Upadesa Saram - Post 33

Verse 29

बन्धमुक्त्यतीतं परं सुखम् |

विन्दतीह जीवस्तु दैविकः || २९ ||

bandhamuktyatītaṁ paraṁ sukham |

vindatīha jīvastu daivikaḥ || 29 ||

Beyond bondage and liberation, the Supreme happiness,

He finds here that the jiva is certainly the Divine.

Any work according to the scriptures contains the Phalasruthi or the result of learning the work & imbibing the import of the work through practice and experience. 

Maharshi explains what would happen for the person who reads this work and contemplates on the meaning of the work and puts it to practice through intellectual conviction - realizes the Self, knowing which nothing remains to be known.

Thus, the effect of the work is Self-Realization alone. Self-Realization is not just the fruit of this work alone but of all the Upanishads. 

Thus, the very purpose or goal of the Upanishads is to realize the Self which is one’s own real nature and not different from Brahman.

Realizing one’s real nature

The Mundaka Upanishad starts by the disciple Saunaka (a householder) questioning Sage Angiras thus:

Kasmin u bhagavo vijnaatham sarvam idam vijnaatham bhavathi ithi

(That by knowing which everything becomes known – let me know that O Lord!)

A similar verse occurs in the Bhagawad Gita where Krishna tells to Arjuna:

Jnaanam te aham savijnaanam idam vakshyaami asheshatah

Yat jnaatva na iha bhooyo anyat jnaatavyam avashishyathe

(I will tell you knowledge along with experience or wisdom – knowing which there will remain nothing else to be known.)

In another verse in Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna after the above verse that whatever you see here is ME alone (here 'ME' means Brahman or Consciousness alone and not the form of Krishna as supposed by many people – Krishna Himself states in many places that ‘I am not this form but Brahman alone’). 

Thus, we come to the conclusion that the Self is Brahman only – That Brahman by knowing which everything becomes known; That Brahman which stands for the illusions of names and forms which is the world.

That Brahman which is without any change and ever remains as one without a second, even during times of illusions when world seems to exist (as rope only exists even when the snake is seen and rope remains without any change even though it seems to change into the snake).

Maharshi says in this sloka that the Self realizes its Supreme state of Bliss (when knowledge becomes complete through the path of enquiry).

The Self is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute as has been explained in the previous postings. 

Readers may, after going through the remaining part of this post, go through Swami’s discourse on SAT-CHIT-ANANDA and really experience the ANANDA. 

Continued....

Love.