Purusarta Niscaya
When our mind - buddhi is very clear about our goal and seeks that goal in preference to everything else, that mind is referred to as vyavasayatmika buddhi in Bhagavad Gita Ch2: Verse 41.
2-41 | |
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन। बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्॥ | |
vyavasāyātmikā buddhirekeha kurunandana | bahuśākhā hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām || | |
kurunandana - Oh! Descendant of Kurus; iha - with reference to this (moksa); vyavasayatmika - well-ascertained; buddhih - understanding; eka - is one; avyavasayinam - of the indiscriminate; buddhayah - notions; hi - indeed; bahu-sakhah - many-branched; ca - and; anantah - innumerable | |
With reference to this (moksa), Oh! Descendant of Kurus, there is a single, well-ascertained understanding. The notions of those who lack discrimination are many-branched and innumerable indeed. | |
A mumuksu is a seeker who has a desire for only moksa. That person has got the purusarta niscaya.
Purusarta
A human being sees himself as a deficient person. His constant, compulsive pursuits make his sense of inadequacy evident. To escape from this deficiency, he struggles for a large number of things in life which fall under four main headings:
artha securities;
dharma ethics;
moksa liberation.
All four are collectively called purusartha that which is longed for by human beings. These are the goals purusa, the human being, struggles for.
(Reference: Introduction to Vedanta – Swami Dayananda Saraswati.)
How to get vyavasatmika buddhi?
The vision of the Gita is that you are already free; you cannot be improved upon. Since you are already param brahma, it is knowledge alone that liberates you.
To gain the knowledge that liberates you, you should find a teacher and ask for the knowledge. |
In spite of the availability of such teaching, however, there is no guarantee that one will gain the knowledge because the place where it must occur may not be ready.
You need to prepare your mind
Knowledge has to take place in the mind. Physically, one may be a mature person, an adult, but this does not mean that the mind, the antah-karana, is ready for the teaching. A certain maturity, a certain viveka is necessary. The teaching may be given for the asking, but the mind must be ready for it.
You must be desirous of the knowledge, not out of curiosity, but out of a certain discrimination, viveka, on your part. Then only can you ask for this knowledge and hope to receive it. The mind that is necessary in order to receive the knowledge is accomplished by karma yoga. |
You can choose a life-style of karma-yoga, performing karma with a prayerful attitude. Or you can choose a life of renunciation involving only sankhya, knowledge. Sankhya and sannyasa go together, since sannyasa is taken for the sake of pursuing knowledge to the exclusion of any other activity.
By simply becoming a sannyasi, one does not become enlightened. A sannyasi also has to gain knowledge. |
Similarly, by karma-yoga alone, you do not gain liberation. You have to gain knowledge. Knowledge, therefore, is common to both. Knowledge liberates, for which you require a mind which has been made ready by yoga. A sannyasi may follow the astanga-yoga upto its final limb of samadhi. But it too comes under karma-yoga because it is an action to be done to purify the antah-karana for the sake of gaining the knowledge. Any technique that helps to acquire steadiness of mind is useful and may be employed even by a sannyasi.
(Reference: Bhagavad Gita Home Study – Swami Dayananda Saraswati)
How to get a Guru?
It is said that when we have accrued sufficient punya, we will get an appropriate guru. Many believe that a sadguru will choose a disciple, when a desciple is ready.
What sastra says is given below:-
| Mundaka 1 - Khanda 2 - Mantra 12 | |
परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणः निर्वेदमायाद् नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन। तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत् समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम्॥ | |
parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇaḥ nirvedamāyād nāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena | tadvijñānārthaṁ sa gurumevābhigacchet samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣṭham || | |
karmacitan - gained by doing actions (and meditation); lokan - the experiences; pariksya - examining; brahmanah - discriminative person; nirvedam ayat - may discover dispassion; akrtah - moksa which is not created; krtena -through the action or meditation; na asti - not there; tat -that; vijnanartham - to know; sah - he; gurum - to a teacher; eva - only; abhigacchet - must go; srotriyam - one who is well-versed in scriptures; brahmanistham - one who has clarity about Brahman; samitpanih - with sacrificial twigs in hand | |
‘Examining the experiences gained by doing actions and meditation, may the discriminative person discover dispassion. Moksa, which is not created, cannot be gained through action. Therefore, to gain the knowledge of Brahman, he must go with sacrificial twigs in hand to a teacher who is well-versed in scriptures and who has clear knowledge about Brahman.’ | |
Pariksya lokan karmacitan : having analysed the lokas gained by actions. Then, one develops a dispassion towards all these experiences. One does not require going through all experiences here. One need not go to heaven also. So, sruti says, pariksya, examining purely by buddhi. It is not going through the experience, and afterwards examining what happened.
(Reference: Mudokapanisad – Swami Dayananda Saraswati)