by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 49
March : 2005

 


  Atma
 Knowledge
 Creation
 God
 Spiritualism
 Sanatan

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UNDERSTANDING DEATHLESSNESS OR AMRITATTVA Part2 - (A practical approach to GOD concept)

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

This happens to be the profound truth that the sanatan philosophy or the vedantik philosophy has gifted to mankind, which has been later endorsed by other religious and spiritual philosophies.

This original concept of all being Brahman, all being nothing different from each other, and all being same, is the bed rock of sanatan philosophy and is deeply embedded in the hearts of every person who believes in this philosophy. Our morning prayers are never complete without the chanting of the mantra:

Puarmadah punarmidam purnAt purnam udacyate

Purnasya purnamAdAya purnameva avasisyate

There is one indivisible wholeness that is “That”. All these are the same wholeness verily as all these have emanated from “That”. By separating all these from “That”, “That does not lose its wholeness.

Knowing this truth, the scriptures have gone to great lengths to describe the imperativeness of realizing this knowledge. It has been practically drilled into the human mind by repetition after repetition, because, without this knowledge, life, or living is simply purposeless.

The next logic in this context is quite simple. If the knowledge is the difference between death and deathlessness (mrtatva and amrtatva), then those wishing to conquer death and wishing to continue to live long, must continue unhaltingly their efforts in acquiring this knowledge.

The right thing to do in life, by one and all, is to be ever active in acquiring this knowledge.

Jnana or the knowledge is every one’s aim. Every one has to be the seeker of knowledge i.e. a practicing jnanayogi. The actions or the efforts that one ought to be engaged in life must be such actions that will lead to knowledge or jnana. And then he becomes a true karmayogi.

The ‘life’ then becomes synonymous with right actions for the right knowledge. That is the gospel truth.

How is discrimination of knowledge and ignorance achieved? – the answer is - By experiencing through action.

Why and where we perform action? It is done by using the faculties that we possess and within this world that we live in, in this laboratory or classroom of the world and not by escaping from it.

So the two basic requirements for long life or overcoming death and acquiring true amritattva are, pursuit of true learning and constant engagement with right action towards that purpose. Everything else is mere wild goose chase.

Karma brahmodbhavam viddhi

Know that karma or action is directly derived from Brahman- who is the ultimate source of knowledge.

Tasmaat sarvagatam brahma nityam yajne pratishthitam.

Therefore the all pervading Brahman is constantly established in action -which this continuous yajna is all about, this whole activities of this all pervasive universe is all about.

One of the most telling pronouncements of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is:

Sarvam karmAkhilam pArtha jnAne parisamApyate.

Oh Partha, all actions eventually culminate in knowledge alone. You learn only by being engaged in actions.

If we could only keep this constantly in mind while performing any action – important ones as even the very trivial ones- that we must relate all and every of our actions to that single objective, that will be ‘intelligent living’. By doing what we are doing, what aspect of the divine is getting revealed to me? What knowledge of that Brahman I have understood by this or that action? If such thoughts are constantly in our mind then our actions become befitting to human life – befitting to a life form that is endowed with such higher intellect.

The Isa Upanishad reminds us:

Kurvan eva iha karmAni jijiviset satam samAh
Evam tvayi na anyathA itah asti...

Only by performing action in this life one should aim to live hundred years. There is no other alternative.

The mention of hundred years here is symbolic. The prescription for living long is therefore only by doing karma and by that, gathering higher knowledge consciousness. The word eva(meaning only) and iha( meaning here in this world) strongly emphasize this point.

So firstly, the relation between knowledge and deathlessness is to be understood. Then one must understand what is the nature of knowledge. Then follows the imperativeness of action as the means to knowledge. And now let us understand the nature of ‘actions’ that lead to knowledge.
(TO BE CONTINUED)