TattvaTales - Part I

Prologue:

Tattva-Bodhah, meaning 'Knowledge of Truth' has been written by Sri Adi Sankaracharya, one of the greatest missionaries of India. This small but encompassing text introduces one to the total vision of Vedanta in a lucid, conversational style.

TattvaTales is an attempt to simplify the concepts introduced in this text via anecdotes, quotes and practical tips that would appeal to one & all, especially the youth.

This compilation has been planned as a publication under the 'Tattva-Bodhah for Youth' series of the Chinmaya Mission - publishing it here in part posts for the benefit of those interested until it gets released in printed format.

Part 1: The 4-fold qualifications of one fit for the knowledge of truth

Once Buddha went to the house of a rich Brahmin with a bowl in his hand. The Brahmin became very angry and said, "O Bhikshu, why do you lead an idle life of wandering and begging? Is this not disgraceful? You have a well-built body. You can work. I plough and sow. I work in the fields and I earn my bread at the sweat of my brow. I lead a laborious life. It would be better if you also plough and sow and then you will have plenty of food to eat". Buddha replied, "O Brahmin! I also plough and sow, and having ploughed and sown, I eat". The Brahmin said, "You say you are an agriculturist. I do not see any sign of it. Where are your plough, bullocks and seeds?". Then Buddha replied, "O Brahmin! Just hear my words with attention. I sow the seed of faith. The good actions that I perform are the rain that waters the seeds. Viveka and Vairagya are parts of my plough. Righteousness is the handle. Meditation is the goad. Sama and Dama - tranquillity of the mind and restraint of the Indriyas (senses) - are the bullocks. Thus I plough the soil of the mind and remove the weeds of doubt, delusion, fear, birth and death. The harvest that comes in is the immortal fruit of Nirvana. All sorrows terminate by this sort of ploughing and harvesting". The rich arrogant Brahmin came to his senses. His eyes were opened. He prostrated at the feet of Buddha and became his lay adherent.

1.    Viveka (Discrimination)

Lord Ganesha's trunk is a symbol of his discrimination (viveka), a most important quality necessary for spiritual progress. The elephant uses its trunk to push down a massive tree, carry huge logs to the river and for other heavy tasks. The same huge trunk is used to pick up a few blades of grass, to break a small coconut, remove the hard nut and eat the soft kernel inside. The biggest and minutest of tasks are within the range of this trunk which is symbolic of Ganesha's intellect and hiss powers of discrimination. As such, all tasks are begun with ‘Ganesh Pooja’ so that we may rightly put to use this power of discrimination in all our day-to-day activities.

2. Vairagya (Dispassion)

"In wealth is the fear of poverty, in knowledge the fear of ignorance, in beauty the fear of age, in fame the fear of backbiters, in success the fear of jealousy; even in body is the fear of death. Everything in this earth is fraught with fear. He alone is fearless who has given up everything" ~ Swami Vivekananda

The story of Mohajith is a good example of this highest type of vairagya. Mohajith, the Prince, went to a sage in the forest and sought guidance in the spiritual path. The sage asked him whether he had conquered moha as his name indicated. The Prince said that not only he, but also every one in his kingdom had! So the sage started to test the truth of this claim. He took the Prince’s robes, soaked them in blood and hastened to the palace gate with the gruesome story of the murder of the Prince by some ruffians in the jungle. The maid whom he met refused to hurry with the news to the Royal apartments because she said. “He was born, he died; what is the special urgency of this news that I should interrupt my regular routine and run to the King and Queen?” When at last he got an audience and was able to communicate the sad news to the father, he sat unruffled, whispering to himself: “The bird flew off the tree on which it had alighted to take rest.” The Rani too was unmoved.

She told the sage that this earth is a caravanserai, where men come and stay for the night and when dawn breaks, one by one, they tramp their different ways. Kith and kin are the words we use for the attachment to the travelers cultivated in the caravanserai during the short term of acquaintance. The wife of the “dead” Prince was also unaffected; she said, “Husband and wife are like two pieces of wood drifting down a flooded river; they float near each other for some time and when some current comes between, they part; each must move on to the sea at its own rate and its own time. There is no need to grieve over the parting of the two; it is in the very nature of Nature that it should be so.” The sage was overjoyed to see this steady and sincere vairagya in the rulers and the ruled. He came back to the forest and told the Prince that while he was away, a hostile army had invaded his kingdom and enslaved his subject. He took the news calmly and said, “All this is a bubble, impermanent, flimsy. Let it go the way of the bubble. Guide me to reach this Infinite, the Imperishable”
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Narendra Singh Bahadur, the Raja of Indrapur, had a servant named Hira Singh. Hira Singh resolved to break open the treasury of the Raja and steal away the ornaments and gold. Accordingly one day at the dead of night, he entered the bed-room of Narendra Singh on his way to the treasury, when he overheard a conversation between the Raja Sahib and the Rani. Lalitakumari, the Rani, asked the king: “When are you going to get our daughter Suratkumari married? She is quite a grown-up girl now. We cannot postpone the marriage any longer.” The king replied : “I am trying my level best during the last two years, but I am not able to get a suitable match.” The Rani would not accept such an answer, but again and again pressed the Raja to yield to her wish.

At last the Raja said : “Lalita, I shall offer Surat in marriage to the first Yogi I would come across in the neighbouring forest along with half of my estate tomorrow morning.” Hira Singh who was all the while keenly over-hearing this conversation thought within himself: “Why this hazardous attempt then? Let me go to the forest and sit like a Yogi. I will get the girl and half the estate also quite easily.” Immediately he dressed himself as a Yogi, went to the forest and sat in Samadhi on Padmasana with closed eyes. The Raja went to the forest the next morning and at last came to the place where this Yogi was sitting. He waited for a long time. The Yogi did not open his eyes. He gave one the impression that he was immersed in Samadhi. After full one hour he opened his eyes. The Raja fell prostrate at his feet and sincerely begged him to visit palace. The Yogi finally condescended to do so. The Raja took the Yogi to the Durbar hall, seated him on the gaddi, and washed his feet. Then the Raja with folded hands addressed the Yogi thus : “O mighty Yogi blessed Soul, we have a beautiful girl. Kindly accept her in marriage together with half of my estate.”

Now real discrimination dawned upon the Yogi. Hira Singh who was wearing the false garb of a saint began to think very seriously and feelingly: “I am now honoured by this Raja and Rani simply because I am wearing the garb of a Yogi. If I were a Yogi and saint with divine virtues and God-Consciousness, how much more should I be held in esteem and honour by not merely this one petty chief but by countless kings, emperors and queens, and how many such princesses and kingdoms should I acquire?”

At once he left the gaddi and the palace with a changed heart. God’s grace descended upon him now. His heart was burning with intense Vairagya born of discrimination.

Doctors have a wide field for developing Vairagya. Every day they come across patients with incurable disease. On a daily basis, they see dead bodies in the mortuary. Thus they have innumerable chances of seeing Maya in all her naked state. They can be convinced beyond a ray of doubt of the impermanence of life here in this world of man.

The superintendent of jail and all the officers there also have wonderful chances of developing Vairagya, if they are lovers of Truth and Emancipation. The sight of hanging a condemned prisoner will open their eyes.

3.1 Sama (Mastery of mind)

Guru Vasisht once said to his discipile Ramchandra, 

“If I were told that someone had lifted the Himalayas, I may, for a moment, assume that there is such a person in the world. If someone were to say he has swallowed the sea, incredible though it may seem, I may, for an instant believe him too. If someone were to assert that he has tamed the winds of the world, he is not to be taken seriously, but, for a split second, I may agree with him. However, if someone were to boast that he has controlled the mind, I would never believe him.”

The mighty force of the mind is not easily controlled.

There was a guru who had several followers and disciples, many of whom were poor Arabs, but very devoted to their master. One of them came in the early morning to pay homage to his master. The master asked, "How are you, my dear boy?"

"Master, I am living in hell."

"What is the trouble with you?"

"I have one room only, which is a small area where I have my family, my wife and two children. There inside I cook my food. I have a camel which brays continuously, and there is a dog barking all night. We cannot sleep. You can imagine our condition. Don't you think, Master, that this is veritable hell?"

The master said, "There is no problem; I can solve this difficulty."

The guru told the disciple, "Tonight you tie the dog inside your house when you go to bed." The man could not understand what kind of solution this was, but obedience is obedience.

The dog made matters worse. It went on barking inside the room and howled throughout the night. Nobody slept even for a minute. The disciple went to the guru the next morning. The guru said, "Hello, how are you?"

The man said, "I cannot say anything. It is worse than hell. The dog did not allow us to sleep."

"There is a solution for it. You have got a camel? Tie it inside."

He thought, "What is this? Am I going to be alive?" But the guru is guru, and he did not say a word against him. He tied the camel inside the room. There was no space to sit. The camel occupied the entire area, making kicks and jumps, and the dog was barking also, the fireplace was giving sparks, the children were crying, the wife was standing only, and he was also sitting.

The next morning he went to the guru and said, "I cannot speak, Master. I am dying today. I think it is the last day for me. I thought it was hell; this is worse than hell."

"I will find a solution for it, the guru said. Tie the camel out; put the dog also out."

He slept very well that night, no noise, no disturbance of any kind. The next morning he went to the guru. The guru asked, "How are you?"

"Heaven, heaven!" he said.

"Heaven? Hey! You came to me in the beginning, saying it is hell. Now how has it become heaven?" he asked. "Do not complain. Simply control the mind"

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Buddha described the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering & carrying on endlessly. We all have monkey minds, Buddha said, with dozens of monkeys all clamoring for attention. Fear is an especially loud monkey, sounding the alarm incessantly, pointing out all the things we should be wary of and everything that could go wrong.

Buddha showed his students how to meditate in order to tame the drunken monkeys in their minds. It's useless to fight with the monkeys or to try to banish them from your mind because, as we all know, that which you resist, persists. Instead, Buddha said, if you will spend some time each day in quiet meditation - simply calm your mind by focusing on your breathing or a simple mantra - you can, over time, tame the monkeys. They will grow more peaceful if you lovingly bring them into submission with a consistent practice of meditation.

3.2 Dama (Control of senses)

Lakshmana was pure in thought, word and deed. He led the life of an ideal Brahmachari with total control over his senses during the 14 years of exile. His eyes were ever directed towards Sita’s lotus-like feet only. When Sugriva brought Sita’s cloak and jewels— which, while she was being carried away, she had allowed to fall on the earth, seeing the monkeys on the mountain—Rama showed them to Lakshmana and asked whether he recognized them. Lakshmana said: “I do not recognise the bracelets or ear-rings; I know only the anklets, for I worshipped her feet alone.” Lakshmana revered Sita as mother or Goddess. Meghanada, the son of Ravana, had conquered even Indra, the lord of gods. By virtue of this victory, Meghanada also came to be known as Indrajit and had a boon of being invincible to all except to one who could abstain from all sorts of sensual enjoyments at least for a full fourteen years. He was unconquerable. But Lakshmana destroyed him by the power of his purity, by the power of his control over his senses.

There is a story narrated by Sage Yajnavalkya in Brihadaranyakopanishad. The threefold offspring of Prajapati—Gods, Men and Demons—lived as students of sacred knowledge with their father. When their learning was completed they all asked him for practical instruction. "Tell us, Gurudeva, our duty." Prajapati said to each of them, "Da, Da, Da." Then he asked the Gods, Men and Demons their understanding of "Da." The Gods understood "Da" to mean Damyatta, control of oneself. Men understood "Da" to mean Datta, "to give." For Demons the word implied Dayadhvam or compassion. In other words, "Da, Da, Da" means the practice of self-control, charity and compassion.

4. Mumukshatva (Desire for Liberation)

“Can you weep for Him with intense longing of heart? Men shed a jugful of tears for the sake of their children, for their wives, or for money. But who weeps for God? So long as the child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and other household duties. But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it throws them aside and yells for its mother. Then the mother takes the rice-pot down from the hearth, runs in haste, and takes the child in her arms” ~Sri Ramakrishna

The master said, "My child, if you desire after God, God shall come to you." The disciple did not understand his master fully. One day both went to bathe in a river, and the master said, "Plunge in", and the boy did so. In a moment the master was upon him, holding him down. He would not let the boy come up. When the boy struggled and was exhausted, he let him go. "Yes, my child, how did you feel there;" "Oh, the desire for a breath of air!" "Do you have that kind of desire for God?" "No, sir." "Have that kind of desire for God and you shall have God."