Question:
Please can you explain about Vasanas and Samskaras? And what is Atma Samskara?
Sri Prabhuji:
One lady who is selling fish goes for fishing. Due to heavy rains she cannot return home. She stays in the home of her friend who sells flowers. Fisher woman could not sleep due to smell of flowers. She covered her face with fish basket to get good sleep !!
Fisher woman is comfortable with smell of fish. This is her vasana . Vasana means impressions which have become active. Vasana is the tendency.
How did the tendency come ?
a)Action performed – selling fish.
b)Subconscious impressions called Samskara “I like smell of fish” is formed.
c)Samskara becomes tendency called Vasana when there is need or opportunity. When fisher woman felt uncomfortable her Vasana got activated.
d)Vasana leads to action – covering her face with fish basket.
This is a cycle – Action -Samskara- vasana-action so on it keeps going.
Good Samskara: Actions which lead to impressions which help oneself or the others. For example doing Puja everyday.
Bad Samskara: Harmful actions like smoking. (Adharmic actions)
Purifying Samskara: Dharmic actions – panchamahayajnas, seva etc These leads to chittashuddhi and moksha.
Shodasha Samskara: In Santana dharma we perform 16 rituals from birth to death. – Namakarana ,annaprashana upanayana etc. This is creating good impressions in the child like planting seeds. Seeds will become plants and tree. Similarly Shodasha Samskaras grow and develop good Samskaras in a person.
Samskruti means culture of individual,family or society, which comes from the word Samskara. We are fortunate to be born in Bharath a country with great Samskrati focused on dharma and moksha due to action of several avatar purushas, sadgurus and Mahatmas. Samskara of Bharath is “Bha” means Wisdom, Rat means happiness. We have deep Samskara of finding happiness in true wisdom – enlightenment. Atma samskara is the impression carried by jiva from one life to a other. We should develop good samskaras.
Is samskara required ? Samskara is natural part of our life. Any situation in life, our intellect takes inputs from samskaras of mind. Problem starts when samskaras take over intellect by overpowering. For example alcoholism. Hence we should focus on developing good samskaras by doing good karma, yagna.