Upadesa Sarah of Ramana Maharshi – Sloka 5
Jagada Isha yukta sevanam
Astha murthy brid deva poojanam
Word meaning
Jagada sevanam Isha yukta – Service of the world having the idea that God is present everywhere,
Astha murthy brid deva poojanam – is worship of God having eight-form or eight-fold form.
Sloka meaning
Service of the world is service of God having eight-fold form, having the idea that everything is God alone.
Explanation:
Maharshi is here explaining a special type of worship which is termed in the Upanishads as worship of Eight-Form God – God which has eight forms or God who is manifested in eight forms.
As we have learned, the mind is full of thoughts & always in search of pleasure in the external world. This extroverted mind needs to be turned introvert in order to realize the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. The path of action is performed so that the person gains purity of mind & through this he realizes his own very nature.
The Self or Consciousness is non-dual. It is the ultimate reality of this seemingly existing world. It is the final and Supreme cause of this illusory world. This cause can never be dual because duality again implies that there is a cause for the two things which are seen – thereby Consciousness or Brahman or the Self ceases to be the final cause.
And Vedas proclaim that “that from which this world has come, that in which this world is sustained, that unto which this world will merge into (at the time of destruction), Know that to be Brahman”
This is what Veda Vyaasa wrote about Brahman in the second sutra of Brahma Sutra “Janmaadi asya yathah” – Brahman is that from which birth etc. (meaning birth, sustanence and death) occur or happen.
There, the Consciousness is non-dual. But a person sees duality in this world. How is this possible???
This duality is illusory and doesn’t have any reality. This illusory world is nothing but like a dream world. In dream, a new world is created and a person seems to be enjoying in that state. But when he wakes up, he realizes that there was never a dream world & everything was his own creation alone. Similarly this waking world is also a long dream where the duality seems to exist but the substratum for this illusory duality is Non-dual. This substratum is termed as Brahman or Consciousness.
Bhagavatham says
“Vadanthi tat tattvavidhah tattvam yad jnaanam advayam
Brahma ithi parmatma ithi bhagavaan ithi sabdhyathe”
Those who have known about the ultimate reality which is non-dual and Consciousness call this reality as Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavan.
This reality is not different from the individual Self. The seemingly individual Self is not individual – it is one as the Supreme Self. This difference in the nature of the individual and Supreme Being is due to ignorance alone. This equality of the individual and the Supreme is got through various Upanishadic statements like “TAT TVAM ASI” – THAT THOU ART. Even a person’s very experience proves this fact. It is Consciousness that is sustaining this individual being as well as the creator Brahma. The underlying principle of the name and form of Vishnu is also Consciousness alone. This Consciousness of Vishnu cannot be different from the Consciousness that is present in the limited Jeeva because Consciousness doesn’t have any degradation. This Consciousness cannot be two also because the very nature of Consciousness itself is Seer or perceiver. If there are multiple Consciousness, then the Seer will also become the Seen which is not at all possible. Therefore the Consciousness is the substratum of everything that is seemingly appearing in this world.
Also, leave out Consciousness and there is nothing at all, no world, no Krishna, no Vishnu and no Siva. But when Consciousness is there, everything exists. This only shows that these changing objects are born and die. There is no change at all possible in Consciousness and Consciousness is non-dual and hence there cannot be any change at all or birth and death of objects is not at all possible.
This finally takes us to the conclusion that there is only one thing here – Consciousness or Self. Whatever is seemingly appearing is only Consciousness alone. These objects are seen as different because of ignorance.
Removal of ignorance is the aim of Vedanta and of spiritual practices and not attainment of Vaikunta or Vishnu roopa. The Self or Consciousness one already is. What one needs to do is remove the obstacles which are present to realize one’s own nature of Consciousness.
The path of action is one of the path which helps in removal of ignorance through purification of mind.
Maharshi explained in the previous sloka that there are three modes of actions or action can be done through three instruments of body, words and mind. In this sloka, Maharshi explains a special type of action done with the body or special type of worship.
This worship need not be done through the body but is mainly performed through the mind (and the body also).
A clear study of the external world and the individual will take one to the conclusion that whatever is seen outside is also present in the body or in the individual Self.
The world has a creator or ruler which is Ishwara or God.
This individual jeeva has a ruler which is Consciousness. (Jeeva or individual Self is reflected Consciousness, Consciousness reflected in the intellect).
The world is the body of God.
The limited body is the body of the Self or seemingly limited Self.
The world is made up of five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
The individual body is also made up of five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
The world is always changing but God is the same (changeless).
The body is always changing whereas the Self or Consciousness remains the same.
Thus, when the great rishis of ancient time analyzed the world-God and the individual body-Self – they found that these two are not separate entities but these have the same essence.
They figured out that the difference between the world and this body is only in name and form. They similarly found out that the difference between God and the Self is only in the objects which limit them (the world and the body respectively). Thus, they found that this seemingly individual Self is the same as God (and not different from God) and that the body and the world are only illusory existences in the substratum of God and Self which are one and the same principle of Consciousness.
The individual Self and its instruments of body, mind and intellect are in total called Vyasthi meaning individual.
The God and his instruments of world are in total called Samasthi meaning totality.
The rishis thus realized the oneness between the individuality and totality (or the essence of both being the same).
The one way to realize the equality of Samasthi and Vyasthi is to see Samasthi in Vyasthi and Vyasthi in Samasthi. This involves seeing God and the world in the Self & seeing the Self in the world and God.
The only way to realize the oneness of God and the Self is to remove the limitedness of the Self. This is done by seeing God everywhere. Seeing God or the substratum in each and every object.
Thus, whenever a person sees an object, he sees God in the object & asserts that God or Consciousness is the underlying principle of the object.
This form of worship is called Eight-form worship. The world that we see and the individual Self and its body can be said to have eight components. These eight components of the world are – the five primal gross elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether – the Sun, the moon and the Purusha (or the Consciousness).
If a person similarly analyzes this individual body, he finds that the body is made up of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, the Intellect (representing the Sun), the moon (the mind) and the Self or Consciousness.
The Sun represents removal of ignorance and denotes illumination. The intellect is that faculty which helps in determination and to find out what is real and what is unreal. Therefore, it is the intellect which illumines objects & removes ignorance about external objects. Also it is the intellect through which the reality of one’s own nature is realized (as it is the place where Consciousness gets reflected). Therefore the Sun represents the intellect.
The moon represents waxing and waning. The mind is that which also enters into thoughts and distraction. These thoughts are always fluctuating. Swami Vivekananda termed the mind as a “drunken monkey”. Therefore the moon represents the mind which always fluctuates between thoughts and objects.
Purusha means “Puri sayanaat purushah” – that which is present in the town of body is called Purushah. Purusha also means “Poornam anena sarvam ithi purushah” – that which is present in FULL in all the objects. The very ancient Purusha Sookta hymn speaks about one Purusha which is the sum of all the worlds put together. This purusha is Conscious in nature because it is from which this world comes and such a thing cannot be insentient. Similarly the Self or seemingly individual Self is also of the nature of Consciousness because it illumines all objects through the intellect, mind and sense organs. Therefore the purusha represents the Self.
Therefore the Eight-Form of the world is synonymous with the individual Self. Through this worship of seeing God everywhere & worshipping the eight-form God everywhere – one indirectly removes the difference between the individual and the total. Thus, the illusory difference is removed & realization dawns that whatever is present is only one Consciousness alone.
Krishna says about this pooja in Gita Chapter 7
“Bhoomih aapoh analo vayuh kham mano buddhireva cha
Ahamkaara ithi ayam me bhinnah prakritih asthadhaa”
My Eight fold nature consists of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, mind, intellect and the Ego (Ego is nothing but reflected consciousness and reflected Consciousness has no existence separate from original Consciousness).
Sankara mentions this in the 9th or Upasana sloka of Dakshinamurthy Astakam
“Bhooram bhamsyanalo anilo ambaram ahar naatho himanshu puman
Ithyabhaathi characharatmakam idam yasya eva murthy astakam
Na anyat kinchana vidhyathe asmat parasmaat vibho
Tasmai sree guru murthaye nama idam sree dakshinamurthaye”
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Sun, Moon and Purusha – it is one Consciousness whose Eight-Form or eight-fold form is shining as the world. That different from whom, nothing exists – that Dakshinamurthy who is the first Guru, to him I offer my prostrations.
All kinds of worship are meant only for purification of mind & remembrance of God. When one single thought is followed, the person becomes that thought. When a person concentrates on God who is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss Absolute, he becomes one with God. This God is the same as the Self or Consciousness in a person.
Thus, all these worship are meant to realize one’s own real nature through seeing the same Self and the same body and its elements in the external world.
This service of the world and seeing it as the Eight-form of God is the real service of God or the Self. When a person does any service to any single being in this world with this knowledge that it is Eight-Form God who is shining through this being, that very service or help becomes an offering or worship – which directly purifies the mind and thereby leads to realization of one’s own nature.
We will learn little more about worship and offerings tomorrow.
A person should always remember that it is the Eight-Form God who is shining in each and every object in this world or the world itself is God alone. This thought always makes one do actions without expectations and as an offering to the Almighty. As Maharshi has mentioned in the 3rd sloka, this kind of action leads one to purification of mind and thereby to realization of the eternal bliss of the Self.
Worship is one of the very important factor in all religions. Worship of the God as being manifested in this world has been put forth in the Vedas itself.
The very ancient Rig Veda hymn of Purusha Sookta speaks about one Supreme Being from whom these worlds and the people have come.
The very old Rig Veda says at one place “Ekam Sat Vipra Bahuda Vadanthi” – One Existence is talked of as different Gods by various learned people.
What a normal worship is doing is it makes a person concentrated and focused on the form of single God. The life of the person goes mainly as service for that Lord. Each moment he sees or thinks about that God. Each moment he sings praises of the God. Each moment he tries to do service for the devotees of that Lord. We find such services being mentioned in the lives of the Saivite saints or Nayanmaars. This is service to a single form of God. Through this kind of form-God worship, a person gains concentration and his mind becomes completely fixed on that God.
This type of one-pointedness turns the mind inward. Therefore the mind slowly merges into its source of the Self or Consciousness. A person who has practiced meditation will know that if a person concentrates on a single object for long period, slowly he can feel the object also vanishing and pure Consciousness alone remaining (a state similar to voidness – meaning there are no external objects).
Thus, this one-pointedness and turning inward of the mind is what is expected out of worship.
One kind of worship is being mentioned by Ramana here. This worship is seeing God everywhere. Whatever object is being perceived, that is perceived as God alone. When a person following this worship sees a cat, he doesn’t the cat as such but he sees the Supreme Being or God as being manifested in the form of the cat. This again leads one to oneness. The mind while turning into the external world perceives just one thing – God. Therefore, even while the mind is extroverted, it sees nothing but God alone. This is again one-pointedness alone. This one-pointed nature leads the person or devotee to turn inward and realize the ultimate reality that “I am the God which I was seeing everywhere, I am the person who is present or manifested in this seemingly existing world”.
Therefore, worship of God is not just closing one’s eyes or doing service to the form of Vishnu or Siva, but it is seeing God everywhere. Worship is knowing completely that everything is nothing but God alone. Whatever objects are seen those are nothing but God or Consciousness alone. When this oneness is followed, there is no sorrow or suffering because sorrow, suffering and all are there because of Duality perception. In this case of worship, the devotee sees nothing but One God alone. Even the devotee ceases to exist, he merges into the omnipresent God or Consciousness. Therefore there is no separate existence for such a devotee – whatever is there is only God. This absolute oneness is the aim of Vedanta or Upanishads.
This absolute reality alone can confer happiness and contentment to a person. Other happiness that a person gains from the material things in the world are only temporary and filled with sorrow. But this happiness is eternal having attained or realized which there is no returning back, there is no worries or sufferings again.
This worship doesn’t require any special flower or special water or other materials. It just requires some time of the mind & the right attitude to perform it.
The moment a person sees the monitor in front of him as God, the monitor ceases to be monitor. It becomes God alone. As the monitor is God, therefore it cannot give him sorrow because God is full of happiness or bliss alone. This is not just a vision to be adopted but this is the ultimate reality. But since, all have forgotten this ultimate reality, one needs to see this initially as a vision & not as an reality. Slowly the person will realize that what he was following was not madness or mere imagination but it was the absolute reality.
Vedanta says
“Sarvam khalu idam brahma” – Everything is verily Brahman alone.
“Sarvam Brahma mayam jagat” – The world is Brahman alone.
“Ishaavasyam idam sarvam” – Everything is pervaded by God.
Krishna beautifully describes this worship in Gita chapter 9
“Patram pushpam phalam thoyam yo me bhaktya prayatchathi
Tad aham bhakti upahritam ashnaami prayataatmanah”
He who offers with devotion a flower or leave or fruit of little water, I partake of the offering because of his devotion.
Here Krishna mentions that a flower or a leave which indicates that the quantity is not important but quality or attitude is important.
Krishna again continues
“Yad karoshi yad ashnaasi yad juhosi dadaasi yad
Yad tapasyasi kaunteya tad kurushva mad arpanam”
Whatever action you do, whatever offering you do, whatever you eat, whatever you give as daana, whatever austerity you do – do that unto Me (or do it as an offering to Me).
“Shubha ashubha phalairevam mokshyase karma bandhanaih
Sanyaasa yoga yuktaatma vimukto maam upaishyasi”
By doing thus (offering actions to Me or God), one gets rid of good and bad (happiness and sorrow – which are relative) and gets rid of the attachment or bondage to actions – such a person is a Sanyaasin who is completely established in Me & he attains liberation or eternal bliss.
Now, some people have doubt about if Adharmic action or Avaidika actions are done. Krishna answers their query
“Api chet suduraacharah bhajathe maam ananya bhaak
Sadhureva sa manthavyah samyak vyavasitho hi sah”
Those who have done the worst sins offering those to Me (meaning ananya bhajana or ceaseless thought of God), he is to be considered a Sadhu because he is always established in Me.
“Kshipram bhavathi dharmaatma sashvat shaanthim nigatchathi
Kaunteya prathijaaneehi na me bhaktah pranashyathi”
Very shortly, that person becomes established in the Self (Dharma really means established in Self and not normal vaidika actions) and attains eternal peace. O Arjuna, know for certain that my devotee never falls or never perishes.
Therefore, one should see God everywhere, remember God at all times and do all actions. Thus doing actions, the results of the actions will not affect the person & by doing thus, latent tendencies in the form of vasanaas are not created so that he becomes bonded to the action and its performance.
The very first naama of Vishnu Sahasranaama is “Visham” – which means “Vishathi ithi Vishwam” – one who has entered into all beings. Therefore the world that we see in essence is God or Consciousness. This God is not at all different from the limited jeevatma but it is the same as Jeevatma because everything is God alone. Maharshi in future slokas beautifully tells that God is not different from the jeevatma or individual Self but both are the same only.
Let us all try to follow this worship of seeing everything as God alone & get purification of mind & thereby realize the inherent bliss of the Self. This realization is realizing that God is in Me or God is my very nature alone & God is not a special being sitting above in the heaven.
Maharshi concludes this path of action (which comprises worship through body, chanting through words and meditation through the mind) in the next sloka where Maharshi speaks about chanting.
Once this path of action is elucidated, Maharshi then takes the other paths of Bhakti, Yoga and Jnana. Maharshi elucidates the path of knowledge in 15 slokas because the knowledge taught here is the oneness between the jeevatma and paramatma – and any path will lead to this level alone. The final step or final thing in the path of realization is REALIZING or KNOWING that I am Brahman, I am God.
Even though, the Jeeva seems to be limited Ego and seems to be enjoying the pleasures and pains, all this are only illusions and the reality or absolute reality is that there is nothing here but ONE alone which is termed differently as Bhagavan, Brahman, Paramatma, God and all.
Bhagavatham says this in the starting itself
“Vadanthi tat tattvavidhah tattvam yad jnaanam advayam
Brahma ithi paramaatmethi bhagavaan ithi sabdhyathe”
Those who have realized the truth speak about the truth as non-dual knowledge and they term the truth as Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavan.
Bhagavatham again mentions this in the concluding chapter
“Vedanta saaram yad brahma atmaikyatva lakshanam
Vasthu adviteeyam tannishtaam kaivalyam prayojanam”
The main aim of Bhagavatham is Kaivalya or Absolute state and being established in the absolute state. This absolute state is the non-dual Truth which is the essence of Vedanta and is the oneness of Brahman and individual Atman.
Astha murthy brid deva poojanam
Word meaning
Jagada sevanam Isha yukta – Service of the world having the idea that God is present everywhere,
Astha murthy brid deva poojanam – is worship of God having eight-form or eight-fold form.
Sloka meaning
Service of the world is service of God having eight-fold form, having the idea that everything is God alone.
Explanation:
Maharshi is here explaining a special type of worship which is termed in the Upanishads as worship of Eight-Form God – God which has eight forms or God who is manifested in eight forms.
As we have learned, the mind is full of thoughts & always in search of pleasure in the external world. This extroverted mind needs to be turned introvert in order to realize the eternal bliss inherent in the Self. The path of action is performed so that the person gains purity of mind & through this he realizes his own very nature.
The Self or Consciousness is non-dual. It is the ultimate reality of this seemingly existing world. It is the final and Supreme cause of this illusory world. This cause can never be dual because duality again implies that there is a cause for the two things which are seen – thereby Consciousness or Brahman or the Self ceases to be the final cause.
And Vedas proclaim that “that from which this world has come, that in which this world is sustained, that unto which this world will merge into (at the time of destruction), Know that to be Brahman”
This is what Veda Vyaasa wrote about Brahman in the second sutra of Brahma Sutra “Janmaadi asya yathah” – Brahman is that from which birth etc. (meaning birth, sustanence and death) occur or happen.
There, the Consciousness is non-dual. But a person sees duality in this world. How is this possible???
This duality is illusory and doesn’t have any reality. This illusory world is nothing but like a dream world. In dream, a new world is created and a person seems to be enjoying in that state. But when he wakes up, he realizes that there was never a dream world & everything was his own creation alone. Similarly this waking world is also a long dream where the duality seems to exist but the substratum for this illusory duality is Non-dual. This substratum is termed as Brahman or Consciousness.
Bhagavatham says
“Vadanthi tat tattvavidhah tattvam yad jnaanam advayam
Brahma ithi parmatma ithi bhagavaan ithi sabdhyathe”
Those who have known about the ultimate reality which is non-dual and Consciousness call this reality as Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavan.
This reality is not different from the individual Self. The seemingly individual Self is not individual – it is one as the Supreme Self. This difference in the nature of the individual and Supreme Being is due to ignorance alone. This equality of the individual and the Supreme is got through various Upanishadic statements like “TAT TVAM ASI” – THAT THOU ART. Even a person’s very experience proves this fact. It is Consciousness that is sustaining this individual being as well as the creator Brahma. The underlying principle of the name and form of Vishnu is also Consciousness alone. This Consciousness of Vishnu cannot be different from the Consciousness that is present in the limited Jeeva because Consciousness doesn’t have any degradation. This Consciousness cannot be two also because the very nature of Consciousness itself is Seer or perceiver. If there are multiple Consciousness, then the Seer will also become the Seen which is not at all possible. Therefore the Consciousness is the substratum of everything that is seemingly appearing in this world.
Also, leave out Consciousness and there is nothing at all, no world, no Krishna, no Vishnu and no Siva. But when Consciousness is there, everything exists. This only shows that these changing objects are born and die. There is no change at all possible in Consciousness and Consciousness is non-dual and hence there cannot be any change at all or birth and death of objects is not at all possible.
This finally takes us to the conclusion that there is only one thing here – Consciousness or Self. Whatever is seemingly appearing is only Consciousness alone. These objects are seen as different because of ignorance.
Removal of ignorance is the aim of Vedanta and of spiritual practices and not attainment of Vaikunta or Vishnu roopa. The Self or Consciousness one already is. What one needs to do is remove the obstacles which are present to realize one’s own nature of Consciousness.
The path of action is one of the path which helps in removal of ignorance through purification of mind.
Maharshi explained in the previous sloka that there are three modes of actions or action can be done through three instruments of body, words and mind. In this sloka, Maharshi explains a special type of action done with the body or special type of worship.
This worship need not be done through the body but is mainly performed through the mind (and the body also).
A clear study of the external world and the individual will take one to the conclusion that whatever is seen outside is also present in the body or in the individual Self.
The world has a creator or ruler which is Ishwara or God.
This individual jeeva has a ruler which is Consciousness. (Jeeva or individual Self is reflected Consciousness, Consciousness reflected in the intellect).
The world is the body of God.
The limited body is the body of the Self or seemingly limited Self.
The world is made up of five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
The individual body is also made up of five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
The world is always changing but God is the same (changeless).
The body is always changing whereas the Self or Consciousness remains the same.
Thus, when the great rishis of ancient time analyzed the world-God and the individual body-Self – they found that these two are not separate entities but these have the same essence.
They figured out that the difference between the world and this body is only in name and form. They similarly found out that the difference between God and the Self is only in the objects which limit them (the world and the body respectively). Thus, they found that this seemingly individual Self is the same as God (and not different from God) and that the body and the world are only illusory existences in the substratum of God and Self which are one and the same principle of Consciousness.
The individual Self and its instruments of body, mind and intellect are in total called Vyasthi meaning individual.
The God and his instruments of world are in total called Samasthi meaning totality.
The rishis thus realized the oneness between the individuality and totality (or the essence of both being the same).
The one way to realize the equality of Samasthi and Vyasthi is to see Samasthi in Vyasthi and Vyasthi in Samasthi. This involves seeing God and the world in the Self & seeing the Self in the world and God.
The only way to realize the oneness of God and the Self is to remove the limitedness of the Self. This is done by seeing God everywhere. Seeing God or the substratum in each and every object.
Thus, whenever a person sees an object, he sees God in the object & asserts that God or Consciousness is the underlying principle of the object.
This form of worship is called Eight-form worship. The world that we see and the individual Self and its body can be said to have eight components. These eight components of the world are – the five primal gross elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether – the Sun, the moon and the Purusha (or the Consciousness).
If a person similarly analyzes this individual body, he finds that the body is made up of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, the Intellect (representing the Sun), the moon (the mind) and the Self or Consciousness.
The Sun represents removal of ignorance and denotes illumination. The intellect is that faculty which helps in determination and to find out what is real and what is unreal. Therefore, it is the intellect which illumines objects & removes ignorance about external objects. Also it is the intellect through which the reality of one’s own nature is realized (as it is the place where Consciousness gets reflected). Therefore the Sun represents the intellect.
The moon represents waxing and waning. The mind is that which also enters into thoughts and distraction. These thoughts are always fluctuating. Swami Vivekananda termed the mind as a “drunken monkey”. Therefore the moon represents the mind which always fluctuates between thoughts and objects.
Purusha means “Puri sayanaat purushah” – that which is present in the town of body is called Purushah. Purusha also means “Poornam anena sarvam ithi purushah” – that which is present in FULL in all the objects. The very ancient Purusha Sookta hymn speaks about one Purusha which is the sum of all the worlds put together. This purusha is Conscious in nature because it is from which this world comes and such a thing cannot be insentient. Similarly the Self or seemingly individual Self is also of the nature of Consciousness because it illumines all objects through the intellect, mind and sense organs. Therefore the purusha represents the Self.
Therefore the Eight-Form of the world is synonymous with the individual Self. Through this worship of seeing God everywhere & worshipping the eight-form God everywhere – one indirectly removes the difference between the individual and the total. Thus, the illusory difference is removed & realization dawns that whatever is present is only one Consciousness alone.
Krishna says about this pooja in Gita Chapter 7
“Bhoomih aapoh analo vayuh kham mano buddhireva cha
Ahamkaara ithi ayam me bhinnah prakritih asthadhaa”
My Eight fold nature consists of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, mind, intellect and the Ego (Ego is nothing but reflected consciousness and reflected Consciousness has no existence separate from original Consciousness).
Sankara mentions this in the 9th or Upasana sloka of Dakshinamurthy Astakam
“Bhooram bhamsyanalo anilo ambaram ahar naatho himanshu puman
Ithyabhaathi characharatmakam idam yasya eva murthy astakam
Na anyat kinchana vidhyathe asmat parasmaat vibho
Tasmai sree guru murthaye nama idam sree dakshinamurthaye”
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Sun, Moon and Purusha – it is one Consciousness whose Eight-Form or eight-fold form is shining as the world. That different from whom, nothing exists – that Dakshinamurthy who is the first Guru, to him I offer my prostrations.
All kinds of worship are meant only for purification of mind & remembrance of God. When one single thought is followed, the person becomes that thought. When a person concentrates on God who is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss Absolute, he becomes one with God. This God is the same as the Self or Consciousness in a person.
Thus, all these worship are meant to realize one’s own real nature through seeing the same Self and the same body and its elements in the external world.
This service of the world and seeing it as the Eight-form of God is the real service of God or the Self. When a person does any service to any single being in this world with this knowledge that it is Eight-Form God who is shining through this being, that very service or help becomes an offering or worship – which directly purifies the mind and thereby leads to realization of one’s own nature.
We will learn little more about worship and offerings tomorrow.
A person should always remember that it is the Eight-Form God who is shining in each and every object in this world or the world itself is God alone. This thought always makes one do actions without expectations and as an offering to the Almighty. As Maharshi has mentioned in the 3rd sloka, this kind of action leads one to purification of mind and thereby to realization of the eternal bliss of the Self.
Worship is one of the very important factor in all religions. Worship of the God as being manifested in this world has been put forth in the Vedas itself.
The very ancient Rig Veda hymn of Purusha Sookta speaks about one Supreme Being from whom these worlds and the people have come.
The very old Rig Veda says at one place “Ekam Sat Vipra Bahuda Vadanthi” – One Existence is talked of as different Gods by various learned people.
What a normal worship is doing is it makes a person concentrated and focused on the form of single God. The life of the person goes mainly as service for that Lord. Each moment he sees or thinks about that God. Each moment he sings praises of the God. Each moment he tries to do service for the devotees of that Lord. We find such services being mentioned in the lives of the Saivite saints or Nayanmaars. This is service to a single form of God. Through this kind of form-God worship, a person gains concentration and his mind becomes completely fixed on that God.
This type of one-pointedness turns the mind inward. Therefore the mind slowly merges into its source of the Self or Consciousness. A person who has practiced meditation will know that if a person concentrates on a single object for long period, slowly he can feel the object also vanishing and pure Consciousness alone remaining (a state similar to voidness – meaning there are no external objects).
Thus, this one-pointedness and turning inward of the mind is what is expected out of worship.
One kind of worship is being mentioned by Ramana here. This worship is seeing God everywhere. Whatever object is being perceived, that is perceived as God alone. When a person following this worship sees a cat, he doesn’t the cat as such but he sees the Supreme Being or God as being manifested in the form of the cat. This again leads one to oneness. The mind while turning into the external world perceives just one thing – God. Therefore, even while the mind is extroverted, it sees nothing but God alone. This is again one-pointedness alone. This one-pointed nature leads the person or devotee to turn inward and realize the ultimate reality that “I am the God which I was seeing everywhere, I am the person who is present or manifested in this seemingly existing world”.
Therefore, worship of God is not just closing one’s eyes or doing service to the form of Vishnu or Siva, but it is seeing God everywhere. Worship is knowing completely that everything is nothing but God alone. Whatever objects are seen those are nothing but God or Consciousness alone. When this oneness is followed, there is no sorrow or suffering because sorrow, suffering and all are there because of Duality perception. In this case of worship, the devotee sees nothing but One God alone. Even the devotee ceases to exist, he merges into the omnipresent God or Consciousness. Therefore there is no separate existence for such a devotee – whatever is there is only God. This absolute oneness is the aim of Vedanta or Upanishads.
This absolute reality alone can confer happiness and contentment to a person. Other happiness that a person gains from the material things in the world are only temporary and filled with sorrow. But this happiness is eternal having attained or realized which there is no returning back, there is no worries or sufferings again.
This worship doesn’t require any special flower or special water or other materials. It just requires some time of the mind & the right attitude to perform it.
The moment a person sees the monitor in front of him as God, the monitor ceases to be monitor. It becomes God alone. As the monitor is God, therefore it cannot give him sorrow because God is full of happiness or bliss alone. This is not just a vision to be adopted but this is the ultimate reality. But since, all have forgotten this ultimate reality, one needs to see this initially as a vision & not as an reality. Slowly the person will realize that what he was following was not madness or mere imagination but it was the absolute reality.
Vedanta says
“Sarvam khalu idam brahma” – Everything is verily Brahman alone.
“Sarvam Brahma mayam jagat” – The world is Brahman alone.
“Ishaavasyam idam sarvam” – Everything is pervaded by God.
Krishna beautifully describes this worship in Gita chapter 9
“Patram pushpam phalam thoyam yo me bhaktya prayatchathi
Tad aham bhakti upahritam ashnaami prayataatmanah”
He who offers with devotion a flower or leave or fruit of little water, I partake of the offering because of his devotion.
Here Krishna mentions that a flower or a leave which indicates that the quantity is not important but quality or attitude is important.
Krishna again continues
“Yad karoshi yad ashnaasi yad juhosi dadaasi yad
Yad tapasyasi kaunteya tad kurushva mad arpanam”
Whatever action you do, whatever offering you do, whatever you eat, whatever you give as daana, whatever austerity you do – do that unto Me (or do it as an offering to Me).
“Shubha ashubha phalairevam mokshyase karma bandhanaih
Sanyaasa yoga yuktaatma vimukto maam upaishyasi”
By doing thus (offering actions to Me or God), one gets rid of good and bad (happiness and sorrow – which are relative) and gets rid of the attachment or bondage to actions – such a person is a Sanyaasin who is completely established in Me & he attains liberation or eternal bliss.
Now, some people have doubt about if Adharmic action or Avaidika actions are done. Krishna answers their query
“Api chet suduraacharah bhajathe maam ananya bhaak
Sadhureva sa manthavyah samyak vyavasitho hi sah”
Those who have done the worst sins offering those to Me (meaning ananya bhajana or ceaseless thought of God), he is to be considered a Sadhu because he is always established in Me.
“Kshipram bhavathi dharmaatma sashvat shaanthim nigatchathi
Kaunteya prathijaaneehi na me bhaktah pranashyathi”
Very shortly, that person becomes established in the Self (Dharma really means established in Self and not normal vaidika actions) and attains eternal peace. O Arjuna, know for certain that my devotee never falls or never perishes.
Therefore, one should see God everywhere, remember God at all times and do all actions. Thus doing actions, the results of the actions will not affect the person & by doing thus, latent tendencies in the form of vasanaas are not created so that he becomes bonded to the action and its performance.
The very first naama of Vishnu Sahasranaama is “Visham” – which means “Vishathi ithi Vishwam” – one who has entered into all beings. Therefore the world that we see in essence is God or Consciousness. This God is not at all different from the limited jeevatma but it is the same as Jeevatma because everything is God alone. Maharshi in future slokas beautifully tells that God is not different from the jeevatma or individual Self but both are the same only.
Let us all try to follow this worship of seeing everything as God alone & get purification of mind & thereby realize the inherent bliss of the Self. This realization is realizing that God is in Me or God is my very nature alone & God is not a special being sitting above in the heaven.
Maharshi concludes this path of action (which comprises worship through body, chanting through words and meditation through the mind) in the next sloka where Maharshi speaks about chanting.
Once this path of action is elucidated, Maharshi then takes the other paths of Bhakti, Yoga and Jnana. Maharshi elucidates the path of knowledge in 15 slokas because the knowledge taught here is the oneness between the jeevatma and paramatma – and any path will lead to this level alone. The final step or final thing in the path of realization is REALIZING or KNOWING that I am Brahman, I am God.
Even though, the Jeeva seems to be limited Ego and seems to be enjoying the pleasures and pains, all this are only illusions and the reality or absolute reality is that there is nothing here but ONE alone which is termed differently as Bhagavan, Brahman, Paramatma, God and all.
Bhagavatham says this in the starting itself
“Vadanthi tat tattvavidhah tattvam yad jnaanam advayam
Brahma ithi paramaatmethi bhagavaan ithi sabdhyathe”
Those who have realized the truth speak about the truth as non-dual knowledge and they term the truth as Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavan.
Bhagavatham again mentions this in the concluding chapter
“Vedanta saaram yad brahma atmaikyatva lakshanam
Vasthu adviteeyam tannishtaam kaivalyam prayojanam”
The main aim of Bhagavatham is Kaivalya or Absolute state and being established in the absolute state. This absolute state is the non-dual Truth which is the essence of Vedanta and is the oneness of Brahman and individual Atman.
posted by vedanta at 7:01 PM
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