Jnana Yoga : The Path of Knowledge

Remove The fish in the river were now in great distress and they made so much noise floundering around in the mud that it awakened Gadapada from his meditation. Looking around, he saw Sankara standing three, his face glowing, scornfully looking at the Narmada in his little bowl! He knew that this was the little boy of his vision. Gaudapada asked Sankara to release the river as the fish were in great trouble. Then he gave him work, the karika ( commentary) on the Mandukya Upanishad, and asked him to read it. They retired for the night. The next morning Sankara appeared with the commentary he had written on the teachings of Gaudapada. The old teacher was amazed to find how clearly his teachings had been set forth by this little boy of eight. Gaudapada told Sankara that he was destined to be the disciple of Govindapada, and happily went into the state of mahasamadhi from which there is no return.

The ajatavada of Gaudapada holds that there has never been any creation. Therefore no question of God, soul, or the universe should ever arise; all dualistic conceptions are but creations of dream. Brahman alone exists. The way to realize it is not by discussing the question, not by asking the “why or wherefore,” but by simply waking up from the terrible nightmare of dualistic experience. If you are in a dark room, you do not ask why it is dark. You turn on a light and the darkness disappears. Hindu When you have a headache you take it for granted that you have a head. Gaudapada would say: “What ! You say you have a headache! MY friend, you have no head!” he permitted no “erroneous” expression, none whatsoever. Sankara, on the other hand, would accept your erroneous statement, i.e., “I have a head ache.” As a premise, and would then logically prove to you that the premise was wrong. He would say: “I will admit and accept their ravings, and then show them that they are wrong. Only One exists. Look closer, brother, not two-but One!” So Sankara accepts the erroneous statement that the universe exists, and then logically leads us to the acceptance of a Fundamental Reality.

This reminds me of something that happened in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. Once a devotee of his took a friend to see him at Dakshineswar. The man had just lost his eldest son and was half crazy because of it. He had not wanted to go to see a holy man. He had told his friend, “ What use is there in going to see a holy man? He will just tell me that it is all illusion and that I should not be attached to my family. What good will that do me?” But the devotee had reassured him, saying, “This holy man is different. Come along with me.”
 

Ramakrishna talked with the man about his bereavement. He listened to al he had to say. He asked questions about the son and sympathized with the man. He said he knew how he felt, because when his nephew had died he had felt as though his heart were being wrung as one wrings a wet towel. In recalling this, Ramakrishna’s eyes filled with tears. The man, as well, was weeping. Together they wept for some time. The man was greatly relieved. Ramakrishna gradually worked a complete cure, and in the end jumped up and sang a heroic song, defying death. The man found peace. Ramakrishna was slow to work any changes. First he accepted the man’s premises as true, as right, and then slowly brought him around. The man left in a consoled state of mind, relieved of his grief. Ramakrishna accepted what he knew was not truth and then led the man from there. In the end, the true nature of the son as the birthless, deathless Atman was established by Ramakrishna.

Sankara expounded the ajatavada, or non-creation theory of Gaudapada, from the viewpoint of vivartavada. When a thing has the appearance of being something that it is not - that may be called vivarta. The classical illustration is that of a rope appearing as a snake. A traveler, passing through a village at dusk, saw a snake stretched across the road. He ran to the nearest house and cried. “There is a big snake on the road! Come and see ti!” said the man. He picked up his lantern and started walking with the stranger to the side of the road. All the while the stranger was asking him such questions as, “ What kind of a snake do you think it is ? is it poisonous? Are there many snakes around here ?” To these questions the villager said nothing. As they reached the road, he moved the lantern down so the stranger could see clearly. When the light shone on the road, the snake turned out to be nothing but a thick piece of rope! This is vivarta, when something has the appearance of being what it is not. Read Previous   Read Next