ind Accordin to Hindu Philoso hical stems

SWAMI HARSHANANDA

he Hindu view of life accords great The - schools consider importance to the mind since both the or the mind as one of the abhyudaya (worldly prosperity) and (fundamental or basic realities) out of which nihshreyasa (spiritual progress) depend upon the world is eventually created. It acts as a the condition of the mind. An impure mind link between the soul and the sense-organs binds the soul to transmigratory existence by which the external objects are known. whereas a pure mind leads to or Certain cults of and Shaktaism liberation.! () advocate the theory that mind is a While recognizing the importance limitation or a modification of pure conscious­ of the mind as a distinguishing unique fea­ ness. ture of human beings, the Hindu scriptures As regards the size of the mind, some and the various systems of Hindu philoso­ systems like Nyaya and Vaisheshika hold phy have given different views about its it as anu (atomic) while others (Advaita content, nature and function. A study of the ) consider it as Vibhu (all-pervading). mind, therefore, will not only be interesting Importance of the Mind but also useful in one's personal life of spiri­ tual evolution. The ultimate purpose of human life is to attain moksha or liberation from transmi­ What the Mind Is gratory existence. This is possible only when The Chhandogya Upanishad2 declared sadhana or spiritual practice is undertaken that the mind is 'annamaya', made up of the as per the dictates of the scriptures. Sadhana subtle essence of food. It also asserts that consists mainly in purifying the mind through purity of food conduces to purity of mind.3 personal morality, social ethics and religious The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad4 observances. When the mind becomes describes the mind as having been completely pure, the inside is auto­ produced from Isvara or Hiranyagarbha matically revealed. (Creator). It also declares, though indirectly, Impurities of the mind are of three that the soul or the Self (atman) knows the types: basic impurity due to its being a prod­ external world through the mind (vide 1.5.3). uct of the three gunas (sattva, rajas and The Sankhya and the systems tamas); impurities carried over from the pre­ consider the mind as a product evolved from vious lives, technically called 'samskaras'; the insentient prakriti, a direct product from impurities due to the sins and evils commit­ ahankara (the ego-principle) and hence made ted in this life. up of the three gunas sattva, rajas and The third one can be offset by the tamas. It is also, therefore, jada or insen­ performance of expiatory rites prescribed tient but can. reflect the consciousness of in the holy books as also by experiencing the or the atman (the soul). the suffering brought about by them. The

~ Swami Harshananda IS the Head of the Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore He has a number of books In English, I and Kannada to hiS credit He IS preparing an Encyclopaedia of 0

329 14 '1111' thlanta -Krsari

second type of impurities have to be counter­ happiness), duhkha (pain or unhappiness), acted by trying hard to cultivate the opposite, LCcha (desire) and dvesha (hatred). good tendencies. When these are carried out, Many other kinds of emotions are also along with or meditation on recognised, such as bhaya (fear), hasya oneself as the pure atman (ultimately one (laughter), vismaya (wonder) and so on. with ) or any aspect of God, the Vedantic works often mention three rajasik and the tamasik contents of the mind states of consciousness with a view to gradually get attenuated and the sattvik part proving that the atman (the soul) is the pure gets predominance. When this process is spirit beyond them. These three states all completed, realization can come in a flash. of the mind are jagrat (waking state), Mind and the Atman svapna (dream state) and sushupti (deep-sleep state). Most of the Hindu philosophical systems Extra-sensory Perceptions consider the mind either as an upadhi (lim­ iting adjunct) or as a quality ofthejivatman Besides these states of the mind (the individual soul). It is through the mind normally experienced by all, there is that thejivatman knows the external world another, the extra-ordinary or the extra-sen­ or gets internal experiE'nces. sory perception. Highly evolved spiritual persons have attained these states like clair­ Functions of the Mind voyance, clairaudience and so on, which have There are several ways of looking been described in the standard treatises at the functions of the mind. Works on of yoga like the Yogasutras ofPatanjali5 (150 Vedanta generally define the mind as B.C.). However these have been considered 'antahkarana' (the inner organ) and state that as obstacles to the final emancipation since it has four aspects: manas (general thinking they tempt the sadhaka to misuse them. and cognition); buddhi (discriminative Conclusion faculty); ahankara (ego-sense); citta (mind­ stuff, responsible for memory). The main purpose behind the study According to another view, it has three of the mind is to facilitate its ultimate qualities or functions or modifications: purification leading to the realization of jnanatmaka (cognitive); avegatmaka (emo­ the atman or the Self. Though there are tional); prayatnatmaka (volitional). differences of opinion regarding its nature, Cognition, again, can produce either the processes of purification are almost prama (true knowledge) or (false universally accepted. knowledge). The latter includes samshaya References or doubt also. Prama or true knowledge can be L Amrtabmdu Upamshad, 2. produced by six ways out ofwhichpratyaksha 2. Chhandagya Upamshad, 6.6.5. /' 3. Ibid. 7.26.2. (direct perception), anumana (inference) and J 4. Bnhodaranyaka Upamshad, 1.2.1. aptavakya (verbal testimony of reliable 5. Yagasutras af PatanJal!, 3 16.55. persons) are universally accepted. Shabda or Shruti or Agama is an extension of the Vnhealthy and selfish competi­ last, as applied to things beyond the ken of the senses. tion mars sOciallife.JIealthy and The emotional functions of the mind selfless competition promotes can be listed as follows: sukha (pleasure or social fil:Ie are. -MAHABHARATA

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