Manki learns a Lesson:
In the Mokṣa-parva of the Mahābhārata, Bhishma pitamah narrates an insightful kathā of a person called Manki.
Manki was a merchant whose only wealth was a bullock cart and two bullocks.
Once, while traveling to the market with his cart heavily laden
🧵 with grains, Manki started daydreaming. He dreamt that he had become vry wealthy with all the profit from selling the grains.
Then he dreamt that he had become a village chieftain; then he dreamt of owning an army; then of bcoming a vassal & so on.
Thus his imagination ran riot.

Leaving everything & going for the great forest from his father's home, Ṛṣi Shukadeva (son of Veda Vyasa) rightly said:
"He who achieves all that he wishes & he who just gives up all his wishes - who is better? Giving up is better than achieving all wishes."
🧵 Nobody has ever reached the end of all desires. A fool is he whose desire for his body and life always increases.
O my desirous mind!
Abstain from all desires. Obtain peace by becoming detached.
You have been cheated many times & still, you are not detached from desires.

The mind has lost its power to discriminate; it has become a devout servant to the ego & the senses and is constantly running behind pursuits to satisfy its sensory cravings.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa bhagavān says,
मोघं पार्थ स जीवति।
such a life becomes meaningless, vain, empty, useless.
🧵 We are all searching for meaning & fulfillment in life.
Here bhagavān says that if we break this cycle, life becomes meaningless.
It is sheer selfishness born of ignorance to think one can lead an independent life.
No one can do that. The entire cosmos is interlinked.

🧵Go to a village, observe the farmer working from the morning onwards till late in the evening.
He comes home, takes a bath, has his dinner,
& thereafter he takes his drum and the singing & dancing of the village folks goes on until midnight.
#आत्मचिंतनĀŚ Smiling & laughing, he is hale and hearty, he is not at all tired.
Being scientifically minded, let us analyse how much energy that you and I in the secretariat spend as against the farmer in his field.
When analysed, we meet with an amazing contradiction!

#ŚrīRamanaMahaṛṣi
The question as to whether we are mere puppets in the hands of destiny or whether we can conquer destiny by our self-effort, has been tormenting mankind since time immemorial.
Self-effort & destiny are factual when considered from the point of view of the
1/4 individual ego.
When the illusory nature of the ego is realized, the question regarding self-effort vs destiny will vanish & the pure, ever free existence will reveal itself.
Prārabdha is destiny.
Āgāmi & Sānchita are self-effort.
The body is in the realm of destiny; the mind is

We strive all our life to reform ourselves, to end all conflicting chapters & to begin a new chapter in life where one is free & peaceful.
This is the dream of all - 'When will that day come when my life is free of problems & my struggles are all over?'
1/6 We expect this to happen at some point in the future, but it must happen now, here, Iha.
The Upaniṣad urges us, "If you know it HERE, you have won over life. If you fail to recognise it NOW, eternity will be lost."
Thus, HERE & NOW are highly potent words.

OFFERING ONESELF IN BHAKTI:
This is a beautiful kathā narrated by a swami of Tiruvannamalai.
A villager went to a Krishna mandir where a Vaishnava sādhu was speaking in Bhakti.
After listening to the kathās with tears in his eyes, he approached the swami & requested,
1/5 "Please give me upadeśa. I am not a learned person, but whatever you say, I will take it as Upadeśa."
He surrendered to the swami with abject humility.
Đ swami replied, "You need to do only one thing. Every day, spend some time inside this mandir making garlands for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना।
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थित:॥
In Tamil, a beautiful song written by Ṛṣi Tirumoolar demonstrates the principle highlighted in this Śloka, the gist of which goes like this:
A father has given a wooden elephant to his son.
1/5 The child, who was happily sitting on the elephant & playing with it, had no thought that it was made of wood.
For him, it was a real elephant.
A carpenter, who came there & saw this wooden elephant, exclaimed - "This is teakwood!" He had no thought about the elephant.

#ŚrīMadhvācāryaḥ
Śrī Madhvacharya was an uncompromising theist.
His bhakti was coeval with knowledge & therefore more intellectual than emotional.
His life was so full of miracles & miraculous devotion that we cannot separate his life from either his miracles or his bhakti.
🧵 The most unique of them all has a historical overtone.
Once a ship while reaching the shore near Udupi faced a great storm & was in imminent danger.
Madhvacharya who was standing on the seashore, saw the scene, waved his cloth towards the ship & by the Īśvara krpa the ship was

Finally i am at the place that I have been wanting to come all my life.
It's the place where Veda Vyāsa composed the 17 Purāṇas & divided the Vedas into 4 parts and did avahan of bhagavān Ganesh ji to write the epic Mahābhārata.
1/3
#devbhoomi Mana, It's ancient name is said to be Manibhadra (मणिभद्रपुर).
The Pandavas went to Alkapuri through Mana before continuing their journey to Swarga.
If you climb some uphill from the village, Ganesh Ji's Cave (below left pic) is seen first & then Vyas Cave.

Living does not simply mean dragging yourself around from day-to-day, from bed to work, back home & to bed again.
The whole process repeats itself until the weekend comes.
Then you drag yourself to some recreation in the hope of forgetting yourself,
#VedāntaPrajña
1/5 which is why recreation becomes so important.
In fact, your whole life can be a recreation.
Someone once asked a Swami, ‘Swamiji, do you not take any holidays? You seem to be working everyday.’
In fact, the Swami’s life is one long holiday.

When one does Not have wisdom, one behaves like a leaf of a ‘touch-me-not’ plant, which shrinks its leaves at the slightest touch of a drop of water.
The drop of water is compared to calamities that come into our life.
1/4
#VedāntaPrajña When one becomes like a ‘touch-me-not’ plant, one becomes sensitive to even small provocations.
One starts whining at small things, shrinks when calamities come & blasts those who touch him.

‘Evolve’ deposits a waxy coating of wisdom on the leaf of your life.

If one studies the Life of Dhruva,
It is again Not the possession of great Knowledge But a tremendous Commitment.
&
The Mantra that he was taught to chant invoking Śrī Maha Viṣṇu was ; ॐ नमो नारायणाय🙏
(1/13)

#BhajaGovindam Dhruva as a young boy was distanced by his father due to the bad influence of his step-mother.

When his stepbrother was sitting on the lap of his father,
as a child Dhruva too wanted to sit on his father’s lap.
The stepmother did Not allow him & said,
‘No, You can sit on the

Avadhūta-Gītā: The 24 Gurus
खण्डः-iii

On hearing this Question, Dattātreya-jī was Pleased.
He asked.
श्रीब्राह्मण उवाच:

सन्ति मे गुरवो राजन् बहवो बुद्ध्युपाश्रिता:।
यतो बुद्धिमुपादाय मुक्तोऽटामीह तान् श‍ृणु॥
(ŚB~11.7.32)

(1/8)

#ŚrīmadBhāgavata "O King, I had many Gurus & I learned from all of them according to my Understanding”

He did Not egoistically say, “I learned it all.”
He said, “They are all my Gurus.
They taught me everything.”

Actually, the Truth was that he had kept learning from all of them.

खण्डः-V
Entering the portals of ŚrutiGītā:

#ŚrutiGītā means the song of the Śruti ~ Đ Upaniṣhads singing in ecstasy!
The very name 'Śruti Gītā' is significant.
It is not a dry philosophical treatise but a song or poetry about the Eternal.

(1/12) Hence Rṣi Bhrigu calls the language of an enlightened Master as 'Samādhi Bhāsā'.

Upaniṣhads are Not mere books,
'Upa' means very near & 'Nishad' indicates abidance.
It is thr Knowledge which makes you abide in The Self ~
Đ Eternal,
Đ Immortal,
Đ Blissful,
Đ Whole.

Ayodhyā-Kāṇḍa~Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa:

There is something special about devotion that makes devotees seek it to the exclusion of all else.

What is it?

It is said,
चतुर्विधपुरुषार्थानुपेक्ष्य भगवच्चरणारविन्दरतिरूपा॥

(1/20)

#ŚrīRāmacaritamānasa
#ŚrīRāmaJāyāṃ "Being indifferent to the fourfold goals of life it is of the nature of revelling in the (service to the) lotus feet of Paramātmā."

Đ fourfold human goals of life are; Dhārma (virtuous acts that lead to heaven),
Arthā (sources of security including wealth),
Kāma (pleasures),

In the Araṇya-kāṇḍa of Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa,
One reads of the following dialogue (saṁvāda) between Śrī Rāma & his brother Lakṣmaṇa.

Once when Śrī Rāma was sitting comfortably & relaxed,
Lakṣmaṇa found it an opportune time to ask
(1/18)

#ŚrīRāmacaritamānasa
#ŚrīRāmaJāyāṃ for clarification regarding Knowledge, Dispassion, Māyā, Devotion,
Because of which the Paramātmā showers His Kṛpā,
and the difference between the Paramātmā & the individual Ātman.

In reply to the question on devotion,
Śrī Rāma says,

In the Śloka here,
#Aṣṭāvakra points out the subtle distinction between the two higher states in Meditation.

येन दृष्टं परं ब्रह्म सोऽहं ब्रह्मेति चिन्तयेत्।
किं चिन्तयति निश्चिन्तो द्वितीयं यो न पश्यति॥

"He, who sees the supreme Brāhmaṇ, Meditates upon ‘I am Brāhmaṇ.
(1/9) He who has transcended all thoughts and when he sees ‘no second’,
What should he meditate Upon?"

At the earlier stage the student, as a result of his deep study & long reflection,
becomes intellectually convinced of the one Infinite immutable Reality which is the Substratum

खण्डः-i

Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa said :
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम्।।

'Therefore at all times, constantly remember Me & Fight.
With the Mind & Intellect absorbed in Me,
You shall doubtless come to Me.'
(1/13)

#ĐGītāUvāca तस्मात् 'therefore';
सर्वेषु कालेषु, at all times;
मामनुस्मर, think of me;
अनु, means Continuously;
मामस्मर, 'think of Me'.
I am the Self behind your own little self,
I am the Infinite One,
I am that Akṣara Puruṣa, that Imperishable Reality hidden within You.

खण्डः-V

As one ever established in Brāhmaṇ, Sukacharya did not accept any ignorance whatsoever in Parikshit.
As Darkness is not real to the Sun, to the Knower of Đ Self,
Ignorance has no existence.
(1/9)

#ŚrutiGītā Hence, in the 7 days that followed, Sukacharya leisurely expounded upon the Bhagavāta Purāna without any anxiety whatsoever.

Even though Parikshit lamented that he had only 7 days left to live,
Sukacharya consoled him
& said,

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