The city of eleven gates is indeed of the unborn, even-minded Self. Having meditated upon this, one grieves not, and the liberated one is ever liberated indeed. This is verily that.
‘This is verily That’ is again repeated here. This world is verily That Brahman. Brahman here is with reference to microcosm.
In Bhagavad Gita there is a reference to this context. Chapter 5 – verse 13
सर्वकर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ 13 ॥
sarvakarmāṇi manasā sannyasyāstē sukhaṃ vaśī ।
navadvārē purē dēhī naiva kurvanna kārayan ॥ 13 ॥
Mentally renouncing all actions and self-controlled, the embodied rests happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing to act.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna talks of nine gates, and in the Kathopanishad, Lord Yama talks of eleven gates.
There is a comparison of the city to a body. A city has a gate, gatekeepers, a controller and a King. The gates are the sense organs, the gatekeepers are the presiding deities, the controller is the mind, the King is the Purusha, Atman. Brahman is described as the in-dweller, one who has mentally renounced all actions. Renunciation is not a physical quality but a mental quality. Mentally renounced, physically, you should be in the marketplace and be in action. One should not abandon Karma.
Q: Why should one not abandon karma in the name of renunciation?
A: The only way you can burn your vasanas is through karma, action. Your action speaks volumes about what you intend to do. Action is the only way of purifying yourself. Only when you act is there self-effort. So, when you abandon action, you are delegating your growth or progression to God, the Almighty, Providence. In spirituality, people talk that God will provide for them. Providence will do the needful only when you do your part. Growth is possible only through self-effort. When you lack this wisdom, you look for external forces or astrology, palmistry, etc. A man of wisdom may listen to astrology, and there could be a coincidence to what is happening in your life.
Inaction is death, and action is the insignia of life.
While acting, be mentally renounced. If you do not renounce action mentally, action will start haunting you. We need to renounce the consequences of the action and move on. Otherwise, we are bogged down by the action. If we can renounce the action and its attributes mentally, be detached, the in-dweller, Atman, is happily sitting in the city of eleven gates. If not, the in-dweller has lost the peace and happiness.
Nine gates refer to – two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, genitals, and anus. Two additional gates mentioned in the Kathopanishad are the navel and the Brahma dwara, top of the head. There are eight at the head and three in the trunk. Brahma dwara is a subtle aperture, which is also known as Sukshma naadi. It is symbolic of spiritual opening. It is the point of connection between pure knowledge and the supreme divine Consciousness.
There is a connection with what is mentioned as even-minded in the Kathopanishad and mentally renounced in the 5th chapter of the Gita. Unborn Self means, even though Self is in the body, the body is subject to death and birth. The Atman, in-dweller in the body, is neither born nor does it die. It refers to the imperishable Brahman.
Then the Lord talks of sadhana. ‘Having meditated upon this’ indicates a direction on what to meditate upon. When your thoughts are on the higher we call it as meditation. The direction given is to meditate on the in-dweller, dwelling in the city of nine / eleven gates. It’s role is mentally renouncing all actions, and meditation consumes all your thoughts on Atman. It takes you closer to the object of your thought.
When you are thinking about the Self, it takes you closer to the Self. You become the Self. The sign that you have come closer to the Self is that ‘you grieve not’. When you are meditating on something, you develop the qualities of what you are meditating on. You borrow the characteristics of what you are thinking of. You meditate on the Self, you become the Self, and the benefit is that you do not grieve. There are no more worries, anxieties, insecurity, fear, and you become a witness to everything you do. Your life becomes a symbol of joy and happiness. Law of attachment says ‘As you think, so you become’.
Eg: If you are attached to your work, you carry that work, its pressures, all the dynamics of the work environment to your home. If you practise the quality of mentally renouncing, you become the embodiment of joy, and work becomes a pleasure to you.
Eg: If you think of the car, you become the car, and a small scratch, you feel the scratch on you.
So, examine where your thoughts are going. You become whatever your thoughts are. One who meditates on the Self gets rid of ignorance and ego. Ignorance is the cause of grief and bondage. ‘One liberated is ever liberated indeed, which means one is free from the cycle of birth and death.
You feel the sense of liberation only when you experience bondage. If you don’t feel the sense of bondage, it means you are in ignorant and deluded. Such an individual does not understand knowledge or liberation. To understand liberation, you must first understand bondage. To get cured, you must first know what the disease is. A sign of spirituality is a feeling of suffocation, even in the best moments of your life.
When you don’t realise the larger purpose of life, you are caught up in mundane pursuits. As Saint Adi Shankaracharya says in Bhaja Govindam, is life meant only to run behind kanchana wealth and kamini enjoyment? If a person does not feel suffocated in this pursuit of acquisition and enjoyment, he is unfit for spirituality. Life should not be for these meaningless pursuits. One should see the hollowness in them. Mumukshatva, burning desire for liberation, will then take precedence only when you understand that life is not for this alone.
The joy in any pursuit is in getting it. The moment you get it, there is no joy. These worldly pursuits draw you, and in the process, you forget the larger purpose of life. Therefore, mentally renounce the lower and enjoy the higher.
