In our previous post we described Nature’s prodigies and how spiritual efforts and hard work that is put forth by the Yogis will never be wasted! We noted that when a person does any good deed, he gets a certain amount of credit or puNya.
Once a man was accused of stealing a Mercedes Benz car. After a long court case, finally the man was declared innocent and he was released. The very next day, he came back to court and said that he wanted to sue his lawyer. The judge told him, “Why do you want to sue your lawyer? Only yesterday he won a case for you.”. The man said, “That’s true your honor. But I did not have the money to pay him, so he took the car that I stole”!
Good deeds will be rewarded in the long run and bad deeds will provide their own punishment. If a yogi is able to pursue the spiritual path even in the next birth, how does this come about? Let us see…
puurvaabhyaasena tenaiva hriyate hyavasho.api saH .
jiGYaasurapi yogasya shabdabrahmaativartate .. 6.44..
This yogi, even though under the influence of his senses, becomes drawn towards God because of the force of habit of his previous births. Even though he tries to seek knowledge only due to an intellectual curiosity, he becomes able to understand even the inner meanings of the scriptural texts.
puurvaabhyaasena tena – by the force of these habits from his previous births : eva – only : hriyate – feels drawn (towards God) : hi – verily : avashaH api saH – even though he is under the sway of his senses : jiGYaasu api - even though he is just a curious seeker : yogasya – of yoga : shabdabrahma ativartate – he understands even the inner meanings of the scriptures
When a yogi is born again, even in this new life, he becomes once more attracted to the spiritual path, because of the force of habit from his previous births. He might only be a curious seeker of knowledge, but in spite of approaching the scriptural texts in a casual manner, because of the knowledge that he has gained in his previous births, he is able to understand even the inner meanings.
A person’s actions are largely dictated by the force of habit. Once a group of fisherwomen were returning from the market place to their village when they got stuck in a storm. They were hence forced to take shelter in a cottage that belonged to a flower seller. They were given a room to sleep in. In that room the flower seller had kept many baskets of flowers that he was planning to sell the next day and so the room was filled with fragrance of the flowers. But this atmosphere was too oppressive for the fisherwomen who could not sleep at all and they finally decided to open their fish baskets and sprinkle the foul smelling water close to themselves and only then they were able to sleep.
All actions are hence dictated by our habits. If a person is used to pursuing material objects, he will find it difficult to go in the spiritual path. At the same time, those yogis who spend their lives in a noble manner and in thoughts of God, find that even in their next birth, the influence of their habits helps them to realize God easily.
In this Sloka, we are talking about that yogi who is born in the house of the pious & prosperous. In this new birth, this yogi has not completely become free of the influence of his senses or desires. In spite of all these, due to the habits of his previous lives, he finds himself being attracted towards God.
He decides to find out about what the scriptures say, only out of intellectual curiosity. But he finds that he is able to understand, even the deeper meanings, due to the spiritual efforts of previous lives.
Some of us might have had this experience. When we hear that somebody is going to give a lecture on the Gita or Ramayana, we think, everybody is talking about spirituality, let me also go and check out what this is about! It will be useful to talk about it in front of others so that I can seem knowledgeable!! There is just an intellectual curiosity to know about the scripture, nothing more. This curiosity prompts us to go and listen to the lecture. But when we start listening to the lecture, we feel – “Aha! Is this not what I have been thinking about all the time”. These thoughts that are expressed in the lectures dont seem to be mere words, but something more.
Shabdhabrahman refers to scriptures. Brahman is the absolute reality or God. Shabdha brahman is that reality expressed in words. The scriptures like the Gita, which talk about Brahman can be called Shabdhabrahman. When this yogi reads or listens to the scriptural texts, because of his knowledge from previous births, he is able to transcend what is said and grasp even the inner meanings.
What about the yogi who is born in the house of enlightened yogis? We shall see that in our next post!
Is this a type of Yoga really…..?