“Shatashloki” of Shri Shankaracharya – VIII (Shloka – 9)

Make all efforts to realize the Atman residing within

Shloka – 9:  Because of which a person loves one’s own body, spouse, children, and wealth, that Atman is the most lovable thing. All things other than the Atman are the cause of suffering. Therefore, all things other than the Atman are not pleasurable. One who is seeking the highest good of oneself is ready to sacrifice one’s own life, family, relatives, and all other things. Therefore a wise person should make all the efforts to realize the Atman only and nothing else.

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There is a well-known message in Brihadaranyaks Upanishad. Rishi Yajnavalkya was going to retire from the family life and was going to spend his time as a Sanyasi (all renounced person who is fully focusing his mind on the Ultimate Reality – Brahman). He wanted to divide his wealth between his two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani. This way he was also asking his wives for their permissions to let him renounce everything and focus his mind on the Ultimate Reality. Without their permission, he cannot renounce his responsibilities as a householder.

Brihadaranyaka (2.4.1-5): Sage Yajnavalkya said, “My dear Mitreyi! I am going to renounce this (householder’s) life. Let me make a final settlement between you and Katyayani.”

Thereupon, Maitreyi said, “O Venerable One! If indeed the whole earth, full of wealth, belonged to me, would I be immortal through that?” Yajnavalkya replied, “No. Your life would be just like that of people who have plenty. There is no hope of immortality through wealth.”

Maitreyi said, “Then, what should I do with that which would not make me immortal? Please tell me of that alone which you know to be the only means of attaining immortality.”

Yajnavalkya replied, “My dear, you have been my beloved so far and now you are talking which is most dear to me. Come, sit down, I will explain to you what makes one immortal. As I explain that to you, you reflect upon it and meditate on it.”

Then, Yajnavalkya said, “Verily, not for the sake of the husband, my dear, is the husband loved, but he is loved for the sake of the Self (Atman or Brahman).

Verily, not for the sake of the wife, my dear, is the wife loved, but she is loved for the sake of the Self.

Verily, not for the sake of the sons (children), my dear, are the sons (children) loved, but they are loved for the sake of the Self.

Verily, not for the sake of the wealth, my dear is wealth loved, but it is loved for the sake of the Self…

Verily, not for the sake of the All, my dear, is the All loved, but it is loved for the sake of the Self.

“Verily, my dear Maitreyi, it is the Self that should be realized – should be heard of, reflected on, and meditated upon. By the realization of the Self, my dear – through hearing, reflection, and meditation – all this is known.”

The ninth shloka of the Shatashloki clearly expresses sage Yajnavalkya’s teachings. When Atman leaves the body of a spouse, or a child, or a friend, then the body starts deteriorating and it has to be cremated as soon as possible. This makes it obvious that people loved the Atman residing within the person and not the body of the person.

Wealth has some value as long as we are alive. Wealth is material; it is a metal or a paper. A little reflection makes us aware that the value of wealth is limited. Wealth cannot buy love or mental peace. If wealth is not properly used, then it becomes a cause of suffering. Material possession also causes suffering. When we bought our first car, I had to park it on a busy street in a city. From our bedroom window, I could see our car. At night, a couple of times, whenever I heard some weird noise like car abruptly stopping with a squeaking break’s noise, or a person hitting a car while parking, I woke up to see whether it is our car. After waking up for a couple of times, I thought to myself, ‘Did I buy this car for comfort and pleasure or for a worry?’ Then, I laughed at myself and slept well.

There is a rule of the universe that except the bliss of realizing the Atman, anything that gives us material joy becomes the cause of suffering as well. Many times the material joy is little than the sufferings that follow. Saint Tulsidas said that we suffer when we meet people who do harmful things and we suffer when good people leave us. Joy and sorrow come together. We cannot have one without the other.

Fear and worry are connected. We worry because we have some kind of fear in the back of our minds.  Saint Bhartruhari tells us in his Vairagya Shataka (shloka 34) that fear is attached to everything in this universe:

“If we go to enjoy something, then we have a fear of disease,

If we take pride in our heredity, then we have a fear of falling from its status,

If we have wealth, then we have a fear that the king might take it away (right now the IRS),

If we keep silence, then there is a fear that we are considered weak,

If we are physically strong, then we have a fear of an enemy,

If we have beauty, then we have a fear of old age,

If we take pride in our expertise, then we have a fear of someone knowing more than us,

If we take pride in our virtues, then we have a fear of a fault-finder pointing to our vice,

If we have body consciousness, then we have a fear of death,

In short, all things in this universe filled with fear except the renunciation. The renunciation only can make a person fearless.

The fear of all fears is the fear of death. In the conversation of the Rishi Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi we learned that realizing Atman makes us immortal, meaning it removes all our fear of death. Upanishads say that there is no other way to go beyond the fear of death except realizing our Atman. When we realize that our true identity is Atman which is eternal, that it was never born and so it will not die, then we can overcome the fear of death. We understand that what dies is the physical existence consists of our body and mind which we mistook as our true existence.

What is the way? According to Saint Bhartruhari, renunciation makes us fearless. What do we renounce? We have to renounce our false association with our body and mind. Simultaneously, we have to realize that our true identity is Atman or Brahman, and the goal of human life is to realize this Atman. By realizing Atman all our desires get fulfilled, all our doubts about life get destroyed, all our fear vanishes, and our life gets fulfillment.

In a collection of Sri Ramakrishna’s Bengali teachings, I read, “If we can see our true Self (Atman) in our self, then everything is accomplished. To see this we have to do spiritual practices. To be able to do these spiritual practices we have a body. To create a golden image, one needs a clay-mold. Similarly, we have the mold of the mortal body to realize the immortal Atman.”

Many people who have understood the importance of achieving this goal of life have renounced everything and had plunged into making efforts to realize the Atman. However, these people are one percent of the human population. For the other ninety-nine percent of the people, Sri Ramakrishna said that they have to renounce mentally. We can live in the world and perform all our responsibilities, but every day we have to sit in a quiet place and reflect upon ‘What is permanent and what is impermanent’. We have to think that our true identity is Atman or Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. We have to understand that the Power of Brahman which we call God or Shakri (Mother) or Mahamaya had created this universe; He/She preserves it and dissolves it. After doing our spiritual practices sincerely and regularly for a while, when we go deeper within, then we realize that in reality, God has become everything. The Ultimate Reality Brahman is appearing as various things of the universe with various names and forms.

Most people find it difficult to think that ‘I am Atman’. Our ‘ego’, meaning our body-mind-consciousness is so deep that it will not let us separate from it and let us think “I am Atman’. Sri Ramakrishna said that since the ego does not go away easily; let the rascal ego remains as a ‘devotee ego’ or ‘a servant ego’.  He calls it a ‘ripe or mature ego’. A person with this ripe ego thinks that everything belongs to God; nothing is mine, not even my own body and mind. God gave me responsibilities to fulfill and I must perform my responsibilities as an offering to God or as a worship of God. If we start with this attitude, then slowly we will understand that God is the Ultimate Reality, Brahman. The Brahman is within me as Atman and because of its power my body and mind function. Then, comes a time when we can realize that Brahman is appearing a universe with its various names and forms. This shloka says that we must make all efforts to attain to this state.