Jeevan and Brahmam are one and the same

P.Natarajan, B1-304 ‘White House’  560 032

(Adopted from 'Arulvakku' of Jagadguru Kanchi Chandrasekarendra Saraswathy Sankaracharya which appeared in weekly Tamil magazine 'KALKI' dt. 23 March 2014)

Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada says that Jeevan and Brahmam are not different but same. We are Swamy or Swamy resides in us. When Hiranyakasipu proclaimed that he was Swamy, it was his ego that made him to utter that way to emphasize  that there was no other God than he.  Bhagavatpada, whereas says that there exists nothing other than Swamy- hence we're Swamy.

The foremost prerequisite for we becoming Swamy is that we should shed our ego. We should cast off or let fall the egoism - the ‘ahankara’. Thenthe Jeevan melts or sublimes  into tBrahmam. We impress the mind with such a sense of grandeur or power. It is an elevated or lofty in thought. It is a realization that Swamy in his supremo as Sakthi exists as an ocean and we exist as a spoonful of water pitted against the mighty ocean.

It needs to be comprehended that the spoonful of water can be generated or gathered from the ocean only. Once we emit the ego, we not only becomes part of the ocean or dissolves into the ocean in a complete sense.

A question can be asked - who are we if we don’t consider ourselves as Swamy. The answer would be that we are other than Swamy which means thatwe exist as a different entity. This hypothesis will lead to reason for the existence of matter other than the Swamy. In other words, Paramatma is one among the many other substances in the world as if he is a third person.  It means that the ‘other substances’ in the world had appeared or emerged without bearing any relation to Swamy. Then calling him as Paramatma or Swamy is not justified.

Is it not true that he is revered as Swamy so long as he is considered omnipotent and personification of Sakthi. He is ‘ all’  in one. Then it becomes crystal clear that we are no different from him. Advaitha when it pronounces that ‘We are Swamy’, it no way limits or reduces the status of SUPREME. On the other hand those who say Jeevan is not Swamy, Jeevan is nothing or recluse, Jeevan is different from Swamy - they only tend to address Swamy as a third person or as one among the many other(s) - thus reduces his status or draw limits to his entity.

So as Swamy is regarded as “ALL IN ONE ‘,  we also become part and parcel of him. We dissolves into him. Swamy means a Hindu honorific title for male deity. It is derived from Sanskrit and means “ He who knows and is the master of himself “, “ owner of oneself “ or “ free from sins “.  It is a title added to one’s name to emphasize learning and mastery of yoga, devotion to God, or devotion to the Swamy’s Guru or spiritual master (‘ स्वामी ‘ ) - in a spiritual sense we address the deity as ‘Subrahmanya Swamy, Ayyappa Swamy, Anjaneya Swamy,       or ‘Satyanarayana Swamy’, to quote a few names.

Swamy, as he exists as a big ocean, makes his presence felt as water in a river or in a pond or in a spoon full of water or in a pool or a stream. The universal truth lies in understanding that he takes avatar inmany matter as tiny or as small or in many Jeevans or living organisms.

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Amma

Amma

  -_P.Natarajan.

Source:- Jagat Guru Kanchi Kamakoti Sri. Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Sankarachartya Swamigal 's Arulvakku as appeared in Tamil in the Tamil Weekly Magazine 'KALKI' dated 09March 2014 - English Translation of the same with some changes)

Amma is one name that comes most often and most freely from the child’s mouth. A mother’s love towards her offspring is pure, flawless and endearing. There is no mix-up in this relationship. May be the son or daughter may not reflect the same degree of affection as amother. A saying in Tamil endorses this view viz (quote):- “ Petra manam pithu, pillai manam kallu “.  

‘ Devi Aparadh Kshamapana Stotram ‘  describes  ‘ there may be a child who is wrong but never there is a mother who is wrong’. A person who wants to confess to Goddess recites this particular stotram and seeks pardon. A line in the stotram declares that the mother always cares for her child without an iota of selfishness.

It is a common sight to see a calf calling ‘ Amma’ in an open and loud voice. The mother cow shows her affection fondly and the scene is portrayed as a ready reckoner by artists, to say the least.  It may not be an exaggeration if I say  that the generations of human beings began to say ‘Amma’ after observing the calf calling the ' mother-cow '.

‘Amma’ means the same in ‘Marathi’, ‘Kannada’,  ‘Telugu’ as in ‘Tamil’.  Malayalam language says it slightly differently as ‘ Ammai’. In Sanskrit, amma is referred as ‘Amba’ or ‘Ma’ simply. Hindi language calls the same as ‘Ma’ or ‘Mayi’. “Mammi’ or ‘Mamma’ is what English has adopted for Amma.

While we discuss about Amma’s kindness, please keep in mind that she is Amma only to the physical body she possesses. In the event the death of the child or its mother, there is no continuing relationship between the mother and child. The child is born after a new pregnancy. The child gets a new mother.

But there is another ‘MOTHER’ who stands as ‘Amma’ to all lives and not to the physical body alone as that of a human mother. Physical body is subjected to decay but not the life or atma. After death, the life leaves the body but takes a rebirth in another body - a new avatar.

The Goddess is referred always as ‘Amma’ or 'Amman' or ‘Ambal’ which profoundly describes that she is

‘ Jagatheeswari or Mother of the Universe’ or to enhance the saying as the ' Mother of all living entities '.

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