In the last eight articles, we discussed all the fundamental concepts of sanātana dharma; that sanātana dharma is not a religion but a law that is supreme and eternal, which governs all creation. The two most important tenets being – all is Divine, and every action has a reaction which leads to reincarnations. The core and the highest philosophy is advaita vedānta found in the sacred upaniṣadic part of the vedas which are the main texts of sanātana dharma. We also learnt that the God of sanātana dharma is brahman who is beyond names and forms, attributes, and qualities, with the best definition being – satyaṁ-jñānam-anantam – which means, it exists, it is awareness, and it is eternal, without a beginning or an end. We learnt that humans are endowed with a mind, which is a collection of thoughts, and is the main reason why the divinity of one’s own existence is hidden from the person, and one is tricked into believing that oneself is anything other than divine; this illusion is called māyā. The knots of ignorance of one’s own existence as pure divinity, the unwanted desires and the unnecessary actions leading to consequences, cause bondage or limitedness of human existence. However, with the help of a guru one can attain freedom, provided one develops discrimination, detachment, self-restraint, and most importantly a burning desire for mokṣa or liberation. We also learnt that attaining mokṣa or mukti does endow oneself with a bliss which is supreme. But at the same time, a truly realised person does not necessarily abandon the world, but instead remains active and dedicated to the welfare of all, while constantly living in the awareness of one’s own divinity.

So far, so good!

Now that we know the ultimate purpose of human birth is to attain mokṣa, let us also know how sanātana dharma lays out a very clear, step-by-step approach for the same.

Most of you who might have been blessed by a temple priest or a learned scholar must have heard a mantra that they would chant while blessing anyone – ‘शतमानं भवति शतायु: पुरुष: शतेन्द्रियः आयुष्येवेन्द्रिये प्रतितिष्ठति śatamānaṁ bhavati śatāyuḥ puruṣaḥ śatendriyaḥ āyuṣyevendriye pratitiṣṭhati’. This mantra from the taittirīya brāhmaṇa means, ‘May you be blessed with a lifetime of hundred years with fully functioning senses and have all the faculties fully intact to perform all the duties.’ In sanātana dharma, a person is blessed to have a full lifetime of a hundred springs during which one must discharge all duties, be it individual, family, social or spiritual. This period of hundred years is divided into four phases of roughly twenty-five years each, with certain duties prescribed for each phase. Let’s learn about each of these phases.

sanātana dharma guides that every individual has four goals – dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa, collectively called as caturvidha puruṣārthas. We all know about mokṣa being the highest goal, and the other three being there to lead one towards the final goal of mokṣa. dharma is to lead a life in accordance with the laws of the material and spiritual world, thereby earn wealth or artha in the righteous way using which one could fulfil righteous desires or kāma, and finally develop renunciation to attain mokṣa. Similarly, there are four stages of life too as proposed by sanātana dharma and described in dharmasūtras, during which the individual is expected to perform certain duties. These four stages of life were called varṇāśrama dharmas.

The first being brahmacarya āśrama, which is the period during which one undertook studies of scriptures and life skills, that helped one eke out a livelihood and raise a family without losing sight of the ultimate purpose of Self-Realisation. So, the first twenty-five years were spent in the pursuit of knowledge and dedicated to studies in the ancient schooling system called gurukulas, run by gurus who were adept in both the knowledge of the material world as well as the spiritual sciences. Thus, the first stage was dedicated to learning dharma – or righteous ways to lead one’s life.

Thereafter, the next twenty-five years of a person’s life was spent in the next stage of life called gṛhastha āśrama, wherein a householder entered the institution of marriage, raised children, worked, and earned to fulfil the needs of the family. Thus, the other two goals of life namely, artha and kāma were fulfilled during this stage.

The next stage of twenty-five years was called the vānaprastha āśrama, which literally means ‘living in the forest’. At this stage, the person had to give up all the duties of a householder and leave his hearth and home to live separately in a forest hermitage away from society and dedicate one’s life for social service and spiritual practises. In old times, usually the husband and wife left their home and stayed at the āśrama of their family guru where they rendered service, and at the same time practised spiritual austerities. This was done to prepare oneself for the next stage of life comprising of the last twenty-five years called sannyāsa āśrama – or the stage of complete renunciation.

We have learnt so far that the central philosophy of sanātana dharma is Self-Realisation which is to experience divinity within and without. The four goals of human life namely, dharma or righteous actions to fulfil one’s duties, artha or righteous means to earn wealth and fulfil desires, kāma or righteous desires that are to be satisfied by righteous means, and finally mokṣa or liberation from the cycles of birth and death that bind the self, by realising the truth of all existence as divinity, have also been discussed earlier.

We have also learnt that the knots of the heart namely avidyā – ignorance of our divine nature, kāma – unwanted desires, and karma – unnecessary actions undertaken to fulfil unwanted desires, distract oneself from the goal of life and thus render a person incapable of realising one’s divinity.

The guidance and company of an enlightened master or guru helps one overcome the influence of illusory world or māyā and forge ahead on the path of Self-Realisation. We have learnt about the qualities of a true Master and a true seeker as well.

Now, we are about to discuss what it means to be self-realised, what is ‘that’ state of existence like, how does it feel to be a self-realised person who has attained liberation – the highest human potential?

There are many who have interpreted and explained Self-Realisation including the idea of its attainment only upon one’s death, but those are way off the mark of truth. The first thing we must know is that realisation is not meant to be attained upon death, but it is the very existential reality of all. The word Self-Realisation or ātma sākṣātkāra is actually self explanatory. When we say we have realised, it only means that we have understood or accessed something that was very much with us, unlike achieving or attaining something that was not there before. Like the forgetful old grandfather who keeps his spectacles on his head and looks for it all around, till his grandchild tells him that it is right on his head, that’s when he realises that the spectacles are with him. Similar to this case where the spectacles were not lost and so could not have been found, but had been forgotten on one’s own head, likewise this realisation that we are divine is not to be found somewhere, it is right here within us, it’s just that we are looking for it in the wrong place having totally forgotten about it.

So with certain efforts and guidance when one realises divinity very much within ones lifetime, what does he or she truly experience? taittirīyopaniṣad’s ānandavallī declares that the Self-Realised person experiences supreme bliss equivalent in its quality and intensity to the bliss of Supreme brahman – the divine origin of all! Just to give you an idea of the quality and intensity of the bliss of brahman, ānandavallī explains that the ānanda experienced by Brahman is 10^20 times the ānanda experienced by a person who is in the prime of his youth, who is healthy, capable, intelligent and determined and who owns the entire earth and all the wealth that exists therein! Even with all the earthly efforts of a lifetime one can not fulfil this condition of being young, healthy, intelligent and super-wealthy to own the entire earth and all its belongings, which collectively consist of only one single unit of human bliss, but the experience of 10^ 20 times of this human bliss which is the divine bliss of brahman comes to the one who is Self-Realised and thus freed of all desires (akāmahata). Do not take this calculation too literally, for it is only a way of the great seers of upaniṣads to encourage people to abandon hankering after paltry worldly pleasures and motivate them to pursue the path of Self-Realisation.

Human birth is the rarest to get because it’s given only to humans to realise one’s divinity, which is the true purpose of human life, says sanātana dharma. In the previous article we learnt that to realise one’s divinity one needs three blessings, namely, a human birth (narajanma), desire for self-realisation (mumukṣutva) and the guidance of a guru (mahāpuruṣa saṁśraya). The true seeker must have four pure qualifications which is to have discrimination (viveka), dispassion (vairāgya), the six qualities of śama, dama, uparati, titikṣā, śraddhā and samādhāna – (together called ṣaṭsampatti) and an intense desire to realise the truth (mumukṣutva). The question that remained unanswered in the last article was, why is that most humans don’t seek to realise their divinity; why don’t they have such an intense desire for liberation? We shall ponder upon that here.

There are three reasons for this as elucidated by our scriptures – avidyā or ignorance, kāma or wrong desires, and karma or actions directed towards such wrong desires. Well, if one dwells deeply, the root cause of the latter two can be discovered in the very first reason – ignorance.

The desire to know something develops only if someone gets to know that such a thing exists; for instance, unless you know that a new product version has come in the market, be it of your favourite car or a phone, you won’t be able to develop a desire for it. So, the first reason for not having any desire for Self-Realisation is the ignorance that such a concept exists in the first place. And that’s due to the company of those who are also equally ignorant about it. This is called ‘avidyā’ or ignorance which is the foremost reason for people lacking a desire to know their divinity. While on one side it is the ignorance of the existence of divinity, on the other side it’s also the incorrect knowledge about the world around which is experienced by the body and the mind of a person.

Sri Krishna says in the bhagavadgītā – ‘anityam-asukhaṁ lokam’, – this world is temporary and sorrowful – but due to the wrong knowledge or ignorance of this fact, most get deluded by the tinsel and glitter of the world and forgo the true gold of Self-Realisation. The classic example of this incorrect knowledge is the illusory appearance of a snake in the rope, in the twilight. Though the world and the joys that it seems to offer appear to be real, they are but transitory, whereas the knowledge of the Self bestows permanent happiness. Unfortunately, due to ignorance of this truth or incorrect knowledge about the impermanence of the world, people don’t develop intense desire for realisation or mumukṣutva.

The second reason is ‘kāma’ or wrong desires, born out of avidyā. Faulty knowledge of the world, and its transitory pleasures, makes one believe that this world is real and the joys will be everlasting; this creates a chain of desires to seek the world instead of God. Also, even if someone comes to know that such a thing as divinity exists, the distracting desires which seek paltry pleasures of the body, and instant but fleeting joys of the mind, do not allow one to constantly pursue the path of Self-Realisation. The body and its various needs, the mind and its endless wants, constantly drive the person into the dogged pursuit of their gratification, leaving barely any energy left to dedicate one’s self for Self-Realisation.

Think this way, you started from your home to your destination, but on the way met someone who was so engaging that you forgot the very purpose of why you even started and ended up spending all your time with the newfound friend. It happens all the time; a student who wants to study for examinations is often distracted by the video games on the phone, or a person wanting to lose weight may get distracted by the tasty food that comes his or her way, and so on. This determined effort to know one’s divinity is diminished by the endless distractions that the world around oneself offers.

This third reason – ‘karma’ – actions, is born out of the second – ‘kāma’ – or the desire for something. When one develops a fallacious desire, in the sense that it is a desire that is different from Self-Realisation, then, one is compelled to undertake actions to fulfil them. For example, if you want a new gadget or a particular possession, you need to acquire it by certain efforts, righteous or otherwise. We all know Newton’s third law of motion which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and this applies in the case of karma or action too! Every action undertaken also produces reaction or consequences. These consequences can be pleasurable or painful depending on the kind of action undertaken.

But the reaction or consequences of karma called – ‘karma prabhāva’ have to be experienced without fail. This reaction born out of any action leads to the next action and therefore the next reaction, and this cycle goes on and on – like you might desire for a new wristwatch that you may have seen the other day on a billboard. Now to buy that, which is slightly beyond your budget, you must spend some of your savings or earn some money or take out a loan. Each of these will affect you in its own way. If you spend your savings, you are left with lesser security which may make you anxious and compel you to earn more to compensate for that. If you have to earn more, you will have to work extra hours, which means you will have to take time out from other activities like rest and leisure, and that may impact your health. If you borrow money to buy the watch, well I do not need to explain the consequences, the loan which will have to be repaid will naturally create anxiety and restlessness. So while there is the pleasure of having acquired the prized possession of the watch, it did set off a trail of action-reaction behind it. And more often than not, by the time you finally buy the new model of that watch, there is this newer version up for sale in the market, triggering a new sequence of desires and actions.

This way having developed a desire other than liberation, one would be bound by the chain of action and reaction. These actions and reactions which are like the alternating links of a chain born out of desires other than Self-Realisation, is in turn born out of the ignorance of the true purpose of human birth, and is the cause why most people don’t pursue the path of Self-Realisation.

All are brahman declares sanātana dharma and the true purpose of human life is to overcome the māyā or illusion created by the mind, which projects the myth of duality that one is different from brahman by giving a false identity (ahaṁkāra) through the acquired thoughts (manas), memories (citta), and flawed analysis (buddhi). This realisation that one is brahman is mokṣa – destruction of moha or false attachment, also called mukti or freedom from ignorance. To achieve this, a guru – a realised Master – is imperative as he experiences his truth as brahman, and can thus help the lost seeker also discover his true identity, like the big lion that guided the ignorant cub lost in the flock of sheep to its real identity of being a lion, and thus liberated it from the illusion of calling itself a sheep. That’s what we discussed in the last article.

But how does one find a guru? Who is a real guru? What are his qualities? And how does he help one realise brahman? These are the questions that we would try and answer in this article.

As mentioned some time ago, the same brahman descends as an avatāra amongst people with the main purpose of establishing dharma – which is to help one execute one’s true duty of behaving in accordance with one’s Divine nature. 

Many who come across such an avatāra are inspired and strive to achieve the greater heights of the supreme state of brahman, cutting asunder the bondage of false identification that ties them down to the māyā of the world. These great ones who aspire, strive and ultimately achieve the truth of their true nature as brahman are ascended Masters or gurus, who out of their immense compassion for the others teach them about this path of freedom. ‘guru’ is a combination of ‘gu’ and ‘ru’, where gu stands for darkness and ru stands for its dispelling. In short, guru means the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance. Just like how we fail to identify ourselves in the mirror if it is dark, likewise we fail to identify our true nature due to ignorance. Like switching on the light and making things visible as they are, a guru enlightens the seeker through his teachings and helps remove the darkness of ignorance. In the presence of such an enlightened master, the disciple is enabled to identity oneself as brahman. 

However, if it was so simple, then why does everyone not have a guru to guide them? The truth is that one must develop the deservedness of having a guru in one’s life. What does that mean? The muṇḍakopaniṣad says that after one tries and carefully analyses everything in the world, and comes to the conclusion that one is unable to attain true happiness out of the actions undertaken, one becomes detached and seeks relief by approaching a guru who is a ‘learned and enlightened one.’ Such a guru then trains and teaches a surrendered and willing seeker. So the first reason why one even seeks a guru is when one is disillusioned by the temporariness of the world which does not give true and lasting happiness. The sorrows in the world, the failures and disappointments are thus stepping stones to a spiritual life. This understanding may happen within this very birth or after several births of accumulated yearning to know the truth.

An earnest seeker of truth finds a Master in due course, the moment one is ready to let go of the world and seek guidance of a Master. This Master does not accept the disciple without testing him and demands sincere, dedicated efforts and complete surrender to attain the truth, like in praśnopaniṣad where guru pippalāda, asks the six seekers to practise tapas – austerities to purge oneself of any attachments to the world and develop a burning desire for the truth, śraddhā – sincere faith in the words of the scriptures and the guru, and brahmacarya – absolute abstinence from seeking pleasures of the body and the mind, thereby completely engaging in spiritual pursuits. It’s only when guru pippalāda is satisfied with the sādhanā or prescribed practices of the disciples that he called them after a year, and clarified their doubts.

So while the disciple is to undertake tapas, possess śraddhā and practise brahmacarya, a true guru is also known by certain qualities, eight of them to be precise, as described by the great scholar Saint Sri Adi Shankaracharya of 8th century CE in his work, vivekacūḍāmaṇi (verse 33): 

In the previous article we discussed the idea of the self-manifested brahman – the Supreme God of sanātana dharma, who manifested the entire universe with all the movable and immovable entities, on His own, like the spider that brings out the web from its stomach, lives in it and swallows it back. The universe emanated from brahman, is sustained by brahman and ultimately dissolved by brahman into His own self. sanātana dharma thus believes that – all that which exists is brahman or Divine – as it is made by and made of brahman.

Though brahman has no particular form and name, He incarnates as avatāras, time and again, to set things right in the society by not merely annihilating the evil and protecting the virtuous, but by transforming humans into better beings.

The question that intrigues one is, ‘Though the world is nothing but brahman, and human beings are also manifestations of the same brahman, then why is the world saturated with problems?’

To understand this seeming contradiction, we need to delve into the teachings of the upaniṣads.

A quick look around will tell us that more or less all elements and creatures of nature follow a set path as governed by the natural law. For instance, the ecological balance is maintained through the food cycle, where the grass is eaten by the deer, which in turn is eaten by the lion. And when the balance is lost, there is natural extinction of the species in the food chain which sets the balance right. Or take the example of the water cycle, where the water from the oceans evaporate and condense to form clouds, which bring the rains into the rivers, and they flow and merge into the oceans, thus completing the cycle. However, in the case of human beings the balance is disturbed by their constant wanting for more, much more than they need, for which they diligently produce things and exhaust nature’s precious resources. This incites imbalance causing societal disharmony and natural disasters, leading to chaos and confusion in creation. When an unlettered animal can behave according to its needs, then why are humans driven by greed, one may wonder.

The difference between humans and animals is that human beings are endowed with a mind. Simply put, mind is a collection of thoughts of all kinds, good, evil or just neutral. These thoughts are different from the instincts that are present in animals. Instincts like hunger, sleep, fear and procreation are common to animals and humans. While animals have instincts alone which drive them, humans have a mind that can think, desire, analyse, remember and discriminate between good and bad. One may argue that a lion killing a deer to eat is evil as it is sheer cruelty on part of the lion. Well, do not forget that mother nature made them that way. A lion must eat deer to live and a deer must eat grass; there is no choice there. It’s their natural way of life. But humans on the other hand have the ability to make choices, decide to do what is good, and avoid what is bad. The mind of man, which broadly has four abilities namely, citta or memories, buddhi or intelligence, ahaṁkāra or identification with oneself, and manas or the thoughts that encompass all the other three, is responsible for all that humans do and experience. The scripture – taittirīyopaniṣad – describes this as ‘manomaya kośa’ or the sheath of mind, which hides the pure existence of brahman in humans, and thus makes them incapable of behaving like brahman under the influence of this cover of the mind. Just like an object covered by a piece of cloth cannot be seen clearly, in the same way, humans fail to see that they are made of brahman due to this cover of the mind that influences them to think of themselves as those other than brahman.

How does one remove this cover of the mind and realise that he or she is one with brahman? sanātana dharma prescribes methods and means to achieve that. Just as a cloth is made of threads and the removal of threads would lead to the disintegration of the cloth thereby revealing the object covered by it, in the same way, removal of thoughts from the mind would lead to the realisation of oneness with brahman. These thoughts in the mind are born out of desires that are in turn born out of associations. So when one associates oneself with noble and pure people, the desires gradually reduce, thoughts disappear, mind disintegrates and the truth of one’s existence as brahman is revealed. The conscious effort to be in the company of realised beings is the key to uncover the reality of brahman within oneself.