STORY - Bhagwatpad Shankaracharya - Part IV

Many scholars have accepted that these verses are not merely an elucidation of the science of Tantra or Yantra, rather they also contain amazing facts related to the science of Ayurved. This is because Bhagwatpad Shankaracharya was not merely a master of Tantra, he had not just realised the Supreme rather he was also a great master of the Ayurved System of medicine.

From whichever place he passed plants, herbs and trees themselves would become eager to reveal to him their virtues and medicinal properties. The verses also explain how through the use of these herbs one could keep the human body healthy and fit forever so that it could become a permanent abode of the divine.

But most of the scholars have failed to realise that each word of each verse of the Soundarya Lahiri is as powerful, effective Mantra is obtained that is based on Tantra. Through this Mantra a person can free himself of the clutches of Maya and become completely fused in the Divine.

Nothing of course is impossible, although it might seem difficult. To climb the Gouri Shankar mountain is not impossible although it is sure a strenuous exercise. To fly in the sky or excavate the greatest depths of the earth is not impossible although it might well seem tough. To dive deep into the Manasarovar lake is not impossible although it might be a difficult task. And till a person does not realise the Guru he cannot understand the true worth of Himalayas or piousness of the lake Manasarovar. Without the Guru it is not possible to give a permanent place to the Divine in one's heart and soul or give rise to true knowledge from within. This is why it is said that the process of searching for a true Guru and finding the Guru is a very difficult task. But one who undertakes the mission and finds a real Guru is able to completely transform his life and become really unique and great in life.

The text Soundarya Lahiri has two parts - the first part is famous as Anand Lahiri and second is famous as Soundarya Lahiri. In the first part Bhagwatpad Shankaracharya has explained about Brahm and Maya and he has explained that Adwait is the basis of life. A human should consider his form as Maya and try to fuse it with Brahm or Supreme which is also within, in order to reach Siddhashram.

The final destination of every human is Siddhashram. But to reach it, live there and return to this world is not an easy task. It is like trying to measure the amount of water in the ocean or swim across all the oceans. But a few Yogis are able to do this. Due to the good Karmas of the past lives they are highly enlightened. They might look ordinary but in fact they are very divine and they sure can make quick progress on the spiritual path.

On the spiritual path there is no age bar. The concept of age is man made. The real age is one's spiritual age and not all an understand what spiritual age means the progress one has made in spiritualism in different lives.

Till one does not understand and realise what one's spiritual age is one cannot attain to totality in life, one cannot know what true beauty means. One who does not have this realisation in life leads an ordinary existence and dies an ordinary man without having achieved anything great.

The first part of the text, Anand Lahiri, has forty verses and in these verses Bhagwatpad Shankaracharya has described the great powers that lie hidden in a human being especially the Shree Chakra that is there within. He has also described the Shree Vidya through which all the six divine centres of the human body can be activated. It describes how through the Para, Pashyanti, Madhyama and Veikhari modes of Mantra chanting one can cause the Kundalini power to rise up and activate the Sahastrar.

Till the Kundalini power is not activated a human is forced to lead an ordinary life. Till the Kundalini is not fully activated one cannot understand the principle of Adwait explained by Bhagwatpad Shankaracharya. The principle of Adwait states that Brahm and a living organism are the same. Adwait is an attempt to understand Brahm and Maya. In these verses he tried to explain the creation, preservation and the progress of the universe. And through these very verses he explained how the human body could be made perfect and immortal.

It just seem that the Supreme Consciousness is just running a grossly material world. Even man seems to be making a lot of progress. But in life he has to face lots of struggles, opposition, pain discomforts, joys and sorrows. A person who is himself entangled in the mesh of this world cannot help others get free of it. After death the person is again born in the same state and he makes no progress in life or from one life to another. Thus he has to take birth again and again.

This is what Bhawatpad Shankaracharya tried to explain that without a Guru there can be no progress in life. He also explained how one can recognise a true Guru. He said that an ordinary human cannot be a Guru. It is the knowledge within a human, the consciousness within, the power of Shree Chakra and Shree Vidya within that is the Guru. Only a person who has his Kundalini fully activated and who knows how to activate the Kundalini of others can be called a Guru and only he is imbibed with the power of the Guru element.

In the future we might come across many scholars, one might find great erudites who can write powerful commentaries but one cannot easily find a Guru who has assimilated all the knowledge of the world within. It is next to impossible to find such a Guru who understands fully the science of Kayakalp through which one can make the body healthy and fit and even immortal. It is difficult to find a Guru who can make the body smaller than a thumb and travel to the holy land of Siddhashram. It is very difficult to find a Guru who has been to Siddhashram which is the abode of thousands of years old Yogis, Rishis and Sanyasis. It is a divine land where Lord Krishnna and the highly revered Bhagwatpad Swami Sachidanand can be seen. Divine fragrance emanates from their forms. In this beautiful land is a divine lake called Siddhyoga. This place is free from the cycle of life and death. The sun never rises or sets here. Rather a divine radiance ever fills the atmosphere. The soil of this land is fragrant too. Various divine energies remain present in this land in invisible forms. And their presence can always be felt.