Slokam 10

Ambarisha is said in the slokam to have waited without taking food, for one full year, in anticipation of the visit of Durvasa.  After the unpleasant episode of discord with the sage,  Ambarisha graciously accepts the sage’s apology,  requests the withdrawal of the Chakra.  He then continues on as though nothing happened,  and makes sure that the sage partakes sumptuous food and sees him off in great satisfaction.

The entire episode with sage Durvasa strengthened the commitment of the king to the Paramathma,  If ever there was a shred of doubt about the commitment to the Paramathma to His Bhaktas,  that was now completely eliminated from the kings mind. 

All the events in our lives are tailored only to enlighten us, that the commitment of the Paramathma to our welfare, wellbeing and attainment of moksham is unflagging and never diminishes even one bit.  The moment we learn to reciprocate this commitment,  with the same dedication that he has towards us,  this journey comes to an end.  We then become one with the Paramathma.

The difficulties that we encounter originate only from the doubts in our mind, regarding the Paramthma’s commitment to our well being and evolution.

As long as these doubts persist about the eternity that resides within us,  we will face difficulties that are beyond our abilities to handle.  As the Paramathma says repeatedly in the Bhagavath Gita,  without His guidance, we will be surely lost.

We see so many around us in apparent difficulty.  What is the guarantee that we will not become like them.  The Paramathma cannot be perceived by the senses, so how do we know that He is aware of our plight and condition?  Are we not too insignificant for Him to bother to address our concerns.

It is to allay these doubts that we are forced to undertake the humongous journey of births and deaths. The lessons sought to be delivered through these experiences will not be imbibed,  unless we are familiar with the Puranas and Ithihasas,  from an early age.

We are ever learning to separate the truth from fiction.  The separator of the truth from fiction is the element of doubt within us. 

Doubt is probably the cause of all conflict. It is also the major roadblock to spiritual progress.

We always doubt everything that we do not perceive with our own senses.  Even that we doubt, if the events happened in the past. The further back that the event happened,  the less clear we are about the reality and truth of the event.  Life is a boat load of events that are constantly showered upon us.  Our minds are flooded with panic, despair, anxiety every moment.  There is no certainty in a world that is ever changing.  Yesterdays strong are the  weak of tomorrow.  Yesterdays rich are todays poor. Yesterday’s good are today’s bad.  In this environment,  can we say with certainty that something is true and the rest is false?

Our puranas are categorical in their answer.  Truth is only that which is unchanging.  This definition eliminates all of the worlds that we perceive with our senses. Truth does not exist in the external world.  This is why the Paramathma describes the world perceived with the senses as maya. 

The Paramathma’s universe, or Vaikuntam lies well beyond the world of senses.  The play of the opposites that we see in the world of the senses will not be there.  There is no light, and there is not even darkness.  There are no objects.  There is no differentiation of identity.  “I” and “you” are not separate.  There  is no duality. 

Pure consciousness in the singular mode is in a state of surrender to the Paramathma. Attaining moksham is to work to reach this state of existence.  That is a long journey from our world of maya to the singular world of absolute truth.  Many lessons to be learnt on the way. 

When we consider the meaning of truth from this aspect,  all doubts disappear. 

The Paramathma,  is this unchanging eternity.  He is the sole Truth.  The Paramthma, can take the form of Vamana and also expand to take one step to cover all of earth and  one step to cover all the higher worlds.  We are not endowed with the power to permeate all of the universe with one”step”. 

The Paramathma is pure consciousness in itself.  Pure consciousness has no boundaries.  It has no limitations. It is comprised of action without desire or motivation. It is selfless.  It is perception beyond the senses.  It has no dependencies. It has no beginning and it has no end. It is all pervasive and is the ultimate cause of all manifestations.  Yet it is in itself unmanifested.

Pure consciousness is the fabric of the Paramathma.  It is but one aspect of His supreme being. 

When we reach a point in evolution where this aspect of the Paramathma is understood and appreciated,  we will not experience any doubt.  We would have transcended the world of duality (maya),  which is the main inducer of doubt.

May we dwell without deviation on these sublime aspects of the Paramathma to rid ourselves of this worldly bondage.

Like Ambarisha, may we leverage our experiences to consistently strengthen our devotion to the Paramathma.