Upadesa Sarah of Ramana Maharshi – Karma Yoga (Slokas 1-6)
Sloka meaning
The fruits of all actions are ordained or governed by the Creator or the Lord. Hence how is work superior? Work is insentient alone.
Work or action is an ocean which causes fall down. The fruits of the actions are impermanent and they obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker.
Work done with an attitude of offering to the Lord and without any expectation helps in purification of mind and thereby to realization of the Self.
Action can be done through the three instruments of body, words and mind. The actions done with the body is inferior to actions performed with words. Actions performed with the words are inferior to actions done with the mind. Action done with body is Pooja or worship, action done with words are japa or chanting, action done with mind is meditation or contemplation.
Service of the world is the service of the eight-form God, with the idea and conviction that everything is God alone.
Meditation or contemplation is superior to both praises and chanting in loud or low volume.
Explanation:
When a seeker is following any single path, he should never forget that the path or the means are not the end. The end or the goal is realization of one’s own real nature.
When the means are mistaken for the ends, all sorts of problems occur. This is why we find people fighting amongst themselves in the name of religion and in the name of different Gods. This is where we find the Vaishnavaas having a strong hatred towards Siva and the Saivites having a strong hatred towards Vishnu. Both of these people have misunderstood the means to be the end. The end is not just attainment or satisfying the form God of Vishnu or Siva, but it is realization of the ultimate and absolute reality.
Any form whether it is of the creator Brahma or of Vishnu or Siva or Indra, is subject to changes and hence to birth and death. If a person just sticks to the form and not to the absolute reality which is the substratum to that form (which is pure Consciousness), then he will be subject to likes and dislikes to that form. When that form gets destroyed or humiliated, it becomes a pain for that person. The very effect of worship of Form God is to gain one-pointedness and for removal of likes and dislikes. But here, the very worship leads one to likes and dislikes!!!!
The ultimate reality is that the Self or pure Consciousness is the substratum for whatever is seen, whatever is not seen and whatever might be seen. The Self is that from which this illusory world has come, the illusory world is present and unto where the illusory world merges back.
All these show just one thing, there can never be any creation at all. Whatever is seen as the world full of duality is nothing but the Self alone. Whatever is present is Consciousness alone. This Consciousness is not something that has to be newly attained or something to be gained after a person pleases Vishnu or Siva and reaches Vaikunta or Himalaya. But this Consciousness is the very nature of oneself. A person is already that Consciousness alone, one without a second. This is the ultimate reality of this seemingly existent world filled with differences. This ultimate reality has been forgotten by Consciousness itself. This forgetfulness is called Avidya or ignorance of one’s own real nature. This ignorance leads to superimposition of other things on the Consciousness. This superimposition or Adhyaasa causes projection of other things on the Self. This is all the work of Maya or Brahma Sakthi. This Maya has two powers – one is Avarana sakthi or veiling power which veils the reality and causes one to forget the reality. The other power is Vikshepa Sakthi or projecting power which projects other unreal things over the reality.
Initially, the Self is veiled and one doesn’t realize one’s own real nature. Once the reality is not known, then other things are superimposed on the reality. Thereby multitudes and difference is being wrongly perceived in the single and non-dual Self. All the aim of Vedanta is to remove this projection and ignorance. The projecting power or differences are removed by concentration on a single thing or single object. When this one-pointed concentration is achieved, then even this one object ceases to exist and the reality of the Self is completely realized.
Therefore the ultimate reality is ONE Consciousness alone. The objects that are seen as the world and its objects are nothing but Consciousness alone. The simple example for this is the dream world where a single person becomes the objects and the world of dream. Realizing this ultimate reality which is one’s own real nature is the END to all the different and diverse paths.
All the paths lead to the final step where realization of Consciousness as one’s own real nature is known. This final step is termed as Jnaana or final knowledge. This reality can be completely realized only through knowledge about the Self because the Self has been veiled by ignorance and all the sorrow and sufferings have ignorance as their cause. This ignorance can not be removed either by devotion nor by action, but only by knowledge about the reality or the Self.
What the different paths does is they make the mind one-pointed thereby removing the projections of duality. When the mind becomes one-pointed, the Self is easily realized by extinguishing that one thought also. At that time, no thoughts persist and what remains behind is the Self or Consciousness alone.
One needs to constantly remember this ultimate goal or aim so that one doesn’t just stick to the means and think them as the Goal.
To put the goal in a sentence – REALIZATION OF ONE’S REAL NATURE AS CONSCIOUSNESS which is non-dual in nature and ONE WITHOUT A SECOND.
Now, let us see Karma Yoga or the path of action.
Karma Yoga is performance of actions with the right attitude and as an offering to the almighty. Here, one needs to remember that Maharshi doesn’t mention either Vaidika actions or Avaidika actions, Prohibited actions or actions that are to be performed – but just actions alone.
This is what we find in Bhagavad Gita also where Krishna emphasizes not on the action but on the attitude with which the actions are performed. Any action, even though it might be the most sinful action, but if done with the attitude of offering to the Almighty becomes a worship of the Almighty. Such action verily purifies the mind.
Actions can have four types of results.
Utpatti or Origination – Here due to an action, another new result or effect is produced. Due to chanting of Gayatri Mantra, a person gets clear intellect. Here the action produces a result of the type of origination of pure intellect.
Apthi or Attainment – When a person does some rituals and attains heaven due to the results of the actions, here the actions produce results which are of the type of attaining something new.
Samskrithi or Purification – When a person does actions without any craving for the results and as an offering to the almighty, the very action purifies the mind as he becomes completely detached to the action and its results.
Vikrithi or modification – Here modification of an object is the result of the action being performed. A gold smith works on gold and creates new forms of gold like gold-chain and all. Here gold has been modified into a new form.
The only result which a spiritual seeker looks into is the purification result of the mind.
When action is performed without any craving for the results and as an offering to the Lord, the doer becomes completely detached to the action and its results. This causes purification of mind from the craving for results and from expectations.
As any individual will know that it is craving for results and expectations which causes most of the problems. These problems or sorrows and sufferings can easily be eliminated when the expectations are completely abandoned. This is what happens by Karma Yoga. The mind of the person becomes completely purified.
What is the use of purification of the mind????
The scriptures proclaim that it is the mind that causes bondage and liberation. When the mind is full of thoughts, it always expects things & hence it is unable to realize its own source of the Self or Consciousness. But when the mind is devoid of thoughts, it remains pure and therefore gets merged into the source of the Self or Consciousness.
Swami Vivekananda compares the mind to the water in a pond. The bottom of the pond is the Self. When the water is dirty, the bottom is not known. Similarly when the mind is full of thoughts and expectations, the Self cannot be realized. But when the mind is pure and devoid of thoughts, the Self is realized as non-dual. At that time, the ultimate reality is realized. The person realizes that there was neither anything called mind or thoughts – but whatever was seen as mind or thoughts were the Self alone.
Upanishads proclaim
“Manasaiva aaptavyam” – the Self has to be attained through a pure mind alone.
“Esho anuraatma chetasaa veditavyo” – this subtle Self is to be known only through a pure intellect or mind.
“Jnaana prasaadena vishuddha satvah
Tatah tu tam pashyathe nishkalam dhyaayamaanah”
He whose mind has been purified and whose intellect is full of the knowledge about the Self, he realizes his own very nature as the Self during times of intense meditation and contemplation.
Adi Sankara mentions the same in Vivekachoodamani
“Chittasya suddhaye karma na tu vasthu upalabdhaye
Vasthu siddhir vicharena na kinchit karma kotibhih”
Purification of mind alone is achieved through action and not realization. Because realization can happen only through enquiry and not through crores of actions.
Remembering the ultimate goal, one has to purify the mind through karma yoga – through the performance of actions with the right spirit. It is not at all necessary to perform only actions put forth in the Vedas and that one should abstain from doing prohibited actions – but it is important to perform actions as an offering to the Almighty.
This is the reason why Lord Krishna says in the last chapter
“Sarva Dharmaan parityajya maam ekam saranam vraja
Aham tvaa sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami ma suchah”
Renouncing all dharma or righteouness regarding actions and all, seek refugee in ME alone. By doing thus, I will cleanse you from all sins and you will attain liberation – don’t worry.
Vishnu puran says
“Jnaanatho ajnaanatho vaapi vaasudevasya keerthanaath
Tat sarvam layam yaathi toyastham lavanasthatha”
Knowing or unknowingly if a person sings the glories of Vishnu (Vishnu means the all-pervading Brahman or God and not just the form-God Vishnu), he conquers or crosses over all sins and everything even as salt gets mixed into water (and one cannot find salt in the water – similarly the individuality gets merged into the totality of ONENESS and there remains the one God alone and nothing else).
One can very well know this from the story of Ajamila in Bhagavatham. Ajamila was a Brahmin. But due to bad habits, he got married to a low-caste women. There was a son born to him from the girl. The son’s name was kept as Narayana. Ajamila, even though he was a Brahmin, married and had relationship with the low-caste women and also was used to drinking and all. He loved his son very much. When his death time arrived, he called out his son “Narayana” and left his breath. Now, Yama’s doothas caught hold of Ajamila and were about to take him to Yama loka (Hell) as he had done lot of sins only. Suddenly, Narayana’s doothas came and told Yama’s doothas that Ajamila had uttered the sacred name of God and hence he will be taken to Vaikunta alone. And ajamila was taken to Vaikunta and he attained liberation.
Here, the person was able to utter the name of Narayana even though he was calling out his son and not the Lord.
If a person utters the name of Lord unknowingly and gets this effect, what to speak about the person who knowingly utters the name of the Lord and does all action as an offering to the Lord?
Maharshi ends the Karma Yoga and starts with Bhakthi Yoga in the 7th sloka. Thus, Karma yoga can be said to be
Action offered to the Lord
Action performed without any expectations
This Karma has two fold functionalities
Purification of mind (direct effect of Karma Yoga)
Liberation through knowledge about the Self (indirect result of Karma Yoga) – the person becomes capable of apprehending the ultimate reality and realizes the non-dual and unchanging reality.
Let us all try to perform Karma Yoga in our daily lives and rejoice in the eternal bliss of the Self.
The fruits of all actions are ordained or governed by the Creator or the Lord. Hence how is work superior? Work is insentient alone.
Work or action is an ocean which causes fall down. The fruits of the actions are impermanent and they obstruct the progress of a spiritual seeker.
Work done with an attitude of offering to the Lord and without any expectation helps in purification of mind and thereby to realization of the Self.
Action can be done through the three instruments of body, words and mind. The actions done with the body is inferior to actions performed with words. Actions performed with the words are inferior to actions done with the mind. Action done with body is Pooja or worship, action done with words are japa or chanting, action done with mind is meditation or contemplation.
Service of the world is the service of the eight-form God, with the idea and conviction that everything is God alone.
Meditation or contemplation is superior to both praises and chanting in loud or low volume.
Explanation:
When a seeker is following any single path, he should never forget that the path or the means are not the end. The end or the goal is realization of one’s own real nature.
When the means are mistaken for the ends, all sorts of problems occur. This is why we find people fighting amongst themselves in the name of religion and in the name of different Gods. This is where we find the Vaishnavaas having a strong hatred towards Siva and the Saivites having a strong hatred towards Vishnu. Both of these people have misunderstood the means to be the end. The end is not just attainment or satisfying the form God of Vishnu or Siva, but it is realization of the ultimate and absolute reality.
Any form whether it is of the creator Brahma or of Vishnu or Siva or Indra, is subject to changes and hence to birth and death. If a person just sticks to the form and not to the absolute reality which is the substratum to that form (which is pure Consciousness), then he will be subject to likes and dislikes to that form. When that form gets destroyed or humiliated, it becomes a pain for that person. The very effect of worship of Form God is to gain one-pointedness and for removal of likes and dislikes. But here, the very worship leads one to likes and dislikes!!!!
The ultimate reality is that the Self or pure Consciousness is the substratum for whatever is seen, whatever is not seen and whatever might be seen. The Self is that from which this illusory world has come, the illusory world is present and unto where the illusory world merges back.
All these show just one thing, there can never be any creation at all. Whatever is seen as the world full of duality is nothing but the Self alone. Whatever is present is Consciousness alone. This Consciousness is not something that has to be newly attained or something to be gained after a person pleases Vishnu or Siva and reaches Vaikunta or Himalaya. But this Consciousness is the very nature of oneself. A person is already that Consciousness alone, one without a second. This is the ultimate reality of this seemingly existent world filled with differences. This ultimate reality has been forgotten by Consciousness itself. This forgetfulness is called Avidya or ignorance of one’s own real nature. This ignorance leads to superimposition of other things on the Consciousness. This superimposition or Adhyaasa causes projection of other things on the Self. This is all the work of Maya or Brahma Sakthi. This Maya has two powers – one is Avarana sakthi or veiling power which veils the reality and causes one to forget the reality. The other power is Vikshepa Sakthi or projecting power which projects other unreal things over the reality.
Initially, the Self is veiled and one doesn’t realize one’s own real nature. Once the reality is not known, then other things are superimposed on the reality. Thereby multitudes and difference is being wrongly perceived in the single and non-dual Self. All the aim of Vedanta is to remove this projection and ignorance. The projecting power or differences are removed by concentration on a single thing or single object. When this one-pointed concentration is achieved, then even this one object ceases to exist and the reality of the Self is completely realized.
Therefore the ultimate reality is ONE Consciousness alone. The objects that are seen as the world and its objects are nothing but Consciousness alone. The simple example for this is the dream world where a single person becomes the objects and the world of dream. Realizing this ultimate reality which is one’s own real nature is the END to all the different and diverse paths.
All the paths lead to the final step where realization of Consciousness as one’s own real nature is known. This final step is termed as Jnaana or final knowledge. This reality can be completely realized only through knowledge about the Self because the Self has been veiled by ignorance and all the sorrow and sufferings have ignorance as their cause. This ignorance can not be removed either by devotion nor by action, but only by knowledge about the reality or the Self.
What the different paths does is they make the mind one-pointed thereby removing the projections of duality. When the mind becomes one-pointed, the Self is easily realized by extinguishing that one thought also. At that time, no thoughts persist and what remains behind is the Self or Consciousness alone.
One needs to constantly remember this ultimate goal or aim so that one doesn’t just stick to the means and think them as the Goal.
To put the goal in a sentence – REALIZATION OF ONE’S REAL NATURE AS CONSCIOUSNESS which is non-dual in nature and ONE WITHOUT A SECOND.
Now, let us see Karma Yoga or the path of action.
Karma Yoga is performance of actions with the right attitude and as an offering to the almighty. Here, one needs to remember that Maharshi doesn’t mention either Vaidika actions or Avaidika actions, Prohibited actions or actions that are to be performed – but just actions alone.
This is what we find in Bhagavad Gita also where Krishna emphasizes not on the action but on the attitude with which the actions are performed. Any action, even though it might be the most sinful action, but if done with the attitude of offering to the Almighty becomes a worship of the Almighty. Such action verily purifies the mind.
Actions can have four types of results.
Utpatti or Origination – Here due to an action, another new result or effect is produced. Due to chanting of Gayatri Mantra, a person gets clear intellect. Here the action produces a result of the type of origination of pure intellect.
Apthi or Attainment – When a person does some rituals and attains heaven due to the results of the actions, here the actions produce results which are of the type of attaining something new.
Samskrithi or Purification – When a person does actions without any craving for the results and as an offering to the almighty, the very action purifies the mind as he becomes completely detached to the action and its results.
Vikrithi or modification – Here modification of an object is the result of the action being performed. A gold smith works on gold and creates new forms of gold like gold-chain and all. Here gold has been modified into a new form.
The only result which a spiritual seeker looks into is the purification result of the mind.
When action is performed without any craving for the results and as an offering to the Lord, the doer becomes completely detached to the action and its results. This causes purification of mind from the craving for results and from expectations.
As any individual will know that it is craving for results and expectations which causes most of the problems. These problems or sorrows and sufferings can easily be eliminated when the expectations are completely abandoned. This is what happens by Karma Yoga. The mind of the person becomes completely purified.
What is the use of purification of the mind????
The scriptures proclaim that it is the mind that causes bondage and liberation. When the mind is full of thoughts, it always expects things & hence it is unable to realize its own source of the Self or Consciousness. But when the mind is devoid of thoughts, it remains pure and therefore gets merged into the source of the Self or Consciousness.
Swami Vivekananda compares the mind to the water in a pond. The bottom of the pond is the Self. When the water is dirty, the bottom is not known. Similarly when the mind is full of thoughts and expectations, the Self cannot be realized. But when the mind is pure and devoid of thoughts, the Self is realized as non-dual. At that time, the ultimate reality is realized. The person realizes that there was neither anything called mind or thoughts – but whatever was seen as mind or thoughts were the Self alone.
Upanishads proclaim
“Manasaiva aaptavyam” – the Self has to be attained through a pure mind alone.
“Esho anuraatma chetasaa veditavyo” – this subtle Self is to be known only through a pure intellect or mind.
“Jnaana prasaadena vishuddha satvah
Tatah tu tam pashyathe nishkalam dhyaayamaanah”
He whose mind has been purified and whose intellect is full of the knowledge about the Self, he realizes his own very nature as the Self during times of intense meditation and contemplation.
Adi Sankara mentions the same in Vivekachoodamani
“Chittasya suddhaye karma na tu vasthu upalabdhaye
Vasthu siddhir vicharena na kinchit karma kotibhih”
Purification of mind alone is achieved through action and not realization. Because realization can happen only through enquiry and not through crores of actions.
Remembering the ultimate goal, one has to purify the mind through karma yoga – through the performance of actions with the right spirit. It is not at all necessary to perform only actions put forth in the Vedas and that one should abstain from doing prohibited actions – but it is important to perform actions as an offering to the Almighty.
This is the reason why Lord Krishna says in the last chapter
“Sarva Dharmaan parityajya maam ekam saranam vraja
Aham tvaa sarva paapebhyo mokshayishyaami ma suchah”
Renouncing all dharma or righteouness regarding actions and all, seek refugee in ME alone. By doing thus, I will cleanse you from all sins and you will attain liberation – don’t worry.
Vishnu puran says
“Jnaanatho ajnaanatho vaapi vaasudevasya keerthanaath
Tat sarvam layam yaathi toyastham lavanasthatha”
Knowing or unknowingly if a person sings the glories of Vishnu (Vishnu means the all-pervading Brahman or God and not just the form-God Vishnu), he conquers or crosses over all sins and everything even as salt gets mixed into water (and one cannot find salt in the water – similarly the individuality gets merged into the totality of ONENESS and there remains the one God alone and nothing else).
One can very well know this from the story of Ajamila in Bhagavatham. Ajamila was a Brahmin. But due to bad habits, he got married to a low-caste women. There was a son born to him from the girl. The son’s name was kept as Narayana. Ajamila, even though he was a Brahmin, married and had relationship with the low-caste women and also was used to drinking and all. He loved his son very much. When his death time arrived, he called out his son “Narayana” and left his breath. Now, Yama’s doothas caught hold of Ajamila and were about to take him to Yama loka (Hell) as he had done lot of sins only. Suddenly, Narayana’s doothas came and told Yama’s doothas that Ajamila had uttered the sacred name of God and hence he will be taken to Vaikunta alone. And ajamila was taken to Vaikunta and he attained liberation.
Here, the person was able to utter the name of Narayana even though he was calling out his son and not the Lord.
If a person utters the name of Lord unknowingly and gets this effect, what to speak about the person who knowingly utters the name of the Lord and does all action as an offering to the Lord?
Maharshi ends the Karma Yoga and starts with Bhakthi Yoga in the 7th sloka. Thus, Karma yoga can be said to be
Action offered to the Lord
Action performed without any expectations
This Karma has two fold functionalities
Purification of mind (direct effect of Karma Yoga)
Liberation through knowledge about the Self (indirect result of Karma Yoga) – the person becomes capable of apprehending the ultimate reality and realizes the non-dual and unchanging reality.
Let us all try to perform Karma Yoga in our daily lives and rejoice in the eternal bliss of the Self.
posted by vedanta at 7:03 PM
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