November 2023
CLOSE-ENCOUNTER
Accountant
Spreads Advaita
Pradeep Krishnan meets chartered accountant turned Advaita Vedanta teacher Shri N Avinashilingam of
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, to find out how the study of Vedanta can help modern man Will people ever flock to a chartered accountant to quench their thirst about the existential problems of life: Whatis the purpose of Creation? Why am I suffering? What is enlightenment?
Not likely. But then, why is it not surprising thatseveral people seeking answers to the eternal questions on life, living, and death approach Shri N Avinashilingam (62), a Coimbatore based auditor and company secretary?
It is because Sri Arsha Avinash, as he is fondly called, is equally at ease with analysing balance sheets, and profits and loss accounts as he is with teaching Advaita Vedanta, Sanskrit, and Indian Culture. Inspired by his guru, the late Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Anaikatti, Tamil Nadu, he founded the Arsha Avinash Foundation in 2014 to propagate Advaita Vedanta, Indian Culture, Sanskrit, mantras, etc. through e-books, lectures, seminars, camps, and classes. He teaches Vedanta and Sanskrit, and is the author of about 220 articles on spirituality and culture. The website of his foundation offers 400-odd spiritual texts for free download.
My association with Sri Arsha Avinash happened during the COVID period, after downloading and reading some of the books. Though I was
keen to interact with him, we could meet only last year. Sitting with his wife, Smt Ponmani, a Vedanta, Sankrit, and yoga teacher, in the modest drawing room of their house at Tatabad, Coimbatore, he spoke to me at length. Our conversation began with him pointing out that whenever he uses the word ‘Vedanta,’ it should be taken as ‘Advaita Vedanta.’ Explaining further, he said, “The three main schools of Vedanta define the relationship between the Creator, or Paramatma, and the creation, or jivatma, differently. While the Dwaita school emphasises that the jivatma and Paramatma are separate, for the proponents of Vishishtadvaita, the jivatma is nothing but a spark of Paramatma. Advaita Vedanta alone considers that the jivatma and Paramatma are essentially the same Consciousness.”
As the study of Vedanta makes one see everything or every being as one’s own Self, one will have more sympathy and empathy for the whole of Creation. In
fact, Vedanta transforms a self-centred and selfish person into a selfless and caring person.”
When asked whether the study of Vedanta would make one more self-centred and selfish, he replied, “As the study of Vedanta makes one see everything or every being as one’s own Self, one will have more sympathy and empathy for the whole of Creation. In fact, Vedanta transforms a self-centred and selfish person into a selfless and caring person.”
Here are some excerpts from the interview.
Sir, may we know how you started your spiritual journey?
As a budding chartered accountant at the age of 24, in 1985, I happened to read the books of Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh. Though I was reading Vedantic books for the first time in this birth, I felt familiar with the Mahavakyas ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ and ‘Aham Brahmasmi.’ Perhaps, a carry-over of my previous birth. Soon, inspired by the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, I went on a pilgrimage to Kolkata, Varanasi, Haridwar, and Rishikesh.
Sometime in 1994, on knowing that the late Swami Dayananda Saraswati was giving a talk on the Bhagavad Gita at the Arsha Vidya
Gurukulam, Anaikatti, my wife, Smt A Ponmani, and I decided to attend it. On that Sunday, hearing the talks, I was at once convinced that he was the guru I was looking for. That was the turning point in my life. Thereafter, for several years, both of us attended Sunday classes at the ashram regularly. Since 2009, I have been writing articles in the ashram newsletter, Arsha Vidya.
Meanwhile, with my attending a spiritual camp hosted by Swami Paramarthananda, a direct disciple of Swami Dayananda, at the Swami Dayananda Ashram, Rishikesh, the goal of life and the means to achieve it became clear to me. Inspired by Vedantic wisdom, my wife and I completed a three-year [2014–2017] residential course on Vedanta and Sanskrit at the Anaikatti Ashram, deepening our vision of life.
Later, to spread the message of Vedanta, the Arsha Avinash Foundation was established to propagate Vedanta and Sanskrit, and the late Swami Dayananda Saraswati inaugurated the website [www.arshaavinash.in], where books on Vedanta and Sanskrit can be downloaded for
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free. So far, we have had more than 1,147,000 visitors from 175 countries and 7,000 cities!
I believe that our inclination towards spirituality is due to our samskaras (inclinations) from our previous births.
Could you please recount your close interactions with your guru, late Swami Dayanandaji?
Apart from attending Sunday classes on the Bhagavad Gita by Pujya Swamiji, when the second long-term course on Vedanta and Sanskrit was announced, Swamiji told me and my wife, “For both of you, this is the last birth. You do not have children. In the shastras, it is mentioned that those whose birth is the last one will not have children. You may join this long term course.” However, as I was not mentally prepared at that time, we joined the long-term course only in 2014.
For more than two decades, every Sunday, I had been regularly visiting the ashram to meet Swamiji and to have personal and spiritual
discussions. Meanwhile, I attended various spiritual camps of Swamiji as well as his senior disciples in the Coimbatore and Rishikesh ashrams. So far, I have written more than 200 articles in the ashram newsletter, on Swamiji’s public talks, activities to protect the Hindu Dharma, and spiritual camps. Swamiji always guided me in this endeavour.
After Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi in 2015, I wrote a brief biography in English, and later, it was translated into Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese, soft copies of which are available for free on our website.
Why should one study Vedanta? How will it help modern man?
One who studies Vedanta and assimilates the teaching will have a happy, contented, peaceful, and stress-free life. He will have sympathy and empathy for all living beings. He will overcome the feeling of inadequacy, which is the fundamental human problem.
Swami Dayananda Saraswatiji
In absolute reality, Brahman alone is. In empirical reality, we cannot say everything is an illusion. We say everything is mithya. ‘Mithya’ means one not having an independent existence but having an existence based on the substratum, which is Brahman. Everything is not an illusion for a person who has not understood Vedanta. Vedanta guides us as to what we should do to remove this ignorance that the world is an absolute reality.
For modern man, Vedanta teaches Karma Yoga. One should do his duty as an offering to Isvara. Whatever may be the result, it should be accepted as a prasada from Isvara. One who acts with such an attitude will be able to accept favourable and unfavourable results equally. They will not have stress. They will have a happy and contented life. For the individual jiva, all suffering will end on assimilating Vedanta knowledge.
Vedanta says “Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithya,” but Vedantic teachers live and teach remaining in a mithya [unreal] world. Isn’t it a contradiction?
There are two realities. The higher order of reality is paramarthika (absolute) reality. In that reality, we say Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithya. In that reality, transactions are not possible. The lower order of reality is vyavaharika (empirical) reality. In that empirical reality, only transactions happen. Vedantic teachers know that it is a mithya world. They live and teach in that empirical reality so that students understand both the absolute reality and the empirical reality.
If everything is an illusion, then what does it matter what we do?
In absolute reality, Brahman alone is. In empirical reality, we cannot say everything is an illusion. We say everything is mithya. Mithya means one not having an independent existence but having an existence based on the substratum, which is Brahman. Everything is not an illusion for a person who has not understood Vedanta. Vedanta guides us as to what we should do to remove this ignorance that the world is an absolute reality. The Vedas say that all our actions produce punyam [virtue] or papam [sin]. For getting favourable situations in the future, we require punyam. To avoid unfavourable situations in the future, we must avoid papam.
How would rituals help in purifying one’s mind?
Just as the body must be cleaned daily, the mind should also be cleaned every day. When we start any important activity, we face obstacles from our own body, mind, people around us, and unfavourable weather conditions. Meditation, prayers, and rituals help to calm down the
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mind. While doing rituals, we pray for whatever we desire. Psychologically, we feel that now we have the support of Isvara. Thus, regular prayers and rituals purify the mind.
In addition, rituals produce punyam. One can use that punyam for material benefit or spiritual benefit. If one opts for material benefit, they will get their desire fulfilled, but their outlook may not change. If one opts for spiritual benefit, there will be improvement in their outlook.
How can one achieve one’s life purpose? According to Vedanta, the aim and purpose of human life is to know one’s true Self. To achieve that, one should live a life of Karma Yoga. They should do actions prescribed in the shastras, such as Pancha Mahayagna. They should worship Isvara, study the scriptures, serve elders, and do service to humanity and all living beings. They will get discrimination, detachment, discipline, and desire for moksha [freedom from the sense of inadequacy]. After that, they should study the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads from a guru who is a srotriya [one who has studied from a traditional Guru] and a brahmanistha [one who has assimilated the knowledge of Brahman]. He will get Self knowledge in due course.
Nowadays, there are a lot of misconceptions about enlightenment, or Self-realisation. What do you have to say in this regard?
There is a wrong notion that moksha, or the highest spiritual goal, can be attained through Karma Yoga, Bhakti, nama sankirtana, or meditation. All these sadhanas can prepare one’s mind for Self-realisation. But moksha, or enlightenment, or Self-realisation, can be gained only through Vedanta knowledge acquired through the study of shastras, such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and other Vedantic texts, under the guidance of a traditional guru. Hearteningly, such gurus, who have studied Vedanta from a guru who knows the teaching methodology of Vedanta, are available in the several guru paramparas of Bharat, for one to obtain this priceless wisdom.
Message to the readers?
It is very rare to get a human birth. We should utilise this human birth to do dharmic actions. This will earn us punyam, which we should utilise for spiritual benefit. We should study Vedanta from a traditional guru and gain Self-knowledge in this birth itself. We will be liberated from the false sense of bondage, here and now. In other words, we will have enlightenment, or Self realisation, in this birth itself.
Pradeep Krishnan is a student of consciousness, based in Kerala. A seeker by nature, he is deeply attracted to the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
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