CONTROL THE SENSES AND DESTROY THE DESIRE

Sri Krishna states that the first step to kill desire is to control the senses. Desire is referred to as a sinful thing posing a threat to both knowledge and wisdom. Desire is a sinful thing because it leads us to live a life of lowly nature. Desire oriented agitations are not only an impediment to our direct personal spiritual experiences but also to our indirect way of acquiring knowledge through the study of scriptures.

The Gita provides the seeker with a technique to conquer desire, the inner enemy. The Upanishadic method of meditation for the withdrawal of ego from the outer world of sense objects to the inner world of the Self for the purposes of curbing desire oriented tendencies and thereby achieving Self-discovery is commended.

The physical body is gross, external and limited. As compared to this the senses are superior because they are subtler and more internal and have a wider range of activity.  Superior to the senses is the mind as it can direct the function of the senses and undertake the work of the senses also. Superior to the mind is the intellect because it is endowed with the faculty of discrimination and finality; when the mind doubts, the intellect decides. But The Self is superior to even the intellect because the intellect draws its power to illuminate from the Self alone. The Self is the indweller in the body, the Witness of the activities of the body, senses, mind and intellect.

Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to conquer desire with this understanding of the superior power of the Self, though it is difficult to achieve. The Lord points out that a man of discrimination and dispassion will be able to achieve this by increasing his Sattwic quality and by appealing to the indwelling Presence, The Self, through meditation. This controlling of the lower self i.e. the mind with the knowledge of the Higher Self is termed as ‘restraining the self by the Self’.

The technique of meditation is a conscious withdrawal of all our identifications with our body, mind and intellect and thereby turning our awareness or desire-faculty towards our diviner existence where the ego is under the perfect control of the Self with no desires to agitate the mind any more. Thus a constructive re-organization of life is taught by the Gita and the Upanishads without the suppression or rejection of the life's situations.

PURUSHARTHA, THE GOAL OF EXISTENCE

When we are fettered with the bondage in the form of unfulfilled desires some time or the other the following thoughts arise in us out of frustration.

What is the purpose of life? What is the meaning of life?
What's it all about? Who are we?
Why are we here?  Where we are heading for?
What is the origin and nature of life?
What is the nature of reality?
What is the reason to live?

These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments from science, philosophy and religion. Nidra (sleep), bhaya (fear), ahara (food) and mithuna (sex) are common to all living beings. But human beings are different; they do not always act on instincts but are bestowed with the power of discrimination. Having been born a human, one has to understand how one must live. Human life without purpose would be meaningless. One needs to have an end or purpose in life towards which his actions can be directed. Therefore the aim of human life, which is called ‘purushartha’, is well defined in all the Hindu scriptures.

The idea of Purushartha has played a very vital role in the history of Indian thought. The term ‘Purushartha’ literally signifies “what is sought by men”, so that it may be taken as equivalent to a human end or purpose. Although a man, like other living beings, can act instinctively, because of his discriminative faculty he can also act deliberately. This means he can consciously set before himself ends, and work for them. Thus Purushartha is an end which is consciously sought to be accomplished either for its own sake or for the sake of utilizing it as a means to the accomplishment of further end or goal. The word ‘purushartha’ consists of two words, viz, ‘purusa’ meaning person and ‘artha’ meaning aim or end. Hence, as defined earlier, purushartha means aim or goal of human life. 

The purusharthas that have been recognized in India from very early times are four: Dharma (duty), Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure), and Moksha (liberation).

DHARMA:

Dharma is the foundation and first of the four goals. Dharma is universal law, harmony, truth, duty, wisdom, and the inherent nature of things. It is a process of alignment, whereby one moves steadily, wisely, and with clear mind in the natural flow of Truth. Dharma refers to moral duties, obligations, and conduct, namely, Vidhis (do's) and Nishedha (don’ts). Dharma is always given a highest importance.  

ARTHA:

Artha is the second goal of life for the householder for the attainment of wealth and material prosperity. It has to do with providing for the hunger, thirst, and safety needs that are inherent in living in a physical body. Artha recognises this level of physical or material need, which is not contrary to spiritual life. The efforts or means to realizing this goal must have a righteous and moral basis.

KAMA: 

Kama is the fulfillment of desires in the world; biological, physical, and material. Without deep, latent desires there would be no incarnation. Kama is the enlivened desire that springs forth from those latent conditionings. Desires must be acknowledged and reasonably fulfilled with mindfulness so as to move towards freedom from them, by not adding it to a continuous cycle of fulfilling and escalating. Artha and Kama are important goals for the growth and progress of society.

MOKSHA:

Moksha means liberation from the web of Maya, the cycles of birth and death, to experiences Bliss. Liberation is not some posthumous state to be attained after death, but is a state to be attained right here in this very life. This is the ultimate goal of human life. Liberation is freedom from a sense of lack, insecurity and fear. This is possible when a person discovers that he is free from all limitations of time, space, and individuality and that he is really the transcendental reality himself.

Scriptures say that Dharma and Moksha are like the river bed to Artha and Kama which are rivers and if the river is breached and flows out of river bed it is disaster.

Among the four aspects of ‘purushartha’ the highest or ultimate is called ‘moksha’.  Moksha means liberation. What do we understand by the term ‘Liberation’? Liberation means escaping from falling into the trap of repeated cycles of birth and death. Why do we require Liberation? We require liberation to avoid miseries built in us out of our desires spread over innumerable previous births up to the present. Then how to go about reaching that destination of present life?  How to disengage ourselves from these fetters? The only way to reach that goal of freedom is to follow the guidelines prescribed in our scriptures.

Moksha as the last end signifies that its attainment is impossible without first fulfilling the obligations of the other three. It is a state of non-action. It is not that on death moksha is attained. Being the ultimate value of man’s social existence, the purushartha of moksa is an end in itself. Beyond that, man has nothing to attain. It is the stage where man’s cravings cease and along with that ceases the need for attainment and fulfillment. It is realization and living of the truth namely Aham Brahma Asmi and Tat Tvam Asi. In other words it is waking up of human consciousness at the highest level of reality i.e., paramarthik satta.

The liberated person neither acts nor causes others to act. He may work for the good of humanity without moral obligation. But he has no duties to perform. It is total destruction of egoism. We can call moksha as a sublime goal. It can be known through mystical experience.  It is the stage of inner realization that the individual self is the same as the Supreme Self. It is the experience of the cosmos within one's self. It is the experience of union, oneness with the Universe.

WHY MOKSHA?

Moksha is a Sanskrit word meaning:

1. to liberate
2. to free from
3. to get rid of

It means freedom from the worldly bondages which lead to rebirth such as love, anger, greed, delusion, lust and envy. The Upanishads state that man suffers from three types of miseries. Moksha is the only way to get rid of these three miseries.

Moksha is the state of absolute bliss wherein we realise that the perceiver, the perceived and the object of perception are all one and the same. Moksha is the breakage of cycle - the cycle of mind, cycle of time, cycle of births, i.e., transcending existence.

Moksha is obtained through the knowledge of the Self. To attain Jnana, you must have one-pointedness of mind (Ekagrata). Ekagrata comes through Upasana. Upasana comes through purity of heart (Chitta Suddhi). Chitta Suddhi comes through Nishkamya Karma Yoga. To do Nishkamya Karma, you must have controlled the Indriyas. The Indriyas can be controlled through Viveka and Vairagya.

Since moksha involves limitlessness and infiniteness; it cannot be gained or given. Moksha is not to be regarded as a becoming into something which previously had no existence. Moksha is not something to be achieved. It is already achieved. Everything is one with Absolute or Para Brahman. What is to be achieved is annihilation of the sense of separateness. Moksha is the direct perception of that which has existed from eternity, but has hitherto been concealed from us on account of the veil of ignorance. Moksha is attainment of the Supreme Bliss or Immortality and removal of all kinds of pain. Moksha is freedom from birth and death.

Moksha can be attained by constant meditation with a heart that is rendered pure and steady by selfless service and Japa.  The Jiva falsely superimposes the body and others which are not Self upon himself and identifies himself with them. This identification constitutes bondage. The freedom from this identification is Moksha. That which causes this identification is Avidya or nescience. That which removes the identification is Vidya. Attainment of knowledge of the Self eradicates this Avidya and its effects.

YOGA VASISHTHA ON MOKSHA

Moksha, according to Yoga Vasishtha, is the attainment of the essence of the bliss of Brahman through knowledge of the Self. It is freedom from births and deaths. It is the immaculate and imperishable seat of Brahman wherein there are neither Sankalpas nor Vasanas. The mind attains its quiescence here. All the pleasures of the whole world are a mere drop when compared to the infinite bliss of Moksha.

That which is called Moksha is neither in Devaloka nor in Patala nor on earth. When all desires are destroyed, the extinction of the expansive mind alone is Moksha. Moksha has neither space nor time in itself; nor is there in it any state external or internal. If the illusory idea of "I" or Ahamkara perishes, the end of thoughts (which is Maya) is experienced, and that is Moksha. Extinction of all Vasanas constitutes Moksha.

Moksha is freedom from all sorts of pains (Sarva-Duhkha Nivritti) and the attainment of supreme bliss (Paramananda Prapti). "Duhkha" means pain or suffering. Births and deaths generate the greatest pain. Freedom from births and deaths is freedom from all sorts of pain. Brahma Jnana or knowledge of the Self alone will give Moksha. The quiescence produced in the mind by the absence of desires for objects is Moksha.

Moksha cannot be of the type 'apraaptasya praapta' but should be of the form 'praaptasya praapta' that is gaining something that I already have or that which is intrinsic with me. Happiness is not something that I gain, but something I have to realize. A quiet and contented mind is a happy mind. Mind free from the notions of limitations is the mind free from any longing to be free. That is the mind free from all limitations - limitations of place, time and qualities.

Hence Amritabindu Upanishad  says “manaeva manushyaanaaam kaaranam bandha moksha yoh”. Mind alone is responsible for both bondage and freedom. Identification with the finite is bondage and realization of one's own true advaitic nature is freedom. Like all other knowledge, this knowledge has to take place in the mind alone. One cannot become free; one has to understand that one is free. One cannot become infinite one has to understand that one is infinite. That is moksha.

Having understood what is Moksha the obvious next step is how to achieve that goal. i.e. what is Moksha Sadhana?  The guidelines for this step are clearly laid down in the three canonical texts called prasthana trayi.

PRASTHANA TRAYI

The Literal meaning of the word "Prasthan" is Departure. Departure to achieve the supreme goal of one's living, Departure towards the Brahman, Departure from the physical world etc.,

The Prasthanatrayi consists of 1.The Brahma Sutras, known as Nyaya prasthana, 2.The Upanishads, known as Upadesha prasthana, and  3.The Bhagavad Gita, known as Sadhana prasthana  The Prasthanatrayi or the Prasthanatrayam refers to these three texts forming the Scriptural Trinity of the Hinduism.