Thus Spoke Mahapragya - Vol.1: 10. Eternal Happiness (6)

Eternal Happiness (6)

The conversation between the guru and the disciple continued and lot of sutra for seeking solitary happiness was shared by the guru. Another sutra is Dheei (patience) - Dhruti (control)is a means to achievesolitary happiness. According to Bhadrabahu one who has self-control, asceticism or monkshood is for him. Only he can follow asceticism, one who has Dhruti. Charaksanhita is a very important literature in Ayurveda. Charak, a well-known Ayurveda acharya, visionary and the author of Charaksanhita has written that man's mind run behinds worldly matters.  One can control his mind only if one has Dhruti. Dhruti is one that controls our mind and senses. If one has Dhruti, then there is asceticism and that is the true Dharma (religion). Dharma means keeping oneself aside from worldy matters and shramanya also means keeping oneself aside from worldly matters. This would be possible only when one has self-control. In Bhagavad-Gita, it is beautifully said that dhruti controls mann (mind), prana (vital air, breath) and kriya (actions). There are three forms of dhruti according to Bhagavad-Gita:

• Satvik (endowed with qualities of purity and goodness)
  
• Rajasi (inspiring luxury and exhibitionism) 
  
• Tamsik (inspiring darkness and ignorance)

If one leaves aside the Rajasi and Tamasi, then with the Satvik Dhruti one can control mind, prana (vital force, breath) and actions.

Solitary happiness is not possible without Dhruti. If one has to achieve the solitary happiness, then it is important that he sets aside himself from those temporary happiness. One has to differentiate and then decide if he should target the small bait, larger bait or the objective. There is an anecdote. The King had declared publicly that he was in search for a Prime Minister. All the ministers were eager to take up this coveted post. When the King saw that his ministers were eager to take up the coveted post, he said “I will make a person Prime Minister who is capable, hardworking and intelligent. Also he must fulfill one condition.”  The condition was that the person would be locked in a room and he must free himself by breaking that lock.

The condition was a tough one. Everybody was not like Mantung Suri who once uttered Bhaktambar verses and the locks broke open automatically one by one. The condition was tough one and most of the people dropped out. If only such conditions were there today, then the rat race to become a minister probably would reduce and we would have only capable people applying for it. Five people came forward and accepted the challenge. On the prescribed day and time, the five people were put in a dark room and were locked from outside. Not everyone had the same self-control and patience. Some people's patience ran out and they fainted. They did not have control over their mind and the very thought that they cannot come outside the room made them more weak and they fainted. All except one had given up. He was a young man and was very intelligent. He did not lose control over his mind, thought and patience. He thought over the situation deeply. One who thinks deeply he will always find a way out. Today, India's most of the problems are because one does not go deep into the problems. Hence one is not able to find the right solution. A pearl is also found when one goes deep into the sea.

The young man thought very deeply inside the locked room. He thought that the king was very intelligent and why would he ever put such an impossible condition. To frighten people may be the king would have put such a tough condition. He guessed that the room would not have been locked from outside. There was however no harm in finding that out if the door was really locked from outside. The young man gathered courage in the dark room and pushed the door. To his surprise he realized that the door was not locked from outside. The young man had fulfilled the condition and he was made the Prime Minister.

With Yoga one can control his imagination, mind, senses and Prana. Belief has tremendous power. When we see something we first examine, decide and then form a belief.What we know when becomes true is known as belief and not getting disillusioned is the belief. When we see anything, we first think over it and come to a conclusion and then we develop the belief that what we concluded was right. It is also necessary for the people who come over here to listen to the Pravachana (preaching's) that they not only listen to it, but also believe in it. The following three words should settle deep within, and life should blossom out: Dharana (belief), Vasana (accumulated desires) and samskara (the imprints of past events and lives on the mind, genetic traits)
When a vessel is filled with scented oil, even when the oil is over, the fragrance of the oil remains in the vessel. The source of the fragrance can be destroyed but not the fragrance that it leaves behind.

Two people were coming from two opposite directions. One was carrying a pot filled with perfume and the other person was carrying a pot of liquor, which had a bad smell. They both clashed and the pots broke and the perfume and the liquor spilled on the floor. It was a co-incident that at times the good smell was coming and the bad smell of the liquor. A poet standing nearby said “One can destroy the object but not the fragrance it leaves behind.”

We do have vasana (accumulated desires). Vasana and Dharana (it implies total identification with, and concentration on the thing conceived) are not different and together they become our samskara. Hence vasana, dharana and samskara's are related in a way. When the samskara's are built, it strengthens the belief that we have. Why do we remember things that we have seen two days ago, two years or twenty years ago? We remember them because of our belief. People often complain about bad memory. What they read, they forget. They often ask me how they can improve their memory. It is my firm belief that we should not worry about memory. What we should worry about is the belief. If we believe in something then we will be able to recollect it and if we do not believe then we will forget. Our memory depends on how strongly we believe. Revise anything more than once. Believe in it and your memory will improve automatically.

Dharana(belief) also signifies strength. In two contexts the word dharana is used. They are:

• One must not exercise control over his body for e.g. nature's call, cough etc.
  
• One must exercise control over his mind for e.g. anger, ego, greed etc.

Dhruti is our ability to control and is very important. One must develop this dhruti if he wants to experience solitary happiness. One, who doesn't develop this, will experience instability at every stage in his life.

Seth Sudarshan was a man who had a strong will power and control over his indriya (senses). Even Sthulibhadra's dancer Kosha could not break his concentration and meditation. He could not be lured. Once a person is lured, his path to solitary happiness is lost. One has to ignore all the tempation that comes on their way.

There was a queen who was very good at horse riding. She was always the first to win any horse race. There was one person who was jealous of this success and started to find a way to defeat the queen. He soon realized the weakness of the queen. She was very fond of gold. He threw some gold bars on the track where the race was supposed to begin. When the race began, the queen saw those glittering bars and couldn't resist the temptation. She slowed down the horse to pick them up and as a result, lost the race. The reason for the queen to be defeated was not because of the weakness of the horse or she lacked the skills. She was defeated because she did not have self-control over her greed.

One must deeply think over as to how one can develop this dhruti (control). How does one develop his control over his senses and mind. Self-control has tremendous power. When one decides to walk on the path of meditation, to seek moksha (liberation of mind) and solitary happiness, he gets distracted by his senses either in the form of words, beauty, smell, taste or touch. If one has to seek his goal of solitary happiness then he must overcome these temptations.

The guru advised his disciple that if one wants to seek solitary happiness, then he should develop this dhruti (control). The sadhus and sadhvis should remember that where there is dhruti (control) there is shramanya (asceticism or monkshood) and sadhutva (ascetic). Where there is no dhruti (control) there can be no sadhana (meditation). At every step one will find elements of distraction. If one wants to experience solitary happiness, then one must over come this distraction and develop dhruti (control).

On a 15th January