Sandeha Nivarini
Bhakta: Namaste (Salutations), Swami!
Swami: Shubhamastu (Bless for Prosperity)!
Bhakta: With Your Grace, everything is Shubham (auspicious); without it, everything is Ashubham (inauspicious).
Swami: Good! Have you understood how the two, Shubham and Ashubham, are based on the one, the Grace? Similarly, in each and everything, two are contained. Well, let that topic stand by. The previous issue brought you a folk poem, a Burrakatha, and turned your brain. As a result of that, in what state is your brain now?
Bhakta: Ah! Details of every topic were so clear and the whole thing completely appeared as a puppet show now. It is all correct. But having known all this, and experienced all this, the mind forgets the lesson and is still deluded by those objects. What mystery is this, Swami?
Swami: Well! The mind is associated with all kinds of activities or Vrittis. It always follows the track of Vasanas or tendencies. This is its nature.
Bhakta: That is as much as to say, we cannot set it right. Then what is the hope? Ultimately, Swami, have we to get immersed in Vasanas and become degraded?
Swami: There is hope, my boy! No need to get immersed and lost. Though it is its nature, it can be changed. Charcoal has as its nature blackening all that it gets mixed with. But, you should not take that as final. When fire enters it, the charcoal becomes red. So too, though the mind is always wandering in the illusion of darkness, when through the Lord’s Grace the fire of Jnana (Wisdom) enters it, its nature changes and the Sathvika (serene, pure) nature pertaining to the Divine, comes into it.
Bhakta: Swami, they speak of something called Antahkarana; what is it?
Swami: The mind too is referred to like that. Karana means Indriyas (senses). Antahkarana means internal Indriyas.
Bhakta: So, are there two types, internal Indriyas and external Indriyas?
Swami: Yes, of course. The external Indriyas are called Karmendriyas; the internal Indriyas are named Jnanendriyas.
Bhakta: Swami, please tell me which are the Karmendriyas and which, the Jnanendriyas.
Swami: Well, all acts done bodily are related to Karmendriyas; they are five in number. Those that receive Jnana from inside are named Jnanendriyas. These are five namely hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. Both these are together called Dashendriyas (the ten organs).
Bhakta: So, what is the work that both these do together? What is the connection between their function and the Manas or mind?
Swami: Well, really, whatever work they do, they can’t achieve anything without the mediation of Manas. The Karmendriyas perform acts in the world and receive Jnana through the acts, and the Jnanendriyas discriminate the good and the bad, and offer them to the Atma, through the Manas. If there is no Mind at all, how can these be transmitted to Atma? When we have to reach the other shore of a flooded river, we rely on the medium of a boat or raft. Similarly, when the Karmendriyas and the Jnanendriyas which are connected with Prakriti desire to attain the Atma that is on the other shore, they have to accept the help of the boat, Manas. Otherwise, they cannot attain it.
Bhakta: If so, then where do these Buddhi (Intellect) and Chittam (Subconscious Mind) reside?
Swami: They too are in this only. The Jnanendriyas and Karmendriyas are both together called Dashendriyas. Of these, four are distinguished and referred to as Antah-chatushtaya, or the Internal Four Indriyas. Those four are Manas, Buddhi, Chittam and Ahamkaram (Egoism).
Bhakta: Very nice. That is to say, all are in the same thing. Life is indeed amusing. But Swami, what is the function of these four?
Swami: Manas grasps the object; Buddhi examines arguments for and against; Chittam understands the reality of the object by means of these; Ahamkaram changes the decision and slackens the hold of Jnana. These are the things they do.
Bhakta: Excuse me, Swami, I am asking only to know, where do these exist in the body?
Swami: I am glad; don’t worry! Manas is in the Kanthamu (throat), Buddhi in the tongue, Chittam in the navel, and Ahamkaram in the heart.
Bhakta: Well! Nice. So, Buddhi and Ahamkaram are in the right places! These are the chief causes of all the world’s miseries and hardships. Then, if we examine it with reference to Your words, it looks as if there will be no miseries and hardships when these two places are made pure!
Swami: You have noticed quite well. Yes, that is right. First, if words are used in a proper manner, that is the proof of Buddhi treading the right path. When Ahamkaram is suppressed and conquered, that is the proof of the heart being pure. Therefore, be very careful as regards these two. Then, even your Manas and Chittam will come to have good Vrittis. Then only will you be free from pain and misery. They can never happen to you then.
Bhakta: So, among all these, who is the “I”? Who is the experiencer of all this?
Swami: You have arrived at the right point. “You” are none among all these! All these exist only so long as the feeling, “This body is mine” exists. They are all associated with some thoughts or Vrittis. The Atma which observes all these Vrittis, that is “You”. The joy and sorrow, the loss and misery, the good and bad of these activities are all related to the body only; and so, they are not yours, they will not be yours. You are the Atma. Until this Truth is realized, you sleep in the delusion of “I” and “Mine”. In that sleep, dreams appear of loss, misery, sorrow, and joy. The dreams persist only until you awake and after you wake up, the fear you had while dreaming, the sorrow and loss you experienced, all disappear and are no longer felt. Similarly, when delusion is thrown off and you “awaken” in Jnana, you will firmly understand that all this is not “you”; that you are the Atma.
Bhakta: Then, Swami, for whose sake do these, the Manas, Buddhi, Chittam, and Ahamkaram, do all this work?
Swami: Not for anyone’s sake! They are engaged for their own sake! The Atma observes everything and its shadow, the Jiva (individual soul), which is deluded by the association of the body-consciousness feels “All actions are Mine” and plays this drama.
VI
Bhakta: Namaste (Salutations), Swami!
Swami: Shubhamastu (Bless for Prosperity)!
Bhakta: With Your Grace, everything is Shubham (auspicious); without it, everything is Ashubham (inauspicious).
Swami: Good! Have you understood how the two, Shubham and Ashubham, are based on the one, the Grace? Similarly, in each and everything, two are contained. Well, let that topic stand by. The previous issue brought you a folk poem, a Burrakatha, and turned your brain. As a result of that, in what state is your brain now?
Bhakta: Ah! Details of every topic were so clear and the whole thing completely appeared as a puppet show now. It is all correct. But having known all this, and experienced all this, the mind forgets the lesson and is still deluded by those objects. What mystery is this, Swami?
Swami: Well! The mind is associated with all kinds of activities or Vrittis. It always follows the track of Vasanas or tendencies. This is its nature.
Bhakta: That is as much as to say, we cannot set it right. Then what is the hope? Ultimately, Swami, have we to get immersed in Vasanas and become degraded?
Swami: There is hope, my boy! No need to get immersed and lost. Though it is its nature, it can be changed. Charcoal has as its nature blackening all that it gets mixed with. But, you should not take that as final. When fire enters it, the charcoal becomes red. So too, though the mind is always wandering in the illusion of darkness, when through the Lord’s Grace the fire of Jnana (Wisdom) enters it, its nature changes and the Sathvika (serene, pure) nature pertaining to the Divine, comes into it.
Bhakta: Swami, they speak of something called Antahkarana; what is it?
Swami: The mind too is referred to like that. Karana means Indriyas (senses). Antahkarana means internal Indriyas.
Bhakta: So, are there two types, internal Indriyas and external Indriyas?
Swami: Yes, of course. The external Indriyas are called Karmendriyas; the internal Indriyas are named Jnanendriyas.
Bhakta: Swami, please tell me which are the Karmendriyas and which, the Jnanendriyas.
Swami: Well, all acts done bodily are related to Karmendriyas; they are five in number. Those that receive Jnana from inside are named Jnanendriyas. These are five namely hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. Both these are together called Dashendriyas (the ten organs).
Bhakta: So, what is the work that both these do together? What is the connection between their function and the Manas or mind?
Swami: Well, really, whatever work they do, they can’t achieve anything without the mediation of Manas. The Karmendriyas perform acts in the world and receive Jnana through the acts, and the Jnanendriyas discriminate the good and the bad, and offer them to the Atma, through the Manas. If there is no Mind at all, how can these be transmitted to Atma? When we have to reach the other shore of a flooded river, we rely on the medium of a boat or raft. Similarly, when the Karmendriyas and the Jnanendriyas which are connected with Prakriti desire to attain the Atma that is on the other shore, they have to accept the help of the boat, Manas. Otherwise, they cannot attain it.
Bhakta: If so, then where do these Buddhi (Intellect) and Chittam (Subconscious Mind) reside?
Swami: They too are in this only. The Jnanendriyas and Karmendriyas are both together called Dashendriyas. Of these, four are distinguished and referred to as Antah-chatushtaya, or the Internal Four Indriyas. Those four are Manas, Buddhi, Chittam and Ahamkaram (Egoism).
Bhakta: Very nice. That is to say, all are in the same thing. Life is indeed amusing. But Swami, what is the function of these four?
Swami: Manas grasps the object; Buddhi examines arguments for and against; Chittam understands the reality of the object by means of these; Ahamkaram changes the decision and slackens the hold of Jnana. These are the things they do.
Bhakta: Excuse me, Swami, I am asking only to know, where do these exist in the body?
Swami: I am glad; don’t worry! Manas is in the Kanthamu (throat), Buddhi in the tongue, Chittam in the navel, and Ahamkaram in the heart.
Bhakta: Well! Nice. So, Buddhi and Ahamkaram are in the right places! These are the chief causes of all the world’s miseries and hardships. Then, if we examine it with reference to Your words, it looks as if there will be no miseries and hardships when these two places are made pure!
Swami: You have noticed quite well. Yes, that is right. First, if words are used in a proper manner, that is the proof of Buddhi treading the right path. When Ahamkaram is suppressed and conquered, that is the proof of the heart being pure. Therefore, be very careful as regards these two. Then, even your Manas and Chittam will come to have good Vrittis. Then only will you be free from pain and misery. They can never happen to you then.
Bhakta: So, among all these, who is the “I”? Who is the experiencer of all this?
Swami: You have arrived at the right point. “You” are none among all these! All these exist only so long as the feeling, “This body is mine” exists. They are all associated with some thoughts or Vrittis. The Atma which observes all these Vrittis, that is “You”. The joy and sorrow, the loss and misery, the good and bad of these activities are all related to the body only; and so, they are not yours, they will not be yours. You are the Atma. Until this Truth is realized, you sleep in the delusion of “I” and “Mine”. In that sleep, dreams appear of loss, misery, sorrow, and joy. The dreams persist only until you awake and after you wake up, the fear you had while dreaming, the sorrow and loss you experienced, all disappear and are no longer felt. Similarly, when delusion is thrown off and you “awaken” in Jnana, you will firmly understand that all this is not “you”; that you are the Atma.
Bhakta: Then, Swami, for whose sake do these, the Manas, Buddhi, Chittam, and Ahamkaram, do all this work?
Swami: Not for anyone’s sake! They are engaged for their own sake! The Atma observes everything and its shadow, the Jiva (individual soul), which is deluded by the association of the body-consciousness feels “All actions are Mine” and plays this drama.