Why self-knowledge? : Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

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Saturday, 29 Jul 2023 05:30.

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"Aapooryamaanam achala-pratishtham

Samudram-aap- ah pravisanti yadvat."

What counts supreme in human life? Is it wisdom? How many different levels or kinds of wisdom are there? Is there anything indispensable in them, which no thinking man can afford to ignore or avoid? Would it then be necessary to acquire that sufficiently early in life? Suppose, one is not, for whatever reason, able to fulfill this need, will it or can it lead to his downfall? Will the consequence be colossal? What does viveka teach Well, in Arjuna, who drove to the battlefield of Kurukshetra after thirteen years of austere preparation, we have a full answer to all these questions. As a proud fighter, the master of his chariot, he ordered the charioteer: "Take my chariot in front". The famous Gandiva was lifted by him, showing how powerful and determined he was. The charioteer was quick in obeying. The chariot moved and stopped in place. And lo, the scene changed. The bow slipped from the fighter's fist. The hero began to tremble in doubt, fear, apprehension and retreat. His mouth became dry. With a whirling mind and faltering vision, the son of Kunti began to lament. Can the plight of seeming hero change so abruptly? And why does it happen? 

Material or objective knowledge alone will not be sufficient to conduct oneself well in the world of variety. In our interaction with the world, the senses have the visible place, no doubt. But our personality is far deeper. Behind the sense exists the mind, complex and elusive. The mind's strength and weakness, its hope and despair, count greatly. They can affect our personality and turn the fate of our interactions with the world. The mind has its internal support in the Soul. The drive and inspiration it is able to derive from the Soul will determine the strength, clarity and heroism one is able to manifest in his activities.

Kunti's son did not know this truth. Or, even after knowing, he became unmindful of it. May be, he disregarded the memory. Was it then a punishment when his Gandiva slipped, hitting his pride and proving his weakness? It was too much to see that his eyes, which were to frown and fume in anger, suddenly started flowing profusely in sweeping sorrow.

Forgetting his age, maturity, skill and past achievements, Partha blurted forth before his charioteer shamelessly. What did the fighter lack? Where had all his experience and might disappeared? How could such a thorough downfall occur in just a moment?

But, Krishna, the charioteer had no doubt or reluctance at all. He said sternly that such crumbling in weakness and delusion was impermissible. In a crucial moment of such a momentous war, where was the place for weakness or indecision? The fighter felt extremely bad, at his own weakness and at the reprimand he got from the charioteer. As had been the earlier emotion, so was the new emotion. Both worked quickly. And he said in a note of confession.

"Yes, I badly need strength. I must find an ascent, a stability, which neither knowledge and skill in archery nor the merit of other successes can bestow. In the absence of such a strength, all gains and knowledge seem to be useless. One has to look to none else; I myself am the best proof for this truth." Arjuna's mind was clear in its thought. Admitting weakness, the heroic fighter begged of his charioteer for courage and clarity, for composure and stability, finding that these qualities lay somewhere deeper in the body, where arrows would not reach. The great hero turning suddenly a weakling, the proud countenance becoming instantly humble, is the scene, which Kurukshetra first presented.

Rukmini's consort was, in fact, waiting for such an appeal and surrender from his friend and brother-in-law. In place of the fierce battle in Kurukshetra, it was thus that the momentous conversation between the fighter disciple and the charioteer-teacher took place first. The zealous search and decisive finding, which should normally have transpired during the long forest life that preceded, had to be focused in a strictly opposite environment. Better late than never. In the matter of knowing about one's own Soul, the treasure house of human sustenance, every occasion is opportune; every situation is befitting!

"Body is limited. Being born, it began to exist. Before long, it will cease to exist and disappear. But remaining like the pivot in a wheel, enabling and empowering all transformations from birth to death, there exists the Soul, the Self. Immovable and untransforming, the Self has no birth. For it to exist, to be born is not necessary. This does not mean that it did not exist earlier."

"In the case of the body, elemental and material, birth is a precursory for existence. But in the case of the Self, which enables the body's birth and existence, this precondition does not apply. In fact, the higher domain of wisdom consists in the ability and astuteness to think of and arrive at the Self - the substratum of all material existence, the causal factor in the bodily existence."

"Knowledge has two divisions, the inferior and superior. Material knowledge relates to that sector, which can be studied by our senses. The paravidya or superior wisdom, relates to that, namely the Soul which abides within the body, unperceivable to the senses. Body is that which is seen. Which verily shows and reveals the body is the Self, the Atma. More important and basic than the objects perceived, the sights seen, is their revealer. That which reveals the sight comes first. It precedes the vision. How can the Self, the revealer be missed, forgotten, or relegated to unimportance?"

Arjuna's intelligence was getting clearer and sharper. A new domain, a new horizon, began to shine before him. In the practice of archery, hands and weapons join and work. The object aimed at is external. It is a skill learnt and mastered by the senses and external instruments.

The para-vidya or Self-knowledge is not like this. Leaving the body which is seen before us, the intelligence should reach that which reveals the body. That sphere is not external, but within. One can question, wait for the answer. Thus raising questions, following them for answer, one should enter deeper and deeper to reach one's own bottom. Self-search is thus an inner process, an internal diving.

When the intelligence becomes engrossed in this, the mind's agitation and confusion begin to decline. The result of para-vidya pursuit is instantaneous and evident.

Fighter Arjuna became a full-fledged seeker and investigator - a new 'warrior' poised to conquer his own mind. Listening to the charioteer with rapt attention, the features of the Self one after another he wondered: 'where exists the body, and how lofty is the Self! Body has an end. Atma is endless, infinite. Death is an apprehension which the body brings. Immortality is the consciousness which the Soul generates and preserves. If the body and senses throw us in deluging darkness, the Self installs one in supreme brilliance'.

The fighter, standing in the battlefield enfeebled by delusion, cast aside his weakness and got resolved to remain stable with the awareness of the immortal Self - a new confluence, an utterly new embarkment. Newer and newer levels began to unfold in this adventure.

If the world outside the body is broad and expansive the world within it is far more so. The son of Kunti desired to hear more and more of the hidden, inner dimensions, their greatness and glory, their beauty and infinitude. It made the charioteer more eloquent. Aapooryamanam achalapratishtham is the rare exquisite pearl that fell during the illustrious dialogue.

Human life is constant interaction between the individual and the wide world. None can think making it otherwise or seeking redemption from it. There is no meaning in lamenting, condemning or pitying, feeling guilty on any account. It is true that the world remains immensely complex. Worldly interaction will also then be correspondingly difficult, even tormenting. But our personality has all the power and ability to assimilate any kind of interaction and the vicissitudes emerging from the process. Such a worth reigns in the domain of the Self. Only for him, who does not know about the Self and its magnitude, the world succeeds in causing agitation or unsettlement. But the solution for the crisis is not in lament, self-pity or self-condemnation. Enhance the depth and power of personality by gaining Self-knowledge , and it its light find superior dimensions within.

As in the body limited so is the Soul unlimited. The power Soul can bestow, is also naturally endless. From the unbounded Self, one can draw infinite courage and immense stability. There is no question of any defeat in this inner adventure and conquest. Let anything come in; it will only be filling your personality, making you stronger, wider and deeper.

Look at the ocean. How many rivers enter the depth, gushing and lashing? Is the sea shaken? Each river merges with it, fills it. Yet the sea is not agitated. It remains stable in its own depth and expanse. To be so unshakable, poised in its own majesty, does the sea need any help from the rivers?

Human personality is deep and expansive like the ocean. Self-knowledge, the superior wisdom, awakens man about this fact. He who realizes this truth is a Self-knower - the one practicing Self-knowledge.

The Self-knower must and will remain unshaken, whatever may come in to meet him from the world around. He is like the sea, to which flows a number of rivers from different peaks and terrains. "Arjuna, let this confusion and indecision, which confronted you in the battlefield, usher in to instill and preserve in you such an unshakeability and composure. Do not be disturbed or shaken by anything. Receive one and all developments and fuse them into the profundity and expanse of the Self. Let the thoughts and emotions of the mind be like the waves of the sea. Know that Self-wisdom is such as to make you grow in these inner spiritual dimensions."

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