Sunday, March 10, 2013

KNOW ‘ATMA’ AND ‘AGANKARA’ FOR UNDERSTANDING ACTION AND INACTION

The material component of an individual is inert by itself. They are body, mind and sense organs. The spiritual component of an individual is called ‘ATMA’. Atma is the nature of consciousness principle. Atma lends consciousness to body, mind and sense organs. For ex. Moon doesn’t have a light on its own. It borrows light from the Sun. So also body, mind sense organs are alive due to borrowed consciousness. It is called ‘I’ or Agankara. ‘I’ refers to the body, mind and sense organs.  

As per Vedanta this agankara is Kartha, bhoktha, and travels from one location to another location. Agankara is the material component of an individual. There is a spiritual component which is called ‘Atma’. As per Vedanta every individual is a mixture of ‘Atma’ and ‘Agankara’. When we use the word ‘I’ both components are there. Both are opposite in nature. Atma is one. Agankara are many. Atma is all pervading. Agankara is located. Agankara is Kartha – doer of action. Atma is Akartha – doesn’t do any action. Agankara has karma sambanda. It is associated with temporary action and temporary inaction. Viz. Waking and Sleep. Waking means action. Sleep means inaction. Birth and death. Death will be followed by rebirth by taking another body which is action. Atma is not associated with Temporary karma or temporary non karma. It is associated with permanent Akarma. Atma our higher nature and real nature, is Akartha and Aboktha. Atma is unassociated with karma and karma palan viz. Punyam and Papam. A common man doesn’t know that he has two layers of personality. Only a Gnani knows this and discovers agankara component and atma component. He learns to look agankara as only a costume and not his real nature. For doing this he must do Nidhithyasanam. A Gnani does not want to associate with agankara though it is active in him. Atma is poornam all the time. Agankara can never become poornam at any point of time. By discovering your real higher nature you claim poorna atma. Enjoy raising the Children without expecting poornatvam through them. Gnani is an instrument of god. He is called a wise person.

When things are abstract, examples may clarify our doubts. Movie is called a movie because it moves you. Movie is projected on a screen. The screen supports the movie. Screen is not affected by the movie. It is non participant (does not move) but without the screen you cannot see the movie. In the movie are Kartha, Bhokta characters and Akarta and Aboktha is the non moving screen. Movie is a mixture of the non moving screen and movie characters in the picture.    

A wise person is one who knows temporary karma and temporary akarma.  A wise man knows that his real nature is ‘Atma’. Agankara is a costume that I am putting on for a drama called life. It is stage managed by Eswara from beginning less time (anadhikala).

By knowing the distinction between “Atma’ and “Agankara’ we can understand what action in inaction and inaction in action is.  Yesterday is a history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called present. Let us start to discover our ‘self’ within us today and unravel the mystery called tatvam.

He who seeth inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a Yogi and performer of all actions.

In common parlance action means ‘movement of the body, movement of the hands and feet’, and inaction means ‘to sit quiet’.

It is the idea of agency, the idea I am the doer that binds man to Samsara. If this idea vanishes, action is no action at all. It will not bind one to Samsara. This is inaction in action. If you stand as a spectator or silent witness of Nature’s activities, feeling Nature does everything; I am non-doer (Akarta), if you identify yourself with the action less self, no matter what work or how much of it is done, action is no action at all. This is inaction in action. By such a practice and feeling, action loses its binding nature.

A man may sit quietly. He may not do anything. But if he has the idea of agency or doership, or if he thinks that he is the doer, he is ever doing action, though he is sitting quietly. This is action in inaction. The restless mind will ever be doing actions even though one sits quietly. Actions of the mind are real actions. “Nor can anyone even for one moment remain really actionless, for helplessly is everyone driven to action by the qualities of Nature”.

Inaction also induces the feeling of egoism. The inactive man says, ‘I sit quietly; I do nothing’. Inaction like action is wrongly attributed to the self. He is the performer of all actions who knows this truth. He has attained the end of all actions, i.e., freedom or knowledge or perfection.

When a steamer moves, the trees on the shore which are motionless, appear to move in the opposite direction to a man who is in the steamer. Moving objects that are very far away appear to be stationary or motionless. Even so in the case of the Self, inaction is mistaken for action and action for inaction. 

The self is actionless (Akarta or non-doer, Nishkriya or without work). The body and the senses perform action. The actions of the body and the senses are falsely and wrongly attributed by the ignorant to the actionless Self. Therefore the ignorant man thinks, “I act”. He thinks that the Self is the doer or the agent of the action. This is a mistake. This is ignorance.

Just as motion does not really belong to the trees on the shore which appear to move in the opposite direction to a man on board the ship, so also action does not really pertain to the self.                 
This ignorance which is the cause of birth and death vanishes when you attain Self-realisation.

Be blissful.

S.SEKAR

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