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Hastamalakiyam

Hasthamalakiyam explanation in English - Adi Sankara Bhagavadpada's disciple , the 8 year old Hasthamalakan ( named so by Bhagavadpadal) , on being enquired on who He was

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242 views7 pages

Hastamalakiyam

Hasthamalakiyam explanation in English - Adi Sankara Bhagavadpada's disciple , the 8 year old Hasthamalakan ( named so by Bhagavadpadal) , on being enquired on who He was

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Geetha Ramanathan
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423, 6:12PM. Hastamalakiyam | Vedanta Spiral Library Bi Online Books Bhagavad Gita Brahma Sutra Upanishads Vedas Vedie Hymns Ramayanam ue ‘Adi Sankara Sri Ramakrishna Sri Sarada Devi ‘Swami Vivekananda Ramana Maharshi ‘Swami Ramdas Kanchi Maha Periyava Jiddu Krishnamurti (JK] Nisargadatta Maharaj Articles and Summary Lessons on Vedanta Vedanta Books = Other Mantras and Ritua Prayer Hymns - Stotras W Carnatic Music Krithis ‘Moral Stories Stories and Ancedotes Our Websites Celextel Spiritual Store Celextel eMusic Store Vedanta Spiritual Library Vedanta Shastras Library “Fach sou is potentially divine. The goal isto manifest this nature, extemal and intemal. Do psyehie contol, or phiosophy and be free. Thi ste whole of religion, Doctrines, or dogs, oF (Search ] Cc ci + Hastamalakiyam Hastamalakiyam Hastamalakiyam [Essence of Vedanta in Twelve Verses] By Hestamalaka- Disc of Al Sankara Translated by SN. Sat [English Translation and Explanatory Notes based on the Bhashya of Sri Sankara] Introduction Iti well known that Sri Sankaracharya had four disciples, one of whom was named Hastamalaka, This was not his original name, but was given to him by the Acharya, How he became a disciple of Sri Sankara is described beautifully in the work entiled ‘Sankara- Digvijaya’ by Swami Vidyaranya. Itis said therein that during his stay at the famous temple at Mookambika the Acharya happened to visit a nearby village named Sti Ball. In that vilage there was a Brahmana by name Prabhakara who was noted for his learning and the regular performance of the rites enjoined by the Vedas. Though he was quite wealthy and was respected by all, he was not happy because his only son was dumb and behaved ike a congenital idiot. On hearing that the great Acharya had come to his village, he decided to take his son to the Acharya in the hope that the latter's blessing would cure his child and make him ‘anormal, intelligent boy. He went to the Acharya and prostrated before him and asked his son to do the same. The boy prostrated, but did not get up for quite a long time. The Acharya, in his unbounded compassion, lfted up the boy. The father then told the Acharya, "0 Sir, this boy is now seven years old, but his mind is totally undeveloped. He has nat learnt even the alphabets, not to speak of the Vedas. Boys of his age come and cal him to join them in play, but he does not respond. If they beat him he remains unaffected. Sometimes he takes some ood, but sometimes he does not eat at all. | have completely filed in my efforts to teach him ‘When the father had said this, the Acharya asked the boy "Who are you? Why are you behaving in this stange manner, as if you are an inert thing?” To this the boy replied, “lam certainly not an inert thing. Even an inert thing becomes sentient in my presence. | am of the nature of infinite Bliss, fee from the six waves (hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, old age and death) and the six stages (birth, existence, growth, change, decay and destruction)’. The boy then expounded the gist of all the Upanishads in twelve verses, which became famous under the name Hastamalakiyam. As the knowledge of the Atman was as clear to him as an amalaka fruit in one's palm, the name "Hastamalaka" was given to him. The Acharya then told the father of the boy “This apparently dumb son of yours knows the truth of the Atman by virtue of his practices in past lives. He is totally fre from all attachment and any sense of I-ness with regard to the body. Let this boy come with me", So saying, the Acharya took the boy along with him as his disciple, ‘Subsequently, while explaining to his other disciples how this boy had attained Self-knowledge leven at this very young age, Sri Sankara says, “One day, when he was a two-year old child his mother had taken him along with her when she went to the iver for her bath, She left the child on the bank under the care of a Jnani who happened to be siting there. The child accidentally fel into the water when the Jnani was deep in meditation. When the mother came back atter her bath she was shocked to find that the child was dead and she began to cry Moved by pity for her the Jnani, by virtue of his Yogie power, entered the body of the child, casting off his own mortal col. The child thus became a realized soul ‘Sri Sankara was so impressed by the profundity of these twelve verses that he himself wrote {an elaborate commentary on them. In this commentary Sti Sankara refers to Hastamalaka, his own disciple, as the ‘Acharya’. This indicates, not only the greatness of Hastamalaka’s verses, but also the magnanimity of the Guru, Sri Sankara, The explanation of these twelve verses, iven in the following paragraphs, is based on Sri Sankara's commentary. Hastamalakiyam hitpsiww.celextel.orgvedanta-books-otherhastamalakiyam! wr 423, 6:12PM. Hastamalakiyam | Vedanta Spiral Library Sri Sankara, at the commencement of his commentary on Hastamalakiyam, says that the desire of every living being on this earth is to enjoy happiness all the time and to be always free from sorrow. The activities of al creatures are directed towards achieving these two objectives. But a rare human being, who has accumulated an abundant store of punya in past lives, realizes that all happiness derived from sense-objects is transitory and is bound to be followed by sorrow. As a result, he develops total detachment towards all sense pleasures and strives to bring an end to Samsara, the continuous cycle of birth and death. Since ignorance of one's Self (Atma) isthe root cause of Samsara and only Sell-knowledge can put an end to Samsara, Hastamalaka, referred to here by Sri Sankara as the ‘Acharya’, teaches Sell- knowledge in the following twelve verses, 4. Lam the Atma (Self) which is of the nature of eternal Consciousness and which is the cause ofthe functioning of the mind, eye and all other organs, in the same way as the sun is the cause ofthe activities ofall beings on this earth. But when not associated with the limiting adjuncts (inthe form of the body, mind and sense-organs), I, (Self) am like space. Eternal Consciousness: The Self (Atma) is Pure Consciousness which is present without any change in all the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. It's because of this eternal Consciousness that the sense organs appear sentient and are able to reveal their respective ‘objects such as form, sound, smell, etc, in the waking state, In dream the sense organs are dormant, but the mind projects various objects and experiences them in the light ofthis samo stemal Consciousness. In deep sleep the mind Is also dormant, but the Self, which is pure Consciousness, exists without any change. This is proved by the fact that one remembers, on ‘waking up, that one slept happily and did not know anything, Only what has been experienced previously by a person can be subsequently remembered by him. Therefore itis clear that the Self existed during deep sleep also. Cause of the activities ofthe mind, etc.,: The mind and all the organs are insentient.Itis only by the light ofthe pure Consciousness whichis reflected in the mind, thatthe mind acquices sentiency. This can be compared to mirror on which the reflection ofthe sun falls. Ifthe mirror, with the reflection ofthe sun oni, is turned towards a dark room, the room becomes. lighted. it would then appear as if the light belongs to the mirror itself. In the same way, the ‘mind, which receives the reflection of the consciousness of the Self, appears as itis itself conscious. The eye and all other organs, which receive the reflection of consciousness from the mind, also appear, in tur, to have consciousness. Its because of this that its said in this vverse that the Selfs the cause ofthe activities of the mind and organs. But the Self is actionless. It neither acts, nor does it prompt the mind and organs to act, The Self is the cause only in the sense that in its mere presence the mind and organs act. This is explained by the analogy of the sun being considered as the cause of the activities ofall beings. When the sun rises, everyone begins his workin its ight, but the sun does not make anyone act in any particular manner. The sun merely provides the light forall activity. What kind of activity a person engages in depends on himself alone. The sun is not at all involved init. The sun neither benefits nor suffers because of the activities of any person. In the same way, the Self gives the mind and organs sentiency, which makes them capable of performing action, but the Seif does not make any one act in any particular manner. The Set is neither benefited by the Virtuous actions of any person, nor is it adversely affected by any evil deeds of any one. ‘When not associated with the limiting adjuncts the Self is ke space, Even the statement that the Self the cause of the activities ofthe mind and organs is made only from the empirical (vyaavahaarika) standpoint, From the standpoint of ultimate truth (paaramaarthika) the Self has no connection whatever with the limiting adjuncts (called Uupadhi) in the form of the body, mind and organs. The method adopted in Vedanta to impart the knowledge of Brahman is known as the method of superimposition (achyaropa) and subsequent denial (apavaada). The Self cannot be directly described by words because it has ‘no quality, activity or relationship with anything else. A substance which has a quality, such as redness, bigness, etc, can be described by reference to that quality A person who performs @ particular activity such as cooking can be described by reference to that activity, as a cook, tc. A stranger can be identified by reference to his relationship with a known person, Because of the absence of any of these qualities the Self cannot be described at all by any words. The ‘method of superimposition and subsequent denial has therefore to be resorted to. The Self appears, because of our ignorance of its real nature, to be limited by the body, mind and organs. On the basis ofthis apparent limitation it was first said that the Self is the cause of the activites of the mind and organs, But from the point of view ef ultimate reality, since the Self alone is real in the absolute sense, it can have no association with the mind, eo, which are not hitpsiww.celextel.orgvedanta-books-otherhastamalakiyam! an 423, 6:12PM. Hastamalakiyam | Vedanta Spiral Library real from the absolute point of view, just as an object experienced in dream cannot have any association with an object known in the waking state. Space, which is infinite, is referred to as pot-space, room-space, ete, when itis looked upon as limited by a pot, a room, etc, but these

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