Thursday, October 11, 2012

Something New


Something New
(Ek Nayi Baat )

Shree Hari
Continued …

Here a doubt may be raised as to how sinful and virtuous actions are possible in the inert matter without the sentient Self. The clarification here is that as a man dies because of an accident with a bus, but instead of the bus the driver is punished. Though the actual collision was with the bus, but the punishment was given to the person who was the driver (doer, performing the deed) of the bus. Similarly sinful and virtuous actions are done by the insentient (Body) but its fruit has to be reaped by the doer (sentient) who accepts his relationship with the insentient. This implies that all evil is in the insentient (body) aspects only, but because of the identification with the body, the sentient (Self) has to reap its fruits.

As the body suffers from fever but because of the identification with the body, a man believes that he is suffering from a high fever. He (the Self) does not suffer from high fever. If he (the Self) had suffered from fever, then he could never recover from it. A deluded person, due to identification with the sentient part (i.e. ego), a part of lower nature, holds that he is a doer and an enjoyer - "Ahankaar vimoodhaatma kartaahamiti manyate" (Gita 3/27) "Purusha prakritistho hi bhoodankte prakritijaangunaan" (Gita 13/21) It means that the sentient being is neither a doer nor an experiencer, but due to lack of discrimination (vivek) assumes that he is a doer and an experiencer.

It is due to desire for pleasure or desire for fruit of actions that he thinks that he is a doer and it is because of doership that he has to be an experiencer i.e. he has to reap the fruit of the action. The reason is that when he assumes himself to be the doer of an activity of Nature (prakriti), he is connected with it, then that activity of nature becomes an action which bears fruit for him.

In the Self there is no doership or enjoyership in the least bit - "naiva kinchit karoti sah" (Gita 4/20), Naiva kinchit karomiti (Gita 5/8). Whatever actions have been performed in the 8.4 million forms of life, none of them can have access to the Self, as the department of Self is totally separate from the department of actions. So long as a seeker performs actions for himself, his doership persists because without doership one cannot prove the performance of action for one's own self. Therefore the spiritual discipline for one's own salvation is to be free of egoism. Any action done with egoism, cannot lead to salvation because egoism is the root of birth and death. Therefore instead of attaching importance to an action, an aspirant should attach importance to the Self.

The body has its relationship with the world while the self has its relationship with God. The body is a part of Prakriti (nature) and the self is a part of God. Therefore the self can never rest in the body. But a man out of ignorance assumes himself to be established in the body,. In it there is a vital fact that a man in spite of assuming himself to be established in the self, is in fact neither a doer nor an experience - "sharirasthopi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate." (Gita 13/31). It proves that non-doership and non-enjoyership of the self are not attained by any means, but they are natural. Therefore a striver has not to wipe out doership and enjoyership, but he has not to accept them in him, because they are not really in him. In the Gita, the Lord has explained the absence of enjoyership by giving the illustration of ether and the absence of doership by giving the illustration of the Sun -

Yatha sarvagatam soukshmyaadaakaasham nopalipyate |

Sarvatraavasthito dehe tathaatmaa nopalipyate || (Gita 13/32)

"As the all-pervading ether is not tainted because of being subtle, so the self (aatma) permeated everywhere in the body, is not tainted."

(To be continued)

From book in hindi "Ek Nayi Baat" by Swami Ramsukhdasji

Ram Ram

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If in doubt regarding the translation, please read the original Hindi message by Swamiji.

FOR MESSAGE IN HINDI PLEASE VISIT Date : 5th October, 2012 (Ek Nayi Baat ) at http://www.satcharcha.blogspot.com/

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