Verse – 67 – 07.02.2016
07 Sunday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
in07 Sunday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
in06 Saturday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
in04 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inदृश्यते श्रुयते यद् यद् ब्रह्मणोऽन्यन्न तद्भवेत् ।
तत्त्वज्ञानाच्च तद्ब्रह्म सच्चिदानन्दमद्वयम् ॥६३॥
drushyate shruyate yadyad brahmaNOnyanna tadbhavet
tattvajnyaanaachcha tadbrahma sachchidaanandamadvayam ll63ll
All that is perceived or heard is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the knowledge of the Reality, one sees the universe as the Non-Dual Brahman, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss… Absolute.
In the initial stages of Vedantic teaching great effort is taken to separate Atma and Anatma, consciousness and matter, chetana and jada vastu. This is done for the ease of understanding alone. Once this concept becomes clear to the student, the teaching is not over. At this stage there still remains a duality in the form of Atma and Anatma, the observer and the observed. But vedanta teaches adwaita, that is there are no two things and there is only one reality and that is the pure consciousness alone. This verse under discussion clarifies this doubt in the mind of the seeker.
Shankara in this verse says that, actually there are no two things, there is only one and that is Atma or consciousness. What ever we see, hear, and experience through our body mind sense complex during the stage of ignorance as anatma or matter, that very same thing is understood as Atma, consciousness or Brahman on gaining knowledge. To explain this further an example of a rope can be taken which is lying in a semi dark room. A person who is ignorant of the rope will probably see it as along and winding snake. He will superimpose on the rope, the hissing, the slithering and even the poisonous fangs of the snake on the rope. After some time when he lights the lamp in the room, the same snake automatically is understood as the rope which is harmlessly lying on the floor. So when the ignorance is removed the snake as if disappears and the rope appears, but in reality there is no disappearance or appearance. The very thing which was mistaken as snake due to ignorance is understood as rope when the light of knowledge dawns. Similarly the whole universe and whatever (yad yad) which we experience through seeing (drushyete), listening (shruyete) etc is nothing other than Brahman (brahamanonya tad bhavet) but is experienced as the world due to ignorance. That same is experienced as existence consciousness bliss (satchidanandam) , that (tat) non dual (adwayam) Brahman (Brahma) on the dawn of self knowledge (tatva gnyana) in the bosom of the seeker. Thus on self realisation the duality vanishes, as there is only one, the non dual Brahman, there never ever were two!! There are no two things as the God and the world. The correct understanding is God alone is !!!
04 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inसर्वगम सच्चिदात्मानं ज्ञानचक्षुर्निरीक्षते ।
अज्ञानच्क्षुर्नेक्षेत भास्वन्तं भानुमन्धवत् ॥६४॥
sarvagam sachchdaatmaanam jnyaanachakShurnireekShate
ajnyaanachkShurnekSheta bhaasvantam bhaanumandhavat ll64ll
Though Atma is Pure Consciousness and ever-present everywhere, yet it is perceived by the eye of wisdom alone: but one whose vision is obscured by ignorance he does not see It; as the blind do not see the resplendent Sun.
In this shloka the same idea as in the previous shloka is expressed but emphasis is being made on the use of the correct means of gaining self knowledge. Atma being the observer, the illuminator cannot itself be illumined by the sense organs. Just as eyes are used to see form and colour, nose to perceive smells etc. all the sense organs have their own fields of operation. Atma being attributeless cannot come under the perview of any of the sense organs for direct perception. So it has to be only intellectually appreciated by a highly trained subtle,pure mind. So in order to realise Atma or Brahman there is a sixth pramana the Shastras, the only means available to us which help us on our path of self realisation. The shastras are referred to as the only means of knowledge for knowing Brahman (gnyana chakshus) here. The proper and systematic study of the shastras for a length of time under the guidance of a competent Guru makes the mind refined and capable of understanding the all pervading Brahman of the nature of existence (Sat) and Consciousness (Chit). Just as a blind person cannot see the resplendent, brightly shining sun as he lacks the proper means of knowledge, similarly we cannot appreciate the ever present Atma without the help of a mind which has been made refined by the through study and assimilation of the Shastras. We as laymen cannot appreciate the exact working of the body. Only a doctor who has been trained can hope to understand fully what exactly is going on inside our bodies. A country bumpkin on observing the sunrise and sunset will attribute the motion to the sun alone, while a science student knows that formation of the days and night are due to the rotation of the earth. We will see on seeing a wall will not be able to imagine the continuously moving atomic and subatomic particles it is made of and the empty space which exists within the atoms, unless we are well trained in science. An untrained mind will see the varied multiplicity of names and forms of matter while the same universe is seen as Brahman by a highly trained mind.
That Atma which is present everywhere (sarvagam) as existence and consciousness (Sadchidatmanam) can be perceived (nirekshyate) only through the eyes of wisdom (gnanachakshuhu- in the form of a refined mind obtained from the study of the shastras). A person who does not have a intellectually or shastrically refined mind or unrefined mind (agnanachakshu) cannot understand Brahman, just as a blind person (andhavat) cannot perceive the glittering (bhasvantam) sun (bhanum) even though it is so evident and self effulgent.
02 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inजगद्विलक्षणं ब्रह्म ब्रह्मणोऽन्यन्न किञ्चन ।
ब्रह्मान्यद्भाति चेन्मिथ्या यथा मरूमरीचिका ॥६२॥
jagadvilakShaNam brahma brahmaNOnyanna kinchana
brahmaanyadbhaati chenmithyaa yathaa maroomareechikaa ll62ll
Brahman is other than this, the Universe. There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage.
The world (jagad) of multiplicity which we see is different (vilakshanam) from Brahman (Brahma). It is permeated by Brahman as we saw in the earlier verse. The individual is initially divided into the deha (the body) and the dehi (the indweller of the body). By making such statements we are initially accepting duality. This is the first stage of understanding. We separate Atma from Anatma initially for ease of understanding. In the next stage Shankaracharya proclaims that Atma is satyam and everything else is mithya. Whatever we experience , according to vedanta the experienced object is unreal or mithya while the experiencer is real or satyam. The deha is unreal while the dehi is real. What ever we experience, in the form of the everchanging world upon the changeless substratum of Brahman, is all anitya (ephimeral) even though solidly experienced by me. The changeless substratum in and through all the changes and the multiplicity of names and forms is the permanent Consciousness or Brahman or Atma which I have to clearly understand as myself. So other than Brahman (Brahmanaha anyata) there is nothing else (anyata na) , every thing else other than Brahman (Brahmananyat) is unreal like the shining (bhaati) mirage (Marichika) in the dry sand of the desert (maru).
An example of the mirage is given for further elaboration. Just as a mirage is seen in the dry desert by an onlooker and the thirsty person runs after the fake mirage water to quench his thirst, he imagines all sorts of oasis and trees in the and near the mirage, due to hallucination. The more he chases it the farther it goes from him. Even though he sees the mirage water he has to understand that all that is fake and the reality is desert alone, upon which the mirage is projected. Similarly Brahman is the only one reality on which the unreal world of multiplicity is projected by his mind.
01 Monday Feb 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inस्वयमन्तर्बहिर्व्याप्य भासयन्नखिलं जगत् ।
ब्रह्म प्रकाशते वह्नि-प्रतप्तायसपिण्डवत् ॥६१॥
svayamantarbahirvyaapya bhaasayannakhilam jagat
brahma prakaashte vanhi pataptaayasapiNDavat ll61ll
Pervading the entire universe outwardly and inwardly the Supreme Brahman shines of Itself like the fire that permeates a red hot iron-ball and glows by itself.
When ever we see any object like a pen for example. We can see the pen due to two things one is that the pen exists and also that it is illumined by the light principle. Without the light the pen cannot be perceived by us. The light which is so essential for perception is often missed by us and is taken for granted. Now similarly just as light is required for perceiving any object, similarly for us to have knowledge of anything it has to be pervaded by the light of consciousness. Consciousness pervades everything in the creation and so we know it. Anything which we are not conscious of we cannot know. Five beams of consciousness as if fall on all the objects in the outside world and we are able to perceive them. The consciousness principle not only pervades the entire outside world but also our inner world. All the emotions, feelings and thoughts are illumined by the light of conciousness and so we can cognise anger, hunger etc. No object can be imagined which does not fall within the consciousness of some mind or the other.
Just as the fire principle pervades in and through a glowing red hot iron ball similarly Brahman or consciousness pervades the whole creation including even my mind. The fire principle being self effulgent shines by itself in and through the red hot ball similarly the consciousness spreads it light of knowledge in and through the whole creation by entirely pervading it. In vedanta as described in the previous verse, light is that principle in whose presence things and even feelings, thoughts are known and in whose absence these are not know. By this logic the light of consciousness is a light. What ever comes in contact with a red hot iron ball is burnt just as what ever is pervaded by the light of consciousness is illumined or known.
Brahman or consciousness pervading the inside (antah) and outside (bahihi) itself (swayam) illumines (bhasayan) the entire (akhilam) universe (jagata) and is self effulgent (swayam prakashate) just as the fire principle (vanhi) is all permeating and self effulgent in a red hot glowing iron (ayasa) ball (pindavat- like a ball) (which is on the verge of melting – pratapta). The concepts of total permeation and self effulgence are pointed out by this example.
Examples used to explain the various aspects of the teaching, highlighting a certain aspects of it and may fall short in explaining all the concepts completely. This sometimes leads to confusion and misunderstanding. In the present example the example of the red hot iron ball falls short for explaining the illumination principle of the consciousness or Atma, as a hot iron ball is ususlly not used for illumination purposes. We should not try to superimpose other aspects of the original thing on the example, nor should we try to find characteristics of the example in the original thing. Example should be used only for the purpose of highlighting only those aspects it is meant to be used for, in this case for pervasion and self illumination.
31 Sunday Jan 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inयद्भासा भास्यतेऽर्कादि भास्यैर्यत्तु न भास्यते ।
येन सर्वमिदं भाति तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥६०॥
yadbhaasaa bhaasyaterkaadi bhaasyairyattu na bhaasyate l
yena sarvamidam bhaati tadbrahmetyavadhaarayet ll60ll
That, by the light of which, the luminous orbs like the Sun and the Moon are illuminated, but which is not illumined by their light, realize that to be Brahman.
In order to really appreciate the real meaning of this verse, one has to understand what is the concept of light or Jyoti in Vedanta. According to Vedanta, light is that principle in whose presence things (even emotions, mind, ideas, feelings) are recognized or known, and in whose absence things cannot be known. Keeping in mind this definition alone, this shloka is to be understood. By this principle, the Sun, Moon, fire, lightening are all lights. Now, Vedanta goes further to say that the mind and sense organs are also lights, which “illumine” various aspects of the creation. The mind illumines the thoughts, emotions, feelings and ideas. In the presence of the mind alone things are recognized. If a person is absent minded many a things escape his attention. The sense organs illumine form, colour, taste, texture, smell, sounds etc. Words are also treated as lights, as they can illumine objects in a dark room for a person who suddenly enters there. All the books, Scriptures are also forms of light which illumine different aspects of the world.
Now a very pertinent question would be, what is it that which illumines the mind. Vedanta never leaves any question unanswered. It says the ultimate illuminator is I the Atma or Brahman, the Consciousness, the atma-chaitanyam. The light of Consciousness illumines the mind, which in turn illumines the sense organs and which in turn illumine the various aspects of the creation.
The Sun illumines the earth during the day and the Moon illumines the earth during the night.
There is a fundamental difference though between the two. The Sun illumines the earth with its own light, while the Moon does so with borrowed or reflected light. Similar is the case with atma-ahaitanya and other sources of light. All the other lights like the sense organs, the mind etc all borrow the light or the capacity to illumine from Atma or Brahman which is the ultimate illuminator. All
lights are lights because of Atma alone. Just as the moon cannot and need not illumine the sun, as the sun is self effulgent, similarly Atma cannot and need not be illumined by any other source of light.
Now in the shloka Shankara says by whose light (yadbhasa) are illumined (Bhasyete) powerful lights like the sun, moon and other orbs (arkaadi), but that which cannot be illumined by these powerful lights also (bhasyahi yeh tu na bhaasyete). But by which everything else shines (yena sarvamidam bhaati) that Brahman you realise (tat Brahma iti avadhareyet) as yourself through shravana, mananam and nididdhyasanam.
30 Saturday Jan 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inअनण्वस्थूलमहृस्वम् अदीर्घमजमव्ययम् ।
अरूपगुणवर्णाख्यं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥५९॥
anaNvasthoolamahrasvam adeerghamajamavyayam l
aroopaguNavarNaakhyam tadbrahmetyavadhaarayet ll59ll
Realize that to be Brahman, which is neither subtle nor gross; neither short nor long; without birth or change; without form, qualities, colour or name.
The entire Atma Bodha is an extraction from the Upanishads and so has the sanction of the Vedas. Many similar verses, as from the Atma Bodha, appear in various Upanishads as the Mudaka, Chandogya, Taitreya and BruhadaraNyaka Upanishads.
In this verse, Shankara is explaining why the Brahman, which is permeating everything in the creation, is not recognizable easily. Why is it not evident, even though it is ever present everywhere.
It is not perceived by any of the sense organs as it does not possess any property which can be perceived by the sense organs. We have to understand and accept the limitations of our sense organs which can only perceive form or colour (rupa), taste (rasa), touch (sparsha), smell (gandha) and sound (shabda). Even though we may, in our ignorance, think that whatever can be perceived only exists, the fact is far from this.
There are many frequencies which the human ear can’t comprehend and many colours which are beyond the range of the human eye. All our sense organs and even our mind and intellect are limited and can function within a fixed range.
Shankara says that Brahman is not a small thing (anaNu), nor a big thing (asthulam), nor short
(ahrasvam), nor long (adeergham), free from birth or origin (ajam), free from destruction or death (avyayam). It is formless (arupam), has no attributes (guNa), no colour (varNa), and no name either
(aakhyam). Shaastra is the only pramaaNa which can lead us to appreciate Brahman intellectually myself who am of the nature of Sat, Chit and Aananda.
There is a beautiful example in Chandogya Upanishad explaining how only the appropriate means of knowledge can be used to obtain true knowledge of anything. Suppose there is a lump of salt completely dissolved in a glass of water. Now if a person is asked to ascertain the presence of salt in the glass he can only do so by tasting it. He cannot use his eyes, nose, the sense of touch, or ears to do the same. The only way he can know the presence of the all permeating salt in the water is by tasting it, as salt has the property of saltiness which can be felt by the tongue. Salt even though present in even the minutest droplet of water cannot be perceived by any other means, similarly Brahman, which is all pervasive and present in the tiniest of the tiny can only be intellectually appreciated with the help of Shaastra pramaaNa.
29 Friday Jan 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inतद्युक्तमखिलं वस्तु व्यवहारस्तदन्वितः ।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म क्षीरे सर्पिरिवाखिले ॥५८॥
tadyuktamakhilam vastu vyavahaarastadanvitah l
tasmaatsarvagatam brahma kSheere sarpirivaakhile ll58ll
All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of Brahman; therefore Brahman permeates everything as clarified butter permeates milk.
All objects in the creation are endowed with five components. These are
* A name (naama),
* A form (rupa),
* Existence or “is” ness (asti), also known as Sat– we cannot talk of or conceive a thing which does not exist.
* Consciousness, “known” ness (bhaati) also known as Chit – we cannot talk about a thing which we are not aware of and
* Happiness (priyam) or Aananda, every object in the creation is dear to someone or the other and hence is a potential source of happiness or joy to some one. Either the presence of an object can give joy or sometimes the absence or removal of an object can be a source of joy.
The first two of these i.e. Name and Form describe to the inert world or Asat.
While the other three describe Atma or Brahman.
In this shloka, Shankara is saying that every thing (akhilam vastu) in the creation is permeated (yuktam) by that (tat) Brahman in the form of Existence, Consciousness and Happiness. Every transaction in the world is associated with that Brahman, which permeates everything in the form of asti, bhaati and priyam (vyavaharastadanvitah). Just as we cannot handle a pot without touching the clay, which is inherent in all the pots, similarly no transaction in this world is possible without Brahman. An ignorant person gets carried away by the name and form of the object while a wise person always sees the Brahman permeating every thing (tasmaat sarvagatam Brahma) through the characteristics of Asti , Bhaati and Priyam.
Now to clarify this point Shankara gives an example. Just as, even though not visible to the eye, clarified butter or ghee permeates even the minutest droplet of milk, similarly Brahman is inherent in everything in this world. It needs a series of complex processess including churning to extract and recognise the ghee in the milk. Similarly it requires intense thought churning to intellectually appreciate the existence of Brahman within and without.
28 Thursday Jan 2016
Posted Atmabodha
inअखण्डानन्दरूपस्य तस्य आनन्दलवाश्रिताः ।
ब्रह्माद्यास्तारतम्येन भवन्त्यानन्दिनोऽखिलाः ।।५७॥
akhaNDaanandaroopasya tasya aanandalavaashritaaha l
brahmaadyaastaaratamyena bhavantyaanandinokhilaaha ll57ll
Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle of the unlimited Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion, their share of that particle.
Just as Consciousness is of two types, Aananda, which is my true nature can also be divided into two categories. The Original Aananda, which is infinite and ever present as my real nature and Reflected Aananda, which is the property of the mind is called viShayaananda and varies in quality and quantity from time to time depending upon the state of the reflecting medium, the mind. The only Aananda which we can experience is the reflected or viShaayananda (pratibimbaananda). The original happiness (bimbaananda) can never be experienced, as it is the very experiencer and can never be the experienced. The reflected happiness is subject to arrival and departure, degree and gradation depending upon the state of the reflecting medium, the mind. Happiness in Vedanta is defined as the feeling of poorNatvam or the degree to which a person feels full and non-lacking. The more a person lacks some thing or the other in life, the less happiness he will feel. When I realize that I, as Brahman, do not lack anything, that the feeling of lack is no more there then the mind is most tranquil, the Original Aananda shines brightest in the mind .
Let us try to analyse what exactly happens when we are happy. When I buy a new dress which I have desired to buy for a long time, I am happy. So can I conclude that happiness is a quality of the dress? No! Happiness is not a property of the dress, as then once having owned the dress I would be ever happy. Till when am I happy? I am happy as long as the next desire does not crop up in my mind. Then why was I happy when I bought the dress? Just for a few seconds my mind was calm and there were no thought disturbances or desires to agitate the mind and so I was happy. Where did this happiness come from? For the time my mind was peaceful it served as a clear and undisturbed reflecting medium for the Original Aananda (which is my real nature) to be reflected and be experienced by me as the experiential Aananda or viShayaananda. This viShayaananda is a very minute portion of the Brahmaananda.
Shankara, in this verse, compares the Brahmaananda and the viShayaananda. He says that the viShayaananda enjoyed by deities like Brahmaaji and others (Brahmaadyaha) enjoy only a miniscule
particle of the absolute Brahmaanada (aananda lavaashritaha), in proportion (taaratamyena) to the purity and steadfastness of their mind. Now, how to attain these desired characteristics of the mind?
Shaastras say that we have to make our mind more and more saatvik and give off the raajasik (which make the mind unsteady) and taamasik (which make the mind impure) guNas or traits. We are gripped by the misconception that the objects of the world give us Aananda. Actually speaking, the objects of the world have a knack of making the mind quiet for some time, during which Aatmaananda, which is my real nature gets reflected in the tranquil mind. We are all like dogs who bites a dry bone so vigorously that blood starts coming from its own gums, which makes him feel that it is coming from the bone. We also feel that the objects of the world give us Aananda, but Aananda is our very nature and not of the objects of the world.