The Seven Stages of Jiva – Ignorance to
Liberation
Divine Life
Society Publication: Discourse 40 - Commentary on
the Panchadasi by Swami Krishnananda
The seven stages – namely,
ignorance, veil, vikshepa or distraction, indirect knowledge, direct
knowledge, freedom from sorrow, and attainment of bliss – these seven stages
are the stages through which the jiva has to pass. They are superimposed
on the jiva, and there is tadatmya adhyasa – mutual
superimposition – between the condition of the jiva and the stages
mentioned.
These seven stages – ignorance
onwards until liberation – are conditioning factors of the jiva only and
are not to be imagined as being superimposed on Brahman because in that case
the whole universe is superimposed on Brahman. That would be to argue that
clouds are obstructing the sun. The clouds are not obstructing the sun at all.
They are obstructing our vision of the sun. The clouds are not superimposed on
the sun so that the sun may be affected by the clouds. Hence, in spite of the
fact that there is a complete darkness, as it were, as sometimes when there are
thick monsoon clouds during the day, we cannot say that these clouds have
affected the sun in any way whatsoever. The sun may not even be aware of what
is happening in the world.
All these stages, such as the
feeling, "I am samsari, I am bound to earthly existence" and
"I am liberated, I am free, I am endowed with knowledge, I am now free
from sorrow and I am enjoying bliss or happiness" – are subsequent stages
of the jiva only. They are subsequent to the preceding stages, namely, ajnana
and avarana, ignorance and veiling. They may appear to be superimposed
on Brahman, yet they should not be considered as really connected with Brahman
in any way whatsoever because the feelings "I am ignorant" and
"I am free" cannot arise in Brahman. Even if there is an eclipse of
the sun, the sun is not affected by it. The eclipse is only for us who perceive
it.
Now, these seven stages are
like processes. They cannot be considered to be moving as processes on Brahman
as the base – though, in a way, we may say Brahman is the substratum for all
things. To bring the analogy of the sun and the clouds - the movement of the
clouds and the darkening that is caused by the movement of the clouds are all
to be attributed only to the sun, of course. Yet nothing is to be attributed to
the sun.
In order to consider Brahman
as the ultimate source of all things, including the jiva and its seven
stages, we have said that Brahman is the source of all; but when we say that
Brahman is the source of all, we do not actually mean that it is contaminated
by the seven stages. Neither is Brahman bound, nor does it aspire for
liberation. It only has a relation with jiva. Inasmuch as ultimately
everything has to be based on Brahman, we said everything, including the jiva
and its ignorance, are also rooted in Brahman. But this is a theoretical
concession. Practically, they are not related.
It is something like saying
that the sun is the cause of theft taking place in a house. Because there was
sunlight, the thief had free access into someone's house. If it was pitch
darkness, midnight, it would have been difficult. The sun has contributed to
the theft that took place in the house because without its light, the thief
would not have succeeded. Can we say the thief has collaborated with the sun?
Can we say that some part of the offense goes to the sun because he gave the
light? Such is the argument here when we impose the qualities of jiva,
such as the seven stages, on Brahman, though without Brahman the stages cannot
be there.
The two types of knowledge,
indirect and direct – that is to say, knowledge derived through study of
scriptures and knowledge derived from instruction through a Guru, dispel
ignorance and all the effects of ignorance, such as the wrong notion that God
does not exist or that there is no proof for the existence of God because God
is not visible. This kind of erroneous argument based on ignorance also gets
dispelled when knowledge dawns in a person in both indirect and direct forms.
There are two kinds of
ignorance, two phases of ignorance, rather: asattavarana and abhana
avarana. Due to the avarana of maya, known as asattavarana,
one has no consciousness of even the existence of Brahman. Even the remote idea
of their being such a thing as Brahman cannot arise in the mind due to this avarana
called asattavarana. Avarana, or veil, instills the wrong notion
into the mind so that one is made to feel it does not exist. The proper
instruction received from the Guru will dispel this peculiar secondary
ignorance which is the cause of the feeling that God does not exist or Brahman
is not there.
The other one is abhana
avarana, the veil that covers the consciousness of there being such a thing
at all called Brahman. Direct knowledge or actual experience of Brahman dispels
the other kind of ignorance which covers the consciousness of Brahman. That is
to say, direct knowledge or experience makes one immediately conscious of
Brahman as identical with one's own self.
When the entanglement of the jiva
in the world and the feeling that one is entangled in samsara vanishes
on account of the other feeling that one is now free from all these
entanglements, unlimited bliss arises inside because no sorrow can once again
inflict the person. Once ignorance has vanished, it cannot come again. Then the
happiness that we experience at that time, the bliss of experience, is indescribable,
unthinkable, passing understanding.
The ignorance of the jiva
is to be dispelled by indirect knowledge derived from scripture, Guru’s
instruction, and direct experience.
The light of Brahman illumines
itself through the words of the Guru on the one hand, and manana – the
intellectual investigative process – and nididhyasana conducted by the
disciple.
"God exists. God is
inseparable from me." Asti Brahma means Brahman exists. Aham
Brahma means I am verily that. After the assertion or the conviction that
Brahman is, the other experience has to dawn in the person – namely, "I am
that very thing. I am that."
This kind of experience which
is for the time being designated as indirect knowledge is not to be shunned as
of no utility, because this indirect knowledge itself gradually ripens into
direct experience. The direct experience does not negate the indirect knowledge
that we have already acquired. It only fructifies in a more mature manner. The
earlier experience of the fact that Brahman exists will become more mature and
get fructified in the subsequent experience, "I am verily that." Asti
Brahma and Aham Brahma –"Brahman is" and "I am verily
that" – are not two contradictory experiences. The one leads to the other.
Hence, the existence aspect of
Brahman which becomes the content of indirect knowledge should not be
considered as ignorance. Many people feel that intellectual knowledge,
learning, are absolutely useless. It is not so because there is an organic
connection between the lower knowledge and the higher knowledge. All knowledge
which is rational, intellectual, scriptural and that which is obtained through
the Guru is very useful. It will itself mature into direct experience later on.
The lower knowledge becomes higher knowledge by growth in its dimension and in
its quality.
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The Seven Stages through which the Jiva has to Pass - Commentary on
the Panchadasi by Swami Krishnananda
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