THE SUBTLE PULSE OF WISDOM 

So just like even a butcher’s work can be an art. Every discipline from Numbers to Astronomy to Ayurveda to Farming to Metallurgy to Morality, when they evolved alongside the “knowledge of the imperishable” in the ashram of the Guru, they became animated with a subtle pulse of wisdom that could never be contained by the word. Direct transmission from teacher to student was the way knowledge that was beyond the realm of the senses and the mind was passed on. The texts always came later, the texts like the Veda. The Yoga Sutra served the teacher as reference manuals and not the other way round. They were constantly updated by many who when they attained a certain level of insight went by the titles of a ‘Patanjali’, ‘Panini’, ‘Charaka’ and over thousands of years in this way the texts were constantly updated. Whatever the subjects, whether the student was a renunciate, a warrior, an artisan, a trader, a farmer or a prince, the Guru primarily farmed the soil of the student’s mind keeping it alert, open and fresh. He created whatever processes and life situations that were needed for this. The students depended on this kind of guidance from their Guru and on their own faculties of experience and reasoning and their efforts to stay in step with the teachings, the mature student was one  who valued the teacher above scripture.

After having spoken of knowledge as lower and higher, the Guru, Rishi Angiras says to Saunaka:

“That which is invisible, ungraspable, un-originated without attributes or properties or qualities, that which has neither eyes nor ears, neither hands nor legs, which is eternal full of manifestations, all pervading, subtlest of the subtle that imperishable, which the wise perceive as the womb of all matter”.

Having realised this, whatever texts they wrote or compiled were done with this in the background; for example the most earthy of texts, the Kamasutra (*7) is the distilled essence of the works of a whole lineage of wise teachers spread over many millennia. Going all the way back to some of the earliest Upanishads, Vatsyayana, the author of the modern day Kamasutra says that the first teacher of the art was Svetaketu whose conversation with his teacher Rishi Uddalaka forms the Chandogya Upanishad. Some of the earliest references akin to Kamasutra are found in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which is a conversation between Rishi Yagyavalkya, who also authored a text on Yoga and his student Gautama, similarly warfare too was an art that the aspiring warrior practised knowing very well that it was a lesser knowledge that the ultimate goal was something that was for more precious, internal and eternal.

AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 

The moment Vishwamitra’s eyes opened, the warrior king Harischandra knew he had erred. He sensed that as the King if his actions were not balanced, it would affect every creature in his realm and their generations to come because he was responsible for all of them and so he was not surprised when Rishi Vishwamitra said, “Go my good king, continue with your normal life. I will complete the job you interrupted and then come to you with what you would need to do as penance for this transgression”. In this interim, Raja Harishchandra travelled the whole earth establishing his ascent to the title of ‘Charkravarthy’, King of the world. The whole earth rejoiced. When Raja Harischandra returned from his campaign after many years, Rishi Vishswamitra awaited him at the entrance to the palace. Without wasting a second the Rishi said, “from today your entire Kingdom is mine, wear a single piece of cloth made out of coarse cotton and leave the palace with only your wife and child. Let them too be clothed like you”. Raja Harsichandra was happy that he had a new challenge, because as he was getting back to his capital having achieved everything a warrior King could aspire for, he didn’t see himself getting back to the same life. He was wondering what next. As he turned to walk away, people wondered at the glow on his face. This didn’t seem to be a sad moment for him.

“Wait, don’t you know it’s not proper for you to give your Kingdom away without a customary token of money”, it was Rishi Vishwamitra.

“I have given you my everything Sir. I have not a single gold coin to give you”, Raja Harischandra pleaded.

The Rishi was unmoved, “then earn it, you have a month to give me a hundred gold coins”.

The amount was steep, his subjects had gathered at the gates of the palace in the thousands. They were inconsolable, looking at them he was moved. The King looked like he would never part with them. Rishi Vishwamitra didn’t approve, with a stick he started nudging the queen, quiet forcefully, “these are my subjects now, leave”. Seeing the queen being treated in this manner and their beloved King being berated thus, the subject’s made way for their exit. As the crowds dispersed, Vishwamitra called out to the King harshly, “go to Kasi, your fate awaits you there”.

We come to the end of Chapter 1, where we picked up the main thread that has animated the Indian civilisation from its very origin. Wisdom, which the ancients have said can split open the knots that bind us to our problems and keep us from experiencing sublime states of joy.

Is the absence of the wisdom thread in the fabric of our modern life the reason why we are unable to find a way to deal with the many problems we are facing like the virus in spite of all the advances we have made in science and technology.

In chapter 2, we dig deep in to the Indian Culture, holding this urgent question as a torch.

We conclude with a verse called the “shanti paath”, a prayer for peace. Every Upanishad had a particular Shanti Path and it was done without fail every time the teacher and the student sat together to have a conversation. This one is from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (*8) which dwells on Yoga.

“May both the teacher and student be protected. May both be cherished. May we both work with enthusiasm. May our study be perfect and give us good results. May we never feel ill will towards each other”.

Lots of Love

Bharat Thakur

REFERENCES:

*1 Discourses on Mundakopanishad - Swami Chinmayananda; Publisher -Central Chinmaya Mission Trust,Powai, Mumbai

Note: Mundakopanishad is among  the Nine Principle Upanishads out of the 108 Major Upanishads. Each Upanishad is attached to one of the four Veda. Mundaka is embeded in Atharva Veda. The Upanishads are the part of the Veda that deal with attaining to Brahman or the ultimate enlightenment of Man. They are all dialogues between teacher and student.  

*2 Sri Dattatreya -  Recollection of traditional katha; Secondary reference detecter.com

*3 Raja Harishcandhra -  Recollection of traditional katha; Secondary Reference Youtube Video Published by - Ananda Sangha Worldwide 

*4 Chandipathah - Essay by Allahabadia Pran Nath Pankaj in association with Bhavana Pankaj; Publisher - Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi

The Chandipath is a sadhana, a spiritual practise which is found in the Markandeya Purana. The purana are the creation stories from ancient times which are usually narrated by a Rishi. 

Note 2: The Rishi are part of the cosmology as per the Indian tradition. Rishi means ‘seer’. A seer was considered to be part of the creation process. A Rishi ‘sees’ as in ‘creates’ whole worlds. The rishi also participate in the created worlds. They are usually preceptors, Guru, and generally are enlightened beings with great powers.   

*5 Krishnamacharya - ashtangametamorphosis. blogspot.com/2016/11/tirumalai-krishnamacharya-father-of.html

*6 Kaushika  - Recollection of traditional katha; Secondary reference encyclopedia. com /social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kama-and-kama-sutra

*7 Shvetaketu - encyclopedia. com social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kama-and-kama-sutra

*8 Nine Principal Upanishads - Swami Satyananda Saraswati; Publisher Yoga Publications Trust, Munger