The young Rama asks what is wisdom, and what the qualities of the wise person must be? He learns that the mind of a wise person is naturally free from material attractions. One has to walk across the stage called life free of material attractions and ideations.
Glossary:
jnana San. n. (from jna – to know) true intuited understanding; spiritual wisdom; higher knowledge. ‘What use is information which does not bring about transformation?’ (SSS) ‘Jnana is that which is beyond mind and speech. What the guru says through his mouth is not jnana but ajnana. Just as one thorn removes another, the guru’s verbal teaching (ajnana) removes the veil of the disciple and the result is jnana – pure knowledge.’ ‘Jnana is not something to be attained; it is eternal and self-existent. Remove [ignorance] and what remains is jnana.’ (SSB) (pronounced gyan in Hindi)
gyan (jnana): atma-jnana: true learning.
Jnani: wise, liberated person
dharma San. m. (from dhri – to support, hold up, preserve) the intrinsic essence, inherent purpose or property of a thing; the essential order of things; the laws of nature that sustain the operation of the universe; rightness; righteous conduct; virtue; justice; faith, the essence of all religions but beyond them: ‘Religion is like a river. Dharma is like the ocean’. (SSS) Dharma is ‘the vesture of the cosmos’ (SSS); it has both a general and a personal application: the harmony of the world must be maintained, and an individual’s dharma must be fulfilled by adherence to the duties and obligations relating to each person’s inherent nature, profession, status and stage of life as laid down by the ancient lawgivers. ‘It is better to perform one’s own duties imperfectly than to master the duties of another.’ (Bhg. XVIII.47; III.35) Dharma is that particular course of conduct which will produce maximum benefit both for the thing concerned and for the rest of the universe. ‘Dharanat dharma’ – dharma sustains the world. It is not only divinely ordained but part of divinity itself: ‘Dhārayati iti dharma’ – that which sustains is dharma. (V. 403) ‘Though God is omnipotent, he does not act arbitrarily. He does not act against his own moral code.’ ‘How to observe dharma? By being yourself.’ ‘The establishment of righteousness, that is my aim.’ ‘In all worldly activities, be careful not to wound propriety or the canons of good taste.’ (SSS)
Brahm-roop: the nature of Brahmam
tapas, tapo- San. n. tapasyā San. f. concentrated ascetic heat or ardour, fervour, zeal, glowing physical and psychic energy – the spiritual power which arises through the practice of austerities and penance involving control of the body, mind and senses; the fire that cleanses and purifies, the discipline that leads to Self-realisation.
Question 262: Sir, you are asking me to attain wisdom like Ikshvaku and to rule like him. Kindly tell me about wisdom that is new and superior to all others and which has not been attained by anyone before.
Answer: Ramji, jnana (wisdom) only is superior to all; it is always new and is infinite. On attaining that, a wise person ever remains in tranquillity and becomes free from love and hate; none other than a wise one attains this state. Wisdom is unique. Having attained wisdom, a wise one functions according to his dharma and yet he always maintains firm faith in Atma.
Question 263: Sir, since a wise one performs all his works like an unwise person, how to distinguish between the two?
Answer: Ramji, attributes or characteristics are of two kinds. The first one includes those which a wise one himself can identify, and the other includes those which all others can know. Utterances and overt behaviour can be seen by all others. To live with patience in favourable and unfavourable circumstances, to be a grand doer, a grand consumer and a grand renunciant and to have forgiveness, compassion and other good qualities are the attributes of seekers but not of a wise person. Levitation and other occult functions which can be observed by others are also the attributes of seekers. But the attributes of a wise one, which relate to absorption or stabilisation in Atma, can be known only by him, and not by others. Only he who is established in that state, i.e. a wise person, can understand another wise one; none else can know him. The mainfest attributes that can be observed are illusory and are ideations and are creations in maya. The attributes of a wise one are : he is ever established in Atma, he is absorbed in the Self, he is of quiescent nature, and he understands everything rightly.
Ramji, the mind of a wise person is naturally free from material attractions. He has full control over his senses, and has no desire for sensual gratifications. Adopting the attitude of wise one, you should have the spirit of Brahman, that is Truth. He who maintains such an attitude and practises in this manner, becomes Brahmroop. You must understand well that an object which is a product of ideation is transitory, and that which is transitory is unreal and is cognised due to the illusion. The entire universe is of the nature of ideation in Atma. Therefore, you should recognise the entire expanse as an illusion.
When fire burns, its light can be discerned from a distance; but those who are far cannot hope to feel its warmth. So too, it is easy to describe the splendour of Jnana (wisdom) for persons who are far from acquiring it; only those who have actually neared it and felt it and are immersed in it can experience the warmth and the joy, emanating from the passing away of the illusion.
For this, continuous Tapas (asceticism), continuous meditation on God are needed. The Pure Essence can be known by the Sadhana of Bhakthi (devotion). The goal of Bhakthi is indeed Jnana. When an author writes a play, the entire play will already be in his mind, before he sets pen on paper, act after act, scene after scene. If he has no picture of the entire drama in his mind he will never entertain the idea of writing it at all. But take the case of the audience. They can grasp the story only after the drama is fully over; it unfolds itself scene by scene. Once they have understood the theme, they too can confidently describe to others the purport of the play. Similarly, for the Lord, this Drama of Time with its three Acts, the Past, the Present and the Future, is as clear as crystal. In the twinkling of an eye He grasps all the three. For He is Omniscient; it is His Plan that is being worked out, His Drama that is being enacted on the stage of Creation. Both the actors and the spectators are lost in confusion, unable to surmise its meaning and its development. For how can one scene or one act reveal its meaning? The entire play has to be gone through for the story to reveal itself.
Without a clear understanding of the play in which they are acting their roles, people cling to the error that they are individuals and waste away their lives, buffeted by the waves of joy and sorrow.
When the mystery is cleared, and the play is discovered as mere play, the conviction dawns that you are He and He is you. Therefore, try to know the Truth behind Life, search for the Fundamental, bravely pursue the underlying Reality. Seekers of Jnana (wisdom) must always be conscious of this.
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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