Slokas 109 to 113

Namah Shivaya,

Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.

Sloka 109 :

iti vaa tadbhavenmauna.n sataa.n sahaja sa.nGYitam.h .
giraa mauna.n tu baalaanaaM prayuktaM brahmavaadibhiH

Meaning: Great saints remain in the state of mounam , Initial seekers should always remains in mounam.

Explanation: As we have seen in earlier slokas sankaracharya explained the mounam as been in silence, due to the true knowledge of ultimate reality.
Great saints know that the world is an illusion and the substratum of Brahman is the only truth, hence they know the futility of words. As Brahman is beyond words, which cannot be explained through words as it is the substratum of everything. It is the eyes behind the eyes, the ear behind the ear etc. Hence it’s the subject, which cannot be perceived. As we cannot see our own eyes. So also subject cannot be described about. It is the illumination in each one which helps all the activities to happen. So one cannot speak about Brahman.
World is an illusion of names and forms in Brahman. So what can one speak about illusion. So both ways there is no reason to speak. Hence great saints remain in silence.

In kenopanishad it is mentioned
Yad vaacha anabhyuditam Yena vaag abhyudathe
Tadeva Brahma tvam viddhi na idam yad idam upaasathe

Taittiriya Upanishad says
Yatho vaacho nivarthanthe apraapya manasaa sah

Katha Upanishad says
Naiva vaacha na manasaa praapthum shakyona chakshushaa
Asthithi broovatho anyatra katham tad upalabhyathe

The silence spoken here is internal silence, where the mind doesn’t have any worldly thoughts , due to the strong conviction that the world is an illusion. There is only one constant thought of Brahman all the time. This is internal silence which shankarabhagavadpada is mentioning in this sloka.
This shouldn’t be interpreted in a wrong way, saying that without talking one cannot survive in this world. It just means that saints would talk only whenever necessary. What ever activity they do the are always abided in Brahman.
Here advise is given to the beginners that they should restrain themselves from talking whenever not needed. This would help a sadhaka to control his thoughts. To calm down his mind, to focus it or redirect the mind to contemplate on Brahman all the time. Thus a sadhaka should slowly practice to focus himself on Brahman. AMMA says mind is like a pond. When a stone is dropped ripples are created and pond is no more still, thus unnecessary talks will create ripples in the mind and will take time for the mind to reach the calm state again.
Thus sankarabhagavadpada says in this sloka that realized people find that its futile to talk and hence are always in the state of silence, whereas a beginner or an initial sadhaka should restrain himself into indulging into unnecessary talks.

Sloka 110:

aadaavante cha madhye cha jano yasminna vidyate .
yeneda.n satata.n vyaapta.n sa desho vijanaH smR^itaH

Meaning: World doesn’t exist in the beginning, middle or the end of the entity. It pervades everything , this is called desham.

Explanation: Sankarabhagavadpada defines the sadhana of desham in this sloka.
The 3 limited adjuncts of the world as mentioned in one of the 6 schools of philosophy or shad darshanas are time space and causation. The world we know is a result of the cause and its effect. The cause of a pot is mud and the effect is the pot. Similarly the effect of the world has the cause of Brahman as its substratum. Similarly space and time. All the objects in the world occupy space and space is all pervading. There is no object which exists independent of space. Similarly is the case with time. Time is the basic measurement we have for the world.
In this sloka desham is defined as one which doesn’t have the world in the beginning , middle and the end. This means world doesn’t exist in it. Meaning world is an illusion in it. So the substratum is real and the world is an illusion in that. Also it alone pervades the entire universe.
The cause of mud doesn’t have pot in it , in any way. Pot is made of mud, but mud doesn’t contain pot. Also mud is all pervading the pot. It is the only entity present in pot. Similarly, the world is an illusion and Brahman alone is present as the substratum and is all pervading. So desham here is nothing but Brahman alone. That which is beyond space.

Chandogya Upanishad says

Sadeva soumya idam agra aaseeth ekam eva adviteeyam

Brahman alone exists here one without a second.

Space is supposed to have come from Brahman. Brahman is beyond space. It is all pervading. Nothing exists apart from it. As the nature of atman is Brahman alone, in the sadhana of desham one has to remember that atman is all pervading and the world is an illusion in Brahman. This is same as the mahavakhya “Brahma satyam jagath mithya”
Practicing this a person achieves samadristhi as he sees oneness ,i.e Brahman everywhere. This constant niddhidhyasanam on the truth of the mahavakya is what needs to be practiced by a sadhaka.

Sloka 111:

kalanaat sarvabhuutaanaaM brahmaadiinaa.n nimeshhataH .
kaalashabdena nirdishhTo hyakhaNDaanandako.advayaH

Meaning: One who is the creator of all beings in the world till Brahma in a split of second. He is called kalam. He is of the nature of indivisible, happiness without duality.

Explanation: Sankarabhagavadpada after explaining space on of the adjuncts for the world. Now he explains time.
Time or kalam as per our understanding is a measurement of the time of creation of new life or activities in the world. But as per sankarabhagavadpada kalam is that which created the whole world, from which the whole world has come. Means it is the supreme cause.
Thus kalam is the cause of the whole world to be created. Without which the world doesn’t exist. Brahman exists independent of world. If world exists or not Brahman exists. But world is dependent on Brahman for existence. Thus kalam is defined.
It is of the nature of akhandam or partless, which cannot be divided .As it is one alone, there is nothing else apart from it. It is the only entity present in the entire universe.
It is of the nature of anandam. We all know that Brahman is of the nature of sat chit anandam.

Thus sadhana of kalam or time means a sadhaka should always remain in the knowledge that Brahman alone is the truth behind the whole world, as whole world depends on Brahman for its existence. If Brahman is not there world itself vanishes. Hence remembering the truth a person should practice sadhana of kalam. Seeing Brahman everywhere in all activities done.

Sloka 112:

sukhenaiva bhedyasminnajasraM brahmachintanam.h .
aasana.n tadvijaaniiyaannetaratsukhanaashanam.h

Meaning: Asana is that which is easy and comfortable and one gains a constant , uninterrupted thought of Brahman.

Explanation: Sankarabhagavadpada in this sloka explains the next sadhana among the 15 steps , he mentioned earlier.
As per patanjali asana or posture is that which is stable or sthiram and comfortable or sukham. Through Patanjali yoga sutras control of mind is achieved by controlling the body. Ultimately a state of Samadhi is reached wherein a person goes beyond the mind. Thus control of the thoughts of the mind and going beyond the mind is what is achieved by controlling the body through patanjali yoga asanas.
As per the author asana is having an easy , uninterrupted thought of Brahman in mind.
It is controlling the mind and its thoughts by always having a constant thought of Brahman , inspite of doing all activities in the world. It does not mean that one should sit in a posture and control the mind. While doing all activities one should have an easy uninterrupted thought of Brahman all the time. This is the sadhana sankarabhagavad pada is mentioning through this sloka. Thus we can see the difference in both asana as per patanjali’s yoga and sankarabhagavad pada’s asana.
As per Ramana maharshi in upadeshasaaram

Aajya dhaarayaa srotasaa samamSarala chintanam viralatah param

As flow of ghee , as pure as water, continuous thoughts of mind are better than broken thoughts.
This means one should have constant thought like the flow of ghee , without any break of flow.

We all know how difficult it is to control the mind. In a second our mind can go in various directions. At one moment we may be thinking that we are in US , in the next moment we might be thinking we are in US and the kind of life we may lead there. So mind is very unstable and always active. Controlling the mind is of the most toughest thing to achieve. This is what is targeted by sankarabhagavad pada.

Sloka 113:

siddha.n yatsarvabhuutaadi vishvaadhishhThaanamavyayam.h .
yasminsiddhaaH samaavishhTaastadvai siddhaasana.n viduH

Meaning: Ever established truth that the substratum of all the beings in the world is Brahman .Siddhas are always established in this thought . This is called siddhaasanam.

Explanation: In this sloka the author explains about siddhasanam , the one of the asanas a person aspiring to be a siddha has to sit in. Siddha is a person who has got control over the sense organs. To gain control and become a siddha one should sit in that asana.
As per yoga asanas it is a particular posture which helps a person to control his sexual passions.
The substratum of world of names and forms is Brahman . The world we see is only an illusion in the reality of Brahman. Brahman is the only entity that is present in the entire universe.
As mentioned in atma bodha by sankarabhagavadpada
“taavat satyam jagadbhati shuktika rajatam yatha
Yavanna jnayate brahma sarvaadhistana adhvayam”

As silver appears in the shell, so also the world seems to be until we know the truth that Brahman which is indivisible and all pervading entity present.

Always being established in this knowledge , which is mentioned in the Vedas that Brahman is the only entity present in the whole universe, is what is called siddhasanam.

Namah Shivaya