Arise, awake; having reached the great ones know (Atman). Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, hard to tread and difficult to cross — thus say the wise.
Arise and awake refer to arising and awakening from this life of samsara, terrestrial entanglement.
When you experience tragic moments, shocks of life, or a temporary hollowness, you experience a sense of vairagya, dispassion, but it is a temporary state. It is an impotent impulse and has no strength to last. The opening of the mind to the hollowness of life is indicated by the word arise. Life gives you glimpses of that hollowness. When the world gives you the knocks and shocks, you experience the moment of vairagya.
Rishis are telling us to wake up to that spirit of vairagya by realising the rotting existence in the samsaric world. Knocks and shocks of life are a divine intervention to go inward. If not, you will get bound and go deep into samsara. Knocks and shocks are symbolised by the gada of Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu holds Padma, Shanka, Gada, and Chakra in four hands. The Padma lotus flower is the seat of knowledge, which is the ultimate goal. Shanka conch symbolises the inner voice – the conscience pointing towards the Reality. When you don’t follow your conscience, you get the gada maze – knocks and shocks of life. It is the sign to turn inward, to the right path. Last is the chakra disc, which means your own actions annihilate you.
You need to hold on to the trigger, the spirit of vairagya, and wake up to it. Let it not be a passing impulse.
Considering that you have arisen and woken up, you must reach the great ones. The awakening is backed up by approaching and surrendering to a guru. Narendra, when he woke up to reality, he approached Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who became his guru. If you do not approach the guru, you will get back to your slumber.
In the Mundaka Upanishad, a Mantra – 1.2.12
परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणो निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन ।
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत् समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥ 12॥
parīkṣya lōkān karmachitā-nbrāhmaṇō nirvēdamāyānnāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtēna ।
tadvijñānārthaṃ sa gurumēvābhigachChēt samitpāṇi-śśrōtriya-mbrahmaniṣṭham ॥
Having examined the worlds gained by action, a brahmin should turn indifferent towards them – the Uncreated cannot be attained by action. To know that he should, with sacrificial faggots in hand, approach only a guru who is learned in scripture and established in Brahman.
This mantra gives the qualification of a guru and how a seeker must approach the guru. Having examined the world gained by action, you must be indifferent towards them. The uncreated refers to the unmanifest, which can be attained by jnanam, knowledge, and not action. Karma is an outward journey, and jnanam is an inward journey. To gain the knowledge of Brahman, a seeker should approach a guru who is well learned in scriptures and established in Brahman Shrotriyam and Brahmanistham, with samitpani, an offering that will serve the guru.
The spiritual path is like a razor’s edge. It’s a thin fine line. It is not easy to lead a consistent life dedicated to self-control, self-discipline, acute awareness of sharp discrimination under all circumstances, and in every walk of life. This is like walking on a razor’s edge. It is easy to fall off that discipline, awareness, and lack discrimination. It is indeed hard to tread and difficult to cross. It is not easy getting onto that spiritual perfection, but not impossible. People have tread this path and have reached the goal; it is humanly possible.
It is like scaling Mount Everest. People have scaled so you can also scale it. If all have failed, then we can conclude that it is impossible to scale. The fact that people have scaled it, gone to the summit, indicates that it is possible, but it is indeed very difficult. A parallel is drawn to the spiritual path and scaling a mountain. It is walking on a razor’s edge as referred in the mantra. There is a single track for scaling the mountain, which is compared to the spiritual journey, which is an individualistic journey.
‘Thus say the wise.’ It is not only the opinion of Lord Yama. Vedanta does not accept any individual’s opinion or imagination. It accepts words of lineage of Guru shishya, preceptor disciple. Kathopanishad itself is an authority, but they refer to their gurus.
Approaching a guru with the right spirit is to enquire that Atman to seek Atma vidya, and then you will realise that the path is like walking on a razor’s edge. It is indeed difficult, hard to tread.
