Slokam 3

The clouds of dust  that are generated by Trinavrata, blinds everyone from seeing anything. Yashoda rushes to the bed on which she had laid down the Paramathma, under the cart. She does not find Him there.  Yashoda,  loses her equanimity and cries in desperation and misery.

At many times during our life time,  we “lose” the Paramathma.  Yashoda had left Him only briefly to attend to the chores necessary to prepare food for His birthday celebrations.  In that short span of time, Trinavrta seizes the opportunity to attack the Paramathma.

Don’t we all leave the Paramathma when we attend to our worldly chores?  Don’t we all forget, in our preoccupation with our Karma,  that it is only the Paramathma that is pulling the infinite strings and performing the balancing acts necessary to maintain our existence?

Yashoda, even in performing her chores,  manages to keep her consciousness fixed on Him.  She has set a great example for us to emulate.

Whether we are engaged in our daily chores,  or in our social interactions, conversation with family, friends and relatives, whether we are happiness or sadness,  whether we are experiencing success or failure,  whether we are in good health or in sickness,  whether we are in light or in darkness,  the one unchanging aspect that we should hold onto, through our consciousness is the Paramathma.

Our consciousness is now put to use as the means to latch on to the feet of the Paramathma.  A revelation from the slokam is the importance of grasping the ever extended Hand of the Paramathma with our Jiva Atma.

We will use the word Consciousness, synonymously with the word Jiva Atma. There are certainly differences between the two.  But for now, we will use them as referring to the eternal source of absolute pure energy that motivates our existence and awareness of ourselves. 

Awareness of the self is indeed the greatest miracle of this existence.

The multidimensional qualities of our Atma needs to be thoroughly recognized and understood in order for  us to  elevate our lives to a state of moksham.

To attain moksham,  consciousness has to be self sustaining.  To be self sustaining,  it should attain a state of no change.  How can there be awareness without change? Perception is a product of change.  When there is no change, there can be no perception. However, consciousness and perception are not the same.  Consciousness can survive and thrive,  even when there is no perception of change.  Meditation seeks to attain this state by keeping the mind under control,  cutting off all disturbing influences,  and being in a state of conscious tranquility.  So the peace that we seek is not going to be handed to us.  We have to face the hardship of knowing what it is like to live in a state of deprivation and denial, to appreciate the value of living in a state of samadhi or eternity. This is why life has been designed to be in a state of change with contrasts, with an intelligence that experiences alternating bouts of success and failure and pain and pleasure. Intelligence comes to a conclusion, through experience,  that taking ownership of objects and people in a transient world is impossible.  One by one, we discard our needs,  through practice of self control.  The change in the external world does not having a bearing on us any longer.  We stop seeking status and privilege. 

We turn inward for solace and comfort. We slowly but surely, become totally independent, like the Rishis in a Himalayan cave, (although we live among our fellow human beings).  We extend help that we can provide to others,  without any expectation of a return favor or reward.  We learn to discharge our duties, with the implied acknowledgement that all action is discharged only per the will of the Paramathma.

Our every breath becomes selfless. Our atma becomes ever aware of only the Paramathma.

There are a countless number of activities and steps that are occurring in this body of ours,  that we are completely unaware of.  We do not control even one tiny aspect of the universe that we perceive.  Everything is handed to us, only to create the self awareness within us. That pure self awareness without attachments or desires  is the treasure of this life. Our job is to hand it over to its creator,  which is the Paramathma.  That hand over is accomplished using the primary attribute of consciousness, which is awareness.  Our constant awareness of the Paramathma is the surrender of our most precious possession, which is untainted and pure consciousness.

In order to surrender our consciousness, it must become pure. In order for it to become pure,  we must constantly think of the unique characteristics of the Paramatha,  which are;

·         Complete detachment and independence from all objects and fellow beings

·         A state of unchanging permanence

·         All actions are performed with the intent of goodness and sacrifice, without any expectation of a reward.

·         An universal sense of eternity and unboundedness.

·         Non duality

·         Absence of ahankara

·         Purity of sattvic guna.

·         Complete acceptance with thankfulness and without sorrow of whatever is given to us.

These qualities of the Paramathma,  along with His exquisite physical image, when held in our consciousness, slowly becomes a part of our inner self.  It comes only with practice over time. 

The Paramathma then becomes firmly entrenched in our inner self.  We are never away from the supreme even for a moment.  In that state, we have completely handed over all our belongings to the Paramathma. We are then completely liberated from bondage.  We attain samadhi.

The state of samadhi is the existence in a state of pure consciousness, with no physical or sensual needs. The body and the senses are transcended. It is a state of complete surrender to the Paramathma, with no conflict, doubt or expectations.  This is the state that the Gopis of Gokula attained in their intimacy with the Paramathma.  It is the same state that Arjuna attains after abiding by the guidance of the Paramathma, and  executing the battle of Kurukshetra. The battle of Kurukshetra is the battle within our inner self. 

Surrender does not happen without trust. That trust does not develop without conviction. That conviction does not happen without experience. In order to experience, we must go through all the phases of life without backing down when faced with the Kauravas of this world.

Like Arjuna,  who is unable to battle with his Guru and friends and relatives,  we are unable to give up our bondings and follow the Paramathma’s directions in discharging our duties.  As we go through our lives, we are clearly able to appreciate the indisputable truth of the Paramathma’s teachings.  Yet we unable to action His guidance because we have not detached ourselves completely from the bondings of this life.  If there is one attribute that is required to enact the guidance of the Paramathma,  and attain moksham,  it is detachment. 

This is the primary requirement that has to be achieved. There is no possible way to getaway from this.  All our scriptures, Ithihasas and Puranas actually drive home only this lesson. 

There are a few guidelines on how detachment can be attained.

·         The first and foremost recommendation is to see the hand of the Paramathma in everything that we perceive, including our own inner selves.  This way, we minimize the impact of ahankara or our false identity, and have the possibility of completely eliminating it.

·         When it comes to people,  we have to define our relationships only  by placing the Paramathma as the intermediary ourselves and our relatives, friends etc.   When we communicate and relate with our friends and associates,  there should never be any bonding.  This can be attained only when we have respect for everyone and deal with everyone on an even handed basis. When we place the Paramathma as the intermediary in all these relationships, there will be no attachment.  When there is no attachment, there is no bonding and longing to take refuge in any of these individuals.  We do not expect any relief from anyone except the Paramathma. We have to be convinced that these relationships are only give and take,  and there should be no emotional attachment to anyone.  That emotional attachment can only come from the Paramathma. The Paramathma goes as far as to say clearly that there should be no attachment even to wife and children.  So the message is clear. It is the Paramathma’s sole responsibility to determine the welfare of each and every individual on this planet.  He is alone the Atma within everyone and He knows exactly what the needs and requirement for each one of us to evolve.  There is no need for any of us to take ownership of other people’s lives,  even within the family.  But we must help when we can and when it is within our capability without expecting anything in return.

·         Any attachment to anyone or any object arises as a result of satisfaction of a need.  It is very necessary that both the need or expectation and the object of satisfaction are attributed and placed at the feet of the Paramathma. If we do this we will be relieved immediately of any bondings to worldly objects.

·         Expectation of material and emotional rewards are the greatest factors that cause us to become attached to this existence.  The Paramathma clearly tells Arjuna in the Bhagavath Gita that if He wants to punish anyone,  He showers them with rewards. This way the form tremendous attachments and suffer in misery and dejection when they realize that these do not produce lasting happiness.  These in fact result in terrible sorrow anddestruction when the rewards stop flowing.

Yudhishtira and the Pandavas win the battle of Kurukshetra. They then perform the ashwamedha and establish their supremacy.  They then of how theYadavas destroyed each other, and about the departure of the Paramathma from earth.  This causes a great sorrow in them and a feeling of hopelessness overcomes them.  They immediately entrust their kingdom to their children and leave for the Himalayas to pursue sanyas and take leave of this world forever.

The one aspect of life that we have to clearly understand is that as long as we learn and understand the guidance of the Paramathma and endeavor to keep progressing on that path,  the events of life will not be a botheration or an obstacle in our path.  It is only when we stray away, from the straight path, that we will be lost.

May we ever invoke the Paramathma, to guide our every action and every move and live in a state of complete surrender to the Paramathma.

May we understand that the cloud of ignorance in which we live,  is but the dust raised by demon to prevent us from witnessing, acknowledging and surrendering to the unlimited protective embrace of the Paramathma.