Mother's Milk

Our existence as an independent individual started after stepping out from mother’s womb. It suddenly threw us into this wild cycle of demand and supply, based on our needs and wants, for survival and sustenance. What is the first thing that we’d demanded after been thrown into this cycle? And what was the first action we performed in order to fulfil that demand? Yes, the first need we experienced is that of hunger, as the umbilical-chord wasn’t placed anymore to fulfil our necessity. And the first action we engaged was to suck hard on mother’s breast in order to satiate our hunger by receiving our first accolade – mother’s milk.

 

Before moving further, let’s develop a basic esoteric understanding on ‘milk’. The maximum generator of milk, may well be attributed to the cows. Cow, called as ‘goo’ (गो), also means, the ‘senses’ in Sanskrit. And, we release our senses (गो) in this world to sense, locate and feed itself with the worldly diet; ‘grass’ in case of cows. Subsequently, upon performing some karma (here, grazing), the intake once processed, turns into milk - a material of nourishment. Milk, may thus be metaphorized as the ‘results of our karma’, performed through senses. Going a little further, this transformed result (कर्मफल) does not get delivered by itself and requires directed action, what we know as ‘milking the cow’ through its four udders, representing the four objectives where our actions (पुरुषार्थ) must be diverted towards – dharma (धर्म), artha (अर्थ), kaama (काम) & moksha (मोक्ष).

 

In a similar fashion, after taking birth, mother’s milk is the first-most accolade that as a human child we were gifted with, through the first-most karma that we performed, in order to fulfill our first-most demand. No wonder, our ancient texts referring to Mother Goddess, have spoken objectively and categorically on the importance of mother’s milk acquired through her breasts. 

 

To quote a few,

 

“…तारा नायक शेखरां स्मितमुखी मापीन वक्षोरुहाम्…” (from श्रीललिता ध्यानम्)… आपिण वक्षोरुहम  meaning, fully developed chest (breasts) पूर्ण विकसित वक्ष.

 

“…स्तनभार-दलन्मध्य-पट्टबन्ध-वलित्रया…” (from श्रीललिता सहस्रनाम)… meaning, the weight of her breasts creating three parallel lines on her waist.

 

“…तुंगपीन पयोधरा…” (from बाला त्रिपुरसुन्दरी सहस्रनाम)…. meaning, the rising breasts full of milk.

 

“…घनस्तनभरोन्नतां…” (from त्रिपुरसुन्दरी स्तोत्रम्)…. meaning, filled (completed) with rising dense breasts.         

 

“…उत्तुंगपीनकुचकुंभ…” (from श्रीसरस्वती ध्यानम्)…. meaning, high and rising breasts.

It is essentially clear that whenever we have reverentially contemplated to the almighty in the form of mother (and we as her child), we have clearly objectified her in human form, with vivid description of her physical self. And especially mother’s milk, esoterically signifying to us the fruits of our karma. If the act of intaking mother’s milk is indicative of our karma, we would know from practical experience that very soon the milk supply gets diminished after the child has been fed for a while. And then in order to continue to breastfeed, a mother has to reorient the child from the other direction. This act leaves us with this message that our endeavours (कर्म) must not be unidirectional. On one hand if it is directed toward acquisition of भोग (sustenance in the outer world), the need to do karma leading to the other direction, towards मोक्ष (liberation in the inner world) is quintessentially mandatory. 

 

Which probably is why it has been said…

 

यत्रास्ति भोगो नहिं तत्र मोक्ष:

यत्रास्ति मोक्षो नहिं तत्र भोग:

श्री सुन्दरी सेवन तत्पराणां,

भोगश्च मोक्षश्च करस्थ एव।

Where there is worldly enjoyment, there is no salvation;

Where there is salvation, there is no worldly enjoyment.

But the worshipers of Sri Tripura Sundari,

they will attain both the realisation of the highest truth and the worldly pleasure.

THE TRIDENT PHILOSOPHIES OF SHIVA

ACCEPTANCE OF THE COSMIC PLAN: Its this total acceptance that - all that has happened, happening & shall happen is a part of an intelligent cosmic plan in which there is a little that we can alter or edit. It can solve many unnecessary agitations in our ever conflicting minds. Take for an instance, the galactic space around us and the forces that sustains and mobilizes it. Is it random or orderly? Is it cyclic or erratic? Is it interspaced mathematically or just jumbled? If the entire universe has a hidden intelligence that controls and guides its every element, we as humans cannot be an exception. It's only a matter of time that we discover it. Till then, it makes credible sense to accept it unconditionally.

NON-DOERSHIP: No matter how much we feel being in active participation and control of our own success and failures, a slight insight shall reveal that our actions are simply a resultant of a series of past events over which we had no control. Think for once of any action that you have taken today, which you firmly believe is your own decision. What instigated this decision? Analyse. A previous action? And what instigated that action? Another previous action? As you track this chain of one action creating premises for another and travel backwards, you shall reach the first action which you will find that is simply as a result of collecting some information at a given time and location on which you had no control whatsoever. Then how can one claim to be the Doer? This understanding can put us into a perspective of non-doership, thus releasing us from the burden of carrying the pride of our achievements while parallelly relieving us from guilt of our failures.

100% EFFORTS: Having poised on the above, though seemingly contradictory but in any given situation putting 100% efforts to the best of our ability is the right choice to opt for. Total acceptance and a sense of non-doership creates an unperturbed poised platform. A mind that is not disturbed with the external situation around and is internally free from every sense of guilt or shame along with pride and ego, serves as the most fertile ground. And that is the springboard from where one needs to contemplate, plan and execute. The impact of such actions is everlasting, sometimes in the external realm and sometimes in the internal realm of the individual.

Paradoxical, Tricky, Complex...yet Experiential, are these TRIDENT PHILOSOPHIES OF SHIVA.

Regions on the path of Gangaji & Yamunaji representing the Kundalini

 

 Society is a reflection of that group of individuals who happen to constitute it. The same forces which work within an individual operates and influences the society as a whole. If an individual is attempting to overcome one’s limitations by expanding oneself against the natural downward forces and travel beyond the obvious (food, fear, sex and sleep); an accumulation of such forces through a group of individuals, influences and uplifts the entire community. Such shall result in transforming a society and as an outcome, delivering a much more rich, wholesome and contented living experience for the individuals which it comprises of.

Any society or state helps in shaping up of its people, first with education. The quality and environment in which it facilitates its deliverance plays utmost important role for any unmatured mind. The human mind, in its raw and untainted state, is ready to absorb all the information presented to it. It is only much later that we develop to an extent so as to comprehend and understand the effects of education along with the manner in which it needs to be presented. By that time, all that a human mind has assimilated is already indelible, leaving behind less scope for reorientation. Be the education beyond a certain age, directed towards arts or science, it is the fundamental inputs, which shapes up an individual for good or for not. Secondly, at a primary stage of development, it is important, and now being insisted upon by several experts, the need for inculcation of morals and ethics. This is where it becomes necessary to help an individual appraise towards life and its philosophy of living. No matter even if the route taken is through religion or traditional dogmas, but it is important that an individual is able to shape up a practical goal for oneself which is logical and reviewable. Unless such an arena is presented, it is unlikely that one shall keep pursuing goals which will only give in return, trivial matter, which neither completely fulfils our expectation nor is able to generate a sense of stability and poise to the inner being. Third most important part of a society is governance which is directed towards resulting in welfare of the people. While education provides the preliminary skill and philosophy provides a wholesome objective, governance is the most complicated scheme in which decisions are made and acts executed. Apparently, any governance may not always appear to be holistic, as it involves listing strategies and priorities; creating bonds and breaking ties; while playing hide and seek with an attempt to attain and maintain certain designated position. Thus, it will mostly never be something that – ‘pleases all’. But a society needs to be declutched from its limitations with reformation as a continuous objective for long term stability and well-being. Only a balanced individual can maintain a balanced family; only a balanced family can create a balanced neighbourhood; only a balanced neighbourhood can maintain a balanced community; only a balanced community can establish a balanced state; only a balanced state can exemplify and help to replicate a balanced planet.

In order to tread towards such a direction, we individuals need to regulate these aspects in our life by engaging ourselves through education, while attempting to discover our destined philosophy and implementing appropriate governance to the self with the right restrain. This asks for a force (शक्ति) for transformation. Such forces are identified in our ancient texts (Lalitasahasranama:658) as – Iccha Shakti (इच्छा शक्ति), Jnana Shakti (ज्ञान शक्ति) and Kriya Shakti (क्रिया शक्ति). Just as these forces act at an individual level, it also operates over the community and state by large. The society is driven by these forces for reformation and transformation. Some examples from pre-independence era in our country of individuals who infused these forces into the society and the undivided country then, has been presented.

The education institute established by Rabindranath Tagore has been one of the finest experiments in imparting knowledge to budding minds. He established and proved the importance of environment and surroundings in which a mind needs to be nurtured. Rabindranath in his deliverances have spoken on length on this subject in an attempt to communicate the importance of the way of imparting education, apart from the subject matter in hand. Though his area of prominence may have been arts alone, it quite evidently implied that similar format can be adopted to any field of education. The essence of his impact was reinforced when he became the first Asian to receive the Nobel prize and his legacy has continued till date.

Swami Vivekananda, with the blessings of his Guru, walking into the footsteps of ancient Indian teachings distributed nugget of the philosophy and wisdom of the seers. Through relentless efforts during his short tenure in this world he conveyed and demonstrated, how a life needs to be shaped keeping together the principles of both, truth and peace. At Chicago, he mesmerized the audience at the World Parliament of Religions with his landmark speech, which was all but a reflection of the practice and penance that had shaped him up in what he was. Such an individual attains a position where he gives back to the society much more than what he has taken and for much longer than the period for which he lives. Swami Vivekananda happens to be one glowing example.

No matter what may be the outer appearance, if a governance denies a wholesome approach towards each individual, deprives a group of their basic human rights, squeezes a certain geographical region to satiate the wants of another by extracting from its reserves and most importantly by deluding them with misinformation, is a state of affair asking for a radical change. Such was the situation of the society in colonial era and across the undivided state a common sense of unrest was prevailing in the mind of every countryman. All it needed was a massive jolt at a calculated strategic juncture. Subhas Chandra Bose rose as one of the most popular leaders of his times who took a challenging route to ensure that the forces of British imperialism get a blow and shook them to their roots. His strategy worked and even after an apparent scenario of the British overcoming that resistance, were forced to contemplate on their position, finally leading to their retraction and departure from the Indian soil. The name of Subhas Chandra Bose still lingers in classified files of espionage organizations across the globe and yet the world is to come to a complete understanding of the extent to which he has influenced the strongest of the global establishments through his mysterious ways and means.

It is only a matter of coincidence that all these gigantic and popular names of India hail from the same region of this subcontinent, possibly due to the influence that that era had over his region. As the strongest balancing force naturally emerges from the same region where the imperialistic forces exert maximum command. In their lives, they have fused together all the forces of – Iccha Shakti (इच्छा शक्ति), Jnana Shakti (ज्ञान शक्ति) and Kriya Shakti (क्रिया शक्ति), in order to move towards their objective. Yet, we can easily identify one of these forces through each of these lives which had the maximum impact on our society as a whole. Rabindranath Tagore’s Iccha Shakti (इच्छा शक्ति) through his established Educational set up, Swami Vivekananda’s Jnana Shakti (ज्ञान शक्ति) through the eminence of his Philosophy and Subhas Chandra Bose’s Kriya Shakti (क्रिया शक्ति) through his style of Governance, transformed many lives and left behind a trail of footprints to be contemplated, assimilated and followed.

त्याग

ll त्याग ll

तन को प्रिय ‘काम’ है, मन को ‘द्वेष’ औ ‘राग’

जन तो रचै ‘अभिमान’ में, ठोर न पावें ‘त्याग’

त्याग में है आनंद छिपा, त्याग की जगावें भूख

त्याग की महिमा अनंत, उसी में हैं परम सुख

कुछ त्याग प्रभु देवत हैं, कुछ की कला है जगानी

कुछ त्याग अनिवार्य है, और कुछ को है अपनानी

मल-मूत्र का त्याग सुखद, यह प्रकृति का धर्म

शुक्र त्याग पुरुष का, रजः स्त्री का दैहिक कर्म

त्याग का उचित परिमाण ही, आयु-आरोग्य देत

अति त्याग की परिस्थिति है, रोग-भोग का संकेत

त्याग बिन है जगत अधूरा, इसी से बना समाज

त्यागक्षण की गहराई में ही, छुपा मुक्ति का राज

उस त्यागक्षण में थिर हो पाना, साक्षी भाव के संग

मुक्त हो चित्तवृत्ति से, न ही विकारों का कोई रंग

ऐसे पल की गभीरता का, जप-तप-ध्यान है सार

सबसे उत्कृष्ट त्याग है, तन व मन का व्यापार

इस प्रकार अपने जीवन में हम, त्याग की कला अपनावें

आतम-चैतन्य की परतों को ‘त्याग’, परमानन्द को पावें

SADHNA KRAM / साधना क्रम

We live in this world with our consciousness distributed among many centres in some proportion or other. If we travel from external gross status towards more internal and subtler states, we will see that our consciousness can have four demarcation lines separating these centres. They are namely, Body (Dehabhav), Intellect (Buddhibhav), Heart (Prembhav) and Spirit (Aatmabhav).

Also, upon finer observation we will find that these different states have their own predominance at different ages of an individual.

During Balyavastha, a child is in a state of Aatmabhav. He looks at the world with amazement (vishmaya). He is neither attached to the world nor detached. He is simply living in the PRESENT and reciprocates his experience 100% genuinely...pleasing or displeasing.

As the child grows, he develops Premabhav. First towards his mother & father, then towards family and friends. Subsequently, though he does develop his Intellect, but is mostly guided by Prembhav upto a certain age. During years of adolescence (Yuvavastha), his Prembhav transforms due to hormonal changes and gets directed towards the opposite sex. Yet his Prembhav continues and dominates...

Further, when he heads towards Praudavastha, more worldly issues associated to sustenance, wealth, security, etc. occupy his priorities. Here his Buddhibhav takes the lead. Through his intellect he engages all the resources to plan his means and achieve his goals.

Then with time, he looses his physical strength and the inevitable wheel of time gradually brings about old age (Vriddhavastha). His focus from time to time gets diverted to the Body (Dehabhav) due to some ailment or other constantly attacking and degenerating his physical self...finally leading to Death, one fine day.

We are all following this standard pattern and day by day coming closer and closer to death. Though, death of the external self is mandatory, but the inner consciousness need not follow the same route.

SADHNA is the process of REVERSING this mundane path of the consciousness and taking it back towards more centred, more subtler states...from Body to Intellect to Heart to Spirit...which is its ORIGIN.

इस पृथ्वी पर हमारे अस्तित्व के दौरान, हमारी चेतना विभिन्न केन्द्रों में विखंडित रहती है l यदि हम बाह्य स्थूल चेतना से क्रमशः सुक्ष्म अंतस की ओर यात्रा करें तो पायेंगे की चार केन्दों में इस चेतना का घनिभूतिकरण होता है l वे हैं, शरीर (देहभाव), विचार (बुद्धिभाव), ह्रदय (प्रेमभाव) एवं आत्मा (आत्मभाव) l

साथ ही यदि हम थोड़ा ध्यान से देखें, तो पायेंगे की चेतना के इन केन्दों का घनिभूतिकरण मनुष्य के जीवनकाल में आयु के अलग-अलग मोड़ पर आता है l

शैशवावस्था के दौरान, शिशु “आत्मभाव” (आत्मा केंद्र) में स्थिर होता है l वह विस्मय से जगत की ओर देखता है l उसकी न ही संसार में आसक्ति होती है और न ही विरक्ति l वह तो केवल वर्तमान में जीता है एवं अपने प्रतिभाव की शत प्रतिशत अभिव्यक्ति करता है...प्रसन्नता अथवा अप्रसन्नता l

ज्यों ज्यों उसकी आयु में वृद्धि होती है, उसमें “प्रेमभाव” उभरता है l सर्वप्रथम अपने माता-पिता के प्रति और तत्पश्चात परिवारजन एवं मित्रों के प्रति l समय के साथ यद्यपि उसमें विचारशक्ति का उदय होता है, परन्तु एक निश्चित आयु तक वह प्रेमभाव के वेग से ही प्रेरित व संचालित रहता है l युवावस्था में उसका यह प्रेमभाव न्यासर्गिक परिवर्तन के फलस्वरूप विपरीत लिंग की ओर आकर्षित होता है l और “प्रेमभाव” (ह्रदय केंद्र) अपना प्रभुत्व रखते हुए कायम रहता है...

जैसे वह प्रौढ़ावस्था की दिशा में बढ़ता है, आजीविका, संपत्ति, सुरक्षा, इत्यादि विविध सांसारिक विषय उसकी प्राथमिकता बन जातें हैं l यहाँ पर “बुद्धिभाव” (विचार केंद्र) अपनी अग्रिमता बनाये रखती है l अपने वैचारिक क्षमता के माध्यम से वह अपनी सारी शक्ति को योजनाबद्ध रूप से अपने ध्येय को पाने में लगा देता है l

और समयचक्र का अनिवार्य अध्याय फ़िर लेकर आता है शारीरिक क्षीणता के साथ, वृद्धावस्था l कोई न कोई रोग अथवा दैहिक कष्ट व्यक्ति की चेतना को बार बार घुमा कर ले आती है “देहभाव” (शरीर केंद्र) में जो की धीरे-धीरे शरीर का क्षय करता है...अंततः एक दिन, मृत्यु शय्या तक l

हम सब इस अबाधित योजना का अनुसरण करते हुए दिन प्रतिदिन मृत्यु के समीप जाते रहते हैं l यद्यपि इस बाह्य देह का पतन निश्चित है, परन्तु हमारी अंतस चेतना इसी योजना का अनुसरण करें ऐसा आवश्यक नहीं l

“साधना” हमारे अंतरंग चेतना को इस बहिरंग योजना से मुक्त कर, उसे पुनः आत्मकेंद्रित कर सूक्ष्मतम की ओर...शरीर केंद्र से विचार केंद्र से हृदय केंद्र से आत्म केंद्र...तक ले जाने की क्रिया है, जो की हमारा मूल उद्गम है l