साधनचतुष्टयं किम्?
नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः । इहामुत्रार्थफलभोगविरागः । शमादिषट्कसंपत्तिः । मुमुक्षुत्वं चेति ॥
Sādhanacatuṣṭayaṃ (साधनचतुष्टयम्) indicates four qualities that a student seeker must possess to qualify to pursue the path of knowledge – jñāna mārga (ज्ञान मार्ग). They are
- Nitya- anitya viveka (नित्य-अनित्य विवेक) – Ability to intellectually discriminate between eternal and ephemeral
- vairāgya (वैराग्य) – Dispassion towards what is understood as ephemeral
- śamādiṣaṭkasaṃpattiḥ (शमादिषट्कसंपत्तिः) – Sixfold wealth of the mind
- mumukṣutvam (मुमुक्षुत्वम्) – Strong desire for liberation.
Viveka (विवेक) – Discriminatory Power of Intellect
नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः कः?
नित्यवस्तु एकम् ब्रह्म तद् व्यतिरिक्तं सर्वम् अनित्यम् । अयमेव नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः ॥
As defined earlier, viveka is a discriminatory power of intellect, to understand the nature of anything, using compare, contrast and classify methods. Here author refers to viveka to discriminate the eternal vs ephemeral. (नित्यानित्यवस्तु).
Nityatā (नित्यता) can be categorized into two types, viz. kūṭastha (कूटस्थ) nityatā, the absolute existence without change, and pariṇāmī (परिणामी) nityatā, the perception of continuous existence because of continuous change. River is an example of pariṇāmī nityatā. Its continuous flow creates a perception of continuous existence without change. After taking the first dip in the river, the second dip cannot be in the same river. River has already changed by then. On the contrary, the anvil on which the blacksmith works, remains steady while the iron on the top changes its shape. That is the absolute existence without change, kūṭastha nityatā. Thus, nitya vastu (नित्य वस्तु) is an absolute unchanging eternal existence, whereas anitya vastu (अनित्य वस्तु) is existence with continuous change, transient or ephemeral. Scriptures also refer to this as mithyā (मिथ्या).
While every sentient being has basic powers of discrimination (what to eat and what not, what is safe vs. what is a threat etc.), human beings have significantly advanced intellect with discriminatory powers of higher levels. The discriminatory powers like dharma-adharma (धर्म-अधर्म) right vs. wrong, aṃśāaṃśī (अंशाअंशी) whole vs. part, sādhana-sādhya (साधन-साध्य) goal vs. path, śreyas-preyas (श्रेयस्-प्रेयस्) pleasant vs. good etc. are sufficiently developed in human intellect.
Such discriminatory power must be further improved to intellectually understand the continuously changing ephemeral world, with one underlying constant, eternal, unchanging substratum, i,e, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्).
Seeker gets opportunity to improve such discriminatory power due to his pure and focused mind, merits of prior birth or grace of supreme or teachers. Such power exhibits itself as a deeply internalized knowledge – “Anything that can be perceived by senses (the world of names and forms) is inert and ephemeral, and thus anitya or mithyā”. Constant practice of contemplating thus, results in culmination of knowledge – Brahma satyam jagat mithyā (ब्रह्म सत्यम् जगत् मिथ्या). Once the seeker knows the impermanence of the world, the next virtue of dispassion (वैराग्य) naturally follows.
vairāgya (वैराग्य) – Dispassion
विरागः कः? इहस्वर्गभोगेषु इच्छाराहित्यम् ॥
On the surface level, virāga (विराग), commonly referred as vairāgya (वैराग्य), indicates the absence of desires (or letting go of) from all kinds of pleasures – present and future. However, vedantic knowledge does not promote pessimism, instead it redirects us to the infinite and eternal joy within us by looking inward than being dependent on external / worldly pleasures for the same.
Humans and all other sentient beings are naturally extroverted. Their mind is outward focused due to thousands of years and hundreds of years of experience in embodied form to survive and thrive. They constantly look outwards to perceive threats (self-preservation), seek food (self-sustenance) and seek mate (self-propagation).
Humans are gravitated to higher level of needs (beyond preservation, sustenance and propagation). They seek material (kāṃcana – कांचन), emotional / sexual (kāminī – कामिनी) and intellectual (kirtī – किर्ती) pleasures from the world. Once addicted, such extroverted mind becomes dependent on them. Such dependency on person, place, situation etc. only develops attachment (rāga – राग) and aversion (dveṣa – द्वेष). Attachment – rāga, is the basic instinct to attain or hold on to people, places, situation or objects that apparently gives pleasures. Aversion – dveṣa, is another basic instinct to avoid or get rid of people, places, situations or objects that gives sorrows or take away pleasures.
Vairāgya is one’s ability (strength) to give up dependency / addiction of such temporary pleasures and get complete freedom from the dependency on the world and the pleasures it offers.
vairāgya does not come at once. The seeker develops vairāgya slowly and steadily, over a period of time through viveka. It further intensifies through constant and repeated application of this discriminatory knowledge. Naturally, sense pleasures work against such dispassion, but refined intellect helps fight the battle with rāga and dveṣa.
One must keep in mind that vairāgya should not be the result of lack of availability of pleasures (famous story of fox and sour grapes), or instantaneous based on time, place or occasion (experience of sudden loss). Such dispassion is emotional and temporary in nature. True dispassion is born out of intellect, and its application in discrimination of eternal vs. ephemeral.
śamādiṣaṭkasaṃpattiḥ (शमादिषट्कसंपत्तिः) – Sixfold wealth of the mind
Wealth is importance in any journey. Material wealth helps one live life comfortably. It helps in making one’s journey of worldly life comfortable and beautiful. Similarly spiritual wealth beautifies one’s inner being and furthers one’s spiritual journey. While material wealth erodes when spent or shared, spiritual wealth increases. Material wealth is temporary, limited to current life and can’t be taken in future lives. It can also be snatched or stolen. Spiritual wealth can’t be taken away; it stays with individual even after changing the bodies and the worlds. Subsequent question by the seeker focuses on understanding such spiritual wealth.
शमादिसाधनसंपत्तिः काः? शमो दम उपरतिस्तितिक्षा श्रद्धा समाधानं च इति ॥
Author describes spiritual wealth as six-fold virtues. They are
- śamaḥ (शमः) – control of mind,
- damaḥ (दमः) – control of senses,
- uparamaḥ (उपरमः ) – withdrawal of mind,
- titikṣā (तितिक्षा) – forbearance / tolerance,
- śraddhā (श्रद्धा) – faith,
- samādhānam (समाधानम्) – single pointed focus.
śamaḥ (शमः) – Control of mind
शमः कः? मनोनिग्रहः ॥
śamaḥ (शमः) indicates control / mastery over one’s own mind. This is THE most important virtue that must be cultivated over time. This virtue brings all other virtues automatically.
śamaḥ refers to the state of inner peace, developed by going beyond all the mental agitations. Mental agitations are unwanted thoughts (vrutti – व्रुत्ति) like a) desire (kāma – काम), b) anger (krodha – क्रोध), c) greed (lobha – लोभ), d) delusion (moha – मोह), e) pride (mada – मद) and f) jealousy (mātsarya – मात्सर्य). This virtue leads to the control of such unwanted thoughts and makes the mind introverted by directing it inwards. Mind learns to focus on the Self. One must understand that this is not the forced suppression but instead an intelligent sublimation by the right understanding and contemplation.
śamaḥ can be mastered by constant and repeated practice of responding (after contemplation) than reacting, and at times be still and silent. Over time, one also becomes alert about the continuous flow of thoughts and learns how to break them; and promote only positive thoughts.
damaḥ (दमः) – Control of senses
दमः कः? चक्षुरादि बाह्येन्द्रियनिग्रहः ॥
While śamaḥ is control at the level of mind, damaḥ (दमः) is control at the level of senses. If śamaḥ is too difficult to practice due to subtle nature of mind for beginner seeker, one can start with the practice of damaḥ. Damaḥ is about the control of senses (īndrīya – ईन्द्रीय) away from excessive, uncontrolled sensual pleasures. Such usage consumes / depletes significant power of senses. Such waste of energy must be prevented by disciplining senses. This saved energy is later redirected towards advanced spiritual practices.
Spiritual practice of damaḥ can be practiced by living a disciplined life of austerity, with punctuality and avoidance of licentiousness. Our scriptures thus recommend practices like silence (control of speech), fasting (control of tastebuds) etc. to inculcate such sense control.
Uparamaḥ (उपरमः ) – Withdrawal of mind
उपरमः कः? स्वधर्मानुष्ठानमेव ॥
Uparamaḥ (उपरमः) literally translates to revel in the Self. In this context, it can be interpreted similarly, i.e. to revel in one’s own true nature, by withdrawing mind from the world and worldly objects. This is also one’s own duty (svadharma स्वधर्म). Additionally, Uparamaḥ can also be interpreted as doing one’s duties towards the world with complete dedication and with the attitude of devotion and worship. This implicitly includes avoidance of actions forbidden by scriptures. Such engagement naturally brings calmness and withdrawal of mind and helps it abide in Self.
titikṣā (तितिक्षा) – Forbearance
तितिक्षा का? शीतोष्णसुखदुःखादिसहिष्णुत्वम् ॥
Human birth is a result of mixture of divine and sinful tendencies (पुण्य and पाप). This results in life full of mixed experiences of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, success and failure etc. Titikṣā is one’s ability to stay balanced during such waves of experiences. One should not get too elated while experiencing peaks of joys, pleasures and success; nor should one lose heart during troughs of sorrow, pain and failures. Such experiences are temporary and caused due to one’s own past deeds and innate tendencies. One must intelligently view them with equanimous mind. Such forbearance is titikṣā (तितीक्षा). Vedāntasāra (another preliminary scripture) adds a wonderful qualifier to titikṣā as forbearance without revengeful thoughts like anger and hatred, without the feeling of victim mindset or anxiety.
Titikṣā helps one conserve mental energy that is generally lost in unwanted mental agitations. It gradually frees mind from attachment and aversion, purifying the mind. It also leads to burning of innate tendencies and strengthens abidance in Self as one realizes the true nature of the world (impermanence of all situations). Bible quotes this in a simplistic but in a beautiful way as – “This too shall pass.” Finally, though sounding pessimistic, but pain has potential to purify the mind and filling one’s heart with devotion.
śraddhā (श्रद्धा) – Faith
श्रद्धा कीदृशी? गुरुवेदांन्तवाक्यादिषु विश्वासः श्रद्धा ॥
No matter how intellectually advance, human beings are fundamentally emotional creatures. Foundation of all emotion is love and faith. In this spiritual path of knowledge, author describes śraddhā (श्रद्धा) as faith in three things. a) faith in one’s teacher (guru – गुरु), b) faith in scriptures (śāstra – शास्त्र), and finally c) faith is one’s own Self.
It’s important to understand the difference between faith and blind faith. Blind faith makes one believe guru and scripture with emotional anchor, even when knowledge is not acceptable to intellect. One does not use his intellect to absorb the knowledge but use emotions instead. Whereas faith is where one emotionally believes the authenticity of guru and scriptures, but intellectually verifies the knowledge learned. One with blind faith says – “Hey Guru, whatever you say is the truth”. One with faith says – “Hey Guru, I believe you are saying the Truth, but my intellect does not understand it, thus I am unable to accept it. Please help me understand.”
In spiritual journey, knowledge given is beyond human intellect and is thus called indirect (parokṣa – परोक्ष). This makes śraddhā even more important. No wonder Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, śraddhāvāna labhate jñānam (श्रद्धावान लभते ज्ञानम्) – one with śraddhā is endowed with knowledge.
samādhānam (समाधानम्) – Absorption of mind
समाधानं किम्? चित्तैकाग्रता ॥
The mind that is very well trained and well controlled using śamaḥ, damaḥ , Uparamaḥ, titikṣā etc., has conserved a significant energy that must be directed somewhere. Thus, directing this mental energy on a single thought, a single goal, is samādhānam (समाधानम्). Such mind has a tremendous power, similarly to the lens that makes cotton catch fire by concentrating the rays of Sun. Continuous practice of samādhānam , with mind focused inwards towards Self, leads to state of samādhi (समाधि).
Thus, leading an austere, disciplined and controlled life, will lead to development of sixfold virtues of mind, and make it ready for higher spiritual evolution. These virtues must be maintained and enhanced by constant practice.
mumukṣutvam (मुमुक्षुत्वम्) – Desire for liberation
मुमुक्षुत्वम् किम्? मोक्षो मे भूयात् इति इच्छा ॥
With the cultivation of all prior virtues (discrimination, dispassion, faith etc.), one starts to develop desire for higher evolution – i.e. liberation. While it starts as a mild desire, but constant spiritual practices intensify it over time.
mumukṣutvam (मुमुक्षुत्वम्) slowly results in dilution of one’s false sense of limited self (i.e. ego) by reduction of identification with body, mind and intellect, gradual elimination of doer-ship (kartutva – कर्तुत्व) and enjoyer-ship (bhoktrutva – भोक्त्रुत्व). Seeker begins to loosen up clutches of māyā (माया) and its delusionary effects.
एतत् साधनचतुष्टयम् । ततस्तत्वविवेकस्याधिकारणो भवन्ति ॥
Thus, the seeker with sufficiently developed Sādhanacatuṣṭayaṃ , becomes qualified for the knowledge of the absolute reality (tattvaviveka – तत्वविवेक). Next question of a curious naturally comes about tattvaviveka.
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