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.

Upadesa Saram - Post 32

Verse 28

किं स्वरूपमित्यात्मदर्शने |

अव्ययाभवापूर्णचित्सुखम् || २८ ||

kiṁ svarūpamityātmadarśane |

avyayābhavāpūrṇacitsukham || 28 ||

"What is the true nature?” Upon the revelation of the Self, thus?

It is immutable, birth-less, making perfectly full, Consciousness-Bliss.

In the previous verse, Maharshi proclaimed that the Self is beyond both knowledge and ignorance & there requires no external knowledge medium to know the Self which is the Seer that is always established and pulsates as “I-exist, I-exist”. 

There is a famous line often quoted in Vedantic lessons - “To define Brahman is to deny Brahman”.

The Upanishads proclaim that everything in this world becomes an object and objects can be defined or described. 

But the Subject which itself is the definer of the definitions of the objects, the describer of the descriptions can never be defined or described. 

Still, let us look into the nature of the Self  being explained here by Maharshi, which is not knowledge expressed but Maharishi's own state of existence poured. 

Avyaya or Indestructible and Abhava or Unborn

That which is subject to birth is subject to changes as well as death. Such a changing object cannot be the Self because the Self is always constant – changeless and that from which the world gets its existence. 

Hence the Self is without any birth and death. Since the Self is without birth and death, it is without any change also (that which is born is subject to change also).

We have learnt from earlier blog posts and the talk delivered on “Sai Aum” bhajan last week in Sai Centre, Brahman or THAT existed prior to the cosmic vibration AUM which means that, time and the five elements came into existence much  later. 

We all know that the entire creation is made out of the combination of five elements and all that are made out of five elements do perish at some point of time.

Thus, Brahman, which existed prior to creation, prior to five elements, which caused the five elements to emerge one by one, is BIRTH LESS as it is not bound by time, space, not created out of five elements.

Perfectly full

The Self is perfect or full. One’s own very nature is fullness or perfect being. 

The easiest way to understand this fullness is to align this SELF with the 'pure canvass' talk given by the author to some devotees couple of days before.

The canvass lesson is from Vidyaranya Swami's 'Panchadasi'.

We learnt from that talk that the pure canvass is the infinite Brahman, without any boundary, without any limitation.

So, any thing is said to be limited / apoorna only if there is anything else that exists apart from the earlier one. Since the pure canvass Brahman is infinite and each Jiva is an integral, indivisible part of the same canvass, Jiva is also infinite and complete, with nothing else existing other than the pure canvass Brahman.

Consciousness and Bliss

The inherent and natural state of the Self is Consciousness and Bliss as Maharshi says in the last few words. Consciousness is one’s own real nature because it is from “I” or “ME” that all objects gain existence. “I” alone is capable of having the independent experience - “I-exist, I-exist”. 

  

As Maharshi Himself proclaimed earlier that Consciousness alone is capable of illuminning existence, therefore my real nature is Consciousness alone. Not just Consciousness alone, it is Bliss also. 

The sorrow that we have, is not the inherent nature of the Self or “I”. Because if sorrow was the natural state, no one would want to attain happiness. But we see that people are all striving for eternal bliss. The sorrow thus, is not the real and natural state of the Self.

We have dealt with Sat and Chit adequately earlier. And this verse talks about Chit-sukham, Existence, Bliss.

One who has raised his consciousness to the ultimate level is full of Bliss. This is Bliss, Ananda or Sukha. In such a consciousness it is not possible for any pain or sorrow to exist. 

Swami Krishnananda Ji, while writing on Existence, writes thus:

“The bliss of God manifested itself as this world, by the bliss of God the world is sustained, and into the bliss of God the world will return one day. As we are not outside creation, we have also come from the bliss of God, and are sustained by the bliss of God. 

That is why we love everything. Everything is pleasurable for us because the essence of the bliss of God is present in the very ability in us to sustain ourselves. And in the end we return to the bliss of God.”

What a grand revelation from a realized Master from Hrishikesh!!

Having explained all about Ananda, it has also to be explained here that the state of Pure existence, consciousness, where one transcends all possible happiness which he can derive out of finite objects, scriptures could only express that state with the limited expression “Ananda”, otherwise, that state can never be comprehended by a sadhaka who attains liberation and exists as pure existence state.

When one exists as Jivanmukhta, he does not have any experience of even this Ananda as he transcends this Ananda as well. He just EXISTS. 

Those who accept him, feel and say that, “O, He is full of Ananda / bliss", because, at best, they can use only this expression at purest level for such an existence. However, up-to the point of realization, these three expressions SAT-CHIT-ANANDA, fills the sadhaka with enough fire, enough conviction to experience such a state. Upon realization, He exists beyond even this description of SAT-CHIT-ANANDA.

Aho!! How that state would be? Only when one reaches that state and when he sees the other one also in the same state, both would know exactly about the state of each other!

A dear brother of mine used to describe his reading in some book about a meeting of Buddha and Mahavira once, when they happened to stay at the same place one night. Throughout their stay, they did not speak a word to one another. There was no need because each one knew that the other one is in the state which is immutable, Birth-less, perfectly full, Consciousness-Bliss. 

And, what they would have communicated in that silence, the whole world put together is not capable of communicating. 

Love.

Upadesa Saram - Post 31

Verse 27

(Continued….) 

ज्ञानवर्जिताऽज्ञानहीनचित् |

ज्ञानमस्ति किं ज्ञातुमन्तरम् || २७ ||

jñānavarjitā'jñānahīnacit |

jñānamasti kiṁ jñātumantaram || 27 ||

Knowledge abandoned, ignorance abandoned, Consciousness is.

Is there knowledge to know difference?

The Self which illumines all the external objects ranging from the intellect, the mind, the ego, the sense organs and the various external sense objects is of the very nature of Consciousness or illumination. As the Sun doesn’t require any other light to illumine itself, similarly the Self doesn’t require any other light or knowledge to illumine itself. 

The great Upanishadic verse found in Mundaka, Katha  and Svetashwatara Upanishad says:

Na tatra sooryo bhaathi na Chandra taarakam na ima vidhyutho bhaanthi kutoyam agnih

Tameva bhaantham anubhaathi sarvam tasya bhaasa sarvam idam vibhaathi

The Sun doesn’t shine there (in the Self), neither does the moon or the stars. There the lightning also doesn’t shine, then how can Fire shine??? It’s own shineness others follow (meaning that it’s illuminations others take from it) and it shining others shine.

Then how come the Self is not known by everyone?

Everyone knows the Self – there is no one who doesn’t know the Self. But there are very few who know that they know the Self, who know that “I am the Self”. Others due to ignorance don’t know their own real nature of Self or Consciousness. 

Upanishads tell two beautiful stories about realization and that realization is not something new to be attained but realizing one’s own real nature of Consciousness through removal of ignorance which obstructs the Self, being known as one’s own real nature.

A lioness who was pregnant saw a flock of sheep and she pounced over the sheep. At that time, she gave birth to a lion cub and died on the spot. Thus, the lion cub was amongst the young sheep. The cub grew along with the sheep and behaved exactly like a sheep. 

Then one day a lion saw this cub amongst the sheep and was surprised. The lion then caught hold of the cub which then started to cry like a sheep!!! It took the cub to a river and said “See yourself and see me in the river”. The cub watched the river and saw that he was very much like the lion only. Suddenly realization dawned and it realized that it is not a sheep but a lion. Then it started roaring like the lion and started behaving like a lion.

The above story is illustrated to show that the cub never was a sheep, it never was converted to a sheep. But it didn’t know its own real nature of a lion and hence considered itself as a sheep. But when a person like Guru came to it and told that “You are a lion”, it realized its own very nature of lion.

Similarly the Self is always present and a person is already that only. But this has been forgotten and all activities including study of scriptures and contemplation on Brahman or the Self are all illusions only – they are performed in order to remove the ignorance which obstructs one to realize his own very nature of Self.

Another story illustrated in Panchadashi of Vidyaranya is the story of ten fools.

There were once ten fools who were disciples of a Guru. They wanted to go to a village and hence asked permission from the Guru and started going to the village. On the way, they had to cross a river. They crossed the river. But then they had a doubt whether everyone had reached the shore safely or anyone was drowned. Hence they decided to take a count of everyone. 

So, one person started counting. He counted till 9 but forgot to count himself. Then another person also counted and he too forgot to count himself. Thus, they thought that one person had died and started crying and weeping over the dead person. 

Then a passerby stopped and asked them what was the problem and he told them that he would count. He then counted all ten. They were now little bit happy, but not yet convinced. So, the passerby told the first person to count. He counted till 9 and then the passerby told the person “You are the Tenth”. Hearing this, they were all rejoiced and very happy.

The passerby (the Guru) made each one of the 10 persons count the other nine and then the Guru asked the person counting to turn the finger to his own self and said, “You are the 10^th person".

Everyone has forgotten about the Self – one’s own real nature and are trying to find God in the external world forgetting the reality that the Self is the God, God is one’s own real nature of Consciousness.

When this ignorance is removed through the knowledge of contemplation on the reality, the reality of Self shines forth as self-luminous Bliss, one without a second.  Thus, the Self is beyond both concepts of ignorance and knowledge & also there requires no external knowledge or medium to know itself.

That Self we all already are. This knowledge or realization that “I am the Self and everything that is seen is only an illusion in the Self” needs to be realized through removal of ignorance which vanishes the moment its source is sought out and through contemplation on the reality.

How, upon attaining SELF KNOWLEDGE, both knowledge (the process of knowledge, the subject of knowledge, the object of knowledge) as well as ignorance is abandoned, is beautifully given in the following Atma Bodha verse: 

अज्ञानकलुषं जीवं ज्ञानाभ्यासाद्विनिर्मलम् ।

कृत्वा ज्ञानं स्वयं नश्येज्जलं कतकरेणुवत् ॥ ५॥

AJNANA KALUSHAM JEEVAM 

JNANA ABHAASAAT VINIRMALAM

KRUTVA JNAANAM SVAYAM 

NASHYET JALAM KATAKA RENUVAT

(Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self (‘Jivatman’), stained by ignorance and then disappears itself – as the powder of the ‘Kataka-nut’ settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water.) 

The exposition of kataka nut is covered in Atma Bodha Post - Post 12.

Love.