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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Sankara's Dasa Sloki

Dasasloki was Sankara's answer to Govindapada, when the latter posed the question to Sankara as to who he was.

http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Sankara's_Dasa_Sloki

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Examples of attachment to sense objects

Bhagavatpāda Śri Śankarācārya has given us the examples how the attachment to sense objects takes one to devastation.

śabdādibhih pañcabhireva pañca
pañcatvamāpuh svagunena baddhāh;
kurańgamātańgapatańgamīna
bhŗńgā narah pañcabhirañcitah kim. (Vi. C.: -78)

An animal being attached, baddhāh, to only, eva, one object out of fives, pañcabhih, like sound etc,śabdādibhih, due to its own nature, svagunena, meets the death, pañcatvamāpuh, as in case of deer, kurańga, elephant, mātańga, insects, patańga, fish, mīna, and bee, bhŗńgā, whereas what, kim,will happen to humans, narah, those are attached, añcitah, to all the fives, pañcabhih.

1. A deer is attached to sounds and while listening to the song of a hunter it comes close and the hunter’s arrow hits it.

2. An elephant is attached to touch and hunters exploit this. They dig a trench and on the other side they keep a female elephant, having a desire to coupling the elephant falls on the trench and found himself in captive.

3. Insects are attached to vision and die in mass when they see fire.

4. A fish is attached to taste and is captured by fishing through feed on a hook.

5. A bee is attached to smell and dies inside a lotus in night when the lotus is closed.

Whereas a human being is attached to all the five viz. sound, touch, vision, taste and smell, then how he will save himself.

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