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Murder Mystery and the Problems of Doership!

April 27, 2011

Once Pujya Swami Tejomayanandaji was teaching chapter 18 and explaining the 15th & 16th shloka

शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः |
न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः ||१८-१५||


shariiravaaN^manobhiryatkarma praarabhate naraH .
nyaayya.n vaa vipariitaM vaa pa~nchaite tasya hetavaH .. 18-15..

18-15. Whatever action a man performs by his body, speech and mind --- whether right, or the reverse --- these five are its causes (listed in the 14th shloka).

तत्रैवं सति कर्तारमात्मानं केवलं तु यः |
पश्यत्यकृतबुद्धित्वान्न स पश्यति दुर्मतिः ||१८-१६||


tatraivaM sati kartaaramaatmaanaM kevalaM tu yaH .
pashyatyakR^itabuddhitvaanna sa pashyati durmatiH .. 18-16..

18-16. Now, such being the case, verily he, who unintelligently looks upon the Self, which is "alone" (never conditioned by the "equipments i.e. body-mind-intellect" ), as the doer, he, of perverted intelligence, sees not.

Guruji used a murder mystery to explain the problems of doership and enjoyership.

"We identify with the body and assume doership & enjoyership. In truth, the body, the power of speech, the mind, etc. function in the presence of consciousness which itself is neither the doer nor the enjoyer.

"A man was travelling by train in the first class compartment. Ten min before the train's departure, a beautiful lady arrived followed by 2-3 porters. She made them unload a big box in the compartment and the porters left. She left without saying anything. The man was happy that he would have the company of a beautiful lady during the journey. However, the lady never came back. The man was worried. How or why did she miss the train? What would happen to the box? Several stations passed, she still did not arrive. When his destination arrived, he asked the porter to unload that lady's box. Suddenly 3-4 policemen came and asked whose box it was. The man said, "It is mine". He was immediately arrested and taken to the police station. The box was opened in front of him and he saw there was a dead body of a child. Suddenly, he said, 'this box is not mine'. The inspector said, 'A few minutes ago, at the station, in front of so many witnesses, you said, this box is mine, now you're saying it is not?'



"Now, suddenly the man has to figure out how to prove the box was not his. The fact is that the box did not belong to him, yet by saying it was, he had to go through the problems of owning it.

"Vedanta says that through the power of maya, we are deluded into identifying with the body, mind and sense organs. Maya makes us think that I am the Doer and the Enjoyer.

Guruji concluded the story by saying, "Do not ask me what happened, whose child it was, etc." Wiser though we may be, alas, a great Bollywood thriller will remain unmade!

Hari Om and Namaskaar till the next post.

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