AvadhootaDatta Peetham

Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha

Day 29, August 14

Jaya Guru Datta

Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha

Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha

Thrish is thirst. Thrishna means excessive thirst. How to understand the word properly? We have discussed the meaning of the word Thrishnaa. We hoard more water than is needed for our purpose. That is what is called thrishnaa/greed. That is the flaw of the mind. We want all the water in the world for us. Do we drink it? No. We do not drink it. We do not share it with those who need it. Our thirst is quenched. And still, we hoard water, preventing others from satisfying their thirst.

Greed kills our kindness, mercy, gentleness, and courtesy. It is a dangerous vice. Iccha is Sankalpa, intention. Greed is different. Up to the level of having a wish, it may be tolerated. But with greed there is no comfort and there is no peace.

I am getting scorched and dried up completely, says Sri Rama. Like a ghost in a deserted forest, greed is growing and running amok. It prevents anything else from growing, and it thrives and grows. This is most dangerous. Like the rising waves of an ocean, greed takes us down into the nether world. No one can dam the flow of this rapid and uncontrolled river that comes gushing down the mountain slope.

When the snow melts and the washes gushes down the river Ganga, it is difficult to bathe in the waters. In the winter, it is better. The flow is gentler.

Rama says I am thinking deeply about how to control this thrishnaa/greed.

Sanskrit is the language of the celestials. It is most suited for discussing Vedanta.

Uddaama ..

Tarangini is a river. The body is the mountain. The river flows when there are good rains up at the top of the mountain. The flooding river is this greed/thrishnaa. Its rapid flow is unstoppable.

This is thrishnaa bhangaa subject. This greed destroys the mind/Chitta. This Chataka Pakshi/ a certain bird that drinks only fresh rain drops as they fall; it does not drink from lakes, ponds or wells. As it waits with its beak open seeing the dark clouds gather, a strong breeze blows and drives away all the clouds. Finally the bird called mind perishes without ever satisfying its thirst. Till then it keeps flying from one tree to another following the clouds as they are continuously getting blown away. Brahma rasa is the juice that keeps us alive. Without that life support/water, the bird dies. We really live only with Brahma rasa, our spirituality. Greed destroys it. If we manage to preserve it, we can enjoy bliss, health, and progress. Sages used to live without even air and food. It is not just food that sustains us. It is the divine energy that keeps us alive.

Sometimes food that is undigested turns to poison. During fever, favorite foods will be banned. They will not be good for us. They will harm us when we are sick. When we lose sight of our real Self, we perish.

Greed deprives us of good health. I am trying to climb step by step, and this greed is undermining the progress I make. It is like the game Vaikuntha Pali/Snakes and Ladders board game.

If Sri Rama himself speaks like that, then what is our fate? If Guru says gain some spiritual knowledge, we must show interest and initiative. We must strive to make progress.

Just as a tornado takes the blade of grass and spins it at great speed and throws somewhere miles away, the mind is swept away by greed.

At least a little bit of spirituality is required in life. This topic is difficult to grasp but those who began with skepticism are now expressing their appreciation of this subject.

It is not the fault of the mind. The mind is not to be blamed, but greed that corrupts the mind.

Kumooshika/bad mouse – Mooshikasura was a demon.

There is no need to kill mice. It is better to prevent their entry into the house. Ganapati Swami transformed a harmful mouse into a good mouse and made it His vehicle. The bad mouse not only fills its stomach but would spoil things in the house, including cutting electric chords, snapping the strings made of gut on the musical instrument, Veena. What it eats, it has to digest. So instead of going away it stays in the house causing needless damage and havoc. It is restless and eager to destroy with mischief on its mind. Thrishnaa is like that. It is destroying all my sadhana.

A good mouse will eat its fill and will leave.

My situation is like a dry leaf that has not got enough weight to go down the whirlpool and is not light enough to be thrown out. I endlessly keep going round and round in the whirlpool called greed.

If it is something very heavy like an elephant, a small whirlpool will be too small to take it down the hole. It will survive.

A small boy grasps whatever we say, very easily. You do not begin education at age 20. You begin at age 2. That is an age when children grasp very quickly. In some previous lifetime we earned some merit. Perhaps our parents earned some merit. As a result we now have the opportunity to uplift ourselves with Guru’s guidance and grace. We must try to progress based on that. We must make every effort to rise higher and higher. We must not get stuck where we are and worse still, we must not degenerate spiritually. We have the opportunity to learn. We are not utilizing our chances. We are not following the advice of Guru. Wisdom comes with age through experience; wisdom comes from deep penance; wisdom comes through earning spiritual knowledge. There are three types of wisdom. We must follow a path suited to us to gain wisdom. If we reject the advice of the wise, we are the losers. Why don’t people show the same greed for attaining knowledge that they show for gaining worldly ends? In youth, time is wasted in excessive play, and the entire life is wasted. How we allocate our time is very important. Time management is crucial. Our life gets spent rapidly, before we realize it.

Birds can communicate with each other. In spite of being warned, out of greed for food, the birds get caught in the net, not heeding the words of the mature or wise birds that give caution out of concern. We, likewise, do not pay heed to the words of Guru or elders.

Thatha is a very good word. It is employed to address Father. Please remove the darkness from my life. Fill my life with light. O Father, this thirst is impossible to quench. Daaha means both thirst and burning sensation or burning. How much Amrita is needed to quench our thirst? By merely looking at Amrita, the thirst gets quenched. Rama says I am not sure that even Amrita can remove this thirst/thrishnaa/greed that is destroying me. It is not possible to control it.

A horse is very intelligent. A cow, an elephant, and then a horse are the three most intelligent animals. Once tamed, a horse behaves as we wish. But a female mad horse is good for nothing. Sometimes such a condition occurs to a horse during a battle on the battlefield. It simply has to be let go. It cannot be brought under control then. In the Himalayas we saw many such horses. They even refuse to eat their favorite foods.

Our natural attitude is of detachment. But thirst/thrishnaa is making me act like a mad female horse.

To draw water from a well, we dip the pail in the water and lift it up. Like this, down and up endless movement is the effect of thrishnaa. Virus spreads dangerously fast inside the body, ever increasing in its strength. This thrishnaa is like that. An ox has a nose-rope to tame it, which is again tied around the neck, and also around the horns. When the man pulls the rope, the rope has to hurt the nose and the neck and only then the powerful ox will behave. Like that terrible rope that never snaps, such is thrishnaa, tied around our neck and through the nose. It is like the rope that controls us. If we try to get loose from the rope, we will not be able to. We will begin to bleed. How can greed enslave us so horribly? This rope makes us totally helpless. We cannot progress at all in our lives. But we have the power in us to snap the chords/ropes and set ourselves free.

Do not pray for heaven. In heaven, there is no eating, sleeping, blinking, nothing. They have no hunger, thirst, or progress. Earthly life is much better than life in heaven. Rambha, Menaka, Urvasi are the celestial damsels that people wish to associate with. They are described as lightning. They vanish in a flash. It is all an illusion. All heavenly pleasures are an illusion. Pray for liberation instead. Great souls continue their spiritual pursuit even in heaven. In heaven there is no opportunity to do good deeds to earn merit. The wise person bypasses heavenly pleasures and going stage by stage, will ultimately reach Satya Loka and will receive instruction from Brahma Himself and will attain total liberation. That is the path to follow.

Amrita, if one simply glances at it will quench thirst.

Like the hunter’s wife, who prepares the net to catch the birds, this greed is tying us tightly in this worldly illusion.

Many people believe that working to support family is the primary duty in life. We have to practice both Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Merely doing karma drowned in attachment caused by illusion will fill us with much regret that our life has been totally wasted. Jnana concerns only us. It is a duty one owes to oneself, to attain spiritual wisdom. Why are people not selfish regarding attaining Jnana?

It is new moon. Pitch dark. We have no lamp. Our own body is invisible. We are in a forest. This thrishnaa is frightening me because it has also made me blind. I have all the comforts and yet, I am most miserable, says Sri Rama.

We must learn from all these examples. We must deeply meditate on all the similes given. We must clearly understand the concept.

The deer runs after mirages, trusting its eyes. But if it stops to smell and sniff for water since it has that skill, it will know the difference between flowing water and a mirage. Then it will not be fooled.

It is possible to recognize the terrorizing quality of greed and to get rid of it. Guru shows us the way by His own example. Our ancient sages have all conquered greed. They escaped from its clutches and such slavery.

You must realize how greed has taken complete control over your mind and is taking your downhill into doom.

This sarga is long with 52 verses. Even small details are described along with major concepts. Whether we accept its teachings or not is up to us.

Tomorrow there will be the Flag Hoisting ceremony. Therefore, we will have Yoga Vasishtha discourse at 7:30 AM.

There will be abhishekam to Sri Datta Venkateswara. Needy students will be given school supplies tomorrow on the occasion of Indian Independence Day, as arranged by Sri Swamiji.

Om Santissantissantihi
Sri Guru Datta