Vishnave namah

Maharishi Nārada continued,

“In case the aspirant becomes slack or forgetful, the horses known as wicked sense organs take the help of the driver called intelligence (buddhi) and make him tread the wrong path. They drop him near wayside dacoits called sensory pleasures. These dacoits called sensory pleasures, throw the owner along with his chariot, charioteer and horses into the endless pit called samsāra (cycle of repeated re-births). In this well, which is filled with the darkness called spiritual ignorance, fear of death badly torments the person.

Veda describes two types of action (karma). Fruitive actions performed for the fulfilment of desires are known as Pravṛtti karma i.e. path of outward expansion. These activities ensure the living entity continues to rotate in the cycle of repeated births and deaths.

Discarding all desires and remaining established in the Self is Nivṛtti karma i.e. path of return. Due to this the person obtains liberation.

Pravṛtti karma is of two types- Poortha and Iṣṭha. The daily homas performed by the Vedic Brahmin, Agnihotra, iṣṭi rituals performed on New-moon and Full-moon days i.e. darṣa-iṣṭi & pournamāsa, Chaturmasya, paśu-yāga, soma-yāga and such other elaborates rituals are classified as Iṣṭa karma. These activities involve certain degree of violence (himsa) and use material ingredients in large quantities. These fruitive activities, which are driven by the need to fulfil desires, generate lack of peace. Poortha karmas include construction of temples, ponds, wells, rest-houses, dining halls for the benefit of public.

The person who treads the path of material expansion (Pravṛtti marga) will, upon death, obtain a subtle form with the help of the ingredients offered in the Vedic homa fire and will travel on the path of forefathers (pitr-yāna) to reach the abode of the Moon-god (Chandra-loka). The various stages that he passes when travelling on this path are: the presiding deity for the homa smoke, night (ratri), waning fortnight and Chandra-loka.

Once his balance of merit is completely exhausted, his celestial body completely degenerates. This is known as Amavasya (new moon). Through the help of raindrops, the living entity who is now in his subtle form, reaches earth. He now enters into plant and subtly exists within the rice grain. Through the medium of food, he enters into the body of a male, transforms into semen and enters into a body of a woman. Through a woman’s womb he once again enters into this universe. The Vedic Brahmin traverses this path which consists of purificatory rituals (samskāras) beginning from garbha-dhāna (conception) and until antyeṣṭi (funeral).

The Nivṛtti path which is treaded by aspirants who seek liberation is as follows:

The aspirant should mentally offer Yagna and all other Vedic rituals into the senses (indriyas), which illumine due to intelligence. The senses should be merged into the mind, which exists as the power of intention. The mind which is subject to transformations should be merged into speech (vak); speech should be merged into its roots (akṣara-mātrka) which in turn should be merged into Omkara. Omkāra should be merged into bindu (point). Bindu should be merged into nāda (sound). Nāda should be merged into sutrātma which in turn should be merged into the Supreme Lord. All these are mental offerings.

The aspirant who treads the Nivṛtti marga (path of return) will after death cross the planes (worlds) of Fire, Sun, day, evening, waxing fortnight, Full moon, uttarayana and reach Hiranyagarbha. There he enjoys comforts. Gradually he merges Vishwa, the presiding deity of the gross body, into Taijasa the presiding deity for the subtle body. He then merges Taijasa into Prajna, the presiding deity for the causal body. While presiding over these three bodies, he realizes his original Self, which is distinctly separate from them all. He thus attains liberation. Mahatmas call this journey as Devayāna.

The spiritual aspirant who, with a pure mind in which all desires have been burnt, traverses the Nirvṛtti path and establishes in the Self, will gradually travel through all the worlds and reach Hiranyagarbha loka, which is also known as Satya loka. Here remaining established in the Self, he will obtain liberation”.

From this the path to liberation is clear. So many worlds need to be crossed. Intense austerities need to be undertaken. Even then if sense-control is not achieved, all the efforts will be futile. We will fail in the first step itself. To cross this first step, it may take many births.

“The intelligent person who although being situated in the gross body, obtains an in-depth discriminative understanding about these two paths viz., Devayāna and Pitryāna which have been described in the Vedas, will not be overcome by illusion. He will be a Jnani unaffected by illusion.

The Jnani then remains as the indivisible eternal Self, which exists as the cause in the beginning and as a support into which the bodies merge in the end, which exists externally as the object of enjoyment and internally as the enjoyer of that comfort. The intellect which distinguishes superior from inferior, the knowledge which is to be deciphered, name, form, light and darkness, all pertain to the Self alone.

When scrutinized thoroughly, it is evident that reflection does not inherently exist. Nevertheless, reflection appears real. Similarly, in this world which is perceived by the senses, the presence of dualities opposes the validated proofs, scrutiny and experience. Nevertheless, the ignorant consider these dualities to be real and accept them as eternal truth.

The body and other objects made up of the five basic elements are all illusory. They are not created out of the combination of the five elements nor are they transformations of the five basic elements. Neither do they have an existence separate from the five elements nor do they exist along with the five elements. Hence it should be understood that this body and other objects, which are a combination of 5 elements, are purely illusory.

The five basic elements are the basic causes for this creation. Nevertheless, they are nothing but combinations of the five subtle elements (tanmātras). The gross elements are merely the limbs of the subtle elements and cannot have any existence without them. Understand that these subtle elements (tanmātras) are also illusory.

Although there is only one existence, due to spiritual ignorance, differences are perceived in objects. For this reason, we are drowned in the illusion that all the varied objects seen by us have simultaneous existence”.

Vāmanāya namah