mahaniiya yogi — celebrated saint

Accomplishment is attaining the own natural form by giving-up concepts of self.

As Single, unifying path taken up by a yOgi it leads to the ultimate source. Upadesa saram verse 15 says it beautifully:

manasu rUpunu mApu mahanIya yOgi tana rUpamandina pani lEni vADu.

same in Sanskrit:

nasTa mAnasaH utkRshTha yOginaH “kRtyam asti kim?” svasthitim yataH

One who has deformed / lost the mind, having attained own natural form, has nothing more to do. (or achieve, attain! — What work is there?)

1. Once the mind is lost one attains the true, natural identity by removing the crystal/prism which projects various hues from the single source that causes confusion. Mind projects a “concept” of “I” that is limited by assumed mental limitations. This projected conceptual “I” is the ego. When mind is extinct, ego disappears uncovering the true “I”. The real nature and ‘form’ of self. That is called “svasthiti” — all peaceful, blissful, original being.
2. Simultaneously, it removes the root cause of all actions “the feeling of differentiation.” So, there is no more pending work. Nothing more to achieve, nothing more to attain. Just nothing more to DO. It is the pure being without any trace of becoming. Again, this is the real peace without any agitation. Reality experienced!

This state is achieved either by worship, japa, cintana ladder called karma yOga or by the path of devotion called bhakti yoga or by the path of prANAyAma, dharaNa and dhyana of raja yoga. All these paths are traditional paths for attaining the highest knowledge of SELF. Only after realizing the true self, one becomes great. Not by any other means of wealth, power, or any amount of enjoyments or sufferings one has been through!

The best example of such a mahanIya yOgi is Bhagavan RamaNa maharshi. Coincidentally, today (punarvasu nakshatra of margazi month) is 134th birth anniversary day of Bhagavan RamaNa.

With this post we covered the first 15 verses of upadesa saram dealing with the practical aspects of attaining supreme self. Next 15 verses of this work are direct instructions of theoretical philosophy. When heard from a realized sage, even without any practice, one can attain the same state described in here just by internalizing the knowledge. Such is the power of verses 16 — 30 of upadesa saram.

Next Post: https://medium.com/upadesa-saram/tattva-darsanam-metaphysical-vision-a6ffba47af99