Vedantasara :3.

                                                 Swami Chinmayananda



I -Preliminaries :


21. Uparati is the cessation of these external organs so restrained, from the pursuit of objects other than that; or it may mean the abandonment of the prescribed works according to scriptural injunctions.


22. Titiksha is the endurance of heat and cold and other pairs of opposites.


 23. Samadhana is the constant concentration of the mind, thus restrained, on hearing etc., of the scriptural passages and other objects that are conducive to these.


 24. Sraddha is the faith in the truths of Vedanta as taught by the Guru.


 25. Mumukshutva is the yearning for spiritual freedom.


 26. Such an aspirant is a qualified student; for it is said in the sruti passages, “quiet, subdued” (Br. Up. IV-4.23). It is further said, “This is always to be taught to one who is of tranquil mind, who has subjugated his senses, who is free from faults, obedient, endowed with virtues, always submissive, and who is constantly eager for liberation” (Sankara’s Upadesha-Sahasri 324.16.72)


 27. The subject is the identity of the individual self and Brahman, which is of the nature of Pure intelligence and is to be realised. For such is the purport of the Vedanta texts.


 28. The connection is the relation between that identity which is to be realised and the evidence of the Upanishads that establishes it, as between a thing to be known and that which tells of it.


 29. The necessity is the dispelling of ignorance relating to that identity which is to be realised, as the attainment of bliss resulting from the realisation of one’s own Self. As in such Sruti passages, “The knower of Self overcomes grief” (Ch. Up. VII-1.3), “He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman” (Mund. Up. III-2-9).


 30. Such a qualified pupil scorched with the fire of an endless round of birth, death, etc., should repair – just as one with one’s head on fire rushes to a lake – with presents in hand, to a Guru, learned in the Vedas and ever living in Brahman, and serve him – as the following and other Srutis say: “Let him in order to understand this repair with fuel in his hand to a spiritual guide who is learned in the Vedas and lives entirely in Brahman” (Mund. Up. I-2-12).

Sadananda (Translated by Swami Nikhilananda)


NEXT : II- SUPERIMPOSITION:

Continues...