Upadesa Sarah of Ramana Maharshi – Sloka 6
Uttama stavaat uccha mandathah
Chittajam japa dhyaanam uttamam
Word meaning
Uttama stavaat – Than the best of praises
Uccha mandathah – singing or chanting in loud and low volume is greater or superior
Chittajam japa dhyaanam uttamam – Chanting in the mind or meditation is superior to both.
Sloka meaning
Than the best of praises, singing or chanting in loud and low volume is greater or superior. Superior to both of these is meditation or contemplation in the mind.
Explanation:
Maharshi here gives three types of chanting or japa.
Chanting or praises of the Lord in any language and in any mode.
Chanting in loud or low volume of the sacred scriptures (the various sooktas, the various recitations like Rudram, Chamakam and all)
Mental Contemplation
We will just try to see each one of these even though the chanting that is given much emphasis is mental contemplation alone.
Praises of the Lord
These are the various hymns made on the various Gods and Goddesses. One may ask what is use of these hymns which talk about the God and his activities or lilaas???? The very aim of all these is remembrance of God or the Self. The aim of all such spiritual practice is to develop devotion and one-pointedness of the mind.
Therefore these praises indirect lead a person to one-pointed mind which just thinks about the Lord alone.
Chanting in loud or low volume of the sacred scriptures
These chants which have hidden truth about the ultimate reality are in Sanskrit. These chants or sooktaas are those which are chanted either loud or in low volume (in order not to disturb other people). These Sanskrit verses are so powerful that even mere chanting or hearing them cures many a diseases.
One reads from the Mahabharatha about how Veda Vyaasa chanted the Atharvana Veda Mantras and cured the Shantanu Maharaj – Emperor of Hastinapur.
Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam used to stress the importance of Sanskrit mantras and the ability of those syllables to cure diseases like fever and others.
These chants or mantras have the hidden truth in them. These chants or sooktaas and all are to chanted in proper form and annotations.
There are some people who take it for granted that these chants, if chanted improperly, will lead to adverse effects. These wrong notions are out of ignorance alone. As Sri Krishna mentions again and again in Gita that any action is not as important as the attitude is. The attitude of the doer is important and not the action as such. Even a person like DharmaVyaada who was a butcher was considered a realized jnaani by none other than Krishna when he sends many a people to dharma vyaada for learning knowledge.
All the chants are chanted in order that the real import of those, the ultimate reality, is realized through them. If the ultimate reality is not realized, then even if the chants are chanted properly also, they serve no purpose than for SHOW-OFF to the public about the knowledge of the person chanting them.
One may now have doubt regarding the power of mantras. AMMA, as Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi is popularly known as, gives a beautiful story about the power of mantras.
A sage’s ashram was there in a kingdom which was ruled by a king. The king had given the place to the sage in order that knowledge will be imparted to various students. Once the king went to the ashram. At that time, the Guru or the sage was teaching mantra to the students. The king called out to the Sage. But the sage did not come out. After a couple of calls, the sage came out. The king asked the sage why he did not come out when he had called. The sage replied that he was teaching about mantras to the students and these mantras are very powerful and there should not be any obstruction while teaching these mantras. The king asked the sage whether the mantras are more powerful than the king himself & mocked at the sage. The sage said to the King to wait and went inside. The sage then called out the smallest of his disciples who was just 3 years old and told the disciple to welcome the king who was standing outside. The little disciple came out & saw the king. The king saw the small kid who was very small compared to himself. The disciple looked at the king and said “GET OUT!”. After telling this, the little disciple went inside. The king was very angry and raged. He was very angry and shouting that the very ashram was in his area and that he would set the ashram into fire! The Sage then came out. The king was still angry and started shouting at the sage and threatening the sage. The sage slowly and calmly said to the king “Please wait, O King!”. And the sage said to the king “If the two words of GET OUT can have such great impact on you, just imagine the effect of sacred mantras and syllables”.
Thus, mantras have tremendous effect. The mantras gain more effect based on the effort from the individual. When a person prays to the stone image of Vishnu in Tirupathi, it ceases to become a stone image and becomes the very Lord Vishnu himself. The very power of the stone images in temples are the mantras which are daily chanted in the temple & the process of building the temple and pratishta of the stone image.
Hence, Maharshi here says that chanting or action through the words can be done in three ways – either praising the Lord through various hymns , chanting various sooktaas loudly or chanting of sacred mantras in a low volume and mental contemplation.
Mental contemplation is given high importance because of the law that “whatever one thinks, that one becomes”. Now, an idiotic or ignorant person who wants to mock at philosophy or spirituality as given in the scriptures might ask “If I think I am donkey, will I become a donkey?”. Vedanta answers that “yes you will become a donkey”. But it is not mere thinking that makes a person become something. Instead it is the effort of strong thinking which is termed as BHAVANA that makes a person become a thing. If a person continuously thinks of Vishnu alone, he verily becomes Vishnu because of the strong contemplation on Vishnu.
This is what is told in the history of great saivite saints where they are said to have merged as one with Siva. This mental contemplation is what makes great living legends like Ramanujacharya and others to get immersed into the idol of Vishnu and with the form of Lord Vishnu.
What Maharshi mentions in this sloka as mental contemplation is not mere contemplation on any material objects or the forms of Gods, but it is contemplation on one’s own very nature. It is contemplation on the essence of oneself which is the same as God who is situated in the spiritual heart of each person.
Adi Sankara explains about Bhakti or devotion in Vivekachoodamani as
“Sva sva roopa anusandhaanam bhakthirithi abhidheeyathe”
Contemplation on one’s own real nature is called Bhakthi or Devotion.
Vedanta tells three different steps to realization of one’s own nature. The three steps are
Sravana or Listening – this is where a person listens to the scriptures which speak about the Self and about one’s own real nature.
Manana or Reflecting – any theory is merely intellectual until all doubts are completely removed. Here a person reflects on the Self with the help of various logics and through the intellect. Unless this step is covered, a person cannot realize the Self because this is the step where all the doubts regarding the reality are removed through logic and arguments.
Nidhidhyaasana or Contemplation – when the theoretic and logical aspects of the reality is complete and perfect, it has to become one’s own very experience. Experience of the Self is present at all times, but it is covered with a veil of ignorance. Unless this veil or obstructions are removed, the Self is not realized or bliss of the Self is not experienced. This is the stage where a person completely removes the ignorance or Avidya which is the cause of all bondage and sorrow.
The third step of contemplation is very essential as without this, experience of the reality as one’s own very nature is not known. Unless this non-dual Self is known as one’s own real nature, sorrow and sufferings will still continue. If this non-dual reality is not known, then there will still be doubts regarding the nature of the Self as non-dual or qualified monism or duality itself and all. These doubts will make a person to enter into debates with scholars of other schools and this will become a mere intellectual argumentation and fight.
This is why the great Upanishads proclaim
“Manasaiva aaptavyam neha nana asthi kinchana
Mrityoh sah mrityum aapnothi ya iha nana iva pashyathi”
The Self is to be realized through a pure mind. The reality is that there is no duality here, not even little. He who sees duality, as it where, will go from death to death (death meaning here sorrow)
All actions, all chantings are for purification of the mind. When the mind is purified, then alone the Ego is completely subsided or killed and the reality of the Self is realized. This is the reason why there are a lot of great scholars, great sasthris and pandits, great saints who know the scriptures very well but still are not able to realize the Self & hence enter into debates about the nature of the reality. The very reason for these debates and arguments are lack of purity of mind.
A person might have studied the whole of the scriptures and might even quote commentaries on them, but still will be very far away from eternal bliss and contentment. That person might still be running behind others to justify his theory or the theory that he will be following.
The scriptures and commentaries on these by great acharyas are not meant just for debating and argumenting over the nature of the ultimate reality but to realize the non-dual reality. The Upanishads and Gita proclaim in many places that the reality is One alone, it is that which is without a second and it is one’s own Self that is waiting to be realized so that all the sorrows, all the sufferings can be removed.
As Maharshi mentions in this sloka, the ultimate reality is completely realized only through mental contemplation on the Self, mental contemplation on God (thinking that God is present everywhere & not just on the form of God which will again lead one to trouble alone as to which form-God is greater or superior).
With this sloka, Maharshi ends up the description of Karma Yoga or path of action. The next path that Maharshi takes up is the Bhakthi yoga or path of devotion.
We will just see the path of action tomorrow as a summary and then enter into the 7th sloka from which Maharshi explains the path of Devotion in 3 slokas.
Chittajam japa dhyaanam uttamam
Word meaning
Uttama stavaat – Than the best of praises
Uccha mandathah – singing or chanting in loud and low volume is greater or superior
Chittajam japa dhyaanam uttamam – Chanting in the mind or meditation is superior to both.
Sloka meaning
Than the best of praises, singing or chanting in loud and low volume is greater or superior. Superior to both of these is meditation or contemplation in the mind.
Explanation:
Maharshi here gives three types of chanting or japa.
Chanting or praises of the Lord in any language and in any mode.
Chanting in loud or low volume of the sacred scriptures (the various sooktas, the various recitations like Rudram, Chamakam and all)
Mental Contemplation
We will just try to see each one of these even though the chanting that is given much emphasis is mental contemplation alone.
Praises of the Lord
These are the various hymns made on the various Gods and Goddesses. One may ask what is use of these hymns which talk about the God and his activities or lilaas???? The very aim of all these is remembrance of God or the Self. The aim of all such spiritual practice is to develop devotion and one-pointedness of the mind.
Therefore these praises indirect lead a person to one-pointed mind which just thinks about the Lord alone.
Chanting in loud or low volume of the sacred scriptures
These chants which have hidden truth about the ultimate reality are in Sanskrit. These chants or sooktaas are those which are chanted either loud or in low volume (in order not to disturb other people). These Sanskrit verses are so powerful that even mere chanting or hearing them cures many a diseases.
One reads from the Mahabharatha about how Veda Vyaasa chanted the Atharvana Veda Mantras and cured the Shantanu Maharaj – Emperor of Hastinapur.
Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam used to stress the importance of Sanskrit mantras and the ability of those syllables to cure diseases like fever and others.
These chants or mantras have the hidden truth in them. These chants or sooktaas and all are to chanted in proper form and annotations.
There are some people who take it for granted that these chants, if chanted improperly, will lead to adverse effects. These wrong notions are out of ignorance alone. As Sri Krishna mentions again and again in Gita that any action is not as important as the attitude is. The attitude of the doer is important and not the action as such. Even a person like DharmaVyaada who was a butcher was considered a realized jnaani by none other than Krishna when he sends many a people to dharma vyaada for learning knowledge.
All the chants are chanted in order that the real import of those, the ultimate reality, is realized through them. If the ultimate reality is not realized, then even if the chants are chanted properly also, they serve no purpose than for SHOW-OFF to the public about the knowledge of the person chanting them.
One may now have doubt regarding the power of mantras. AMMA, as Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi is popularly known as, gives a beautiful story about the power of mantras.
A sage’s ashram was there in a kingdom which was ruled by a king. The king had given the place to the sage in order that knowledge will be imparted to various students. Once the king went to the ashram. At that time, the Guru or the sage was teaching mantra to the students. The king called out to the Sage. But the sage did not come out. After a couple of calls, the sage came out. The king asked the sage why he did not come out when he had called. The sage replied that he was teaching about mantras to the students and these mantras are very powerful and there should not be any obstruction while teaching these mantras. The king asked the sage whether the mantras are more powerful than the king himself & mocked at the sage. The sage said to the King to wait and went inside. The sage then called out the smallest of his disciples who was just 3 years old and told the disciple to welcome the king who was standing outside. The little disciple came out & saw the king. The king saw the small kid who was very small compared to himself. The disciple looked at the king and said “GET OUT!”. After telling this, the little disciple went inside. The king was very angry and raged. He was very angry and shouting that the very ashram was in his area and that he would set the ashram into fire! The Sage then came out. The king was still angry and started shouting at the sage and threatening the sage. The sage slowly and calmly said to the king “Please wait, O King!”. And the sage said to the king “If the two words of GET OUT can have such great impact on you, just imagine the effect of sacred mantras and syllables”.
Thus, mantras have tremendous effect. The mantras gain more effect based on the effort from the individual. When a person prays to the stone image of Vishnu in Tirupathi, it ceases to become a stone image and becomes the very Lord Vishnu himself. The very power of the stone images in temples are the mantras which are daily chanted in the temple & the process of building the temple and pratishta of the stone image.
Hence, Maharshi here says that chanting or action through the words can be done in three ways – either praising the Lord through various hymns , chanting various sooktaas loudly or chanting of sacred mantras in a low volume and mental contemplation.
Mental contemplation is given high importance because of the law that “whatever one thinks, that one becomes”. Now, an idiotic or ignorant person who wants to mock at philosophy or spirituality as given in the scriptures might ask “If I think I am donkey, will I become a donkey?”. Vedanta answers that “yes you will become a donkey”. But it is not mere thinking that makes a person become something. Instead it is the effort of strong thinking which is termed as BHAVANA that makes a person become a thing. If a person continuously thinks of Vishnu alone, he verily becomes Vishnu because of the strong contemplation on Vishnu.
This is what is told in the history of great saivite saints where they are said to have merged as one with Siva. This mental contemplation is what makes great living legends like Ramanujacharya and others to get immersed into the idol of Vishnu and with the form of Lord Vishnu.
What Maharshi mentions in this sloka as mental contemplation is not mere contemplation on any material objects or the forms of Gods, but it is contemplation on one’s own very nature. It is contemplation on the essence of oneself which is the same as God who is situated in the spiritual heart of each person.
Adi Sankara explains about Bhakti or devotion in Vivekachoodamani as
“Sva sva roopa anusandhaanam bhakthirithi abhidheeyathe”
Contemplation on one’s own real nature is called Bhakthi or Devotion.
Vedanta tells three different steps to realization of one’s own nature. The three steps are
Sravana or Listening – this is where a person listens to the scriptures which speak about the Self and about one’s own real nature.
Manana or Reflecting – any theory is merely intellectual until all doubts are completely removed. Here a person reflects on the Self with the help of various logics and through the intellect. Unless this step is covered, a person cannot realize the Self because this is the step where all the doubts regarding the reality are removed through logic and arguments.
Nidhidhyaasana or Contemplation – when the theoretic and logical aspects of the reality is complete and perfect, it has to become one’s own very experience. Experience of the Self is present at all times, but it is covered with a veil of ignorance. Unless this veil or obstructions are removed, the Self is not realized or bliss of the Self is not experienced. This is the stage where a person completely removes the ignorance or Avidya which is the cause of all bondage and sorrow.
The third step of contemplation is very essential as without this, experience of the reality as one’s own very nature is not known. Unless this non-dual Self is known as one’s own real nature, sorrow and sufferings will still continue. If this non-dual reality is not known, then there will still be doubts regarding the nature of the Self as non-dual or qualified monism or duality itself and all. These doubts will make a person to enter into debates with scholars of other schools and this will become a mere intellectual argumentation and fight.
This is why the great Upanishads proclaim
“Manasaiva aaptavyam neha nana asthi kinchana
Mrityoh sah mrityum aapnothi ya iha nana iva pashyathi”
The Self is to be realized through a pure mind. The reality is that there is no duality here, not even little. He who sees duality, as it where, will go from death to death (death meaning here sorrow)
All actions, all chantings are for purification of the mind. When the mind is purified, then alone the Ego is completely subsided or killed and the reality of the Self is realized. This is the reason why there are a lot of great scholars, great sasthris and pandits, great saints who know the scriptures very well but still are not able to realize the Self & hence enter into debates about the nature of the reality. The very reason for these debates and arguments are lack of purity of mind.
A person might have studied the whole of the scriptures and might even quote commentaries on them, but still will be very far away from eternal bliss and contentment. That person might still be running behind others to justify his theory or the theory that he will be following.
The scriptures and commentaries on these by great acharyas are not meant just for debating and argumenting over the nature of the ultimate reality but to realize the non-dual reality. The Upanishads and Gita proclaim in many places that the reality is One alone, it is that which is without a second and it is one’s own Self that is waiting to be realized so that all the sorrows, all the sufferings can be removed.
As Maharshi mentions in this sloka, the ultimate reality is completely realized only through mental contemplation on the Self, mental contemplation on God (thinking that God is present everywhere & not just on the form of God which will again lead one to trouble alone as to which form-God is greater or superior).
With this sloka, Maharshi ends up the description of Karma Yoga or path of action. The next path that Maharshi takes up is the Bhakthi yoga or path of devotion.
We will just see the path of action tomorrow as a summary and then enter into the 7th sloka from which Maharshi explains the path of Devotion in 3 slokas.
posted by vedanta at 7:02 PM
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