pratipakṣa bhāvanam - To Get Rid of Negatives

In my previous post, dated 20-11-2023, I quoted one Sutra from Yogasutra-s of Patanjali; I am quoting it again here:

vitarkabādhane pratipakṣa bhāvanam 

(Sūtra number 33 in second Pāda namely Sādhanapāda)

This Sutra literally means that ‘the method to get rid of the Vitarka-s is to repeatedly think against these ideas’. Vitarka-s mean bad habits; five of the severe ones are listed out in Yogasutra: 

1. ‘I will purposefully hurt another person.’ This kind of thought is called Himsa.

2. ‘I will lie.’ This is Asatya.

3. ‘I will steal.’ This is Steya. 

4. ‘I will immerse myself in sensual pleasures.’ This is the longing for Bhoga. 

5. ‘I possess all these, I won’t share these with anybody else.’ This is Parigraha.

These five kinds of feelings are mainly called Vitarka-s. These are not healthy for a human being. These negative thoughts will destroy the psychic as well as the physical health of the individual. 

It is only when an individual realises that ‘I have these negative thoughts in me’ and ‘somehow, I want to get rid of them’ that he would try sincerely for that purpose. The self-destructive effects of these thoughts should be realised in a convincing manner by the individual. Then he would try to change his way of thinking as given below. This way of thinking is called the observation of Yama by Patanjali.

1. Instead of the feeling that ‘I will purposefully hurt another person’ he would cultivate the thought: ‘I will not hurt another person purposefully’. That quality of thinking is called Ahimsa.

2. Instead of the feeling that ‘I will lie’ he would cultivate the thought: ‘I will not lie’, ‘I will be truthful in all situations’. That quality of thinking is called Satyam.

3. Instead of the feeling that ‘I will steal’ he would cultivate the thought: ‘I will not steal’, ‘I will not compare myself with another person’. The moment you compare yourself with another person and wish to be like him, you have already destroyed your uniqueness; you have stolen in a subtle manner what you wanted from him. That quality of keeping away from all kinds of comparison is called Asteyam.

4. Instead of the feeling that ‘I will immerse myself in sensual pleasures’ he would cultivate the thought: ‘I will not immerse myself in sensual pleasures’ and ‘I turn my mind and interests towards knowing the ultimate Truth’. That quality of thinking is called Brahmacaryam.

5. Instead of the feeling that ‘I possess all these, I won’t share these with anybody else’ he would cultivate the thought: ‘I will not possess all these, I will share these with everybody around me’. That quality of thinking is called Aparigraham.

When explaining the meaning of the above Sutra (Yogasutra II - 33) Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati Svāmikal says in Yogasudhākara, that the Yogi who has started his Sādhana of Yama etc. says to himself, “I have already experienced the burning and painful situations as a result of the vicious longings in life; therefore, I am following the rules of Yama etc in life, teaching myself to avoid all unwanted thoughts like ‘I will hurt another one’ etc. Yama and Niyama are patterns of ethical behaviour. Now if I accept to hurt another one purposefully, it is like a clean man eating his own vomit.” Through this way of repeated thinking one should get rid of his bad habits here mentioned as Vitarka-s. [yamādiparo yogī, “samsārāṅgāreṣu aham tapyamāno yamādikam śaraṇamupagato himsādikam atyajam; punaḥ tadādadānaḥ kaunleyakena vāntāśinā samaḥ” ityanena prakāreṇa vitarkapratipakṣān bhāvayed ityarthaḥ. Quoted from yogasudhākara written by Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati.]

The most disgusting image is used here by Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati; eating one’s own vomit! It is unacceptable in terms of physical as well as psychological cleanliness and peace. The Sādhaka (a disciplined practitioner) should always remember his resolutions to practise them without any flaw. Self-awareness, Self-criticism, AUM method (Awareness Understanding and Management method) are useful to be successful in the observance of this Sādhana.

To Wipe Out the Destructive Ideas through Reflection

 Man lives with ideas. Positive ideas make him a happy person; whereas the negative ones ultimately bring unhappiness. This great lesson is taught by Bhagavad Gīta (BG) using two terms, as mentioned in my previous posts, Daiva Sampath and Āsura Sampath. The Daiva category is the group of constructive ideas and the Āsura category the group of destructives.

It is interesting to see the fact that the description of the constructive ideas are presented in just three Śloka-s in BG. On the other hand, the list of destructive ideas is presented in 13 Śloka-s. (Śloka in Sanskrit language refers to the four line unit of verses in which usually a complete idea is presented, almost equivalent to a sentence in a language.)

Man has the ability to see into himself; to observe his ideas and feelings. Each individual should utilise this ability to look into one’s own mind. The idea-s appear in mind can be observed and the nature of them can be recognised. If the idea-s in mind are destructive, as taught by BG, one needs to ponder upon it. The teaching of BG helps one to recognise the destructive thoughts in one’s own mind. Others cannot know about their existence in one’s own realm of thoughts and feelings. Only that person can observe them inside.

Sage Patanjali advises in his Yogasūtra-s:

Vitarkabādhane pratipakṣabhāvanam. (II - 33) 

To get rid of the destructive ideas one should build up progressive thoughts which function against the negative thoughts to transform them for good. He teaches to build up constructive ideas in the place of destructive ones. When any kind of destructive thought appears in mind, the individual should think that “I have already abandoned these kinds of negative ideas from my mind; I am Yogi; I want to be purified from these negative thoughts.” These kinds of thoughts are called ‘pratipaksa bhavanam’; waves of thoughts in an opposite direction; opposite to the negative, which means positive direction.

The ideas are food for thought; the thought process occurs on the basis of the ideas available in memory. If constructive ideas are available in the memory the thought happens based on them; if the destructive ideas are there in the available memory the thoughts will progress in that direction. It is necessary to understand the nature of destructive ideas to get rid of them. The destructive group of ideas called Āsura Sampat is described elaborately in the Chapter 16 daivāsura sampadvibhāga yoga of BG.

It is necessary to know what destructive ideas are there in one’s own mind to get rid of them. The description of BG of the destructive group of ideas is as follows:

4. dambhō darppo ’bhimānaśca krōdhaḥ pāruṣyamēva ca

 ajñānam cābhijātasya pārtha sampadamāsurīm

Śloka 4. O son of Prthā, the ideas and behaviour of one destined to have destructive nature are religious ostentation, pride, haughtiness, anger, rudeness and ignorance.

7. pravṛttim ca nivṛttim ca janā na vidurāsurāḥ

na śaucam nāpicācārō na satyam tēṣu vidyatē

Śloka 7. Neither do the persons having destructive ideas understand what is to be done and what is not to be done; they do not have internal purity, good conduct and truthfulness in them.

8. asatyam apratiṣṭham tē jagadāhuranīśvaram

aparasparasambhūtam kimanyat kāmahaitukam

Śloka 8. They say that there is nothing true in the world; that it has no basis and that it is without a true controller. They think that the world and the creatures are born of mutual comunion brought about by passion! They cannot see any other cause for their existence other than desire.? 

9. ētām dṛṣṭimavaṣṭabhya naṣṭātmānō ’lpabudhayaḥ

prabhavantyugrakarmāṇaḥ kṣayāya jagatō ’hitāḥ

Śloka 9. Holding on to this view, these people who are of depraved character, of poor intellect, given to terrible and harmful actions, grow strong for the ruin of the world.

10. kāmamāśritya duṣpūram dambhamānamadānvitāḥ

mōhād gṛhītvā ’sadgrāhān pravartantē ’śucivratāḥ

Śloka 10. Giving themselves up to insatiable desires, filled with vanity, pride and arrogance, adopting wrong objectives due to delusion, and having impure resolve, they engage in destructive actions. 

11. cintāmaparimēyām ca pralayāntāmupāśritāḥ 

Kāmōpabhōgaparamāḥ ētavaditi niścitāḥ

Śloka 11. Beset with a vast web of thoughts which end up only in complete destruction, holding that the enjoyment of pleasurable objects is the highest goal, feeling sure that this is all in life due to the inability to understand more valuable aspects.

12. āśāpāśaśatair baddhāḥ kāmakrōdhaparāyaṇāḥ

īhantē kāmabhōgārtham anyāyēnārthasancayān

Śloka 12. Bound by hundreds of shackles in the forms of hopes and desires, giving themselves wholly to longing and anger, they endeavour to amass wealth through foul means for the enjoyment of pleasurable objects. 

13. idamadya mayā labdham imam prāpsyē manōratham

idamastīdamapi mē bhaviṣyati punardhanam

Śloka 13. They proclaim: ‘This has been gained by me today; I shall further acquire this desired object! This is in hand now; again, this more wealth will also come to me!’

14. asau mayā hataḥ śatruḥ haniṣyē cāparānapi

īśvarō ’hamaham bhōgī siddhō ’ham balavān sukhī

Śloka 14. They say that ‘that enemy has been killed by me, and I shall kill others as well. I am the controller, I am the enjoyer, I am well-established, mighty and cheerful.’ 

15. āḍhyōbhijanavānasmi kō ’nyō ’sti sadṛśō mayā

yakṣyē dāsyāmi mōdiṣyē ityajñāna vimōhitāḥ

Śloka 15. ‘I am rich and high-born; who else is there similar to me? I shall perform expensive ritual sacrifices; I shall give big donations, I shall rejoice,’—thus they are diversely deluded by lack of ability to discriminate. 

16. anēkacittavibhrāntāḥ mōhajālasamāvṛtāḥ

prasaktāḥ kāmabhōgēṣu patanti narakē ’śucau

Śloka 16. Bewildered by numerous thoughts, caught in the net of delusion and engrossed in the enjoyment of pleasurable objects, they fall into a foul hell. 

17. ātmasambhāvitāḥ stabdhā dhanamānamadānvitāḥ 

yajantē nāmayajñai stē dambhēnāvidhipūrvakam

Śloka 17. Self-conceited, haughty, filled with pride and intoxication out of wealth, they perform the pretentious of good acts which are just of  name sake only, with ostentation and regardless of the injunctions. 

18. ahankaram balam darppam kāmam krōdham ca samśritāḥ

māmātmaparadēhēṣu pradviṣantō ’bhyasūyakāḥ

Śloka 18. Resorting to the selfish motif, power, arrogance, desire and anger, hating the True Source of All Powers in their own bodies and in others’, they grow envious by nature. 

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dvau bhūtasargau - Human Beings are Created in Two Categories: Deva and Asura

dvau bhūtasargau loke ‘smin daiva āsura eva ca

daivo vistaraśaḥ proktaḥ āsuram pārtha me śṛṇu (Bhagavad Gita XVI - 06)

Human beings are created with two groups of ideas prominent in them; One is called Daiva group and the other is called Āsura group.

Śrī Śankarācārya, interpreting these lines from Bhagavad Gita wrote: “dvau dvisaṅkhyākau bhūtasargau bhūtānām manuṣyāṇām sargau sṛṣṭī bhūtasargau.” There are two kinds of creations of human beings; they are called Deva group and Asura group. Those individuals having good and progressive ideas dominant in them are called Deva group. Those having negative and destructive ideas prominent in them are called the Asura group. 

The creation happens in Nature. It is stated here that this good nature, as well as the bad one, is the creation in Nature; not the creation of human beings. If man wants he cannot be good or bad all of a sudden; it is through a process, by changing his internal Nature, that he can transform. 

Patanjali says in his Yogasutra-s:

“nimittam aprayojakam prakṛtīnām varaṇabhetastu kṣetrikavat.” (IV - 03)

The various methods of practice in Nature for self control are not effective upon the true Nature of the Self; The true realisation of the Self is covered up by impurities; just remove the veil of ignorance which cover up the wisdom; the transformation happens by itself. Any action by human beings has no effect in the true transformation; the true realisation should come from inside by itself. As farmers break the mud-wall which stopped water from flowing into the field, when they want the water to flow in. The flow of water is not because of the work of the farmer; on the other hand, it is because the nature of water is to flow. Similarly, the transformation into Daiva Prakṛti or into Āsura Prakṛti is not under the control of individuals.One can try hard to remove the coverage and the wisdom should arise by itself. So to remind all that good or bad ideas are not the creation of an individual, Daiva and Āsura groups of ideas are called Bhūtasargau.

Śrī Śankarācārya continues that “sṛjyate iti sargau.” They are called Sargau because they are created in Nature. “bhūtānyeva sṛjyamānāni daivāsurasampaddvayayuktāni dvau bhūtasargau ityucyate.” They are called two bhūtasarga-s because the human beings are created with different orientations of Daiva and Āsura. The human beings are importantly mentioned here as creations because the Deva and Asura ideas are prominent only in human minds. Other creatures also have such responses in them. But they have only basic mental responses to the surroundings. 

Śrī Śankarācārya quotes this line of Upaniṣad: “dvayā ha prājāpatyā devāśca asurāśca” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. 1-3-1). The creation of Prajāpati, the God of Creation, is in two groups; Daiva and Āsura. The same ideas from Upaniṣad are used by BG. 

Śrī Śankarācārya continues: “loke asmin samsāre ityarthaḥ; sarveṣām dvaividhyopapatteḥ." The word Loka here does not mean the whole universe; it means only the creatures who take birth and die due to their embedded samskara-s inside. This is called Samsāra. It is this embedded Samskāra, the sleeping tendencies, which is the reason for the body and other qualities of each birth. Such embedded Samskāra-s lead to the Deva or Asura groups of individuals.

This fact that Samskāra-s are the reason for the future nature of creation, shows the way to get rid of the negative ideas and to cultivate positive ones. Building positive Samskāra-s through right practice of good Karma-s in day-to-day life is the remedy for transforming negative ideas into positive. This is suggested when Śrī Śankarācārya pointed out that ‘Loke means in this Samsāra’. All Yajña-s and Sādhana-s are practised only to get rid of this Samsāra, or the negative Samskāra-s embedded in the deepest layers of mind.

Food for Thought - Constructive and Destructive

Man is different from other animals because of his ability to think; as far as our knowledge is concerned, other animals and birds cannot think. It is the thought process which makes one different from other human beings.

The thought process happens with the help of ideas; an idea refers to an understanding or picture in the mind. An idea exists in mind as a form or a sound. Smell, touch and taste are functioning along with the form; Therefore, form and sound are the basic elements for the formation of ideas. Verbal language naturally follows the formation of form and sound. Whether it is a form or a sound, both are received and recognised in the mind with the association of verbal language.

The thinking in the human mind is either questioning or answering; it is either a question for an answer or an answer to a question. This awareness is helpful to initiate the thinking process on any subject. If you want to initiate a thinking process about an elephant, you only need to ask certain questions about elephants. What is the colour of the skin of an elephant? Where do they generally live? What do they eat? How long is the average lifespan of elephants? How can they be tamed? What are the fields where elephants are used commercially? Why are elephants decorated and engaged for carrying the idol of deities in temple festivals? How close is the friendship of human beings and elephants? Answers to these questions form a wonderful article on elephants. 

The questions and answers in the thinking process should be based on a subject which is called food for thought. Some food items for thought may not be nutritious just like junk food to the stomach. Some are unhealthy for the thinking mind, similar to rotten food items; they ruin the right way of approach and clear understanding and lead the thinker towards destructive conclusions. Such ideas are called Asura Sampat (the group of destructive ideas) in Bhagavad Gita. There are good ideas like nutritious food to the body; they can be considered as healthy food to thought which are named as Daiva Sampat (the group of constructive ideas).

Man lives with the food for thought. Nutritious food is inevitable for the body; similarly, good food for thought is also necessary for a healthy life. Bhagavad Gita categorises ideas as Daiva Sampat and Asura Sampat (groups of constructive and destructive ideas). The constructive ideas are grouped in Bhagavad Gita as follows:

Fearlessness, 

Purity of mind, 

Persistence in knowledge and Yoga, 

Charity and control of the external organs, 

Affinity towards selfless service, 

Scriptural study, 

Austerity,

Rectitude. (Chapter 16, Sloka 01) 

Absence of hatred, 

Truthfulness, 

Absence of anger, 

Renunciation, 

Control of the internal organ, 

Absence of vilification, 

Kindness to creatures, 

Non-covetousness, 

Gentleness, 

Modesty, 

Freedom from restlessness. (Chapter 16 Sloka 02) 

Vigour, 

Forgiveness, 

Fortitude, 

Purity, 

Freedom from malice, 

Absence of haughtiness.

These are the qualities of one born destined to have constructive ideas. (Chapter 16, Sloka 03)

These ideas live in the mind of a good person to influence his thoughts and decisions at any time. He is nourished with these ideas in his thoughts and behaviour. For example, the one who takes ‘absence of hatred’ as food for thought, through constant thinking and self enquiry, that idea would get digested in him; that idea would be a natural part of his mind; he would approach any situation with a hatred-free mind; he thinks in that way; he would behave to others accordingly; People speak about him that he would not hate anybody. This is as a result of his acceptance of the idea of ‘absence of hatred’ as a food for thought. The idea which is active in the mind would appear in memory from time to time and would influence all activities of the individual. Therefore, an individual should choose constructive ideas, rather than destructive ones, to cultivate in his thoughts through continuous self enquiry and frequent repeated reflection.

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abhayam satvasamśuddhiḥ jñānayoga vyavasthitiḥ

dānam damaśca yajñaśca svāddhyāyastapa ārjavam (Gita Ch 16 - Sloka 1)

ahimsā satyam akrodhastyāgaḥ śāntirapaiśunam

dayā bhūteṣvaloluptam mārdavam hrīracāpalam (Gita Ch 16 - Sloka 2)

tejaḥ kṣamā dhṛtiḥ śaucam adroho nātimānitā

bhavanti sampadam daivīm abhijātasya bhārata (Gita Ch 16 - Sloka 3)