Thus Spake The Divine I

By Padmaa Thyagarajan

This is the first Volume in English.This is an adaptation of the renowned Deivattin Kural, which is a compilation of discourses of Kanchi Kamakoti Pithadhipati Sri Chandrashekhrendra Saraswati Mahaswamigal also known as Mahaperiyavaa. The original work was compiled by Ra Ganapathy and for the benifit of English speaking public, an adaptation in English is presented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Giri Trading Agency Private Limited
• Release date: Jun 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9788179507889

Book preview

Part I – The Auspicious Beginning

1. Vinayagar (Lord Ganesha)

In this chapter, Sri Maha Periyava has enlightened us about the genesis of Lord Ganesha.

The unique distinguishing feature of Tamil Nadu is that wherever we go, there is a Pillaiyar (Lord Ganesha) temple. Each and every street will have a Pillaiyar temple, every river bank will have a Pillaiyar temple, and under the shade of every prominent tree, there will be a Pillaiyar temple! Most of these temples will not even have the formal structure of a temple, a Vimana or Gopuram; or even a sanctum sanctorum. One can often see Lord Ganesha blissfully sitting under a sacred Peepal Tree!

We, in Tamil Nadu, call Him Pillaiyar. Ganesha is the Eldest Son of Lord Parameshvara and Goddess Parvati, the Father and Mother of the whole universe. The Tamil synonym for son is Pillai. Therefore, He being the first Pillai (Son) of the Universal Father and Mother, He is addressed respectfully as Pillaiyar. The suffix ...ar in Tamil signifies the tone of respect to the addressee. We call Lord Subramanya, the Second Son of the Universal Parents as Kumaran and not as Kumaranar. The respect is meant only to the Eldest Son Ganesha, who is respectfully adored as Pillaiyar".

Though Lord Ganesha may look like a Child God, He is The One existent even before the cosmos. Pranavam (the symbol of OM) denotes the Supreme Being or the Brahmam. The entire cosmos and all other living beings emerged only from the Pranavam. Pillaiyar embodies the Pranavam. If you look at His Elephant Face and the Curved Trunk, you can decipher the image of the Pranavam.

Pillaiyar is the personification of benevolence and compassion. The story of Avvaiyar will substantiate this fact. Avvaiyar is the Ardent Devotee of Pillaiyar who authored the Vinayagar Agaval. One who recites Vinayagar Agaval is blessed to attain enlightenment and wisdom. There is a story on Avvaiyar.

Sundaramurti Swamy, along with Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, started journeying to Kailasa (Abode of Lord Shiva). They wanted Avvaiyar also to accompany them to Kailasa. At that moment, Avvaiyar was performing pooja to Pillaiyar. They hurried her up to join them to Kailasa. But Avvaiyar made it categorically clear that she would not hasten up her pooja to Pillaiyar and they could leave if they wished to. To her, Vinayagar Himself is the personification of Kailash! Therefore, she continued her exhaustive pooja with utmost dedication. Seeing this, Sundaramurti Swamy and Cheraman Perumal started their journey to Kailasa. At the end of Avvaiyar’s pooja, Lord Ganesha appeared before her, lifted her in His trunk and dropped her in Kailasa in just one sway! Only after she reached, did Sundaramurti and Cheraman Perumal arrive at Kailash! This amply makes evident that Lord Ganesha is the One who possesses the dexterity to perform an incredible task effortlessly!

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2. Lord Ganesha - The Embodiment of Life’s Philosophies

Breaking the coconut into several pieces at the entrance of Ganesha Temple is quite unique to Tamil Nadu alone. Sri Maha Periyava strikingly highlights this concept as also the philosophies of life, which manifest from the Physique of Lord Ganesha.

Why do we break coconut for Lord Ganesha? Lord Ganesha once told His father Lord Shiva: Give your Own Head as sacrifice to me! This means that Lord Ganesha feels happy and contented only with the best offering and most superior substances. Only to symbolise that philosophy has God created the coconut with three eyes. The coconut thus represents Lord Shiva and hence people break the coconut as an offering to Lord Ganesha to fulfil his desire.

Here arises a question. Who are entitled to take the coconut pieces as prasadam? To succinctly bring out the answer, Sri Maha Periyava reveals an event.

"In 1941, I was in Nagapatnam, following the Chathur Masya Viratham. There, many people used to break coconuts at the entrance of the Ganesha temple. There would be lot of children around. Before any person could break the coconut, these children would run to the entrance of the temple in bunches from different directions and assemble there. They day I arrived in Nagapatnam, the children started running fast in groups towards the temple’s entrance. People, who came along with me, got quite nervous that the children would tumble onto me in their rush. So, they shouted at the children to move away.

At that time, one young boy categorically responded saying, You are breaking the coconut for Lord Ganesha. What rights do you have to prevent us from coming here? Who do you think has the right to pick up the broken pieces of the coconut? It is only we, the children, who are entitled to take the broken coconut pieces. So we will definitely be here to collect the pieces. Hearing the firm and unyielding words of the boy, I myself realised, Yes! It is quite true that it is the children who are the most entitled ones to have the prasadam of the Child God!

Maha Periyava goes on to explain the philosophies manifesting from the Physique of Lord Ganesha.

The outer cover of the coconut is very firm and sturdy, representing egotism and self-centeredness of an individual self. Once the sturdy outer cover is broken, there is the nectar-like coconut water inside the coconut. This symbolises that if one renounces his egotism and arrogance, the pleasant nature of the individual will be exposed.

There is no one else who could be more plump and bigger in physique than Lord Ganesha. He is called Sthoola Kayar, reflecting His bulky body structure. He looks like a mountain, but still He is a little cute child! What attributes to the beauty of a child? While being a child, a child should eat sumptuous food, unlike aging adults and look plump. This ideology is demonstrated by Pillaiyar holding a modhakam (a sweet covered with rice flour) in His Hand!

All other Gods use a bullock, a horse or a bird as their vehicle. But for Lord Ganesha, contrary to His huge size, the mouse, which is too tiny, is His vehicle. The esteem of the God does not depend on the vehicle He owns. On the contrary, the esteem of the vehicle is enhanced by the presence of the God seated on it. But to treat His tiny vehicle with compassion and respect, Lord Ganesha makes His body very light, as that of plywood. This symbolises that even though Lord Ganesha is bulky in physique, He would be gracefully occupying the hearts of devotees without making their hearts heavy!

Every animal has its own unique, distinctive and precious body characteristics. For example, there is a kind of deer, which has its speciality in its tail. For a peacock, its feathers are a marvel and the peacock preserves its feathers with care. What would an elephant preserve in its body? It would sharpen its tusks and keep it white and bright.

But what this Elephant God did was that He broke one of His tusks and wrote the Epic Mahabharata with the same tusk! Thus, the Elephant God demonstrates that though the esteem, beauty and ego lies in its attractive tusks, above all, establishing the Dharma is the most imperative aspect!

God does not need any instrument to carry out any action. There is also an example that He will use anything as an instrument if He wants to. Once He killed a demon with His tusk. At that time, the tusk was used as weapon. But while writing Mahabharata, the same tusk turned into a pen!

We never get tired of looking at certain things on earth, such as moon, sea, elephant etc. Every time we look at them, we get enormous happiness. That’s how this Child God, in the form of an elephant, brings in immense joy in the eyes of the devotees who look at him. This is the philosophy of bliss and happiness; the philosophy of insatiable, unquenchable devotional desires.

Lord Ganesha Himself has born out of the state of ecstasy. When demon Bhandasuran prevented warriors of Goddess Parvati from moving forward by chanting mantras that induced obstacles, Lord Parameshvara gave a romantic look at Goddess Parvati. Right at that time, Parvati gave birth to this Child Ganesha. Ganesha demolished the obstacles created by Bhandasuran and aided His mother in winning the war with the demon.

We do ‘thoppukaranam’ (an act of holding both the ears cross-handed and bending down) in front of Pillaiyar. Here is a story that it is Lord Maha Vishnu who taught all of us to do the act of thoppukaranam. Once, Maha Vishnu’s nephew, Lord Ganesha, playfully snatched the Chakra from Maha Vishnu’s hands and put it into His mouth. It is difficult to snatch back the Chakra from Pillaiyar, who is very powerful and strong, and threatening him to give back the Chakra would not work. Maha Vishnu planned a trick; if He could make Ganesha laugh profoundly, His mouth would automatically open and the Chakra would come out, and He would pick the same. With this plan, Maha Vishnu danced by cross holding His ears with His four hands. Seeing this, Lord Ganesha rolled on the floor with loud laughter. Thus the chakra fell down from His mouth and Maha Vishnu immediately picked it up!

Whichever God one wants to worship before taking up a task, he should first and foremost worship Lord Ganesha and get His blessings. Only then can the task undertaken by the person be accomplished without any obstacle. There is also Ganapatyam, the religion, which worships Lord Ganesha as the Most Supreme and Paramount God.

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Part II – Advaita

1. Are God (Brahmam) and Soul (Jeevatman) one and the same? What if they are not so?

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava explains to his devotees the concept of Advaita with his lucid and rationalised points of view. Let us now go through the experience of Advaita in the magical words of Maha Periyava.

Advaita is the doctrine advocated by Acharya Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada. It advocates the unification of Individual Self (Jeevatman) with the Supreme Power (Brahmam). The Advaita School elaborates on the linkage between Brahmam and Jeevatman. According to the Advaita, Jeevan and Brahmam are one and the same; aham brahm¢smi, I am Brahmam.

When Hiranyakashibu said I am God! he was highly egoistic. He said it with utmost arrogance that no other substance existed other than him. The outcome was that God himself took the avatara of Narasimha (Lion’s Head and Human Body) and killed Hiranyakashibu. Whereas, when Bhagavadpada said I am God, he said it in an entirely different connotation. According to him, in this Cosmos, there is no other substance exists other than God and thus he says, We are God. Bhagavadpada asserts that if the Jeevan abandons its ego completely, it will dissolve itself and transform into the Brahmam.

Here is a very beautiful metaphor that clearly explains the doctrine of Advaita. We, the Jeevan, possess very little amount of energy, which is equivalent to that of the quantity of water held in a spoon, whereas God (Brahmam, the Source of Everything), possessing Supreme Power, is akin to an expansive ocean. The source of water in the spoon is only from this ocean. Once the water in the spoon dissolves its ego into the ocean, that it is a separate identity, it unifies itself completely with the ocean.

What if God (Brahmam) and Soul (Atman) are distinct from each other?

In case we don’t identify ourselves with God (Brahmam), then we should be something else other than God. In such a case, it would mean that there are many other substances existing in this Universe other than God, the Paramatma. To put it otherwise, it would tantamount to saying that Paramatma is also one that exists among various other substances. It would also mean that many substances have got themselves created without the involvement of Paramatma. If that is so, how will He be considered the Paramatma or God? It is only because He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent! In that case, can we be anything different from Him? So, when scholars practising Advaita say We are God, which may sound outwardly arrogant, in reality, they do not demean the eminence of God. There are the scholars, who say with humility that Jeevan is not equivalent to God; Jeevan is mean-minded, whereas God is almighty and invincible, and hence Jeevan and God are two different things are the ones who unconsciously dilute the prominence of God by blending Him with various other substances. If He is everything, isn’t it true that we too form a part of Him?

He, who is in the form of an ocean, is also the one, who is in the form of the river water, pond water, well water, container water, pot water and the spoon water. Thus, He has branched out His power in small and tiny forms and takes the form of different living beings. In such a scenario, when He takes the form of human beings, he creates ways and means to experience the repercussions of Papa and Punya (Evil deeds and good deeds). Once the human being surpasses the stage of Papa and Punya, it is at that juncture when he transforms himself to God. When God creates the human being, He also creates in that human being the Mind (Manasu in Tamil), which indulges in Papa and Punya and subsequently experiences the implications of the same.

How does one attain the state of Advaita?

When the mind keeps on wandering without any control, it will be difficult for human beings to attain a state which is beyond the state of Papa and Punya, and reach a state of realisation that we are a part of God. Therefore, even though We and He are one and the same, to experience that magnificent feeling, we are required to surrender ourselves at the feet of God and seek His grace and benevolence. For that, to start with, we should practise Bhakti towards God, with the humble thought that He is a great ocean and we are just water in the spoon.

It is the Mind or Manasu given by God, which differentiates us from Him. The Mind is so enigmatic that it will not easily obey our orders. Therefore, at this stage, with this Mind, we should practise Bhakti and firmly hold on to Him alone. He has designed our Mind similar to that of a monkey and that monkey is clutching our body very firmly. But God has made our body perishable. This mind akin to the monkey should be capable of disentangling this body, which is a rotten fruit. When there is a fruit which is ever fresh, the monkey will automatically drop the rotten fruit for the ever-fresh fruit. Paramatma (Brahmam) is such an ever-fresh, sweet fruit. One’s mind should practise and hold on to that Paramatma by disassociating from the body. The various means available to human beings for doing this are Bhakti, Pooja and visiting religious places and temples etc. By becoming more and more conscious and matured at the mind level, attachment to the body and the associated ego will become extinct. The distinction that He is the Paramatma and we are the Jeevatma will also vanish and thus we become He, an embodiment of the philosophy of Advaita.

Let us now engross ourselves into the verse of Arunagirinathar, the great Tamil saint-poet, desperately praying to God saying Let You and I be no different. You (Brahmam) and I (Jeevan) be unified into one.

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2. Advaita

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava deals at length on the genesis of Advaita doctrine.

While the doctrine of Advaita states that the absolute reality (Brahmam) and human soul (Jeevatman) are identical, the Dvaita Vedanta School believes that God (Brahmam) and individual souls (Jeevatman) exist as independent realities, and hence are distinct.

Let us look into the etymology of the term Advaita. The word Two is derived from Dvi in Advaita, which evolved as T instead of d as in Advaita. The letter w in the word Two is phonetically pronounced as v. So, the word Two comes from the word Dvi. Dvaita believes that there are two substances existing. Advaita believes that they are not two but only one.

Which of the two do not exist separately?

Our general perception is that first and foremost is God (Brahmam) and secondary to Him are Jeevatman, the individual human beings. But there are no such two divisions at all! There can be nothing on this earth that can exist over and above the most supreme substance called the Brahmam. Similarly, there is nothing second to that too. The power of illusion or Maya manifests that one Brahmam in the form of innumerable human lives. But all these are just the camouflage. An actor may take the disguise of different characters, but yet he is the same one actor. Similarly, though there are so many human lives, the one who dwells inside all these lives is only the Brahmam. Though we split this concept as Jeevatma and Paramatma, in reality, it is only one Atma. If we can reach this state of conscious awareness by overcoming our own illusions, that is Maya, we need not live the lives of ordinary human beings engulfed with shortcomings; we can become perfect and flawless human beings. This is the basic philosophy propounded by the Acharya through the Advaita doctrine.

If we could reach this state of experience, then, any kind of sorrow, fear, lust, hatred etc. will not entangle or bind us in any way. When we believe that there is something that exists, which is other than our own selves, only then do sorrows bind us. This is what is known as Samsara Bandham, the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. When there is nothing over and above our own selves, then who will be entangled and what could entangle us? More so, what is that so called ‘binding’? There is no second substance at all! In that case, how can there be a binding and how can an external substance be binding on us? Freeing ourselves from this state of affairs is known as Liberation or Moksha.

To attain this state of liberation, we need not go to Vaikuntha (The Abode of Lord Vishnu) or Kailasa (The Abode of Lord Shiva). We can experience the state of Moksha here and now. Rather this liberation is not something new. The eternal, boundless Brahmam has been predominantly existing as irresistible Moksha forever. The Space (sky) is expansively wide and present all through the Cosmos. If we keep empty pots in the same Cosmos, the Space will also pervade the empty space inside all the pots. We might distinguish both these skies as one that is wide and expansive in the entire Cosmos or Maha Akasham (The Great Expansive Sky) and the one that is inside the pot as "Gata Akasham (Sky inside the Pot). However, both the skies are one and the same in reality. If we annihilate the figurines of pots, both the skies merge into one. Similarly, we are also born in this Cosmos as separate pots, where Maya or illusion reigns. But still we are also identical to that of Brahmam. Due to our association with Maya, we become blind to the reality. Once we annihilate this Maya, which is in the form of pots, we will all realise that we are also a part of the expansive, omnipresent Brahmam.

To attain this state of experience, there are several steps, such as karma, upasana (worship) etc., Acharya has built the stepping stones for us to reach this state of experience with ease.

There are three stages of experiences for an individual. They are called Jagruth, Svapnam and Sushubdhi. Being awake in the normal mode (Jagruth) is one stage. Dreaming (Swapnam) is another stage. Sleeping unaware of what is happening around is the third stage (Sushubdhi). The individual existing in all these three stages is the same. One who dreams and one who wakes up are one and the same. But what happens during the dream and what happens after he/she wakes up are completely different. Something happens in the dream and something different happens after waking up. But while the experiences are different and the feelings are different during the experiences, in both the situations it is the same individual who goes through the different experiences. Similarly we should get the clarity that it is the same One who is existing within the living beings that are designed with different feelings and different attitudes and that He is We.

Bhagavadpada has advised that we should see everything in the universe as one identical to that of Brahmam. But when all living beings in the world appear in different forms, it is really confusing as to how to look at these as part of we.

At one point of time, an individual is soft and kind in nature. At another, he gets angry. But it is the same person who goes through both the feelings. Our body language undergoes changes based on our different mental outlooks and feelings. With the passage of time, when the individual grows older, even the structure of the body undergoes change. This is happening in the material world, which goes through a number of acts and transactions. However, it is entirely different in the world of dream. In the dream, from our own mind and heart, we create different characters, different places and different seasons. Though we dream of different acts, even unacceptable and contrary to each other, we do that with different bodies and different minds. Yet, we realise that it is the same individual who exists in all these experiences. When we get high fever followed by convulsions, we do something contrary to what we have done earlier. If we had written a book earlier, we ourselves tear the book now. It is the same individual who has written the book and it is the same individual who has torn the book.

This world can be likened to an embodiment of a dream. Once we realise that this material world has emerged similar to hallucinations emerging out of the fever of Maya, we will realise that everything is one and the same. When in our dream, if our own mind can create so many characters, we must realise that living beings in the Cosmos are a creation of thoughts emerging out of the Supreme Mind of Brahmam. Even if somebody else has torn the book written by us, we should realise that he is also the reflection of our own self who had desired to tear up the book. In this material world, though who writes the book and who tears the book can be different bodies, the person who is inside each body will not be different. Those existing in all beings are one and the same. If someone beats us, it is not correct to think that someone else is beating us. What is true is that we are beating our own self!

If in case this phenomenon is untrue, then there must be something else existent over and above God or Brahmam. In that case, the following questions arise; where did that ‘something’ come from? What is it made of? Who has created that?

There are two segments now; one is, we the living beings, who have absorbed consciousness or awareness (Chaitanyam) and the second is the inactive, sedentary Cosmos (Jata Prapancham), which is empty without any consciousness. The living beings have not created this inactive, conscious-less Cosmos. Similarly, the inactive and sedentary Cosmos has not created the living beings. When it does not have its own consciousness, how is it possible for it to create something on its own? While the conscious-less, inactive, sedentary Cosmos has been functioning systematically and infinitely, then it must have been created and administered by only a Super Brain. If that Super Brain has created this Cosmos using something else, then the question arises as to how that something existed on its own? So, it means that this Super Brain has been exhibiting itself as the inactive, sedentary and conscious-less Cosmos. Then, the next question arises: we, the conscious beings exist here! Have we created our own selves? When each of the living beings existing in this Cosmos has its own unique characteristics, attitudes and body structures, then it is absolutely certain that it could not have been created its own self, and that too with separate identities. Therefore, it is clear that the whole of living beings in this Cosmos have been created by only one Super Brain. The consciousness of living beings does not emerge from somewhere else unknown; it is clear that it is this Super Power, which is responsible for this creation.

The requirement of food, clothing etc., for living beings has to be procured only from this inactive Cosmos. To experience different sensations, such as smell, taste, cold and heat that are permeating in the Cosmos, living beings are designed with the respective sensory organs. Thus, the inactive Cosmos and the conscious living beings are closely connected with each other. This association has not been created by the living being all by him. Can the individual living being plan to get food, clothing shelter etc. from this inactive Cosmos on his own? Even if he plans to do so, will the Cosmos ever fall under his control? Thus, it is clear that it is the Super Brain, which has made the connection between inactive Cosmos and active living beings. Had the living beings been created by ‘some power’ and the inactive Cosmos created by ‘some other power’, then there would not be such a strong and well-streamlined association between the two. So, the origin and connecting point for co-existence of conscious-less Cosmos and conscious living beings is only the Super Brain. Even though we say that the Super Brain has ‘created’ these, we realise that these creations have not been made using some ‘external’ things. The most powerful truth is that ‘it’ alone appears as ‘so many other’ things. So, what exists is only one. The same one appears as different things. It has the power to manifest itself into different things. That is what is called Maya. The basic philosophy of Advaita is that the same Brahmam manifests into different things under the disguise of Maya.

We should inculcate the attitude of looking at the entire universe as one and the same. If everything is one, then there will be a stage when I and Others’ cannot be anything different". It is this wisdom that is eternal and blissful enlightenment (Moksha), which should be experienced by all of us while existing in this body itself.

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3. That is only This !

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava explains the doctrine of Advaita in the simplest manner.

Once, there was a carpenter. He crafted a wooden elephant as a decorative piece for a temple. He took along another carpenter to inspect the same. His daughter also accompanied him. The child was terrified seeing the wooden elephant, thinking that it was a real elephant. When the child’s father proceeded towards the wooden elephant to check it, the child screamed, Appa! Don’t go near the elephant! The elephant will jump on to you! The father pacified the child saying, Don’t worry baby! This is only a wooden elephant. It will not do any harm. He also took the child near the wooden elephant.

For the child, the wooden elephant appeared as a live elephant. The precision of the carpenter’s elephant figurine masked the awareness from the child that it is just wood and it induced the child into thinking that it is a real elephant. At the same time, though it looked like a real elephant, the reason for the carpenter for not getting scared of the same was that he was aware that it was a wooden elephant. So, the ‘elephant-ness’ in the figurine vanished and the ‘wood-ness’ of the elephant was visible to him.

This metaphor is taken from Tirumandiram by Tirumoolar, which reads as follows:

The wood was concealed by the mammoth elephant; the mammoth elephant had disappeared in the wood.

Tirumoolar is a supreme sage; he just speaks out great philosophies in very simple terms. Tirumoolar explains the concept of Advaita with a beautiful simile. Just as the elephant and the wood are not two different substances, the Paramatma and the Cosmos are also not two different substances. The figurine of Cosmos is made up of the Paramatma, who is symbolised to be in the form of wood. Just as the child is not able to differentiate wood from the wooden elephant figurine, we don’t see the Paramatma within the hemisphere of the Cosmos. In our perception, Pancha Boothangal, comprising the five elements of nature viz. air, space, earth, fire and water have concealed the Cosmos, whereas in the perspective of sages and saints, the entire Cosmos is permeated with only Brahmam. For them, Cosmos and all the Pancha Boothangal have vanished.

You may ask what the significance of this story is. What we need on this earth is a sorrow-free and comfortable life. For that purpose, we need money and other comforts. So, someone may say why bother about the concepts of earth or Cosmos or Brahmam or, they may also ask What is the need for all these kinds of wisdom?

Let us assume that everyone becomes rich and wealthy. Will that help have a peaceful, fearless and calm life? Look at the countries, which are filled with rich people. How much anxiety and lack of peace exists in those countries? Though all people have accumulated a lot of money, they still remain greedy. Each one wants to possess more money than the other. This leads to bitter competition and clashes among them. It is not just enough to possess the comforts that we need. We also have the confronting mind set, which asks for more than what other persons possess. Even if we get all comforts of life equally, then too we will fight that we should get those comforts on priority; before the others can get them.

For example, see this issue, which is very trivial. It happens within this Mutt! Everybody is aware here that I will offer sacred water to all and only then move inside. But can they afford to stay in the queue with composure and with the hope that they would get it when their turn comes? What they look for is not that they get the sacred water from me, they should get it first! For this, they push each other to move forward and get it first. So long as this kind of confrontation is there, nobody will be content. Just economic comforts will not end confrontations and conflicting mind sets.

If you want to liberate yourself from confrontations and conflicts, you should be consciously aware that there is no ‘other substance’ that exists to confront with. Only then can we have a peaceful and contented life. Instead of asking What is the need for all these kinds of wisdom? one has to continually engage in self-introspection, which is a permanent solution for peaceful living. If one does not want to entangle himself with worldly traumas, one should keep assimilating the following thought, This world is not what we think it is. This is pervaded by Lord Shiva. ‘That’ and ‘this’ are not different. The contemplation Wood is the elephant and Cosmos is the Brahmam should consistently stay in our mind. Unless we attain this wisdom, it would mean that earth will remain engulfed with darkness in spite of acquiring any amount of economic prosperity. We should never give up our efforts to attain that magnificent wisdom, which will diffuse the darkness by penetrating through the earth. We should never let this light of wisdom fade away from us.

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4. Why should there be need for God? To establish peace with Advaita!

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava elucidates the concept of Bhakti towards God, which should be practised by living beings as a means for attaining an enlightened state.

This Cosmos has been functioning systematically in the highest order. Therefore, there should exist a God, who must have created this Cosmos and is administering it effectively. This is the view of theists, those who believe in the existence of God. These theists staunchly believe that every action has a reaction; likewise, it is the God who monitors our actions, and rewards and reprimands us based on the nature of our actions. Some might object saying It is He who has created all of us at His own will and wish without our consent. Just because He has created us, we are undergoing a lot of sorrows in life. Then, why should we practice Bhakti?

To answer this question, if the theist says, He has the competence to resolve our problems and for that purpose you need to offer him Bhakti, there can still be objections. They may retort, If you say that we should pray to him and only if we pray to him He will resolve our problems, then it means that He is not an embodiment of grace and compassion as you claim! Or some may say, You say that He gives rewards and reprimands after weighing the nature of our actions; in that case, if He punishes us for our bad and evil acts, then how can we pray to Him to alter His own rules?

The great sage Neelakanda Dheekshidhar, in his Anandha Sagara Sthavam, answers the above question. Oh! Goddess Meenakshi! I don’t need to tell you anything! You are omniscient! Still, if I don’t speak out my sorrows outwardly, my heart is heavily burdened. Speaking them out to you gives me temporary solace and energy. That’s why, though you entirely know my problems, I am still telling you my problems and worries.

Nobody can isolate oneself without sharing one’s own sorrows and worries. By speaking them out openly, you get some peace of mind. Instead of sharing one’s worries with somebody, who is reluctant in listening to the same, it is better we share them with God. God might sometimes resolve our worries by pouring His grace on us even without our asking; or He might punish us for our sinful actions as per the set rules; or He might, without altering the state of worry, give us the resilience to endure our own worries. Whatever be His reactions, it is better we appeal to Him, so that it gives us peace of mind.

What I am saying about Bhakti to God is not to pray for getting relieved of our sorrows alone. Nor do I say that we should extend Bhakti to God as an act of gratitude for having given us a happy life. If I say so, in that sense, some might raise objection saying that He who planted the tree must only water the tree. Similarly, God, who has created us, should take care of us. It is His duty. For this, why should we be grateful to Him?

Therefore, I am not asking you to extend Bhakti in all these senses. Then, why did I mention about Bhakti? Let me explain. The two words, Happiness and Sorrow are two states of mind, which always keep figuring in our thoughts. What is true state of happiness (Anandham) is an unwavering, resolute mind. All other states of happiness are not permanent and everlasting. When we sleep or when we are inactive, there is no state of happiness or sadness. However, we are also not consciously undergoing those feelings when we sleep. So, it is important that we should have absolute consciousness that we are at peace within our heart. Once we reach that state of mind, there is nothing parallel to it. Only because there is something called Mind (Manasu) that exists and generates different kinds of thoughts, the very thought appears that We, the Jeevatma, exist apart from the Paramatma. If the Mind becomes still and tranquil, this distinction between the Jeevatma and Paramatma will vanish away. We will also reach a stage of tranquillity, where there is nothing else that exists, except the Paramatma. This is the doctrine of Advaita. We experience the feeling of immense Advaita philosophy once we bring our Mind to a halt, with the objective of attaining peace and calmness. To attain that state of mind, we should keep meditating on something, which is prevalent at the level of peace and calmness. If we keep contemplating about a particular substance, the very same thought converts us into that substance, which we have been thinking of. This has even been scientifically accepted. That is why, to signify delightfulness and serenity, the ideal example is only God.

God appears highly calm and composed and un-exhausted, despite ruling this Cosmos and managing the various requirements of living beings and responding to them based on their actions. The God is also called Sthanu, which means Wooden Plank or Dead Wood. It is a live tree but will still appear numb and insensitive. The creeper, which goes around this wood is called Aparna meaning without leaves. The creeper symbolises the Goddess Who, without any emotional outburst of feelings, is clinging around the wood symbolised as God, who has life but appear as though not having any sensation. If we think of God, we experience both the feelings of wisdom and calmness in our heart. So, by persistently meditating on God, we tend to seamlessly attain both wisdom and calmness. That’s why I am saying, To reach such a stage, we need God and for meditating on Him, we should have Bhakti.

Irrespective of whether we approach God for getting rid of our worries or to extend our gratitude to Him for having blessed us with a happy life, once the thought about God gets stronger and stronger, our mind automatically gets depleted of entangling thoughts of happiness and sadness. We transfer our burden of worries and problems at the feet of God and attain a stress-free feeling that let things take their own turn as deemed fit by His grace. Then, some kind of blissful feeling with tranquillity will prevail in our heart. This state of mind is the one that holds us in an immortal state and makes us feel full and complete, as against the feeling of endless insufficiencies.

Self-inquiry, meditation and yoga are the tools using which we can transform our minds into ‘dead wood’ and live life in its complete sense. You may question as to why I am insisting on Bhakti instead of practising the above tools. Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada calls this state of mind as Moksha, where the mind is void without any action or thoughts, including by not doing Bhakti as an action. Again you may be confused why I ask you to do Bhakti to God. Acharya, in one instance, has made a statement that Bhakti is the best means among all others to achieve Moksha, provided I opt to take it to my advantage. In the next line itself, he gives a new definition for Bhakti. He says To keep interrogating the unpretentious state of Atma and getting immersed into the same Atma is what Bhakti is. According to him, Bhakti refers to the state of self-inquiry, meditation and yoga, and not Bhakti as defined by me earlier.

Generally, there is a belief that Consciousness holds the supreme status. Self-inquiry, meditation and yoga are all slightly less superior to being conscious. Bhakti, Pooja and religious travels are all much inferior. Different kinds of rituals, customs and religious activities are much more inferior to the concept of Bhakti. This belief is quite strong among the educated people of these days, i.e. it is superstitious to talk of Karma and it is just sentimental to practice Bhakti. Only self-inquiry and meditation and yoga are spiritual.

Though Acharya, who has advocated the Advaita doctrine, which insists that one should be devoid of any actions or thoughts in the mind and submerge oneself into one’s own Atma, he has also recommended the path of wisdom (Jnyana Margam). He has further endorsed the path of Bhakti (Bhakti Margam), which involves various rituals and customs that are carried out using the mind. He has done this because we, who are stuck in this Cosmos, are designed with thoughts (chiththam), which keep oscillating without stopping at any point. They do not intend to stop even for a second. At such times, if one can stop the mind with determination that there is no one act or one thought, even then the chiththam would run hither and thither. Thoughts keep travelling in all the four directions. Because of our own feelings of compassions, animosities, fears and happiness, we keep on planning to do some or the other act. That is why to initiate someone into just holding the mind still and immerse in one’s own Atma is not achievable in reality.

What is the reason for not being able to control the mind? It is only because of the karma of our earlier births (Opera Janma Karma). In birth after birth, we have committed different kinds of blunders and sinful activities. Till the time these sins are not washed away fully, we will not be able to realise the blissful state of experiencing our own Atma. Only when the Ishvara (God), who is the administrator of our actions and benefactor of rewards and punishments according to our actions, sets off all our sins by way of punishing us and thereby extinguishing our sins, we will be able to reach that everlasting blissful state.

How to get liberated from our sins? This can happen only through our good deeds (Punya). With enormous grace and compassion, Ishvara offers another birth to the individual again, with the hope that he would liberate himself from the sins of one birth at least in the next birth. But what do we do? In this new birth, we not only refrain from doing fresh good deeds that would off-set the erstwhile sins, we even continue to commit sinful activities and accumulate them into a bigger baggage. Only with a view not to multiply our sins enormously and to free ourselves from our sins has the Acharya placed Karma and Bhakti as part of Jnyana (wisdom).

Sins are of two kinds; one is the sin committed by the body and the other is the evil thoughts borne through the mind. To get rid of the bad karma, we should do good karma. To get rid of evil and sinful thoughts, we should inculcate virtuous thoughts.

Thoughts and actions are closely associated. If one is sitting idle without any actions, a lot of unnecessary thoughts will arise. There is a proverb in English, which says Idle mind is a devil’s workshop. That is why, if the mind has to stay still and become capable of acquiring the wisdom of Advaita, first and foremost, that mind should be cleansed. In the beginning, Acharya establishes the Veda karmas only with the belief that the mind can be cleansed with these karmas. Inculcating helping tendency, a service mind set and willingness to sacrifice are all good thoughts that can offset the sinful evil thoughts. This can be put in a common term Compassion. To divert this compassion towards the Paramatma, who is the source of the entire universe, there is a process called Bhakti. Since that Paramatma is our source of existence, if we manage to divert our mind towards Him, then the mind stands attached to the Paramatma. All the evil thoughts vanish away and the essence of sins so far being carried forward by us from several births also gets dissolved by way of persistent reminiscence of the Paramatma. Thus, the mind assumes the exotic state of clinging tightly to the Paramatma. Prior to reaching the stage, where the mind is completely non-existent, what is needed is to hold on to the Paramatma tightly in our mind. If the mind, which is moving around in thousands of crores of directions, could at the end cling to Paramatma, it will get dissolved and halt at a state of eternal blissfulness.

To accomplish such meditating state (Dhyana Yoga), which helps us to hold back our mind on just one substance, the Paramatma, Bhagavadpada has propounded Karma and Bhakti as the facilitating tools.

Bhakti, which originates through recital of mantras, doing Pooja, travelling to religious places etc., assimilates the mind towards Paramatma and gradually, we will start experiencing the true character of Paramatma, which is possessed with absolute serenity. I am asking all of you to extend Bhakti to Paramatma because it is this Bhakti that will gradually lead one nearer to a trance state of motionlessness, tranquil mind, which can be experienced not in an unconscious, inactive or sober state, but with absolute consciousness. Therefore, instead of using Bhakti as a tool for liberating ourselves from the sorrows associated with this life of cyclical recurrence of birth and death, Bhakti towards Ishvara should be used as the means towards attaining self-awareness and immerse ourselves within self-harmony.

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5. Advaita and Nuclear Science

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava constructs an exotic connection between the philosophy of Advaita and Atom Bomb, thereby throwing more light on Advaita philosophy.

As long as this life exists, desires will also exist. There will be sorrows, fears and animosities. Freeing ourselves from all these gets us the state of Moksha. Only with absorption of Advaita philosophy can one experience the Blissful Moksha on this earth itself, with freeing of the self from emotional attachments, worries, fears and hatred. Fear will arise only if there exists something alien to us, and there will be either attachment towards it or animosity against it. If we attain wisdom of Advaita that guides us towards the thought that there is no other being; whatever we see is all one Paramatma, then, where is the source for any kind of attachment, fear, anger and worry? Scorpion and snake pose threat to us. If we identify ourselves both as snake and scorpion, then there would not be any kind of fear, isn’t it? If we get that awareness that we are into everything, we will always experience the natural bliss. This is the state of Moksha. It is not necessary that we should go someplace and seek Moksha only after the decay of this physical body. If we attain Advaita wisdom that Everything is identical with the Brahmam, then, we will experience the state of Moksha here and now itself.

It might occur to one, How is it right to say that everything is identical when we are seeing with our own eyes so many kinds of substances with typical variances among them? Either what we see through our own eyes must be the absolute truth, or whatever Vedanta says, or experiences of saints and sages reveal, which is Advaita, must be the absolute truth.

The one, which is the absolute truth, must give us enduring happiness, peace and contentment. But in our real life, there is no peace, happiness or contentment! They are only prevalent in the Advaita philosophy, as pronounced by Vedanta! Only the learned saints, who experience the Advaita philosophy, are always filled with happiness, contentment and composure, as against those who suffer from sorrows. From this itself, it can be inferred that Advaita is the absolute truth (which states that everything is identical with the Brahmam) isn’t it? In our dreams, we see many things. But once we are awake, what happens to those things seen in the dream? Remaining is only the person who has gone through the dream. Likewise, the entire universe is like only a dream. If we awaken ourselves in a conscious state after departing from the Maya (illusion), we can experience that there remains the only one, which is the Paramatma.

Modern science has evidently accepted and also established that though the world that we see appears with diverse elements, yet only one element dwells within all these diverse elements. About 50 years before, science had been propagating that all things existing in the universe are encompassed within the 72 elements. The earlier interpretation was that each element is different from one another. Now, with the advent of enhanced knowledge on Atom, experts in the field of science have established that even all these elements are not different from each other and only one ‘energy’ permeates in all these elements. Modern science says that Matter and Energy are not two different things. Therefore, science also demonstrates the underlying philosophy of Advaita as the absolute truth. Learned scientists like Einstein and Sir James Jeans have come closer to the doctrine of Advaita advocated by Upanishads and Shankara Bhagavadpada.

It is really sad to know that despite identifying the fact that Matter and Energy co-exist, atomic scientists have applied that concept to invent the Atom Bomb. The absurdity is quite obvious. That the application of philosophy of Advaita by science on external elements of the world has stopped at the knowledge level. The adoption of Advaita philosophy by science should not stop at sheer knowledge level and external world. It should interrogate the internal world, which paves way for the external world. It should not stop with the brain of people; it should penetrate the emotions of people. If the wisdom is that the entire mankind is one and is infused through science, then the same modern science, which discovered the Atom Bomb, can do justice to its own discovery of self-destruction by offsetting it with supreme self-wellbeing.

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6. Way to Purify Impurities

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava brings the subtle identity between Anandham and Brahmam.

If we look at things with conscious awareness, then everything