A H A M - Blog By Sharanya Chaitanya

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 56

The state of Kaivalya

Satwa Purushayoho Shuddha Samye Kaivalyamiti||

When the distinction between the seer – Purusha and the seen – Existence ceases with the purity of mind, the state of Kaivalya or a liberated mind is indeed very close by. – SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 55

Going beyond the immediate

Tarakam Sarva Vishayam Sarvatha Vishayakramam Cheti Vivekajam Jnanam|

By knowledge born of discriminating between the real and unreal, one is able to cross over and above all material understanding everywhere and completely transcend all gradations and zoom straight away into the reality. – SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 54

Meditating on Viveka

Jatilakshana Deshairanyataanavacchedath Tulyayostataha Pratipattihi||

When the Sadhaka meditates on the moment and its successive flow, he comes to realise the uniting factor between many things that differ by groups, qualities or geography. The mind reaches then a state of Pratipatti or a unity with the oneness. – SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 53

Discriminative knowledge

Kshanatatkramayoho Samyamad Vivekajam Jnanam||

Contemplating on the moment and its succession with each second, the intellect gains Viveka or the power to know what is eternal and what is ephemeral. – SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 52

Watch out, lest you fall

Sthanyupanimantrane Sangasmayakaranam Punaranishta Prasangath||

Once the yogic powers are developed, there is an open invitation to the powers of all sense faculties – gods. Once they step in and function through the yogi, to have pride or to be attached to those powers can lead to an attachment to undesirable consequences leading to a fall from the path. - SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 51

Where the mind is free

Tadvairagyadapi Doshabijakshaye Kaivalyam||

Even if all these powers are possible through Yoga, remaining free of attachment to these powers, causes the seed of all errors – Ajnana, to be completely destroyed in the mind. With this, the state of oneness or Kaivalya is experienced. – SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 50

All powerful

Satwapurushanyathakhyatimatrasya Sarvabhavadhishtathrithwam Sarva Jnatruthwamcha|

In understanding the difference between the seer, the self and the changing manifestations that are seen, the Sadhaka becomes a witness to all states of consciousness and he becomes one with that knowing principle of everything in this universe. - SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 49

Conquest of nature

Tato Manojavithwam Vikaranabhavaha Pradhanascha||

When the senses are conquered, the Sadhaka is able to identify with and work with the speed of mind, achieve anything without the need to use of tools, equipment or instruments and also become the master of nature. - SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra – III – 48

Conquest of the senses

Grahanaswarupasmitanvayarthavattwa Samyamadindriya Jayaha||

Victory of the sense organs is achieved by the Sadhaka meditating on the power of holding and understanding the essential nature, the ego and focussing on the meaning of all these. - SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra III – 47

What is physical wealth?

Rupa Lavanya Bala Vajra Samhananathwani Kaya Sampath||

Sampath means wealth and that which has come to us by hard work and austerities. Maharshi Patanjali says that a beautiful form, grace, strength and invincibility are the wealth of the body. - SS

...said

Aham: Food for the Soul

I think its time I write about one blogsite I love to visit more than any other in recent times. It is Swahilya's blog. Let me try my best to describe her blog site. She writes about anything and everything but with a spiritual bent of mind. I know that I have raised a few eyebrows here by calling a spiritual blog my favorite despite my strong inclination towards science. Every time I visit her blogsite I come out having learned something or the other. Many a times I have personally requested her to write on different topics and she obliged every single time. I will run out of superlatives if I try to describe her writing style...
*****

The Acquaintance

Hello! Is this Miss.Divine?,
Yes it is she said,
I heard the smoothest voice I ever had,
It did not command nor was it submissive,
I was totally mesmerized by the brilliance,
Awestruck by its mysterious charm,
The signals from her brain
perfectly interpreted by her vocal cords,
Poured out the intelligence that lay within,
I listened with the keenest of ears,
Is she human? I thought,
No, she is Miss. Divine,
She is my latest acquaintance,
The teacher that sits under the banyan tree,
Is she Buddha incarnate?
or is she the perfect answer?
The balance between creation and destruction?
Is this the birth of the cosmic intelligence?
She denies perfection,
Humility is her second name,
She worships the indestructible,
She is SWAHILYA.
*****
Thirumandiram CD - (Akshara Foundations)
- A review by R. Suryaprakash, Vocalist
Great epics, works of saints etc., are generally branded as “Immortal” and conveniently allowed to die a slow death as the Western concepts rapidly gain ground in our society. On such almost forgotten treatise is “Tirumandiram” of Tirumoolar. It is to be said that some of the other constituents of “Panniru Thirumurai” of Shaivism are still popular, such as “Thevaram” and “Thiruvachagam”, thanks to the grit of Oduvars who still sing the verses in temples.Tirumandiram has a spiritual charm, bordering on the occult and its beauty has been fully brought to the fore by a young and enterprising team by setting to tune, ten of its verses and rendering them in a CD album which is eminently listenable. This CD has been recently released by these devotees of Akshara Foundations, with the profound blessings of H H Swami Akshara.
The plan of rendition has been excellent, with meditative chanting of a verse by a single member by rotation, followed by group rendering of the same. This is followed by a short raga sketch/interlude in Veena. After that, the verse is rendered by the entire group as a song, set in the same raga as the interlude, along with mridangam accompaniment. This pattern is followed assiduously while rendering all the ten verses. The introductory chants are set in the raga Revathi for all the verses and have been rendered soulfully by each one of the participants. He choice of Revathi raga is apt, because, in the phrases “ ni. sa. ri sa. ri ni. sa. ri…pa. ni. sa ri. sa ni.ri. sa…” the Raga is Veda Mantra itself. The interludes and the rhythmic rendition of the verses are set in ragas which take you through a journey in blissful realms of traditional music. The opening verse “Aiyindu Karaththanai” , technically not a part of the original treatise but conventionally sung as “Vinayagar Thuthi” of Thirumandiram has been rendered in raga Nattai, which is most acceptable as the opening raga in our music tradition. “Aaadi Natta Anta Surati” goes the saying. The tala is Adi.The second one “Thiruvadiye Sivamaavathu…” follows in the raga Suddha Saveri, in Kanda Chapu tala. It is a welcome change in talam.“Anbum Sivamum…” is in Anandabhairavi, “Thunaiyaduvaai Varum…” in Hindolam, “Ullam perunkoyil …” in Shivaranjani (which is literally an archana to the Lord), “Thelivu Guruvin…” in Bageshri, “Yaan petra Inbam…” in Kalyani, “Marathai Mariththathu…” in Sama, “Man Onru Kandeer…” in Hamsanandhi, rounding off with “Naadaththin Andamum…” in Madhyamavathi, the last one very apt raga-wise and set in brisk Khanda Nadai. Others follow the regular eight-beat cycle (Adi talam) which has aesthetic simplicity. The verses are rendered in an order different from the above in keeping with mood/raga contrast. The interludes have been rendered with a sense of proportion and purpose by the Great Veena Vidushi Smt. Kalpakam Swaminathan, an octogenarian and a veteran who has been recently conferred with the birudhu Acharya Choodamani by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. Her rendering of thanam in Kalyani raga as an interlude for the verse “Yaan Petra Inbam….” is one of unbridled “Inbam” (joy) and one wishes that her greatness “Peruguga Iv Vaiyaham” (spreads all over the world)!The individual renderings have simplistic charm as they have been rendered with utmost dedication by participants who, barring a few, are not basically professional practitioners. The open throated rendering by Swahilya, who has a stentorian voice, sruti suddham and bhavam which immediately takes one to the sanctum sanctorum deserves special mention. The charming rendition of the opening verse by little Kavya is also very sweet and gives one the firm impression that she has got a great future. The involvement and competence of the others too, cannot be understated.
In all, this album stands out for its meditative effect, involvement of the participants, and most importantly the rendition in traditional method so as to give the listener, the satisfaction of having undergone a pilgrimage. “Thirumandiram” by Swahilya and her team merits universal listening and appreciation. - Purnima