Thread by @AdiShloka

सनत्सुजातीयम्~Sānatsujātiyam : ii
An Unusual Parallel :

A little digression is Worthwhile here.
Sānatsujāta has listed the 6 most fundamental Virtues that any seeker should have,
before even embarking on the Spiritual path Upward.
(1/21)

#Sānatsujātiyam
#SanātanaDhārma

In the same #Mahābhārata ., there is another context occurring very much earlier in the Chronology of events,
Which lists for Us the 6 most Fundamental Evils one should Avoid.
Đ Scene is in Sabha Parva, (the 2nd one out of 18 Parvas) where Yudhishthira has just been crowned the

prince of Indraprastha.
Đ Divine roving Rṣi Narada appears on the Scene & in his blessings to the Newly crowned prince,
gives pieces of advice in the form of some Rhetorical Questions.
One of these Questions is whether as a King & Adminstrator He has avoided certain 6 Evils.

Narada lists them for Yudhishtira.
It is the considered opinion of Narada
& one would agree with him that without avoiding these 6 evils in toto no one can aspire for a position of Leadership & Greatness.
It is interesting to contrast them with the string of 6 Virtues that

Sānatsujāta lists for Dhritarashtra.
&
it is also remarkable to note that to Dhritarashtra,
Đ Symbol of Blindness & Ignorance, Virtues are listed which are to be Emulated
& to Yudhishtira,
Đ Symbol of Virtue & Dhārma,
Evils are listed to be avoided.

This is one small sample of

how through the Mahābhārata, Vyāsa Mahārṣi attempts to Guide & Shape the masses on Sanātana Dhārma.

Six Warnings to Leadership :

Throughout the Religious & Philosophical Literature we find a standard list of 6 Evils that one should Avoid.
These are
Desire/Lust,
Anger,
Greed,

Delusion/Confusion,
Pride/Arrogance,
&
Jealousy
(काम Kama-क्रोध Krodha-लोभ Lobha-मोह Moha-मद Mada-मात्सर्य Mātsarya).
One would expect that Narada also would refer to something like this, because
Hindu literature is replete with Repetitions of Emphasis on the Necessity to avoid

these 6 Evils.
But Narada knows whom he is talking to;
it is to Yudhishtira, the Paragon of Virtue.
To tell Yudhishtira that he should avoid Desire & Lust, Envy & Greed, etc. is to tell a Triviality.
It is interesting therefore that Narada focusses on a diferent set of 6 Evils,

Which He, as a King, should guard against.
Coming from Narada to Yudhishtira,
this List gains Importance even though it looks Innocuous.

Here is d List of these 6 Evils:
SLEEP,
INDOLENCE,
FEAR,
ANGER,
SOFTNESS,
PROCRASTINATION

nidrA – Alasya – bhaya – krodha –mArdavaM – dIrgha

-sUtratA.
No aspirant to Greatness can ever fall into any of these Habit-forming Evils.
Modern books on development of Personality, Management abilities, management for dummies (!),
how to become Rich & Great & so on,
have different ways of emphasizing such methods of

Self-Improvement.
But Narada’s is a warning to all
political leaders,
scientific workers,
administrators,
social reformers
&
any one who aspires to rise on the ladder of Greatness.
Every one such complains about lack of time to do his job
But one’s time-organization comes not a

little from the proper organization of how much one sleeps & When.
Sleep is one of the Greatest obstacles to Greatness.
Note that the elementary avoidance of anger appears in Narada’s list as well as in the Hindu traditional list of six fundamental evils in human conduct.

This is because it is so difficult to control.
Even Yudhishtira has to be told about it at the Beginning of his princely career.

Fearlessness :
Indolence & Fear are understandably in Narada’s list. Fearlessness is a great Virtue for a would be Leader.
Narada includes fear in

his list of evils that Yudhishthira & similar administrators & leaders of men should avoid.

Promptness :
Đ last item on this list is procrastination about which we are all surely familiar since it is one of the much-felt Evils of Politics & an Un-dedicated Bureaucracy.

Though the context is Yudhishtira and his Kingly duties,
Đ Avoidance of these 6 Evils applies to all alike,
particularly in the formative periods of Schooling & Growing.

It appears that between Sānatsujāta & Narada,
They have epitomised entire Books & Codes on how to become

Great & Immortal, by listing between themselves,
The 6 fundamental Positives & the 6 fundamental negatives.
Let us now continue with Sānatsujāta’s delineation of the Vedas as that which indicates Brāhmaṇ as the supreme Knowledge to seek,
though, as has been repeatedly said,

just the Knowledge of the Vedas is not direct Knowledge of Brāhmaṇ. &
He who Understands this as such is the ‘brAhmaNa.’
He becomes the Knower of Brāhmaṇ.
This ‘brAhmaNa-hood’ is d result of standing Firm to the Truth & does Not occur if one is swayed by Senses & Sense-objects.

The relevant Śloka from Sānatsujātiyam is :

नास्य पर्येषणं गच्छेत् प्रत्यर्थिषु कदाचन।अविचिन्वन्निमंवेदे ततः पश्यति तं प्रभुं॥

This & the next (II-47) are Valuable Ślokas from Sānatsujātiyam. Before writing his commentary on II-46,
Āḍi Śaṅkarācarya quotes a certain Śloka:

विषयाश्चेन्द्रियाण्येव देहोऽहंकार एव च।बाह्याभ्यन्तरा घोराः शत्रवो योगिनः स्मृताः॥
which Means:
Đ Sense-objects,
Đ Senses,
Đ Body as well as the Ego are all dreadful enemies, External & Internal, of a Yogi.

Now for II-46:
Since the Sense objects & Senses are Enemies or Obstacles

for Spiritual Ascent,
One should Not search for d Ātmān either in them or through them.

Looking for d Ātmān through them means using d Sense objects one expects to find Đ Ātmān.

No, it is Not possible.

Searching through them means,
that d Dhārma of Đ BMI (Body Mind Intellect)

is taken as the Dhārma of Đ Self.
This means that when the BMI acts or feels we take it as The Self is acting or feeling.
This is also Not correct.

So one has to look for the Ātmān through the mahAvAkyas of the Vedas only.

ll ॐ तत् सत् ll
।।जयतु सनातन धर्मः।।🙏

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