Hārīta Maharshi
Hārīta, simply known as Harita, Sanskrit: हारीत, Telugu: హారీతుడు, Hindi: हारीत.
Hārīta Maharshi is the ṛshi to whom the Hārīta-Gītā is credited. It is a teaching on sannyāsa ācāra (the conduct of the renunciant). It is kept in the Mokshadharma Parva of the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapter 278).
In this teaching Hārīta lays out the whole discipline of the parivrājaka (the wandering renunciant). It covers the time to seek bhikshā (alms), holding back the six vegas (impulses), non-violence in speech and mind, praṇava-japa (repeating Oṃ), calm before praise and blame, and the way to the paramapada (the highest state).
This Hārīta is not the Hārita of the Padma Purāṇa who sent King Dilīpa to Vasishṭha, and he is not Hārita of Maulisthāna.
The Hārīta-Gītā
The teaching is credited to Hārīta as an old authority on moksha-dharma (the way to liberation). It is addressed to the vidvāns (those who know). It is not for the uninitiated. It shows what sannyāsa means when its inner meaning is fully understood. Bhīshma quotes it to Yudhishṭhira. It answers the question of what character, conduct and knowledge (jñāna) lead to the brahma-sthāna (the state of Brahman).
The Hārīta-Gītā covers these points.
Leaving home. The sannyāsī should leave only after giving abhaya (fearlessness) to all beings. He leaves from a place of fullness, not from failure or disgust.
The six vegas. The parivrājaka must bear, and not be carried away by, the impulse of speech (vāk), mind (manas), anger (krodha), violence (hiṃsā), hunger (udara) and sex (upastha). These six impulses are the main obstacles to the inner steadiness of the renunciant.
Bhikshā. He should seek bhikshā only when the household is fully settled. The fires have stopped smoking, the pestles are put away, and all the members have eaten. The sannyāsī takes only what keeps him alive (prāṇa-yātrika-mātra). He takes little or much with the same calm.
Staying unknown, and calm before praise. The parivrājaka should sleep in a different place each night, so that he stays unknown. He should be as calm before praise as before blame.
Praṇava-japa and vairāgya. The heart of the sannyāsī’s sādhanā (practice) is praṇava-japa all the time, together with maunam (silence) and vairāgya (detachment). These three, not the outer marks of renunciation, make true sannyāsa.
The fruit. For the one who understands the sannyāsa-āśrama (the stage of renunciation), it is moksha. For the one who takes it up without understanding, it is only hardship.
Other teachings beside it
The Hārīta-Gītā stands with the Śaṃpaka-Gītā, the dialogue of Jaigīshavya and Asita, and the Bodhya-Gītā. These are teachings of the Mokshadharma Parva on the inner life of a sannyāsī. The Hārīta-Gītā gives exact details, such as the order for bhikshā and the impulses to be held back. It holds that the paramapada beyond prakṛti (nature) is the only final reality.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 278