Wisdom is perception at the core level of understanding. It can be about the Sun, a plant, or a neighbour.
A child looks at a plant for its fruits and flowers
A farmer looks at the same for insects and worms so he can treat it appropriately
A biologist looks at the same to understand its composition for research
An ayurvedic professional looks at the same for its medicinal characteristics
A designer looks at the same for its colours and beauty
An environmentalist looks at the same for its biological formation to understand its decomposition rate
A poet looks at the same for its softness and fragrance, or maybe the hardness or thorns reflecting his/her emotions towards a topic
What is the perception of a Vaishnava, a believer in Vedas?
A Vaishnava has a clear understanding of three main eternal entities of the plant: the body made of nature (the roots, the trunk, the branches, the flowers, etc.), the soul (the indwelling life, generally referred to as ‘I’, ‘You’), and the supreme soul, God (the unseen source of power that keeps the soul and the body together). His perception is complete and to the core of the existence of the plant.
Upanishath states, Yo:sa vaso: purushah so:hamasmi
The same supreme soul that exists within you also exists everywhere in nature and within every other soul. This supreme soul is the source of the plant’s existence and the Sun’s existence. It is also the source of your existence.
His perception allows him to see everything that a child, farmer, biologist, ayurvedic professional, designer, environmentalist, the poet sees, and more! He looks at God’s grace in the form of the plant, the highest form of a genuine positive attitude. This allows him to conduct with the plant righteously pertaining to only needs and not greed, thereby contributing to the overall well-being of the existence.
However, why does one soul have the body of a plant?
Why does another soul have the body of the Sun?
Why do I have this human body?
Some of us (a subset of the innumerable souls) chose to ignore these three aspects of the true wisdom (a body, the soul, the supreme soul). Hence, each soul has a different body based on the level of ignorance on the three aspects. Due to such ignorance, some of us are in an arrogant state where…
we perceive ourselves as the body that we are in
we perceive others to be the bodies that they are in
we do not accept the existence of the supreme soul, God
we believe that we are superior/inferior to other beings based on body and its related characteristics
Why did we ignore or forget the three-aspect-wisdom in the first place?
Prakruthi (nature), the innumerable souls (including all of us), and the supreme soul (God), are three entities existing eternally. However, each soul gets uniquely carried away by nature, prakruthi (the ever-changing thatthva, body/surroundings), forgetting the connection with God (the never-changing supreme thatthva). The intensity of one’s association with the body adds layers of ignorance over one’s innate wisdom, jnana (like soot from a lamp blocking its innate glow). This difference in jnana attributes to the way souls perform deeds, karma. Hence, do not let prakruthi force forgetfulness of the true inner wisdom.
The Sun is also a soul, just like we are. However, he remains humble to God, does not forget the nature of prakruthi and the nature of God. Therefore, God shines from within him (referred to as Surya Narayana) without being blocked by the arrogance of the soul, the Sun himself. Thus, He was appointed as a part of God’s administration and received a body that supports millions of beings every day.
Let us pray that our sinful reactions from bad karmic deeds out of arrogance and ignorance are burned to ashes.
Let us pray that our wisdom does not get blocked by nature: the body, senses, manas, or buddhi.
Let us pray that God shines from within each of us, in turn giving joy to those around us.
On the day of Ratha Sapthami, let us remind ourselves of this wisdom passed onto us by our seers and acharyas. Let us pray to the supreme thatthva, Sriman Narayana giving us His divine darsan through the Sun.
Dhye:yas sada: savithru mandala madhyavarthi:
Na:ra:yanas sarasija:sana sannivishtaha |
Keyu:rava:n makara kundalava:n kiri:ti: ha:ri:
Hiranmaya vapuhu dhrutha sankha chakraha ||
– From the discourse of HH Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– Rattha Saptami, Feb 19 th , 2021
– Vijaya Kiladri, Vijayawada
Wish Swamij have good environment to enlighten us.
Thanks for sharing so much wisdom with us, Swamiji.
🙏🙏🙏
Jai srimannarayana!!
Such an eye opening message. Thank you very much for sharing.
Aneka Dasohams to Swamiji 🙏🙏🙏