Advaita Vision

www.advaita.org.uk

Advaita for the 21st Century

pa~nchadashI
of shrI vidyAraNya svAmi

flower picture

Chapter 11

YogAnanda
The Bliss Of Yoga

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Chapters 11 to 15 expound the various aspects in which bliss, which is brahman, manifests itself. In this chapter, it is pointed out that the bliss attained through the practice of yoga is an aspect of the supreme bliss that is identical with brahman.

On the attainment of the bliss of brahman one becomes free from all present and future miseries. He who realizes that he is the supreme Self and remains established in that realization becomes free from all fear; but he who perceives even the slightest difference from the Self is overcome by fear.

The taittirIya upaniShad says that the deities vAyu, sUrya, agni, indra and yama are in constant fear of brahman. They attained these positions as a result of very meritorious actions performed in previous lives, but because they have not realized their identity with brahman they are still subject to fear.

One who has attained the bliss of brahman does not experience any fear at all and is not troubled by thoughts such as whether he has done meritorious deeds or not, because his actions do not taint him. So says taittirIya upaniShad (2.9.1): 'Giving up all actions and going beyond all thoughts of good and evil, he ever remains engaged in meditation on the Self. He looks upon all actions as identical with the Self. All the desires which bind him are destroyed, all his doubts about the Self are dispelled and all his actions perish in the sense that they do not cause any bondage for him. Only by realizing brahman, one goes beyond death and transmigratory existence. There is no other means to attain this end. All bonds are cut when the effulgent Self is known. All afflictions come to an end and he is not born again. One who has realized that he is none other than the supreme Self becomes free from all worldly joys and sorrows even while living in this world. He is not tormented by thoughts about his acts of commission or omission. The shrutis, smRRiti and purANas repeatedly declare that the realization of brahman puts an end to all sorrows and confers supreme bliss.'

Bliss is of three kinds: the bliss of brahman; the bliss born of knowledge; and the bliss derived from external objects. Of these, the bliss of brahman is being described now.

bhRigu heard the definition of brahman from his father, varuNa. By negating the sheaths of food, vital air, mind and intellect, he realized brahman reflected in the bliss sheath. The taittirIya upaniShad says that all beings are born from bliss, they are sustained by bliss, and they finally merge in bliss. Therefore, there is no doubt that brahman is bliss. Before creation of beings, there was only the infinite brahman without the triad of knower, object known and the act of knowing. In dissolution also, the triad will cease to exist. When the created world is in existence, the intellect sheath is the knower; Consciousness reflected in the mind sheath is knowledge and sound, etc., are the objects known. Before creation, none of these three existed. Before the creation of the world and in the states of samAdhi, deep sleep and swoon, the Self alone exists.

bhagavAn sanatkumAra told sage nArada that the infinite Self alone is bliss. There is no happiness in anything finite. (chhAndogya upaniShad (7.23.1)). Even though nArada had mastered the veda-s, purANas and various scriptures, he still suffered misery because he had not known the Self. Before he began to study the veda-s he suffered only from the three kinds of afflictions natural to all human beings, namely: adhyAtmika, those arising from bodily ills; adhibhautika, those caused by other creatures; and adhidaivika, those caused by calamities such as floods, earthquakes, etc. But after he had mastered the veda-s and other scriptures he was, in addition, burdened by the need to keep on reciting what he had learnt, and beset by the fear of forgetting what he had learnt, the fear of being defeated in argument and the pride of learning.

So he approached bhagavAn sanatkumAra and prayed for the knowledge that would lift him out of all sorrow. sanatkumAra told him that the ocean of sorrow could be crossed only by attaining brahman which is pure bliss. The happiness derived from external objects is always accompanied by sorrow. There is no real or unmixed happiness in the finite realm. It is true that there is no triad of knower, knowing and known in the non-dual brahman and so there can be no experience of happiness as from sense objects, but one who has realized brahman remains as pure bliss. In deep sleep the bliss of Brahman is experienced though there are no objects and no triad. This bliss is therefore self-revealing. In deep sleep, one does not suffer the miseries experienced during the waking state, caused by blindness, wounds and sickness. In deep sleep one is united with Brahman and experiences the bliss of brahman.

The upaniShads give various illustrations to describe the bliss enjoyed in sleep. A falcon, tied to a post by a long string, flies hither and thither and finally, when exhausted and in need of rest, goes back to the post to which it is tied. Similarly, the mind, after experiencing joys and sorrows in the waking and dream states, becomes absorbed in its cause, avidyA, in the state of deep sleep. The jIva then becomes one with the supreme Self and enjoys bliss (chhAndogya upaniShad (6.8.2) and bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (4.3.19)). A baby, having fed at the breast of its mother, and being free from attachment and aversion, lies in its bed, enjoying its natural bliss. A sovereign emperor, endowed with discrimination and having at his command all the virtuous pleasures within the reach of human beings, and consequently being free from further desire, remains as bliss personified. A great brAhmaNa who has realized brahman remains established in the supreme bliss of enlightenment in the state of jIvanmukti, having achieved all that was to be achieved. The innocent child, the discriminating emperor and the enlightened brAhmaNa are examples of supreme bliss. Others are subject to sorrow and not entirely happy. In deep sleep, however, everyone enjoys the bliss that is brahman. In that state he is not conscious of anything internal or external, like a man in the tight embrace of his beloved wife (bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (4.3.21). The experiences of the waking state are external and those of dream are internal. The bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad says that in the state of deep sleep, a father ceases to be a father, a mother ceases to be a mother, worlds cease to be worlds, and so on (4.3.22). Thus all worldly ideas are absent. Then jIvahood ceases and brahman alone remains. Grief is the consequence of identifying oneself as father, son etc.

In deep sleep, when such identification is absent, there is no sorrow. One who has woken up from sleep recollects that he slept happily and knew nothing. Recollection presupposes experience. In deep sleep the Self reveals itself as bliss and it also reveals ignorance. brahman is self-luminous bliss. In deep sleep the mind and intellect remain latent in their cause, avidyA. They become manifest when the person wakes up. The person then remembers his experience of happiness and total ignorance during sleep. The state of deep sleep in which the mind and intellect are latent is called the bliss sheath. When the person wakes up, the mind and intellect sheaths again become manifest. It is the sheath of bliss that is the enjoyer and it is the bliss of brahman that is enjoyed. In the waking state the modifications of the intellect, which are the instruments of cognition, cover various objects of knowledge, but in deep sleep they become one undifferentiated mass of Consciousness. In deep sleep there are no mental modifications in the form of sorrow. The state of deep sleep, in which bliss is enjoyed, ceases and the person wakes up when prompted by his karma. The impression of the bliss enjoyed in sleep remains for a short time after waking up. Then, impelled by his karma, he sets about performing his duties and gradually forgets the bliss of brahman.

Even though everyone enjoys bliss during sleep, he does not realize that bliss to be brahman itself. Mere intellectual knowledge about brahman is not enough; brahman should be realized as one�s own self.

Whenever happiness is experienced even without any external object or any event to which it could be attributed, it should be understood to be the impression (vAsanA) of the bliss of brahman. The happiness experienced on the fulfillment of any desire is due to the reflection of the bliss of brahman in the mental modification (vRRitti). This happiness is called viShayAnanda, or happiness from the enjoyment of external objects. There are thus only three kinds of happiness: brahmAnanda or the bliss of brahman; vAsanAnanda or the happiness which is an impression of brahmAnanda; and viShayAnanda or the reflection of the bliss of brahman in the mind. brahmAnanda is self-revealing and it is what gives rise to the other two kinds of happiness.

The fact that the bliss of Brahman is self-revealing in the state of deep sleep is testified by the scriptures, by reasoning and by experience. The jIva is called Anandamaya in the state of deep sleep when he enjoys the bliss of brahman. In the states of dream and waking, the jIva is identified with the intellect sheath or vij~nAnamayakosha. The shruti says that in the waking state, the jIva abides in the eye, in the dream state in the throat and in deep sleep in the lotus of the heart. In the waking state, the jIva identifies himself with the gross body and looks upon himself as a man, woman, etc. He then experiences joys and sorrows. When at some time he is free from worries and at the same time is not experiencing joy from any external object, his mind is calm. Then he experiences the natural bliss of the Self. But this bliss is not the supreme bliss of brahman, as the notion of egoity is also present; it is only an impression of the supreme bliss. This is like the outer surface of an earthen pot full of water being cold to the touch, even though there is no water outside. Just as the presence of water inside a pot can be inferred from the coldness of the outer surface, one can comprehend one�s own nature of supreme bliss when one�s egoity becomes extremely attenuated by continued practice. The bliss in which there is no experience of duality and which is not the state of deep sleep is the bliss of brahman.

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in the bhagavadgItA that one should gradually withdraw the mind from all other thoughts and keep it fixed on brahman. Whenever the mind, which is by nature restless and fickle, strays away, it should be restrained and again fixed on the Self. The yogi who has made his mind perfectly tranquil and free from all taint, who is sinless and who has realized his identity with brahman attains supreme bliss. When by the practice of yoga the mind is withdrawn from other objects and concentrated on the Self, the supreme bliss which is beyond the senses and which can be grasped only by the intellect, is attained. There is nothing higher than this state. The person who has attained this state is not disturbed even by the greatest calamity. Yoga is the state of being totally free from any association with sorrow. This yoga must be practised with determination and a dispassionate mind. The yogi who is free from all taint and whose mind is ever fixed on the Self experiences the supreme bliss of identity with brahman. Control of the mind can be achieved by assiduous practice as pointed out in the story about the bird which set about to dry up the ocean by baling out its waters drop by drop with its beak. The story is that the eggs laid by a bird on the seashore were washed away by the waves. The angry bird decided to get back its eggs by drying up the ocean and began to bale out the water with a blade of grass. Sage DArada who was passing by happened to see the bird and was impressed by its determination. He went to garuDa and asked him to go to the rescue of a member of his own species who was pitched against the mighty ocean. garuDa came and threatened the ocean with severe punishment if it did not restore the eggs to the bird. The ocean then returned the eggs to the bird. The moral of this story is that if one has the necessary determination, divine help will come and enable him to achieve his objective.

Just as fire becomes extinguished when the fuel is exhausted, the mind merges in its cause when all modifications cease. When the mind is fixed on brahman, the ultimate reality, all joys and sorrows resulting from prArabdha karma will be seen to have no reality. It is an ancient truth that the mind assumes the form of the object towards which it is directed. The mind is the cause of transmigratory existence. It should be purified with untiring effort. By the purification of the mind all the impressions left by actions, both good and evil, are destroyed. The purified mind abiding in the Self enjoys infinite bliss. If a person fixes his mind on brahman with the same intensity with which people fix their mind on sense objects, all bondage would be definitely eradicated.

The mind which is tainted by desires is an impure mind and the mind which is free from desires is a pure mind. The shruti says that the mind alone is the cause of bondage as well as liberation. Attachment to objects of sense leads to bondage and freedom from attachment is the means to liberation. The bliss arising from absorption in the contemplation of the Self, when the mind becomes cleansed of all impurities, cannot be described in words. It can only be felt in the heart. The enlightened person always enjoys this supreme bliss inwardly even when he is outwardly engaged in worldly activities. The wise man gives up all desire for sensual pleasures and concentrates his mind on the Self so that he can enjoy that supreme bliss. A man whose mind is free from worldly concerns and is fixed on brahman is not affected by any sorrows resulting from the operation of his fructifying karma. When worldly pleasures which are not opposed to dharma come to him because of his prArabdha karma, without his seeking them, he looks upon them only as aspects of the bliss of brahman. He experiences the bliss of brahman in the waking state as well as in dream, because dreams consist only of the impressions left by the experiences in the waking state.

In this chapter is described the realization of supreme bliss by the yogi.

End of Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Return to main S N Sastri page

om
Page last updated: 10-Jul-2012