Micro-corpus of our body

Verse 098.
vAgAdi panca SravaNAdi panca
prANAdi panchAbhramukhAni panca
buddhyAdhi vidyApi ca kAma karmaNI
puryashTakam sUkshma SarIram Ahuhu.

ENGLISH GIST
Five organs of our 'actions' : speech, vision, smell, hearing and touch
Five organs of our 'senses' : eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin
Five gases/winds which move within our body: prANam (wind of life, presumably in the lungs), apAnam (gases which move downwards and emerge out of our intestines, bowels and anus), udAnam (gases which move upwards and emerge out of our mouth), samAnam (winds which are evenly spread in our body) and vyAnam (winds which spread and pervade through all our blood vessels, tissues and the body as a whole)
Five elements of nature: earth, water, fire, wind and sky
Four inner-constituents of ourselves: mind, intellect, ego and inclination (cittam)
-- all these are micro-corpus our body.
These are also called puryashTakam= eight villages/towns. (puri =village/town/city). ashTakam=eight.

ybREMS:
Total of 5 sense organs, 5 action organs, 5 winds, 5 elements, 4 inner residents , come to 24 number. number = sankhya. This verse seems to be based on sAnkhya philosophy of kapila.
It is not clear, how the count of eight villages/towns has come. We have to checkup.

Google search indications: PuryashTakam consists of not 24 , but 27. They added three more: ignorance, desire, karma (in the meaning of :remnants of past birth. Karma also means actions and duties. That meaning is apparently not intended).

Modern physiology cannot accept this count in its entirity. The sAnkhya (number) theory has tried to explain the links between the physical body- and the mind- and the external nature (earth-water-wind-fire-sky). But the idea is still vague and ethereal. We need more evidence to accept it as a tangible theorem.

Unable to comprehend these complex theories, probably, illiterate and semi-literate priests encouraged idol worship, because idol worship is LESS ABSTRACT and more CONVENIENT AS A LIVELIHOOD OCCUPATION.

All these are like mirages in a desert

Verse 125 (anAtma nIrUpaNam - delineation of soul and non-soul)
mAyA mAyA kAryam sarvam
mahadAdi dEha paryantam
asad idam anAtmakam tvam
viddhi maru marIcikA kalpam.

GIST
The illusion of this world, and actions arising out of this illusion all, upto the point of our bodies, are all ephemeral. They are not SOUL. Understand them as mirages (marIcikA) in a desert (maru).

ybREMS:
This is a beautiful verse. We remember the transient nature of our bodies only when some friend or relative dies and we per-force enter a grave-yard to mourn.

The Forbes Magazine, The rating Agencies Moody's, Standard and Poor, The Stock Exchanges should understand this.

What are not soul?

VERSE No.124
dehEndriya prANa manO ahamAdayaha
sarvE vikArAs sukhAdayaha
vyOmAdi bhUtAny akhilam ca viSvam
avyakta paryantam idam hi anAtmA.

ENGLISH GIST
This body, these senses, this life, this mind, this ego etc. all,
all the comforts and luxuries,
all this cosmos and Universe, these elements of nature (earth, water, fire, wind and sky) upto the point where the indefiniable resides,
-- these are not souls. (Implication: The indefinable and infinite (avyaktam) is the soul.

YBREMS (personal views of ybrao a donkey)
Cosmos is the body. Cosmos is the soul. We are a part of cosmos. There is nothing separate which is unexpressed-indefinable-infinite beyond cosmos, called 'soul'.

We, humans, are a part of the cosmos and hence a part of the corpus-cum-soul or whatever name we call of the cosmos. We may, just be, a microcosm of the cosmos which is the macrocosm.

I do not wish to say that Adi SankarAcharya erred or was confused. He had his opinion in his 8th Century A.D. with the available knowledge-data-base of that time. We are having our opinions with our 21st Century knowledge-data-base.

Who can be a greater fool than the one who does not feel a need for self-realisation

Verse No. 5 of mangaLASAsanam (auspicious preamble):
itah kOnvasti mUDhAtmA
yastu svArdhE pramAdyati
durlabham mAnusham dEham
prApya tatrApi paurasham.

ENGLISH GIST
It is not easy for a creature to get the body of a HUMAN and of a MAN.
Having got such DIFFICULT TO GET THINGS, if a person WITHOUT ALERTNESS moves in SELFISHNESS, who can be a greater fool than him?
(Suggested answer: NO!).

PERSONAL VIEWS OF YBRAO A DONKEY
paurushaha = manhood or being born as a man. Gender discrimination might not have been intended. The poet's view seems to be that women are less fortunate and men are more fortunate. This may be because, women have to bear the burden of pregnancies, feed the children, change the diapers etc. and consequently they may have little time for INTROSPECTION and MAKE EFFORTS FOR SELF-REALISATION. Availability of time castes a greater duty on man to introspect, when compared to women.

No use of discourses- rituals- and sacrifices

Verse No 006. (mangaLAcaraNam = auspicious preamble).
vadantu sAstrANi yajantu dEvAn
kurvantu karmANi bhajantu dEvatAha
Atmaika bOdhEna vinA vimuktihi
na siddhyati brahma SatAntarEpi.

ENGLISH GIST
A person may explain any number of scriptures and lecture discourses.
A person may pray and worship any number of Gods.
A person may perform any number of rituals.
Yet--
he cannot achieve self-realisation and attain liberation (from the bonds of this world) without self-discourse (and self-reform).

YBREMS (loud thinking)
We must realise that the concept of God, prayer and worship are just tools of self-purification. There is no selfishness in this. Without redeeming ourselves, how can we help others in their redemption?

We have to help and serve others. The target of our discourses cannot be outsiders. It should be ourselves.

The phrase 'brahma SatAntara api' is intended as an emphasis and stress. brahma= creator. Satam = 100. According to Hindu philosophy, even creator too has (his?her?) beginning, existence and end. The creator's life extends over several mahA-yugAs and manvantarams i.e. several millions of years. Yet he has END.

Now, a 100 lives of brahma = several billion years. The intended stress here is, a person without self-discourse, self-reform and self-restraint can never attain self-realisation (knowledge-of oneself) even after billions of years.

Hence, every person should look into him/her-self, not outside.

#126 I SHALL NOW EXPLAIN TO YOU THE FORM OF THE SUPREME GODHEAD

VERSE 126

Atha tee sam-pravakshyaami
svaruupam paramaatmanaha
yad vignaaya naroo
bandhaan muktaha, kaivalyam asnutee.

GIST
I now explain to you the form of the Supreme GodHead, knowing which a person can attain a state of the 'kaivalyam = onlyness' (oneness with God).

YBrems:
An ordinary person holds a consciousness of him/herself i.e. the identity of the body. A person believes that s/he is an entity. This personal identity is lost when a person realises that he is an integral part of the Supreme GodHead.

Compare this with the existentialism of:

Kierkegaard
Frederick Nietzsche
Martin Heidegger
Jean-Paul Sartre
Albert Camus.

The 'Viveka Chuudaaman`i' philosophy, apparently, advocates a non-existentialist individual, who believes that he does not exist as an individual. The individual is dissolved.

Note: The Advaita philosophy of Viveka Chudamani is neutral to religion. The Supreme GodHead can be called in any name like Vishn`u, Yehova, Allah et al. Self is the God and, God is the self. Self is not the body.

Note 2: The Advaita philosophy is easy to preach and difficult to implement and practise. We hear, for this reason only, that sages like Visvamitra and Parasara and Swamijis like Jayendra Sarasvati, Kalki Bhagavan, Nityananda, Puttaparti Sai Baba and Swarupananda Sarasvati, drown themselves in the luxuries of this body. We should not confuse ourselves the preachers with the practitioners. Preaching is a profession, separate from practising.
The practitioners are ordinary citizen-individuals who do their daily chores, without wearing ochre robes or vermilon spots and stripes on the forehead and all over the body. They have dignity of labor and do not depend on the society for their livelihood.

#011 THE CROCODILE OF LUST and TEMPTATION

Verse No. 143

Mahaa mooha graaha grasana
galita aatmaa avagamanoo
thiyoo naanaa avasthaaha
svayam abhinayam tadgun`atayaa
apaaree samsaaree vishaya
visha puuree jalanidhau
nimagnoo yan mangnaayam
bhramati kumati kutsita gatihi.

GIST
The last line 'bhramati kumati kutsita gatihi' is important. The verse explains how a fool revolves and rotates in perverted directions.

1. He loses his consciousness and sensitivity of his soul.
2. He trusts his own mind and intellect.
3. He experiences different states of mind which is caught by the allegator of the great lust and temptation.
4. He swims precariously drowning and floating in the Great Ocean of this World and the Family.

#010 A SCHOLAR SHOULD ABANDON CRAVINGS FOR LUXURIES

A SCHOLAR SHOULD ABANDON CRAVINGS, DESIRES AND LUST FOR EXTERNAL LUXURIES.
Verse No. 008

Atoo vimuktai prayateeta vidvaan
sanyasta baahyaardha sukhas sprihan
santam mahaantam samupeetya dees`ikam
teenoopad isht`aardha samaahita aatmaa.

Hence: (Continuation from verse No. 007: because wealth cannot be a contributor to attain immortality or liberation):

A scholar should abandon his cravings and desires for external luxuries. He must approach great saints and live according to their precepts.

My comments as blogger
*Efforts towards self-realisation, are always individual ventures.
*A teacher can only guide and suggest.
*The teachers themselves might not have experienced the true knowledge and self-realisation.
*The concept of liberation from the cycle of births and deaths, is an offshoot of imagination. There is no proof of rebirth after death.
*Liberation from the bonds of 'I and my', 'cravings, desires, and lust' during this life-time is a goal worthwhile striving for.

#009WE CANNOT GET IMMORTALITY WITH MONEY

Verse No. 007

Amritatvasya naa aas`aa asti
vitteenee iti iva hi s`rutihi
braviiti karman`oo mukteer
aheetutvam sphut`am yataha.

ENGLISH GIST
The scripture says that there is no hope of getting immortality [liberation from the cycle of births and deaths (mukti or mooksha)?] by wealth and money.

It is clear from this, that wealth is not a facilitator of immortality.

YBREMS
Ford made billions, spent a part of it on Charities and Trusts and left this world. He will be immortal as long as the institutions started by him survive and last.

#002 REPLIES TO COMMENTS, DATE OF SANKARACHARYA

Anonymous said... (AT POST #574)
I don't have much knowledge to criticize ur trial on translating Adi Sankara's master piece.
But as per details available on Kanchi mutt website, Adi Sankara lived 2500 yr ago and not in 8th century AD.
pls verify. It is very imp, we lost many things jus bcoz of historical confusion created by British ppl. pls try to avoid that.

REPLY:
1. The birth place of Shri Sankaracharya is Kalady, near Ernakulam (Cochi), Kerala. Here is a link to the Government website of the Ernakulam District: Ernakulam.nic.in/tourismmain.htm. I quote from the website:

KALADY
Kalady is the birth place of Sri Sankaracharya, the Great Indian Philosopher who lived in the 8th century it is situated on the banks fo river Periyar there are two Shrines in memory of Sri Sankaracharya One dedicated to him as Dakshinamoorthy and the other to the Goddess Sharadha. The ancient Sree Krishna Temple situated here was the family temple of Adi Sankaracharya. Adi Sankaras shrines in kalady are open to all pilgrim's irrespective of religion or caste.

NIC.in is the official website of the Government of India. Most of its web pages confirm the date of Sankaracharya as 788-820 or 778-820. The ASI site is silent. If Sankaracharya is of 2500 years ancestry, he becomes a contemporary of Gautama Buddha who lived in the 6th Century B.C. We need to collect adequate evidence to corroborate the claim made by the Kanchi Math.

MY VIEW AS A BLOGGER AND A HISTORY STUDENT (M.A. History)
I have cross-checked the date of Sankaracharya in the following manner:

The book 'Sankara Vijayam' by Vidyaranya Swami (Madhava Vidyaranya) is often regarded as the first record of the biographical narrative of Aadi Sankara. Vidyanaranya is the 13th in the line of succession of Sankaracharyas in Sringeri Math. (The Heads of the four Monasteries started by Aadi Sankaracharya call themselves Jagadguru Sankaracharyas). According to some historical records, Vidyaranya took to Sanyasa (monkhood) in 1331. Vidyaranya played a significant role in founding the Hampi Vijayanagara Kingdom and is regarded as contemporary of Harihara Raya and Bukka Raya.

If Vidyaranya is the 13th generation of Sankaracharya in the clan starting from Suresvara, assuming that the longest rein of 50 years is given to everybody, the 12 Sankaracharyas prior to him might have lived in their Monasteries for 600 years. 1331-600 = 701 will be the Aadi Sankaracharya's date. Naturally, some heads of the monasteries might have had shorter stays. Thus the dates 788-820 A.D. hold good for the Aadi Sankaracharya.

Some British historians might have twisted Indian history in other matters. But, such twisting might not have taken place in respect of Aadi Sankaracharya.

Without any intent to hurt the Kanchi Math, I wish to point out that only four Monasteries i.e. Puri, Sringery, Dwaraka and Badari seems to have been started by Aadi Sankaracharya. I doubt whether the Heads of these four Maths accept the claim of the Kanchi Math, to having been founded/designated by Aadi Sankaracharya. However, I shall not now come to a hasty conclusion. If readers have any information about this, I request some voluntary help by writing comments here.

NO BONDS FOR THE ULTIMATE ESSENCE (spirit)

VERSE 574 : NO BONDS FOR THE UNIVERSAL ESSENCE

Atas tau maayayaa kluptan
bandha mookshau na ca aatmani
nishkalee, nishkriyee, s`aantee,
niravadyee, niranjanee,
advitiiyee paree tatvee
vyoomavat kalpanaa kutaha.

GIST
UNIVERSAL ESSENCE = approx. 'brahmam (or) paratatvam' in Sanskrit.
The bondage and liberation of a soul (in physical body) is a creation of illusion (maaya). They do not really exist. There is neither bondage nor liberation.

Reason: How can there be bondage or liberation to the Ultimate Essence which is like 'infinite space in the sky' - devoid of body organs, body actions, and which is serene, pure, unstained and untinged, unique?

#004 ULTIMATE ESSENCE OF WISDOM

VERSE 575, ULTIMATE ESSENCE OF WISDOM

Na niroodhoo na ca utpattir
na baddhoo na ca saadhakaha
na mumukshur na vai mukta
iti yeeshaa paramaardhataa.

GIST
This is the ultimate essence:
There is no end/destruction to anything. There is no birth/orgin for anything. There are no bonds. There is no ascetic. There is no seeker of liberation. There is no liberated person as well.

TEACHER TAKES DISCIPLE AS SON

VERSE 576 LIBERATION SEEKER AS SON

These are the last words of the teacher to the liberation seeking disciple, whom he treated as disciple and taught the very essence.

Sakala nigama cuud`aa svaanta
siddhaanta ruupam
Param iti ati guhyam
darsitam tee mayaadyee
Apagata kalidoosham
kaama nirmukta buddhim
Sva suta vadasa krutvaam
bhaava itvaa mumukshum.

The teacher said: "I took you as my son, since you are a sinless, lustless liberation-seeker and revealed to you many times this extremely secret super theory which is the supreme essence of all the scriptures."

#001 PARTING OF THE TEACHER AND THE DISCIPLE

VERSE 577 - SLOOKA 577
DISCIPLE TAKES LEAVE OF THE TEACHER

Iti s`ritvaa gurur vaakyam
pras`rayeena kritanati
Sa teena samanujjaatoo
nirmukta bandhanaha.

GIST
Thus having heard the precepts of the teacher, the disciple knelt at his feet with great reverance, got liberated from the worldly bonds and took leave of him.


VERSE 578 - SLOOKA 578
TEACHER MOVES ON

Gurudeevam sadaananda sindhau
nirmagna maanasaha
Paavan vasudhaam sarvam
vicacara nirantaram.

GIST
The teacher too, with his mind fully immersed in the Sea of Great Bliss, set on his move, purifying the whole Earth.

#006 HOW DOES THIS TREATISE HELP?

VERSE 579 DECLARED UTILITY OF THIS TREATISE
GIST
Here Aadi Sankaracharya described the utility of his work.

Purpose: Comfortable understanding of the characteristics of the SOUL (atma lakshanam) by the LIBERATION SEEKERS

Method employed: Dialogue between the teacher and the disciple (Acharyasya sishyasya samvadeena).

What is accomplishedDelineation and demonstration of the Concept of SOUL.


VERSE 579

Ity Aacaaryasya s`ishyasa samvaadeena aatma lakshan`am
Niruupitam mumukshuun`aam sukhaboodhoopapattayee.

#WHO WILL IMPLEMENT THE PRECEPTS?

VERSE 580

Hitam imam upadees`amaadriyantaam
Vihita nirasta samasta citta doosha
Bhava sukha virataaha, Pra`as`aanta,
S`ruti rasikaa yatayee Mumukshavayee.

GIST

Let (Sankaracharya wishes that) the ascetics

1) whose dirt-filled minds are cleansed of the impurities by listening to these philosophical precepts

2) who have renounced all their comforts and luxuries

3) whose minds are serene

4) who are connoisseurs of knowing the secrets of scriptures

implement these precepts.

Bloggers OBSERVATIONS
This verse of expressing wish, I regard as very fine, because it does not promise cleansing of secretly commited sins or ascendence to non-existent heavenly abodes. Besides, it lays emphasis on implementing and practising what is heard and read.




GLOSSARY
Bhava Sukha : worldly pleasures, family comforts. The word "bhava" has several meanings.

Mumukshu : One who wants liberation (mooksha) intensely.

Citta doosha : Impurities of mind. Citta = mind; doosha = defects, impurities.

Upadees`am : Precept.

#008 HOW DOES THE WORDS OF SANKARA HELP?

VERSE 581
GIST
This verse eulogises the greatness of Adi Sankaracharya.

The words of Sankara (S`ankara Bharati)facilitate LIBERATION (nirvana - pr: nirvaan`a).

The persons who are tired of the ways of this world, and the travails of running a family -- these people are compared to persons bitten by the hot rays of the Sun. Thirsty, they move from place to place searching for water.

For these people, the words of S`ankara show the OCEAN OF NECTAR. It is readily available at hand. It comforts the weary persons. It shows the UNIQUE SUPREME SPIRIT (Brahmam).

VERSE 581
Samsaara dhvani taapa bhaanu kiran`a
proodbhuut daaha vyathaa
Khinnaanaam jala kaamshayaa
man bhuvi s`raantya paribhraamyataan
Atyaasanna sudhaambudhi sukhakaram
brahmaadvayam dars`ayam
Tyeeshaa S`ankara bhaaratii
Vijayatii nirvaan`a sandaayinii.