Atma Bodha - Post 70

Verse 60

अनण्वस्थूलमह्रस्वमदीर्घमजमव्ययम् ।

अरूपगुणवर्णाख्यं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ६०॥

ANANVASTHUULAM ARHASVAM

ADIIRGHAM AJAMAVYAYAM.

ARUPA GUNA VARNAAKHYAM

TAD BRAHMAITI AVADHAARAYET

[Realize that to be Brahman which is neither subtle nor gross: neither short nor long: without birth or change: without form, qualities, color and name.]

In the last sloka we learnt that Brahman is the substratum of all objects and pervades everywhere, here in this sloka, Acharya is explaining further that the all pervading Brahman is neither gross nor subtle and cannot possess any qualities.

Brahman can never be an object of any actions as it is verily the subject. Hence there can be neither birth nor any of the six changes. There can also be no name that can be given to that which permeates everything. Such limitless Brahman which is devoid of any qualities is described here.

Gross, subtle, shapes, sizes, names and all such qualities can exist only for an object which is limited, i.e. we can point out as ‘this’ or ‘that’ to only that which is boundaries and is limited by space and time. But Brahman, as we have learnt is that which is the substratum of everything i.e. everything is in Brahman, and everything is permeated by Brahman, it hence can never be classified as gross or subtle or by any name. It is never the object of perception of any feelings or thoughts but verily the perceiver. It is THAT which exists and hence all that exits.

Hence the limitless Brahman is indescribable to any limited intellect. Acharya is describing this infinity to us by negation method. These terms are not the description of Brahman but only indicate to the Brahman.

The same explanation can also be found in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.8.8 as: 

ETAD VAI TAD AKARAM, G.RGI, BRHMA  ABHIVADANTI, ASTHLAM, ANAU,

AHRASVAM, ADIRGHAM, ALOHITAM, ASNEHAM, ACCHYAM, ATAMA., AVYVANKŚAM,

ASAGAM, ARASAM, AGANDHAM, ACAK.U.KAM, AŚROTRAM, AVK, AMANA., ATEJASKAM,

APR.AM, AMUKHAM, AMTRAM, ANANTARAM, ABHYAM; NA TAD AŚNTI KI. CANA,

NA TAD AŚNTI KAŚCANA.

(O Gargi, the knowers of Brahman say, this Immutable (Brahman) is that. It is neither gross nor minute, neither short nor long, neither red colour nor oiliness, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor ether, unattached, neither savor nor odor, without eyes or ears, without the vocal organ or mind, non-luminous, without the vital force or mouth, not a measure, and without interior or exterior. It does not eat anything, nor is It eaten by anybody.)

Acharya here is explaining that such a Brahman devoid of qualities is to be realized as Self.

As the Katha Upanishad 1.3.15 also proclaims:

ANAADYANANTAM MAHATAH PARAM DHRUVAM

NICHAAYYA TANMRITYUMUKHAAT PRAMUCHYATE

(By knowing that which is soundless, touchless, formless, undecaying, so also tasteless, eternal, odourless, beginningless, endless, subtler than Mahat and constant, man is liberated from the jaws of death.)

Sage Vidyaranya said, “Entering into great Upadhis, super-subtle bodies, such as the Deities, He becomes the Worshipful. And entering into lower bodies such as the human being, He becomes the worshipper. So the worshipped and the worshipper is actually one only. It is the one Self entering everywhere. We give a form to God because we have a form. But that Lord is actually in our own heart. That is why when we do Pooja, we bring the offerings to our heart and then offer it into the fire.

Advaita is not against worship as people usually think. It is actually the culmination of all worship, the fulfillment of worship. The worship which started with action, finds its ultimate expression in Advaita, when the devotee becomes one with God. God in the form of the devotee is worshipping God, the Formless Absolute!

We are so used to doing things to get something that Advaita may even appear as being impractical to some people. Here it may be said that the opposite of doing is not ‘undoing’, but ‘being’. It is very hard to just BE.

There is a well-planned methodology in Vedanta (or Advaita). It starts by stating the facts. Then it uses logic to prove those facts. Then it helps us to start experiencing them. And finally it takes us by the hand to revel in that experience.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 69

Verse 59

तद्युक्तमखिलं वस्तु व्यवहारस्तदन्वितः ।

तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म क्षीरे सर्पिरिवाखिले ॥ ५९॥

TADYUKTAMAKHILAM VASTU

VYAVAHAARASTADANVITAH

TASMAATSARVAGATAM BRAHMA

KSHIIRE SARPIRIVAAKHILE

[All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of Brahman: therefore Brahman permeates everything as butter permeates milk.]

Acharya is here pointing to the all pervading Brahman by giving the example of the butter in the milk. Brahman is but consciousness and everything that exists is but consciousness.

Hence all the objects, world that is perceived exist only because of consciousness and in the consciousness. Hence it is Brahman i.e. consciousness alone that exists and pervades all the illusory objects of the world. All the actions are hence possible only because of this consciousness.

“Ksheere Sarpirivakhile”: Like Butter in Milk

The simile for ‘seeing’ God in all is ‘seeing’ butter in every drop of the milk. We know that butter pervades the milk, because we see the butter after churning the milk.

Butter, from which ghee is made, may be said to be the best part of the milk. It is certainly where all the energy comes from. Without the butter, what is left is not milk but only water.

The simile thus points out two things:

(i)  God is there in every part of this creation in the same subtle way as butter is in every drop of the milk. We have to look beyond the physical and consider the essence of things to be able to see God.

(ii)  The underlying presence of God is the only real part of creation. The physical manifestation, arising from Maya, is illusory like Maya. As butter is the essence of milk, so also God is the essence of creation. Non-dualists would say, “God alone is”!

There was a king who wanted to have proof of the existence of God. So he offered a big prize to the wise man who could explain this to him. A young man came forward and said he would explain.

He asked the king to get some milk. Then he asked him if there was butter in it. Then he asked if he could see the butter. In this way he was able to explain to the king that it was only by the churning of Sadhana that one could get purer and be able to see the “butter of God” in all things.

Upanishads proclaim that just as how milk pervading butter is extracted by churning, so also the Atman has to be separated from the world of names and forms by intense meditation and Self knowledge.

Amrita Bindu Upanishad gives this same example in sloka 20 as:

DHRITAMIVA PAYASI NIGUUDHAM BHUUTE BHUUTE CHA VASATI VIGYAANAM

SATATAM MANASI MANTHAYITAVYAM MANU MANTHAANABHUUTENA

(Like the butter hidden in milk, the Pure Consciousness resides in every being. That ought to be constantly churned out by the churning rod of the mind)

Shvetaashvatara Upanishad also explains the same in 1.15 as:

TILESHHU TAILA.N DADHINIIVA SARPI

RAAPAH SROTAHSVARANIISHHU CHAAGNIH

EVAMAATMAA.ATMANI GRIHYATE.ASAU

SATYENAINA.N TAPASAAYO.ANUPASHYATI

(As oil in sesame seeds, as butter in curds, as water in underground springs, as fire in wood, even so this Self is perceived in the self. He who, by means of truthfulness, self-control and concentration, looks again and again for this Self, which is all-pervading like butter contained in milk, and which is rooted in self-knowledge and meditation – he becomes that Supreme Brahman, the destroyer of ignorance.)

Dear All,

The above verses along with the butter and milk simile can be contemplated in 2 ways.

At Macrocosm Level - At creation level, in this apparent creation (like milk), Brahman exists inseparable from the creation (like butter)

At Microcosm Level - as Jiva, as Sadhaka

Extending the example of king, it is only by the churning of Sadhana that one could get purer and be able to experience the “butter of God”, within himself, the milk of his existence.

Butter cannot be seen at surface level in milk. But in essence, butter is contained in every bit of milk.

Atman, the SELF, cannot be experienced by a sadhaka till the time he has churned himself inside out, in the fire of his sadhana and is able to experience the essence of Butter (SELF) in his entire existence so much so that he no more exists a jiva with Body, Mind, Intellect and Vasanas in essence, though he appears to the outside world as a normal human being, doing things the normal beings do, walking, eating, dressing, talking like a normal human being walks / eats / dresses and talks!!!

World sees him as milk (physical existence), He exists eternally as butter (Atman / Self / Pure Consciousness).

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 68

Verse 58

अखण्डानन्दरूपस्य तस्यानन्दलवाश्रिताः ।

ब्रह्माद्यास्तारतम्येन भवन्त्यानन्दिनोऽखिलाः ॥ ५८॥

AKHAND-AANANDA ROOPASYA

TASYA AANANDA LAV-AASHRITAAH

BRAHMAADYAAH TAARATAMYENA

BHAVANTI AANANDINAH AKHILAAH

[The Lord’s nature is unbroken (infinite) Bliss.  Depending on just a small particle of that Bliss do the Creator and other Deities proportionately become blissful with their share of that particle.]

Swami Chinmayananda says, “A relative picture has been drawn here to give us a wild quantitative measure of the infinite (bliss) in terms of a finite yardstick.”

Sri Shankaracharya tries to give us an idea of the infinite bliss of the Self, by saying that only a ‘particle’ of it is enjoyed by great Deities like Brahmaji Himself. 

Then that small particle is sized down even further as it is proportionately enjoyed by all the billions of creatures from Brahma down to the least significant ant on earth. Proportionate enjoyment refers to the varying capacities to enjoy the presence of God according to the degree of evolution of the being.

There are five categories of creatures: those possessing one sense, two senses, etc. up to all five senses. Each of these categories has different means available to enjoy the presence of bliss in creation. Nothing is said about the 99.9% that is left ‘un-enjoyed’ by creation. This leaves one in awe of the magnitude of the Bliss of the Self!

Only the man of realization can have a true idea of what this bliss really means. To the rest of mankind, it remains only in the realm of conjecture to ponder over this state.

The Taittiriya Upanishad has an entire Anuvaka (chapter) on “Relative Joy” enjoyed by the Devatas down to the human being. It, too, has the same purpose – to give us some idea of infinite Bliss of the Self. 

The additional step the Upanishad emphasizes is that our enjoyment of bliss is proportional to our degree of renunciation.

The relevant English translation of the verse in this Upanishad is given below.

“Now this is an inquiry regarding the Bliss.

Suppose there is a young man—a noble young man—versed in vedas, the best of rulers, firm in body and strong and possesses the whole world, full of wealth, that is one measure of human bliss.

This human bliss, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the human gandharvas, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

This bliss of the human gandharvas, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the celestial gandharvas, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

This bliss of the celestial gandharvas, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the Manes, who dwell in the long—enduring world, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

This bliss of the Manes who dwell in the long—enduring world, multiplied on hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the Gods born in the Ajana heaven, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of the Gods born in the Ajana heaven, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the sacrificial gods who have attained to divinity by means of sacrifices, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of the sacrificial Gods, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of the Gods, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of the Gods, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of Indra, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of Indra, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of Brihaspati, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of Brihaspati, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of Prajapati, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

The bliss of Prajapati, multiplied one hundred times, is one measure of the bliss of Brahma, as also of a man versed in the Vedas and free from desires.

He who is here in man and he who is in yonder sun—both are one. He who knows this, after dying to this world, attains the self which consists of food, attains the self which consist of the vital breath, attains the self which consists of the mind, attains the self which consists of intellect, attains the self which consists of bliss.”

Acharya here is explaining the Brahman which is verily bliss by giving a relative picture. It is difficult for a limited intellect to even imagine the vastness of the unlimited bliss of reality. Hence Acharya here is explaining that the devas like the creator Brahma himself tastes only a particle of that limitless and unbroken bliss.

This limitless joy is not measured here but we are only shown here how the ethereal joy of even the Gods is but negligible compared to it. 

As learnt in the previous slokas also, this is the supreme bliss after attaining which there remains a desire for nothing. Shruti explains the absoluteness of Brahmananda in Brihadaranyaka upanishad. 4.3.32 as:

ESHHASYA PARAMA GATIR

ESHHASYA PARAMA SAMPAD

ESHHO.ASYA PARAMO LOKA

ESHHO.ASYA PARAMA ANANDA

ETASYAIVA.A.ANANDASYANYANI BHUTANI MATRAMUPAJIVANTI

(This is its supreme attainment, this is its supreme glory, this is its highest world, this is its supreme bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other beings live.)

The greater the renunciation, the greater the bliss. The practical side of the verse is that we should learn to see God even in the most insignificant things around us. Yes, of course He is there in the grandest part of His creation, but let us not ignore Him in the least of His creation.

By this practice, we can begin to taste the bliss “drop by drop”, until we gather the capacity to taste the whole ocean ful in due course.

Love.