Sarah: I have a question about terminology I could’nt find any detailed answer to in the satsangs or in the Sanskrit glossary.
It’s related to the vasanas. I understand now very well what they are, and how, when they conglomerate, they become a samskara, what psychology calls a complex. But I can’t find anything about the pratibandikas.
Thank you in advance to take the time to explain it or to give a link in order to.
Sundari: This is a good question. Whether we are talking about a single vasana, or a conglomeration of vasanas that make up a samskara, (a complex to use a psychology term), if the vasana or the samskara is binding, it is a pratibandika. For moksa to obtain, all binding vasanas, i.e., all pratibandikas, must be rendered non-binding. Here is where it gets tricky. Though the answer to this question is simple it also very subtle. It all depends on whose point of view you are asking the question from, jiva or Self? Not all vasanas or samskaras are adharmic. For instance, you need a strong vasana to commit to self-inquiry, and that vasana will probably be linked to a very positive knowledge samskara.
The Self is free of all vasanas/samskaras (pratibandikas), even the beneficial ones, such as a binding samskara for performing your life as a service to the whole in dedication to Isvara, or a binding vasana for moksa. The Self is not a seeker because it is whole and complete and seeks nothing, it is free of all attachments. But it is also free to have dharmic desires and attachments because it knows it desires and is only attached to itself. Change of perspective from the jiva to the Self. If there is only you, there are no others and everything is you, even a seeming attachment to someone or something you love.
As the Self, you are no longer driven by the psychological drives and desires of the jiva because you are not identified with being a jiva. You are free of the jiva. But you are also free to be an apparent jiva, so you can still have apparent preferences. However, if you are asking this question from the jiva’s point of view, then all adharmic binding vasanas/samskaras must be rendered non-binding. Namely, the jiva patterns that keep the jiva small, limited, and suffering.
To sum up and repeat: a vasana or a samskara is a pratibandika if it is binding. As a committed inquirer, a purified mind is required, and this involves rendering adharmic binding vasanas nonbinding. But you need a binding dharmic vasana for moksa to stick to self-inquiry, which means your whole value system is dharmic, i.e., in line with the scripture.
But eventually, even the binding desire for moksa must go because it no longer applies once you know you are the unlimited Self. When Self-knowledge obtains, all vasanas/samskaras are rendered non-binding, even dharmic binding vasanas. You are then free of the jiva, but as stated, also ironically, free to be a jiva because you know that the jiva is only apparently real. Your likes and dislikes are just preferences and no longer binding. Your vision is non-dual, and you follow dharma automatically, without thought.
I hope this helps. As with everything in Vedanta, there are many layers to the answer to your question, but the most important one to understand is who is asking the question. Jiva, or Self? If you apply this criterion to everything that comes up for you in your self-inquiry, it immediately helps to dispel doubt. It is like a fail-proof litmus test.
Much love
Sundari
