Notes on Vasanakshaya Prakaranam of Jivanmukti Vivekah – 1
Jivanmukti Vivekah is a text authored by the revered Saint Vidyaranya Swami, one of the earlier Pontiffs of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. It consists of five chapters. The first chapter deals with the nature & types of renunciation, the nature of Jivanmukti, that is liberation in life, and the nature of Videhamukti or disembodied liberation. The means to attain Jivanmukti, are, j~nAna, vAsanA kShaya & mano nAshA (knowledge, obliteration of latent tendencies & the dissolution of the mind.) The second chapter deals exhaustively with the methods to obliterate latent impressions and desires. The third chapter deals with the the dissolution of the mind. The last two chapters, four & five, deal with the purpose of attaining jivanmukti and vidwat samnyasa or the renunciation of the Knower.
In this blog post, I aim to share some notes on the second chapter or the vAsanAkShayaprakaraNam.
The great Sage, VasiShtha, in Yoga VasiShtha says, ‘…j~nAna, obliteration of latent tendencies and the dissolution of the mind, if practiced simultaneously for a sufficient length of time, bestows the desired fruit.’ He goes on to state that if these three are not well attempted repeatedly the status of jivanmukti cannot be attained even after the lapse of hundreds of years!
Why?
Worldly existence has endured through hundreds of previous births and cannot be dissolved without long application.
So what is vAsanA or latent tendency?
That which generates mental impressions, like anger etc., rising up all of a sudden without any thought of the past or the future, is called as vAsanA or latent impressions. It is something that saturates the mind like the vAsanA, or fragrance. In other words, latent tendencies are those intense hankerings after things, that gain such mastery over the mind, so as to preclude even inquiring into their antecedents and consequences.
What does vAsanAkShaya, or obliteration of these latent mental tendencies mean? It means the absence of scope for the rise of anger etc., even in the presence of corresponding or appropriate external circumstances, as a result of pure vAsanAs, like self-control etc., generated by vivekah, discrimination, being firmly rooted in the mind.
And what is the means of accomplishing the above three? The Sage VasiShtha says, ‘Therefore, O Rama, with free personal effort, accompanied by right discrimination, one should take to these three while keeping at a distance all desire for enjoyment.‘
Personal effort means the undying enthusiasm in the form of a firm resolve to somehow or the other accomplish this goal.
Discrimination stands for the conviction that stems from appropriate analyses that
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shravana, manana & nidhidhyasana (listening to scriptures, reflecting upon them to enable doubt-free knowledge to take firm root in the mind & abiding in the truth discerned therein respectively) alone are the means to j~nAna or knowledge.
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Yoga is the means to destroying the mind
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Setting up of opposite currents of vAsanA is the means to obliterate the latent tendencies.
Why should the desire for enjoyment be kept at a distance? Because when even the smallest desire to enjoy is admitted , there will be nothing to prevent it from exceeding the limit, just as fire keeps growing when constantly fed with fuel.
When the evil tendencies born from living a life of the lower self, that is inherent from birth and running counter to the teachings of the Guru and the scriptures, are destroyed by the good tendencies, assiduously cultivated through living a life of the higher Self, and accomplished by puruSha prayatna manly effort in accordance with the words of the scriptures, there results jivanmukti.
There are good vAsanAs and then there are evil vAsanAs. Effort must be taken to carefully cultivate the former and eschew the latter.
Types of vAsanAs:
For the sake of understanding we can split the vAsanAs into five types, some to be eschewed and some to be cultivated. They are:
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mAnasa vAsanAh to be eschewed
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viShaya vAsanAh to be eschewed
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maitriyAdi vAsanAh to be cultivated
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chinmAtra vAsanA to be cultivated
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nirvAsanA the highest state of being without the vAsanAs
I have tabulated them for easy reference:
I. mAnasa vAsanAH: They are of three kinds: loka vasana, Shastra vasana and deha vAsanA. They should entirely be given up as they obstruct the rise of knowledge in Seekers and interfere with the permanence of j~nAna acquired by the Knower
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Type of Vasana |
Description |
Antidote |
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LOKA VASANA |
Concern for the opinion of the world consisting in the strong desire of the mind which takes the form of I shall so conduct myself that the world around would not censure me but would on the other hand praise me. |
Looking upon the vasana of public opinion as entirely impure, books treating of liberation advice the foremost of yogin-s to treat censure and praise alike
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SHASTRA VASANA |
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1. Addiction to study |
E.g. Trying to acquire complete knowledge of Vedas |
Understand that the study of all the Vedas is first of all impossible. |
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2. Addiction to many subjects |
Flitting from one subject to another |
It is not the highest aim of life it only leads to vanity |
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3. Addiction to observance of injunctions laid down in the religious books |
Addicted to karma |
The mad desire for karma as evinced by addiction to religious injunctions gives rise to rebirth and is hence very impure |
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DEHA VASANA |
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1. False identification with the self |
Thinking the body to be Atma |
Know that the body is not the Self on the authority of the scriptures |
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2. False acquisition of grace |
Trying to beautify the body constantly |
Acquisition of bodily grace religious and worldly is like chasing a mirage |
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3. False relief from inherent evil |
Trying to clean the impure body again and again |
Cleansing the body of inherent evil is impossible given the fact that it is a mere collection of bones, fat, muscles, flesh, blood, skin, urine, feces, pus etc. |
To be Continued…
