Abhidarmakosha.

 Abhidharmakosha, also called Abhidharmakosha-shastra (Sanskrit: “Treasury of Higher Law”),

Its author, Vasubandhu, who lived in the 4th or 5th century in the northwestern part of India, wrote the work while he was still a monk of the Sarvastivada (Doctrine That All Is Real) order, before he embraced Mahayana, on whose texts he was later to write a number of commentaries. As a Sarvastivada work the Abhidharmakosha is one of few surviving treatments of scholasticism not written in Pali and not produced by Theravadins, who follow the Pali canon. The product of both great erudition and considerable independence of thought, the Abhidharmakosha authoritatively completed the systematization of Sarvastivada doctrine.

Translated into Chinese within a century or two of its creation, the Abhidharmakosha has been used in China, Japan, and Tibet both as a standard introduction to Hinayana Buddhism and as a great authority in matters of doctrine. In China it provided the basis for the Abhidharma (Chinese Chü-she; Japanese Kusha) sect. The work has inspired numerous commentaries. It also provides scholars with a unique amount of information on the doctrinal differences between ancient Buddhist schools.

The text is composed of 600 stanzas of poetry plus the equivalent of 8,000 stanzas of prose commentary supplied by the author himself. As an introduction to the seven Abhidharma treatises in the Sarvastivada canon and a systematic digest of their contents, the Abhidharmakosha deals with a wide range of philosophical, cosmological, ethical, and salvational doctrine.

viveka

The Vivekachudamani is a collection of poetical couplets authored by Shankara around the eighth century. The philosophical school this compilation attempts to expose is called ‘Advaita Vedanta’, or non-dualism, one of the classical orthodox philosophies of Hinduism. The book teaches Viveka: discrimination between the real and the unreal.

 जन्तूनां नरजन्म दुर्लभमतः पुंस्त्वं ततो विप्रता

तस्माद्वैदिकधर्ममार्गपरता विद्वत्त्वमस्मात्परम् ।
आत्मानात्मविवेचनं स्वनुभवो ब्रह्मात्मना संस्थितिः
मुक्तिर्नो शतजन्मकोटिसुकृतैः पुण्यैर्विना लभ्यते ॥ २ ॥

jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabhamataḥ puṃstvaṃ tato vipratā
tasmādvaidikadharmamārgaparatā vidvattvamasmātparam |
ātmānātmavivecanaṃ svanubhavo brahmātmanā saṃsthitiḥ
muktirno śatajanmakoṭisukṛtaiḥ puṇyairvinā labhyate || 2 ||

2. For all beings a human birth is difficult to obtain, more so is a male body; rarer than that is Brahmin-hood; rarer still is the attachment to the path of Vedic religion; higher than this is erudition in the scriptures; discrimination between the Self and not-Self, Realisation, and continuing in a state of identity with Brahman – these come next in order. (This kind of) Mukti (Liberation) is not to be attained except through the well-earned merits of a hundred crore of births.

दुर्लभं त्रयमेवैतद्देवानुग्रहहेतुकम् ।
मनुष्यत्वं मुमुक्षुत्वं महापुरुषसंश्रयः ॥ ३ ॥

durlabhaṃ trayamevaitaddevānugrahahetukam |
manuṣyatvaṃ mumukṣutvaṃ mahāpuruṣasaṃśrayaḥ || 3 ||

3. There are three things which are rare indeed and are due to the grace of God –namely, a human birth, the longing for Liberation, and the protecting care of a perfected sage.

अमृतत्वस्य नाशास्ति वित्तेनेत्येव हि श्रुतिः ।
ब्रवीति कर्मणो मुक्तेरहेतुत्वं स्फुटं यतः ॥ ७ ॥

amṛtatvasya nāśāsti vittenetyeva hi śrutiḥ |
bravīti karmaṇo mukterahetutvaṃ sphuṭaṃ yataḥ || 7 ||

7. There is no hope of immortality by means of riches – such indeed is the declaration of the Vedas. Hence it is clear that works cannot be the cause of Liberation.

 

शास्त्रस्य गुरुवाक्यस्य सत्यबुद्ध्यवधारणम् ।
सा श्रद्धा कथिता सद्भिर्यया वस्तूपलभ्यते ॥ २५ ॥

śāstrasya guruvākyasya satyabuddhyavadhāraṇam |
sā śraddhā kathitā sadbhiryayā vastūpalabhyate || 25 ||

25. Acceptance by firm judgment as true of what the Scriptures and the Guru instruct, is called by sages Śraddhā or faith, by means of which the Reality is perceived.

सर्वदा स्थापनं बुद्धेः शुद्धे ब्रह्मणि सर्वदा ।
तत्समाधानमित्युक्तं न तु चित्तस्य लालनम् ॥ २६ ॥

sarvadā sthāpanaṃ buddheḥ śuddhe brahmaṇi sarvadā |
tatsamādhānamityuktaṃ na tu cittasya lālanam || 26 ||

26. Not the mere indulgence of thought (in curiosity) but the constant concentration of the intellect (or the affirming faculty) on the ever-pure Brahman, is what is called Samādhāna or self-settledness.

मोक्षकारणसामग्र्यां भक्तिरेव गरीयसी ।
स्वस्वरूपानुसन्धानं भक्तिरित्यभिधीयते ॥ ३१ ॥

mokṣakāraṇasāmagryāṃ bhaktireva garīyasī |
svasvarūpānusandhānaṃ bhaktirityabhidhīyate || 31 ||

31. Among things conducive to Liberation, devotion (Bhakti) holds the supreme place. The seeking after one’s real nature is designated as devotion.

ब्रह्मानन्दरसानुभूतिकलितैः पूर्तैः सुशीतैर्युतैः
युष्मद्वाक्कलशोज्झितैः श्रुतिसुखैर्वाक्यामृतैः सेचय ।
संतप्तं भवतापदावदहनज्वालाभिरेनं प्रभो
धन्यास्ते भवदीक्षणक्षणगतेः पात्रीकृताः स्वीकृताः ॥ ३९ ॥

brahmānandarasānubhūtikalitaiḥ pūrtaiḥ suśītairyutaiḥ
yuṣmadvākkalaśojjhitaiḥ śrutisukhairvākyāmṛtaiḥ secaya |
saṃtaptaṃ bhavatāpadāvadahanajvālābhirenaṃ prabho
dhanyāste bhavadīkṣaṇakṣaṇagateḥ pātrīkṛtāḥ svīkṛtāḥ || 39 ||

39. O Lord, with thy nectar-like speech, sweetened by the enjoyment of the elixir-like bliss of Brahman, pure, cooling to a degree, issuing in streams from thy lips as from a pitcher, and delightful to the ear – do thou sprinkle me who am tormented by worldly afflictions as by the tongues of a forest-fire. Blessed are those on whom even a passing glance of thine eye lights, accepting them as thine own.

श्रद्धाभक्तिध्यानयोगाम्मुमुक्षोः
मुक्तेर्हेतून्वक्ति साक्षाच्छ्रुतेर्गीः ।
यो वा एतेष्वेव तिष्ठत्यमुष्य
मोक्षोऽविद्याकल्पिताद्देहबन्धात् ॥ ४६ ॥

śraddhābhaktidhyānayogāmmumukṣoḥ
mukterhetūnvakti sākṣācchrutergīḥ |
yo vā eteṣveva tiṣṭhatyamuṣya
mokṣo'vidyākalpitāddehabandhāt || 46 ||

46. Faith (Śraddhā), devotion and the Yoga of meditation – these are mentioned by the Śruti as the immediate factors of Liberation in the case of a seeker; whoever abides in these gets Liberation from the bondage of the body, which is the conjuring of Ignorance.

अविद्याकामकर्मादिपाशबन्धं विमोचितुम् ।
कः शक्नुयाद्विनात्मानं कल्पकोटिशतैरपि ॥ ५५ ॥

avidyākāmakarmādipāśabandhaṃ vimocitum |
kaḥ śaknuyādvinātmānaṃ kalpakoṭiśatairapi || 55 ||

55. Who but one’s own self can get rid of the bondage caused by the fetters of Ignorance, desire, action and the like, aye, even in a hundred crore of cycles?

अविज्ञाते परे तत्त्वे शास्त्राधीतिस्तु निष्फला ।
विज्ञातेऽपि परे तत्त्वे शास्त्राधीतिस्तु निष्फला ॥ ५९ ॥

avijñāte pare tattve śāstrādhītistu niṣphalā |
vijñāte'pi pare tattve śāstrādhītistu niṣphalā || 59 ||

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

शृणुष्वावहितो विद्वन्यन्मया समुदीर्यते ।
तदेतच्छ्रवणात्सद्यो भवबन्धाद्विमोक्ष्यसे ॥ ६८ ॥

śṛṇuṣvāvahito vidvanyanmayā samudīryate |
tadetacchravaṇātsadyo bhavabandhādvimokṣyase || 68 ||

68. Listen attentively, O learned one, to what I am going to say. By listening to it thou shalt be instantly free from the bondage of Samsāra.

मोक्षस्य हेतुः प्रथमो निगद्यते
वैराग्यमत्यन्तमनित्यवस्तुषु ।
ततः शमश्चापि दमस्तितिक्षा
न्यासः प्रसक्ताखिलकर्मणां भृशम् ॥ ६९ ॥

mokṣasya hetuḥ prathamo nigadyate
vairāgyamatyantamanityavastuṣu |
tataḥ śamaścāpi damastitikṣā
nyāsaḥ prasaktākhilakarmaṇāṃ bhṛśam || 69 ||

69. The first step to Liberation is the extreme aversion to all perishable things, then follow calmness, self-control, forbearance, and the utter relinquishment of all work enjoined in the Scriptures.

 विषयाशामहापाशाद्यो विमुक्तः सुदुस्त्यजात् ।

स एव कल्पते मुक्त्यै नान्यः षट्शास्त्रवेद्यपि ॥ ७८ ॥

viṣayāśāmahāpāśādyo vimuktaḥ sudustyajāt |
sa eva kalpate muktyai nānyaḥ ṣaṭśāstravedyapi || 78 ||

78. He who is free from the terrible fetters of the hankering for the sense-objects, so very difficult to get rid of, is alone fit for Liberation, and none else – even though he be versed in all the six Śastras.

मोहं जहि महामृत्युं देहदारसुतादिषु ।
यं जित्वा मुनयो यान्ति तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम् ॥ ८६ ॥

mohaṃ jahi mahāmṛtyuṃ dehadārasutādiṣu |
yaṃ jitvā munayo yānti tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam || 86 ||

86. Conquer the dire death of infatuation over thy body, wife, children etc., -- conquering which the sages reaches that Supreme State of Vishnu.

स्थूलस्य संभवजरामरणानि धर्माः
स्थौल्यादयो बहुविधाः शिशुताद्यवस्थाः ।
वर्णाश्रमादिनियमा बहुधामयाः स्युः
पूजावमानबहुमानमुखा विशेषाः ॥ ९१ ॥

sthūlasya saṃbhavajarāmaraṇāni dharmāḥ
sthaulyādayo bahuvidhāḥ śiśutādyavasthāḥ |
varṇāśramādiniyamā bahudhāmayāḥ syuḥ
pūjāvamānabahumānamukhā viśeṣāḥ || 91 ||

91. Birth, decay and death are the various characteristics of the gross body, as also stoutness etc., childhood etc., are its different conditions; it has got various restrictions regarding castes and orders of life; it is subject to various diseases, and meets with different kinds of treatment, such as worship, insult and high honours. 

to be continued.

GTU

 kṛiṣhṇa eva paro devas taṁ dhyāyet taṁ rasayet taṁ yajet taṁ bhajed

(Gopāl Tāpani Upaniṣhad)

“Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord. Meditate upon Him, relish the bliss of His devotion, and worship Him.” 

yo ’sau paraṁ brahma gopālaḥ
(Gopāl Tāpani Upaniṣhad) 

यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तम: |

अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथित: पुरुषोत्तम: || 18||

yasmāt kṣharam atīto ’ham akṣharād api chottamaḥ

ato ’smi loke vede cha prathitaḥ puruṣhottamaḥ

yasmāt—hence; kṣharam—to the perishable; atītaḥ—transcendental; aham—I; akṣharāt—to the imperishable; api—even; cha—and; uttamaḥ—transcendental; ataḥ—therefore; asmi—I am; loke—in the world; vede—in the Vedas; cha—and; prathitaḥ—celebrated; puruṣha-uttamaḥ—as the Supreme Divine Personality

Translation

BG 15.18: I am transcendental to the perishable world of matter, and even to the imperishable soul; hence I am celebrated, both in the Vedas and the Smṛitis, as the Supreme Divine Personality.

Commentary

So far in this chapter, Shree Krishna has detailed that His opulence is the source of all the magnificence in nature, and in creating the visible universe he does not deplete Himself. In this verse, He has called Himself Puruṣhottam, the Divine Supreme Person who transcends over the material world, which includes both kṣhar the perishable and akṣhar the imperishable divine souls.

Does that mean the Puruṣhottam He has referred to and Lord Shree Krishna Himself are two different entities? To eliminate any such doubts, in this verse, while referring to Himself Shree Krishna has used the term aham (I), which is first person singular. He also said that the Vedas and the Smritis have described Him similarly:

kṛiṣhṇa eva paro devas taṁ dhyāyet taṁ rasayet taṁ yajet taṁ bhajed

(Gopāl Tāpani Upaniṣhad)

“Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord. Meditate upon Him, relish the bliss of His devotion, and worship Him.”

yo ’sau paraṁ brahma gopālaḥ

(Gopāl Tāpani Upaniṣhad)

“Gopal (Lord Krishna) is the Supreme Being.”

pavit

 Pavitram means “pure.”  Knowledge of devotion is supremely pure because it is untainted by petty selfishness.  It inspires sacrifice of the self at the altar of divine love for the Supreme Lord.  Bhakti also purifies the devotee by destroying pāp, bīja, and avidyā.  Pāp is the stockpile of past sins of endless lifetimes of the individual soul.  Bhakti burns them up as a fire burns up a bundle of straw.  Bīja refers to impurities of the heart, which are the seeds of sinful activities.  If the seeds exist, then destroying the results of past sins will not suffice, for the propensity to sin will remain in the heart and one will sin again.  Bhakti purifies the heart and destroys the seeds of sin, which are lust, anger, and greed.  However, even the destruction of the seeds is not enough.  The reason why the heart becomes impure is that there is avidyā (ignorance), because of which we identify with the body.  Because of this misidentification, we think of the body as the self, and hence create bodily desires thinking they will give happiness to the self.  Fulfillment of such material desires further leads to lust, anger, greed, and all the other impurities of the heart.  As long as the ignorance remains, even if the heart is cleansed, it will again become impure.  Devotion ultimately results in realized knowledge of the soul and God, which in turn destroys the ignorance of material existence.  The benefits of bhakti are described in the Bhakti Rasāmṛit Sindhu as follows:  kleśhas tu pāpaṁ tadbījam avidyā cheti te tridhā  (1.1.18)  “Bhakti destroys the three poisons—pāp (sins), bīja (the seed of sins), avidyā (the ignorance in the heart).”  Only when the three are completely destroyed, does the heart become truly and permanently pure. 

analysis BG

 The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the major scriptures of Hinduism. Originally written in Sanskrit, it is part of the larger Hindu epic, Mahabharata, which tells the story of the Kurukshetra War, a real conflict which historians believe occurred somewhere between 1000 and 700 BCE. But the Gita’s tone is quite different than the rest of the epic—instead of a the details of an outside war, its focus is instead on the inward war for self-mastery and spiritual fulfillment.

The Gita is told as a conversation between a prince, Arjuna, and his military counselor, Lord Krishna, who also happens to be a Hindu deity. Krishna is believed to have been the eighth incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu, and is worshipped as a god in his own right. Through their conversation, Krishna teaches Arjuna about topics such as Dharma and Karma, which would form much of the basis of both Hindu and Buddhist thought. He also teaches Arjuna about humanity’s true nature and the path and practices required to attain it.

Analysis

Like my analysis of the Bible, I wanted to analyze the words used in the Bhagavad Gita to see if we could gain some insight into its key themes. I found an English translation by Ramanand Prasad, and  used a tool from www.writewords.org to count the occurrences of each word. I then filtered out common and less meaningful words—mostly pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners.

From here, I began to visualize the data in Tableau, starting with the top 10 words (you can find the full visualization).

The book as a whole has 9,839 words after filtering out the list of common words (including common words, it has 20,826). The top word is “Arjuna”, appearing 175 times, followed “Supreme” at 143, and “Knowledge” at 118. From this top ten list alone, we can confirm the fact that Arjuna and Lord Krishna are the main characters. Also, assuming the characters regularly address each other by name, we can also infer that Krishna does most of the talking since “Arjuna” is the number 1 word and “Krishna” is number 9. Additionally, we can get a very good feel for the major themes of the scripture—Knowledge, Mind, Self, Spirit, Nature, Being.

There are many interesting words in Bhagavad Gita. Some people study it devotedly without understanding the meaning. Some people read it with the help of commentaries. Whatever you do it is useful in one way or other. But if you do word study in Bhagavad Gita and do your own research regarding those words you can retain them in memory. It will lead you towards better understanding. For instance if you look for these words in Marathi or Telugu or Hindi Bhakti literature you will definitely get some good cross references. I have done so with Tamil Bhakti literature just for some words.

1.Jnana Agni =Fire of Knowledge= fire of wisdom 4-19

“He whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and selfish puposes, and whose actions have been burn by the Fire of Knowledge, --him the wise call a sage”.(4-19)

 

2.Jnana Chakshu= Eye of Wisdom (15-10)

The deluded do not see Him who departs, stays and enjoys; but those who possess the Eye of Wisdom behold Him (15-10)

 

 

3.Jnana Tapasa = Austerity of Wisdom (4-10)

“Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the austerity of wisdom, many have attained to My Being”. (4-10)

 

 

4.Jnana Dipena=  Lamp of Wisdom (10-11)

“Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their Self, destroy the darkness born out of ignorance by the luminous Lamp of Wisdom” (10-11)

5.Jnana Plavena = Boat of Wisdom (4-36)

“Even if thou art the most sinful of all the sinners, yet thou shalt verily cross all sins by the Boat of Wisdom” (4-36)

Tamil saint Appar alias Tirunavukkarasu of seventh century AD also used a simile like this:

He is Narayanan; He is Brahma

He is in the four Vedas;

He is the perfect one

Who is like a ship on the great ocean of wisdom  - 78, 6th Tirumurai

 

 

6.Jnana Yoga= Path of Knowledge (3-3)

“In this world there is a twofold path, as I said before, O Sinless one, -- the Path of Knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogis” (3-3)

7.Jnana Yajna= Wisdom Sacrifice (4-33, 9-15, 18-70)

“Superior is Wisdom –Sacrifice to the sacrifice with objects, O,Parantapa! All actions in their entirety, O,Arjuna, culminate in wisd0m” (4-33)

 

Tamil devotional poets kept this beautiful Sanskrit word Jnana intact wherever they used divine knowledge or wisdom. They did not translate it in to Tamil. Like Dharma, it is an untranslatable word.

 

Bhuthathalvar, one of the 12 Vaishnavite saints used Lamp of Wisdom in his hymns. Tirumular, one of the 18 Tamil Siddhas (enlightened souls) used Sword of Wisdom. Sambandar ,one of the Four Great Saivite saints, used the word Flame of Widom in his Thevaram hymns. Bharati, the greatest of the modern Tamil poets, used the word Sword of Wisdom in his poems. There are hundreds of places where they used this Jnana with other words as similes or metaphors.

avashaha.

 bhootagraamaha sa evaayam bhootvaa bhootvaa praleeyate |

raatryaagamevashaha paartha prabhavatyaharaagame || 19 ||
 
That (same) collection of beings, which was created repeatedly, helplessly dissolves during the night, O Paartha, and is (again) created during the day.
 
bhootagraamaha : community of beings
saha : that
eva : only
ayam : this
bhootvaa : having been created repeatedly
praleeyate : dissolves
raatryaagame : during the night
avashaha : helplessly
paartha : O Paartha
prabhavati : created
aharaagame : during the day
 
Previously, we learned about the process of cosmic creation, where all the living and non-living beings in the universe become manifest at the beginning of the day of Brahma. Now, Shri Krishna elaborates on the dissolution aspect. He says that all those beings go into an unmanifest or “frozen” state during the night of Lord Brahma. The very same beings become manifest or “un-frozen” again, when the day of Lord Brahma begins.
 
As we saw earlier, nothing is ever created or destroyed. The very same set of beings becomes manifest and unmanifest. The total number of “beings” in the universe remains the same. Those who die are “born” into a different form. Forms change but the total amount of universal “stuff” remains the same. It is said that there are 8.4 million species, which are nothing but forms. The movie ends, the reel is rewound, and it begins all over again, on and on, without any end in sight.
 
Now, here is one word in this shloka that deserves further attention. It is “avashaha” which means helplessly. Shri Krishna says that all beings, even if they are plants, animals, minerals or humans are helplessly stuck in this wheel of birth and rebirth, otherwise known as the wheel of samsaara. If they do not actively pursue a spiritual path, whatever that path may be, they will never come out of this cycle.
 

Four forms of pralayas or dissolution are enumerated in the Vedas.

Nitya Pralaya: Every night, when we fall into a deep sleep, our consciousness goes through dissolution daily.

Naimittik Pralaya: At the end of Brahma’s day, all the abodes up to the Mahar Lok dissolute, and all the souls residing there become unmanifest. They remain in a state of suspended animation in the body of Vishnu, waiting for the next cycle of creation. When Brahma creates these lokas again, these souls are reborn based on their past karmas.

Mahā Pralaya: At the end of Brahma’s life, this entire universe goes into dissolution. Again, all the souls of the universe unmanifest and stay in the body of Maha Vishnu. Their gross (sthūl) and subtle (sūkṣhma) body dissolve, but their causal body (kāraṇ sharīr) stays. In the next cycle of creation, these souls are reborn based on their past karmas and past sanskārs, which the soul’s causal body stores and carries with it.

Ātyantik Pralaya: This is the dissolution from the clutches of maya that has been binding the soul since eternity. It takes place when the soul finally attains God and is liberated forever from the cycle of birth and death.

dukha-samyoga-viyogam

 Lord Krishna is revealing the superior meditation wherein as a result of dedicated effort one completely immerses their mind in the delight of spiritual transcendence, wherein as the mind perceiving the atma or soul receives the greatest satisfaction and contentment realising there is nothing else to be desired for, wherein the consciousness experiences that sublime and ineffable bliss beyond the scope of the senses to comprehend, wherein once established one never for a moment has the desire to relinquish the exquisite bliss experienced, wherein perfection of meditation is even once achieved one desires nothing else even in the times of not meditating, and wherein once established whether immersed in meditation or on the way to perfection one does not become shaken by adversity or disturbed by afflictions even as grave and devastating as the premature death of a beloved family member, One should learn this superior meditation which severs all connection with sorrow and misery. Knowing the intrinsic nature of meditation to be thus one should perform meditation with full trust and faith, free from all doubts with the mind happy and content.

tam—that; vidyāt—you should know; duḥkha-sanyoga-viyogam—state of severance from union with misery; yoga-saṁjñitam—is known as yog; saḥ—that; niśhchayena—resolutely; yoktavyaḥ—should be practiced; yogaḥ—yog; anirviṇṇa-chetasā—with an undeviating mind.