest of this entry >>

Criteria of Knowledge

In the summary of the book The Essential Vedanta : A New Source Book of Advaita Vedanta by Eliot Deutsch and Rohit Dalvi, there is a section in which the authors define the criteria of knowledge:

All knowledge is intrinsically valid. One can falsify a judgement by experience which is contradictory to it, but one can never completely verify a judgement by external means.

All knowledge acquired through the various pramanas [means of valid knowledge] is valid in its own proper sphere, but insofar as it is subject to contradiction by another qualitatively different kind of experience it is necessarily "relative" knowledge. Brahman-knowledge is alone incapable of contradiction.

There definitely are trends of similarity between these two statements and the statements of Godel's incompleteness theorem from logic.

I am not sure if these are general inferences that the authors make, or have translated them from definite sources in Vedanta. Yet to verify. Read the rest of this entry >>

Happy Gita Jayanthi!

From the preface of The Bhagavadgita by S.Radhakrishnan.

aum parthaya pratibodhitam bhagavata narayanena swayam
vyasena gradhitam purana muninam madhye mahabharatam
advaitaamrithavarshinim bhagavatim astadasadhyayinim
amba twam anusandhaninim bhagavadgite bhavadveshinim

Taught by the blessed Narayana Himself to Arjuna, compiled by Vyasa, the ancient seer, in the middle of the Mahabharatha, I meditate on thee, O Mother, O Bhagavadgita, the blessed, of eighteen chapters, the bestower of nectar of non-dualistic wisdom, the destroyer of rebirth.


samasta vedartha sarasangraha bhutam samasta purushartha siddim

This famous Gitasastra is an epitome of the essential of the whole Vedic teaching. A knowledge of its teaching leads to the realization of all human aspirations.

I find solace in the Bhagavadgita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to Bhagavadgita. I find even a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies -- and my life has been full of external tragedies -- and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teachings of the Bhagavadgita: M.K.Gandhi, Young India (1925)

My personal copies of Bhagavadgita (in no particular order):

• The one by Eknath Easwaran: simple just like the other writings of Eknath Easwaran.
  
  
• The extended three volume edition of the above by Eknath Easwaran: Vol. 1: The End of Sorrow, Vol.2: Like a Thousand Suns and Vol.3: To Love Is to Know Me .
  
  
• Bhagavad-Gita as it is by Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada, the originator of ISKCON: More emphasis on the Love of Krishna as a way to Peace. The book has very nice pictures.
  
  
• God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita by Paramahansa Yogananda : a very scholarly translation, I think the translation is in the Yogic tradition prescribed by the school of Shri. Yogananda. The book has very nice pictures. The introduction to this book has a Yogic interpretation of the story and characters from MahaBharatha war.
  
  
• Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God by Swami Prabhavananda of the Ramakrishna order and founder of Vedanta society of Southern California. Very simple, very beautiful. A free translation. Has the NeoVedantic-Advaitic theory (this is a term Prof. Grimes and a couple of Philosphers use for the the school of Shri Ramakrishna Math) propounded by the Ramakrishna order.
  
  
• Bhagavad-gita by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Very scholarly. One of my own first copies.
  
  
• Gita Makarandam by Shri Vidya Prakasananda Swami. I own a copy in Telugu. Very refreshing with both Advaitic and Bhakti overtones and is both quite scholarly and simplistic at the same time.
  
  
• The Gospel of Selfless Action or the Gita According to Gandhi by Mahadev Desai. Mahadev Desai, incidentally was described by Gandhi as his Lakshman. I read parts of it long time back.
  
  
• The Song Celestial by Edwin Arnold. A free poetic translation into English. Also said to be one of the first translations of Gita into English. Very simple ala the one by Swami Prabhavananda.
  
  
• The Song Celestial by Ramana Maharishi. Contains a subset of the verses, selected by Shri. Ramana Maharishi himself.
  
  
• The Bhagavad Gita, pocket edition by Swami Nikhilananda.
  
  

Read the rest of this entry >>

SaChin scores record century

Sachin (root: SaChin or Sat-Chin?) scored the 35th century the greatest by any cricketer in the final form of test cricket. More pointers at prem's blog. Read the rest of this entry >>

Shloka on Sankaracharya Bhagavadpada

sruti smriti purananam alayam karunalayam
namami bhagavatpadam sankaram loka sankaram

I salute the divine feet of the great Sankara,
the repository of sacred scriptures,
an abode of immense compassion,
who ever accomplishes the good of the world

Taken from the preface of The Vivekachudamani of Sankaracharya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation by John A. Grimes. John Grimes, begins the Vivekachudamani with the following Shloka:

Sarva-vedanta-siddanta-gocharam tam agocaram
govindam paramanandam sad-gurum pranto'smy aham

This is what Grimes says about the invocation Shloka:

Traditionally, Indian philosophical treatises begin with an invocation to God and/or one's Guru. Sankara, in this invocation, igeniously, insighfully and subtly reveals the non-duality of Advaita even as he offers his obeisance simultaneously to both God and Guru. He was able to do this because, one of the names for God is Govinda and the name of Sankara's Guru was algo Govinda. Intriguingly, this stanza simultaneously admits both interpretations. Underlying this play of language is the insight that God, Guru and the goal of life for the individual are not different; they are the same.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Surprising results in theory

In an excellent post by Bill Garasch and others on Lance's weblog, the surprising results of CS-theory are listed. The comments section has the opinions of some people on whether a result can be considered BIG or not. Read the rest of this entry >>

Words of great people

Why does the religion whose originator preached "love everyone" practise hate? Why are the followers of a religion which preaches "peace and universal brotherhood", is the cause for the greatest disturbance in today's world? Why is the religion whose originator promised "freedom of the mind", preach the greatest control of mind? Finally, why are people of a religion whose basic tenet is "there are many paths to God - find your own and, be at peace" being quite intolerant?

Without practising a particular religion, how do we go beyond religion? What leads us beyond dogma? How much do we have to progress in religion to be infinitely tolerant?

How and when do we understand the exact meaning of the great words, of the great people, who were originators of the great religions? How do we go beyond the duality that surrounds us, and is within most of our actions?

I donot have answers.

The Mahavakya from Aitareya Upanishad (from Rig Veda) "Pragyanam Brahman" is apt. If the great seers have experienced Brahman knowingly, and want to describe that Brahman to the common people, that Brahman which has been said to be -- among its various attributes -- indescribable, how do the common people, who have not experienced Brahman knowingly, know that the purport of the words of the seers in the right context? How do the common people, the multitudes, know that there is imperfection in description of Brahman by those seers themselves, those who were that wise to know that what they have experienced is Brahman? After all, Isn't Brahman what we experience everyday, whenever we are experiencing Truth, Consciousness or Bliss? This, however does not make us experience it knowingly as, even animals experience it unknowingly. Do the animals know what they are experiencing? Do the multitudes know what makes them happy? Experiencing Brahman knowingly is what differentiates the seers from the rest. How many of the wise seers, who were kind enough to come back and explain to the multitudes, know that there is bound to be imperfectness, some infidelity in their communication? If they did know, how many later tried to contradict their previous words, to explain their experience exactly? If so, how many of those seers were thought by the multitudes to lose their power of communication, lose their special touch, lose their magical words, lose their simplicity and thereby left to be old seers who have no more understanding of their own experience, than any other man? Later, how of the multitudes settled among themselves that, the words of the seers the first time they uttered were sacrosant, more sacrosant than any other human being, including the seers who uttered the words themselves? If so, why did it happen after some more time, that some of the multitudes turned skeptical of the words, the words which they themselves approved of before? Why did the skeptics began to feel that the words had lost their magic touch, lost the power which they had earlier? The seers themselves, either turned into skeptics themselves and thought to be madmen, or turned into sophists and fade into glory, or worst of all, saw the misunderstanding that happened and did not comment so that they can be adulated by the masses, knowing within their heart of hearts, that no one understood the words? What happened to the masses themselves, ones who remained faithful to the words and repeated them, but did not understand the purport? Forget the purport, the masses who did not even understand the meaning of the words as uttered by the seers, the first time they were uttered? The masses who did not even know that they did not know? What happened to all these types of people? How did history judge them? How did they judge themselves, just before their final breath? The seers, of course, being wise, unioned with the Brahman. What happened to the skeptics? What happened to the faithful?

I do not know.

I, however, remember the following passage from Siddhartha by Hesse:

...
Quoth Siddhartha: “I’ve had thoughts, yes, and insight, again and again. Sometimes, for an hour or for an entire day, I have felt knowledge in me, as one would feel life in one’s heart. There have been many thoughts, but it would be hard for me to convey them to you. Look, my dear Govinda, this is one of my thoughts, which I have found: wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom which a wise man tries to pass on to someone always sounds like foolishness.”

“Are you kidding?” asked Govinda.

“I’m not kidding. I’m telling you what I’ve found. Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught. This was what I, even as a young man, sometimes suspected, what has driven me away from the teachers. I have found a thought, Govinda, which you’ll again regard as a joke or foolishness, but which is my best thought. It says: The opposite of every truth is just as true! That’s like this: any truth can only be expressed and put into words when it is one-sided. Everything is one-sided which can be thought with thoughts and said with words, it’s all one-sided, all just one half, all lacks completeness, roundness, oneness.
...

What is the proof that me, who wrote these words, me who felt all these in a spirit of inspiration, I will understand the message in the above words after some time, whatever it is? I would, I truly would, if the words were written with true Brahman experience. Why do great seers from India pray for smriti? Why do seers pray for everlasting experiences? Read the rest of this entry >>

Geometric puzzle: division of k-d space using (k-1) dim objects

Given 2 points, how can you divide a a line so that you maximize the number of regions?

Given 3 lines, how can you divide the 2 dimensional space (a plane) so that you maximize the number of regions?

Given 4 planes, how can you divide the 3 dimensional space so that you maximize the number of regions?

Can you think of a way to divide a k-dimensional space by (k-1) dimensional objects, so you maximize the number of regions?



Solution: build a k-dimensional solution from a (k-1)-dimension solution. Read the rest of this entry >>

Introduction to Ashtavakra Gita

Once upon a time there was a student of the scriptures. He would work hard all day every day and then read aloud the holy language of sacred verses late into the night. His wife, round of belly with their coming child, would sit beside him in the dim room, listening as her weary beloved chanted the ancient words.

One late night in her eighth month a voice from inside her belly said to the father: "Sir, please be attentive – you are mispronouncing that verse." Tired and short-tempered, without thinking why he would feel so enraged at being corrected by an unborn child, the father cursed the voice- and because the father had built up merit, his curse took hold: the child was born deformed, with eight crooks in his body. That child was called Ashtavakra, a name which means `eight bends'. Everyone who saw him laughed in derision.

That crippled child was an enlightened master who took birth in this family to reveal in simple words the essence of mystical experience. Janaka, king of the known world, father of the bride of God, Sita, daughter of the earth, that very King Janaka became this crippled boy's disciple. The book based on that event is called The Song of the Eightfold Cripple, or Ashtavakra Gita.

Asthavakra was not keen on accepting students, and so had few. When King Janaka came to hear of the wisdom of the crippled child he approached the boy as a humble student, not a commanding king. The boy accepted the king instantly as his disciple. This caused some talk in the sangham. ~Ah, Ashtavakra does have favorites after all, he accepted the king without any of the trials he had all of us face!~ This grumbling became a quiet force, and Ashtavakra knew of it.

One day the King was late and so the boy delayed his discourse. The moment the king arrived, Ashtavakra spoke: `This day I have had a vision, the capitol city will erupt in terrible fires and earthquakes- all there will die. Those who have loved ones or valuables there must hurry now if they wish to save anything!'

All the monks left. As the dust settled, only the boy and the king were sitting. The boy said softly, `Great king, is there nothing you would save?` Janaka replied, ~My lord and my friend, you are my only treasure.~ The cripple nodded and softly said, ~Well then if I am indeed your treasure, mount your horse now and go and gather my students back to me, tell them I have been mistaken, the capitol city is in no danger. Take your horse, and go.~

Rising to do as bidden, the King put his foot into the stirrup, and as he swung up over the saddle, realization dawned in his mind. He swallowed, looked about him at this new earth, heard new birds singing for the first time, and then looked at the cripple at his feet. The two looked at one another, and then the king left to find the other students.

Once back, the other students grumbled at being sent about here and there on foolish errands. One or two howeverd did soon understand why the master had chosen the king as a student in his own way.

This is what was said that day, as all sat about and heard these words of nectarine wisdom. Read the rest of this entry >>

Aryan Invasion Theory, Amitav Ghosh

Now, even the BBC link seems to say so. As if someone believed in it! (link via santosh on the advaitin mailing list)

Amitav Ghosh write a very powerful and moving essay about the 1984 riots (link via Amit Verma).

Incidentally, Amitav Ghosh seems to be quite an interesting author. He is a recipient of the annual award by the Gyanpeeth (Is it the same as The Gyanpeeth award?).
==
updated (11/22)
Some very good suggestions on teaching about Hinduism by Rosser. Link by Shadow Warrior. Read the rest of this entry >>

Translations by Swami Krishnanada

The Divine Life Society has lots of ebooks of Vedantic texts. The translations are done by Swami Krishnananda. The translation of BrahmaSutras (PDF link) has a very informative introduction of the schools of Indian philosophy (darsana) and also of the view points of the Acharyas who wrote commentaries of the BrahmaSutras.

The BrahmaSutras are part of the prasthatraya, the three sacred texts. It is said that a person wishing to start a new school of thought must write commentaries on the prasthanatraya as every Vedantic school builds from these. The prasthanatraya consist of the Upanishads (srutis, or revelation), the Bhagavad Gita (being the most important text of the smriti, recollection) and the BrahmaSutras (being of the category sutra, system).

The word sutra itself is etymologically related to sew and thread and hence means some kind of memory aid between different texts or thoughts. The sutra from Vedantic schools does not mean sutra the way Buddhist schools mean it. The BrahmaSutras are said to be terse and initially seem to contain contradictory thoughts. Swami Krishnananda says the following about them:

Sutras are concise aphorisms. They give the essence of the arguments on a topic. Maximum of thought is compressed or condensed into these Sutras in as few words as possible. It is easy to remember them. Great intellectual people only, with realisation, can compose Sutras. They are clues or aids to memory. They cannot be understood without a lucid commentary (Bhashya). The commentary also is in need of further elaborate explanation. Thus the interpretations of the Sutras gave rise to various kinds of literary writings such as Vrittis (gloss) and Karikas. The different Acharyas (founders of different schools of thought) have given their own interpretations of the Sutras to establish their own doctrines. The Bhashya of Sri Sankara on Brahma Sutras is known as Sariraka Bhashya. His school of thought is Kevala Advaita. The Bhashya of Sri Ramanuja who founded the Visishtadvaita School is called Sri Bhashya. The commentary of Sri Nimbarkacharya is known as Vedanta- parijata-saurabha. Sri Vallabhacharya expounded his system of philosophy of Suddhadvaita (pure monism) and his commentary on the Brahma Sutras is known as Anu Bhashya.

Also the following about the need to write commentaries on the classical texts:

Those who wish to study the philosophy of Vedanta should study the Ten Classical Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. All Acharyas have commented on Brahma Sutras. This is a great authority for every philosophical school in India. If any Acharya wishes to establish his own cult or sect or school of thought he will have to write a commentary of his own on Brahma Sutras. Then only it will be recognised.

Writing the commentaries on the PrasthanaTraya started from Sri Adi Sankara, who started the Kevala Advaitic school. Sri Swami Krishnananda uses the term uncompromising monism, though I think Advaita or non-dualism is possibly a better word. The following is also from the introduction.

According to Sri Sankara, there is one Absolute Brahman who is Sat-chit-ananda, who is of an absolutely homogeneous nature. The appearance of this world is due to Maya - the illusory power of Brahman which is neither Sat nor Asat. This world is unreal. This world is a Vivarta or apparent modification through Maya. Brahman appears as this universe through Maya. Brahman is the only reality. The individual soul has limited himself through Avidya and identification with the body and other vehicles. Through his selfish actions he enjoys the fruits of his actions. He becomes the actor and enjoyer. He regards himself as atomic and as an agent on account of Avidya or the limiting Antahkarana. The individual soul becomes identical with Brahman when his Avidya is destroyed. In reality Jiva is all-pervading and identical with Brahman. Isvara or Saguna Brahman is a product of Maya. Worship of Isvara leads to Krama Mukti. The pious devotees (the knowers of Saguna Brahman) go to Brahmaloka and attain final release through highest knowledge. They do not return to this world. They attain the Nirguna Brahman at the end of the cycle. Knowledge of Nirguna Brahman is the only means of liberation. The knowers of Nirguna Brahman attain immediate final release or Sadyomukti. They need not go by the path of gods or the path of Devayana. They merge themselves in Para Brahman. They do not go to any Loka or world. Sri Sankara’s Brahman is Nirvisesha Brahman (Impersonal Absolute) without attributes.

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Who can show the right way?

Al (of advai.blogspot.com) was intent on proving to a certain community that their thinking of "their way to God is the only way" may not be right. I asked him to stop doing so, as no ordinary person can tell another what the right way is. Also, there is a futility in trying to convince a person who is unwilling to listen.

Initially it seems that, no ordinary man can show us the right way. We feel that we are atleast better that the multitudes who did not even begin their search for realization. So we feel that, only a realized soul, one who is somehow special, can lead us. So most of the quests for realization begin with a search for the Guru. The goal is clear: the Guru, or the Prophet, can lead us by some kind of magic. (This thought is also echoed in the last pages of the The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao.)

After some time, it also becomes apparent that, a realized soul cannot show a man the right way, if the man is unwilling to listen, or see things with an open mind. If one realized soul cannot show a man the right way, another realized soul cannot. This is because, no realized soul is greater than another.

It also become apparent that, when a man is willing to see the point and is doing effort to search for the truth, he does not need a realized soul to show him the right way. The right way manifests itself, as it was before him all the time. The moment a man is willing to search for the truth, there comes a time when his veil of ignorance automatically falls off. A realization dawns that a Guru is not doing some magic, but helping to remove the veil.

The where the purpose of a Guru is to just quicken the process. A Guru can reduce the amount of time a yearning soul has to spend in the searching. The purpose of Ishwara is also similar. As Ishwara has control on Maya, He too quicken the process. When I say an Ishwara, I mean the different manifestations of higher powers. They could be from the six Indian theistic schools. Or, they could be the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God.

Hence the sayings of Vivekananda: God is very merciful to those whom He sees struggling heart and soul for spiritual realization. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.

So, once we understand all this, we have a couple of questions:

What is the right thing for an ordinary man to do with respect to his realization: Should he search for a Guru or not? Should he pray to Ishwara or not?

What is the right thing for an ordinary man to do for the realization of his peers? Should he give them the insights he got? If so, how is he to know whether they are right or wrong? Should he correct them when he feels they are wrong? How does he know for sure whether he is right or wrong? from Plato: What is Good and What is bad, do we need someone to tell us Phaedrus?

What is the right thing for a realized man to do? Is this a trick question? A realized man is beyond right and wrong. What can a realized man do for others' realization? Just guide them, if he wants to.

The Maya of a person can be removed only by Ishwara. Can the Avidya of a person can be removed by a Guru? Possibly. The distinction between Maya and Avidya is possibly quite subtle, as it has caused considerable discussion among the disciples of Sri Adi Sankara. So I will not confuse the picture by posting on them now. Read the rest of this entry >>

Dalai Lama on Science vs. Religion

As a Op-Ed Contributor on the NYTimes, in an article titled Our Faith in Science, His Holiness Dalai Lama (who signs the article as Tenzin Gyatso) has the following to say about religion and science:

If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview.

==
Later update (11/14): Also see the letters to the editor in which a writer points out the following:

Instead of focusing on whom to hate and what to fear, these leaders would do well to turn their attention to those "principles we share as human beings" about which the Dalai Lama writes so eloquently.

I am not a Buddhist, but I cannot help noticing how often it is the Buddhists who remind us that we do not have to demonize others in our own search for what is good.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Thoughts about the AUEE deparment

In an excellent post, SJ recounts some of the experiences he had in the EE department of AU. That is, when the department was in its heydays. I cannot agree with the post more. Read the rest of this entry >>

On Having No Head: Douglas Harding

I have read the book On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious by Douglas Harding, sometime back. Like many Zen concepts, the title is both mysterious and informative at the same time.

This very short book (120 pages: with 12pt font and 1.5 spacing) talks about the experience of realization by Douglas Harding. It (the concept of realization) is explained to a modern day human being with western background using the simplest of Buddhist -- mainly from Zen -- concepts. As the title implies, the essence is in "experiencing" headlessness, with the emphasis on experience. Just like many Zen koans, the book carries the essence in the first few pages. All these reasons make the descriptions in the book simple and striking.

Though I am yet to read the book completely, I felt I need not push myself to do so. I found that couple of first chapters contain the crux of the experience of the author. (This is probably why I could not push myself to complete the book.) I also feel that the two ways of experiencing realization are when you experience zero (shunyata) or you experience infinity (purnata).

The following is the first chapter. I found that there is no point highlighting some part of the text. The text is very short, cohesive and all the text is equally important.

The best day of my life -- my rebirthday, so to speak -- was when I found I had no head. This is not a literary gambit, a witticism designed to arouse interest at any cost. I mean in in all seriousness: I have no head.

It was when I was was thirty-three that I made the discovery. Though it certainly came out of the blue, it did so in response to an urgent inquiry; I had for several months had been absorbed in the question: what am I? The fact that I happened to be walking in the Himalayas at the time probably had little to do with it; though in that country unusual states of mind are said to come more easily. However that may be, a very still, clear day, and a view from the ridge where I stood over misty blue valleys to the highest mountain range in the world, made a setting worthy of the grandest vision.

What actually happened was something absurdly simple and unspectacular: just for the moment I stopped thinking. Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down. For once, words really failed me. I forgot my name, my humaneness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away. It was as if I had been born at that instant, brand new, mindless, innocent of all memories. There existed only the Now, that present moment and what was clearly given in it. To look was enough. And what I found was khakhi sleeves, terminating sideways in a pair of pink hands, and a khaki shirtfront terminating upwards in -- absolutely nothing whatever! Certainly not a head.

It took me no time at all to notice that this nothing, this hole, where a head should have been, was no ordinary vacancy, no mere nothing. On the contrary, it was very much occupied. It was a vast emptiness vastly filled, a nothing that found room for everthing -- room for grass, trees, shadowy distant hills, and far above them snow-peaks like a row of angular clouds riding the blue sky. I had lost a head and gained a world.

It was all, quite literally, breathtaking. I seemed to stop breathing altogether, absorbed in the Given. Here it was; this superb scene, brightly shining in the clear air, alone and unsupported, mysteriously suspended in the void, and (and this was the real miracle, the wonder and delight) utterly free of "me", unstained by any observer. Its total presence was my total absence, body and soul. Lighter that air, clearer that glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.

Yet in spite of the magical and uncanny quality of this vision, it was no dream, no esoteric revelation. Quite the reverse: it felt like a sudden waking from the sleep of ordinary life, an end to dreaming. It was self-luminous reality for once swept clean of all obscuring mind. It was the revelation, at long last, of the perfectly obvious. It was a lucid moment in a confused life-history. It was a ceasing to ignore something which (since early childhood at any rate) I had always been busy or clever or too sacred to see. It was naked, uncritical attention to what had all along been staring at my face -- my utter facelessness. In short, it was all perfectly simple and plain and straightforward, beyond argument, thought, and words. There arose no questions, no reference beyond the experience itself, but only peace and quiet joy, and the sensation of having dropped an intolerable burden.

In the next chapters, Harding takes the concept further and gives vivid details of what happened to him after experiencing headlessness. Also he explains various levels of headless ways. The website The Headless way also has nice information about the experience. The videos are also good.

The following are a set of good "koanistic" quotations from the book:

• Suppose a man were all of a sudden to make his appearance here and cut your head off with a sword! -- HUI-CHUNG
  
• Behead yourself! ... Dissolve your whole body into Vision: become seeing, seeing, seeing! -- RUMI
  
• My Soul has been carried away, and usually my head as well, without my being able to prevent it. --ST.TERESA
  
• Cover your breast with nothingness, and draw over your head the robe of non-existence. --ATTAR
  
• Give yourself utterly ... Even though the head itself must be given, why should you weep over it? --KABIR
  
• Seeing into Nothingness - this is the true seeing, the eternal seeing. -- SHEN-HUI
  
• "I think I'll go and meet her," said Alice ... "You can't possibly do that," said the Rose. "I should advise you to walk the other way." This sounded nonsense to Alice, so she said nothing but set off at once towards the Red Queen. To her surprise, she lost sight of her in a moment. -- Through the Looking Glass.
  
• The soul has now no awareness of the body and will give herself no foreign name, not man, not living being, nor anything at all. -- Plotinus
  
• After the body has been cast off to a distance like a corpse, the Sage never attaches himself to it. -- Sankara
  
• If one opens one's eyes and seeks the body, it is not to be found anymore. This is called: In the empry chamber it grows light. Inside and outside, everything is equally light. That is a very favorable sign. -- The secret of the Golden flower.
  
• Vow to acheive the perfect understanding that the illusory body is like dew and lightning. Zen Master Hsu Yun (on his death-bed, in 1959)
  

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Happy Birthday, Raja Rao!

Raja Rao (08-November-1908 to ?) would be 98 years today. Arguably, he is one of the greatest Indian English authors. He ranks along with Mulk Raj Anand and R.K.Narayan and the three are aptly called the original trinity. The next generation of Indian English writing had to wait for around 20-30 years till Salman Rushdie appeared. The comparision between Raja Rao with Salman Rushdie is reasonable. A better comparision of Raja Rao could be with James Joyce, as both of them created a new way of writing and then expressed themselves excellently in the new way.



His way of writing is unique. The punctuation itself is so close to the the way Indians talk and think. The following, from the preface of his first novel Kanthapura, explains about his way of writing.

...
The telling has not been easy. One has to convey in a language that is not one's own the spirit that is one's own.
...
After the language the next problem is that of style. The tempo of Indian life must be infused into our English expression, even as the tempo of American or Irish life has gone into the making of theirs. We, in India, think quickly, we talk quickly, and when we move, we move quickly. There must be something in the sun of India that makes us rush and tumble and run on. And our paths are interminable. The Mahabharatha has 214,778 verses and the Ramayana 48,000. The Puranas are endless and innumerable. We have neither punctutation nor the treacherous "ats" and "ons" to bother us -- we tell one interminable tale. Episode follows episode, and when our thoughts stop our breath stops, and we move on to another thought. This was and still is the ordinary style of our storytelling....
...

Beyond the use of language in style and punctuation, his scholarly way of writing can put people in his awe. I would like to think that if Sri. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan would be a novelist, he would write the way Raja Rao. Raja Rao's careful use of Advaitic concepts in The Serpent and the Rope makes it, what Arvind Sharma calls, India's most famous Advaitic novel.

Some biography snippets from the preface of Makarand Paranjape's book.

Raja Rao was born in an ancient and respected Brahmin family in Hassan, Karnataka, on 8th November, 1908. The eldest son in a family of two brothers and seven sisters, he was the centre of the family.
...

The Introduction chapter in the book by Shyamala Narayan gives another date of birth (the text also implies that there has been a confusion regarding the year of birth too). The following is the relevant excerpt from the book.

Raja Rao was born in Hassan, a small town in the state of Mysore (now called Karnataka). There is some confusion about Raja Rao's date of birth: his books mention it as 1909, but he was actually born on November 5, 1908, as M.K.Naik clarifies. There is an interesting story about his birth. He was born at the precise moment when his father was receiving the Maharaja, Krishna Raja Wodeyar of Mysore, at their house, So the child was called Raja and not Ramakrishna, after his grandfather. Raja Rao comes from a family of Brahmins who had been Vedantins and advisors to kings for generations. He was greatly influenced by his grandfather at Hassan, who taught him to love Sanskrit and kindled his interest in Indian Philosophy.
...

The date of birth given in the following link link also agrees with the one given by Makarand Paranjape.

Raja Rao was born on November 8, 1908 in Hassan, in the state of Mysore in south India, into a well-known Brahman family. ...
...

Autobiographical rant:

He has been of huge influence on me. My first memories of any of his works was looking at his classic book The Serpent and the Rope in my home. The cover had a picture of a beautiful European lady. Behind her was a dark man from India with a cigaratte in his hand. The background to this picture was the waters of Benares. It was one of the books that my mother used in her M.A (literature) and had since become part of the family library.

In one of the first classes of first year of engineering, one of our professors, Prof. P.V.Ratnam, who I admire a lot, had suggested us to read this book. I came home and started it right away "I was born a Brahmin. Brahmin is one who knows Brahman and all that..." The magic in the words, however, could not force me to read beyond a couple of pages and so I kept it aside. However, the book was never far away from me or my personal cupboard. I did not keep the the book away probably because I thought this was just a book like M.G.Say or Clayton-Hancock or Van Valkenburg (the classic books of EE) which needed a couple of careful readings to understand it. Alas, it did not occur to me that to understand the book, all that was needed was a mature reader. Also, that the book was recommended by Ratnam-garu made it a top of the list book.

I intuitively understood that, being unable to understand beyond a couple of pages of a novel which presupposes a good understanding of my beliefs is a serious deficiency on my part.

In the summer vacation between first and second years, I had read a couple of novels mostly R.K.Narayan (quite a few of them) and Serpent and the Rope.

When I went for higher studies to Bangalore, this was one of the books that I took with me -- inspite of the fact that I knew I may not have much time for novels -- mainly because I felt that this book had some magic in it. I was enchanted by the first lines.

Later in Bangalore, when I was in a book reading spree, I began Raja Rao with earnst. This time, I did some research and began with Kanthapura. Next I read The Serpent and the Rope. This time, the words in the book started to make sense. I continued and completed the novel. I also read another novel, The Cat and the Shakespeare. When I left to US, I still had my mother's copy with me. I read the book in the summer of 2003. I donot think I read it again in the next two years.

I began with a earnst study of Advaita as such and had read Deutsch, Arvind Sharma and some books on Ramana Maharishi.

In the Sep, OCT-2005, when I had a fracture of the hand and my movement was restricted, I read the book again, and the book made lot of sense and I could understand many of the quotations and monologues.
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How not to still the mind

Once King Janaka was sitting on the bank of a river, repeating 'SOHAM' mantra at the top of his voice.

Sage Astavakra was passing by. The sage was a knower of truth and an enlightened being. He was surprised why king Janaka was chanting the mantra in this loud fashion.

Astavakra wanted to instruct King Janaka the proper way of chanting a mantra. So, he sat down near King Janaka and chanting loudly, :' "This is my Alms Bowl and this is my Yoga Stick " so much so that Astavakra's chanting drowned the chanting of Janaka's chanting!

Now, King Janaka , not to be left behind starting chanting his 'SOHAM' mantra even louder --- this went on for some time -both vyeing with each other in this 'mantra recitation'. ...

Now, King Janaka got really annoyed and asked Asthavakra what the sage was doing. The sage replied "I am repeating - this is my Alms bowl, this is my yoga stick".

King Janaka replied, " Have you lost your mind? Who told you that the Alms bowl and the stick do not belong to you ? Why do you have to keep shouting about it.?"

Sage Astavakra replied , " O Mighty King ! It seems to me you are the one who lacks understanding. who told you that you are not 'THAT '? Why do you to go on shouting that 'I AM THAT' ? 'SOHAM' ?

When king Janaka heard this, he suddenly realized the trut. He understood that he need not go on repeating 'SoHam' mantra , he only needed to understand it and practice 'living' it!

'You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind.' -- Ashtavakra Gita 1.15 Read the rest of this entry >>

Story of Sudhama as narrated by Raja Rao

The princes of Kathiawar, like the Rajputs everywhere, claimed their descent from the sun and the moon, and belonged to the clan of Sri Rama (the Ikshavakus) or of Sri Krishna (the Yadavs). For, after all, Dwaraka was just around the corner of the peninsula, and that was where Sri Krishna ruled, so that most of the princes of course belonged to the Yadavas, or so they believed. Remember, Sri Krishna married his wife Rukmini at Madhavpur, and that is just down the curve of the bay, and the Yadavs once (and remember too) on that fateful day when they went gambolling to the sacred city of Prabhas Patan and got into a fist-fight, and then to a brawl and then to a real battle, they sent for Sri Krishna.


But he was not to be found -- he'd so planned as to go and lie under a tree (and had not Gandhari cursed that the race of Sri Krishna come to an end) -- and a hunter took Sri Krishna's heel for the head of a deer, and the greatest of Indians thus played the game of even death. He had planned it all, so everything happened according to his intent -- for, for him intent and action were just experience, there was none to act, as it were for he was in action as inaction and in inaction as action.

And so too was that other game of Sri Krishna. He had, while at school, a poor Brahmin companion, Sudhama was his name and he was raggedly miserable. Life had been most ungenerous to him (again it was Sri Krishna's game) -- Sudhama had a wife with a tongue of charcoal cinders and hair made as of rough hemp. When she called, even the street dogs would thgink it was one if their kind talking, and they started answering back. But Sudhama was so patient; he would always speak, when humiliated by his wife, of his friend Sri Krishna who ruled in Dwaraka. "Fine thing to have such a friend. But what does he do for you, you son of tamarind tree hag."

Hearing this morning after morning, Sudhama said one day to his wife: "I go and see Sri Krishna today, this very day."

"Oh yes you will go, you and your cononut-head and bursted-bleak belly, and seeing your tousled hair and bent back and bamboo limbs, even the guards will laugh at you."

"Perhaps you're right," said Sudhama, "but give me please a handful of puffed rice and a piece of molass."

"What for?" She asked.

"Well, when ones goes to see someone, you don't ever go empty handed, do you?"

"A beggar," declared Sudhama's wife, "has no manners," as the buffalo have no courtesies."

"Well, so be it. Give what puffed rice and molass you have to me."

Cursing her stars for such a rice miserable destiny -- that even the little puffed rice she had, she had perforce to give part of it away -- she threw a handful of it to Sudhama's dhoti-edge, broke a piece of molass from the pot, and said with wide-fingered threatening hands: "And don't you come back plain-handed, you cononut-head, after all this. I'll howl till the very spirits in the crematoriums will be frightened. Let's see what your great friend Sri Krishna is going to proclaim and perform for you. I take the name of God and tell you he will have chased out of city."

Sudhama was so accustomed to his wife's tongue and breath, it was as if he heard sound but not meaningful speech. He picked his stick from the corner, and taking the thought of Sri Krishna, he started towards holy Dwaraka. Long was the road to Dwaraka, but such sweetness of love, the trees seemed to open up and spread wide-limbed shade, and cool breezes blew from the northern mountains, and the sea seemed to churn in fervered joy. For when you take the thought of Lord true, all things that seek him rejoice in your rejoicement -- they also wave up and swell with your joy. Sudhama arrived at the city gates and these opened themeselves as if by vestal deities, and even the palace guards did not seem to mind his looks.

"Could you tell His Highness," he begged, "the Lord of Lords, his poor school fellow, the Brahmin Sudhama is at the door?"

"Be so kind as to wait here, Pundit Sir," said the guard politely, and "I'll go tell the Chamberlain."

It was all as if the gods were playing a trick, the Chamberlain seemed just waiting for this event at the door, and Sri Krishna himself, when he heard the news, he had such joy, people could see tears run down his lotus eyes. "Prepare," he commanded, "water to wash my guest's feet." And as Sri Krishna clad in silken blue, his eyes clear as sleep, his gait as if made by the curvature of form when he stood, the washing-stool before him, there he appeared across the courtyard, Sudhama, his boyhood friend. In their high niches the pigeons and parrots began to coo, and the ladies peered from the top apartments at this wondrous happening [You can see this in many a Rajput miniature today.]. Krishna bade Sudhama stand on the ivory stool, and rich with jugs of silver swan-shapen and filled with water, first warm and then cold, and when these were thrown on the Brahmin's withered and dusty feet -- then did Krishna taking the silken hand-cloth from Chamberlain's arm, wipe the friends feet himself. Now Sri Krishna took his friend to the marbled court and before all his noblemen, he said, "Friend, be seated," and showed Sudhama the throne. Could a poor Brahmin occupy such an august seat? No. He would not. Krishna himself sat on a couch beside his friend. They now spoke to each other of all that happened and passed by since their boyhood. They wept and laughed but all around there was as if a wall of luminescent silence. Everything moved in the palace as usual, the noblemen retired to their afternoon siesta, the servants moved with agility and calm, from corner to corner of the palace, the nine diurnal musics sounded, the elephants trumpeted after a good feed, the cows lowed for their returning calves, and when the evening fell a great banquet was laid for the poor Brahmin, Sudhama and he ate as if he was eating his own food, at his home. For, for the first time he was at home himself. Krishna enjoyed munching the puffed rice his friend had brought, and some of it was sent upstairs to Rukmini, and all the palace was given bits of it. It tasted, did this puffed rice, as nothing one has tasted before. It had the delicate saffron smell of Sri Krishna himself. And when the night drums sounded and the meal was over, the hands were washed, the betel leaves served, a carriage was made ready, and beneath the high chandeliers, flower and fruit hangings, as Sri Krishna said farewell to his friend, he embraced him again and again, and they wept. Yes, Sudhama had to go. He had now to go back home. But he'd forgot his promise to his wife. He had asked nothing of Sri Krishna., Pray what can you ask of a friend who is King?

Yet Sudhama was so happy the very mind-picture of Sri Krishna brought him to tears. And when he came nearer and nearer his home, he began however to have fits of fearfulness. What would it be like coming back plain handed? But when the town came it was all a different -- the very walls were shining as if white-washed and much repaired, and when his carriage stopped, his wife stood, a gold plate in her hands, flowers and Kumkum water floating in it, and lighting the lamp of auspiciousness, she welcomed her lord befittingly, and fell at his withered feet. And from that day onwards the city came to be called Sudhamaputi, or the city of Sudhama, but due to the crookedness of people's speech, it became Puri, and later someone added bunder[Bunder means harbour, haven] to it so that today it's called Porbandar, Haven-city.
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Mahavakyas of Advaita or Vedanta

The Mahavakyas -- or great sayings or principal statements -- from Upanishads are said to contain the essence of the teachings of Upanishads. It is said that meditating on the Mahavakyas would lead someone towards realization.

Pranava (Aum): Pranava is said to be the fundamental (true) Mahavakya of the Vedas as established in Chapter Twelve. (details?)

For a particular Vedantic system, some of the Mahavakyas are considered more important than the others. This is inspite of the fact that all schools in Vedanta accept Upanishads and all the Mahavakyas are from the Upanishads.

According to Arvind Sharma, Sri Adi Sankara stated that four Mahavakyas are fundamental for Advaitic learning. A web search also shows that Sri Adi Sankara set up the four schools, one for each Mahavakya. (Yet to find out which school stands for which Mahavakya.) They are the following:

1. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma: meaning All this verily Brahman. This is from Chandogya Upanisad, 3.14.1.
   
   
2. Aham Brahmasmi: I am Brahman. This is from Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad, 1.4.10.
   
   
3. Ayam Atma Brahma The Self is Brahman or This Atman is Brahman. This is from ?
   
   
4. Tat tvam asi: That thou art. This Mahavakya is from Chandogya Upanisad, 6.8.7 (Tat tvam asi svetaketo, "O Svetaketo, you are that")
   
   

Additional Mahavakas from Vedanta. Some of them are:

Prajnanam Brahma: Brahman is Supreme Knowledge prajnanam brahma, This is from Aitareya Upanisad, 1.5.3.

So'ham: He am I. This is from ?? Read the rest of this entry >>

Story of Radha, Brahmachari-Krishna and Upavasi-Durvasa: Raja Rao

One day Radha had a very possessive thought of Krishna. "My Krishna", she said to herself, as though one could possess Krishna as one could possess a calf, a jewel. Krishna, the Absolute Itself, immediately knew her thought. And when the absolute knows, the knowing itself, as it were, is the action of the act; things do not happen according to his wish, but his wish itself is his own creation of his wish, as the action is the creation of his own action.



So, Durvasa the great Sage was announced.

"He is on the other side of the river, Lord", spake the messengers, and "and he sends his deep respects".

Then Krishna went into the deep chambers and said to Radha, "Radha, Durvasa the great Sage is come, my dear. We must feed him".

"Oh, then I will cook the food myself" said Radha, and Krishna was very happy at this thought. So he went back to the Hall of Audience, and not long after, Radha came in with all the cooked food. "Yes, the meal is ready my Lord. And I will take it myself to Sage Durvasa".

"Wonderful, wonderful!" exclaimed Sri Krishna, pleased with the devotion of his wife to the Sages.

"I'll go and come," said Radha, and hardly had she gone to the palace door when she remembered the Jumna was in flood. No ferryman would go across. She came back to Krishna and begged, "My Lord, how can I take the food? the river is in flood".

"Tell the river," answered Krishna, "Krishna the brahmachari [The celibate, or who has taken the vow of celibacy] wishes that the way be made for you to pass through."

And Radha went light of heart, but suddenly bethought herself it was a lie. Who better than she to know whether Krishna be brahmachari or not? "Ah the noble lie, the noble lie," she said to herself, and when she came to the river, she said, "Krishna, the Lord, the brahmachari, wishes that way be made for me to pass through".

And of course the river rose high and stood still, but suddenly opened out a blue lane, small as a village footpath, through which Radha walked to the other side. And coming to the opposite shore, she thanked the river, and saluting the great Sage Durvasa, in many a manner of courtesies and words of welcome, spread the leaf and laid him the food.

Durvasa was mighty hungry and he ate the food as though the palm of his hand went down his gullet. "Ah, ah," he said and belched and made himself happy, with curds and rice and many meats, perfumed and spiced with saffron, and when there was nothing left in leaf or vessel, he rose, went to the river and washed his hands. Radha took the vessels to the waters, too to wash, threw the leaf into the Jumna and stood there to leave. Then it was she who remembered, the river was in flood. Sri Krishna had told her what to say while going and not what to utter while coming back.

Durvasa understood her question before she asked - for the sages have this power too -- and he said, "Tell the river, Durvasa the eternal upavasi [He who fasts] says to the river, 'Open and let Radha pass through to the other shore.'"

Radha obeyed but she was more sorrowful. "I have seen him eat till his palm enter his gullet, and he has belched and passed his hand over his belly with satisfaction. It is a lie, a big lie," she said, but she went to the river thoughtful, very thoughtful. "River," she said, "Durvasa who is ever in upavasa says open and let me pass."

And the river opened a lane just as wide as a village pathway, and the waves held themselves over the head, and would not move. She came to the other shore and returned to the palace in heavy distress. "Yes, nature is a lie, nature believes and obeys lies. Lord, what a world," She said to herself and going into the Hall of Sorrowing, shut herself and began to sob. "Lord, what a lie the world is, what a lie."

Sri Krishna knew the cause and cadence of this all, and gently entered the Hall of Sorrowing. "Beloved, why might you be in sorrow?" he said.

"My Lord," she answered, "the river believes you are a brahmachari, and after all who should deny it better than me, your wife? and then I go to Durvasa and he eats with his palm going down his gullet, and he says, "Tell the river, Durvasa who is ever in upavasa asks you to open and let Radha pass." And the river opens herself, makes a way large as a village pathway, and I pass over to this side. The world is a fib, a misnomer, a lie."

"The world, my dear, is not a lie, it is an illusion. Besides, tell me, is my body your husband, Radha?"

"No, my Lord."

"Is my mind your husband, Radha?"

"No, my Lord."

"Then what is it when you say to yourself, 'Krishna, my husband?'"

"Assuredly something beyond the body and beyond the mind -- the Principle."

"And tell me, my love, can you possess that, can you possess it?"

"No, my lord, how can I possess the Absolute? The I is the Absolute." And she fell at the feet and understood, and lived ever after in the light of the Truth.
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Illusion

Via Atanu, A very very cool illusion!! It is difficult to believe what is it that we see. Read the rest of this entry >>