Advice to Sannyasins–Part 1
Swami Sivananda Saraswati
There are various kinds of vrittis–some painful, some pleasant. To destroy these vrittis Patanjali Maharshi suggests abhyasa and vairagya, by which all the vrittis subside and you enter into samadhi.
The same thing is said by the Lord in the Bhagavad Gita also. Arjuna questions the Lord regarding the impetuosity of the mind. Just as it is difficult to catch hold of the wind with a pair of tongs, so also it is difficult to control the mind. Lord Krishna says: “Control this impetuous mind through abhyasa and vairagya.” Vairagya is the most essential factor, indifference to enjoyments herein and hereafter. Through dosha drishti, you can develop vairagya. The mind is filled with sensual samskaras. It is very difficult to wean the mind from the objects. The method is to remember the description of the world given by the Lord in the Gita: this, world is impermanent, full of sufferings, the abode of sorrow. All the sensual pleasures appear to be pleasant in the beginning, but in the end they are like poison.
Remember the Vairagya Dindima of Sri Shankaracharya: “Lust, anger and greed are the thieves lurking in the mind; the jewel of wisdom is plundered by these dacoits. Therefore, wake up, O man of this samsara! Wake up; life is waning; you are caught up in this wheel of samsara. You are roasted by various kinds of anxieties and expectations. You do not realize, but this life is gradually waning away.” Constantly dwell on these thoughts; you will gradually develop vairagya. Study Bhartrihari’s Vairagya Sataka, and the Divine Life Society publications How to Get Vairagya, Vairagya Mala, etc., and the Vairagya Prakarana of the Yogavasishtha.
Cultivation of vichara for sannyasa
A swan splits a mixture of water and milk and rejects the water and drinks the milk alone. Even so, a paramahansa rejects the sensual objects which give pain, abandons this illusory world of names and forms, identifies himself with the undying atman and drinks the nectar of immortality.
Mira Bai deserted her husband; Raja Bhartrihari his wife; Vibhishana his brother, Ravana; Bali his guru, Sukracharya; and Prahlada his father, Hiranyakasipu. You can desert anyone who stands in the way of God-realization. But be careful that your aspiration is genuine and firm. If you have an intense spiritual thirst for God, and if you have a passionate wife to pull you down, what is the earthly use of having such a disastrous partner with intellectual, psychological disparity and discord? You cannot sacrifice your noble ideal just for the sake of pleasing someone. Can you?
Is not a kingdom valuable to be owned? Is not a summer-house or a pleasant garden with sweet-smelling flowers pleasant to live in? Is not the company of young maharanis with tender waists and lotus-like eyes dear as life itself, and very pleasing? Yet wise, dispassionate men like Bhartrihari, Buddha, and Gopichand retired into forests abandoning all these things, considering these as worthless as straw, for realizing the Self which alone can confer immortality infinite bliss and eternal peace.
Tell me now friends! What do you find really in this illusory world? Happiness or pain? Joy or sorrow? Have you understood the illusory nature of this mayic creation? This world is a mere appearance. The mind and the senses are deceiving you at every moment. You have mistaken pain for plea-sure on account of clouded understanding. There is not an iota of happiness in this sense-universe. Abandon this selfish struggle for amassing wealth. March direct to that wire-puller who is moving these toys of flesh–human bodies—who is keeping up this big show, who is behind this show. In Him alone will you find lasting happiness and perennial joy. Merge in Him by practising daily meditation.
During adversities, troubles, extreme difficulties, sickness, etc., a feeling of utter helplessness and of the presence of a mighty mysterious power or hidden governor of this universe, creeps over your being. But such moments do not last for a long time. And they are very few, also. Maya is very powerful. The illusory sensual objects invade the mind and cloud the understanding. But a man of dispassion and discrimination is always vigilant. Maya is afraid to approach him.
Prana or the life-breath is as impermanent as the drop of water on the lotus-leaf which is likely to be thrown by the slightest breeze. It is not certain that the man who is living today will live the next day. Life is as evanescent as a bubble. Try therefore to attain immortality.
There is an internal peace which is not disturbed by external happenings. This is the supreme peace of the soul or atman. He who rests in this peace is able to meet difficulties and troubles with fortitude. He is not upset by adversities, calamities and trying circumstances.
Who is your real father? Search for Him. Who is your real mother? Search for Her. What is death? Why are you attached to the flesh? Be attached to the imperishable atman, the indweller, the immortal friend and well-wisher.
A sannyasin’s analysis of life
Discrimination will tell us that this is a strange world that we live in. This is a very big museum or wonderful show. The flowers and the Himalayan scenery, the Niagara Falls, the sea, the sky are beautiful and charming. But the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, lightnings, thunderstorms, landslides, cyclones, epidemics of influenza and plague are awful and threatening. A beautiful wife is very charming; she is very sweet when she is young, when she smiles, when, she puts on a beautiful dress, when she sings, when she plays on the piano or violin, when she dances in the ballroom. But she looks horrible when she loses her temper, when she quarrels with her husband for getting silken clothes and golden necklace, when she suffers from a chronic disease, and when she becomes old.
That which is nothing in the beginning and is so also in the end, necessarily does not exist in the present. Objects are like ordinary illusions though regarded as real. Do vichara. This world is verily like a resting tree for birds. One evening birds meet together on a tree for a night’s stay and the next morning they leave the tree and part from one another and go their away. Even so do men meet for a time as relatives, parents, sons and friends and then disperse. Birth leads to death and death to birth. Thus without rest man wanders forever.
This mysterious world with its charming scenery is very beautiful to look at but it is very dirty to mingle with. All are deceived by Mayic charm. But the sage, the devotee, the yogi and the viveki are not affected.
This very big world is a mere drop or an atom when compared to the infinite Brahman. Just as a straw is floating in the ocean, so also this world is floating in a corner of Brahman, as it were. The mind and the lenses of the eye are deceiving you. They reveal to you an exaggerated picture, just as the microphone exaggerates the sound of a pin-drop into a mighty thunder. This is a kind of jugglery which is understood by people who possess dispassion and discrimination, but not by the worldly-minded.
The kings and lords will pass away. This world will pass away with all its occupants. The sun, moon, and stars will pass away. All joys and sorrows will pass away. The five elements will pass away. Days and nights, months and years and centuries will pass away. Verily the Akshara or the Imperishable Sat-Chit-Ananda Brahman or the Eternal alone will endure forever. Realize this Brahman, thine innermost Self through constant and profound meditation, and become immortal.
The glory of the worldly life passes away quickly. Name and fame are vibrations in the ether. How many doctors, lawyers, judges, collectors and ministers have come and gone! No one speaks of them now.
Ah! how quickly does the glory of the world pass away! Where are the mighty potentates who once wielded their sceptres With vain pomp and glory? Where are those erudite professors, pandits and vidvans who once passed for great men in society? Tell me now, where are all those scholars, multimillionaires, who posed themselves much for their erudition and wealth? Do people talk of them now?
The egoistic man of vanities has grown very old. His body is bent now and he walks with a stick, and yet his anger has not disappeared now. His body is emaciated. The limbs are in a wasted condition. The senses are cold, and yet his egoism has not vanished. His moustache has become grey, and yet the desires have not left him!
A frog which is in the mouth of a serpent and which is about to be devoured, attempts to get hold of nearby insects for its enjoyment. Even so man who is in the jaws of the serpent of time, tries in vain to obtain objects of sense-enjoyments like the frog, and forgets thereby his goal of life and his essential divine nature. How deluded he is!
The pleasure that one derives from the sense objects, is temporary. This temporary pleasure is followed by a painful reaction. That is the reason why vivekins who are endowed with discrimination between the real and the unreal, do not hanker after sensual pleasures. They shun them ruthlessly through dosha-drishti. The pleasure that you get from sensual objects is tantamount to the size of a grain of barley while the pain that you experience in this world, is of the size of a mountain. Life is a lightning-flash of breath. Time is but a thunderclap of death. Live in the atman. You will attain immortality. Go beyond time. You will attain eternity.
Advantages of sannyasa
All sorts of inspired social service must be rendered to the world. It is our duty to join together and work for the solidarity of the world in all directions, educational, physical, mental, cultural, and do more good and bring more peace to the world. Let everybody become a sannyasin at heart, and work for the world. Sannyasa is a mental state, a state of indifference to sensual enjoyments of this world, a state wherein man is trying to melt his mind in its source, the Satchidananda Parabrahman. Mental sannyasin is equally good as the sannyasins who live in Uttar Khand, wearing the orange robe.
But some people who have not the necessary qualifications for sannyasa say that they will give mental gerua, that will color their minds with gerua. But it must be remembered that though there have been cases of people like Gandhi and Malavyaji who were equal to sannyasins of sannyasa order, a sannyasin alone can cut himself off completely from the world
Even today there are many people whose mode of life is comparable to that of sannyasin. There is an old man in Kodakanellur. He gets up at 3 o’clock, goes to Tamraparni for bath, studies Bhagavata, meditates, and he has not seen the sun for several years. Such people lead the life of sannyasins. It is not necessary for them to renounce the world and come to Rishikesh. They can devote their life to study of books and contemplation. But only a sannyasin can cut off all moha for the world. A man in the world will have a touch of moha. To destroy moha completely, one should take sannyasa. Otherwise what is the use of the sannyasa order? Why did this order come into existence? Why did Sri Shankaracharya take sannyasa? There is a purpose. There is a benefit. Sannyasa completely destroys moha. You may have heard about Narayanaswami. He has related his experiences. He says, “I practiced devotion. I attained a certain stage in bhakti, but for completing my evolution, I had to renounce. I found that I could not make any further progress while at home.” This is his experience, and this will be the experience of many others also.
If one’s children are fixed up in life, and his daughters are married, and if he has no dependents, and if he has discharged his duties, it is a great mistake for him to remain in the house. To remain in the house is adharma for him. This is what the shastras say. He may argue that he has become a mental sannyasin. But it is better if he takes up formal sannyasa. His daughters are married, his sons are fixed up in life, and on account of vasanas and moha he does not use this freedom for devotion and meditation and sannyasa, and thinks that he is a mental sannyasin. It is purely because of his vasanas and his moha. So, let us become true sannyasins. Let us develop the true spirit of sannyasa and devote ourselves to study, meditation and selfless service and shine as Shankara, Hastamalaka, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Sanatkumara, and attain self-realization and divine wisdom and radiate peace and wisdom to all people who come in contact with us.
Need for the Nachiketas element
Every one of you should have strength of mind and will through discrimination. He who treats all the objects of this world as straw–that person is the greatest hero. The world is in need of such Nachiketas. The Nachiketas spirit is wanted. Such a man can move the whole world. He is the support for us all; he is the guide; and he can give you solace. Nachiketas had no bank-balance. He was a boy of five years. Lord Yama tempted him, promised him dominions and celestial cars, innumerable years of life; but he was a wise boy, though he was young. The world is in need of such boys of Nachiketas’ type. He shunned everything; “O Lord Yama! Keep these things for yourself. Give me immortality. They will only wear out our energies and the senses will become old. Keep the dance and the cars for yourself; give me immortality. Give me the knowledge of the sreyo-marga, not the preyo-marga—the sreyomarga that leads to immortality, eternal bliss eternal sunshine. Show me that path.” Yama found that the little boy was not an ordinary boy. Then he began to teach him the immortality of the soul, the nature of the soul beyond cause and effect, beyond good and evil, beyond time, space and causation. He found Nachiketas as the proper student, who did not want the earthly objects.
The Maitreyi element for women
We want not only Nachiketas; we want the Maitreyi element in women also. The world is in need of ladies endowed with the Maitreyi element. There was a great jnani in Janaka’s court called Yajnavalkya. He had numberless cows and great wealth When he wanted to enjoy the state of liberation while yet living, the jivanmukti-sukha, he was already a jnani, yet he wanted to retire to the forest. He called his two wives, Katyayani and Maitreyi, and wanted to divide his property between them. Katyayani was a wonderful woman; she was a righteous housewife. By being a righteous housewife, too, you can realize the Self. But Maitreyi was a Bhramavadini. She was endowed with viveka. She was a kevala adwaitin. She asked: “My revered Lord! Even if you give me the wealth of the fourteen worlds can I attain immortality?” That is the real thing! You will have to put that question always, and not be carried away by these little things. She wanted immortality, God-realization. “If all the wealth of the three worlds cannot give me immortality, I do not want them,” she said. We want not only Nachiketases, but Maitreyis, too. Only then the world can be redeemed. We want Gargis, Sulabhas, who had experience of the Self—aparoksha anubhuti. That is the goal of your life.
Do selfless service. Always recite the Lord’s Names as continuously as oil when it is poured from one vessel to another. You may forget it. Again start the practice. Try to realize, wherever you see, it is the atman that you see; understand the vibhuti yoga. Study. Purify your heart. Forget not the goal; attain it right now, this very second.
It is like walking on the razor’s edge; but for an aspirant who is endowed with aspiration, it is very smooth. Approach your elders. Try to find out where there is real happiness. Enquire, “Who am I?” Negate these five sheaths—annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha, anandamaya kosha. These have all a beginning and an end. The atman transcends all the five koshas. That is your real nature. Realize it, through renunciation–sannyasa.
Real sannyasa
Sannyasa is real internal transformation. It is not mere “taking gerua cloth from somebody.” It is not shaving the head, wearing orange-colored robe, bearing kamandalu. Mere taking of sannyasa is no sannyasa: there must be complete transformation in the mind.
Such a transformed mind is wholly free from lust, desires and egoism, raga-dwesha, jealousy and vanity; it is free from outgoing tendencies. It has no attraction for sense objects; it is free from ambitions and planning.
Such a mind which makes for real sannyasa, is always filled with sattwic qualities; it is free from kartri-bhoktri-bhavas. It always moves inwards—it is antarmukha vritti. It has renounced all work with desire; it has relinquished the fruits of all actions; it rests in its own Satchidananda swarupa. This is real sannyasa.
Secret of sannyasa
Immortal divine life cannot be attained without renunciation of the petty sensual life. The secret of renunciation is the renunciation of egoism and desires. Some think that renouncing the family and the material world alone is the real renunciation. But it is not actually so. One should not neglect his own swadharma and responsibility in the name of renunciation. What is wanted is the renunciation of egoism, lust, anger, greed, petty-mindedness, and such other negative qualities that stand in the way of one’s perfection and self-evolution.
To want nothing is indeed the most efficacious way to attain the highest good. If you crave for a thing, you may not get it, and consequently be unhappy. Therefore, renounce the craving for objects.
Renounce the evil vrittis of the mind through regular introspection and by cultivating the opposite positive qualities. You will attain God-realization. Renunciation alone can make you fearless and happy. It is the bestower of eternal peace and immortality.
Who is a sannyasin–I
The life of Jesus shows how a real sannyasin will behave. A sannyasin is a very good and extremely virtuous man. He has no attachment to the world. He may live in the forest or in the city. He will always be thinking of God and of the welfare of other people. He will keep his mind and heart quite pure. He is without anger, without hatred, is truthful and kind. He wants no luxuries but just enough food to keep him alive. He wears very simple dress, He has no family and children and property. Yet he is extremely happy.
He is wise and virtuous. He possesses divine qualities such as mercy, universal love, truthfulness, purity. He has control over his mind and senses.
He is free from anger, lust, greed, pride, jealousy. He loves all. He always prays and meditates. He never does any harm to anybody. People respect and adore him.
Who is a sannyasin–II
A sannyasin has a different angle of vision. He has different eyes. He looks upon everything from an absolutely different point of view. Just as the man who wears green spectacles sees green objects everywhere, so also a jnani sees the atman everywhere through his new eye of wisdom. There is absolutely no personal element in him. He has not a bit of selfish interest. The lower self is completely annihilated. He lives for serving all. He feels the world as his own self. He actually feels that all is himself only. There is not a single thought or feeling for his personal little self. He has cosmic vision and cosmic feeling. Just as the river has joined the ocean, he has joined the ocean of bliss, knowledge and consciousness. He thinks and feels and works for others.
A sannyasin is absolutely free from worries, difficulties, troubles, tribulations, sorrow and anxieties under any circumstance or condition. He is always cheerful and happy. He is not a slave or victim of different moods. He is not moved a bit by sorrow, grief or persecution.
A sannyasin has got all-round development. He has spotless or unblemished character. All sattwic virtues shine in him. He is an embodiment of mercy, sympathy, love, patience, serenity, etc. He has high qualities. The whole nature has been perfectly unfolded. All divine attributes are fully awakened in him.
Qualifications for sannyasa
Do not take sannyasa without the proper qualification and even if you do so without necessary qualification, you should stick to sannyasa and make fresh efforts to make yourself qualified. To revert back to household life after renunciation is deplorable. It is like eating the vomited food or crow’s refuse.
If you make use of the orange robe for leading a comfortable life without exertion, you are the worst sinner. You can have no progress in the spiritual path.
Strive ceaselessly to live in God through japa, kirtan, service of the needy and meditation. Then alone you will be able to conquer time and death.
Become a hero. Conquer the formidable foe, the turbulent mind. Self-conquest is more than many a martyrdom. The inner war against the evil thoughts, evil vasanas, cravings and evil samskaras or impressions is more formidable than the external world war. War against the mind and the senses is indeed more terrible than this outer warfare.
Realize your unity with the human beings, animals, plants and rocks, with all Nature. Mix with all. Unite with all. Cultivate equal vision and universal brotherhood. You will soon attain the summum bonum of life.
Taste the immortal sweetness of the beautiful life in the self within by annihilating the mind. Live in the atman and attain the blessed immortal state. Meditate and reach the deeper depths of eternal life, and eventually attain the full glory of union with the Supreme Self.
The touchstone of sannyasa
Only a sannyasin really knows how to perform selfless actions. Only a sannyasin can do perfect nishkama seva. While remaining as a grihastha, you can attain a very high degree of selflessness; but perfection can be attained only when you renounce everything and become completely desireless and motiveless. The test of renunciation is selflessness; and the test of selflessness is renunciation.
Often people say, “I have mentally renounced everything. I am doing selfless service.” But they are afraid to enter the holy order of sannyasa. Attachments and cravings lurk in the corners of their mind. No doubt they are rendering great service; no doubt in due time they, too, will attain that perfection but it is not possible without complete renunciation, the ideal of a sannyasin.
Sannyasin’s clothes represent highest ideals
The gerua cloth or the orange-colored robe, should put into your mind the ideals of Shankara, of Dakshinamurti. Respect all saints. Reflect over the purpose for which you have taken birth in this world. Is it for a little position, a little bank-balance, a motorcar? Even the whole wealth of the fourteen worlds is nothing when compared to half a grain of vairagya. Nothing will tempt you in this world if you have real vairagya. “He who wears only a kaupina is the happiest man in the world.”
A man of renunciation operates through the purses and banks of the whole world. Maya stands with folded hands to serve that man who has got real dispassion. Dispassion comes from viveka. Dispassion should be born of discrimination. Smasana-vairagya or prasava vairagya will not help one in the spiritual path. Vairagya born of discrimination only will give you real strength. You may have nothing to eat, nobody to help you, yet strength born of discrimination, strength born of regular meditation, will make you bold, fearless and take you to the other shore of fearlessness and immortality. That strength is necessary. Discrimination and dispassion—he who possesses these alone is really the great man of the world. He is the King of kings, and he owns the wealth of the whole world.
Even a little meditation on: “Brahman is real, the world is illusory,” must be ingrained in every cell. The world is unreal. But Maya is tempting. It makes you forget the Reality. The function of Maya consists in making the real appear as unreal and the unreal appear as real. When you begin to meditate, even if you have no success, you must persist. Regularity is of paramount importance. You must have the conviction that you can get nothing from this world. “Pleasures born of contact, indeed, are wombs of pain, Son of Kunti. They have beginning and an end; the wise does not delight in them.” “There is no happiness in this world..” “Pain is inherent in the temporal world.” You must constantly dwell upon the meaning of these statements from the scriptures. Then only will your mind be turned inward.
If Devi’s grace is on us, we can reject the whole world as straw. May the Lord give us this knowledge. “Brahman is real, the world is unreal. The jiva is identical with Brahman.” Mere intellect is nothing. You might have studied and exhausted all the spiritual books of a library, but it is useless without viveka and dispassion. If you have even a little dispassion, a little viveka, all the objects will have no attraction for you. The man of dispassion is happy. He is the Emperor of emperors. Dispassion will come when you have understood the real nature of the Reality. What is your goal? Satchidananda Swarupa! Do not do parrot-like repetition, but actually feel.
Swadhyaya for sannyasins
Do not waste your mental energy by studying Siddhanta Kaumudi and Niyaya-shastra for twelve years. What is the use of becoming a dry pandit without self-realization? A dry pandit is like an ass which carries a load of sandalwood on its back. You may, in order to understand thoroughly the Upanishads and the Vedanta Sutras, study for one year Laghu Kaumudi (Grammar) and Bhandarkar’s Part I and II, or through the elementary books on Logic, like Bhashaparichheda.
Even if you study a little, you must assimilate and absorb it thoroughly. You must meditate and reflect over it again. It must become part and parcel of your life. Take down notes when you study a book on yoga or philosophy. This is a highly useful practice. This will help you in remembering the essential or fundamental matters. This itself is a kind of lower samadhi, as the mind is deeply occupied in sattwic ideas. This will strengthen the spiritual samskaras and check the outgoing tendencies of the mind. The mind will move towards the atman.
Neophytes should remember again and again some important Vedantic texts daily. Then only their doubts will be removed. Then only will they be established on the path. These textual formulae are such as:
“Being only was in the beginning, One without a second.”
“In the beginning all this was the Self, only One.”
“This is the Brahman without cause and without effect, without anything inside or outside, this Self is Brahman perceiving everything.”
“That immortal Brahman is before.”
The Yogavasishtha is a splendid work in jnana yoga. You must study it again and again. Avadhuta Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Ribhu Gita, are excellent books for jnana yoga students. Laghu Vasudeva Manana and Vedantasara are the two books to be placed in the hands of beginners in the study of Vedanta. English translations are available from the Theosophical Society, Adyar, Madras, and the Sri Ramakrishna Mission.
I am very fond of the book Vivekachudamani written by Sri Shankaracharya, that master-exponent of Advaita philosophy. The essence of Vedanta is there. It is a treasure of thought and a fount of inspiration. This is a book for constant study. It is your constant companion in your daily life. The style is simple and flowing. I used to carry the book with me always. It is an ideal book for the beginner and an ideal companion and remembrancer for the advanced students also. Study the Mandukya Upanishad. You will know all about OM and the four states. It is one of the classical Upanishads, and belongs to the Atharva Veda. There are twelve mantras in this Upanishad. Sri Gaudapadacharya, the Paramaguru or the grandpreceptor of Sri Shankara has written karikas on this Upanishad, which are very illuminating and sublime. Without the help of the karikas you cannot have a comprehensive understanding of the mantras, you cannot get a clear insight into the system of thought or philosophy that is propounded in this unique upanishad.
This upanishad does not deal with rituals and upasanas. It does not contain any story or parable or dialogue. It deals with pure philosophy alone, with metaphysical discussion of the Ultimate Reality or Brahman and the method of approach to the truth. It is said in the Muktikopanishad: “The only means by which the final emancipation is attained, is through the Mandukya Upanishad alone, which is enough for the salvation of all aspirants.”
Meditation–the sannyasin’s foremost duty
To meditate is our foremost duty. It is for that we have taken our birth here. To concentrate, to purify, to meditate and realize our essential divine nature is our foremost duty. Realization cuts the knots of avidya, kama and karma and gives us permanent satisfaction and everlasting peace and eternal bliss.
There are various kinds of meditation–saguna dhyana for devotees, nirguna dhyana for Vedantins. There is jyotir-dhyana: “Light of lights, which transcends darkness, which transcends inertia, which is attainable through knowledge, is seated in your heart.” Nowhere will you find this in the Western philosophical books. It is only a realized sage like Lord Krishna that can give the summum bonum of human existence, the essence of all scriptures, in one word: “Light of lights.” What is the nature of Brahman? It is Light of lights. It is seated in the hearts of all. You study Western philosophical books, ten or fifteen volumes, and at the end you will find yourself to be an agnostic. That is the difference between the teachings of Eastern sages and the writings of Western philosophers. That Light of lights which transcends darkness, which transcends the three gunas, is close to you, closer than the jugular vein, closer than your breath. How to obtain this? Through wisdom, through meditation, you will have to obtain this. Every indriya is a light. Ear is a light. Eye is a light. Every sense of perception is a jyotish [light], because through the organs of perception you get knowledge of this world. Each is a light. Intellect is a light. Prana is a light. He who gives light to these–the Light of lights–is your own atman.
If you meditate on this, you will attain jnana and will be established in the supreme Light of lights.
“The sun does not shine there, neither the moon nor the stars, nor the lightnings. Through its light all the objects of this world are illuminated, the senses and mind are illuminated. The mind, intellect and senses borrow their light from the ultimate Source, the fountain-source for everything.” There is another upanishadic verse in which the method of attaining the Self is given. “By truth, by tapas, cosmic consciousness, by constant practice of celibacy you will find it in your own body. Jyotirmayah—Light of lights. Subhrah—bright, self-effulgent—the atman is. It is attained by those who are free from all doshas, who are free from all the thirteen evil vrittis.” Fear is a dosha. Sleep is a dosha. He who has controlled sleep by meditation on the atman, who has stopped the vibration of prana, beholds the Light of lights. The world exists because prana vibrates. Where there is vibration of prana there is life. He who has controlled the prana becomes immortal. He who has conquered sleep attains the Light of lights. He rests in his own atma and enjoys the supreme bliss.
So let us practice meditation, either saguna-dhyana, or nirguna-dhyana or jyotir-dhyana, and become one with the supreme Light of lights, and free ourselves from the trammels of karma and become jivanmuktas and bhagavatas in this very birth, not in the unknown future, but in this very birth.
Intimate advice to the newly-initiated sannyasins
Blessed Sparks of Divinity! Today is a glorious day, for you are reborn in the Spirit. You have emptied yourself of the individual ego and all negative phenomena, and you are filled with the positive truth, the supreme reality. From today you must be completely dead to the delusions of the world and you must live in the grandeur and in the beauty of a glorious life in the Spirit. Realization of the supreme truth is not an easy task. It demands the price of your individuality, your ego, nay, your entire being itself. Be you all real sannyasins, and bring glory and greatness to the sannyasa order. You are dead to the world of the senses, and to your family. You are identical with Brahman. The very color of your orange robe must remind you of your pure inner Self, your essential nature.
Live a life of detachment and renunciation. Ceaselessly strive to realize your Self or atman. Always contemplate on Brahman. Desire for nothing in this world and hereafter. By doing the viraja homa you have sacrificed your body, mind and senses, you have sacrificed your ego and your individual soul. It is the greatest self-sacrifice, the greatest offering, that any man can make. There are only three duties for a sannyasi to perform. To love the whole humanity as his own Self, to do selfless service, and to meditate. Meditation is his duty. Meditation is his food. Meditation is his life.
Not by having a danda, not by shaving the head, not by the dress, is the sannyasin recognized. He who possesses supreme wisdom is a real sannyasin. Shun name and fame. Observe ahimsa, satya, and brahmacharya. Even if you are beaten or kicked or insulted, remain calm. Do not retaliate.
Always meditate on the significance of the Mahavakyas. Do plenty of Pranava japa. You are all-pervading, changeless, eternal atman. Never forget this. Live in atman. Love your atman in all. See your own Self in all beings. Sing Om. Chant Om. Be you all torch-bearers of truth, comer-stones of spiritual edifice, supporting pillars of the Eternal Dharma. Bring glory to your order. Shine like Yajnavalkya, Dattatreya, Shankara and Sadashiva Brahmendra.
Instructions to the newly-initiated sannyasins
Initiated today into the order of sannyasa, all of you are called Swamis. “Swami” means God. So You should possess at least some of the attributes of God. You should manifest divine virtues. Cosmic love, tolerance, service, humility–these virtues you should manifest. You should not hate anyone. You should embrace the whole world. That is sannyasa. The whole world is your body.
Putraishana, vittaishana, lokaishana (desire for progeny, desire for wealth, desire for fame)—all these three “eshanas” you have renounced. The Three “K’s” (kamini, kanchana, kirti—lust gold and fame) you have renounced. It is very difficult to renounce them, but you have taken the vow that you have renounced them, before the fire. You are now ready to serve the whole world. You have burnt all desires. That is the meaning of the gerua, ochre robe. And you have also burnt the body. All the panchakoshas you have burnt—annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manamaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha, anandamaya kosha and only Parabrahman remains in you. You are nitya-shuddha-buddha atman (eternal, pure consciousness)–shantam, shivam, advaitam. This is the significance of sannyasa.
A glutton is not fit for sannyasa. A little you can eat; anything a little excess is dangerous. People hold the sannyasa order in high esteem. They prostrate to you thinking that you are God. At least you must try to possess some of the divine qualities. Anger, hatred, malice should go away, and a feeling of oneness, love and unity must come. This is called sannyasa.
You must pray to God, to Dattatreya, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Shankara, Padmapada, Hastamalaka. We are children of these people. The sannyasin’s life is a glorious life. People honor the sannyasins and offer arghya.
A sannyasi should not fight with the porters or with the coolies or with the kitchen-in-charge. Maya’s center is the kitchen. That is the place where fights and quarrels occur. Never complain, “The In-charge has not given me sugar; he has not given me milk.” You should not come down upon any person. Serenity, devotion, dispassion, discrimination, aspiration, renunciation, meditation, all these you must practice. You must study the Prasthanatraya-Gita, Upanishads and Brahmasutras and live in Brahman.
There is no world for you. In deep sleep there is no world for you. Only when there is mind, there is world. Mind is nothing but a bundle of vasanas and samskaras. If you remove these through meditation, there will be no world. It is the mind that causes bondage. Mind with desires for objects leads to bondage. Mind without these desires is paripoorna, all-blissful. The wealth of the whole world belongs to you if you have renounced all desires. You need not require a check-book. Nature will meet your requirements wherever you go. Materials will come by themselves. You should possess all divine virtues and radiate peace, bliss, brahmic brilliance or tejas. Everyone will then invite you. The whole world is your home. There is no such thing as “stranger.” Everything is Parabrahman. Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Prajnanam Brahma. Satchidananda is Brahman. Brahman means Great, Knowledge, Bliss. Brahman, is paripoorna. If you attain Brahman, you attain everything. Here everything is apoorna.
All devas prostrate before you; you can command nature; you can command elements; the fire burns on account of the tejas of Brahman. Such is the glory of a sannyasi.
You should control anger. You should have cosmic love. You should not commit any himsa. You must maintain perfect ahimsa. That is called sannyasa.
You should not have any attraction for the objects of the world. The atman is the whole. Within that there is a vibration. The world is that vibration. Where is Infinity and where is Asia?. If you think of this, it is grand, Where is Hindustan or Pakistan or Asia or Europe, in Brahman? For a sannyasi there is no Hindustan or Pakistan. The world is a footprint of a calf. You are Infinity. Satyam, jnanam, Anantam Brahma. Here there is a little happiness, but in Brahman there is undecaying bliss which is not mixed with pain, which is everlasting. In the world man is happy for five minutes, and he weeps for the next five minutes. That is the nature of the world. But here everyone is happy. Nobody can imitate the sadhu’s blissful smile.
Everybody must become a sannyasi one day or the other. Everyone is moving towards Brahman. Where is happiness? You should find out. The deep sleep state gives you the clue that you are one with Brahman, but there is a veil of ignorance. Destroy this veil through satsanga, discrimination, dharma-megha samadhi, etc.
Do not become angry under any circumstance. Practice kshama or forgiveness. Even if anger manifests in the mind, do not give expression to it, nor act upon it. Though this is difficult, for a sincere aspirant the grace of the Lord comes and he becomes established in forgiveness.. Remember you have given abhayam (fearlessness) to all beings.
You must share whatever you have. Do not keep any money in the savings bank account. Your pension should not go to your sons, but it must go to the poor people, it must go to the whole world. A sannyasin has no body. He is the atma of all beings. That means he possesses everything. You should feel that you are all-pervading atman. You should assert, “Pure Consciousness is Brahman.” The Teacher says, “Thou art That” one Indwelling Consciousness. Like butter in the milk, like fire in wood, like electricity in the insulated wire, this atman pervades all forms.
Everyone wants unalloyed bliss. Everyone desires to exist for ever. Everyone wants unlimited knowledge. These show that you are in essence Parabrahman. Again and again meditate on this formula. Reduce your thirst for worldly objects. Daily spend some time in meditation. Even if you are a king, you may be beaten and taken away by the enemy armies who are more powerful than yours. You are atma samrat. No dacoit can take away this wealth. “This atman is without form.” You should have the strength born of discrimination. You should have the strength born of atmic-realization, and not the strength born of position or bank-balance or any property.
A little japa, a little meditation, a little study of upanishads, a little control of anger–all these you should practice. Anger will come, but try to control it. Leave the place at once. Gradually you will gain strength. If you control anger and annoyance, you will have plenty of energy. If the anger is controlled, you can move the world. You will have ojas-shakti which is very useful for meditation and awakening kundalini. A man who leads a Brahmic life is not afraid of anything. Let any danger come, what is that for you? It is only attachment that causes fear. “From attachment spring fear and anger.” If anyone disturbs you or takes your things, you get angry because you are attached to conditions and things. He who has controlled bhaya and krodha, is established in equanimity. We should get established in equanimity.
We should have mental strength, moral strength and spiritual strength. A little word makes your blood hot. You must keep quiet if one abuses you. A little wealth, a little position, a little strength, fattens your egoism. Be like the Ujjain saint. If you study Bhagavatam you will find his story. He was driven away by his relatives. People tied his legs and hands, spat on him and mocked at him. But he laughed at them. That is the strength we want. Mental strength is quite different from physical strength. Do japa, kirtan. Meditate that you are infinite bliss, infinite strength. Money gives you a little pleasure but the atman is an embodiment of bliss. You do not want anything. Practice vichara. Do not get angry. If a man beats you, think and feel that you are the atman.
Om bhuh sannyastam maya; Om bhuvah sannyastam maya, Om swah sannyastam maya, om bhurbhuvasswah sannyastam maya: “I have renounced the pleasures of this world, the other world and heaven,” Every day when you take a bath you should recite this mantra. Even the sun trembles before him who repeats this mantra. Do not desire to go to heaven and enjoy the milk of Kamadhenu. All idea of enjoyment in heaven you have given up. You have burnt all desires. Nothing can attract you. Nothing can tempt you. Such is the glory of the sannyasi who has recited this mantra.
Jnanopadesha for sannyasins
Every one of you should resort to high self-discipline. You should do selfless service. Man has a constricted heart. Very few people have a large heart of charitable disposition. Man loves only his brother or sister, and a few friends who will help him when he himself is sick, from whom he can borrow. You do not feel, “The whole world is my family.” You will have to crush this smallness of heart through service, generosity, sattwic thinking, daily study of Yogavasishtha and try to put them into practice. Vedanta is not a philosophy; Raja Yoga is not a theory. It is vital fundamental experience. Raja Yoga is an experience, even as the tasting of the sweetness of the mango is an experience. It is the experience of those who sit for meditation daily, those who get up at 4 o’clock in the morning (Brahmamuhurta). Brahmamuhurta is most favorable for meditation because the mind is filled with sattwa, and the whole atmosphere is charged with sattwa. You have just woken up from deep sleep. Just come down from the experience of the inner being, from the supreme consciousness. That consciousness remains in the mind as “I enjoyed a good sleep.” You were one with the atman, through the veil of avidya or karana-sharira. The mind has not taken the form of the raga-dwesha currents of the world; just at that time get up and saturate the mind with sattwa, by reciting some of the slokas like:
Brahmanandam paramasukhadam kevalam jnanamurtim,
Dwandivatitam gagawasadrisam tattwamasyadilakshyam;
Ekam nityam vimalamachalam sarvadhee sakshibhutam,
Bhavateetam trigunarahitam sat-gurum twam namami.
This is the nature of the Virat. This is your essential nature; never think, “I am weak.” Even if you are clad in rags, even if you have nothing to eat, even if your people have deserted you because you have not got much money, this faith will elevate you. You are the soul, Tat Twam. Asi. Do not be afraid. You are all-powerful soul. These are your clothing. You are immortal.
This is the truth: You are unborn; that which takes birth is only the body. Just as you see a snake in the rope, this world is superimposed on Brahman. This is the vivarta-vada of Sri Shankaracharya. All this is mere appearance.
The Reality behind the names and forms—that is unchanging, that is eternal, that is self-luminous, that is paripurna. These are formulas which give you strength, real strength in times of stress and difficulties.
Advice to sannyasins–1
There are four Mahavakyas or great sentences. They are: Prajnanam brahma, Aham brahmasmi, Tattwamasi, Ayam atma brahma. Prajnanam brahma is Lakshana Vakya: Brahman is Pure Consciousness. The consciousness by which the intellect, mind, prana and the senses function, the consciousness where there is no sankalpa or vikalpa, is Parabrahman. Aham Brahmasmi is the Anusandhana Vakya. I am the all-pervading Brahman, Akasavat Sarvagatah—all-pervading like the ether. A student of Vedanta meditates on this formula, negating the koshas–the annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnananmaya kosha, and anandamaya kosha. He separates himself from these koshas and identifies himself with the Essence, the atman. Just as you take the pith from the munja grass, you take out atman by meditation on the Pranava, OM, and the great sentences (Mahavakyas). You are in essence Satchidananda, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Tattwamasi is the upadesha vakya. The Teacher instructs the disciple, “Thou art That.” The disciple practices meditation on the Mahavakyas and realizes that he is Brahman, Ayam Atma Brahma–this Atman is Brahman. This is Sakshatakara Vakya. Your essential nature is Satchidananda. So do not fight with anybody. Do not ask for tea or coffee. You have no rights, because you are essentially Brahman. You are chinmaya, full of consciousness and bliss.
You have taken the vow to give protection to all creatures. So do not take up a stone and hit monkeys. There is no body for you. Your body has been burnt. That is the significance of the ochre robe. Sannyasa is a sterner stuff. Do not think that sannyasa is meant for getting respect, people will say, “Aiye Swamiji Maharaj.” Even if a man cuts your throat you should say, “I am not this body,” “Soham.” You should remain unperturbed. Any man can do anything for you. He can cut your throat. But you should keep quiet.
You have repeated the mantra: Om Bhuh sannyastam maya. Om Bhuvah sannyastam maya, Om Swah sannyastam maya, Om Bhurbhuvah swah sannyastam maya. It means, “I have renounced the pleasures of the three worlds: Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, and Swarga.” All the devatas now tremble before you. Such is the glory of a sannyasin. According to the government census report there are about fifty lakhs [five million] sannyasins. You, sannyasins, should not be a mere addition to that number. You should be real sannyasins.
Service is your motto. Serve, love, give. When you see an old woman carrying a bundle of fuel with difficulty, at once you must take the bundle and help her. That is sannyasa. Service of the poor and the sick is called sannyasa–not only going to Vrindavan and other places. Do not put anything in the savings bank account. There is no tomorrow for you, no storing for you. God or Prakriti will provide everything for you. You should share whatever you have, physical, mental or spiritual. If you have a cup of milk and if you find a man starving, you must run to him at once and give him that milk. Sannyasa does not mean quoting quotations. Your body and mind are at the disposal of the country. If you find a sick man on the roadside, you should at once lift him and take him to a hospital. You should be ever ready to serve poor people. You should live sharing whatever you have with others, ever meditating, controlling the senses, disciplining the mind and ever resting in your own self, feeling, “Brahman is real, the world is unreal.” But that does not mean that there is no world. It only means that the world is not so real as Brahman. It does not mean that the world does not exist in the three periods of time like the barren woman’s son or the horns of a hare.
You should serve with the constant feeling that you are Brahman, and the whole world is Brahman. You may fall again and again, but rise up again and again and proceed, though with faltering steps. No perishable thing is the atman. “The atman is unborn, eternal, imperishable, ancient. He is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.” You should meditate on this formula. It will give you strength and free you from birth and death and the bonds of karma. You will become a jivanmukta, not in the unknown future, but right now in this very second.
You should feel that the whole world is your body, the whole universe is your body. Do kirtan, japa, and prayer. Serve other people and rest in your own swarupa. You are not this body. You are the supreme being, full of knowledge, full of bliss, full of wisdom. “Happiness is only in the Unconditioned.” It is Satchidananda. That is why everyone should realize the atman, for there alone you will find eternal bliss.
“He who has no mineness, no egoism, no desires, attains peace.” “He who has faith, who ever meditates on the atman and who has controlled all his senses, attains knowledge of the self.” “After attaining knowledge of the Self, he enjoys supreme peace.
The happiness that you get in a dak bungalow is not real. Some thief may steal your things and you may feel sad. Eternal bliss is in your own Self. In deep sleep there is no car, or bungalow; there is no attraction or distraction. You experience bliss because you are nearer the atman. That bliss where there is no object, no play of organs, where mind does not function, intellect does not function–that you should attempt to achieve.
Vasanakshaya, manonasa and tattwa jnana are the three stages. When the vasanas, the vrittis of the mind, are destroyed, the mind is thinned out and then Brahmajnana or knowledge, of the Self dawns. So may you all try to enjoy the atmic bliss within.More Articles on Sannyasa
• A Brief Life of Swami Sivananda
• Advice to Sannyasins–part 1 by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• Advice to Sannyasins–part 2 by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• The Ideal of Sannyasa by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• Sannyasa Dharma by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• Perspective of the Renunciate
by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• Reflections on Sannyasa by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
• The Rugged Path by Swami Sivananda Saraswati
1) Vritti: Thought-wave; mental modification; mental whirlpool; a ripple in the chitta. [Go back]
2) Author of the Yoga Sutras. [Go back]
3) Abhyasa: Sustained spiritual practice. [Go back]
4) Vairagya: Non-attachment, detachment, dispassion, absence of desire, or indifference. Indifference towards and disgust for all worldly things and enjoyments. [Go back]
5) Samadhi: The state of superconsciousness where Absoluteness is experienced attended with all-knowledge and joy; Oneness; here the mind becomes identified with the object of meditation; the meditator and the meditated, thinker and thought become one in perfect absorption of the mind. [Go back]
6) Dosha drishti: Seeing the defects in samsara and samsaric life. [Go back]
7) Samskara: Impression in the mind produced by previous action or experience; prenatal tendency. [Go back]
8) Shankaracharya: The great reformer and re-establisher of Vedic Religion in India around 300 B.C. He is the unparalleled exponent of Advaita (Non-Dual) Vedanta. He also reformed the mode of monastic life and founded (or regenerated) the ancient Swami Order. [Go back]
9) Violent thieves who prey on travellers. [Go back]
10) Samsara: Life through repeated births and deaths; the wheel of birth and death; the process of earthly life. [Go back]
11) Vichara: Enquiry/investigation into the nature of the Self, Brahman or Truth; ever-present reflection on the why and wherefore of things; enquiry into the real meaning of the Mahavakya Tat-twam-asi: Thou art That; discrimination between the Real and the unreal; enquiry of Self. [Go back]
12) Paramhansa: Literally: Supreme Swan, a person of the highest spiritual realization, from the fact that a swan can separate milk from water and is therefore an apt symbol for one who has discarded the unreal for the Real, the darkness for the Light, and mortality for the Immortal, having separated himself fully from all that is not God and joined himself totally to the Divine, becoming a veritable embodiment of Divinity manifested in humanity. [Go back]
13) Atma(n): The individual spirit or self. [Go back]
14) Queens [Go back]
15) Maya: The illusive power of Brahman; the veiling and the projecting power of the universe, the power of Cosmic Illusion. [Go back]
16) Prana: Vital energy; life-breath; life-force. [Go back]
17) Brahman: The Absolute Reality; the Truth proclaimed in the Upanishads; the Supreme Reality that is one and indivisible, infinite, and eternal; all-pervading, changeless Existence; Existence-knowledge-bliss Absolute (Satchidananda); Absolute Consciousness; it is not only all-powerful but all-power itself; not only all-knowing and blissful but all-knowledge and all-bliss itself. [Go back]
18) Akshara: Imperishable; indestructible, immutable, undying–all in reference to the individual self and the Supreme Self, Brahman. It also means syllable and is used in reference to the ekakshara–the one syllable, the One Imperishable: Om. [Go back]
19) Pundit: Scholar; pandita; learned individual.[Go back]
20) Vidvan: An expert all aspects of the Sanskrit language. [Go back]
21) Satchidananda: Existence-knowledge-bliss Absolute; Brahman. [Go back]
22) Parabrahman: Supreme Brahman. [Go back]
23) The Himalayas. [Go back]
24) Moha: Delusion–in relation to something, usually producing delusive attachment or infatuation based on a completely false perception and evaluation of the object. [Go back]
25) Adharma: Unrighteousness; demerit, failure to perform one’s proper duty; unrighteous action; lawlessness; absence of virtue; all that is contrary to righteousness. [Go back]
26) Shastra: Scripture; spiritual treatise. [Go back]
27) Vasana: A bundle or aggregate of similar samskaras. Subtle desire; a tendency created in a person by the doing of an action or by enjoyment; it induces the person to repeat the action or to seek a repetition of the enjoyment; the subtle impression in the mind capable of developing itself into action; it is the cause of birth and experience in general; the impression of actions that remains unconsciously in the mind. [Go back]
28) The central figure of the Katha Upanishad. [Go back]
29) Yama: The Lord of Death, controller of who dies and what happens to them after death. [Go back]
30) Sreyo marga: The path of the good or truly beneficial, as opposed to the path of the merely appealing, pleasant, pleasurable, or that which leads to worldly gain. [Go back]
31) Preyo marga: The path of the pleasing, the pleasant, the pleasurable, or of worldly gain, as opposed to the path of the good or truly beneficial. [Go back]
32) Jnani: A follower of the path of knowledge (jnana); one who has realized–who knows–the Truth (Brahman). [Go back]
33) The happiness of one who is liberated even while living. [Go back]
34) Brahmavadin: Literally “one who walks the path of Brahman.” One who advocates that there is one existence alone–Parabrahman. Brahmavadini is the feminine form of Brahmavadin. [Go back]
35) Viveka: Discrimination between the Real and the unreal, between the Self and the non-Self, between the permanent and the impermanent; right intuitive discrimination; ever-present discrimination between the transient and the permanent. [Go back]
36) Kevala Advaitin: A nondualist intent on the attainment of the state of Kaivalya–liberation. [Go back]
37) Aparoksha anubhuti: The direct, immediate, intuitive experience or perception of the invisible–the realization of Brahman. [Go back]
38) Vibhuti: Manifestations of divine power or glory; might; prosperity; welfare; splendor; exalted rank; greatness; miraculous powers; superhuman power resembling that of God (Ishwara). The quality of all-pervasiveness (omnipresence). [Go back]
39) Kosha: Sheath; bag; scabbard; a sheath enclosing the soul; body. There are five such concentric sheaths or bodies: the sheaths of bliss, intellect, mind, life-force and the physical body–the anandamaya, jnanamaya, manomaya, pranamaya and annamaya bodies respectively. [Go back]
40) Gerua: The brownish orange mud used to dye the clothng of Hindu monastics; the color produced by dyeing with gerua. [Go back]
41) Kamandalu: A water vessel carried by a travelling sannyasi; usually made of a gourd or coconut shell, it may also be earthenware. The kamandalu and staff (danda) are considered the insignia of the sannyasi along with gerua clothing. [Go back]
42) Raga: Attachment/affinity for something, implying a desire for that. This can be emotional (instinctual) or intellectual. It may range from simple liking or preference to intense desire and attraction. Dwesha: Aversion/avoidance for something, implying a dislike for that. This can be emotional (instinctual) or intellectual.It may range from simple nonpreference to intense repulsion, antipathy and even hatred. Raga-dwesha is the continual cycle of desire/aversion like/dislike. [Go back]
43) Sattwic: Partaking of the quality of Sattwa. [Go back]
44) Antarmukha: Literally “inner face”–inward vision or perception. [Go back]
45) Swarupa: “Form of the Self.” Natural–true–form; actual or essential nature; essence. A revelatory appearance that makes clear the true nature of some thing. [Go back]
46) Swadharma: One’s own natural (innate) duty (dharma, based on their karma and samskara. One’s own prescribed duty in life according to the eternal law. [Go back]
47) Japa: Repetition of a mantra. [Go back]
48) Kirtan: Singing the names and praises of God; devotional chanting. [Go back]
49) Selfless service. [Go back]
50) Grihasta: A married “householder.” [Go back]
51) Dakshinamurti: A name for Lord Shiva as the silent teacher. Vedic Religion declares that in every cycle of creation God manifests as Dakshinamurti and becomes the guru of the first human beings–those who were most spiritually evolved in the previous creation–teaching them the path to liberation (moksha). [Go back]
52) In India, “saint” is often used when “sadhu” is meant. Sadhu: Seeker for truth (sat); and person who is practicing spiritual disciplines. Usually this term is applied only to monastics. [Go back]
53) Kaupina: A small strip of cloth used to cover one’s private parts. [Go back]
54) Bhagavad Gita 5:22 [Go back]
55) Devi: Goddess; the Supreme Shakti (Divine Power) or Divine Mother. [Go back]
56) Jiva: Individual spirit. [Go back]
57) Swadhyaya: Introspective self-study or self-analysis leading to self-understanding. Study of spiritual texts. [Go back]
58) Vedanta: Literally, “the end of the Vedas;” the Upanishads; the school of Hindu thought, based primarily on the Upanishads, upholding the doctrine of either pure non-dualism or conditional non-dualism. [Go back]
59) Vedanta Sutras: The Brahma Sutras. A treatise by Vyasa on Vedanta philosophy in the form of aphorisms. [Go back]
60) Chandogya Upanishad VI-2-1 [Go back]
61) Aittariya Aranyaka 114-1 [Go back]
62) Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 11-5-19 [Go back]
63) Mandukya Upanishad II-2-11-7 [Go back]
64) Jnana Yoga: The path of knowledge; meditation through wisdom; constantly and seriously thinking on the true nature of the Self as taught by the upanishads. [Go back]
65) Advaita: Non-duality; literally: “not two.” [Go back]
66) Verses [Go back]
67) Karika: Commentary; treatise. [Go back]
68) Upasana: “Sitting near” or “drawing near;” worship; adoration; contemplation of God or deity; devout meditation. [Go back]
69) Avidya: Ignorance; nescience; unknowing; literally: “to know not.” [Go back]
70) Kama: Desire; passion; lust. [Go back]
71) Karma: The law of action and reaction, the metaphysical equivalent of the principle: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). It is karma operating through the law of cause and effect that binds the jiva or the individual soul to the wheel of birth and death. [Go back]
72) Saguna: With attributes or qualities (gunas). [Go back]
73) Dhyana: Meditation; contemplation. [Go back]
74) Nirguna: Without attributes or qualities (gunas). [Go back]
75) Jyoti: Light; flame; illumination; luminosity; effulgence. [Go back]
76) “He is the Light of lights.” (Bhagavad Gita 13:17) [Go back]
77) Indriya: Organ. The five organs of perception (jnanendriyas) are the ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose. [Go back]
78) Tapas (tapasya): Austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline; spiritual force. Literally it means the generation of heat or energy, but is always used in a symbolic manner, referring to spiritual practice and its effect, especially the roasting of karmic seeds, the burning up of karma. [Go back]
79) Dosha: Defect; imperfection; blemish; fault; shortcoming. In Yoga philosophy there are five doshas: lust (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), and envy (matsarya). [Go back]
80) Jivanmukta: One who is liberated in this present life. [Go back]
81) Bhagavata: A devotee of God (Bhagavan) or Vishnu. [Go back]
82) An intimate talk given by Sri Swami Sivananda, to a batch of newly-initiated sannyasins. It was also tape-recorded. [Go back]
83) Viraja homa: “Universal homa;” the final fire sacrifice done just before taking sannyas in which offerings are made to all living beings in petition for their releasing of the prospective sannyasin from all karmic obligations he might have in relation to them. [Go back]
84) Pranava: A title of Om. It means “Life-ness” or “Life-Giver.” It is the expression or controller of prana–the life force within the individual being and the cosmos. [Go back]
85) Dharma: The righteous way of living, as enjoined by the sacred scriptures and the spiritually illumined; characteristics; virtue. [Go back]
86) A talk given to a group of sannyasins on the day of their initiation into the Order of sannyasa. [Go back]
87) Swami: Literally, “I am mine”–in the sense of absolute self-mastership. It is often used in the sense of “lord” or owner as well as a spiritual guide or authority. God Himself is the ultimate Swami. As a matter of respect it is always used in reference to sannyasis, since they have vowed themselves to pursue the knowledge of the Self, or those considered to be of spiritual advancement. [Go back]
88) Arghya: Offering made in ritualistic worship. [Go back]
89) Paripurna: All-full; self-contained.[Go back]
90) Divine [Go back]
91) Tejas: Radiance; brilliancy (especially spiritual); the element of fire; Agni; heat. [Go back]
92) “Brahman is unending Reality, Knowledge, and Consciousness.” [Go back]
93) Incomplete; lacking. [Go back]
94) Deva: “A shining one,” a god–greater or lesser in the evolutionary hierarchy; a semi-divine or celestial being with great powers, and therefore a “god.” Sometimes called a demi-god. [Go back]
95) Himsa: Injury, violence; killing. [Go back]
96) Ahimsa: Non-injury in thought, word, and deed; non-violence; non-killing; harmlessness. [Go back]
97) Satsanga: Literally: “company with Truth.” Associaton with godly-minded persons. The company of saints and devotees. [Go back]
98) Dharma-megha samadhi: The final state of one-pointedness, when an individual becomes disinterested even in omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. This state of superconsciousness or samadhi is called dharma-megha–cloud of virtue–inasmuch as it showers nectar drops of immortality through knowledge of Brahman, when all the hosts of vasanas are entirely destroyed. [Go back]
99) Kshama: Forgiveness; patience. [Go back]
100) Atmic: Having to do with the atma–spirit or self. [Go back]
101) Ojas: Vitality; luster; splendor; energy; spiritual energy. The highest form of energy in the human body. In the spiritual aspirant who constantly practices continence and purity, other forms of energy are transmuted into ojas and stored in the brain, manifesting as spiritual and intellectual power. [Go back]
102) Shakti: Power; energy; force; the Divine Power of becoming; the apparent dynamic aspect of Eternal Being; the Absolute Power or Cosmic Energy. [Go back]
103) Bhaya: Fear; terror. [Go back]
104) Krodha: Anger, wrath; fury. [Go back]
105) Bhagavatam: Srimad Bhagavatam. A major purana devoted to the gloryand worship of Vishnu and his incarnation as Krishna. The major scripture of the Vaishnavas. [Go back]
106) Kamadhenu: Wishfulfilling cow produced at the churning of the milk ocean. [Go back]
107) Jnanopadesha: Instruction in wisdom (jnana). [Go back]
108) Ashtanga Yoga: The “eight-limbed” Yoga of Patanjali outlined in the Yoga Sutras. [Go back]
109) Brahmamuhurta: “The muhurta of Brahman.” The period of one and a half hours before sunrise (sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.), which is said to be the best time for meditation and worship. Muhurta: A unit of time–a thirtieth part of a day, forty-eight minutes in length. [Go back]
110) Sattwa: Light; purity; reality. [Go back]
111) Karana sharira: The causal body (where the individual rests during sound, deep, dreamless sleep, the intellect, mind and senses being reduced to an unmanifested potential condition), also known as the anandamaya kosha, the “sheath of bliss.” [Go back]
112) “Salutations to the true Guru Who is the embodiment of the Bliss of Brahman and the bestower of supreme happiness, Who is detached, knowledge personified, and beyond duality, who is like the sky, and is indicated by such Vedic dicta as: “Thou art That,” and Who is One, eternal, pure, immovable, the witness of all the changes in the buddhi ‘intellect’, beyond all sates of devoid of the three gunas.” (From the Wishwasara Tantra) [Go back]
113) Virat: The cosmic form of the Self as the cause of the gross world; the all-pervading Spirit in the form of the universe. Note that Sivananda does not equate it with a human guru. [Go back]
114) Tat Twam Asi: “Thou art That;” the Mahavakya from the Chandogya Upanishad. [Go back]
115) Vivarta-vada: Phenomenalism. Vivarta: Illusory appearance; a doctrine of the Nondualistic school of Vedanta philosophy explaining creation as an illusory appearance of the Absolute; apparent variation; illusory manifestation of Brahman; apparent or unreal or seeming change; superimposition; appearance. [Go back]
116) Lakshana: Definition; characteristic; condition; attribute; sign; mark. [Go back]
117) Vakya: Word or statement. [Go back]
118) Sankalpa: Wish; desire; volition; resolution; will; determination; intention. [Go back]
119) Vikalpa: Imagination; mental construct; abstraction; conceptualization; hallucination; distinction; experience; thought; oscillation of the mind. [Go back]
120) Anusandhana: Enquiry or investigation; in Vedanta, enquiry or investigation into the nature of Brahman. [Go back]
121) Upadesha: Spiritual instruction. [Go back]
122) Sakshatakara: Self-realization; direct experience; experience of Absoluteness; Brahmajnana. [Go back]
123) Chinmaya: Full of Consciousness. [Go back]
124) Devas; celestial beings; demigods. [Go back]
125) Prakriti: Causal matter; the fundamental power (shakti) of God from which the entire cosmos is formed; the root base of all elements; undifferentiated matter; the material cause of the world. Also known as Pradhana. [Go back]
126) Vasanakshaya: Annihilation of subtle desires and impressions. [Go back]
127) Manonasa: Destruction of the mind. [Go back]
128) Tattwa jnana: Knowledge of Brahman; same as Brahmajnana. [Go back]
129) Brahmajnana: Direct, transcendental knowledge of Brahman; Self-realization. [Go back]
