PRASHNA UPANISHAD : - by Rishi Pippalada

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Adi Shankaracharya Swami Sivananda Swami Tapovanji Swami Chinmayananda

SERVE  LOVE  GIVE  PURIFY  MEDITATE  REALISE

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Reflections by Swami Gurubhaktananda : on the 18 Lectures delivered by Swami  Guruji, during the 15th Batch Vedanta Course at at the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai : February 21st – March 2nd, 2012.

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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras : “Questions from Disciples Answered”

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##KABANDHI’S QUESTION : Query No 1: “Matter & Energy”

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Monday, April 11, 2022. 20:00.

###Mantram 1.2 : The Guru’s Welcome.

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1 Tanha sa rishih uvacha : 

2 “Bhuya eva tapasa brahmacharyena shraddhayaa samvatsaram; 

3 Samvatsyatha yatha kamam prashnan prichhata  

4 Yadi vijnasyamah,  sarvam ha vo vakshyama” iti.  

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Translation :

1 Taanha sa rishih uvaacha:   = To them the Rishi said: 

2 “Bhooya eva tapasaa brahmacharyena shraddhayaa samvatsaram;  = “Stay 

here with austerity, celibacy and faith for yet a full year;

3 Samvatsyatha yathaa kaamam prashnaan pricchhata    = after the  is over, then 

you may ask whatever questions you wish to ask;

4 Yadi vijnaasyaamah,  sarvam ha vo vakshyaama” iti.  = and if I know the 

answer,  I will surely explain everything to you.”

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Commentary :

2-3 They stayed in obedience.

The wider definition of Brahmacharya is “dedication of life to a higher cause, and submitting to certain key vows in order to achieve that, among them celibacy.”

Tapas or austerity is to do all duties properly without complaint. Shraddha or faith is also Upasana, respect, obedience, alertness. The mind must revel in Brahman.

The genuine teacher always demands the genuine price for his ‘article’. In this context the Guru asks his students to stay with him to practice austerity, celibacy and faith.

4 As though all that were not sufficient, the Guru tells them he will answer “if he knows the answers”!

Seeing this, some of us may be inclined to think, “Let us get out from this place. Why spend a whole year here. And at the end we are not even sure whether he will answer us.”

That is not how the genuine student thinks.

Guruji here told us a story of a doctor who was not genuine. He was known to make serious errors. At one place, the family locked him up in a room because he had given the wrong medicine. Somehow he got out through the window, swam across the river and reached his home. There his son was busy with his studies in medicine. The man advised his son, “Before you learn medicine, better learn swimming also! That saved me today.”

The point here is this: If we are serious about studies, forget comforts. If we want comforts, forget about knowledge.

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Next : Mantram- 1.3 The First Question: by Kabandhi

To be continued ....

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