Month: February 2013

सत्यचिद्घनमखण्डमद्वयं

सर्वदृश्यरहितं निरामयम् ।

यत्पदं विमलमद्वयं

शिवं तत्सदाहमिति मौनमाश्रय ॥६॥

 

satya-cid-ghanam akhaṇḍam advayaṁ

sarva-dṛśya-rahitaṁ nirāmayam |

yat padaṁ vimalam advayaṁ śivaṁ

tat sadāham iti maunam āśraya ||6||

 

जन्ममृत्युसुखदुःखवर्जितं

जातिनीतिकुलगोत्रदूरगम् ।

चिद्विवर्तजगतोऽस्य कारणं

तत्सदाहमिति मौनमाश्रय ॥७॥

 

janma-mṛtyu-sukha-duḥkha-varjitaṁ

jāti-nīti-kula-gotra-dūragam |

cid-vivarta-jagato’sya kāraṇaṁ

tat sadāham iti maunam āśraya ||7||

 

पूर्णमद्वयमखण्डचेतनं

विश्वभेदकलनादिवर्जितम् ।

अद्वितीयपरसंविदंशकं

तत्सदाहमिति मौनमाश्रय ॥८॥

 

pūrṇam advayam akhaṇḍa-cetanaṁ

viśva-bheda-kalanādi-varjitam |

advitīya-para-saṁvid-aṁśakaṁ

tat sadāham iti maunam āśraya ||8|

 

Varaha Upanishad 3.6-8

 

Resort to Silence

by Swami Veda Bharati

My friend Prof. Jan Brzezinski (Pandit Jagadananda Das), a Sanskrit scholar and a deep devotee, knowing my impending vow of five year silence (mauna-vrata), gave me this reference from Varaha Upanishad (3.6-8). Here I share it by way of a translation below.

True, solid mass of consciousness, indivisible, non-dual,

Devoid of all perceptible, free of ailment,

Immaculate, [again] non-dual – such a state –

I am ever that. Identifying yourself thus,

resort to silence.

 

Devoid of birth, death, delight or suffering,

Remaining far from caste, polity, family, ancestry,

The very cause of this world that is a whirl in consciousness—

I am ever that.

Identifying yourself thus,

resort to silence.

 

Full and perfect, non-dual, indivisibly conscious,

Free of calculations of divisions in the universe,

A little particle of awareness that has no other—

I am ever that.

Identifying yourself thus,

resort to silence.

This is the essence of the practice of silence.

---

Editor’s Note

For more about Pandit Jagadananda Das, please see: http://jagadanandadas.blogspot.in/p/about-me.html

Swami Veda Bharati will be taking a 5 year vow of silence on 10th March 2013. To read his silence announcement: https://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Swami-Veda-Bharati/one-must-run-ones-life-by-a-spiritual-plan.html

Some time back I wrote a blog/article in which I briefly described the NYEPI day, the annual silence day of Bali island in Indonesia.

I did not mention, did not remember, that there is also an annual silence day in the traditions of India. It is called Mauni Amavasya. Mauni means ‘of or for silence’, and amavasya means ‘no-moon day.’

It occurs on the no-moon day of the Maagha month in the Hindu calendar when sun and moon are both supposed to enter the sign of Capricorn (makara rashi).

It is held in the tradition as the day when Manu, the Archetypal Man first appeared on earth; he wedded Shata-roopa (She of a Hundred Beautiful Forms) and generated humankind.

This year it falls on 10th February by the western calendar.

It is also part of the grand kumbh mela and thirty million people are expected to take the holy immersion on that day at the sangam (meeting place of three holy rivers) in Allahabad.

Whether you accept the story or Manu or not, we do need to institute a day of silence every year.

On the other hand, if you prefer to be true to some western tradition you may research if there was a day sacred to Harpokrates, the Greek god of silence whose statues have been found as far away as the Gandhara country (present day Afghanistan). Harpokrates was derived from the Egyptian god Harpa-khruti, the child Horus, representing the daily new born sun, the source of light.

Of course, there is an amplitude of Christian saints who have taught silence and there are numerous monasteries of various orders dedicated to silence.

As I enter the five-year vow silence, I would like many of my friends to set aside at least one day to share the silence with me just as you have shared the full moon day for an hour each month for more than a decade now.

So, please note:

2013 the day of mauni amavasya is now on 10th February.

2014 the day will be on 30th January.

If you plan from now, you can arrange your worldly affairs in such a way that they do not interfere with your one-day vow of silence.

On that day, no driving (except for emergencies), no TV, no conversation, just self-observation, contemplation, japa and learning (1) to give love in silence while (2) learning to love silence.

May I ask all our swamis, initiators, spiritual advisers, teachers, centre leaders to kindly popularize this concept and take this year to prepare the people to undertake this one-day vow of silence.

Swami Veda Bharati