देह दृष्ट्या तु दासोऽहं जीव दृष्ट्या तवदंशजः।
वस्तुतस्तु त्वमेवाहमिति मे निश्चिता मतिः।
“From the perspective of the body, I am Your slave.
From the perspective of the being-ness we are one.
But in actuality, I am You, of this there is no doubt.”
Some claim these lines are from Adi Shankaracharya’s Hanuman Pancharatna Stotram. But according to popular belief this verse above is the original which was said by Hanuman when Rama asks “Who are you”. One of the best among the intellectuals, Hanumaan ji replied the above verse which means “If we look from the perspective of this mortal body, I am your Sevak/Servent (दास). If we look at the perspective of Aatma, I am your ‘ansh’. The above conversation has also been quoted by Sri Ramakrishna in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
The above verse seems to indirectly talk about all the 3 Vedanta philosophies – Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, and Advaita.
Dvaita: I know that there is a phenomenon of god. I can think about it and worship it.
Visishtadvaita: I know that I could be in direct live interaction with god. I do something which I presuppose could help me interact with god.
Advaita: I know that I am god. I was never departed from it.
It’s an irrefutable fact that we are all merely slaves to our bodies, our mind; we must fill our bellies, wash ourselves, hang out with people, and do other such things to take care of ourselves. Even of each other. Then we must find some meaning, live by some kind of direction in our lives. We have to wake up every single day, go to our jobs, do our yoga practice, maintain relationships with our friends and try to explore newer dimensions of life. We can not escape the limited-ness of what we are.
You may even tell me that this experience here is nothing but divine. And certainly it is, but when we approach from the perspective of the self, the singular self is extremely limited which we cleverly enlarge to try to make ourselves an analogy of the divine. But is the analogy the real thing? If I don’t know who I am, that is “Agyaan” which means they are talking about the body here, then I am your servant. But if I do know who I am, here they are talking about “Gyan” or “Param Gyan”, I am You.
What about from the perspective of the beingness? Let’s also call it from the perspective of creation at large. You are of your parents, of your community, of humanity, of perhaps even the universe at large. You’re here for others’ lives as well as your own. In all this, you’re somehow a slave even to these larger systems around you. There’s never an understanding of you, as an unified concept, without understanding you in the ever expanding macrocosm. It’s like you’re inherently separated from all these things that are not you. In the larger scale of things we are simply part of the entirety of creation; much of which we are hardly able to perceive.
All things of the phenomenal world that are seemingly un-unified are all part of the oneness. Thus, the divinity of the floor, tree, other people, and everything is all the same yet seemingly different. “I” am only a part of this and the distinctions are my own mind seeped in the duality. Objects can yet be defined, it can exist with or without us to perceive it. The physical body can yet be defined based on physical appearances, those are based on millions of years of evolution of all things on this planet, the mind is also based on hundreds of years of homo-sapien evolution. But what of the self that stands behind that; the awareness that stands behind the mind?
A little interjection must be made here to speak a few words about meditation. The aim is to transcend identification with the body and mind, revealing our true nature. It is typically practiced through self-inquiry and contemplation. Without this first, I believe it is nearly impossible to fully internalize the last line above. Meditation can help you ‘find the self’. You are already the Self – you just have to realize this. Do meditation regularly to increase one’s awareness, and to change the approach towards life from ego-centric to life-centric.
The self being perceived in each other is the Supreme, because beyond each other’s physical appearances we are all the same Self. Is it not? The space being created in the conversation is still part of the Supreme taking different forms. So, in actuality, I am not separated from the Supreme and if you and I are not different then we are all the Supreme. Here is where the mind begins to settle down. Acceptance begins here. The chase to try to modify, dominate, and control life settles down. The materials that make everything I see are all around me, I am all that, it was simply my concepts that convinced me otherwise.
And now we can begin to accept and even really appreciate our slave nature. We can let go of the ideas of what is fair and unfair, because the ego based on concepts of lack, disconnection and division has disappeared to reveal the oneness. Now it knows its place in a vast meaninglessness. Surrender is not about what we are surrendering to, but that we are bringing our own head down. This helps balance our emotions tremendously. That’s why, in actuality I am you simply and the rest of life is merely a movement.
There is great value in the ego trying to conceive meaning. A human is born with infinite possibilities, and in order to do that it has the capacity to know. In that, we have the capacity to create great meaning and purpose. Once you see this, don’t let it go, the true power in powerlessness, in softness and vulnerability, true power versus a violent need to control. Of this, there is no doubt.