नैव किंचित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।
पश्यञ्श्रृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥५-८॥
प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥५-९॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says: O Arjuna, when a traveler of spiritual path finally conquered five senses, all sense objects became meaningless! A human being gets affected by sense objects as long as we indulged in them. By concentrating our thoughts in centre of two eyebrows (the point behind which laid Sahasra Pushpa… thousand petalled Lotus) when one perceived through inner eyes the breathing process, one slowly established control over breathing (termed pranayama)!
Who needs breathing? What exists is in our heart that needs pure oxygen to survive. By concentrating on inhaling and exhaling of breath, we slowly realized that it was our soul atman, the spirit within existing in our heart that required pure oxygen to survive! It was Jiva (human body)… the manifest physical form which required oxygen to survive. By following inhaling and exhaling process… we slowly reached our soul atman, the consciousness within!
Prana in Hinduism is life energy necessitated for life to survive in cosmos! Apana Vayu was exit air which also was necessary for living beings to survive. To remove everything from body that was not necessary, not required by body… Apana Vayu was necessitated. By maintaining a balance between the two… Prana Vayu and Apana Vayu, human beings reached source of all life on mother earth… our soul atman, the consciousness within!
As per Lord Krishna… a spiritual traveler who succeeds in establishing absolute control over five senses and mind… one who succeeds in maintaining inner calm, inner peace by travelling path of absolute truthfulness… such a one whose buddhi (intellect) was under control finally reaches stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana). Once indulging in thoughts of God Almighty all the time finally becomes free of all attachments of manifest earthly life.
One who was free of desires and Krodha (extreme anger) finally overcomes fear of death forever. For a Brahma jnani… death was but a medium for our soul atman, the spirit within to change a new life form! On spiritual level, death was just like changing of guards at Buckingham Palace… nothing more! After death of present body… our soul atman, the spirit within changes a new life form based on residual balance of karma of that moment.
Overcoming fear of death forever, such a traveler of spirituality after gaining enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) finally achieved salvation moksha in present life! Even while maintaining a body… one reached level of Mukti (liberation). When someone asked Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa even after gaining enlightenment, why he was so keen to prepare food for all, all the time… his simple reply was, just to keep, maintain the body!
In absence of dross impurities within… our soul atman, the spirit within would immediately shed body and gain liberation from cycle of birth and death forever.
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verses 27 – 28 Lord Krishna enumerates various factors that result in human beings reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha forever. As per Lord Krishna… the journey of spirituality was not too difficult to practice! When human beings concentrated on God Almighty all the time, he never got affected by five senses… sense objects that were cause of physical manifest life on mother earth.
In absence of five senses and mind… human life carried no meaning on mother earth! But for a traveler of spiritual path, overpowering senses and sense objects was necessitated to reach God in present life. By concentrated efforts of our buddhi (intellect) one can concentrate ones inner eyes in between the eyebrows. In the centre portion of eyebrows, behind its back lay essence of entire human life… Sahasra Pushpa (thousand petalled Lotus) opening of which resulted in human beings reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever!
Lying in shavasna pose of yoga, any spiritual traveler can easily concentrate through inner eyes on spot situated in between the eyebrows! While remaining in this position… one must divert all attention to inhaling and exhaling process. Who needs pure oxygen to survive? What is it that exists in our heart that needs pure oxygen? While rhythmically inhaling and exhaling, one slowly realized the focal point of human life. Within our heart was our soul atman, consciousness within which in order to survive as a physical manifest form needs pure oxygen!
We also realized that cutting across all shackles of karma, establishing absolute control over five senses and mind if we reached our soul atman, the spirit within… the spiritual journey for a seeker of God finally came to an end. Realizing our true inner self… realizing our soul atman, the spirit within was essence of cosmic life. Concentrating on Prana Vayu and Apana Vayu… human beings slowly but steadily reached their soul atman, the spirit within! Practicing pranayama was an absolute must to reach our soul atman, the spirit within residing in our heart!
Lord Krishna again confirms that unless one established total control over five senses and mind, one could never reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)… no matter what! By travelling path of truthfulness always and ever human beings made peace with Chitta (inner consciousness) which eventually facilitated our establishing absolute control over all faculties of mind including senses. When we were pure in our thoughts all the time… our buddhi (intellect) also helped us in reaching cosmic end of life at the earliest.
Mind power was that entity of cosmic system through which human beings finally reached God in their lifetime. Establishing absolute control over mind simply means reaching stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness) when not a single thought entered our brain uninvoked. In the stage between seeker and sought went nothing else existed, one finally became an enlightened one… a bodhi, a Jina… a Mahavira! One who sincerely sought salvation moksha in present life… also reached 8.4 millionth manifestation in present life.
For one desirous of reaching God in present life… control over all desires and wishes was necessitated. As long as we continued indulgence in desires prompted by our ego (Ahamkar in Hinduism)… we never gained much on spiritual platform! Establishing absolute control over desires and wishes meant… demolishing our ego (Aham in Hinduism) forever. In a world dominated by glare of worldly riches… establishing total control over ego initially seems difficult! By practicing patience, persistence and perseverance of the highest order, by exercising willpower possessed by Swami Vivekananda… one finally succeeds in overpowering ego forever!
Krodha (extreme anger) was that element of physical manifest life that marred all achievements of spiritual path particularly practice of absolute celibacy. Sage Vishwamitra, an accomplished saint of his era on sighting a maiden woman taking bath in forlorn circumstances in deep dense jungles (forests) fell from grace… he had to repeat the practice of absolute celibacy all over again! This resulted from his anger which went beyond control. Krodha (anger) can completely destroy ones spiritual pursuit of life! Prompted by his ego (Aham) when Sage Vishwamitra exhibited Krodha (anger)… to teach him a lesson, God manifested form of a Lady!
No matter how best our indulgence in path of spirituality, if we had not yet overpowered Krodha (anger)… all would go to waste! Those exhibiting Krodha (anger) never truly gained anything on spiritual path. Krodha (anger) can only be overcome by practice of forgiveness and absolute faith in God Almighty (termed shraddha in Hinduism). Forgiveness was that principle of life following which human beings world over reached higher brackets of life. For travelling spiritual path… practice of forgiveness was an absolute must! No matter what the fault… path of spirituality demands forgiving one and all forever. Unless and until we were able to forgive one… we would never be able to control Krodha (anger) in entirety.
One who succeeded in establishing absolute control over five senses and mind, prompted by sweet small inner voice of our soul atman that seemed to come from within our heart finally succeeds in overcoming fear of death forever. Absolute control over fear of death comes only when we truly realized that our soul atman, the consciousness within was the absolute master and controller of human body and not vice versa. Contemplating on doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion) as propagated by Adi Shankaracharya when we realized that God Almighty was the only truth of life… all forms of life including human form carried no meaning for us! We finally realize that even human form was just a means for our soul atman, the spirit within to cleanse self of dross impurities within forever!
Unless a soul atman manifested a body… it could not cleanse self of dross impurities within! Similar as to extract one KG of pure gold from a lump of hundred KG of gold ore, we need requisite mining machinery and processes… for a soul atman to regain its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form, it requires manifesting a maximum of 8.4 million bodies to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! This process of purification by a soul atman required an earthly journey of approximately 96.4 million years of which 1.1 million manifestations occurred in human form. Human beings reaching stage of enlightenment was no ordinary job. It was through a chain of 1.1 million manifestations in human form, a soul atman finally liberated self from cycle of birth and death forever! Death truly was a temporary phase in the life cycle of a soul atman, the consciousness within!
Travelling spiritual path and reaching God in present life is truly noble indeed. By travelling path of jnana yoga (Sankhya yoga… absolute wisdom) when human beings finally gained enlightenment in their lifetime… it was termed stage of Mukti (liberation). The moment an enlightened one left mortal frame… one achieved salvation moksha forever. The liberated soul atman thus entered abode of God, kingdom of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism)… a point of no return!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 30, 2013
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