Hiranyakashipu - a Vedantin?

April 15, 2011

Happy Tamil New Year to everyone. Puthandu kara varusam vazthikkal.

Pujya Guruji was on a transiting through Singapore. Satsangh was a joy with several insightful discussions. One comment he made, makes it very simple for me to post here.

Someone asked about his talks on Srimad Bhagavatam, 7th Canto in Sidhabari, in May 2011. That got Guruji discussing one of his favorite texts. (Be patient, the Geeta reference is not far away.) The below quote is based on a recording I made, any errors are entirely mine.

Guruji: "When we do Bhagavat Saptaah, I have to miss out so many beautiful things. Here I am doing only one canto. Hiranyakashipu was a great Vedantin. He knew everything. Only thing he never applied it to himself. He taught everyone else. 'Atma is real. Because of avidya, and identification with upadhis it becomes a jeeva and experiences duality.' All of this he has taught his mother and to Hiranyaksha's wife. Yet, next day he goes and fights with everyone. If you do not pay attention to the words 'Hiranyakashipu uvacha - Hiranyakashipu said', it is perfect Vedanta. The Asuras are learned but in the mind there is dvesha.
Q: Is that a warning then that learning is not enough?
Guruji: "You can say that. The important thing is to apply this knowledge to your life. Even Ravana, when Meghnad and Kumbhakarna were killed, Ravana gives a lecture which is pure Vedanta. He is not ignorant.
"The principle of this is very clear to me. Whenever you do something, retaining your ego, whatever you accomplish becomes a contributor to the ego. Every accomplishment becomes a feather in MY cap. However, when you start with humility, and maintain that humility, everything you do and accomplish makes you more humble. Otherwise it simply increases your ego. Even if I give charity, I claim, 'there is no donor like me'. It becomes a question of promoting myself.
Guruji, then, quoted from the Bhagavad Geeta chapter 4.
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया | ४-३४tadviddhi praNipaatena pariprashnena sevayaa 4-34
"Humbly serve your Guru and ask questions and get to know the Truth."

The Geeta quote here is from Guruji's free translation, not from Swami Chinmayanandaji's Holy Gita, as is usually the norm.

Hari Om and Namaskaar till the next post

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