of the Mahatmas is auxiliary to Mukti.

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of the Mahatmas is auxiliary to Mukti.

The glory of Sat Sanga

Now the author shows that Mukti is to be obtained with the auxiliary help of holy men. In the Taittiriya Upanishad, I., 11. 2, it is said:

Let the guest be a God to Thee.

Doubt: Is the worship of the holy men a cause of getting Mukti or not?

Purvapaksha: The opponent’s view is: What is the use of worshipping the holy men when Mukti is to be obtained by the Grace of the Guru added to the worship of God? The good men or Sat are not means of Mukti.

Siddhanta: This view is set aside in the next Sutra.

SUTRA III. 3. 51.

अनुबन्धादिभ्यः॥३.३.५१॥

anubandhādibhyaḥ ..3.3.51..

… Anubandha-adibhyah, from the corresponding injunction (to worship the great souls) and from others.

51. From the express injunctions (for worshipping the great souls it follows that that also in an auxiliary to Mukti). — 412.

COMMENTARY

The word «Anubandha» means the injunction about the worship of the Great Ones. That is to say, worshipping them as if they were Devas. By such worship also they become gracious and Mukti is obtained. If the worship of the Holy Ones was not an auxiliary to Mukti, thon the Shruti would not have said, ‘Worship the guest as a God’, ‘Atithi devo bhava’. The word guest’ here means the Holy and the Great One. In the Bhagavata Parana also we find the same teaching given by Jadabharata to Rahugana (V., 12. 12):

This attainment of Mukti cannot be had without the service of the Great Ones (lit., without anointing one’s self with the Just of the feet of the holy ones), for this knowledge is not to be obtained by austerity, O Rahugana I Nor by sacrificial offerings, nor by gift of food or houses, nor by the study of the Vedas, nor by the worship of water, fire or the Sun.

The Lord has Himself said so to Uddhava in the same (XI., 12. 1-2):

I am not constrained so much by the practices of Yoga or the study of Sankhya, or by the recitation of the Vedas, or by the performance of penances or by renunciation, or by acts of sacrifices, charity and public utility, or by alms, or by fasts or worship of Devas, or recitation of secret Mantras, or by visiting sacred pilgrimages, or by the rules of restraint and religious observances; so much as I am constrained by the company of the Good which destroys all other evil companionship.

Here the Lord, even after revealing His own mystery to Uddhava, ends by saying that the company of the Good (Satsanga) is the highest means of constraining God, namely, of reaching Him easily. Therefore, Satsanga is one of the secrets of Sadhana or practice by which a man may reach God.

The word ‘Adi’, ‘and the rest’, means that going to sacred pilgrimages and not abusing worshippers of gods other than Hari, are also to be included, in the meaning of the word Satsanga, as we find from the following Smritis:

A person who serves (the Masters) and has faith gets a taste for the narrations of the life-history of Vasudeva. This taste is acquired, O Brahmanas! by serving the Great, by visiting sacred places of pilgrimages. (Bhagavata Purana)

Hari should be worshipped alone as the Highest God, Supreme over all Devas and Rulers of Devas. Nor must such a one look with contempt upon gods like Brahma and Rudra, etc. (Padma Purana)

Note: See Narada Bhakti Sutra, S. B. H., Vol. VII. p. 18, 19.

The Purvapakshin says, it is through the grace of God that one gets a Guru and the companionship of the Good; therefore, why not say that the grace of God alone is the cause of Mukti. Even the good luck (Adrishta) is also caused by the Lord, and cannot be said to be the cause of getting the Lord. In fact, all human motives and inclinations are caused by the Lord, as has been proved in the previous Sutra II., 3. 39. Therefore, to imagine that the grace of the Guru and of the good men is also a cause of Mukti is a redundancy, for when the grace of God is obtained, there is no necessity of any other person.

To this objection we reply, it is perfectly right that God Himself is the cause of the grace shown by the Guru and the Great Ones still these persons must also be considered as causes, though mediate ones. This has been explained in Sutra II., 3. 40 and the rest. The fact is that the Lord Hari, who is a slave to His devotees, confers His power of granting grace to such persons; therefore, such persons (the Guru and the Great Ones) may be considered as independent agents in showing grace to others. When a man has the good fortune of obtaining the grace of these Holy Ones, then the Lord also shows grace on such a person. Thus all texts are harmonised and conflict removed.

Note: The following Sutras of Narada show the same:

But love of God is possible on the abandonment of all sensible objects and of every attachment to them. — 35.

(That arises also) from its cultivation without remiss, or from unflinching adoration of God — 36.

(That springs also) from listening to and singing of the virtues and attributes of the Great God in society. — 37.

But that is obtained, principally and surely, by the grace of the Great Ones, or, in other words, from the touch of divine compassion. — 38.

Companionship of the Great is, again, difficult of attainment. It is hardly possible to assign how and when men may be taken into the society of the Great. But once obtained, association with the Great Ones is infallible in its operation. — 39.

And companionship of the Great is gained by the grace of God alone. — 40.

Because there is no distinction between Him and His man. — 41.

Adhikarana XXV — The vision of the Lord,

when he incarnates as an Avatara

Doubt: Now arises the doubt with regard to the text of the Chhandogya Upanishad III., 14. 1.

Because a man is a creature of faith, as is his faith in this life, so will he his condition in the next after death. So let him generate full faith (in the Lord).

This worship of Brahman is of different modes, according as it is pure worship of Brahman, or is accompanied with meditation on the Guru and the Great Ones. The question is, do these different modes of meditation lead to the same fruit or are their results different? Is it the cause of the different perception of Brahman in Mukti, by the devotees who had come through different paths?

Purvapaksha: The Purvapakshin says, there is no difference in the perception of Brahman, by the devotees, in Mukti. Though they had come by different paths, their perception of Brahman is uniform, just like the perception of travellers coming to the same city, through different directions. Though they come by different roads, they see the same city. They do not see different cities, merely because they had come through different roads. That their conception is uniform, is proved by the Shruti also. We have in the Mundaka Upanishad (III, 1. 3.) that on attaining Mukti all the Jivas get similarity.

When the Jiva sees the golden coloured Creator and Lord, as the Person from whom Brahma comes out, then the wise, shaking off virtue and vice and becoming free from Avidya, attains the highest similarity.

Therefore, you cannot say that Mukti is different for different people, according to the paths on which they have come up.

Siddhanta: This view is set aside in the next Sutra, which shows that the vision of the Lord, obtained by the devotees in Mukti, differs according to the paths on winch they have come up.

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