In the second part the acharyan continued his lecture and
said that, ‘if you think you know everything about Brahmam then also you have
learnt very little about Brahmam. Like a
journey which never ends , the research into understanding Brahmam is a never
ending process. ‘
To this the disciple confirmed that he has understood in
the last two words of the above slokam by saying, ‘manye vidhitam.’
Except the last two words, the rest of the slokam is by
the acharyan. This is evident because, the acharyan asks if the student has
understood by asking ‘manyase’ which is in 2nd person. To this the
student’s reply is given in first person as ‘I have understood’ which is shown
by the word ‘manye’.
The one who knows Brahmam as ‘only this’ doesn’t know
Brahmam but, the one who realizes that he can’t know everything about Brahmam
attains Brahmam.
The above statement gives rise to a doubt. How is very
little knowledge about Brahmam sufficient to attain Moksham?
The above statement seems equivalent to passing an
examination by writing answers to only one question. The above statement is
true because the Supreme Lord is like a liberal examiner and He grants us
moksham out of compassion even when we don’t know everything.
There are 32 Brahma Vidhyas. To practice Bakthi Yoga at
least one of the Brahma Vidhya must be practiced. Each Brahma Vidhya requires
the contemplation of the Lord’s six main attributes along with an attribute
specifically mentioned by that Brahma Vidhya.
For example, the Sandilya Vidhya instructs the worshipper
to see everything as Brahman. As the person practicing this Brahma Vidhya sees
Brahmam as the antaryami of all, he shouldn’t have any quarrel with anyone.
Every kind of fragrance should be visualized as emanating from Brahmam, every
deed should be visualized as being done by Brahmam and this Brahmam should be
understood to have Sri Vaikuntham as His abode. Along with above qualities the
worshipper should also meditate upon the following basic six qualities of
Brahmam.
The practitioner of Brahma Vidhya knows that, Brahmam is
Satyam because, it neither grows nor decays. Our body is not satyam since it
undergoes changes. Brahmam is full of bliss anandham.
Brahmam is full of countless numbers of auspicious
attributes and is free from negative qualities. This is known as amalatvam.
Brahmam is knowledgeable. Brahmam is the Lord of Sri.
The nithyasuris and mukthatmas also have qualities like
anandam, gnanam, satyam, amalatvam etc, but these qualities exist in them
because the Lord has blessed them with these qualities.
Constant meditation upon the qualities of Brahmam without
a break in concentration should be like the steady flowing stream of oil. Such
meditation will grant emancipation.
As Bakthi Yoga, which has been described above is very hard
to follow, it is sufficient to practice prapatti. The main thing to know is
that Lord Sriman Narayanan is our only saviour. We should lead a carefree life
by serving the Lord and by not going after dharmam, artham and kamam. By being
truthful and performing our prescribed duties, we can attain Him.
The Lord is the means as well as the end. He is the one
who makes us victorious. While people find it easy to blame the Lord when they
are defeated, no one thanks the Lord when they are victorious. To illustrate
this, following story is narrated by the Upanishad.
Reference:
This series is based on the notes adiyen
took after listening to the discourse in Tamil on Kenopanishad by Sri
U.Ve.Karunakarachariar Swamin. This series is for the benefit of people who do
not understand Tamil. Those of you who understand Tamil please refer to the
following link to listen to the original discourse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBXKT9cCQo
I have done my best to take notes
with due diligence; any
error(s) in the series is because of my mistake only. I apologize in advance for any
errors that I have made while writing this series
Continued On:
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