Gurupurnima is the auspicious day,
especially for spiritual seekers in general and the sanyasis in particular. And
on this day, all the spiritual seekers offer their reverence to the entire guru
parampara starting from Bhagavan - the first Guru, up to the last Guru, that is
- our own Guru. And whatever we know about spirituality it is because of them
only. Therefore, it is an opportunity to express our gratitude also. Both
reverence and gratitude.
And
in the case of some sanyasis, today happens to be the beginning of their vratam
called Chathurmasya Vratam, during which they remain in one place and do
special pujas to all the Acharyas, and also share the traditional teaching with
the spiritual seekers around. So in keeping with that tradition, today I will
share some thoughts, based on the traditional teaching. And today, I would like
to deal with the unique relationship existing between a jnani and Bhagavan. I
call it a unique relationship because it is seemingly a contradictory
relationship. On enquiry, we can understand what this relationship is.
And this unique relationship Lord
Krishna brings out in the Bhagavad Gita.
In the 7th Chapter Lord Krishna says,
there are four types of bhaktas – ārtaḥ, arthārthī, jijñāsuḥ and jñāni. And all
the bhaktas are great bhaktas, but the jnani is the greatest bhakta.
caturvidhā bhajante māṃ janāḥ
sukṛtino:'rjuna |
ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca
bharatarṣabha || 7- 16||
tēṣāṃ jñānī nityayukta ēkabhaktirviśiṣyatē
| … 7- 17||
Viśiṣyatē means excels, surpasses.
Who surpasses whom? Jnani bhakta surpasses all the other three bhaktas - ārtaḥ,
arthārthī, and jijñāsuḥ. And most of you are students of Gita, and therefore, I
don’t have to explain.
But,
I will give you the running meaning. Ārtaḥ means a bhakta who is in some
distress or the other and therefore worships Bhagavan to save himself from the
problem.
Arthārthī is a person who is not in
distress but is engaged in some pursuit or the other. Whatever pursuit he is
engaged in; he wants success in that pursuit. And when he worships Bhagavan for
getting success in that – it can be pursuit of money, position, possession,
employment, admission in American University. And, jijñāsuḥ bhakti is a bhakti
for getting knowledge in general, and spiritual knowledge in particular. This
is called jijñāsuḥ bhakti. And the last one is jnani bhakta: who has gained the
knowledge. And more about this jnani bhakta, Lord Krishna says:
… priyō hi jñāninō'tyarthamahaṃ sa ca
mama priyaḥ 7- 17||
All the other bhaktas are dear to me,
but this superlative degree, the dearest bhakta, I will reserve only for a
jnani. And later in the 12th Chapter, Krishna elaborately describes a jnani and
repeatedly says:
… yō madbhaktaḥ sa mē priyaḥ || 12.14
||
He is dearest to me; he is dearest to
me!
Thus, jnani is a bhakta and he has
got devotion to Bhagavan, and Bhagavan says jnani loves me and I love jnani.
And then what is their relationship? Bhagavan-Bhakta relationship; Lover-Loved
relationship.
Therefore, a relationship in which
there is difference between jnani and Bhagavan. Jnani loves Bhagavan, and
Bhagavan is loved by jnani. Thus it is a clean bedha: a difference, between
jnani – the lover, and Bhagavan, the Loved. And vice versa – Bhagavan the Lover
and jnani – the Beloved. And this relationship we call bedha sambandha: A
relationship in which there is clear difference between Bhagavan and jnani
bhakta. And the same Lord says in the Bhagavad Gita itself in another verse of
the 7thChapter: -
udārāḥ sarva ēvaitē jñānī tvātmaiva
mē matam… 7.18 ||
“Hey Arjuna! All the bhaktas are
great. Not only jnani is the greatest bhakta; do you know one secret? Jnani is
I myself! And when Krishna says jnani is myself, what is the relationship
between them? Both are one and the same. They don’t have Lover-Loved
relationship because it requires duality. If jnani and Bhagavan are one and the
same, there is no duality at all. Therefore, one cannot be called the Lover,
and the other cannot be
called loved also. Therefore, this is
called what? No sambandha or we call it Abedha sambandha. A relationship in
which there is no relationship because there is only Bhagavan is bhakta, bhakta
is Bhagavan.
Bedha
sambandha and there is abedha sambandha. Now the question is …..how is it
possible? Because if they are different, they cannot be one and the same. Bedha
and abedha are mutually contradictory. Even though it is a contradiction,
Bhagavan says that in the Gita: “priyō hi jñāninō'tyarthamahaṃ sa ca mama
priyaḥ “. ‘ Sa ca mama priyah’ is bedha sambandha; and ‘jñāninō'tyarthamahaṃ’
is abedha sambandha. Every serious student of Gita should raise a question. How
is it possible? How come Krishna contradicts himself logically? Not only
Krishna contradicts logically, Krishna does not resolve the contradiction
throughout the Gita. That they are different, that they are identical. And
since Krishna doesn’t explicitly resolve this contradiction, it becomes a home-work
of a student.
If
there is a mananam practice, these are the issues which are to be exercised
during mananam. In vedanta sastra, it is resolved through an example which is “Wave
and Ocean”. You feel you are in a familiar terrain. So, you look at a wave in
the ocean and the vast ocean. If somebody asks: “Is there a difference between
wave and ocean?” You will certainly answer “Of course, they are different.”
Why? Because wave is wave and ocean is ocean. They are different. Wave is
small, ocean is big; wave is impermanent, ocean is permanent; wave is the
product, ocean is the cause. In all these respects, there are differences. So
there is a bedha-sambandha between Taranga and samudra. But, suppose you probe
a little bit, wave is nothing but what? The name of water only. Water itself is
called wave, not under all conditions; but when it got a particular form, then
and then alone it is called a wave. Therefore, wave is a nama for water, when
it has got a particular shape or roopam. Therefore, from the standpoint of nama
and roopa it is called a wave; but it is nothing but water only. Similarly,
what is ocean? Ocean is also nothing but water only. But it is called ocean
when it has got all the waves put together, all the shapes of all the waves put
together – samashti roopam, it is called the ocean. So, ocean is water, wave is
water. Therefore, both of them nothing but one and the same all-pervading water
only, this is called abedha sambandha. From name and form angle, there is difference.
From the angle of the essential nature, there is non-difference. This means,
there is difference from the standpoint of names and forms, and there is no
difference from the standpoint of essential nature.
How do you resolve the contradiction?
The opposite relationships are possible when you look from two different
standpoints. Suppose I ask you whether Mylapore is far away or nearby? One
student says it is far away, and I cannot come to the function, Another person
says that it is nearby. So the same place, Asthika Samajam, one person says
faraway, another person says nearby. How do you resolve the contradiction? From
the standpoint of Mylapore, Asthika Samajam is nearby, from the standpoint of Annanagar
or Perungudi or Kancheepuram or Tuticorin or Thiruvananthapuram, it is far
away. So, one and the same thing have opposite attributes from two different standpoints.
Opposite attributes are logically
possible when the standpoints are different. Similarly, between jiva and
Easwara, bedha-sambandha is also possible and abedha-sambandha is also
possible. How do you resolve? From nama-roopa-dhristi, there is bedha-sambandha;
from svaroopa-dhrishti, there is abedha-sambandha. Now, jnani is one who knows
the svaroopam - the essential nature of bhakta – the jiva and Bhagavan. Jnani
is one who has got the knowledge of the svaroopam – the essential nature.
Whereas, ajnani is one who does not
know the svaroopam of bhakta – that is himself and the svaroopam of Bhagavan.
Ajnani does not have svaroopam-dhristi. He – as an ignorant person cannot look
at the relationship from the standpoint of svaroopam, the essential nature
because an ignorance. Therefore, he looks at the relationship only from
nama-roopa dhristi only. Therefore, for an ajnani- bhakta, there is only one
relationship. He is an individual, he has got a nama – a name, and he has got a
roopam only. And Bhagavan has got a nama and a roopam. Nama-roopa-dhristiya, he
says bedham, he does not know the svaroopam. Therefore, an ajnani bhakta has
got only bedha-sambandha: Whereas, jnani-bhakta , the unique one, he knows bedha-sambandha
also, and because of his jnanam of the svaroopam of both Bhagavan and himself,
he knows that the essential nature of Bhagavan and the essential nature of
himself like that of ocean and the wave. The essential nature is one Atma only.
ahamātmā guḍākēśa
sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥ .. BG 10:20 ||
“Arjuna! I am not Mr. Krishna who has
come and who is going. Really speaking, I am the Atma, and I am the essential
nature of not only Krishna nama-roopa, but I am the essential nature of all the
nama and roopas. “
Therefore,
essentially, between me and Bhagavan, the relationship is abedha-sambandha.
Ajnani sees one sambandha whereas jnani sees two sambandhas – or relationships.
Jnani’s unique relationship with Bhagavan is bedha-abedha-sambandha: Ajnani’s
relationship with Bhagaan is only bedha-sambandha – that is majority. Jnani –
the minority has got a unique relationship which cannot be called bedha, or
cannot be called abedha alone. It should be called bedha-abedha-sambandha.
And this gives the jnani a unique
advantage. Jnani has got the facility to invoke bedha-sambandha at will, and he
can invoke abedha-sambandha also. Like a wave can claim ‘I am a wave’ (if it
likes); And a wave can also claim ‘I am water!’. A wave can say both of this!.
Which one is right? Both are right. Just as wave can claim both, jnani enjoys
the unique privilege of invoking bedha-sambandha also, abedha-sambandha also.
And what does jnani generally do? In all worldly transactions, jnani should remember
oneness or difference? Carefully listen! During
transaction everyone should remember only the difference. Why? To avoid
confusion for ourselves and also confusion in others. When you are filling in
an application form, against the column ‘Who are you? and “What is your
address?”, you cannot say “I am Atma, and my address is everywhere!”. What is
your ‘Date of Birth?” “Unborn”. That is foolishness! We should be practical. We
should talk from nama-roopa-dhristhi. The individuality should be retained, and
the individuality of others should be respected. Guru must not be seen as sishya;
Guru must be seen as Guru, sishya must be seen as sishya; daughter must be seen
as daughter; wife must be seen as wife; mother must be seen as mother – you
should not mix up.
Therefore,
jnani uses nama-roopa-dhristi and sees differences in all transactions. He
deliberately invokes bedha for the sake of transactions. That is wisdom. And
what the jnani does is – he extends this bedha-dhristi towards Bhagavan also
for a particular transaction. Jnani invokes bedhadhristi also - that is he sees
the difference between him the bhakta and
Bhagavan – for the sake of a
particular transaction. He does not become ārtaḥ-bhakta, nor arthārthī-bhakta,
not even jijñāsuḥ-bhakta. He is a jnani-bhakta, therefore, he invokes the
difference with Bhagavan for a unique and particular purpose which is different
from other three bhaktas. Can you imagine what is that purpose? Remember, jnani
is one who enjoys the benefit of jnanam. The benefit of jnanam are immense and
described all over the scriptures. The most important benefit of being sense of
poornatvam. Feeling freedom from the sense of smallness, freedom from the sense
of insignificance, freedom from the fear of mortality. Fear of mortality,
feeling of insignificance, feeling of worthlessness etc.
Ajnani
come with a feeling of worthlessness. All the other members will reinforce
also. Whether it is spouse or someone else. Everybody will say I am worthless,
reinforcing my sense of smallness. Jnanam is the one which has removed my
limitation caused by nama-roopa and has helped me to claim the poornatvam as
the Atma. And therefore, jnani’s joy is
instant. It is the joy of liberation. Whenever I experience any joy a
beautiful feeling that accompany is a sense of gratitude towards the cause
which gave me that joy. Not only he enjoys the sense of poornatvam, he contrasts
his (earlier) condition as an ārtaḥbhakta, as an arthārthī-bhakta or
jijñāsuḥ-bhakta. He was a samsari; he was feeling tension, worry, nxiety, fear,
all of them. He was a bhakta all right, but he did not even enjoy bhakti. An
ārtaḥ-bhakta is a bhakta, but he can never enjoy bhakti because while he is
expressing bhakti, what will be in his heart. “Oh Lord! I am in desperate
problem. Somehow, you have to save me!”. Ārtaḥ-bhakta is tension-ridden.
Arthārthī-bhakta is desperate. Jijñāsuḥ-bhakta is desperate whether he would
get mokhsa in this janma or next janma. (Hey Guru! Please give me special
blessings for this on this special day of Gurupurnima!) Anxiety-samsara is
common to ārtaḥ, arthārthī and jijñāsuḥ. Jnani-bhakta contrasts his bhakti with
his own previous bhakti and others tension-ridden bhakti and he says “Thank
God, I am out of all this struggles of samsara. Even bhakti was a struggle for
me. I am free from all this.”
It
is because of the gratitude must go to whom? Jnani is a jnani because of the
Guru. Therefore, immediately his mind goes to Guru. And next it goes to Sastram
because, Guru could teach only with the help of the Sastram. Guru is not a Guru
without Sastram. Sastram without Guru is confusion. Sastram becomes a Sastram –
a communicator- only when it is handled by a Guru. Therefore, I am indebted to
the Guru, I am indebted to the Sastram. Therefore, I want to express my
gratitude to the Guru.
This
requires bedha-sambandha or abedha-sambandha? Expression of gratitude requires
invocation of bedha. The joy of gratitude which is a unique feeling, the joy of
expressing gratitude requires bedha. I would love to do saashtaanga namaskara
and when I want to express my gratitude to the Guru and Sastram, the question
comes how they come into being? When I express my gratitude to the Guru, Guru
says “Don’t give it to me, it has come from my Guru.” (His Guru would say that
it (the knowledge) has come to him from his Guru, and so on). Therefore,
ultimately, the Adi Guru happens to be “Narayanam, Padmabhuvam..”, “Sadasiva samaarambaam..”
Siva/Vishnu is the AdiGuru. And that Lord alone has given not only the
guru-paramapara, He has given the Sastram also. As a seeker I surrendered for
wisdom. And after jnanam comes, jnani again does namaskara – not for wisdom,
but as an expression of gratitude. Throughout life, a spiritual seeker should worship
three things. Vedanta – the Scriptures, Guru – the Teacher, Easwara – the
AdiGuru.
And the motive alone changes. In the
beginning part of one’s life is spent for getting jnanam, and later, he
continues to do namaskara. On Gurupurnima Day, he does special namaskara to the
entire Guru-parampara and the Lord also, where he deliberately invoke the
difference between himself and Bhagavan. He can invoke bedha-sambanda and enjoy
the sense of gratitude, and express that gratitude with puja, namaskara etc.
And not only he enjoys the sense of gratitude, he can immediately at the end of
the puja, he has the facility to shift from bedha-sambandha to abedhasambandha
also. Like the wave. Imagine, the wave was doing a namaskara to the ocean with
a ‘shodasaupachara puja”. Expressing the gratitude, for helping discover: “I am
not a mortal wave, but I am immortal water”. And when the wave invokes “I am
water”, how does it enjoy its glory? “There is only one water that is myself. I
am here, I am there, I am everywhere.” As water, the wave says “I am the wave
also, I am the ocean also, I am the bubble also. No nama-roopa can limit me
because all the nama-roopa are born of me, rest in me, they resolve in me”. (Like
this, the jnani can) invoke abedha-sambandha for poornatvam. He can invoke
bedha-sambandha for expressing gratitude, and invoke abedha-sambandha for
claiming poornatvam. Both gives him joy.
How does the jnani claim poornatvam? Upanishads say there is finitude in bedha.
Division means limitation. Division will never give poornatvam. In bedha, there
is never poornatvam. In division there is finitude. Therefore, invoke the
division for expressing the gratitude. Thereafter invoke abedha, and say that “
Ahameva Idhagum Sarvam”.
In Taittriya Upanishad mantra “Aham
Vrikshasya reriva..” Trisanku Rishi, after invoking bedha-sambandha and
expressing gratitude, thereafter he sat quietly and invoked the
abedha-sambandha and said:- “I am the only Reality. I only am behind the Bhakta
also, and Bhagavan also. I alone am endowed with all nama-roopa. All the
glories in the universe are my glory only. ”Thus, what is the relationship
between jnani and Bhagavan? Bedha and
Abedha. Which is beautiful? Both are
beautiful. One is beautiful - only because of the other. Because of abedha-sambandha
only - I enjoy poornatvam. And because of poornatvam only - I have sense of
gratitude. As a human being I am a bhakta. As a being, I am Jnani. (‘being’
means Atma). So, jnani has a unique relationship. He enjoys both of them.
When
we did Gurupurnima namaskara, we need not have a doubt whether I need to do namaskara
or not? Whether after hearing ‘Maha Vakyam’ and knowing that Bhagavan and I are
One, can I do namaskara? No problem. Invoke bedha and enjoy namaskara. Invoke
abedha and enjoy poornatvam.
