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LESSON 2

Praharana^grantSa, MangaLǎcarana and

B
AnubandSa^catucUaya

EEOflE WE ENYEfl into the study of any science, we need to be clear

about the terms used therein. Yhe prakarana-granthas come in handy for
this purpose. Yexts like Tattva-bodha, Ǎtma-bodha, Vivekacuaǎmani,
Paucadasi and Vedǎnta-sǎra are all prakarana-granthas. We start this
lesson by first understanding the term ‘prakarana-grantha’.

Praharana^grantSa: Definition
Yhe term ‘prakarana-grantha’ means ‘topical texts’ (prakarana - topic; grantha
- text). Yhe nature of these texts is to be understood in comparison with
another set of texts called ‘sǎstra-grantha’. Yhere are sǎstra-granthas in
medicine (Ǎyurveda-sǎstra-grantha), sǎstra-granthas in economics
(Arthasǎstra), sǎstra- granthas in astronomy and astrology (Jyotixa-sǎstra-
granthas), sǎstra-granthas in Vedǎnta philosophy (Vedǎnta-sǎstra-grantha)
and so on. All these sǎstra- granthas cover a complete range of topics
pertaining to their subject.
Prakarana-granthas – be they in Ǎyurveda, Jyotixa or Vedǎnta – deal only
with select topics; they endeavour to throw more light on a few chosen topics,
which are analysed exhaustively, rather than to deal with all topics within that
discipline. Prakarana-granthas are meant for those students who may not have
the capacity to go into the original texts, independently assess the ideas and
concepts in them and draw their own conclusions. Eurther, since they cover
fewer topics, one can use them to study only the essentials, avoiding much of
extraneous matter and non-essential topics, which may not pertain to the
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student’s field of interest. All these make prakarana-granthas invaluable to

students.

MangaLǎcarana
Every text begins with an invocatory verse, the ‘mangalǎcarana’ (literally ‘an
auspicious observance’). Yhis invocation is commonly offered to:
(1) Ixta-devatǎ – deity of one’s personal worship like Lord Siva, Lord flǎma,
Lord Kixna and so on or
(2) Guru – Yeacher or
(S) Both the Ixta-devatǎ and the Guru

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Inwocation EwerywSere
Pfi™T\N”W Pfi™P“PT”W Pfi™T=VT”W § KTÆT”P PP=V` GTP˛’PšP˛XBT”P § U§”=V G“P`VTFå
”P§TPT²ffP˛:¦ mangalǎdini mangalamadhnǎni mangalǎntǎni ca sǎstrǎni prathante
ǎnusmatpurusǎni ca bhavanti adhnetǎrasca siddhǎrthǎssnuN.
A noble author starts his discourse with an invocation, ends it with an invocation and
has even an invocation for the middle. His words alone shall stand the test of time
and sureln the readers would be fulfilled. (Sage Pataujali while commencing his
Mahǎbhǎxya on the Pǎnini- sutras).

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Sometimes we find that a single word, which can denote both the Lord and
the Guru (teacher), is used for the invocation, as is done by Sankarǎcǎrya in
his Vivekacuaǎmani:

P§²§`\T=V”P§T=VYT`§F˙ VPYT`§FP,h
YT`”§=\˙ PFPTW=\˙ P\˛X˙ PPVT`‘f’P\P,¦
sarvavedǎntasiddhǎntagocaran tamagocaram,
govindan paramǎnandan sadgurun pranato’smnaham.
My salutations to Sri Sad-Guru Govinda who is of the nature of Bliss
Absolute, who can be known only through the import of the essence of

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 Prakarana-grantha, Mangalǎcarana & Anubandha-catuxtaya

Vedǎnta and who is beyond the reach of the known instruments of

perception.

In this invocatory verse, we see Sankarǎcǎrya offering salutations to

Govinda. One of the most popular names of Lord Kixna is Govinda.
Sankarǎcǎrya’s guru’s name was Govinda-bhagavad-pǎda. With this one word
Govinda, Sankarǎcǎrya has thus effectively offered salutations to both the
Lord and his Guru and, by having a single appellation for both of them, has
also hinted at their essential identity.
In Vedǎnta-sǎra, another popular prakarana-grantha, the author, Svǎmi
Sadǎnanda, salutes the Lord in the first verse, his Guru in the second and then
commences the text1.
All Vedǎntic texts thus start with a mangalǎcarana (invocation).

WSy MangaLǎcarana?
Yhe primary purposes of the mangalǎcarana (invocation) are as follows:
1. Yo remember the Lord and our Guru before any undertaking is to fill our
hearts with humility, devotion, purity and strength for that work. God’s grace
and the Guru’s blessings are sure sources of strength for all. Yhe author
invokes in his heart their blessings for the removal of all obstacles and the
successful completion of the text.
2. With the remembrance of the Lord, the ego is de-seated and bypassed, thus
making us instruments for the Lord to work with. Such work that the Lord
creates through us is alone blessed with perfection. All other works are polluted
by the taint of ego and self-centredness and are therefore flawed.

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TSe tour Stages of Prayer

An old man would sit motionless for hours on end before an altar. One dan, a friend asked
him what God talked to him about.

1. flefer to the section ‘Verses for fleflection’ at the end of this lesson. You will find the mangalǎcarana
verses from Vedǎnta-sǎra as well as Tattva-bodha.

S
 Lesson 2

“God doesn’t talk. He just listens,” was his repln.

“Well, then what do nou talk to him about?”
“I don’t talk either. I just listen.”
The four stages of praner:
I talk, nou listen.
You talk, I listen.
Neither talks, both
listen.
Neither talks, neither listens: Silence. Just Divine Presence.

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AnubandSa^catucUaya
Prakarana-granthas explicitly put forth, at their very beginning, the ‘anubandha-
catuxtaya’, a term that can be translated as the ‘four preliminary considerations
with respect to the text’. Yhese four preliminary considerations are:
(1) Adhikǎri: Yhe person who is qualified to receive the knowledge
enshrined in the text
(2) Vixaya: Subject matter of the text
(S) Prayojana or phala: flesult which accrues from studying the text
(4) Sambandha: flelationship between the text and the subject matter 2
Yhese four preliminary considerations are common to all Vedǎntic texts –
be it the Upanisads, the Bhagavad-gitǎ or the prakarana-granthas – and serve
as a foreword or introductory note to the texts.

Let us see how Sankarǎcǎrya puts forth the four preliminary considerations in
his Ǎtma-bodha. Yhe first verse:

VPT`”U: ¶NPPTPTWT˙ KT=VTWT˙ §NVFT”YPTP,h

P˛P˛¶,PTPP`1PT`‘PP, GTšPBT`WT` ”§WNPV`¦
tapobhiN ksinapǎpǎnǎn sǎntǎnǎn vitarǎginǎm,
mumuksunǎmapeksno’nam ǎtmabodho vidhinate.

2. Yhe concept of sambandha will be made clear in the later portion of this lesson.

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 Prakarana-grantha, Mangalǎcarana & Anubandha-catuxtaya

I am composing this Ǎtma-bodha (treatise on Self-Knowledge), for those

who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and
calm, who are free from craving and are desirous of Liberation.

AdSihǎri: Yhis term means ‘qualified aspirant’. Every textbook is addressed

to a certain class of students having a given set of qualities, who alone will
benefit most from that book. Yhis explicit mention of adhikǎri at the very
beginning of the text is not to dissuade others from studying it, but only to
encourage them to cultivate all the required qualities so that they too can
benefit fully from the study.
Yhe adhikǎri – the person qualified to study Ǎtma-bodha – as delineated in
the above-quoted verse is one who is
(1) pure of heart (ksinapǎpǎnǎm)
(2) peaceful and calm (sǎntǎnǎm)
(S) free from worldly cravings (vita-rǎginǎm) and
(4) desirous of Liberation (mumuksunǎm).
Vicaya: Yhe ‘vixaya’ or the ‘subject matter of the text is Self-Knowledge. Yhis
is made explicit in the verse by the phrase – ‘ǎtmabodha’ (ǎtma - Self; bodha -
Knowledge). Yhis Self-Knowledge is the Knowledge of one’s inherent identity
with Brahman, the all-pervading Consciousness and is technically termed ‘jiva-
brahma-aikya’ (jiva - individual Self; Brahma - all-pervading Consciousness;
aikya - identity).
Prayojana: Yhe ‘prayojana’ or ‘result of the study’ is indicated by the phrase:
‘mumuksunǎm apeksno’nam’ – ‘for the purpose of the seekers of
Liberation’. Seekers of Liberation, that is, mumukxus, desire only Mokxa
or Liberation, which is freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Yhis
Mokxa is the ‘parama- prayojana’ or the ‘supreme result’ of Vedǎntic study.
S AKBAND S A: Yhis is the relationship between the subject matter
(vixaya) delineated by the text and the text (grantha) itself. Sambandha is
technically defined as ‘bodhna-bodhaka-bhǎva-sambandha’, that is the
relationship between the ‘explained’ (the bodhya - the subject matter) and
‘explainer’ (the bodhaka

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 Lesson 2

- the text). Yhe purpose behind stating the relationship between the text
and the subject matter can be understood with an example: I am hungry
and there is food also. But if I am unaware that food can remove hunger; if I
am unaware of the relation between food and its capacity to appease
hunger, I will not be inclined to eat. In the same way, if the student is not
aware of the relation between the subject matter, ‘jiva-brahma-aikya’ (the
identity of the Self with Brahman) that he is desirous of, and the text, which
is the ‘propounder’ or ‘explainer’ of this very ‘jiva-brahma-aikya’, he will
definitely show no enthusiasm to study the text. Yhus, establishing the
sambandha is necessary, for this alone propels the adhikǎri to study the
text. Eurther, sambandha also puts forth explicitly that the text has the
capacity to independently fulfil its aim of giving Self-Knowledge and that it is
adequate in itself. Sambandha in the verse is indicated by the word
‘vidhinate’.

We have thus, in this lesson, covered the introductory topics, such as

prakarana-grantha, mangalǎcarana and anubandha-catuxtaya. In the next
lesson, we shall study in detail the qualifications of an adhikǎri (the qualified
aspirant).

Verses for RefLection

§TP˛\`§`=\PT`YN=\˙ Wš§T ]TWP\˙ Y˛XP,h

P˛P˛¶,PT˙ ”\VTPT²P Vš§BT`WT`‘”UWNPV`¦
vǎsudevendranogindran natvǎ juǎnapradan gurum,
mumuksunǎn hitǎrthǎna tattvabodho’bhidhinate.
Having saluted Sri Vǎsudevendra, the king of yogins, the Guru, who is the
bestower of Knowledge, this treatise – ‘Knowledge of the Yruth’ – is expounded
for the benefit of seekers of Liberation (Invocation from Tattva-bodha of
Sankarǎcǎrya).

G§P‘˙ P”B\TW=\P§T”,PWPYT`§FP,h
GTšPTWP”§™TWTFPTffP`‘UNB”P§P`¦
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 Prakarana-grantha, Mangalǎcarana & Anubandha-catuxtaya

akhanaan saccidǎnandamavǎnmanasagocaram,
ǎtmǎnamakhilǎdhǎramǎsrane’bhistasiddhane.
I take refuge in the Self, the Indivisible, the Existence-Consciousness-Bliss,
beyond the reach of words and thought, and the substratum of all, for the
attainment of my cherished desire (Invocation from Vedǎnta-sǎra of Svǎm i
Sadǎnanda).

GP²VT`‘’P@PTW=\TWVNV@“VUTWV:h
Y˛5WTFT“P §`\T=VPTF˙ §1P` PPTP”V¦
arthato’pnadvanǎnandǎnatitadvaitabhǎnataN,
gurunǎrǎdhna vedǎntasǎran vaksne nathǎmati.
Having worshipped the Guru who, on account of his being free from illusion
of duality, justifies the meaning of his name Advayǎnanda, I undertake the
task of expounding the treatise ‘Essence of the Vedǎnta’ according to my
understanding (Invocation from Vedǎnta-sǎra of Svǎm i Sadǎnanda).

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Questions

I. Answer briefLy
1. What is the difference between a sǎstra-grantha and a prakarana-grantha?
2. What is mangalǎcarana? What is its purpose?

II. Answer in detaiL

1. What are the four elements of anubandha-catuxtaya?