#239 Setusāma – 4 easy ways to cross over our spiritual obstacles
15th August is a day of double celebration. The first is that India got independence and the second is that it is my beloved guru Pujya Swami Dayananda ji’s birth anniversary. He taught us that we were always free and never bound by the many limitations that we identify with.
As I offer my pranaams to him I am reminded of a verse from the Sāma Veda that he used to sing which was dear to him and to all who heard it.
First a little background.
The Upanishads show us directly that our true intrinsic, unchanging nature is Brahman, the limitless. This contradicts our universal experience of everything including our body-mind as limited and changing.
We identify with our changing body-mind and experiences wanting these to last forever because we do not know the one that is the changeless.
Since self-ignorance is the cause of our problem, self-knowledge is the solution to our problem of limitation.
Self-ignorance denies us the recognition of our true nature ātmā/Brahman.
Just like the clouds seemingly obstruct the radiant sun, the clouds of the ‘I’ notion (ahamkāra), kāma (binding desire), krodha (anger) and lobha (greed) obstruct our vision of the Atma. The Rishis describe these as the obstructions in gaining self-knowledge. They provide us the means to overcome them.
Bhagavatpujyapāda A̅di Sankaracharya in his text ‘Shatashl̒okī’ (verse 18) gives us the gist of Setusāma which are the obstructions that stop us from gaining ātmajñāna as
adānam –absence of giving
krodha – Anger
asr̒addhā – lack of trust/sr̒addhā)
asatyam (that which is false – anrutam).
Setusāma – A mantra from the Sāma Veda is also called a sāma.
Setu is the name of the specific mantra and so it is called Setu-sāma. The word setu is used here in the sense of a bund that stops the flow of water and not as a bridge.
Sāmas are sung in their specific tunes.
At the beginning of the mantra – 2 set of words are repeated thrice.
हाउ ३ –- This is a particle (nipāta) used in the singing of sāma to introduce or to end a mantra. It can be also in the sense of wonder, variety, alternative, distinction etc. The number ‘three’ indicates the repetition of that word or phrase thrice.
सेतून् तर – do cross over the (four) bunds, दुस्तरान् – not possible to cross over by any other means (than those specified here),
““ हाउ ३, सेतूंस्तर ३, दुस्तरान् ३, दानेनादानं ३, हाउ ३, अहमिस्म प्रथमजा ऋतास्या ;
Cross over the first bund of non-giving by giving.
There may be many reasons why one does not give one’s time, money or does not share one’s things. It does not matter.
You give because you are not focused on your insecurity.
You give because it makes you and the other happy.
You give because you are much the richer despite giving.
You give because in the giving is the receiving.
Giving extends the circumference of our I notion to accommodate more people.
We have to learn to give before we give up our wrong notions.
Sannyasa literally means giving up completely. Physically one does depend on the panchamahabhutas to sustain the body-mind.
Whether one takes the robes or not, the lakshana for sannyasa is jnanam. I do not rely on limited identities to give me security.
One can cross over the tendency to be selfish and hoard things by giving, little by little, such that one can give up all that one held on to, for security.
I cross over the obstacle of non-giving by giving. I practise this again and again.
I am the first-born entity, (Hiranyagarbha) from the ultimate truth Brahman.
हाउ ३, सेतूंस्तर ३, दुस्तरान् ३, अक्रोधेन क्रोधं ३, हाउ ३, पूवर्ं देवेभ्यो अमृतस्य नाम ;
The second bund or obstruction is anger.
Cross over the second bund of anger by absence of anger in the form of accommodation.
The Bhagavad Gita gives us a brilliant framework of the cause of anger and the effect of anger. Unlike popular belief, anger cannot be managed at the level of anger but at the intensity of the desire. If your desire for a situation or a thing is not fulfilled, then anger is unavoidable.
The more intense the desire, the more intense the anger.
How would you feel when you have made it clear to your partner how he or she should behave in social situations or what your child should do with her pocket money and they do not do it?
Lord Krishna describes kāma, krodha and lobha as the self-ruinous gate to naraka (B.G. 16-21). In the third chapter of Bhagavadgīta, Lord Krishna exhorts the mumukṣu to destroy desires by all means (B.G. 3-41, 3-43) by labelling it as gluttonous (mahāshana), very wicked (mahāpāpmā) (B.G. 3-37), always an enemy of jnānīs (B.G. 3-39), a destroyer of scriptural knowledge (jñāna) and direct cognition (vijñāna) of ātmā (B.G. 3-41), and an unassailable (durāsada) enemy (B.G. 3-43).
In our lives, some binding desires, we can reduce to preferences and some binding desires may be fulfilled for emotional growth.
Rather than ‘have to’ I would prefer my partner to behave in a particular way in social situations. At the same time I cannot control him/her. He or she has been shaped by many events and influences.
I accommodate the person and give the person freedom to be. I accommodate my reactions as well.
I don’t react to a reaction and get angry even with myself.
The shift is from anger to accommodation – krodha to akrodha. I practise this again and again.
पूवर्ं देवेभ्यो अमृतस्य नाम ‘I’ who am called eternal Brahman exist even before the entities presiding over different phenomena came into existence.
हाउ ३, सेतूंस्तर ३, दुस्तरान् ३, श्रद्धया अश्रद्धां ३, हाउ ३, यो मा ददाित स इदेवमावात् ;
Cross over the third bund of non-sr̒addhā by the attitude of trust in the scriptures, and Isvara.
Shraddha or trust is not a quality that sits in the corner of your head but pervades the way you approach life, people and work.
All of us have experienced small betrayals where we have felt let down by our parents, friends, partners and even children. It is easy to crawl into our shell and not trust anyone or the process of life.
And yet to let life unfold, to let learning unfold, one needs to trust Bhagavan, Shaastra and the Guru.
As I practice what I learn from the guru and allow it to percolate into all areas of life, be it japa, Dhyaanam, dharma, karma yoga and sadhanas, my shraddha in the efficacy of the Shaastra grows.
Little by little I trust what I know of the Shaastra. I practise shraddha again and again.
He who offers me, Brahman in the form of food, to guests and the needy protects all beings. In course of time, he attains me (Brahman).
हाउ ३, सेतूंस्तर ३, दुस्तरान् ३, सत्येनानृतं ३, हाउ ३, अह्मन्नमन्नमदन्त्मािद्मः
Cross over the bund of falsely projected world by the means of ever-existent Brahman.
The jagat, world of names and forms is anrtam meaning it has a status of dependent reality just like an erroneous snake on a piece of rope. By directly knowing Satyam Brahman, the bund of anrtam or mithya jagat has to be crossed over. This is the highest accomplishment of life called moksha.
Only by the knowledge of Brahman that is oneself, anrtam of names and forms can be crossed over. Brahman alone is the ultimate reality and continues to exist even after the total dissolution of Creation.
In the normal course, I (Brahman) eat the food as an individual jīva (whereas during) pralaya (dissolution) I (Brahman) devour/destroy (all including) the Vaishvānara fire etc. who actually consume the food in the stomach. In other words, I am the reality who remains after dissolution.
हाउ ३ वा, एषा गितः ३, एतदमृतं ३, स्वगर्च्छ ३ , ज्योितगर्च्छ ३, सेतूंस्तीत्वार् चतुराः “
Depending on the practice of this chant and teaching, the following results are gained according to one’s eligibility. They are :
The earning of specific punya
Attaining the status of deity
Svarga, Heavenly abode
Liberation.
So this was Setusāma. Hope you enjoyed hearing it as well as the meaning on this auspicious day.
