Commentary on the Panchadasi

by Swami Krishnananda

Discourse 21

Chapter 4: Dvaita Viveka – Discrimination of Duality
Verses 58-69

Kāmyādi-doṣa-dṛṣṭayā dhāḥ kāmādi tyāga hetavaḥ, prasiddho mokṣa śāstreṣu tān anviṣya sukhī bhave (58). If we are to be free from desires, we have to first of all investigate into the basic defects of the object of desire. Desires arise in respect of things, on account of not properly recognising the nature of the things themselves. The world is not as it appears to be; things are not what they seem. The mind's longing for a particular object or a group of objects is based entirely on a misconstruing of the nature of things, like a moth which sees beauty in a flame and runs after this beauty; and we know what happens to that moth.

There are no desirable objects in this world. Objects are neither desirable nor undesirable from their own point of view. They are Ishvara srishti, God's creation. An impartial God has not created partial objects, where some of them are desirable and some are not desirable. God does not create unnecessary things, useless things, etc., which means there is nothing that we need not desire. Everything has to be desired at one stroke. The whole creation has to be desired, if that is the case. But desire is not generally directed to the whole of creation. It is a partial attitude of the mind in regard to certain chosen things only, which happens on account of a wrong notion the mind has in regard to those chosen things, which present a false picture before the mind on account of a tentative relationship established between the prevailing condition of the object and the prevailing mood of the mind. No object can attract unless the present condition of the object, the structure of the object, fits in properly with the condition of the mind at that particular moment. If the mood of the mind changes tomorrow, that very same object will be an object of disgust. Today we want it, and tomorrow we want to throw it away. What has happened? The same thing is there, but only our mood has changed; our needs have differed.

Not only do our moods determine whether we want a thing or not, the object itself also determines our reaction to it in different conditions. A presentable form of the object is required in order that the mind may create the idea that it is a desirable thing. Unpresentable, distorted, totally misplaced things will not attract the mind. All this shows that desire is a relative activity of the mind in respect of relative conditions of the world. Therefore, whatever pleasure we hope to have from such a kind of relative contact will be as fleeting as the lightning in the sky. Desires can be subdued only by detecting the defects of the objects of the senses. Kāmyādi-doṣa-dṛṣṭayā dhāḥ kāmādi tyāga hetavaḥ. Moksha Shastras, scriptures on moksha, tell us this.

Tyajyatām-eva kāmādiḥ-maronorājye tu kā kṣatiḥ, aśeṣa-doṣa-bījatvāt kṣatir bhagavate ritā (59): “I understand that desire, anger and greed must be abandoned because they are active manifestations of the mind which are deliberately harmful. But what about building castles in the air, wool-gathering? Is it bad?” Wool-gathering is a torpid state of the mind, a tamasic condition, which will one day burst into rajasic activity, and the harmful desires will reveal themselves.

An unconscious condition of the desires is not an absence of desires. If we are unable to think properly and we are in a stasis—the mind is unable to think, and it has withdrawn all its activity and adjourned its processes—it does not follow that the desires also have gone. The potential of the desires to manifest themselves in active operation has been postponed for a future suitable condition. Therefore, manorajya, what is called building castles in the air, is also to be considered as equally harmful because it is potentially harmful.

Bhagavan Sri Krishna mentions this fact in the Second Chapter of the Bhagavadgita. That is quoted here in the following verses of the Panchadasi.

Dhyātyato viṣayān-puṁsaḥ saṁgas-teṣūpa-jāyate, saṁgāṭ-saṁjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāṭ-krodho'bhijāyate (60). When we think of some object, there is a desire to go near it. Saṁgāṭ-saṁjāyate kāmaḥ: Nearness creates desire. Kāmāṭ-krodho'bhijāyate: Anger follows every kind of desire.

Śākyaṁ jetuṁ manorājyaṁ nirvaikalpa-samādhitaḥ, susaṁpādaḥ kramāt-so'pi savikalpa samādhinā (61). The potential of the desires in the mind can be totally eradicated only in nirvikalpa samadhi. Nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest state of samadhi that one can reach, where the mind ceases to exist, getting dissolved in Pure Consciousness. But one cannot easily reach that state. Therefore, we have to attain that nirvikalpa state through the penultimate condition, which is known as savikalpa samadhi.

Susaṁpādaḥ kramāt-so'pi savikalpa samādhinā. Through the graduated steps of meditational practice as prescribed by Sage Patanjali in his Sutras by means of the samadhis—savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara, ananda, sasmita, savikalpa, nirvikalpa are the stages of samadhi mentioned in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras—we have to rise gradually from the lower samadhi to the higher. Thereby, we will be able to overcome the impulsion of desires. The desires will be totally destroyed by attaining a state of samadhi.

Buddha-tattvena dhī-doṣa śūnye naikānta vāsinā, dīrhaṁ praṇava muccārya manorājyaṁ vijīyate (62). If we want to get rid of all these tamasic conditions of the mind into which it gets sunk many a time, what should we do? First of all, we must segregate ourselves a little from conditions, atmospheres which are disturbing in nature. A little bit of ekantavasa is necessary—living in a sequestered place, a place where disturbances are less and the mind does not have occasion to contemplate too much on objects of desire, and there is also a chance for our intellect to operate in a clarified manner. In that condition, where we are alone in an isolated place, we should chant Om several times: aaauuummmm, aaaauuuummmmm, aaaaauuuuummmmmm. With deep inhalation, with deep breath, we take this elongated Pranava as our guide to dispel the darkness which causes the fixity of the mind in a state of tamas and may engender the movement of the very same condition into an active rajasic state. Thus, we can overcome this torpid state called manorajya, building castles in the air.

Jite tasmin-vṛtti-śūnyaṁ manastiṣ-ṭhati mūkavat, etat- padaṁ vasiṣṭhena rāmāya bahudhe ritam (63). Like a dumb person, the mind will keep quiet at the time when we chant the mantra Om, Pranava, deeply, with intense feeling from the bottom of our heart, right from the navel.

Etat-padaṁ vasiṣṭhena rāmāya bahudhe ritam: Rama, who was the student in the Yoga Vasishtha, had been instructed by his yoga teacher, the yoga master Vasishtha, in the following manner. These are some verses that are quoted from the Yoga Vasishtha.

Dṛśyaṁ nāstīti bodhena manaso dṛśya mārjanam, saṁpannaṁ cet tadut pannā parā nivārṇa nivṛrtiḥ (64). We cannot free ourselves from desire for objects as long as objects do exist—as long as we feel that the objects are there outside us, standing in front of us, to be received by us. There are no objects in this world of God's creation because the creation of God is a universal vast extension, and it has no externality. As God's creation is universal, it has no externality; therefore, there cannot be an object in the creation of God. The object is nothing but a concoction of the individual mind, which places the universally placed object in an externalised condition. That which is universal is considered as an external thing by the wrong activity of the individual mind.

The objects that we desire are not outside us; they are connected with us. They are internally connected to everything in the world. The whole universe is an organic oneness. That is how God would look at the universe. Inasmuch as the universe is an organic completeness, there cannot be externality anywhere. No part of the body can be regarded as an object of some other part of the body. The leg is not an object of the hand. The hand is not an object of some other part. Notwithstanding the fact that we see an object, it need not attract us. Do we feel attracted to our feet, to our hands, to our nose? We do not feel attracted to them because they are identical with our organic centre, which is the body. The universe is one single organism. Therefore, where comes the necessity for an object? Who told us that there are objects in the world? They do not exist. Then the desire ceases immediately.

This is the instruction of Vasishtha to Rama. Dṛśyaṁ nāsti: The objects do not exist. Īti bodhena: Thus, having the knowledge; manaso dṛśya mārjanam: the objectivity consciousness of the mind is totally obliterated. This is a very great instruction from Vasishtha to Rama. Wonderful is the Yoga Vasishtha! Everybody should read it.

Saṁpannaṁ cet tadut pannā: If this state can be attained by us, we have attained moksha at that moment. The moment we feel that the objects of the world are not there, the externality of space-time also vanishes. Bondage ceases; in one instant we are in a state of liberation. Parā nivārṇa nivṛrtiḥ: The Bliss of moksha is attained then and there, with no distance of time between now and afterwards.

Vicāritam alaṁ śāstraṁ ciram udgrā hitaṁ mithaḥ, saṁtyakta vāsanān maunād ṛte nāstyu ttamaṁ padam (65). Whatever I have to study, I have studied. Whatever I have to consider deeply after the studies, I have considered deeply and withdrawn myself into an inward consideration of all the studies that I have made. The mind has been settled. My education is now complete. The mind is calm and quiet. It does not want to know anything further. Therefore, it is fixed with a satisfaction of having known whatever is to be known. Then there is no further desire. Whatever is to be known, is known; whatever is to be obtained, is obtained; whatever is to be done, has been done. All the vasanas vanish. Then the mind becomes calm and quiet. Beyond that, there is no higher state. Nāstyu ttamaṁ padam: The highest state is the cessation of the activities of the mind. It acts because of the objects outside. Really, objects do not exist. We are unnecessarily worried over things which are not there.

Vikṣipyate kadācid-dhīḥ karmaṇā bhoga-dāyinā, punaḥ samāhitā sā syāt tadaivā-bhyāsa-pāṭavāt (66). Sometimes, in spite of all this practice, the mind gets disturbed because you cannot be in a state of meditation throughout the day. There are twenty-four hours in the day. Can you be meditating all the twenty-four hours? So when you are not in a state of meditation, suddenly the impulses from inside which were there earlier, which insist on the enjoyment of objects, will again crop up. What do you do?

Again close your eyes and sit for meditation at that time. If the mind is disturbed by certain thoughts which were there earlier but should not be there now, sit quiet. Wash your face with cold water, deeply chant Pranava, Omkara, and sit for meditation once again until the mind comes down to its normal condition. Until that state is reached, until you are satisfied that the mind has come down and the vikshepa or the distraction has ceased, do not cease from meditation; continue the meditation.

Ābhyāsa-pāṭavāt: By continuous practice in this manner, you will find that the mind can be restrained; and by daily meditation, by gradually prolonging the time of meditation, you will find that the impact of such a meditation upon the mind will be that there will be very little occasion for the impulses to rise once again. They will get burnt up automatically.

Vikṣepo yasya nāsty-asya brahma-vittvaṁ na manyate, brahmai vāyam iti prāhuḥ munayaḥ pāra darśianaḥ (67). Such a person who has no desires has not simply known Brahman, he is Brahman Itself. The Godman is not simply seeing God as some object outside, he is established in God. Total absence of desires of every kind is virtually the identity of oneself with Ishvara Himself.

Darśanā darśane hitvā svayaṁ kelvala rūpataḥ, yas tiṣṭhati sa tu brahman brahma na brahma vit svayam (68). When a person sees not anything in this world in front of him as an object, or even space and time, when neither does he want to see anything nor does he have any desire not to see anything, the question of seeing does not arise. Objects are not there, so what will he see? Then what happens? When objects do not exist, we alone remain in a Universal state. We do not remain as a Mr. or Mrs.; we are not an individual existing at that time. The body-consciousness also vanishes together with the object-consciousness. Then kevala, the aloneness of Universality, alone remains in our consciousness, having brushed aside all object-consciousness. Such a person is not merely a knower of Brahman, he is verily Brahman Itself.

Jīvan-mukteḥ parā kāṣṭhā jīva-dvaita-vivarjanāt, labhyate'sāvato'tre dam īśadvaitād vivecitam (69). For the sake of helping students, the author says that to enable us to become a jivanmukta as early as possible, by the elimination of jiva srishti, differentiating jiva srishti from Ishvara srishti—that is, distinguishing between God's creation and our own mental creation—we will immediately become established in a state of awareness which is more than personality consciousness. The consciousness of personality is connected with the consciousness of objects. If the objects are not there, by the deep consideration of the nature of God's creation, Ishvara srishti, as a universally spread-out something, we come to the conclusion that our body also is one of the objects as any other object is, and therefore, neither the body can be considered as ours, nor the object should be considered as ours. Nothing belongs to anybody here. In this total setup of God's creation, nobody owns anything. Neither is there an owner, nor is there an object that is owned. In this state of universal stability of consciousness, we have attained jivanmukti.

Here we conclude the Fourth Chapter of the Panchadasi.