Upadesa Sara
Sloka 12
The Source of Power
What is the relation between the breath and the mind? It is answered thus:
cittavayavas-citkriyayutah
sakhayor-dvayi sakti-mulaka.
cittavayavas – the mind and the vital airs; citkriyayutah – are endowed with knowledge and activising force; sakhayor-dvayi – (they are) the two branches; sakti-mulaka – the root cause of energy
The mind and the vital airs are endowed with knowledge and activising power respectively. These are the two branches of the one basic power (of the Lord).
The pranas and the mind are capable of functioning because they are endowed with Consciousness. But they have different powers. The pranas have the power of activising or energizing (kriya sakti). The mind has the capacity of knowing (jnana sakti). The senses perceive the objects and the mind recognizes, knows, or understands them. The mind cannot energize itself or the body. The root of both the powers is ‘Maya’ which is the power of the Lord. Hence Ramana Maharshi explains here that the pranas and the mind are like two branches of the same tree. The source of power for both is the same and hence they are inter-related. This relation can be clearly experienced by each one of us. When our mind is agitated by thoughts of passion, anger, or fear, our rate of breathing increases, and our breath gets heated up. When the mind is somehow quietened, our breathing too becomes normal. Such experiences clearly show us the close relation between pranas and the mind. Therefore, ‘pranayama’ can help in controlling the mind even though the result is not everlasting.
In the method of prana-viksana – observation of the breath, we observe the inflow and outflow of breath without analyzing, interpreting, or judging. The mind gets a preoccupation and no associated thoughts of likes and dislikes arise and so it gets quiet and concentrated.
Sloka 13
layavinasane ubhaya-rodhane,
laya-gatam punar-bhavati no mrtam.
Two States of Mind
The restraint of the pranas helps a seeker achieve the absorption of the mind but not its annihilation. The difference between a mind in absorption and a destroyed mind is as follows:
layavinasane – absorption and destruction of the (mind); ubhaya-rodhane – by the destruction of both pranas and the mind); laya-gatam – (the mind) that has gone to absorption; punar – again; bhavati – comes back (is born); na – never; mrtam – the dead (mind)
The absorption of the mind (manolaya) and the destruction of the mind (manonasa) occur by the restraint of both (the prana and the mind respectively). The absorbed mind comes back but never indeed the dead mind.
There is a lot of difference between a sleeping man and a dead man. The same is the difference between an absorbed mind and a dead mind. The absorbed mind again starts its usual functioning but not the dead mind, just as the sleeping man wakes up each morning to start his usual hectic or lazy day, but not a dead man. By the restraint of the pranas, the mind is absorbed but by the direct restraint of the mind, the mind itself is destroyed. As we read this, a fearful doubt arises in our mind: ‘If the mind is destroyed how will I gain knowledge of the world? How will I remember my experiences? How will I transact and live in the world?’ Who would desire such a state of existence; much less put forth efforts to reach it?
Such a state is indeed undesirable. So let us see what is meant over here by the phrase ‘destruction of the mind’. The mind has two aspects. One is that it recognizes objects as they are. The objects perceived by the senses are experienced, remembered, and understood. By the restraint of the mind, the thinking mind is not destroyed. Hence there is no reason to fear the destruction of the mind. This aspect of the mind continues to function even when the mind is destroyed. It does not cause any problems for us; In fact, it aids our life. The second aspect which broods over the perceived object creates feelings of likes, dislikes, desires, my-ness, and so on – this binds the man and is the cause for his sorrow. For example, a man sees a television in someone else’s house. He thereafter starts thinking – ‘Television is a good thing. It entertains me. I too should purchase one. Without a television, there is no joy in life’ and so on. Once a desire arises, man finds no peace till it is fulfilled. All this is because man feels that he gains happiness from objects. Therefore, the gain and loss of objects become a source of joy and sorrow. By inquiry, we realize that happiness is not the nature of the object but of the subject. Happiness is my own nature. This inquiry is elaborated further in verse 21.
Man due to ignorance of his own nature, searches for the joy in objects, thereby creating problems and sorrows for himself. In a state of absorption, the mind does not perceive objects and is therefore quiet. But pranayama cannot remove the ignorance of one’s true nature. So, when the restraint over the prana is removed, the ignorant mind again wanders into the field of objects. But a mind that is destroyed does not do so. The above clearly indicates that destruction of the mind really means the removal of the ignorance of one’s own nature and not the destruction of the perceiving mind by which we transact with the world. Once ignorance·is destroyed, it never makes a comeback. It is gone once and for all. The man whose problematic mind is destroyed never again gets into delusion about the true nature of the world and his own nature of Happiness. He lives in the world amongst objects but does not get attached to anything or any being, as he is full and fulfilled within.
Sloka 14
prana-bandhanal-lina-manasam,
eka-cintanan-nasam-etyadah.
Means to Reach These States
The absorption of the mind by pranayama was earlier explained. The method of Yoga by which the problematic mind is destroyed (manonasa) is now elaborated upon.
prana-bandhanal – by the restraint of the vital airs; lina-manasam – the mind gets absorbed; eka-cintanan – by contemplation of that One; nasam – goes to destruction; etyadah – this (absorbed mind);
This mind that gets absorbed by the restraint of the pranas gets destroyed by contemplation on that One (Reality).
Initially, by the method of pranayama or the observation of the breath, the mind is relatively quietened. When a quiet mind contemplates on the Reality, its own ignorance is destroyed. Here ‘One Truth’ does not mean contemplation on one of the innumerable objects of the world. Through our own direct experience, we know that brooding over objects results ultimately in sorrow and creates agitation in the mind. This is because our mind starts thinking about the qualities of the object and creates likes and dislikes, desires and aversions for the object. Also thinking about any object can be done only by maintaining the duality of the thinker and the object of the thought. Such thinking can result in an absorbed state of the mind but not in its destruction.
Contemplation on ‘One’ means that ‘One’, which does not become two, which is One without a second, which is the common denominator in all the apparent dualities and because of which alone, all objects gain existence. Now, objects outside our body are many, like a book, table, chair, and so on. Also, our body itself changes constantly, our mind has innumerable thoughts and the ideals that the intellect cherishes are many. But the knower of all these manifold objects, changes of the body, emotions, and thoughts is the one common illuminator, ‘I’, the Self. This Knowledge Principle or Knower remains the same. It neither changes to become another ‘I’ nor does it cease to be when the thoughts change or cease to be. Without ‘I’, the Pure Consciousness, no thoughts exist. For such contemplation a relatively quiet mind is necessary. Thereafter, the contemplation on the thought ‘I am pure Consciousness’ destroys the ignorance due to which the person considers himself as a sorrowful limited being.
Closing Prayer