Vivekachudamani 32 The Roots of Bondage - By Swami Tattwamayananda

Bondage is the feeling of incompleteness or imperfection in life that any cultured, evolved, human being feels.There are two forces at work that prevent us from understanding our true nature. Avarana shakti conceals our true nature and Vikshepa shakti projects a false identity.143rd verse: “The wrong understanding of our true nature and our resultant desires is compared to a monstrous crocodile who has caught us by the throat in a big ocean of poisonous water. We drone, re-emerge and again drown in this poisonous water. Such a person’s intelligence is deluded, and he is destined to fall from the precipice.”The verse points to our miserable existence when we mistakenly identify ourselves as the physical body. The drowning and re-emergence from poisonous water refer to our identification with pain and pleasure in life.145th verse: “Imagine a stormy, rainy day. There are dark clouds that conceal the sun. These are miserable conditions – not ideal for travel. Similarly, our desires and obsessions for enjoyment make life miserable.”Sri Ramakrishna used to tell the story or a barber. He was given seven jars of gold by a mythological tree. However, the seventh jar was not 100% full. The barber’s entire focus shifted to seeing the seventh jar 100% full. He deprived himself and his family of basic food and clothing.Finally, the wise kind made him come to his senses. In life, we make the same mistake. Wealth can become a trap unless we are guided by a higher ideal.The 147th verse answers the question: “How is this bondage sustained?” with a description of the tree of samsara.147th verse: “Ine the tree of samsara, our ignorance of our true nature is the seed. The idea that we are the body is the shoot, which becomes a tender sprout. Our actions to go after desires are represented by water. The body is represented by the trunk. The senses are the branches. Sense objects are flowers. Suffering from different actions is represented by the fruits. Our experience in the world is represented by the bird.”When we recognize the inherent imperfections of the world, we can live life with more wisdom. The fruit of the tree should not become suffering (dukkha). It should be sukha. To do so, we have to go beyond dukkha and sukha and stop looking for a continuous succession of happiness.The great poet Kālidāsa, in his work Kumāra-saṁbhava, records a dialogue where Lord Śiva advises Umā not to ignore the body while practicing austerities. His words are memorable: śarīram ādyam khalu dharma-sādhanam“The body is indeed the primary instrument for practicing and attaining dharma, the higher spiritual goal.”