भवन्तु सद्दर्शन साधनानि परस्य नामाकृतिभिः सपर्याः ।

सद्वस्तुनि प्राप्त तदात्म भावा निष्ठैव सद् दर्शनमित्यवेहि ॥ —१०

सद्दर्शन् साधनानि = means to vision of truth; परस्य = of the absolute; सपर्याः = worship;

नामाकृतिभिः = with names and forms; भवन्तु = let them be; सद्वस्तुनि = in reality; प्राप्त

तदात्म भावा = where abidance is as – ‘It is Me’;  निष्ठैव = clear abidance alone;  सद्

दर्शनमित्यवेहि = know as the vision of truth.

Let the worship of names and forms of the absolute, be means to the vision of truth. Know that, as the vision of truth where the abidance is abidance as – ‘It is Me’.

The scriptures have given out many methodologies for one to arrive at the truth. There is a synthesis between religion and philosophy; so much so that, for a lay man; philosophy is difficult (next to impossible) to be digested without religion. Religion as an independent dogma does nothing in the spiritual growth of a person. A person will remain the same insecure, ignorant mortal if he does not mature religiously as thought progresses.

To suit the needs of all people who are not ready for a dose of metaphysics, we have karma yoga and upAsana. One is engaged in activities and uses the very same activities to purify the mind and gain focus.

Karma yoga is so called because it is a means for one to identify oneself as truth. Anything that takes you closer to your own self is a yoga. It is the attitude that matters. The attitude that – Ishvara is the intelligent principle that controls the law of karma. All acts are performed keeping Ishvara in mind, as a service unto him. The results are partaken gladly, which reduce the likes and dislikes in a person. Even a simple act of preparing dinner or teaching a child how to walk can become a yoga with this attitude. This gives purity.

UpAsana (japa, recitation of hymns, reading of scriptural texts etc) helps one in gaining a focused, pure mind. Such a person naturally gets interested in the higher.

This is a perfect arrangement. Philosophy is the base but it cannot be known by a common man without going through the stages of karma yoga and upAsana.

For the ones not yet ready for Upanishads, the indeclinable absolute is described as that having names and forms. The absolute cannot degenerate, yet to suit the immature minds, this has been arranged so. The purANik stories also talk about the same truth (that the Upanishads declare); the same truth is declared under the façade of stories, hymns, dialogues and songs.

Such an arrangement has helped the Indian majority not to stay away from spirituality.

Bhagavan Ramana says; let this arrangement continue, so long as the person is not ready for the upanishadik truth. He will gradually mature and so will his religiosity. Karma yoga and upAsana are a means to arrive at the truth.

And what is the truth that one arrives at?

When the search for truth is in the external, the immature mind finds only names and forms. Once the truth is known to be within then there is a constant abidance, which is of the form ‘I am that’. I know myself as that which I have been searching for. Now, the search has ended, since there is no escaping the whole. I am the whole. Such abidance is called sanniShTha (clear abidance). This abidance is a pristine vision of oneness, oneness in spite of the seeming divisions.