Sharing Sanjivani -Part 4

Chapter-(540) What are the significant characteristics of a free man?

(540)

What are the characteristics of a free man?

महाजनो येन गतः स पन्थाः।

Our Vedic Shastras say us to be under the rule of Guru, Parents, and the elder brother and we have to follow our great ancestors Rishis of our dynasty Kul, Gotra, and Pravar for our daily rituals and traditions. We try to recognize a person from his outer look, behavior, speech, and activities-kriya whatever he does. When a person is a mixture of three virtues, It would be difficult to know the nature of a person as a Satvik, Rajsik, or Tamsik for a moment when we meet him . When trio virtues change frequently like waves of an ocean, going up and down repeatedly, can we call any person a Satvik, Rajasik, or a Tamsik or take that current wave of mind as a permanent temperament? Arjun asks Lord Shri Krishna how we could know the Prakruti-temperament of a person if he has to live in the company of saintly people. Previously, he asked how to recognize a Steady person. What kind of language did he use? What kind of speech does he deliver when he is under meditation? How does he talk and how does he sit? It means how to recognize a STHITPRAGYA from outer behavior visible to all and how does his behavior make him different from the others?

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव।

स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम।।

Now he wants to know how to recognize a person as a Satvik in daily life. How a Satvik person does walk, what does he eat? How does he treat others? How long does he remain awake and how many hours does he sleep? Can we recognize any person from all these Parameters as a Satvik, Rajsik, or a Tamsik person? To this Lord Shri Krishna says a person having Satva virtue can be recognized by two signs- Enlightenment and knowledge. Enlightenment is related to purity of heart and cleanliness of senses. This cleanliness and purity envelops five subjects through senses and a person is blessed with the knowledge of the power of universal elements outside and inside our body. He would think deeply over the Swaroop of various abstract subjects and visible objects and will make decisions consciously with true knowledge of Brahma and that is LIGHT.

प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव।

न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति।।

Until a person is enlightened with the knowledge of Paramatma, his mind will not be clean and honest, he cannot be pure. His consciousness would remain enveloped under the illusion of ignorance. When a light of true knowledge enlightens Sadhak's mind, he will be free from all the activities. It does not mean that a Satvik person does not do any activity but he would be free from Rajas virtue and he would be free from greed and desires to accumulate wealth. He would not start new activities now and then, he would be free from gain and pain, earning profit or suffering loss, he would not be restless in that case; he would be detached from the result of his activities. When a person does selfless services not only for his development but for others to serve them, it would be Satvik activities.

मनो मधुकरो मेघो मानिनी मदनो मरुत्।

मा मदो मर्कटो मत्स्यः दश चञ्चलाः।।

Ten wavering things of illusion-Maya goes on disturbing our virtues constantly as our mind, BHRAMAR, clouds with rain, an arrogant woman, lust, wind, Mother of wealth Mahalaxmi ji , pride, monkey and fish as described in our Subhasit but the Moha-attachment to perishable things and for doing or completing activities would disappear with the awaken inner self. Now Sadhak is neither worrying about completing his task nor about the success or failure of his activities. He does not want to gain profit or would not get disturbed when he has to face a failure in material terms. No man can sit idle and avoid doing activities even for a moment. Further, he has to feed himself and his dependents, parents, and family members as a family man or a woman has to perform her household duties. One has to do Kriya all the daylong but when a person does everything as if he were created by God and serves him through his karma like a servant serves his boss, he would be free from the result of his karma.

वर्णाश्रमवतां धर्मं एष आचारलक्षणः।

स एव मद्भक्तियुतो निःश्रेयसकरः परः।।

A Sadhak full of Satva virtue with full devotion implies the surrender of the fruits of his work to God. All his duties in the Sansar, all his worship and doing special rites according to his caste and SWADHARMA described in Shastras, all the actions following the rules and orders of God are offered to Paramatma without the expectation of fruits.

Rajas virtue is seen in two Swaroop of attachment RAG and Kriya –activities a person does. A Satvik person becomes free from RAG –the attachment to everything and everybody. He works for others' welfare and thinks of himself as a servant of God till he remains attached to activities emotionally, he could not be a Satvik person in real terms. A Satvik person does all the activities as a cashier of the bank counts thousands of rupees every day and keeps them back in the locker of a bank as he knows that he has no authority over them. A Satvik person remains detached from the consequences of his allotted task as a father, mother, businessman, or pupil. These selfless activities are known as real, PRAVRTI for a Satvik person.

When a person acquires true knowledge, he remains detached from all the nine, the eleven, the five, and three things in being and sees only one Paramatma in every object as Lord Shri Krishna told Uddhavji

नवैकादशपञ्चत्रीन्भावान्भूतेषु येन वै।

ईक्षेताथैकमप्येषु तज्ज्ञानं मम निश्र्चितम्।।

Here nine elements include Prakruti and Purush, Mahat Tatva (cosmic and intelligence) Pride - ego, and five tanmatras (five matter) Eleven refers to five Karmendriyas and five Gyanendriyas including the mind. Number five shows the existence of five elements; earth, water, fire, air, and ether, while three concerns with trio virtues of Satva Rajas and Tamas. When a Sadhak utilizing knowledge sees the multiple universes as not essentially distinct from Brahma, the Supreme cause is the idea of multiplying Swaroop. A Satvik person sees only the Brahm and not his multiple Swaroop in different objects.

The illusion of Sansar is created in two ways as it is either permanent or temporary, truth-untruth, to do or not to do, and under the absence of true knowledge in the situation when self-consciousness is under the spell of trio virtues, a person sees multiple objects and attracted to the world but can't see Paramatma in everything. Secondly, under the curse of illusion, a person thinks wrong about others, accepts other people as good or bad, guilty or sinful, and misbehaves with him. This happens because of Moha MAMKA and PANDAVA as Dhritarastra thinks differently for his sons and the sons of his brother Pandu and it becomes the cause of destruction in the war of Mahabharat.

A Satvik person shows enlightenment of knowledge. A Rajsik is recognized by too many activities and Tamsik remains under the illusion and wastes his life in sleep, undesirable activities, and attachment to all the negative activities and wrong people. But a Satvik person would not hate Tamsik or Rajsik person nor would he love them. He remains detached from others and focuses only on his karma. He knows that everything will change but Brahma alone is eternal in an ever-changing world. He knows multiplicity is a fiction. Through the knowledge he acquired from Shastras.

श्रुतिः प्रत्यक्षमैतिह्यमनुमानं चतुष्टयम्।

प्रमाणेष्व नवस्थीनाद्विकल्पात्स विरज्यते।।(उ.गीता-१४-१७)

Vedic texts direct perception, tradition, and interference are the proofs that make a person knowledgeable and used as proofs of his knowledge. He knows that clothes can be made only with threads it may be of cotton or woolen or silk is a perception. The world is created by Paramatma as it is written in Vedic texts by the great Rishi Munis and the universe is unreal is an inference.

Then what are the intentions that create trio virtue's influence, great or nullify the impact? Let us surrender to our great Jagat Guru Lord Shri Krishna and find out the solutions for our betterment..Om Tat Sat..Shri Krishnajpanmastu..