Aug 24, Vasishtha
Discourse on Yoga Vasishtha
Day 38, August 24
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Guru Dhyanam: Gurur Brahmaa, Sri Bhooyuta.. , Ajnana .. Akhanda, Dehe …, Akhandam ..
Yoga Vasishtha Dhyana Slokas:
yatassarvāṇi bhūtāni pratibhānti sthitāni ca
yatraivōpaśamaṁ yānti tasmai satyātmanē namaḥ || 1
jñātā jñānaṁ tathā jñēyaṁ draṣṭādarśana dr̥śyabhūḥ
kartā hētuḥ kriyā yasmāt tasmai jñaptyātmanē namaḥ || 2
sphuranti sīkarā yasmāt ānanandasyāṁbarē vanau
sarvēṣām jīvanam tasmai brahmānandātmanē namaḥ || 3
Brahmanandam, Sri Vasishtham Namami, Ramaya, Aapadaamapahartaaram, Om Purnamadah,
Om Santissantissantihi
A child is fed separately. His diet is different. If he sees the regular food with salt and spices, it will create problems. The child will ask to eat the food that adults eat. He will demand stubbornly. This food will not agree with him. That is why children are fed first and put to bed.
Yesterday, we learned from Sri Rama about all the bad things about childhood. When Rama blamed the entire body, many people have felt that childhood is a great stage in life. Anticipating our reaction, Rama has enumerated the sufferings undergone during childhood. In infancy we cannot even express our pains and difficulties. We are in ignorance and we are helpless. The mind is very unsteady at this stage. The toys we like today will be discarded tomorrow. Tastes and likes keep changing during g childhood. We ourselves were once in that stage. We have to examine that stage and realize that we must not desire to become children again. Such a desire will cause us to be born again. Unless we are alerted like this, our eyes will not be opened. Vedanta does not wipe anyone’s tears. It merely awakens us to the truth about life as it is.
A child thinks that everything he sees is good. He places poison in his mouth out of ignorance. Those who observe children find them cute. But those who experience childhood are miserable. Even if the child hates to be in the swing and feels dizzy, he cannot express it. He endures all kinds of discomforts, unable to express himself. The unsteadiness of mind during childhood is unpredictable. When slightly older, the children are placed under the guidance of teachers for proper training and control. An immature mind and childhood as a combination, is a home to all problems, sickness, and suffering. Suddenly the child gets sick with fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and pains.
How we view childhood and how Rama views it, are different. We worry about a sickness. The doctor is not concerned. He brushes it off as a minor illness. We neglect some symptoms. But the doctor blames us for negligence of a serious problem.
A child is never satisfied with the thing we provide for him. How can childhood, where parents are troubled beyond their limit of endurance sometimes, be called great? In what way is it desirable? One moment a baby cries. A moment later he laughs. Once he begins crying, it appears like he will never stop. But suddenly for no reason he stops.
When some babies constantly cry, we cannot figure out the reason. We fail in our attempts to pacify them.
The child is ever in fear. He is afraid of darkness. He is afraid of light. His wish we cannot understand. His mind is changeable. He runs here and there. When he begins to crawl, we are ever frightened as to what trouble he will drag himself into. In his ignorance and unwise enthusiasm he lands himself in trouble.
Chandi homa is being performed today at SDVT. Aslesha Bali is taking place. Please witness the Purnahuti as commanded by Sri Swamiji.
So far, Swamiji has never given us darshan at this time of the day during this discourse. That he has come here today means that it is very important for us to learn the truth about childhood.
The child’s mind works in crooked ways. If the child’s desire is not fulfilled, the child begins to deteriorate. Sometimes even babies need to be taken to psychiatrists to detect what it is that is troubling them because they cannot express their needs.
We heard the story yesterday about why Krishna was born in Dwapara Yuga and not in Kali Yuga.
In LKG and UKG so much is taught these days, not just rhymes and easy simple songs.
Such a young age is not suitable for complicated math and science. Some exceptional children may be there who can master such subjects. Not all children are capable of excelling in advanced studies even as children. If pressured too much, a child becomes frustrated. The child begins to wonder why he was born. He is not happy at school with friends and play for which these days there is no opportunity. He is terrified of teachers, exams, and a huge syllabus. When we studied, only some small books were there. Now this competition, the suffering that parents go through to keep up with their child’s studies, is pathetic. Parents are first interviewed to see that they are qualified to make their children do their homework properly. Earlier, in Gurukula the children were left in the charge of gurus in a boarding school.
During childhood, we are depriving them of innocent play and enjoyment. There is neither worldly life, nor any free interaction with other children. After 10th class, the children suddenly enjoy their newfound freedom and will fly away. Till then they are kept under very strict control. There should be nothing lacking in our upbringing of children, no doubt. But, like tying up an intoxicated elephant to a pillar, we force the children into impossible situations.
Suffering is prolonged during childhood. A child is always hungry. He feels like eating up the whole world. His hunger is never satisfied. His capacity to eat is small. He demands that the moon be brought down for him to see at meal time. ‘Chandamama rave jabilli rave’ song was composed by Annamacharya.
Sri Rama demanded daily to see the full moon. On a new moon night, how can Kausalya bring the moon to show Rama? Without seeing the moon, he would refuse to eat. She placed a mirror in front of Rama’s face. His face looked like the moon. That is why he is called Ramachandra even though he was born in the Sun’s lineage. Krishna was born in the Chandra Vamsha/Moon’s lineage.
In childhood there is no discretion. Children make foolish demands. How to call this stage in life as something pleasant?
Daily Rama needed to see the full moon before he would eat. Kausalya got an idea. She showed Rama his own face and he believed that it was the full moon that he was seeing in the mirror. Rama now declares that even he was very foolish when he was young. Sometimes some children are very stubborn and are highly demanding. What pleasure does one derive from children and childhood?
What is the difference between a tree and a child? Both feel hunger and thirst. We guess the needs of the tree and we water it and fertilize it. But the tree, like the child, cannot express its needs.
We must remember and realize how much trouble we had given to our parents who took care of us and protected us. It was we ourselves who went through that childhood stage before becoming adults. A child cries as if it wishes to grow wings and fly away. The way he stretches both hands and cries, it appears like that.
During early childhood there is great fear of gurus. These days the teachers are frightened of children that they will get sued in a court of law.
Some teachers these days are behaving like demons, (physically abusing children) as we read in the newspapers. Surveillance cameras have to be placed to see what the children are going through in the absence of parents.
Children are very scared of failing in their class. They are afraid of getting scolded by parents. They are afraid of older siblings and people around who are always bossing around. The older sister and brother dominate and torment the child. That stage in life is filled with fear. How can I praise it?
Childhood is filled with all kinds of disadvantages and troubles.
Childhood is filled with ignorance and misjudgment. This stage in life is most unhappy. That is why we have grown up because we were unhappy to remain like that. We must always develop contentment. Childhood does not grant any satisfaction. Sri Rama says, if anyone disagrees with me, let them come and discuss with me and I will convince them. During childhood, it is not possible to follow spirituality.
20th Sarga – Yauvana garha – blaming youth – criticizing the bad features of youth. Sri Rama educates us now about the negative features of youth.
Childhood, youth, and old age are the three important stages in life. Youth is in the middle, and it reflects both the earlier and the later stages. Yauvana means the state of youth. Finding the faults in youth is the topic here.
We began with blaming the body. Now we have finished blaming childhood. Now what is wrong with youth? Sage Mandavya tormented an insect in his childhood and as a result he had to be pierced with a spear in his old age. Mandavya Smriti describes his conversation with Yama when he tried to get explanations from Yama and where Mandavya tried to negotiate some compromises. Until age 14, all mistakes are forgiven or overlooked. But past that age, (some think ages 8 or 12), especially during the teenage years, youth is filled with impatience, wrong judgment, and lack of serious thought and proper analysis.
After leaving childhood, not having earned the required wisdom, unlike Dhruva or Prahlada, we move on to the next stage of youth. Now with some great desire we climb the steps to reach youth, just to topple and drop to the ground again. It is very important to watch one’s step during this stage. This 20th sarga is very important for this modern age.
Sri Rama says, the way we step into youth is not to stand steadily but to trip and fall. It happens very easily in youth. It requires great caution to endure youth.
Triputi – balya, yauvana, and vardhakya/childhood, youth, and old age.
In the olden days, a lamp was placed on the doorstep to light up both the inside and the outside. Unless we are careful during our youth, the entire future will be ruined. Rama discusses all the dangers and troubles that await us during youth. Unless we are well informed, we cannot make spiritual progress. Unless we first understand life, how can we undersatng God? Sri Rama is describing his own personal experience. Rama is now between childhood and youth. He is not yet 16. He is giving very valuable information. We offer prostrations to Sadgurudeva for giving us this opportunity to learn this great knowledge from Lord Sri Rama Himself.
Om Santissantissantihi.
Sri Guru Datta