Upadesa Saram - Post 22

Verse 19

अहमयं कुतो भवति चिन्वतः |

अयि पतत्यहं निजविचारणम् ||

ahamayaṁ kuto bhavati cinvataḥ |

ayi patatyahaṁ nijavicāraṇam ||

From where does this “I” come to be?

From one who knows,

Oh! The “I” falls.

This is Self-inquiry

Having decided to converge on the ‘I-thought’ with our enquiry, we are asked by the Maharshi to inquire, “Where does it arise from?” 

In ordinary life, we take it for granted that we are the doer (Karta), the enjoyer (Bhokta) and the knower (Jnata). 

A spiritual seeker in the path of Jnana, with a proper guidance from his Guru, goes deeper into this assumption. He asks the following questions and contemplates on the same.

Who is this ‘I’ that acts, enjoys and knows? 

Where does it come from? 

From where the mind arises?

Am I the one with this body, mind, intellect, the one who is the one from whom the thoughts arise?

If not, then, who am I really and how that Real I who I am, is different from my mind, the thoughts, the doer, the enjoyer etc.?

There is an analogy of Chariot and Charioteer in Kathopanishad. Let us see this analogy and then try and relate the same with the charioteer Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. 

In one of the chapters in Kathopanishad, there is an analogy of a chariot which is compared with a human being as under:-

CHARIOT	HUMAN BEING
The chariot	The Human body
5 horses running the chariot	5 organs of perception in a human being
Rein tied to the horse	Mind and the intellect, controlling the senses
Master of the chariot	Ahamkara or the Ego which rules over the mind / intellect which dictates / rules the senses.

When we take the above analogy to the Kurukshetra scene in Bhagawad Gita, then, Arjuna is the master, the Ahamkara and Krishna, the Lord, has stopped the horse and made the horses stand still and is holding the reins of the horses. 

Thus, holding the mind and intellect (reins) and by holding the reins, keeping the sense organs (5 horses) in His control, the Lord (or the Spiritual Guru) is looking back at the master (Arjuna, the Ahamkara) and commands the Ahamkara to get into the self-enquiry on "I".

Thus, now, the intellect of the disciple is in the control of his master and not in the control of his Ahamkara.

Thus, standing apart from his Ahamkara, the student is able to conduct an enquiry of his Ahamkara, the "I" thought, from an independent standpoint, the wisdom of his teacher. 

This is very much required, because, the disciple is Ahamkara by himself (the master of the horse in the above example) and as Ahamkara, how can he enquire into his own "Ahamkara"?? 

This is what is explained in Avidya-Kama-Karma exposition in an earlier verse in the blog by the author.

When an object of enquiry is considered, the means of knowing it becomes evident.

The end determines the means of Knowledge. 

You can at best conduct an enquiry up to the "I thought" and from there, the teacher / God takes over. 

It is either the Lord who reveals the truth of the real "I" or a Teacher.

The knowledge born out of such a teaching is opposed to Self-Ignorance as the Ahamkara (Arjuna) is already taken over by the God (Krishna) or a Realized Master.

Therefore, the ignorance goes. 

When the "I thought" falls, what happens? It resolves into the very thing out of which it is born. The snake, whose appearance was due to the real existence Rope, resolves and retraces to the real existence, THE ROPE.

We must make Sri Ramana Maharishi’s question our question. Then alone would we have the intensity of enquiry to get the answer He obtained. It has to be a life and death enquiry for us as it was for the Maharishi. 

Love.

PS- While teaching to few devotees, the author went a step further and asked the seekers to inquire into WHO IS THINKING? 

This is a step further to Maharishi's instruction to introspect on "Where this I thought arises?"

When one really inquires into "WHO IN ME IS THINKING, WHO IN ME IS THINKING / REACHING TO OBJECTS?" the Ahamkara which is the "I thought" falls away quickly and one exists as "AHAM" without the "I thought".

Love.