Vaakya Vritti (वाक्य वृत्ति) - Slokas and meanings

Bhagavan Shankara has started the text of Vaakya Vritti in the same format and tradition of his other books and as generally followed in our scriptures of Sanathana Dharma. He starts Vaakya Vritti with an invocation and salutation to Lord Shri Vallabha**, that Supreme Consciousness who is all pervading (Vishnu) and all powerful. This is a stotram (स्तोत्रं) rich and deep in its meanings, that we  all should learn, recite and meditate upon regularly in our daily prayers.

सर्गस्तिथि प्रलय्यहेतुम् अचिन्त्यशक्थि 

विश्वेस्वरम् विश्वम् अनन्थमूर्थिं

निर्मुक्त बन्दनमपारसुखंबुरासि

श्रिवल्लबं विमलबोधघनं नमामि

Sargasthithi Pralayahetum Achintyasakthi

Vishveswaram Vishwam Ananthamoorthim

Nirmuktha Bhandanasukhmaburaasi

Shrivallabham Vimalabodhaghanam Namami

"I bow down to that Pure Consciousness Divine - a shoreless ocean of happiness , which is all pervading (Vishnu), the beloved of Shri (Shri Vallabha**), the all-knowing Lord of the Universe, assuming endless forms and yet ever-free, having an inscrutable power to become the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe."

In concurrence to our tradition, Shri Shankara, in the second verse, seeks the blessings of HIS GURU whose teachings and grace has helped him in realizing the 'Atman' within himself and the 'Brahman' all around, and importantly realize that the Atman and Brahman are one and the same (Tat Tvam Asi). As in every type of education, a student will benefit from the teachings of his/her Guru only if they both are tuned-in at the same wave-length of their thoughts (controlling the mind and intellect) and understanding.  It is important for the student to contemplate on the words and advice of the Guru to realize the deeper meanings of the Vedantic scriptures. By Guru's grace alone, can the student arrive at his true knowledge culminating in the wisdom "I alone am the all-pervading essence of this universe".

In the third sloka Shree Shankara starts the text in a format very commonly used in the Upanishads - a student, already trained and prepared on the Vedantic concepts, with a burning desire to delve deeper into the scriptures that he has already learnt so as to attain the culmination point which is the experience of Brahman.  approaching the Guru with a serious set of questions on the finer points of his education. Vedanta is the science of knowing ourselves and our inner core. It is a subject that is abstract and difficult for an ordinary person living a pure materialistic way of life.  It is a topic to understand the very subject of an individual, hence cannot be understood through the usual faculties of body, mind and intellect (BMI).  One has to transcend these BMI layers and look deeper into oneself (thro contemplation and meditation) to achieve this knowledge. Hence the students need to have an inherent interest, maturity and fundamental knowledge developed through years of education and practice before he/she can embark on a journey to learn Vedanta.  Hence it has always been a tradition that the student who is thus qualified fully and has the urge to dive deeper will approach a Guru with the necessary preparations (indicated symbolically by the student carrying 'samith' and approaching the Guru in old Gurukula days) and with a question that has been baffling him for a long time.

Similarly, in Vaakya Vritti, the student approaches the Guru with the question to know the "means by which I may easily get liberated from the sorrows of this bondage of change" . The Guru (Shree Shankara) then responds to the earnest student to dwell deeper into the meaning of the Mahavakya 'Tat Tvam Asi' as immediate means of liberation.

In the rest of the text book, Shree Shankara very clearly and beautifully explains, with examples,  the deeper meanings of each term (Tat and Tvam) and how it merges together to give the overall significance (Lakshyartha) of the sentence Tattvamasi (तत्त्वमसि ).  The verses 11 to 27 is devoted to a detailed explanation of 'Twam' or THOU which is the Self, the Atma that is the inner core of every personality.  From verses 28 to 37, Shankara explains the term 'Tat' or THAT which indicates the Brahman that is the substratum of this universe.  From verses 38 to 53 are the explanations on how these two pregnant terms are threaded as a garland by the Mahavakya  'Tat Tvam Asi' (तत्त्वमसि). Let us explore more in the next few posts.

**There is a Sri Vallabha temple in Tiruvalla, Kerala. The town was earlier called 'Sri Vallabhapuram' which over a period of time came to be shortened into 'Thiru Valla(bha)' or Tiruvalla.  This temple is one of the 108 famous Vaishnava temples in India and is said to be 4000 years old. For more details on the temple, visit www.srivallabhatemple.org

Hari Om.

An Intro

Om Namaha
Sri Gurubhyo Namaha
Sri Chinmaya Sadguruve Namaha

Hello,
I am a born Hindu from a conservative religious family. Growing up in India, I took for granted many of the Hindu religious rituals and observations, until as destiny would have it, I happened to get a the book on Bhagavad Gita by Swami Chinmayananda. I was probably in college then and the Bhagavad Gita book with its sanskrit wordings as well as its wonderful deeper meanings by Sri Chinmayananda was presented as a gift to my father by one of his office friends. I am not sure if my father had a chance to read it fully, but I started reading it more of a curiosity at that time, never realizing how much I would be hooked on it. It did not happen all of a sudden or overnight, it was a process descending on me for many years. The first time I read the Holy book cover to cover, it mesmerized me with a different outlook on the outer world that we are not normally accustomed of. When I relocated to a different part of the country (India) for job and started my lonely life there, the Gita and Sri Chinmayananda's eye-opening explanations for each verse and his overall guidance gave me enough mental strength to carry on with my life away from home.

I have been having that book with me ever since, referring to it anytime I am at cross roads with the incidents in my life. It has been many years now after my first intro to the Holy Gita, but I am nowhere in a position to say I am well verse on it. It has been an ongoing learning process.
After moving to the US a few years ago, me and family lived in different parts of the country (US) and there came upon a situation where I had the option to settle down anywhere in the US and work from home. After shortlisting a few places based on several factors, me and my family chose Plano, near Dallas (TX)as the appropriate place for us (hopefully !). One of the important factors in that decision was the Chinmaya Mission centre called Chinmaya Saaket near Plano (http://www.chinmayasaaket.org). As soon as we relocated to Plano, we lost no time in enrolling into the Chinmaya mission activities including Balavihar for my daughter. We started attending Sunday sessions every week and listen to discourses on Vedanta by the local Swamiji in Saaket. My daughter who has been growing up in the US since she was 2 yrs old, has been getting a good introduction on Hindu faith, epic stories and the Hindu mantras (slokas) through the Balavihar.

The Chinmaya Saaket center here has opened a world of Vendatic life for me and my family now. It has introduced to me hundreds of great books on varied topics such as Updanishads, treaties by various great philosophers of India such as Sri Adi Shankara, Sri Ramanuja etc. and of course the great writings of Sri Chinmayananda himself.

It is upto us now to faithfully delve into the spiritual world of Vendata, understand its prophesies, weave its principles into our daily life and serve this world with a vision within us of that Brahman (Aham Brahmosmi !) who is the all pervading Infinite Consciousness in this cosmos.

The more I read on the Vedanta, the more I am convinced this is not a religious preaching, this is a science and art of life - I would tend to term it as an 'artful science' on way of life ! I will try to write more on it in the next posting.

All philosophies are abstract topics and very difficult to comment upon it. Only erudite scholars with masterly skills on english like Swami Chinmayananda or Swami Vivekananda could successfully accomplish such writing. More importantly it needs sufficient knowledge (Jnana !) to understand such topics as Upanishads and write commentaries on those. Adi Shankara by the time he left this mortal world into immortality at the age of 32 had reached what could be called the summit of Vedantic knowledge and wrote treaties of them for the benefit of the rest of the world ! Such men carved out the super powers inherent in them through Jnana Yoga and meditation. Very few people in this world could do that.

My effort through this blog is just an attempt to repeating and writing what I read, hear and understand on Vedanata through books, Satsangs etc. I will try to bring out the truths in them as I understand (they are all truths - it is just that I may not realise their meaning easily !) and put it in writing as best as I can. If my blog helps in atleast encouraging some of the readers in exploring more into the vast ocean of Vedantic knowledge, I will be blessed.