6 April 2018 The Speaking Tree for SSC ,Bank and Other Exams
Dialogue between Prince Rama & Sage Vasishta
On his return to Ayodhya after a pilgrimage-( तीर्थयात्रा ), Prince Rama is possessed with questions on the purpose of life, and the meaning of existence-( अस्तित्व ). He becomes totally disinterested in day-to-day activities. Alarmed, his attendants report this to his father, King Dasaratha. Just then, Sage Vishwamitra visits with a request that Rama accompany him to the forest to contain the demons-( दानव ) disturbing his penance. When Dasaratha informs Vishwamitra of Rama’s state of mind, Vishwamitra asks Rama to make a clean breast-( सामना करना ) of what disturbs him, and the prince speaks in detail. So begins the ‘Yoga Vasistha’. Rama speaks about the repetitiveness-(पुनरावर्तन ) of life, insatiability of desires, limitations of life and the world. This section is the ‘Vairagya Prakarana’, Divine Disinterest-( उदासीनता / बेपरवाही ).
After listening to the prince, Vishwamitra requests Sage Vasishtha to enlighten-(जानकारी देना ) him with stories on Vedanta. The dialogue between Rama and Vasishta forms an instructive and useful narrative to all seekers in every stage of growth. It is not enough to ask questions and seek answers intellectually; we have to turn these questions into a quest. For the quest, one has to make prayatna, effort, and have paurusha, grit, to pursue the path and have total trust in self. The greatest impediments-( अवरोध / अड़चन ) are our vasanas, tendencies which give way to stubborn habits.
The seeker is asked to develop shubha vasanas, such tendencies that free us, in turn dissolving ashubha vasanas, negative tendencies. The first quality a seeker should have is, shama, sweet patience, as one can never be in a hurry to achieve. The second is santosha, contentment in what one has, but discontent in what one is. With these, the seeker develops vichara, the capacity to contemplate, analyse and discriminate-( पहचानना ). These are possible with sadhusanga, association of the wise, in person or through scriptures. This mumukshu prakarana, divine longing, describes the qualities of a seeker.
The paradox called life, governed as it is by the dualities of pleasure-pain and happiness-misery, confuses us. The sage makes it bold to state that the origin of existence is the “i” or the entity behind every action (i-act), experience (i-experience) and knowledge (i-know). He tells Rama that the tendency-( तात्यपर्य ) to experience, bhoga vasana, is gross, while bheda vasana or the tendency to differentiate is basic to this “i” which is the root cause of mind.
These principles are illustrated via stories in the section titled Srishti Prakarana –Origin. For most of us this “i” has become our master! Factors empowering-( अधिकार देना ) this servant are dealt with in the next section titled Sthiti Prakarana – Sustenance. Involvement at the mental level and indulgence-( विलासिता ) at the sense level; pride, and fear strengthen the “i”.
Controlling mind and ego forms the subject matter of the fifth portion entitled Upashama Prakarana – Quiescence-( खामोशी ). The Yoga Vasishta recommends methods to pacify the mind through understanding, by defining Yoga as a technique for quietening the mind. It states Yoga and Samyagavekshanam as the two broad methods. Yoga quietens mental activity, while Samyagavekshanam is the art of witnessing inner transactions of mind, intellect, memory and ego.
The most sublime portion is Nirvana Prakarana – Transcendence-( उत्कर्ष ), wherein stories narrate the transcendence of time, space; practical method of contemplation-( चिंतन / अवलोकन ); real renunciation-( आत्मत्याग / अस्वीकार ); chittashuddhi, purity of mind, and the seven stages a seeker passes through on his pilgrimage towards enlightenment. Yoga Vasishtha is a user’s manual for utilising the great body-mind complex we are endowed with by the Existence for identifying and merging with It.
5 April 2018 The Speaking Tree
इस पोस्ट या साइट सम्बन्धित किसी भी प्रकार की सुझाव या शिकायत के लिए हमारे कमेंट बॉक्स में कमेंट जरूर करें धन्यवाद
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