Vedanta Sandesh_Aug 2020 by Vedanta Mission

Monthly eMagazine of Vedanta Mission

Vedanta Sandesh

Year - 26

Aug 2020

Issue 2

Cover Page

The cover page of the Aug 2020 issue of Vedanta Sandesh is regarding the birth of Lord Krishna - in the jail, when he gave darshan to his parents. Sri Krishna Janmashtami is one the most celebrated festival of India and specially the Hindus. This year it has gained special significaance when finally the foundation stone of the Sri Ram Mandir is being laid by the Prime Minister of the country - after all the legal hurdles were satisfactorily resolved and sorted out. Both Bhagwan Sri Ram and Bhagwan Sri Krishna are the incarnations of Bhagwan Vishnu. Both of them inspire the Hindus in a very profound way. We dedicate this issue to Lord Krishna. May his Bhagwad Gita enlighten and inspire the people of the world to live a dynamically positive & noble life for the well being of all. Jai Sri Krishna.

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Om Tat Sat

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CONTENTS

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Vedanta Sandesh Aug 2020 1.

Shloka 5

Message of P. Guruji

7-8

Sadhana Panchakam

9-12

Letter 13-14

Gita Reflections 15-19

The Art of Man Making

Jivanmukta 25-28

Story Section 29-33

Mission / Ashram News

20-24

34-55

10.

Internet News 56

11.

Forthcoming Progs 57

12.

Links 58 3

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Monthly eMagazine of Vedanta Mission Aug 2020 : Year 26 / Issue 2

Published by

Vedanta Mission Vedanta Ashram, E/2948, Sudama Nagar, Indore-452009 (M.P.) India http://www.vmission.org.in / vmission@gmail.com

Editor:

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Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

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txf}y{k.ka czã czã.kks·U;é fdapuA czãkU;n~Hkkfr psfUeF;k ;Fkk e#ejhfpdkAA Brahman is other than this universe. There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage. Atma Bodha - 63

Message from Poojya Guruji

Shiv-Mahimna Stotram During the Corona Lockdown Vedanta Ashram conducted three Online Gyana Yagnas - Bhaja Govindam, Hanuman Chalisa, and now, the ongoing Shiv-Mahimna Stotra Gyana Yagna. It was a very satisfying experience and we are very happy to see a very nice & enthusiastic response from our devotees and shishyas. Neccessity is mother of invention. All the Gyana Yagnas by various Ashram Mahatmas had to be cancelled. These included programs in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jalgaon and Dubai. We, like all of you were locked down in our homes. Sitting here we took resort to online medium and started the pravachans. The challenge of online pravachans was big. We had to organize video camera, audio recording tools, video & audio editing softwares, learning their operation, and then uploading and sharing. Initially it was jugaad of using the available materials and then slowly as the markets were allowed V edanta Sandes h

to be open, we organized better equipments. Luckily the internet facility was not stopped, so sharing etc was possible. I am happy that our dev-

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otees and shishyas received these talks every enthusiastically. Ways & means of generating funds for running the ashram and our daily necessities like food etc were slowly organized and now the things are better. Our blessings & best wishes to all patrons. As the sravana month began we started classes on Shiv-Mahimna Stotram. Majority of Hindus devote this entire month for the bhajan and upasana of Bhagwan Shiv. This is very respectable composition by a great scholar Acharya Pushpadantaji Maharaj. It is astounding. Not only its language is scholarly but its depth is amazing. How beautifully the great teacher expresses his devotion at the feet of Lord Shiva while simultaneously revealing and explaining the basic tenets of scriptures. Many people have written about Bhagwan Shiv, but there is nothing even close to this composition. We offer our salutations again & again at the feet of such masters. It is joy par excellence. No wonder in all ancient Ashrams this stotra is religiously chanted daily. I feel profoundly blessed to have got an opportunity to discuss this stotra in detail during my talks. Every shloka was a treat. Feel proud of our heritage and the depth of our masters. We do not know how long the Corona pandemic will last. However, it has proved to be a blessing to many, including us. Now we can take classes while sitting here at Ashram. Obviously this is more convenient to us. Secondly the online talks are available to people all over the world and will remain an asset for posterity also.

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Om Tat Sat.

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Sadhana Panchakam

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- : 12: -

Swamini Samatananda 9

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Sadhana Panchakam

o far, in the last sootra the Acharya has guid-

ed us into giving up desire-prompted actions. In the following sopana the Acharya now says having given up the field of action, go in search of a Master who knows the ultimate truth of life. Seek the company and shelter of such a master.

lf}}kuqilI;Zrke~% Seek the shelter of a ‘Sad-Vidwaan’ the knower of Truth. It has been a common and strong tendency of an individual seeker to constantly indulge in actions and aim for various worldly things in life. Such a seeker was guided by the Gita -art of performing actions that is the art of performing actions with a yagya bhava. Performing actions with the spirit of yagya carves a mind which is sattwik, pure, refined, sharp, selfless, and integrated. Not only this, the art of performing actions as a Yogi soon ufolds for the student the reality of all that is acquired by performing actions. One soon comes to see the limitations of karma and all that is acquired as a karma phala. The limitation being that field of karma is an endless journey of acquiring and sustaining and yet at the end of the day a person is still empty and hungry for more. Once this realization dawns a V edanta Sandes h

curious student now wishes to seek that knowledge which will

Sadhana Panchakam gratify his long lived thirst and help him awaken into a state of self contentment. When a sadhaka very sincerely and intensely craves for such wisdom the scriptures guide such a student to give up all actions and go in search of a Master. Thus here it is said ‘Sad Vidwaan upasarpyataam’- Seek the shelter of a ‘Sad-Vidwaan’ the knower of Truth. A Sadvidwaan alone can be a ‘Sadguru’. We often find various spiritual teachers around us. But not all of them can be seen as a Sadguru. A Sadguru is one who is a Shrotreeya Brahmanishtha Guru. Shrotreeya Brahmanishtha are two qualities which our scriptures speak of as the qualities of a Sadguru. Although one must understand here that we as ignorant seekers are never in a position to evaluate a Guru and then decide wheather one should become my Guru or not. A Sadguru comes in our lives as blessing from God when we sincerely seek a Guru in our life. Still the scriptures reveal certain criteria so that we do not go astray. There are many spiritual Gurus around us who may be authentic or who may not be. Many of them do not take the Vedas as the valid means of knowledge. They teach their own individual philosophies. The scriptures are guiding us to follow that lineage of Masters where Vedas alone are the valid means of knowledge. From that perspective A Shrotriya Brahmnishtha Guru is one who has acquired Vedantic knowledge from a Vedantic Master himself, He is the one who himself whole heartedly lives this knowledge as an embodiment of Brahma. At the same time he V edanta Sandes h

also has the art of teaching this knowledge to a sadhaka. So

Sadhana Panchakam with a sincere resolve to gain knowledge of the truth one must go in search of a Sadguru and surrender at the Holy Feet of the Master. This attitude of surrender at the Feet of the Master is known as Guru Upasadan. Guru Upasadan reflects our dispassion towards worldly experiences and achievements and a sincere desire to enquire upon the truth. One of the most famous and inspiring example is that of Sri Adi Shankaracharyji himself. When Adi Shankaracharyaji was eight years old and when he got the permission from his mother to take sannyas, Shankara left from Kerela in search of a Shrotriya Brahmnishtha Guru. Such was the intensity of his desire for knowledge that he walked all the way from Kerela to Madhya Pradesh in central India in search of a Vidwaan Guru. There in Omkaareshwar at the banks of the Narmada river the Acharya finally met his revered Guru, Bhagwatpad Sri Govin-

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dapadacharyaji.

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Mail from Poojya Guruji Role of a Guru Hari om ! Guru word basically means ‘One who imparts Knowledge’. Blessed with the association of a Guru the student becomes equipped with better & valid insight into the ways of the world & the truth of our Self. Such a student thereafter lives his or her life fully and nicely. The role of a Guru is not to bring about results, which is the domain of Karma. What most of the people want is some special Karma-Phala - some special results & achievements. They are desperate for that, and whosoever assures results they will tend to follow them. Result-oriented endeavors are not the real domain of an adhyatmic teacher, even though our Guru’s reveal to us all the aspects of Karma, its Karta, and its good or bad consequences, however, the focus is more on the whole science rather than its execution & its subsequent results. Just as Science & Technology are two different & specialized fields, so also are Gyana & Karma. Scientists are very objective

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& analytical and they do not bother about the technology part, of how to use the facts. In fact, I have met people who consider it a distraction in their objective studies & analysis. So also is Gyana

& Karma. Gyana is very detached & objective, such masters have themselves dissociated themselves from all karmas, and focus exclusively on the truths of life. That is why Vairagya is such an important quality. First things first. keep aside all goals except to know the truth. For this a different mind-set is required, once the truth is realized. Technocrats require a different mind-set all-together. Whoever appreciates the importance of these two things, shall know the exact role of a teacher in life. This is very rare and precious when we get an opportunity to explore the truth of life completely objectively. Detachment implies an unconditioned approach. Then alone the truth is known. So when I hear of people praising their Guruâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for some miracle then I can just feel sorry for them. They help people to somehow get some cherished results. Such people are ignorant. Go to a teacher just to know the truth, thereafter plan what you need to plan, and then work hard to get whatever result you cherish. The validity of knowledge is the domain of a teacher, its implementation is a different story altogether. So let us wake up and realize the role of a teacher in life. Love & om,

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Swami Atmananda

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Gita Reflections

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bPNk}s"k leqRFksu }U}eksgsu Hkkjr loZHkwrkfu lEeksga lxsZ ;kkfUr ijUri%% (Gita 7/27) 15

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Delusion by Desire Swamini Samatananda

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All beings, Bharata due to delusions of the opposites arising from desire and aversion go into a state of total delusion in this creation, Parantapa.

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Gita Reflections

he Supreme being is the truth of all that exists, wheather it is at the level of inert matter or wheather it is something that is living. The Supreme being as Ishvara creates and sustains the world. Ishvara alone expresses as the entire creation in various names and forms. Knowledge of Ishvara as oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own atma is the goal of life, but unfortunately most of the human be-

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ings are not even aware of the existence of such a compassionate, all pervasive, all knowledgable, all powerful Lord. In case, if they are even aware of the exitence of Ishvara then too they do not know or understand the true nature of Ishvara. It is the result of such ignorance that not only is our faith and awareness distorted but so is our relation with God. For all those people for whom Ishvara exists, he is only a means of fulfilling various worldly desires. Very rarely does someone relate with God with the desire and curiosity to know Ishvara. Why is this so? This question has been answered in the following sloka. Sri Krishna says-Obstructed by Yoga-Maya people fail to see the truth of the Lord. What are these obstructions which cause hinderance in seeing the truth of the Lord. This has been discussed in the following sloka. Sarva bhootani sammoham sarge yaanti-All the jivas due to their ignorance which has travelled along thousands and thousands of births and deaths go into a state of delusion right from the time of birth. Since I am not aware of my real nature as Bliss, I seek happiness and contentment from the world outside. Thus my journey as an external seeker begins. Not only do I seek pleas-

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Gita Reflections ures from outside but in the process my delusion gets more and more stronger. My conviction about gaining gratification from the world outside gets more and more stronger. Here Sri Krishna reveals what is delusion and how this delusion comes about. Delusion is moha. It is that veil which not only obstructs knowledge but also the desire for knowledge. Such is the empowerment of delusion that the very pottential of even knowing something correctly is obstructed. How does this delusion come about?

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Sri Krishna says-Iccha dvesha sammutthena-Delusion is born of dvandva, the opposites. What are those opposites and where do they come from? Opposites are born of Iccha and Dvesha i.e. strong desires and aversions. Likes and dislikes create opposites, out of which delusion, moha is born. Opposites by theselves are not a problem. The entry of opposites in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life is a natural flow of life. Just as an ocean has waves which are sometimes high and sometimes low, sometimes peaceful and sometimes stormy so also life is a continuous flow of changing situations. The only thing is that certain opposites are a natural feature like heat and cold, day and night, and other natural phenomena. These opposites are created by Ishvara. But there are certain opposites which are subjectively created. They are my own creation. Like success and failure, respect and disrespect, happiness and sorrow, profit and loss. We set our own expectations and parameters and then label a situation as success or failure, good or bad, pleasant and unpleasant. By itself these opposites do not have an objective reality. One can see that all opposite situations are relatively expe-

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Gita Reflections

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rienced as good and bad, joyful or traumatic. What may bring happiness to one person may bring sorrow to another, that which is success for me can be a failure for another. Thus it is a matter of our individual perceptions. All opposites experienced at the level of the mind are created by the individual self. They are created by my iccha and my dvesha. Iccha is raga-what I personally like and dvesha is what I personally do not like. It is my likes and dislikes alone that create the bundle of opposites for me. It is so interesting to see that on a rainy day the farmer is elated with joy as the rains pour down as a flow of life and energy but at the same other people might become crancky as the rains come down simply because they wish that everything was nice and dry as they went out of their homes. So here we can see how our individual likes and dislikes give birth to opposites. Once we are trapped in the net of these opposites then not only do we get busy and distracted trying to handle them, but these strong likes and dislikes veil our intellect making it incapable of seeing things as they are. Our perception gets distorted, and ridden with anxiety and fear. This alone is moha. As a result all our goals and means towards various goals also come to become distorted and unsteady. Thus it is of prime importance to handle desire and aversion by surrendering to the Lord and living as a humble istrument of Ishvara, thus paving the path of freedom from an existence which is limited.

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The Art Of Man Making

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Yagna Spirit-A Cosmic Law

P.P. Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji 20

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The Art of Man Making

n order to make the intelligent sceptic in

Arjuna accept the philosophy of working in the Yagna spirit, Krishna now shows how it is a universal law of nature. Everywhere around us, from the twinkling stars to the flowing rivers, nature serves the world in the yagna spirit. The sun shines, but demands no appreciation from anyone. Rains fall; rivers flow; plants flower; trees bear fruits; oceans heave; towering mountains stand....all serve the world to make it what it is, and none of them seem to demand even a passing recognition from the people benefitted by it. They all do their duties discovering a joyous fulfillment in the very performance. In the style of a mythology here Krishna sings. Vyasa was a poet- philosopher and therefore in him poetry, science and philosophy often get mingled to enrich each by the other. This is the style of the Gita Acharya. Lord Krishna says, the creator (Prajapati) after having created mankind, together with the yagna, said, “ By this shall you create: this shall be the fulfiller of all your desires”. The idea of yagna spirit is the universal law of nature and is given out against an awe-inspiring and dignified background. The creator conceived the yagna spirit along with the creatures, and as a

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parting gift to the best of his creatures, the highest-evolved, the intelligent man, he presented it. Said the mighty creator, “Now I

The Art of Man Making give you the yagnaâ&#x20AC;?-the power to co-operatively work together for a desirable goal. With this-functioning in this co-operative spirit of selfless dedicated endeavour-may you all prosper(anena prasavishyadhwam) nay, even if man were to discover any imperfection in nature, or in the scheme of life in the world, an intelligent community can, by itself, striving in the yagna spirit of selfless co-operative endeavour, bring about all improvements and every conceivable progress. The story of scientific world and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth during the last thousand years; the story of economic and political revolutions the world goes through from time to time, are all examples. Alas! men co-operate and act as a team more often for destructive wars than a constructive work for creating peace and harmony among themselves! It is due to a weakness inherent in man that he fails in his attempts at co-operative endeavours. We know if we all decide and work for a cause, good or bad, we can succeed. We can make a heaven of earth, or hell of life around us. In order to work co-operatively, each will have to sacrifice his ego and his personal desire-gratifications. If anyone in a team asserts his ego or grows anxious for his own desire- gratifications, the cadence in the work is lost, and the co-operative scheme breaks down. Thus for success the entire team must have one sigle inspiring idea at the altar of which everyone must readily surrender his personal vanity and greed. A large number of people coming together to act in unison at the same altar of grace, for the total glory of all is the V edanta Sandes h

ritual yagna. This yagna spirit is a gift recieved from the creator

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The Art of Man Making by man-as a community, not as an individual. The power of changing the world is in the hands of the community, though they may draw the inspration to co-operate and act for its accomplishment from a single individual “leader”. And they exert this power only through selfless dedicated team work-....the “dynamism of togetherness” can change the world and inaugurate any progress conceived by man. This “blessing” pronounced by the creator need not necessarily work out in life, because we know we can only strive, but our efforts often do not bear fruits when the environment and circumstances are not conducive. A farmer may work hard but inclement weather can spoil his harvest. Nature also must co-operate in order to make man’s effort a grand success. Will the cosmic forces obey us? Have we any command over them? To clear this doubt, the Gita continues ‘cherish the Devas with the yagna spirit and the Devas in turn shall cherish you; thus cherishing each other, you shall gain the highest goal. These words are put into the mouth of the creator-it is his command. When men in a community strive co-operatively, without ego and ego-centric desires, the cosmic forces that constitute the environment, shall cherish them in turn. In short, when man works in the yagna spirit, the outer circumstances must miracuV edanta Sandes h

lously change their pattern to be conducive to the common will

The Art of Man Making of the selfless community striving for the good of all. When we cherish the outer cosmic forces (Devas) they shall inreturn cherish us with the fulfillment of our welfare, or whatever is the common demand of the total community striving together. This is a divine law-a universal truth-a scientific fact. Thus, mutually cherishing each other let man with the grace of the Devas, achieve the greatest prosperity (parasparam bha-

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vayantah shreyah paramavapsyathah).

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Jivanmukta Wandering In Himalayas

90 Pashupathinath

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in Nepal

Excerpts from the Travel Memoirs of Param Poojya 25 Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

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Jivanmukta I

f a woman enters our Ashram we will hack

her to pieces with a sword so declared a Tibetan Lama to me once. The lama was probably exaggerating, yet his words point to their deep seated desire not to get mixed up with worldly affairs which tend to cause violent mental agitations. Compared with the moderns who mingle freely with lustful women every day and yet claim to be leading a life of unadulterated Brahmacharya, the ancients, it would seem, were neither so saintly nor so self-restrained. What silly, good-for-nothing cowards were those ancients ! abject slaves to their senses ! superstitious idiots ! How ridiculous! They had to retreat to lonely forests to preserve their Brahmacharya ! Whatever be the notion of our moderns about their forefathers, the Buddhist lamas still retreat into such solitudes even today. They do not believe it possible to be wedded to worldly life and yet be ascetic. Swayambhoonatham is a lovely solitary place so occupied by Buddhist monks. It is situated to the west of Khatmandu, One day I went there for darshan in the company of some devotees from the capital. That lonely, peaceful hermitage, standing on the top of a small hill, captivated my heart completely. There I saw several beautiful temples dedicated to the five Pandavas, etc. In the chief temple there is a light kept burning day and night and it is never suffered to go out. At the temple we met the chief lama and had a V edanta Sandes h

conversation with him. We were told that the temple had been in

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Jivanmukta

existence long before the time of Gautama Buddha, the last of the Buddhas. Every year pilgrims from Tibet and other countries pay their visits to the holy shrine. The local people told me that in the very year of my visit a very holy lama from Tibet had performed a miraculous penanceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;had successfully completed his Pranati yatra, filling all beholders with wonder and admiration Seeing how difficult it is for an ordinary person even to climb the high, steep, snowclad peaks, and how much more dangerous to climb down, we are left to wonder at the tremendous power of faith that enables man to perform the entire journey in the course of several months or even years, prostrating himself at every step Such penance cannot fail to inspire beholders with awe and devotion. The sight of the somewhat circular and uneven central plain of Nepal with the capital city at its centre and extensive rice-fields dotted with villages surrounding it, as well as the far off Himalayan peaks spotlessly white with snow raised my mind to a higher plane of joy I could not return to the city before I had my fill of that divine bliss The paddy fields in the vicinity of the city reminded me often of our own Kerala. In the year 450 B C Lord Buddha himself toured this region and converted the local Brahmins and the members of the other castes

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into Buddhism About two hundred years later, in 249 B C the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, travelled over these places, propagat-

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Jivanmukta

ing the Buddhist faith, building Viharas and encouraging the new religion Nepal remained under the sway of the religion for long, and even today one may come across its relics in quite unexpected corners I spent one whole day visiting the temples at Pathanam and Bhathugam, two small towns near Khatmandu I found many temples built in the Buddhist style with the idols of Buddha still intact The excellence of the Buddhist style of architecture is displayed in every one of them In the towns Buddhists live side by

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side with their kith and kin, reconverted into the Hindu fold.

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STORY Section 29

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Tripurasur-The three Demons

arada requested lord Brahma to narrate how lord Shiva annihilated the demons. Lord Brahma narrated the tale of Tripurasur. “After the killing of Tarakasur, three of his sons started doing their penance. The eldest among them was Tarkaksha, younger to him was Viddyunmali and Kamalaksha was the youngest. I (Brahma) became very pleased by their tremendous penance.” “They requested me to create three invincible forts for them, which should be full of all kinds of wealth and splendour and which nobody could be able to break.” “A golden fort was constructed for Taraksha; for Kamlaksha a fort of silver was constructed and for Viddyunmali iron-fort was constructed. I had ordered the demon named Maya to construct these forts. One of these forts was constructed in the sky, the other was constructed on the earth and the third was constructed in the nether world.” “After constructing the forts for them Maya took the responsibility of protecting them. I (Brahma) warned the three demons that

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they would be killed by lord Shiva. After this I came back.”

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Tripurasur-The three Demons The three demon-brothers started tormenting the deities. The deities went to lord Brahma and narrated about their miseries. Lord Brahma instructed them to seek the help of Shiva. They went to lord Shiva and explained about their woes. They also requested Shiva to eliminate those three demons. Lord Shiva instructed them to go to lord Vishnu and said“The Tripurasurs are very virtuous so they could not be killed. You all must go to lord Vishnu and try to seek his help.” The deities then went to lord Vishnu and made the same request. Lord Vishnu performed an oblation. Thousands of armed spirit appeared from the yagya-kunda. Lord Vishnu sent these spirits to kill the three demon-brothers. But these spirits were no match for the Tripurasurs might and they had to run for their lives. They came to lord Vishnu and narrated the whole story. Lord Vishnu became very worried. He sent back all the deities and started thinking about the means, Tripurasurs could be killed. Lord Vishnu came to the conclusion that the Tripurasurs could not be killed till they remain Virtuous and religious. He then created an illusionary entity from his body who had no hairs on his head. He had worn dirty clothes and a bag was hanging down his shoulder. He also had a broom in his head.

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The entity asked lord Vishnu about the purpose of his existence and his name. Lord Vishnu told him that his name was Arihant. He also instructed him to create a scripture which stresses upon

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Tripurasur-The three Demons the importance of action (Karmavad) and which is different from the rituals explained in the Vedas. Lord Vishnu specifically instructed him to keep the language of that scripture as simple and degenerated as possible. Lord Vishnu then preached Arihant on the science of illusion which stressed that the heaven or the hell does not exist anywhere else, but on this earth itself. Lord Vishnu instructed Arihant to get Tripurasurs initiated into with this philosophy so that the demon-brothers become irreligious. Vishnu ordered Arihant to make his residence in a desert with his disciples. “You should propagate your philosophy when Kali Yuga arrives” - said Lord Vishnu. After giving his instruction lord Vishnu disappeared. Arihant then created four illusionary entities from his bein who were supposed to act as his followers. Their names were Rishi, Yati, Keerya and Upadhyay. Now the time had arrived to enter the forts of Tripurasurs. All of them entered the forts and in a gradual manner started increasing their influence. As a result the Tripurasurs became irreligious. Not only that, their subjects too became irreligious in a

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very short time. When the deities saw that the Tripurasurs had become irreli-

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gious completely, they went to lord Shiva and requested him to kill Tripurasurs. Lord Shiva called Vishwakarma and asked him to make a suitable chariot, bow and arrow. The chariot was made entirely of Gold. Brahma himself became the charioteer and the chariot was speedily driven towards Tripura. The Gods accompanied Shiva with diverse weapons. Prithvi was the chariot. Sun and Moon were the wheels. Brahma was the charioteer. Meru was the bow and Lord Vishnu was the arrow. By then a thousand years had passed so that the three forts had become a single Tripura. Shiva installed a divine weapon known as Pashupatastra into his arrow and shot it at Tripura. The arrow burnt up Tripura in a

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split second.

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Mission & Ashram News

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Bringing Love & Light in the lives of all with the Knowledge of Self

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