ThithikshAsthApinI - Part 2
The purport of profound acceptance in the analysis of the distinction between dEhAtma with reference to GitA bAshya of Adi Shankara Ch2:V14.
Thus in the introduction to this particular verse SankarachArya briefly indicates the need for the knowledge of the discrimination about the vastu’s which here is nothing but the Atma and the dEha. The Atma is spoken as the vastu since it is in the vyAvahArika – empirical state that is concealed to be the individual entity and so we ought to have the initial discrimination about the two. This discrimination is known as the Nithya-nithya vastu viveka:. The Atma though being eternal, seemingly suffers to be misconceived as anithya or dEha itself and such bewilderment are apparently by the instinct avidya alone. ( Atma iti vijAnana- bewilderment thathApi-due to sIthOsNa sukha dukkha- heat and coldness including pleasure and pain, prApthi nimittha- sought by mOha laukika- desire in materials (anithya) drshyatE- hence experienced ).The power of mAya to project Atma as a separate entity reflecting upon the Brhman gives rise to the wrong knowledge or avidya. Out of many means prescribed by Upanishads, SankarachArya lays emphasis on thithiksa – the endurance as the primal knowledge to acquaint with the nithya-anithya vastu vivEkah. Thus this endurance becomes the catalyst for any mode that leads to the final goal for liberation. The thithiksa is the pivotal constituent of sAdhana catushtaya four fold means for liberation, which makes the person who practices vEdAnta as the adhikAri – eligible person for attaining mOksha. Apart from the nityAnithya vastu vivEka, thithiksA is the one type of sAdhana that aids the discrimination of the mode towards the final liberation known as the vritti vivEka. VEdAnta prescribes two main types of vritti vivEka vide, pravritti and nivritti. Pravritti is the mode that is associated with the worldly activities; nivritti is one that is deceived from material activities. ThithiksA is equally relevant for both the vritti’s as against views regarding material activities or worldly activities to be human unfriendly. World made of panca bhUtAs are the companion for a person who aspires for liberation (in the vyAvahArika level). Thus the mode by which the prospective mumukshu understands that subjective nature of the pravritti lakshaNa from the objective qualities in the samsAra is that, he extracts the vision of the substratum out of the seemingly real worldliness not by mere stoic resignation, as one may tend to conceive it, but with the vivEka jnAna ie., the discriminative knowledge. nivritti jnAna is one mode wherein the state of mind transcends the empirical perseverance as and when it synchronizes with the real nature of the self without any upAdhi or obstacle. This nivritti state is by itself independent and self-effulgent. The former gives cittasuddhi – the mental purity or a tranquil state of mind to have the vivEka of parOksa – mediate knowledge wherein medium is the knarmEndriyAs and jnAnEndriyAs with which the mumuksu attempts his karma yogAs. We must remember pravritti jnAna is for citta suddhi alone (making one as adhikAri ) and not directly leads for mOksa. SankaracArya says ‘avirOditaya karma nAvidyAm vinivartathe’ – meaning Action (Karma) cannot destroy ignorance (avidya) for it is not in conflict with ignorance directly. He adds by saying karma creates the plane for the rise of knowledge which in turn destroys ignorance. Hence function of karma is clearly different from jnAna in this context. SurEswarAcArya elaborately discusses the issue in Naishkarmya siddhi. The latter gives the immediate knowledge – aparOksha jnAna. Thus the pravritti is khandAkAra vritti – mediate mode for attaining citta suddhi and nivritti is akhandAkAra vritti whereby the jIvan muktha realizes his identity with Brhman. Sankara emphasizes this vivEkavairAgyagunAtirEkAt – benefits sought from discrimination and mental purity makes a person sAdhana sampanna- a prospective mumuksU. VivEka is not only the vEdAntic term but is also used by the sAmkhyAs who also speaks about the the relation and participation of guNas in this context. Iswara KrsNa points out that the pains and sufferings are meant to connote positive reality and hence it is taken with a positive sense – thithiksa again. Vritti to sAmkhya kArika is used in the same sense towards the concept of thithiksa as to vEdAnta, as it mentions vritti as the functional mode that operates which mutual co-opearation of guNas. The vritti vivEka held by kArika is the method of sedimentation of guNas in their original equilibrium states or simply balancing them. The two vritti’s mentioned in kArika are anyOnya abhibava vritti1. In justification to the point stated above as to consider the pancabUtAs as our companion for aquainting the citta suddhi with pravritti jnAna, MadhusUdhana saraswati, a prolific preceptor of Advaita vEdAnta in GudArtha dIpika interprets titiksha to be mental state as a tangible entity that modifies itself with the mental modifications to the respective objects of sensations which are extremely unstable and unreal2. Thus MadhusUdhana saraswati categorically suggests the mumukshu to profoundly reject the concept of superimposing the identity with sorrow and pain. This rejection will surely replace the ajnAna or the misconception unto the self and makes the mumuksu a jIvan muktha. The concept of Ananya yoga suggested by Sankara gains relevance with this topic as MadhusUdhana saraswati evaluates the same when he mentions about the clarity about the true identity of nithya vastu – the Atman by knowing manas as the tangible entity, which is reflective as elaborated by patanjali. The whole implication of the above assertions is mainly to reveal that thithiksha consolidates the theories of yoga, sAmkhya and vEdAnta in integrating itself as the pradhAna sAdhana for a mumukshu in accomplishing the final goal of liberation.
_____________________
1. prItyaprItivisAdAtmaka : prakAsavrittiniyamArtA:
anyOnyAbibavAsrayajananamitUnavritayascva guNa : (Samkhya kArika V12)
2. SamsAra: svapnathukyO hi rAgadvEsAdisankula:
The purport of profound acceptance in the analysis of the distinction between dEhAtma with reference to GitA bAshya of Adi Shankara Ch2:V14.
Thus in the introduction to this particular verse SankarachArya briefly indicates the need for the knowledge of the discrimination about the vastu’s which here is nothing but the Atma and the dEha. The Atma is spoken as the vastu since it is in the vyAvahArika – empirical state that is concealed to be the individual entity and so we ought to have the initial discrimination about the two. This discrimination is known as the Nithya-nithya vastu viveka:. The Atma though being eternal, seemingly suffers to be misconceived as anithya or dEha itself and such bewilderment are apparently by the instinct avidya alone. ( Atma iti vijAnana- bewilderment thathApi-due to sIthOsNa sukha dukkha- heat and coldness including pleasure and pain, prApthi nimittha- sought by mOha laukika- desire in materials (anithya) drshyatE- hence experienced ).The power of mAya to project Atma as a separate entity reflecting upon the Brhman gives rise to the wrong knowledge or avidya. Out of many means prescribed by Upanishads, SankarachArya lays emphasis on thithiksa – the endurance as the primal knowledge to acquaint with the nithya-anithya vastu vivEkah. Thus this endurance becomes the catalyst for any mode that leads to the final goal for liberation. The thithiksa is the pivotal constituent of sAdhana catushtaya four fold means for liberation, which makes the person who practices vEdAnta as the adhikAri – eligible person for attaining mOksha. Apart from the nityAnithya vastu vivEka, thithiksA is the one type of sAdhana that aids the discrimination of the mode towards the final liberation known as the vritti vivEka. VEdAnta prescribes two main types of vritti vivEka vide, pravritti and nivritti. Pravritti is the mode that is associated with the worldly activities; nivritti is one that is deceived from material activities. ThithiksA is equally relevant for both the vritti’s as against views regarding material activities or worldly activities to be human unfriendly. World made of panca bhUtAs are the companion for a person who aspires for liberation (in the vyAvahArika level). Thus the mode by which the prospective mumukshu understands that subjective nature of the pravritti lakshaNa from the objective qualities in the samsAra is that, he extracts the vision of the substratum out of the seemingly real worldliness not by mere stoic resignation, as one may tend to conceive it, but with the vivEka jnAna ie., the discriminative knowledge. nivritti jnAna is one mode wherein the state of mind transcends the empirical perseverance as and when it synchronizes with the real nature of the self without any upAdhi or obstacle. This nivritti state is by itself independent and self-effulgent. The former gives cittasuddhi – the mental purity or a tranquil state of mind to have the vivEka of parOksa – mediate knowledge wherein medium is the knarmEndriyAs and jnAnEndriyAs with which the mumuksu attempts his karma yogAs. We must remember pravritti jnAna is for citta suddhi alone (making one as adhikAri ) and not directly leads for mOksa. SankaracArya says ‘avirOditaya karma nAvidyAm vinivartathe’ – meaning Action (Karma) cannot destroy ignorance (avidya) for it is not in conflict with ignorance directly. He adds by saying karma creates the plane for the rise of knowledge which in turn destroys ignorance. Hence function of karma is clearly different from jnAna in this context. SurEswarAcArya elaborately discusses the issue in Naishkarmya siddhi. The latter gives the immediate knowledge – aparOksha jnAna. Thus the pravritti is khandAkAra vritti – mediate mode for attaining citta suddhi and nivritti is akhandAkAra vritti whereby the jIvan muktha realizes his identity with Brhman. Sankara emphasizes this vivEkavairAgyagunAtirEkAt – benefits sought from discrimination and mental purity makes a person sAdhana sampanna- a prospective mumuksU. VivEka is not only the vEdAntic term but is also used by the sAmkhyAs who also speaks about the the relation and participation of guNas in this context. Iswara KrsNa points out that the pains and sufferings are meant to connote positive reality and hence it is taken with a positive sense – thithiksa again. Vritti to sAmkhya kArika is used in the same sense towards the concept of thithiksa as to vEdAnta, as it mentions vritti as the functional mode that operates which mutual co-opearation of guNas. The vritti vivEka held by kArika is the method of sedimentation of guNas in their original equilibrium states or simply balancing them. The two vritti’s mentioned in kArika are anyOnya abhibava vritti1. In justification to the point stated above as to consider the pancabUtAs as our companion for aquainting the citta suddhi with pravritti jnAna, MadhusUdhana saraswati, a prolific preceptor of Advaita vEdAnta in GudArtha dIpika interprets titiksha to be mental state as a tangible entity that modifies itself with the mental modifications to the respective objects of sensations which are extremely unstable and unreal2. Thus MadhusUdhana saraswati categorically suggests the mumukshu to profoundly reject the concept of superimposing the identity with sorrow and pain. This rejection will surely replace the ajnAna or the misconception unto the self and makes the mumuksu a jIvan muktha. The concept of Ananya yoga suggested by Sankara gains relevance with this topic as MadhusUdhana saraswati evaluates the same when he mentions about the clarity about the true identity of nithya vastu – the Atman by knowing manas as the tangible entity, which is reflective as elaborated by patanjali. The whole implication of the above assertions is mainly to reveal that thithiksha consolidates the theories of yoga, sAmkhya and vEdAnta in integrating itself as the pradhAna sAdhana for a mumukshu in accomplishing the final goal of liberation.
_____________________
1. prItyaprItivisAdAtmaka : prakAsavrittiniyamArtA:
anyOnyAbibavAsrayajananamitUnavritayascva guNa : (Samkhya kArika V12)
2. SamsAra: svapnathukyO hi rAgadvEsAdisankula:
SvakAle satyavadbAti prabOdE satyasadbavEt (AtmabOdha V6)
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