It was observed that the London session cannot be launched on egalitarianism as promoted by the teachings of the Gita. Another argument has come to the forefront. The supporters of the session are still hopeful of the consequences of the meet and are stressing that even if there is no immediate outcome of the session, but the fact that the General Assembly will be established in London is in itself a major achievement. It is vain to expect any positive result from the Lahore session. All the hopes and aspirations of the country will be fulfilled in London. If there was consensus on this, we too, would have been in favour of the London session. We are also well aware that there is no hope of forming a joint assembly at the Lahore session and we never ever entertained that desire as well. But if there is no course of action available within the country to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people, then we cannot comply with the weird logic that the beliefs and desires of the countrymen will fructify in a far-off foreign country. What value or sustainability can such success have? I do understand that if Krishnaswamy, Gokhale and Mehta are absent from the meeting, the resolution for forming the United Mahasabha may be accepted. I also presume that even if they are present at the meeting, the enthusiasm of the students might encourage the moderates of Bengal to accept the proposal. But what will happen after that? After they return to the country, which path will they follow? Those who are incapable of asserting their independent views in the presence of Gokhale and Mehta, may have mustered courage and voiced their opinions abroad, but will they have the courage and strength of character to maintain their stand once they are back? If so, then why is it impossible to establish the United Mahasabha in the country itself without venturing to foreign shores? Mehta and Gokhale will never accept the proposal of the London Mahasabha. Representatives from all parts of the country were not present during the session where at the suggestions of a few, the views of a large number of members were ignored and the proposal was passed by a majority number of Bengalis attending the meet.
Reading the sayings of the Lord Sri Ramakrishna Deva and the books written about him it is known that he said nothing about the new feeling that has been formed in the country, the mass of feeling that is flooding the whole of India, maddened by the wave of which feeling so many young men are sacrificing themselves treating everything as trifles,—how can we believe that the Lord, the Indweller of all beings, did not see that? He whose foot-touch has brought the Satya Yuga on the earth, by whose touch the earth is plunged in happiness, by whose appearance the Tamas accumulated for many ages is driven away, at the mere opening of whose power a vibration pervading the quarters and the horizons has awakened; who is Purna (Full), who is the Inaugurator of the Yuga-dharma, who is the aggregate of past Avatars,—we do not believe that he did not see the future India or said nothing about it. It is our belief that what he did not say by the mouth, he has done in action. He has formed the future India, the representative of future India, sitting in front of him. This representative of future India is Swami Vivekananda. Many think that the patriotism of Swami Vivekananda is his own gift. But if we look with a subtle vision we can understand that his patriotism is the gift of his supreme revered Guru alone. He too has not claimed anything as his own. The way in which the Teacher of the World formed him is the excellent way of forming the future India. Regarding him there was no rule or judgment; he formed him completely in the mood of the hero-sadhaka. He is a hero from birth; this is his natural mood. Sri Ramakrishna Deva used to tell him, “You are indeed a hero!” He knew that the power he was infusing into him, in time by the rising splendour of that power the country would be covered with a net of fierce sun-rays. Our young men also have to do sadhana in this hero-mood. They have to do the work of the country becoming reckless and keep this divine word in the memory day and night—“You are indeed a hero!”
The Arya Samaj is the creation of Swami Dayananda. As long as the Arya Samaj remains imbued with the spirit and inspired by the inspiration he gave, its vigour, increase and good fortune will remain. A Vibhuti or Great Man descends on earth with a special idea (bhava); expressing that idea, by its force he does great work beneficial to the world, or establishes a special centre of force in the transmission and spread of his idea. The institution established by him, be it large or small, that institution becoming the representative of that Vibhuti or Great Man continues to do his begun work in the world. The day the idea of the Great Man becomes dim or shows signs of disappearing in the institution, that day either it will be destroyed or assuming another form and another idea it will begin to do harm to the world. Then other Great Men being born can prevent the destruction of the institution and reduce the measure of harm, but cannot bring back the original idea. In the idea of the spirited Swami Dayananda, the founder of the Arya Samaj, we find three principles: Purushartha (manhood/effort), Independence and Work. Relying on these three, the religion preached by him has become dear to the active, spirited, freedom-loving Punjabi race, and has been able to show incomparable discipline of work, success in work and progressive improvement. But that the Arya Samaj will pass the test that has come now, does not seem to us. At the time of the deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai many faults were revealed in the Samaj; now we see signs of even more deplorable weakness. The manhood and independence that were the basis of the idea of Dayananda Saraswati, sacrificing that manhood and independence the Samaj has become mad with the thought and fear—how shall I remain safe? To expel Parmanand without trial and Lala Lajpat Rai losing all his posts because of the publication of two ordinary letters is the proof of this strange bewilderment. If the mind does not turn back soon the Arya Samaj will rush on the path of death. Whatever religions remain in the world, have captured the mind of the human race,—Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism,—be they small, be they large, they have been able to survive because they could preserve their own idea at the time of trial.
When the Europeans first discovered Aryan literature, they had such joy that even words of adequate praise were not available and they accepted whatever the Pundits said as certain truth. Later the fire of jealousy was kindled in the Western heart and many under the sway of that jealousy tried to blow away the Sanskrit language and the vast literature as the forgery and trickery of the Brahmins. When that attempt failed, the European Pundits discovered a new device; they tried to prove that the Hindu has nothing of his own, all is imported from foreign lands. The Ramayana and Mahabharata are imitations of Homer; astronomy, poetry, drama, Ayurveda, art, painting, architecture, mathematics, Devanagari script, Panchatantra—whatever is famous as the glory of India, all are borrowed from Greece, Egypt, Babylon etc. and the Bhagavat Gita has been siphoned out from Christianity. If there is any virtue in Hinduism, it is the gift of Buddhism — and lest we claim, Buddha is an Indian, the pundits quickly came up with the strange notion that Buddha was either a Mongol or a Turk or hailed from the Sakyas aka Shaka or Scythian; Around this time, it was propagated that the concepts of Karma and reincarnation did not exist in Hinduism before Buddha. It was Buddha who created this idea. I was astounded to notice the other day, the respected editor of Hindu Spiritual Magazine endorsed the findings of the European scholars and said, this is indeed true that the Vedas do not mention the doctrine of rebirth and belief in reincarnation is not part of Hindu religion. I don’t know if the editor has said this after studying the scriptures himself, or it is just an echo of the observations made by western scholars. We can and we will show that the Upanishads, have been accepted even by Western scholars as pre-Buddha and the ultimate development of Vedic knowledge. In the Upanishads, rebirth is referred as the ultimate truth everywhere. The concept of karma found in the Vedas is closely associated with the idea of rebirth. The term Karma more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called the Principle of Karma, wherein intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Buddhism is only a branch of Hinduism and Hinduism is not an offshoot of Buddhism.
Our ideal is not Moksha. We do not intend to desist from life and attain Nirvana and be one with the eternal Brahma. We want to attain Bhagavad Chaitanya of the ideal body and collective unity, harmony and joy of Bhagavad Chaitanya. This accomplishment of the consciousness, self-established by Bhagavad-inspired life of unity and action driven by Bhagavad Shakti is the rationale for Yoga and canonization.
Attaining eternal Nirvana by being absorbed in Brahman but attaining Bhagavad Chaitanya of the ideal body and collective, unity, harmony and joy in Bhagavad Chaitanya, self-created in that consciousness, self-established by Bhagavad-inspired life and action driven by Bhagavad Shakti, free action. What is said in the Gita, ‘Yogastha: Kuru Karmani,’ that yogastha karma is not only a part of this Sadhana, but also a major part of Siddhi. Manifesting all life inwardly and outwardly in Bhagavad Being and expressing Bhagavad Unity is the purpose and sign of this Yoga.
The purpose of Gyan yoga in Integral yoga is not moksha, not dissolution, not the escape of the fearful, nor the renunciation of the world, nor the removal of the playful God in the desire for Parabrahma. The purpose of this knowledge is to know God, to raise my consciousness to Bhagavad Chaitanya, to be one with Him, one in soul and world, one in science and mind and spirit, one in body, nothing will be left out. Purna Advaita… Sarvam khallidam Brahma, Turiya; Cause Subtle, Sleep, Dream, World, Brahmamaya Purusha Nature You Me That is all Him, Vasudevam Sarvamiti, this is the root mantra of this knowledge.
Gurubrahma Purushottama enjoys that indefinable unity in the immutable world-manifestation, and enjoys that many-formed unity in the mutable Purusha at the same time in the same vessel. I am that play of Purushottama…. The fullness of the infinite is in this twofold enjoyment of rasa.
Nobody knows the true form or design of the chariot of Jagannath, no artist of life is capable of drawing it. Hidden under many layers, this picture shines in the heart of the Universal Godhead. To manifest it, gradually through the effort of many divine Vibhutis, seers and creators, and establish it in the material world is God’s intention.
Our dharma is like a giant tree adorned with innumerable branches and twigs. Its roots plunge down into the deepest knowledge; its branches spread out far into the field of action. Like the Ashwattha tree mentioned in the Gita, which has its roots above and its branches below, this dharma is based on knowledge and exhorts one to action. Freedom from attachment is the foundation of this vast tree-mansion, dynamism is its walls and roof, and liberation its tower and summit. The whole life of humanity is sheltered by this immense tree-mansion of the Hindu dharma.
Shankaracharya, realising that the Isha Upanishad teaches the contradictory principles of the Knowledge-part and the Work-part, has explained it in that light. Shankara is a follower of the Knowledge path, a monist; he has seen everywhere in the Vedas praise of the Knowledge-path, inferiority of Works, and a meaning supporting Monism. Other teachers have explained it otherwise. When there are many views of many sages, which path shall we follow? In our view, we should look to the meaning which the Upanishad itself yields by relying on the straightforward and natural meaning of the words; if the meaning is twisted towards any ‘ism’, there is distortion of meaning. Another thing should be remembered. The Rishis of the Upanishads did not introduce any subject by arriving at a conclusion through argument; they were seers; they expressed what they saw on the path of Yoga, supported that by argument. But argument is not the proof; direct vision is the proof. He who arrives at a conclusion by argument is not a true philosopher; he who sees the truth is the true philosopher. Relying on these two rules we proceeded to explain the Isha Upanishad. Explaining each verse we shall discuss the teaching of knowledge given in this Upanishad. The explanation of the Gita is going on in the Dharma paper; since proof of many statements of the Gita is found in this Upanishad, we considered it reasonable to explain the Isha Upanishad and the Gita at the same time.
We see the first form and stage of this knowledge and this sadhana in the Rigveda, the earliest characters inscribed on the Stupa near the entrance to the temple of the Aryan dharma at the beginning of history. We cannot say with certainty that it finds expression for the first time in the Rigveda, because even the Rishis of the Rigveda admit that those who were before them, the early ancestors of the Aryan race, ‘the primeval fathers of the human race’, had discovered this path of truth and immortality for the later man. They also say that the new Rishis were only following the path which had been shown to them by the ancient Rishis. We find that the mantra of the Rigveda is the echo of the words of the ‘fathers’, of the Divine speech they uttered; consequently, the form of the dharma that we see in the Rigveda can be said to be its earliest form. The knowledge of the Upanishads, the sadhana of the Vedanta are only a very noble and generous transformation of this dharma. The knowledge of the supreme Divine and the sadhana for attaining the Divine life of the Vedas, the Self-knowledge and the sadhana for realising the Brahman of the Upanishads, both of them are based on a synthetic dharma; various aspects of the cosmic Purusha and the cosmic Shakti, the supreme Divine unifying all the truths of the Brahman, the experience and the pursuit of the All-Brahman are its intimate subject-matter. Then started the age of analysis. The Purva Mimansa, the Uttara Mimansa, the Sankhya, the Yoga, the Nyaya, and the Vaisheshika of the Vedantas, each of them took up a partial philosophy of the truth and developed different ways of the sadhana. Finally, the parts of the partial philosophies gave rise to Monism, Dualism, Qualified Monism, the Vaishnava and the Shaiva schools, the Puranas and the Tantras. The attempt at synthesis also never stopped. We find that effort in the Gita, the Tantras and the Puranas; each of them has been successful to a certain extent; many new experiences have been gained but no longer do we find in them the comprehensiveness of the Vedas and the Upanishads. It looks as if the ancient spiritual message of India took its birth in some all-pervading brilliant light of knowledge where even to reach, let alone the question of crossing beyond it, became impossible or difficult for the predominantly intellectual later ages.
The Gita (3.24)
The idea that not eating is a part of spirituality is a mistake. Greed should not be there, one should not eat out of greed, one should not eat more than is necessary—these rules must of course be observed, but one must eat what is necessary for the body. The Gita says that one cannot do Yoga by eating too much, nor by not eating, nor by eating too little.
The Gita 4.11
O friend, in love’s initiation lost, O erring heart!
O high aspirer in ascetic indolence snared!
O mighty and eternal glory of Krishna,
Fallen in Kali’s mire of dharma and adharma!
In vain you rebuke, in vain you censure my path.
You will not understand my fierce resolve.
If one is a slave to ignorance, he is of Sattwa mixed with Tamas,
Else in this violent work is your most beloved.
To know, to know Krishna. You understand Radha,
You have not understood Him, the earth’s oppressor of demons.
Seeing whose name the unshakable mountains tremble,
Overturning with the touch of His trident the ocean’s secret floor.
You understand the flute, you understand Brindavan,
You have not understood the slaying of Kansa, the war of Kurukshetra.
You, the supreme Vaishnava, you offer praise to the Buddha.
Have you forgotten that Vishnu and Rudra are one body, with different limbs?
Have you forgotten that the treasure-house of mercy,
The cruel slayer Kalki, is one Avatar?
What mood of Rudra hiding in His breast, has Kanu
Bent His knee at the feet of Radha?
Full mercy is restrained in the Mother’s soul,
Bhairavi, Rakshasi, Chandi, She maddens in a fierce battle.
This religion of the Buddhists, created by Maya’s illusion,
With its mind loosened by non-violence, afflicted by compassion,
It will not have the fierce desire for the world’s good,
It will not hold the sword of knowledge to cleave ignorance.
Powerless in its meekness, without essence in its indolence,
The shaven head, the swollen belly is its sum.
This is not the mood of the Buddha. That sage, free from Maya,
The stern, the supreme ascetic, he too was a great hero.
Trampling his friend’s heart underfoot, maddened with a great vow,
He looked not back, he went on his path with a single gaze.
This Vaishnava creed with its melting heart,
In its laxity compassionate, in its weakness restrained,
Its body ever languid, its heart pierced with pity,
A dharma that has lost its virility in a spiritual desire,
It calls itself the worshipper of the world-hero Sri Krishna,
And in word and deed it tramples His word, His dharma.
“Pity”, “love”, it ever cries, but the reality of pity,
The fierce truth of love, it has made insipid,—
This is not the initiation of Chaitanya. Fierce and calm,
Of an intense love, an intense forgiveness, a hero free from tamas
Was that Gauranga, son of Sachi.
PRIEST:
In the battle of being you are vanquished at this moment,
O King. In your hot breast, the word of despair,
The cry of sorrow in your voice is not the knowledge of Brahman.
That knowledge is other, beyond the hope of the weak,
A great thing attainable by the hero—hidden in a cave.
This is true, this earthly life is a dance.
Whose dance? Janardana is that Lord of Dance.
Not sorrow, embrace Him, O King,
With Him in battle after battle, madden in a dance
In your blissful soul and body. Victory and defeat,
Forest and city and field, are but the varied
Foot-placements of the dance, different scenes,
Kept for the beauty of the dance, in the king’s theatre.
PRINCE:
Does God love a puppet’s play,
Not manliness? On Kurukshetra, Janardana. By choice a charioteer.
A companion of the hero’s play, a dance on the battlefield.
PRIEST:
If it is a play, O great King, playing good and evil,
The result is winning or losing. Madhava is the mediator,
Or the charioteer of the worthy, the fruit-giver in the world.
PRINCE:
Listen, O great-limbed king of trees, O wild friend,
Affectionate to the refugee. In your thousand high branches
Unnumbered birds dwell; with a honeyed clamour
Your two evenings pass in an affectionate joy.
Insects in your bark tear and make their nests
In their thousands and thousands. That oppression you
Bear with a pleased smile. In your wide shade,
Covering the weary creature in a loving embrace,
You seat him in your cool lap. In disguise, I understand,
You are the image of God, O king of trees.
This divine nature is yours. I too, coming,
Roam alone on earth; in your refuge
I gain peace. My oppressed soul here
Speaks its secret thought in a trusted friend’s ear.
There is no friend, no companion. My father is ever
Averse to action, a lover of mood, a Maya-knower.
A thoughtful priest, his brain is fertile,
Barren in soul-mood, in action dry words.
He who, renouncing a little barren self, comes
To this lonely forest, of little mind, of pure soul,
Knows service, knows war, knows nothing else.
Coming to this place, I gain the company of Nature.
Unnumbered formless companions play in my mind.
The river speaks a secret word, the roar of the wind
In your unnumbered leaves plays as if a rhythm
With my inner self. A vast nature
Is this of the universe; as if someone, alone, like me,
An unrestrained hero-soul, desires action and war.
He has created this universe with the hope of that joy
Where he has decreed the rule of battle
In the conscious and the unconscious. There is no hate, no envy,
In that vast soul. This sacred desire for war
Is as if friends wrestle in love.
Listen, O tree, what a silent counsel
I have made with you today. I will sit no more
In this forest, in this indolence, in a cave, in a hut.
I will sit no more in your shade, O friend.
An unseen charioteer in my mind drives me with force
Towards the world, where the conflict of men
Is on this vast battlefield. Kingdom, fame, death,
I know not what, hiding with a laugh,
Is on the other side of that blue horizon of the sky. I go
To seek it. O tree! Friends, army, force,
By chance, silently sit waiting for me
In that infinite blue world. Or alone,
Entering the enemy’s inner apartments—why do I say alone,
There is a sword in my hand, there is Murari in my heart—
I will end my mother’s slavery, the destroyer of her spirit.
A peerless stain is mine. Or a drink of death
By the enemy’s sword’s error, hidden in Krishna’s
Laughing departure. I take my leave, O tree.
If I come with my mother with pleased feet,
Then we shall meet, otherwise farewell for ever.
The worship of Shakti is the Tantric perfection.
The worship is twofold: “I am She” (This is Nature) and “I am the Person” (Purusha). These two are the complete worships. There is also a partial worship, which is difference-predominant and dualistic; that is the worship of Ignorance and is not the best.
The object to be achieved is the status of Kali (Kali-bhava) or the status of Vibhuti (Power).
“I am She” is the Kali-status of the instrument; the status of Vibhuti is the instrument-status of Nature.
In both, the means is Self-consecration (Atmasamarpana).
“The instrument is not mine; the instrument is Thine. The burden is not mine; the burden is Thine. Come Thou, Thou art the Doer, the Power; I am not the doer, I am not the empowered. Make me the instrument only, O Kali!”—this is Self-consecration.
Abandoning the thought of dharma and adharma, sin and merit, auspicious and inauspicious, pleasant and unpleasant, into the body of him who is motionless and seated in happiness, Kali enters.
The entry is known by the roar of the lion, the loud laughter of the Hummkara, the vision, the awakening of power.
Or by the initiation of Yogic action.
She, having entered, removes the egoism.
She removes the tamasic, low egoism.
After that, she removes the rajasic egoism.
Then she removes the mixed egoism, “I am sattwic-rajasic-tamasic.”
She removes the sattwic egoism.
She makes one trigunatita (beyond the three gunas).
She removes all impure impressions (samskaras).
This is the purification of the chitta (mind-stuff).
Not the “saintly nature” is the purification of the chitta, but the casting away of egoism and the purification of impressions is the characteristic.
Commentary:
Atha (Then): After the arising of the desire for the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman, Ashvalayana—he so named, born of the Gotra of Ashvala, a Vedic seer of Brahman—having approached the Lord, the Luminous God Paramesthi, Brahma who is the foundation of the Paramestha (the Supreme, the Best), who is in the form of Hiranyagarbha, engaged in creation, the Supreme Person situated in the state of dream—Ashvalayana, having approached the Eldest God according to the rule, coming as a seeker of knowledge, spoke, said: “O Lord God! The Highest, the Best, cultivated always from ancient times by the good—by those who have conquered desire, by the wise—studied with effort; hidden—because it is the supreme mystery, therefore exceedingly hidden—teach the knowledge of Brahman! Meditate in the mind for the sake of instructing me!” Of what form? “By which, by what means, swiftly, very quickly, the wise man, having known that knowledge of Brahman, driving away all sin—sorrow in the form of sin, all inauspiciousness—casting it out from the mind by knowledge; by the attainment of the perfect Bliss, he goes to, attains to, the Purusha Supreme beyond the Supreme—highest even beyond the Turiya (Fourth State)—the All-pervading Vasudeva, the Purushottama.” [Teach me] the Brahma-knowledge which illumines That.
