‘Introspection key to achieve spiritual goal’

NAGPUR: “Sadhana describes the process by which ultimate emancipation can be achieved. Different forms of meditation should be combined and merged into one and practised because there is no difference in their basic import, that of self and mind. An individual soul can be linked to the infinite (God) with meditation and a pure heart,” said noted scholar Shrikrishna Deshmukh, on Thursday.
Delivering a lecture on ‘Brahmasutras’ at Ramkrishna Math, Dhantoli, Deshmukh explained the need for self-study, doing introspection on texts, meditation and the role of ‘sanyasa’ in pursuit of spiritual knowledge. He asserted that meditation is central to the Vedic texts and summarized its theories, from different shakha (Vedic schools) on “How a soul is enabled by meditation to obtain final release”. The last three ‘sutras’ of chapter 3 assert that a person, pursuing means to spiritual knowledge, should seek a childlike state of innocence, a psychological state that is free of anger, self-centredness, pride and arrogance.
The ‘Brahmasutras’ consist of 555 aphorisms or sutras in four chapters (adhyaya) with each chapter divided into four parts. Each part is further subdivided into sections called ‘adhikaraņas’ with ‘sutras’.
Swami Brahmasthananda, head of Ramkrishna Math, Nagpur, said, “Brahmasutras is one of the three most important texts in Vedanta along with the principal Upanishads and Bhagwad Gita. The text systematizes and summarizes the philosophical and spiritual ideas in the Upanishads. It is one of the foundational texts of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. The most well-studied commentaries on ‘Brahmasutra’ include the ‘bhashya’ by Adi Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhvacharya, Bhaskara and many others.”
The swami said that ‘Brahmasutras’ is also known as the Vedanta which literally means the “final aim of the Vedas”.