Aum Namah Shivaya Vedanta Darshanam

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA VEDANTA DARSHANAM
Vedanta Darshanam
Salutations to all.
When Swine Flu is slowly progressing to become a pandemic; when there are trouble in
Iran; when the government in US is trying to create a lot of reforms; not to mention the
drought faced in many parts of India; with chaos being very common in each and every part
of the world, it is this time that Vedanta is very important. AMMA always says that there are
two types of education – one is for livelihood and other is for living. Education for livelihood
is already there as we have means of earning money and living. But without the education
for living, we will end up with sorrows and sufferings. This education for living is what is
termed as Vedanta.
Vedanta is generally considered as something to be undertaken when one’s teeth have

fallen off, no hair left in the head, eye-glasses also don’t help in proper vision and memory
is so weak that things are forgotten every other day. This is a completely wrong notion of
Vedanta – this wrong notion is because of ignorant elders passing their ignorance that if
Vedanta is learnt one would renounce this world and not fulfill one’s responsibilities and
duties. Looking at few of Sankaracharyas and ascetics like Swami Vivekananda who take up
sanyaasa at a very young age also adds up to this ignorance. All these are completely false
as Vedanta never forces a person to renounce this world. The puranas mention about
grihasthas like Janaka, Ambariksha etc. as true Vedantins; we also see such grihasthas in
Prof. Balakrishnan Nair, Nochur etc. of today. As Kanchi Mahaperiyaval says, getting into
marriage or fulfilling the duties of life is only when a person has desires – one who doesn’t
have any desires but only the desire of moksha should take up sanyaasa lest even his
worldly life will cause him and others sorrow. We know this very well when we see a
youngster taking up a profession he doesn’t like but forced upon him by others – such a
youngster causes sorrow for himself and others as well when they see him sad. The Lord
says in Gita “tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu maam anusmara yudhya cha” or “therefore,
remember me at all times and fight”. Sankara comments thus “yuddham cha svadharma
kuru” or “fight or do your own svadharma, your day-to-day duty”. Prof. Balakrishnan Nair
speaks in his each and every discourse that Vedanta says us to just do our duties along with
Ishwara in our mind – the thought of Ishwara (Brahman) who is all-pervasive and non-dual
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/VedantaDarshanam Page 1 of 38
reality in our mind will make us do our chores in the best possible way yet remaining
unaffected to the fruits even as a lotus-leaf is not wet by water. Living thus internally
immersed in Ishwara and externally performing actions, each and every moment of life will
be filled with immense bliss.
Summarizing, Vedanta is very essential in times like today when we see chaos and sorrow
everywhere. Vedanta shows us as to how to live blissfully amidst all the chaos in the world.
May the ultimate reality of Brahman in the benign form of AMMA bless us in achieving this
blissful life through a proper learning, apt understanding and constant implementation of
Vedanta.
AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Aug 14th
Anukramaanika
Vedanta Darshanam ................................................................................................................................ 1

Guru Mahima .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Mukhya Vishayam ................................................................................................................................... 7
Sankshiptha Vedanta ............................................................................................................................. 12
Gitaamritham ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Upanishad Prachaaram.......................................................................................................................... 17
Raga Varsha .......................................................................................................................................... 21
Praadeshikam........................................................................................................................................ 23
Sthuthi .................................................................................................................................................. 27
Charitham ............................................................................................................................................. 31
Sanskritha shiksha ................................................................................................................................. 34
Vedanta Pariksha................................................................................................................................... 36
Anukramaanika Nirdesham ................................................................................................................... 38
Guru Mahima
There is a beautiful song in yaman which says “Guru bina kaise guna paave” or “without
guru, how can I get good qualities”. Guru is a very important person in the path of a
spiritual seeker. The scriptures variously speak about a seeker’s inability to gain knowledge
(which paves the way for realization) without a guru (aacharyavaan purusho veda). The
Lord speaks thus about the way to get knowledge in the 4th chapter of Gita:
Tadviddhi pranipaathena pariprashnena sevayaa

Upadeshyanthi te jnaanam jnaaninastattvadarshinah
In order to gain knowledge approach a Guru, offer prostrations at his feet, ask questions
and be of service to him; then will such knower of Brahman instruct you on knowledge.
Even as a teacher is required in the form of a human or a computer software (in these
modern days), similarly a Guru is required in order for a sadhaka to attain moksha. A Guru
is so filled with compassion that he not only instructs the sadhaka with theoretical
knowledge but guides him as to how to practice Vedanta; there are Gurus who don’t stop
there as well. Such Gurus who will not rest until the disciple has reached the peak of the
mountain of Vedanta are Uttama Gurus also known as Sadgurus. Yoga Vasistha defines a
Sadguru as one who through his vision, touch and teachings not only imparts self-
knowledge to the disciple but makes the disciple experience the Self.
We can find many instances in history where a Guru has bestowed upon the disciple the
power of the Self. The one that comes to mind is Sankara bestowing his compassion on
Totaka who then exploded with the Totakastham in the tough totaka metre. This doesn’t
necessarily mean that the Guru can give realization to everyone. AMMA says that Ishwara
(Guru) is like the Sun ever bestowing sunlight upon the world but a person can sit inside his
house closing all doors and windows thereby complaining the Sun isn’t showering any light;
in a similar way the Guru is ever emanating the bliss of the Self but the disciple needs to
open his heart through complete surrender in order to apprehend the ever-present grace of
the Guru which is then experienced as the bliss of the Self.
Let’s try to find out the history behind the Guru slokas which are very popular. The Guru
slokas (slokas ending with “tasmai sree gurave namaha”) are part of the text called Guru
Gita or singing the glories of the Guru. Guru Gita is part of skanda purana and is in the form
of a conversation between Siva and Parvathi. As is the case with any puranas, skanda
purana is also Suta explaining about the Guru to the various rishis. Parvathi once
approached Siva with the request to explain Guru maahaatmyam (glory of a Guru) and as
to how the dehi (the Self or Seer) will become Brahman (realize himself to be Brahman).
Bhagavan sarvadharmajna vrathaanaam vrathanaayakam

Broohi me kripayaa shambho gurumaahaatmyam uttamam
O Lord who knows everything! Explain to me due to your compassion, the great glories of
the Guru.
Kena maargena bho svaamin dehi brahmamayo bhavet

Tatkripaam kuru me svaaminnamaami charanau tava
By which way the Self (the subject in the body) becomes Brahman; that please describe to
me by your grace; for which I prostrate at your feet O Lord.
Ithi sampraarthithah shashvanmahaadevo maheshwarah

Aanandabharathi svaanthe paarvatheem idam abhraveet
Thus being requested in a proper way, immediately Mahadeva who is the controller of
everything replied thus to Parvathi with his heart filled with bliss.
Though we might find a Guru, it is very essential to put forth the right questions as our
desires to the Guru. If we don’t ask for moksha to the Guru and ask for worldly pleasures
then it is like going to Bill Gates and asking for one dollar. We can put forth many questions
and desires unto the Guru but the right one is to ask anything and everything with respect
to moksha as moksha is the ultimate goal (aatmalaabhaat paro laabho naastheethi kavayo
vidhuh – there is no greater goal than the goal of Atman, thus say the various knowers of
Brahman). Here we find Parvathi asking the right question to Siva as to how to realize
Brahman. Parvathi knowing that the way to realize Brahman is by seeking a realized master
(Guru) asks for the glories of a Guru.
If we sit in a class of James Gosling and ask about how the movie “Funny People” is, it is
not respecting him (unless it is just a joke☺ statement). Similarly going to a master like
Siva and asking for worldly pleasures is not respecting Siva. The compassionate master of
Siva will grant whatever we ask for even as a mother will give whatever the child cries for
but it is bad that we don’t utilize the master of Siva for the precious treasure of moksha. A
sadhaka thereby should always remember to ask for nothing less than moksha from the
Guru even as a businessman doesn’t get contended with anything but the best result alone.
If we need to know as to what question to ask the Guru, then Mundaka Upanishad through
Shaunaka gives it very beautifully thus:
Kasmin u vijnaate sarvamidam vijnaatham bhavathi

That by knowing which everything is known, tell me about it.
The Lord resonates this view in the 7th chapter of Gita to Arjuna thus:
Jnaanam teham savijnaanam idam vakshyaami asheshathah
Yat jnaatva neha bhooyo anyat jnaatavyam avashishyathe
I will explain to you knowledge and wisdom completely; that by knowing which there will
remain nothing else to be known.
When a Guru sees the right question being asked by the disciple, the Guru’s heart is filled
with bliss as it is rare indeed to find a disciple asking the right question. We find Siva
thereby replying to Parvathi with bliss filling his heart. This bliss that is present as the
essence in the Guru of Siva can be apprehended by the disciple as his inner nature through
complete surrender to the Guru and implementation of the words of the Guru. That such a
question about the glory of the Guru is not easy to ask and the glory of the Guru itself is
secretive is being mentioned by Siva which we will see in the next month.
Mukhya Vishayam
Brahman – this is a word that is often heard in Vedantic discourses but very rarely known to
people. There are many others who are afraid of this one word as if it might take everything
away from them and make them sort of an orphan. But unlike our false knowledge of this
word, this is one word which if known will end all our sufferings. This is one word which is
very vast, so vast that all the scriptures speak about it variously (tat tu samanvayaat – all
the scriptural statements directly or indirectly speak about Brahman alone). As the
scriptures say “tad dure tat u anthike” or “it is far yet very near”; far to those who don’t
know it and near to those who know it; far means vast and many whereas near means one
and one alone; similarly Brahman once known is very close to oneself (very close that there
cannot be any differentiating oneself from Brahman).
Even many listeners and learned people are afraid of the various mahavakyas that proclaim
the individual Self (pulsates inside each one of us as I-exist, I-exist) as one with Brahman;
thus they try to stay away from such discourses and people. They don’t stop there but
ensure that their children, grand-children, relatives etc. also stay away from anything
related to “Brahman”.
This word isn’t that dangerous a word – this word isn’t that tough to understand as well. All
our wrong notions about this one word will end after doing a brief analysis of this word.
The word Brahman comes from the dhathu (Sanskrit verb) of Brih, brihattvat
brimhanattvaat vaa brahma, meaning that which is very big and that which is seen (or
appears) as the world. Taittiriya Upanishad gives this beautiful definition of Brahman with
respect to the world that we are currently experiencing:
Yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe

Yena jaathaani jeevanthi
Yat prayanthi abhisamvishanthi
Tat vijijnaasasva
Tad brahmethi
That from which this world has come; that in which this world resides; unto that this world
will go after destruction; that is to be known; know that to be Brahman.
This Upanishad vakya has been explained by Vyaasa through the sutra “janmaadi asya
yathah” or “that from which the creation, protection and destruction of the world happens,
know that to be Brahman”.
Our knowledge spectrum as of now is the external world. Even science is able to reach only
until the physical body (which is also gross and part of the external world). Though many
people are trying to read the mind, we know how successful that is. The demand for shrinks
(psychiatrist) is constantly increasing and these shrinks are not able to help others properly
because they themselves are not able to control their mind. If only controlling the mind was
as easy as attending a one hour session with a person and talking about normal stuff!!!
Even after attaining a Sadguru it takes many years and often births in order to control the
drunken money of the mind. Swami Vivekananda used to always call the mind a drunken
monkey – AMMA adds that the mind is a drunken monkey on whose head a coconut has
fallen!!! A monkey always hops from one branch to another – imagine that it is drunken;
imagine that it is hit by a coconut. That is the state of the mind of people today – everyone
is constantly searching for happiness and nobody knows where to find it. Not to get
distracted but the mind is very tough indeed to conquer (tasyaaham nigraham manye
vayoriva sudushkaram – control of the mind is very tough like controlling air). Thus most of
us are only at the external world level – we haven’t even reached the state of the mind that
we can go beyond the mind to the state of mindless peace.
Vedanta knows this and hence tries to explain everything with respect to the external world.
This way of taking us from the known external world to the unknown Brahman is what is
called as Chandra shakha nyaaya or arundhathi nyaaya. Even as a mother points the moon
to the child by first pointing a nearby branch and through the branch to the moon; even as
the star arundhathi is pointed out by couples after marriage through stars near to us; in the
same way the scriptures speak about Brahman through the external world (technically this
is also called thatastha lakshana or indirectly referring to something with respect to
something that we know very well or we are experiencing).
Brahman according to the definition we saw becomes the cause of the world (that from
which the world comes). But since the world resides in Brahman and merges unto Brahman
upon destruction, this also makes Brahman the substratum of the world. A substratum is
that in which something exists for a period of time and then vanishes. There is a small
difference in this case – the world doesn’t really exist but just seems to exist. That which
doesn’t exist in the beginning (in the beginning means before creation) and that which
doesn’t exist at the end (at the end means after destruction) definitely doesn’t exist in the
middle. It might seem to exist in the middle but that is just an illusion and not a reality.
Even as the snake didn’t exist in the rope and doesn’t exist in the rope after knowledge,
similarly the world didn’t exist in Brahman and doesn’t exist in Brahman after knowledge –
this is just a literal way of telling that the world doesn’t exist at all. This world is as illusory
as the dream world. During dream, the dream world seems to be very real but is known to
be unreal after waking up. Similarly this waking world seems to be very real now but it will
be known as unreal once a person realizes Brahman (that Brahman which is the substratum
of the world).
Since Brahman is the substratum of the world, knowing Brahman is as good as knowing
everything (when the substratum is known, everything is known). Here we cannot ask the
question as to whether nuclear physics will be known as such knowledge is of no use with
respect to our ultimate goal of bliss. Once a person knows Brahman, the reality is known.
When reality is known, there remains nothing else to be known and hence there ends all
search for knowledge, power, fame, happiness and peace. Thus the scriptures start with the
question from Shaunaka to Angiras as “kasmin u bhagavatho vijnaate sarvam idam
vijnaatham bhavathi” or “by knowing which everything will be known, tell me that” and they
end with the statement that everything is Brahman (brahmaivedam amritam purestaat
etc.). The Lord also resonates this view in the Gita where he says to Arjuna:
Jnaanam teham savijnaanam idam vakshyaami asheshathah

Yat jnaatva neha bhooyo anyat jnaatavyam avashishyathe
I will explain to you knowledge and wisdom (intuitive experience) after knowing which there
will remain nothing else to be known.
Thus knowing Brahman is culmination of knowledge and intuitive experience of bliss. Now
comes the million dollar question of “what do I gain from knowing Brahman, if I gain bliss
then what is the relation between me and Brahman, if the world is unreal I also become
unreal and if I am unreal then where is bliss?” All these are answered beautifully by
Lakshmidhara in Advaita Makaranda thus:
Aham asmi sadaa bhaami kadaachit naaham apriyah

Brahmaivaaham atah siddham sachidaananda lakshanam
I always exist; I always shine as Consciousness; I am never hated; thus it is proven that I
am Brahman of the nature of Existence (Sat), Consciousness (Chit) and Ananda (Bliss).
Brahman as we saw earlier is the substratum of the world (the world which constantly
changes as it is subject to birth and death). This means that Brahman is beyond the world
and ever exists. Thus Brahman is SAT or that which always exist or that which never ceases
to exist. Brahman is CHIT too as CHIT is light (Consciousness is light) – light is required for
existence; if Brahman has to ever exist then the light of Consciousness should be the very
nature of Brahman itself. Since Brahman is eternal, therefore Brahman is unlimited and
hence blissful (that which is limited can only give limited happiness – that which is unlimited
can give unlimited happiness; such an entity in order to give unlimited happiness should be
of the very nature of unlimited happiness). The “I” in each one of us always exist. Even in a
dark room, there need be no proof of one’s existence. This means that “I” always pulsate as
existence or I illumine my own existence (as well as existence of other beings). There is
nothing that can experience its own existence other than Consciousness. Thus I am the light
of Consciousness. I am never hated – even a person committing suicide is doing it as he
loves himself and doesn’t want to trouble himself (even a lover kills himself because his love
should live happily which indirectly would make him happy and since his happiness is not
there, therefore he kills himself). Thus I am never hated which means I am ever blissful.
There cannot be two entities of the nature of SAT CHIT ANANDA. Thus we have the simple
equation of:
BRAHMAN = SAT CHIT ANANDA

I = SAT CHIT ANANDA
Therefore, I = BRAHMAN
This proves thus that “I” that pulsates inside each one of us as “I-exist, I-exist” is Brahman.
Being blissful in nature, we still search for happiness in the external world and thereby end
up our life in total failure as happiness is inside us and not in the external world.
If I am Brahman, then why do I not feel my blissful nature?
The answer to this is what Sankara calls as adhyaasa or superimposition. Currently “I” is
tainted or impure due to relation with the external world. “I” is related and identified with
external objects and people – it is this “I” that we call EGO and different from the Self. This
Ego-I poses itself as our friend and hence deludes us into thinking it to be real; thus we get
whirled in the ocean of samsaara spanning many yugas (not births but yugas). When a
sadhaka is able to differentiate the Ego-I along with the external world as different from the
Self-I, he becomes realized and is able to experience his very nature of bliss. This is a state
wherein a seeker knows always that the world is an illusion and “I” alone exists – in this
state, since there is no relation with the external world there will not be any happiness or
sorrow, likes or dislikes, attachment or aversion but everything will taken in a blissful way
as a role portrayed in movie (the movie of world is unreal and therefore the role is also
unreal, the actor of Self alone is real). Detailed analysis of adhyaasa will be taken up in the
next month’s magazine where we will see the first few paragraphs of the adhyaasa bhashya
of Sankara.
Thus knowledge of Brahman will make a person ever rejoice in bliss knowing himself to the
“I” that only exists – that “I” distinct from the external world – that “I” which is the
substratum of the illusory world – that “I” which always pulsates and rejoices in bliss. Such
a person irrespective of the external activity will ever rejoice in bliss as Sankara puts it
beautifully:
Yoga ratho vaa bhoga ratho vaa

Sanga ratho vaa sanga viheenah
Yasya brahmanai ramathe chittam
Nandhathi Nandhathi Nandhathi eva
Whether doing yoga or bhoga; whether getting attached or totally detached; he whose mind
resides in Brahman (the knowledge that “I” am Brahman distinct from the illusory external
world) will rejoice, rejoice and verily rejoice.
Sankshiptha Vedanta
There is a less-known elaborate beautiful vedantic text that goes by the name of Laghu
Vaasudeva Mananam which has been published as a translated-into-english book by
Ramakrishna Mission. This work explains all the concepts of Vedanta in detail and can be
compared in par with Vedanta Sara of Sadananda that is more known. Let us see a brief of
this beautiful work.
Laghu Vaasudeva Mananam – as the title suggests, it is a mananam or reflection upon the
knowledge found in the scriptures (shruthi of Upanishads, smrithi of gita and sutra of
brahma sutras). The difference between such introductory texts and the original scriptural
works is that these jot down all concepts in a progressive way for the initial seeker. This
work is supposed to be written by Vasudeva Yati. Some consider that this is a smaller
(laghu) version of a original work though this is controversial for one that there is no proof
of a original work and two that this smaller version itself is a very complete explanation of
Vedanta.
This work consists of 12 varnakas or chapters each focusing various aspects of Vedanta
ordered in a progressive way from the external world to the innermost Self. Even as many
other works, this work also is in the form of question answer between the disciple and the
guru. Since the time of this work is the recent centuries therefore we can find a lot of
concepts accepted by later vedantins like Vidyaranya and others in it.
The first varnaka speaks about adhyaaropa and apavada. Adhyaaropa means
superimposition and apavada means negation. Adhyaaropa is sarva anartha hethu as
Sankara puts it (the cause of all problems). Adhyaaropa is when that which isn’t real is
superimposed on the real – the world of duality that we currently perceive is the cause of all
problems and this is superimposed on the reality of Brahman. Adhyaaropa is one word for
“why Vedanta”. And apavaada is “how to realize”. Since the world is superimposed on
Brahman, the way-out is negating the world and asserting Brahman as Existence,
Consciousness and Bliss absolute and the substratum of the world that doesn’t exist at all
(but seems to exist). The work ends the first varnaka very beautifully thus: evam yah
‘brahma vyathirekena kimapi naasthi tadbrahmaahameva” ithi vichaarya jaanaathi sa eva
jeevanmuktha ithi vedanthasidhanthah – “he who knows himself to be Brahman, apart from
which nothing exists here, such a person is a jeevanmuktha” thus is the concept of Vedanta.
Even as a snake superimposed on the rope doesn’t exist and nothing exists apart from the
rope, similarly nothing exists apart from Brahman (I that pulsates inside us as “I-exist, I-
exist”) and the world superimposed on Brahman doesn’t exist at all.
The second varnaka speaks about anubandha chathustayam of adhikaari (the receiver or
who will benefit out of Vedanta), vishaya (adviteeya Brahman), prayojanam (fruit of eternal
bliss) and sambandhah (relation between vishaya and prayojanam – once the vishaya of
Brahman is known, the prayojanam of eternal bliss will be intuitively experienced).
The third varnaka speaks about atma and anatma – atma is the non-dual Conscious Self
whereas anatma is the dual insentient world. Atma is real whereas anatma is unreal. There
is a small work of Sankara titled atma anatma vivechanam (differentiating between the Self
and the not-Self) which can be referred to for a detailed analysis of this topic. This chapter
also briefly touches upon the various types of jeevas while categorizing atma as jeevatma
and paramaatma (individual Self and supreme Self).
Pardon that due to lack of time, will stop here abruptly with the summary of Laghu
Vaasudeva Mananam. Whatever little we have seen here is enough to show that this is a
very vast and beautiful Vedantic work worth learning or at least reading a few times to gain
proper knowledge essential in realization. If this section serves in trying to search for this
cheap-priced book from Ramakrishna Mission, then its purpose is done and it will lead the
seeker towards realization in this very birth itself.
Gitaamritham
2nd Chapter 47th Sloka

Karmanyevaadhikarasthe maa phaleshu kadachana |
maa karmaphalaheturbhur maa te sangotsavakarmani ||
Word by Word Translation

Te = You; adikarah = have the right; karmani = for prescribed actions; eva =
certainly; maa kadachana = never, under whatever condition; phaleshu = for the results of
an action; maa = should not; bhuh = become; karma-phalahetuh = motivated of acquiring
the results of action; maa = not; astu = have; sangah = attachment; akarmani = inaction
of prescribed activities.
Explanation
All living entities have the right to do prescribed actions but should not claim their results.
Desire for reward for one's actions is the cause of bondage. Just like eating satisfies the
hunger, Lord Krishna says that one should not do the actions by taking the motivation of
their results.
Lord Krishna says that never be attached to the rewards of actions or even consider the
rewards because this attachment will lock us in material existence. It may be argued that
instead of performing actions without motivation to the rewards it might be better to stay
away from the actions. To this Lord Krishna says that one even should not be attached to
the inaction of not performing one's prescribed activities. If we are inactive then we incur in
the sin of non-committance in performing our natural duties and in special circumstances
and thus not being responsible as mentioned in scriptures.
Swami Vivekananda elaborates on "What is Duty", "The term ‘duty’ is an abstract term
which is impossible to define clearly; we have all a natural or trained impulse to act in a
certain manner towards certain actions. With this impulse we act well in particular manner
and also wrongly in the same manner under the same circumstances. Ordinarily if a man
goes out into the street and shoots down another man, he is apt to feel sorry for it, thinking
that he has done wrong. But if the very same man, as a soldier kills not one but twenty, he
is certain to feel glad and think that he has done his duty remarkably well. Therefore duty is
not the thing done. From the subjective side, duty is to do good actions which make us go
towards God and any action which makes us go downward is evil, and is not our duty. There
is, however, only one idea of duty which has been universally accepted by all mankind, of all
ages and sects and countries, and that has been summed up in a Sanskrit aphorism thus:
“Do not injure any being; not injuring any being is virtue, injuring any being is sin.”
Swamiji says “Bhagavad-Gita refers to duties depending upon birth and position in life. Birth
and position in life in the society largely determine the mental and moral attitude of
individuals towards the various activities of life. It is therefore our duty to do that work,
which will respect, elevate us in excellence in accordance with the ideals and activities of
the society in which we are born. But it must be particularly remembered that the same
ideals and activities do not prevail in all societies and countries. The ignorance of this is the
main cause of hatred of one towards another. One point we ought to remember is that we
should always try to see the duty of others through their own eyes, and never judge the
customs of other peoples by our own standard. One should think that I have to
accommodate myself to the world and not the world to me as I am not the standard of the
universe. He who does the lower work is not a lower man, no man is to be judged by the
mere nature of his duties, but all should be judged by the manner and the spirit in which
they perform them. The only way to rise is doing the duty next to us and thus progressing
until we reach the highest state. “
Swamiji tells a beautiful story to illustrate, “A young Sanyaasin went to a forest to practice
spiritual austerities. After years of hard work and practice, one day he was sitting under a
tree then some dry leaves fell upon his head. He looked up and found a crow and a crane
fighting which made him very angry. He angrily said, how dare you throw these leaves on
me, as the intense of anger is more with his glance, a flash of fire went out of his head and
burning the birds to ashes. He was very happy at his development of power. After he went
to a town for begging and stood at door. Sanyaasin calls out “Oh mother give me good”, a
voice came from inside the house, “wait a little my son”. The young man thought, "You
woman, how dare you make me wait! You do not know my power yet." While he was
thinking thus the voice came again: "Son, don't be thinking too much of yourself. Here is
neither crow nor crane." He was astonished, the woman came, and he fell at her feet and
said, "Mother, how did you know that?" She said, "My boy, I do not know your Yoga or your
practices. I am a common everyday woman. I made you wait because my husband is ill,
and I was nursing him. All my life I have struggled to do my duty. When I was unmarried, I
did my duty to my parents; now that I am married, I do my duty to my husband; that is all
the Yoga I practice. But by doing my duty I have become illumined; thus I could read your
thoughts and know what you had done in the forest. If you want to know something higher
than this, go to the market of such and such a town where you will find a Vyadha (The
lowest class of people in India who used to live as hunters and butchers.) who will tell you
something that you will be very glad to learn." The Sanyaasin thought, "Why should I go to
that town and to a Vyadha?" But after what he had seen, his mind opened a little, so he
went. When he came near the town, he found the market and there saw, at a distance, a
big fat Vyadha cutting meat with big knives, talking and bargaining with different people.
The young man said, "Lord help me! Is this the man from whom I am going to learn? He is
the incarnation of a demon." In the meantime this man looked up and said, "O Swami, did
that lady send you here? Take a seat until I have done my business." The Sanyaasin took
his seat; the man went on with his work, and after he had finished he took his money and
said to the Sanyaasin, "Come sir, come to my home." On reaching home the Vyadha gave
him a seat, saying, "Wait here," and went into the house. He then washed his old father and
mother, fed them, and did all he could to please them, after which he came to the
Sanyaasin and said, "Now, sir, you have come here to see me; what can I do for you?" The
Sanyaasin asked him a few questions about soul and about God, and the Vyadha gave him
a lecture which forms a part of the Mahabharata, called the Vyadha-Gita. It contains one of
the highest flights of the Vedanta. When the Vyadha finished his teaching, the Sanyaasin
felt astonished. He said, "Why are you in that body? With such knowledge as yours why are
you in a Vyadha's body, and doing such filthy, ugly work?" "My son," replied the Vyadha,
"no duty is ugly and no duty is impure. My birth placed me in these circumstances and
environments. In my boyhood I learnt the trade; I am unattached, and I try to do my duty
well. I try to do my duty as a householder, and I try to do all I can to make my father and
mother happy. I neither know your Yoga, nor have I become a Sanyaasin, nor did I go out
of the world into a forest; nevertheless, all that you have heard and seen has come to me
through the unattached doing of the duty which belongs to my position."
When we are doing any work, we should not think of anything beyond. We should do it as
worship, as the highest worship, and devote whole life to it for the time being. Thus, in the
story, the Vyadha and the woman did their duty with cheerfulness and whole-heartedness;
and the result was that they became illuminated, clearly showing that the right performance
of the duties of any station in life, without attachment to results, leads us realization.
Upanishad Prachaaram
Sanyaasa Upanishad
Though not many people are aware, there are 108 Upanishads (and a little more that are
extant today) as per Mukthikopanishad where Rama enumerates them to Hanuman. There
are 10 which are known as major ones (that have been commented by Sankara) and 10
minor ones which are popular among vedantins – the rest are not that popular and rarely do
people hear, read or talk about it.
We will see a summary of Sanyaasa Upanishad today to understand as to what are the
different types of sanyaasis. This minor Upanishad consists of two chapters. The first
chapter briefly talks about sanyaasa. To put it very briefly, Sanyaasa means devoid of
anything – one who doesn’t stick on to any objects or relations; one who doesn’t have any
preferences and even renounces the yajnopaveetha (sacred thread). There are no desires in
the mind of a sanyaasi – he lives with whatever is achieved at the present moment not
worrying about the future or brooding over the past.
The second chapter starts with mentioning the adhikaari for sanyaasa (who can take up
sanyaasa). It is worth remembering here that an external sanyaasi doesn’t necessarily be
an internal sanyaasi (internal renunciation of the Ego and all activities).
Chatvaarishat samskaara sampannah sarvatho virakthah chithashuddhim eti aasha asooya

irshyaa ahamkaaram dajdhvaa saadhanachathustaya sampanna eva sanyasthum arhathi
One who in endowed with samskaras (the various rites like naming etc.), ever
dispassionate, has attained purity of mind, is devoid of desire, jealousy, ego and endowed
with sadhana chathustayam (viveka or discrimination between real-unreal, vairagya or
dispassion, shamaadi or six qualities of the mind starting with peace, control of organs etc.
and mumukshutva or desire for liberation) is alone eligible to take up sanyaasa (in other
words, only such a sanyaasi will be true one with respect to external and internal
renunciation).
The work later categories sanyaasis into six: kuteechaka, bahudaka, hamsa, paramahamsa,
turiyaatheetha and avadhutha.
Kuteechaka is one who stays in a particular place; he is bound by respect for parents,
elders, guru etc. Though he is a karma sanyaasi yet he does actions ordained for sanyaasis.
He holds a kamandalu, wears sacred marks in his body etc. Bahudaka on the other hand
doesn’t stay in one place; he is constantly going around places. Both kuteechaka and
bahudaka wear just a kaupinam or a one-cloth dress whereas hamsa and paramahamsa are
not bound by cloth or appearances. They generally grow long hair and wear either one
kaupina or torn cloth etc. Hamsa and Paramahamsa are pure in their mind – the difference
between both is that hamsa has a yajnopaveetha or is bound by sanyaasa dharma whereas
paramahamsa is beyond sanyaasa dharma as he has renounced everything.
These four categories externally live in the world like worldly people – even a paramahamsa
though is not bound by rules still follows many of the rules but turiyaatheetha is one who is
beyond turiya and hence he is beyond normal rules. He generally roams around without any
cloth; he just has his body (naked) in the three states. He is ever fixed on Brahman
(anusandhaanam or contemplation of Brahman). He eats only fruits (sattvic food). The peak
of “beyond rules” is in the case of an avadhutha. An avadhutha is as the Upanishad aptly
puts “aniyamah” or “without rules”. He might one moment behave like a very civilized
person and the very next moment behave like a mad person – he might wear coats one
moment and the very next moment wear nothing at all. He is one of the sanyaasis who is
beyond all rules and no rules can set forth or define as to how an avadhutha will be.
Dattatreya is an avadhutha – we find mention of an avadhutha and his teachings in the

Uddhava Gita portion of Bhagavatham.
The later portion of the work speaks about the state of an avadhutha. This state is
something which is beyond expression – such an avadhutha irrespective of whether he is
doing yoga or bhoga, is always immersed in contemplation of Brahman. We find the account
of an avadhutha mentioned by Ramana Maharshi thus:
There was a king who wanted to prove to the people of his kingdom that an avadhutha
living in a hut was a fake. Therefore the king hired a daasi for the same. The daasi started
cleaning the space outside his hut. The next day she left some food for the avadhutha to eat
– he ate the food. One thing lead to another and she started living with the avadhutha.
They had a child. The daasi decided that it was time to expose the avadhutha. She used to
dance near the temple in the kingdom. She started for the dance after pinching the child so
that it will cry. The avadhutha found that the child was crying. He tried to stop its cries but
was unable to do so. Therefore he took the child to the place where the daasi was dancing.
Since she was dancing he waited there with the child. The daasi came near him while
dancing and she let loose her anklets. She lifted her feet towards the avadhutha
(intentionally so that he would tie her anklets). The avadhutha bend down and tied her
anklets. Upon this, all the people around started screaming as to how bad a person the
avadhutha is. Hearing this, the avadhutha looked upon the idol in the temple and said “if it
is true that I have been thinking about Brahman at all times, may you scream out” and lo
behold, the idol screamed out.
Ramana Maharshi gives another beautiful puranic incident to show that avadhuthas might
not always be sanyaasis. When Parikshit was born, he was born as a still-baby. The rishis
around told that if a nitya brahmachari (eternal celibate) would touch the child, it would
come to life. Even Shuka was afraid to touch the baby when Krishna touched the baby and
the baby came to life. Speak about a nitya brahmachari who has 10008 wives!!!
Avadhuthas therefore are beyond any rules. A normal sadhaka cannot become a
turiyaatheetha or an avadhutha but we can strive to become a bahudaka or hamsa or
paramahamsa. It is not necessary to go beyond all rules in order to realize. Realization can
be easily achieved by constant contemplation of Ishwara all the while doing worldly
activities as an offering to Ishwara (brahma yajna as Krishna says in Gita). But this
Upanishad shows us that there are people who are totally immersed in Brahman internally
but externally they are unpredictable and beyond normal worldly norms.
The Upanishad later tells that kuteechakas would attain bhoo and bhuva loka whereas
Bahudaka will attain svarga loka. Hamsas attain tapo loka whereas Paramahamsas attain
satya loka. Turiyaatheetha and Avadhuthus are ever focused on the Self as Brahman and
hence there is no loka for them – they are one with Brahman and Brahman alone exists for
them, the world doesn’t exist (not even as an illusion for them).
Turiyaatheethavadhuthayoh svatmani eva kaivalyam svaroopanusandhaanena

bramarakeeta nyaayavat
Turiyaatheetha and Avadhutha since they are always contemplating on the Self, they are in
absolute unity with the Self even as per the brahmara keeta logic (honey bee goes around
the cocoon of a pupa and thereby converts the pupa into a honey bee, in the same way due
to constant contemplation on the Self, the Self converts such people into Self itself).
The Upanishad later speaks about pranava japa and jnaana as the way to become one with
Brahman (realization).
We will conclude the brief summary of this Upanishad with the avadhutha mentioned in the
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and met by M (master mahashaya, the author of the gospel).
Once M wanted to know about brahma jnaanis. Sri Ramakrishna then told him about a mad
man who used to regularly visit the temple and that he was an avadhutha and a brahma
jnaani. M decided to see the avadhutha. He saw that just before it was time for arathi, the
avadhutha came. He wore torn clothes and had a stick – hair was all around his body. He
came, took a bath and then entered the temple. He offered hymns upon which the entire
temple trembled with power. Once arathi was over and it was time for receiving food (as
prasadam), the avadhutha took the food along with the dogs – fighting with them over who
would get food. After eating, he started walking away. M followed him and a little later, the
avadhutha stopped and asked M as to why he was following. M asked “are you a brahma
jnaani”. The avadhutha looked around and as if he was telling a secret told in M’s ears “yes,
but don’t tell anyone”. M asked “how will I know when I have become a brahma jnaani”.
The avadhutha replied “when you are able to see this drainage water in par with the water
of ganges, then you have become a brahma jnaani”. This reminds of Sankara’s words about
considering a brahmana or a chandala his Guru one who sees the Self in the ganges and
drainage water as well.
Let us try to renounce all actions by offering them unto Ishwara (Ishwara arpitham and na
icchayaa kritham – “as an offering to Ishwara” and “performed without craving for its
fruits”) so that we may became a sanyaasi and thereby ever rejoice in bliss irrespective of
whether the external world appears to exist or doesn’t exist.
Raga Varsha
Jog
This is an offering from the Agra gharana of Hindustani music. This raga is a very powerful
raga and equivalent of the gambhira rasa pradhaana carnatic raga Naattai. Naattai is a raga
having the most ganapathi songs as it is an auspicious raga to start a concert with (more on
Naattai in the next page). Jog has become a lot popular even in film music down the south
as well.
Jog is an audava jaathi raga (raga with only 5 swaras). It skips the Rishabha and Dhaivatha
(ri and dha). But it uses two gandhaaras and the use of these two gandhaaras is the
characteristic of this raga. There are two versions of jog, one in which two nishaadhas are
used and one in which only one nishaadha is used. Here we will be seeing the raga with just
one nishaadha.
AROHANA
sa GA ma pa ni sa
AVAROHANA
sa ni pa ma ga sa
LAKSHANA
GA ma (sa) ga sa
(Bigger note in CAPS – GA is shuddha gandhaara and ga is komal gandhaara)
FILM SONGS
Speaking of jog, the first film song that comes to mind is pramadavanam from the
Malayalam movie His Highness Abdullah composed by Raveendran and sung very beautifully
by K J Yesudas (for which he won national award).
Ilayaraja has composed a beautiful double nishaadha jog song in panivizhum malarvanam
sung aptly by SPB.
BHAJANS
AMMA’s bhajan
http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/songs/song44.html
Kaivalya Navaneetham sloka
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/Kaivalya_Navaneetham/8_jog.mp3
Naattai
Naattai is the janya of 36th Melakartha raga Chalanattai. Its arohanam and avarohanam are
as follows
Arohanam: S R3 G2 M1 P N2 S
Avarohanam: S N2 P M1 G2 R3 S
In some cases D3 is also used. In Nattai the Ri and Dha used are chathusruti. So R3 is
almost sounds like G1 and D3 almost sounds like N1. This raga brings out Vira or
gambheera rasa and hence the concerts generally start with this Raga. Also the usage of
the strong Ri sets the musical environment and hence the singers sing Naatai at the
beginning of the concert.
Jiva svaras for this raga is Ri Ma and Ga. The pattern R3 G2 M1 R3 S is a mostly used
pattern in this raga.
CLASSICAL SONGS
Jagadananda karaka – Tyagaraja Swami
Mahaganapathim manasaa smaraami – Muthuswami Deekshithar
Parameshwara – Muthuswami Deekshithar
FILM SONGS
Chennai senthamizh – M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi
Madathile kanni maadathile – Veera
BHAJANS
AMMA’s bhajan
http://vedantatattva.org/vedanta/songs/song78.html
Soundarya Lahari/Kaivalya Navaneetham/Hari Nama Keerthanam (composed and sung by

my father)
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/Kaivalya_Navaneetham/naattai_1.mp3
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/Kaivalya_Navaneetham/naattai.mp3
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/Kaivalya_Navaneetham/omkaramaaya.mp3
Praadeshikam
Kaivalya Navaneetham
Aiyane enadhulle nindra anantha janmangalaanda

Meiyyane upadhesikka velivandha guruve potri
Uyyave mukthinalgum udhaviku or udhavi naayen
Seyyumaru ondrum kaanen thiruvadi potri potri
Word Meaning:
Aiyane – O Father
Enadhu ulle nindra – who is residing in my heart as a witness of all activities
Anantha janmangal aanda - who conquered me and purified my mind (by removing duality)
for many infinite lives by guiding me to perform proper actions and meditation
Meiyyane – O Lord who is the ultimate reality
Upadesikka velivandha guruve potri – who came as guru to remove the ignorance which is
veiling my real nature, to Guru my prostration
Uyyave mukthi nalkum udhaviku – (to that Guru) who provided the graceful help to attain
liberation
Or Udhavi nayen seyyumaaru – what can I do to repay such a help
Ondrum kaanen – I don’t find anything to repay
Thiruvadi potri potri – I can only prostrate again and again
O Lord, who is residing in my heart as a witness of all activities, who conquered me for
infinite births and purified my mind (by removing duality) by guiding me to perform proper
actions and meditation, O Lord, who now came as Guru to remove the ignorance by giving
me knowledge. I don’t find anything to repay the Guru who provided the most graceful help
to attain liberation, I can only prostrate at his feet again and again.
This sloka is from a Tamil work called Kaivalya Navaneetam of Thandavaraaya swamigal.
This sloka speaks about a student, who after realizing his own nature of Self through the
knowledge from the Guru, finding no way to repay the help in the form of knowledge from
the Guru. This sloka also speaks about different stages of a spiritual seeker in the spiritual
path.
Aiyane enadhulle nindra (O Lord, who is residing in my heart as a witness of all activities):
For a spiritual seeker Guru is everything, Guru is his Lord, his father, his mother, his friend,
everything. For a spiritual seeker, there is nothing in the entire universe that can replace his
Guru because he knows that Guru is the store of all happiness. A Guru is one who is ever
established in the Ultimate reality of the Brahman and such a person who is ever
established in Brahman is nothing but Brahman alone as the Upanishad says “Brahmavid
brahmaiva bhavathi – knower of Brahman verily becomes Brahman”. So for a seeker Guru
is one who stands for Brahman. Brahman is not limited to anything rather it is the
substratum of everything that is present. Brahman is in and out of anything and everything
in the world.
Ishavasya Upanishad says
“Isha vasyam idham sarvam yeth kinchit jagatyaam jagat – whatever moves here in this
world is pervaded by god”
The student then says that the Guru who is nothing but Brahman and not just limited to a
form but all pervading, resides in his heart as the Self. Brahman resides in the heart of all
beings as the witness of all activities.
Anantha janmangal aanda (who conquered me and purified my mind (by removing duality)
for many infinite lives by guiding me to perform proper actions and meditation):
As per the scriptures, there is only non-dual Brahman one without a second. But because of
ignorance this ultimate truth of Brahman is not known and because of this one sees the
world as something different from oneself. Because of this dual perception one starts to
desire and performs actions to satisfy that desire. After performing actions he enjoys the
results of those actions and continues in the same way for infinite number of births. So the
ignorance of his own nature of Brahman, whose beginning can never be determined, has led
to take infinite number of births performing actions and enjoying results.
Swami Vidyaranya says “Kurvathe karma bhogaaya karma karthum cha bhunjathe –
performs actions to enjoy results and enjoy results to performmore action”
The only solution for the seeker to remove this ignorance is by realizing one’s own nature of
Self. Though the seeker just has to get this Ultimate Knowledge of his own nature and
realize it, it may not happen in one life-time. The seeker because of the forgetfulness of his
nature has lost his way in the thick jungle of Samsaara. The seeker has to be shown the
right way to come out of this thick jungle of Samsaara and make him establish in his
nature.
When the seeker comes out of this thick jungle of samsaara, realizes that there was no
chance of coming out of that terrible dark jungle of Samsaara without a guide. That guide is
the Guru who shows the path. If there is question of when Guru would guide, Guru or
Brahman is always there as guiding seekers. Based on the mental state of the seeker Guru
directly or indirectly would guide the seeker through the path not in one or two births, but
the compassionate guru would be there as the guiding principle forever for the seeker until
he realizes his very nature of Self. Thus, once a person enters samsaara it takes time and
effort to come out of samsaara and the student after attaining that ultimate knowledge
recollects the patience and compassion of the Lord conquering him for many births and
purifying him.
Meiyane Upadeshika velivandha guruve potri (O Ultimate Reality, who came out in a form to
impart knowledge, to that Guru I prostrate)
In the first line the student called the Guru as father (aiyane). Here he is calling the Guru as
Meiyane. This way of addressing Guru also reflects the progress of the spiritual seeker in
the path. Initially, the seeker who is completely immersed in Samsaara does not know what
the real goal of life is. All his thoughts and actions are only to satisfy his desires in this
world. In that mental state of seeker if the Guru imparts the ultimate knowledge of
Brahman, it will not have any effect. Therefore, first thing is to divert the seeker’s thoughts
and actions in such a way that it attains proper mental state to receive the Ultimate
Knowledge of Brahman. Therefore in the initial state, the Guru is just like a father who
guides his child to have good thoughts and to do good actions and scolds when the child
does something wrong, guides a seeker to perform selfless actions so that the seeker gets
the mental state required to receive the teaching as it is from the Guru. Once the seeker
understands the importance and necessity of this Ultimate knowledge which is the sign of
the proper mental state, the Guru imparts the knowledge to the seeker. The Guru knows
when to impart the knowledge and waits patiently, even if it takes many years or many
yugas or many kalpas, until Guru recognizes the eligibility of the student and then imparts
the knowledge.
Uyyave mukthi nalkum udhaviku Or Udhavi nayen seyyumaaru Ondrum kaanen (For the
compassionate help of the Guru to attain liberation, I don’t find anything in the world that I
can use to repay for that help):
Jiva in reality is Brahman only, but because of the ignorance of this fact the jiva imagines
the dualities of the world and gets identified with it. For all the sorrows and suffering that a
Jiva experiences in his life, the root of the problem is the ignorance of his own nature of
bliss. When the ignorance goes away, then the all problems completely vanish, all sorrows
and suffering vanish. The ignorance of one’s own nature of Self can be removed only by the
knowledge of the Self and only Guru can impart that knowledge because he is ever
established in the Self. Thus, the greatest help that is possible in this world can be done
only by a Guru to an able seeker. It is the greatest help because it solves the problem of the
seeker once and for all. If we provide food to a person who is hungry, it would satisfy him
only for few hours afterwards he would be hungry. But this help of the imparting Ultimate
knowledge makes a seeker complete once and for all.
Krishna says in gita
“yad gatva na nivarthanthe tad dhaamah paramam mama – Reaching where there is no
return, that is my eternal abode”
This being the greatest help of all helps possible, is there a way to repay this help? No,
definitely not possible. The fruit of this help is that seeker rejoices in the unlimited bliss of
the Self. So if we have to repay for the help we have to search of something which also
gives unlimited bliss to the Guru. This is not possible anytime because, unfortunately there
is nothing apart from the Self and hence cannot find anyone, and the Guru is already ever
established in the unlimited bliss of Self. Realizing this inability to repay for the help, the
seeker can only prostrate at the lotus feet of the Guru again and again with reverence.
Thus a seeker who wants to attain the goal of liberation in this spiritual path has to go
through various stages of progress. Initially, the seeker has to prepare himself by
performing Selfless actions and proper focus of mind which will give him purification of mind
and then through knowledge of the Self attains liberation or in other words rejoices in bliss
forever. But whatever the stage a seeker is in, whether in the first step of the spiritual path
or the last step, without a Guru it is close to impossible for a seeker to attain the goal of
Self-realization.
Sthuthi
Krishnaastakam
1. Vasudeva Sutham Devam Kamsa Chaanoora Mardhanam |

Devaki Paramaanandham Krishnam Vande' Jagathgurum ||
2. Adhasee Pushpa Sankaasam Haara Noopura Sobhitham |
Rathna Kangana keyooram Krishnam Vandhe' Jagathgurum ||
3. Kutilaalaka Samyuktham Poorna Chandra Nibhaananam |
Vilasath Kundala tharam Krishnam Vandhe' Jagathgurum ||
4. Mandhara Gandha Samyuktham Chaaru-haasam Chathur-bhujam; |
Barhipinjaavachoodaangam Krishnam Vandhe' Jagathgurum ||
5. Uthpulla Padma Patraksham Nilajimutha Sannibham. |
Yaadhavaanaam Shirorathnam Krishnam Vandhe' Jagathgurum ||
6. Rukmini Ke'li Samyuktham, Peethambara Su Shobitham; |
Avaaptha Thulasi Gaandharam, Krishnam Vande Jagathgurum. ||
7. Gopikaanaam Kuchadvandva Kunkumaangitha Vakshasam |
Srinike'tham Maheshvaasam Krishnam Vandhe' Jagathgurum ||
8. Srivatsaankam, Mahoraskam, Vana Maala Virajitham; |
Shanka Chakra Dharam, Devam, Krishnam Vande Jagathgurum. ||
9. Krishnaashtakam idam Punyam Praatharuththaaya Ya:pade'th|
Ko'ti Janma Krutham Papam Smaranaath Thasya Nashyathi. ||
Word Meaning:
vasudevasutam = son of vasudeva
dEvam = the divine
kamsaChaNooraMardhanam = killer of kamsa and chaaNoora
DEvakeeParamAnandam = One who gives great joy to Devaki
Krishnam = to Krishna
Vande = praise
Jagadgurum = to the guru of the universe.
ataseePushpaSankAsham = brilliant with the atasee flower
hAranoopuraShobhitam = shining with garland and anklet
ratnakankaNakeyooram = jeweled bangle and upper arm bracelet
rest same as above
kutilAlakaSamyuktam = one with curly hair

PoorNaChandranibhAsanam = one whose face is like the full moon
vilasatkundaladharam = wearing playful ear ornament
rest same as above
mandAragandhasamyuktam = One with fragrant sandalwood paste
chAruhAsam = one with lovely smile
chaturbhujam = one with four hands
barhiPinchAvachoodangam = one who has peacock feather on his head
rest same as above
utphullaPadmaPatrAksham = One whose eyes are like the full blown lotus
neelajeemootasannibham = Whose (body) like the dark (waterladen) cloud
yAdavAnam shiroratnam = one who is the crest jewel of the yadava clan
rest same as above
rukmiNi Kelisamyuktam = One with the sportive Rukmini
PeetAmbara Sushobhitam = one brightly adorned with peethaambaram
avApta Tulasigandham = one who has the smell of Tulasi
rest same as above
gopikAnAm KuchadwandwakukumAnkitavakshasam = one whose body is smeared with
lumkum from the love-play of the gopis
shriniketam = one in whome lakshmi resides
MahEshwasam = who is the life breath of Shiva
rest same as above
shrivatsAnkam = One who has the birth mark srivatsa
Mahoraskam = one who has broad chest
VanamAlAvirAjitam = one who has garland of wild flowers
shankachakradharam Devam = the divine who bears shanku and chakram
rest same as above
krishnAshTakamidam = This krishnaaShTakam
puNyam = holy
prAtarutthAya yah paThet = to one who sudies waking up in the morning
koTiJanmaKrutam PApam = sins done in crores of lives
SmaraNena Vinashyati = will be destroyed just by the thought.
One who was the son of vasudeva, who killed the demon kings kamsa and chanoora
One who gave joy to Devaki and who is the Guru of the entire universe.
He who is decorated with atasee flowers, who is shinning brilliant with garland and anklets
He who is adorned with bangles and bracelets studded with jewels and who is the Guru of
the entire universe.
The one who has beautiful curly hair, whose face is like the full moon
The One who wears playful ear rings, He is Krishna the Guru Of the entire Universe.
One who is smeared with sandalwood paste all over the body, One who has four hands
One who has peacock feather on the head, He is Krishna the Guru of entire Universe.
One whose eyes are like the fully bloomed Lotus, Whose body is of the color of rain bearing
clouds, He who is like the Jewel in Yadava clan, He is Sri Krishna the Guru of the entire
universe.
One who sports with Rukmini, One who is adorned with yellow clothes
One who smells of tulasi, He is Krishna the Guru of the entire Universe.
One who is the love of Gopis, and whose body is smeared with kumkum
One inwhom Laskhmi resides, who is the breath of Shiva, He is Krishna the Guru of the
entire Universe.
On who has the birth mark of srivasta, one who has broad chest
One who is adorned with a garland, One who holds shanka and chakra,He is Krishna the
Guru of the entire universe.
Krishnaastakam is very good when recited in the early morning hours. The bad deeds
accrued of past crores of years get washed away by mere thought of the Lord Sri Krishna.
All seek the guidance of the Jagad Guru in the path of spirituality. To always remember the
lord as the ultimate truth is the aim of the spirituality. The description of the lord helps one
to have the picture of the beautiful form of the lord in the heart at all times. This would help
to remember the lord and thereby offer everything at his Lotus feet.
As mentioned in the bhakti sutras as
"Tad arpita akhila acharatha cha tad vismaranee parama vyakulatha cha"
This beautiful glorification of the lord's form and the world as his divine leela or play helps
one focus on the captivating form of the lord and always remember him in the heart as the
only reality existing everywhere and thus gain devotion towards the Lord.
Just mere remembrance of the Lord brings immense peace and happiness to the mind and
washes away out sins accrued over many births. Such is the greatness of the Lord, the
redeemer of sins.
We find the gopis whose mind were filled with attachment, aversion and other impurities
approaching the Lord and the Lord removed all those impurities and made them pure-
minded. Thus the name of “Hare” comes to the Lord – one who destroys impurities in the
heart. AMMA gives a beautiful story to illustrate as to why the Lord is a purifier. Once the
Lord was along with the gopis when a thunderstorm happened. Everyone became afraid for
one moment. At that time, the Lord asked the gopis “what would you do if you are in
trouble?” One gopi replied that she will call out the Lord’s name to protect her. Another gopi
replied that she will pray to the Lord to give her strength to overcome the problem. All this
while, Radha was silent. The Lord asked Radha as to what she would do to which Radha
replied that she would remember the Lord. The Lord asked “then” to which Radha replied
“nothing”. The Lord asked “that’s it?” Radha replied – “yes, if you are remembered then
where is problem as you are bliss personification?”
Thus the mere presence of the Lord is enough to rid us of all sins and sorrows. Sankara
thereby quotes from a purana in his Vishnu Sahasranama Bhashya and says that “kalau
sankeerthya keshavam” or “in Kali Yuga, people can easily achieve moksha through calling
out the names of the Lord”. For people who call out the Lord’s names, the Lord himself
becomes the savior through making them realize that there exists nothing apart from the
Lord and that duality is just an illusion in the non-dual reality of Lord.
Mayi eva mana aadhatsva mayi buddhim niveshaya

Nivasishyasi mayyeva atah urdhvam na samshayah
Fixing the mind and intellect unto Me, O Arjuna, you will become established in me; no
doubt in this.
Since few people celebrate (celebrated) Krishna Jayanthi on Aug 14 and few on Sep 11,
may us sing the names of the Lord so that we may ever rejoice in bliss.
Charitham
Atma is a word used for the Self, the Consciousness that pulsates inside each one of us in
the form of “I-exist, I-exist”. Mahatma is one who is a great atma – various synonyms of
mahatma are mahaanatma, mahat tattva, mukhya praanan etc. All of these are synonyms
of Brahma. Brahma creates everything and hence considers everything as his and himself.
Mahatmas are those who identify themselves with each and every object or person of the
world – therefore we see the Mahatmas always guiding people and helping whoever comes
to them with whatever requests. Some people go to them for getting promotion, others for
getting a job, yet others to get married, married in order to get children, yet others for
various worldly possessions and rarely to get devotion and knowledge (for moksha).
Krishna’s eternal rule of worshipping Ishwara and Mahatmas who are one with Ishwara is:
Ye yathaa maam prapadhyanthe taamsthathaiva bhajaami aham

Whoever worships me in whatever form, I appear to them in that form.
Thus whoever seeks these Mahatmas with various requests, their requests will get fulfilled
provided they have earnestness, devotion and faith.
Ramana Maharshi was one of the Mahatmas who lived in the 20th century (until 1950s).
Maharshi’s life is very vast and has been spoken/written in various ways by many people.
Here we will see a brief view of Maharshi’s life and a Vedantic perspective to the same.
Ramana Maharshi somehow always felt attached to Siva in Tiruvannamalai. He didn’t really
know as to why but he felt a pull always inside him to go to Tiruvannamalai. But even as
today, those times also were when people didn’t know much about moksha and hence
worldly life was what was important and essential. Day by day Maharshi’s concentration on
the world reduced and concentration on Siva increased until one day when his brother said
him to renounce everything as he is no good with studies (school). This immediately struck
him as being a very good advice – Maharshi immediately took to the advice and through
miraculous adventures reached Tiruvannamalai.
This pull that Maharshi felt towards Ishwara is something everyone can feel inside. But our
inside (the mind) is filled with lot of dirt that this pull of Ishwara (yearning for moksha) is
veiled temporarily. Thus only a sadhaka who has purified his mind will be able to gain true
devotion towards Ishwara thereby realizing Ishwara within no time in this birth itself. We
also find here that an external influence makes Maharshi realize the importance of Ishwara
and futility of world. This dual aspect of vairagya in a person is something very essential in
the spiritual path – dispassion towards the world (apara or lower vairagya) and passion
towards Ishwara (para or higher vairagya) are very essential for a seeker to progress in the
spiritual path amidst so many problems. This is what the Lord also summarizes as “anityam
asukham lokam imam praapya bhajasva maam” or “having attained this temporary and
sorrowful world, seek refuge in me”. Sankara puts it in simple words as “brahma satyam
jagan mithyaa” or “Brahman alone is real, the world is an illusion (ultimately unreal)”. This
immediate dawn of dispassion in Maharshi isn’t something that is temporary (manda
vairagya or dispassion caused by external situations or conditions like death of one’s spouse
etc.) as we see at an earlier point in his life when there was an ashram with his name. Once
there was some confusion over the ownership of Ramana Ashram in Tiruvannamalai. This
brought the judges to interview Maharshi. Upon questioned as to what he would do if a bad
person were to come to the ashram, Maharshi said he would tell the person to go away. If
the person didn’t agree? Maharshi replied that then he would walk away from the place!
Such was the dispassion with Maharshi that he was ever a witness to all possessions
knowing them to be just illusions in Ishwara.
Maharshi had a death-like experience at the age of 16 when he felt as if he was dying. At
that moment he did enquire as to who would die and ultimately trying to figure out the real
“I” that pulsates inside us. This enquiry lead him to realize the Self pulsating inside and
unaffected by the Ego I.
Many people think that enquiry alone is enough and thereby they forsake sadhana which is
very essential in a sadhaka’s life (sadhana like japa, dhyaana etc.). Maharshi himself did
intense japa and dhyaana after reaching Tiruvannamalai. His dhyaana was so intense that
there would be ant-hills in his body eating up his body and he wouldn’t even know about it.
Finally he went up the hill and stayed at Virupaksha cave where a big tiger used to sit
outside the entrance of the cave daily in the evening (Patanjali’s sutra of “ahimsa
prathistaayaam tat sannidhau vaira tyaagah” or “for a person established in ahisma of
seeing everything as the Self, enmity will be completely renounced” can be remembered
here). Later Maharshi went up to Skanda ashram and finally came down to the newly built
Ramana Ashram at the foot of the mountain spending the rest of life guiding people through
his silent gaze. To this day, his presence can very felt in the ashram meditation hall and
other places. People with devotion and faith can feel the power of compassion, bliss and
glow in his eyes as found in many pictures.
Let us conclude this section about Ramana Maharshi through this simple sloka from
Upadesa Saram where Maharshi says that all paths mean exactly the same thing only and
the various fights about one path being greater is all not required – each and every path
might concentrate on different things but the essence of all paths (the goal to be achieved
through the path) is exactly the same which is “fixing the mind on the heart” (the heart is
mentioned in Gita again and again as the abode of Ishwara).
Hritsthale manah svasthathaa kriyaa

Bhakthi yoga bodhaascha nischitham
Fixing the mind on the heart is definitely bhakthi, yoga, knowledge and action.
Sanskritha shiksha
Sanskrit is considered a very divine language. Kanchi Paramacharya used to say that
Sanskrit even has healing powers – putting on a Sanskrit sloka around us or chanting it can
heal many of the diseases and ailments that we are facing in life.
But many times the importance of Sanskrit becomes too much that people forget the
purpose as to learning Sanskrit. Sanskrit becomes a medium to converse. And we see a lot
of people praising Sanskrit, conversing in Sanskrit, preaching and living for Sanskrit. But do
such people know Vedanta? No, they don’t. They are experts in Sanskrit but the main
purpose of Sanskrit which is understanding Vedanta, implementing it in life and achieving
the ultimate goal of life (realization) fails through over-emphasizing Sanskrit as a language.
Prof. Balakrishnan Nair who is an expert in Sanskrit asks his listener to by-heart just 2
slokas from the 700 odd slokas of Gita. This goes on to show that Sanskrit is a means to the
end of realization but if we consider the means as the end itself, we will end up suffering
through clinging on to the means. This is like a person clinging on to the bus rather than
getting off the bus once he reaches his destination.
We will try to see a few basics of Sanskrit with focus on understanding the scriptural texts
of Vedanta rather than speaking or gaining expertise in Sanskrit.
We will truly be starting with learning Sanskrit from the next month but today we will see to
how Sanskrit learning can be split into two, what are the sources of Sanskrit and how we
can improve on our spoken/reading/understanding of Sanskrit.
Sanskrit learning can be broadly split into two main parts – one that deals with verbs
(dhathus) and the other that deals with nouns (shabdha). Each part is big in itself that there
are different tenses in verbs and many categories of verbs are there which differ in their
tense usages. Nouns are also vast in that there are seven ways of usage of nouns and like
verbs; there are different categories of nouns each of which differ in their usage.
One main difference that we can see in Sanskrit is that there are three vachanas or three
types of nouns in Sanskrit rather than the one and many found in English and other
languages. Eka vachana or one, dvivachana or two and bahuvachana or many are there in
Sanskrit.
For now, we will not enter into Sanskrit learning but get geared up for Sanskrit learning
from next month. Sanskrit like Vedanta has some big works and names (authors)
associated with it. We find that in ancient times, Sanskrit was the spoken language and
hence there was no need to formalize the language until Panini. Panini was the sage who
wrote the sutras for grammer called Vyaakarana Sutras. Sutras are aphorisms or tablet-
form knowledge which can often be tough to understand as very few minimal words are
used plus many concepts can be hidden in them. Thus the great sage Patanjali felt
compassionate and wrote the mahabhashya on panini’s sutras – until this day, this is the
only Sanskrit bhashya to be called “maha bhashya” and that itself speaks for its greatness.
It is tough to remember the sutras or the bhashyas and hence we have karika (verse-form)
of Panini’s sutras written by Katyayana. These three thus form the trinity of grammar –
Panini (sutras), Patanjali (bhashya) and Katyayana (karikas).
Other works that we can refer to are Siddhantha Kaumudi of Bhattoji Dikshithar and Laghu
Siddhantha Kaumudi of Varadaraja where the authors set the panini’s sutras in a
progressive and orderly way.
The way to improve our pronunciation of Sanskrit, we should use a tongue cleaner daily (no
jokes here). Understanding or speaking Hindi or Malayalam or many of the south Indian
languages will help in speaking Sanskrit. We should be able to read Sanskrit verses which
have lot of sandhis (combination of words). Ability to read and read out loud (speak by
looking at a book) Sanskrit is the first step to learning Sanskrit. As long as we are not able
to read Sanskrit, we will not be able to benefit out of the vast majority of Vedantic treasure
in Sanskrit. The next step after being able to read Sanskrit is trying to keep in mind the
words that come in a sloka and their meaning while learning the sloka. Many works will use
a lot of these words over and over again. Since Sanskrit also has a vast number of verbs
and nouns, we should keep our memory updated of the verbs and nouns we encounter.
Trying to figure out the nouns, verbs etc. in a sloka is also vital in interpreting the sloka
properly (we will see more this in the next month).
Let the great seers help us in learning this divine language and use it for better
understanding of Vedanta.
Vedanta Pariksha
1) The word Upanishad is from the dhathu (Sanskrit verb):

a) Upa
b) Vid
c) Sad
d) Ni
2) Name the bhaktha/jnaani who didn’t even know he was protected by the Lord’s
Sudarshana Chakra until sage Durvaasa got angry with him.
a) Uddhava
b) Krishna
c) Khatvaanga
d) Ambariksha
3) The great jnaani Mahabali was sent by the Lord to this loka:
a) Vithala
b) Suthala
c) Rasaathala
d) Paathaala
4) The three words uttered by Brahma while creating the world and standing for the
three letters of A (akara), U (ukara) and M (makara) in AUM:
a) Rig, Yaju, Sama
b) Sristhi, Sthithi, Laya
c) Bhoor, Bhuva, Suva
d) Sat, Chit, Ananda
5) We all know of the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra doing creation, protection
and destruction respectively. There is a fourth and fifth deity as per the Shaaktha
system. They and their duties respectively are:
a) Siva and Shakthi – blessing and giving bliss
b) Vinayaka and Shanmukha – ridding obstacles and giving knowledge
c) Ishwara and Sadasiva – vanishing and blessing
d) Purusha and Prakrithi – enjoying and giving enjoyment
6) The great commentary of Sowbhagya Bhaskara on the Lalitha Sahasranama was

written by:
a) Sankaracharya
b) Lakshmidhara
c) Bhaaskararaaya
d) Agastya
7) Name the seven chiranjeevis.
8) Fill: chatur veda, pancha indriya, shad aadhara, saptha rishi, ashta siddhi, nava ……..
9) The prakataartha vivarana commentary on Brahma Sutras was written by:
a) Ananda Giri
b) Appayya Dikshitar
c) Prakaashatman
d) Anubhuthisvarupa
10) Who was the guru of Ananda Giri (the great saint who wrote tikas on Sankara’s
bhashyas), what was the name of his commentary on Brahma Sutras and to which
Upanishad’s Sankara bhashya did he write a sub-commentary?
Watch out the next magazine for answers to this quiz. Email your responses to
admin@vedantatattva.org and find out how good your scores really are.
Anukramaanika Nirdesham
1. Editorial – a general message

2. Guru Mahima – Guru Gita explained in parts from the beginning
3. Mukhya Vishayam – main topic wherein a detailed explanation of a Vedantic concept
4. Sankshiptha Vedanta – brief summary of a Vedanta grantha
5. Gitaamritham – one sloka of Gita explained
6. Upanishad Prachaaram – summary of a minor Upanishad
7. Raga Varsha – analysis of a raga (both Hindustani and carnatic equivalents)
8. Praadeshikam – one sloka of a work from regional languages
9. Charitham – brief life-history of a Mahatma
10. Sthuthi – a devotional work explained
11. Sanskritha Shiksha – few simple and useful lessons of Sanskrit (useful to learn
Vedanta)
12. Vedanta Pariksha – Q & A
1. Comments
2. Suggestions
3. Corrections (word, sloka, content etc.)
4. Would like to see specific content
5. Would like to contribute (through research from websites, don’t need to write up the
content yourself)
Mail admin@vedantatattva.org.
Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested.

Online download of the magazine can be found at
http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/VedantaDarshanam
Subscribing and unsubscribing can be done by mailing admin@vedantatattva.org for now.
Watch out http://vedantatattva.org for news about the magazine.

Aum Namah Shivaya Vedanta Darshanam

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AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA VEDANTA DARSHANAM

Vedanta is generally considered as something to be undertaken when one’s teeth have

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Vedanta Darshanam ................................................................................................................................ 1

Tadviddhi pranipaathena pariprashnena sevayaa

Bhagavan sarvadharmajna vrathaanaam vrathanaayakam

Kena maargena bho svaamin dehi brahmamayo bhavet

Ithi sampraarthithah shashvanmahaadevo maheshwarah

Kasmin u vijnaate sarvamidam vijnaatham bhavathi

Yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe

Jnaanam teham savijnaanam idam vakshyaami asheshathah

Aham asmi sadaa bhaami kadaachit naaham apriyah

BRAHMAN = SAT CHIT ANANDA

If I am Brahman, then why do I not feel my blissful nature?

Yoga ratho vaa bhoga ratho vaa

2nd Chapter 47th Sloka

Word by Word Translation

Chatvaarishat samskaara sampannah sarvatho virakthah chithashuddhim eti aasha asooya

Dattatreya is an avadhutha – we find mention of an avadhutha and his teachings in the

Turiyaatheethavadhuthayoh svatmani eva kaivalyam svaroopanusandhaanena

Soundarya Lahari/Kaivalya Navaneetham/Hari Nama Keerthanam (composed and sung by

Aiyane enadhulle nindra anantha janmangalaanda

1. Vasudeva Sutham Devam Kamsa Chaanoora Mardhanam |

kutilAlakaSamyuktam = one with curly hair

Mayi eva mana aadhatsva mayi buddhim niveshaya

Ye yathaa maam prapadhyanthe taamsthathaiva bhajaami aham

Hritsthale manah svasthathaa kriyaa

1) The word Upanishad is from the dhathu (Sanskrit verb):

6) The great commentary of Sowbhagya Bhaskara on the Lalitha Sahasranama was

1. Editorial – a general message

Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested.

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