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Advaita for the 21st Century

Tattvabodha - Part 6


Notes on Tattvabodha
तत्वबोधः
Dr. Vishnu Bapat


Dr. Bapat (72) was the co-founder of an Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Industry and served as its Managing Director for 26 years until retirement. He is associated with several professional and spiritual bodies. He is now fully engaged in the study and practice of Vedanta.

 

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Biography

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11. Concentration

समाधानं किम्? चित्तैकाग्रता
समाधानम् –samadhana, concentration किम् – What is this चित्त-एकाग्रता – single wontedness of the mind

What is samadhana? It is the single wontedness of the mind. It is the focusing capacity of mind.

Samadhana is the concentration of mind. Samadhana is the state of mind when one focuses on his goal. For this to happen, one channelizes the desultory mind towards his goal (शमः), controls the senses (दमः) withdraws from wild worldly pursuits (उपरमः), endures the pinpricks of life (तितीक्षा) and faithfully fallows the path indicated by the Guru and scriptures (श्रद्धा).

 

All the three qualifications of discrimination, dispassion, and the great six disciplines are prerequisites for Samadhana. It is an automatic outcome of these qualifications. Swami Tejomayananda compares our journey to liberation to a journey to say Mumbai. We approach a travel agent (Guru), make enquires as to the best mode of transport (sadhana), book our ticket and board the vehicle on time to reach the destination. We control the expenses (sense organs and mind), so as to afford the ticket, cancel other programmes that clash with the journey (focus our energies-chittaikagrata), have faith in the travel agent and the vehicle (Shraddha), and endure all the travails of the travel (Titiksha) in order to reach the destination (Moksha).

 

12. Desire for Liberation

मुमुक्षुत्वम् किम् ? मोक्षो मे भूयात् इति इछ्छा
मुमुक्षुत्वम्
– Mumukshutva किम् – what is this मोक्षः – liberation मे भूयात् – may it happen to me इति इछ्छा – such a desire
What is Mumukshutva? “Let me attain liberation”, this intense desire is called Mumukshatva
मुमुक्षुत्वम् किम् ? What is Mumukshutva? It is longing for liberation. This is the final requisite for a seeker. All the three qualifications of discrimination, dispassion, and the great six disciplines are not sufficient. He should personally have intense desire to attain liberation. A man who has been tossed about by the vagaries of life; material happiness, power, possession, property on the one hand; trials and tribulations on the other and has experienced the good and bad of the world, comes to the basic question, “What is the aim of my life”? At one point of life he decides, “Enough is enough. I want to end this mess completely. I want to free myself from this bondage of life.” Such a feeling is called Mumukshutva.

 

Four-fold Spiritual practice

एतत् साधनचतुष्टयम् । ततस्तत्वविवेकाधिकारिणो भवन्ति ।।
एतत् – this साधनचतुष्टयम् - four-fold qualification ततः - thereafter तत्वविवेकस्य – of enquiry into the truth अधिकारिणः – fit भवन्ति - become

This is the four-fold qualification. Thereafter the sadhaka becomes fit for enquiry into the truth.

एतत् साधनचतुष्टयम् - this is the four-fold qualification.

Let us have a quick recap as to what the author has said about desired four-fold qualifications to become eligible for the knowledge of the self. The first paragraph of Tatvabodha started with the question what are the four disciplines of Sadhana साधनचतुष्टयम् किम्? Then the author set out to explain the four disciplines as:

  1. नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः – discrimination between the permanent and impermanent
  2. विरागः –dispassion. It is absence of attachment
  3. शमादि-षट्कसम्पत्तिः –six-fold wealth like Shama etc. शमो दमो उपरतिस्तितीक्षा श्र्द्धा and समाधानम्. This is not a single qualification but a bundle of six disciplines.
  4. मुमुक्षुत्वम् –Intense desire for liberation

The above four-fold Sadhanas make साधनचतुष्टयम्. We have so far discussed the subject of Sadhana chatushtaya Sampatti which has two parts:

1. Discrimination, dispassion and desire (विवेक, विराग, मुमुक्षुत्वम्). Acquired by Karma yoga

2. Shamadi Sampatti (शमादि सम्पत्ति) is acquired by Upasana Yoga.

The two disciplines of karma yoga and Upasana yoga together gives us a qualification or Adhikara (ज्ञानयोग्यता प्राप्ति). The mind of the seeker becomes clear, with a firm goal and clear picture of the road ahead. He obtains knowledge (तत्वज्ञान) which is the stepping stone of God realization. ततः तत्वविवेकस्य अधिकारिणः भवन्ति – Then the seeker becomes eligible to receive the knowledge of the self.

Contact Dr. Bapat at vrbapat@yahoo.co.in if you have any comments or questions.

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