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Srimad Bhãgavatam - Fifth Canto - Jadabharata Charithra (Part 6)

“Oh! King! The argument that you consider to be a wise one is indeed that of fools! Even if we place logical arguments to prove the truth of the world, Jnãnis will never accept that the world is true. Any one who knows Ramayana will never accept that Sri Rama was devoid of character. So also Jnãnis, who have thoroughly analyzed and have attained the Ultimate Truth, will never accept the world to be true. Only those who have not done any “Atma Vichãra”(Self Analysis) will accept such an argument. Even if one is adept at performing sacrifices, if he is unaware of the fact that such sacrifices and their fruits are indeed perishable, he cannot be called as a scholar.

This is because joy and sorrow is nothing but the fancy of the mind. The permanent joy is that of the Self and not of the mind. Unless the mind is devoid of the three gunãs, it keeps creating something through the senses, that is righteous or otherwise. Thus, it remains bound. Due to such lateral impressions (“Karma Vãsanãs”), the mind screens the Self and thus we believe the mind to be the Self. Consequently we relate all the joy and sorrow that we experience with the Self while in truth it is only experienced by the mind. Here mind is the upãdi. (Upãdi is something that causes a delusion (Brahmai). For example, we see that smoke arises when fire burns wood. Now, we tend to assume that smoke and fire are related. But that is not true. When wood burns, in reality it is the moisture content in the wood that causes the smoke. We observe that smoke does not appear when the gas stove is lit! This is because it is not associated with water or moisture. Similarly, if we heat an iron rod and dip it in water smoke appears. Here there is no fire. Thus we conclude water to be the cause of smoke and not fire. Here the water is called as Upãdi. Though in reality it causes the smoke, it makes it look as if the fire is the cause. So also the mind creates many things and projects it as though all the visions are related to the Self. Just as smoke does not exist devoid of water, the world ceases to exist devoid of the mind.)

Through the senses, the mind treats this body as an instrument and creates a deep attachment to the body as if it were the Self and according to the vãsanãs ‘creates’ the experience of joy or sorrow. Since the relation to the world is only through the mind, Mahãns declare mind to be the cause for either liberation or bondage. That is, if the mind is attached to the world it binds the Soul or Self through the instrument of body and if it is attached to the Glories of the Lord and dispassion, it liberates the Soul or Self from the bondage of the world.”

To be continued……….

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