The young Rama has questions about greatness. Who is a great doer, who is a great consumer, who is a great renunciate, and why? The sage responds with the narrative between Lord Shiva and his gana, Bhringisa.
Glossary:
gan Hin. gana San. m. specifically the host of divine forces (spirits and demi-gods, both benign and malevolent), the attendant ‘army’ of Shiva, who appointed his son Ganesha as their overlord. They are subtly present in all humans as the five senses, the five elements and the five life-sheaths (kosha); the mind is the master of these senses. Only a refined intellect, like that of Ganesha, can master these inner and outer senses.
karta: the doer of action; maha-karta, great doer of action
bhokta: a consumer of goods or a recipient of pleasures and suffering; maha-bhokta: a great consumer
tyagi: renbunciant; maha-tyagi: great renunciate
atmaswaroop: cf. atmaswarupa; Consciousness, the Self, original nature, our true essential nature. (embodiment, form of the Atma)
chitta: San. noun. the mind (the seat of understanding and awareness, of intellect and will); memory, thought, reflection; the soul, heart. It is the individual consciousness, composed of intelligence and intellect (buddhi), ego (ahamkara) and mind (manas). In Vedanta, chitta is one aspect of Universal Consciousness (chit). The world hangs on the thread of consciousness – without consciousness, there is no world.
jivanmukta: permanently self-realised (or God-realised) person who no longer has any identification whatsoever with his or her body.
Question 255: Sir, who is a great doer (maha karta), great consumer (maha bhokta) and great renunciant (maha tyagi) ?
Answer: Ramji, once Bhringisa, an associate (gana) of Lord Shiva, had put this question to Him. Lord Shiva said, “My son, first listen about who is a great doer. He who carries his ordained good actions, without doubt or hesitation is said to be a great doer. He who performs without love and hate all functions, good or bad, virtuous or vicious that have been acquired without desire, is said to be a great doer. He who is free from the feelings of honour, dishonour and envy, and is without ego, is a great doer. He who abides in the even state and performs his actions ordained naturally to him and is free from ideations is a great doer. He who considers himself a non-doer in all actions of virtue and vice and carries out his functions without desire, and maintains love and hate towards none, is a great doer. He who is in the state of equanimity in joy and sorrow and does not feel pain or pleasure and cognises nothing but Atma, is a great doer.
“My son, now listen about the great consumer. He who uses without love and hate all objects that he obtains, is a great consumer. He who is neither unhappy with sorrows, nor happy with comforts, and who having always been established in atmaswaroop (form of atma) partakes of all that comes to him according to his destiny and who is free from the ideas of acceptance and rejection and does not consider himself a doer, is a great consumer. He who has lost taste for pleasures, who maintains equanimity in all states, and is fixed in the equilibrium state of consciousness (chitta), who considers life and death alike and is above love and hate, is a great consumer.
“O Bhringisa, now listen about the great renunciant. Ignoring the reality of the body, senses and ego in the universe, he who is established in the Self and understands that neither I am the body, nor does the body belong to me and that I am the witness of all, is a great renunciant. He who is without the feelings of joy and sorrow in all dealings and interactions and who carries out his functions without ego and is without any desire, is a great renunciant. He who has an even mind and has controlled his senses, and is always forgiving and has abandoned the ideas of I and mine is a great renunciant.”
Ramji, just as Bhringisa, on obtaining the guidance of Lord Shiva, lived as a self-realised person (jivanmukta), so you too should live like that, and then all your sufferings will vanish.
The Rishis of the past suffered hardships, detached themselves from the world and even disintegrated their bodies in the search for the secrets of individual salvation and social uplift. They have handed down certain codes of conduct and rules of living which are practicable and simple. Even these are now neglected or misunderstood; new codes and rules are imposed with the result that these precious ones have gone under.
When elders, Guru and Pundits accept and honour these newfangled modes of behaviour, how can Bharath continue to be Dharmakshetra, Yogakshetra and Tyagakshetra? This downfall in ideals explains why the land which verily was Annapurna, feeding all her children, has to wail today for food. The holy experience – Sivoham, I am Siva – was resounding from every mountain valley, every cave, every temple and each sacred river bank; but now the cry is, Savoham, Savoham, I am dead!
The land has lost its ancient joy; it is infested with anxiety; it is the home of self-aggrandizement; it is pursuing empty pomp. To counteract these tendencies, the spread of spiritual knowledge by persons who have actually experienced the joy of Sadhana and success in and through it has become very necessary. Everyone from the simple unlettered man to the Paramahamsa must recognise this need. All must cultivate faith in the Geetha and take it as the authentic word of the Lord.
The Lord has given the assurance: “Yogakshemam vahaamyaham,” “I shall bear the burden of your welfare, here and hereafter.” He has undertaken this task voluntarily. But for mortals and aspirants to benefit from this, they have to live as ordained; they have to adhere to the lines laid down. When they feel that they are not so helped, they have only to examine their own lives and discover how far they have kept up the commands of God regarding the regulation of life. They fail to examine this. They do not consider the past and future; they complain only about the grief of the moment, not knowing that it is caused by neglect in the past and ignorance of the future. This is the root of their suffering. Gita Vahini, chapter IX
Hamsa Gayatri
Om Hamsaaya Vidmahe
Paramahamsaya Dheemahi
Tanno Hamsa Prachodayat
“May we realise Hamsa that is our own Self as the Swan. Let us meditate on that Paramahamsa, the Supreme Self. May Hamsa illumine us.”
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