Verse
31
आविद्यकं शरीरादि दृश्यं बुद्बुदवत्क्षरम् ।
एतद्विलक्षणं विद्यादहं ब्रह्मेति निर्मलम् ॥ ३१॥
AAVIDYAKAM SARIR-AADI
DRISHYAM BUDBUDA-VAT
KSHARAM
ETAD VI-LAKSHANAM VIDYAAT
“AHAM BRAHMA” ITI
NIRMALAM
(The body, etc, up to
the causal body; are perceivable objects, perishable as bubbles. Realize,
“I am different from all these”, “I am the ever pure Brahman”. This step may be
compared with Sravana, as it acquaints us with the whole problem.)
This
verse clearly identifies what is to be falsified or negated in the process of
“NetiNeti”.
That
which has to be falsified is everything right up to the causal body. This means
the gross body, subtle body and the causal body.
Self
& Upadhis - Their Relative Importance
What
does it mean to negate the three bodies, viz. gross, subtle and causal? That
which arises from ignorance is to be negated or falsified. By implication this
means all three bodies as they all arise from Maya or Ignorance in association
with Brahman.
It
is not intended here to reduce the value of the functions that the three bodies
perform, but merely to see their real value in relation to the absolute Truth
of our very Being, the Self.
Nothing
should presume to take the place of the Self; that is quite clear. However, in
the process of establishing the superiority of the Self, these Upadhis are not
to be run down; not to be relegated as worthless; not to be sneered upon as
inconsequential.
They
are simply to be seen for what they are – as instruments of the individual
self. It would be against the spirit of Vedanta for the Self to proclaim its
greatness by chopping off the worth of the other elements of creation (the
Upadhis).
In
the hands of the careless student, the verse is open to such incorrect interpretation.
Hence, it is cautioned against such a puerile view of the Self’s greatness.
Similarly when it is said that the Self is different from all these, again it
is not said in a competitive spirit. The Self is not in need of being glorified.
The
glorification, if any, is only to highlight to the seeker that he should never
give undue importance to these Upadhis, that is, he should never make them so
important in his life that he forgets the Self which is his real nature.
The Example: “Budbudavat
Ksharam” - Evanescent Bubbles
When
it is said that these Upadhis are like objects that are perceived and are
therefore like bubbles, once again the above comment applies. It is simply to
illustrate that they are not dependable in themselves. They have a function to
perform in the plan of Maya, but they do not have the qualities of the Self,
that is, being all-knowing, all-pervading and timeless.
Their
existence is like the existence of bubbles – evanescent and fleeting. As
bubbles they may also be viewed as having little significance in the true
purpose of life, in relation to the evolutionary purpose of life. For if not
utilized for what they were intended, they have a strong tendency to distract
us from that purpose, and even make us recede from that purpose.
If
we allow ourselves to be engrossed by the bubbles, we are in danger of further
delusion and bondage to this world. Earlier the same simile was used to
describe the macrocosmic creation of all the worlds. Now it is being applied to
the microcosmic existence of the human body, which is just as fleeting as the
mighty worlds out there.
Dear
All,
The
commentary of the verse ends with the above lines.
Now,
about the state after all Neti is dealt by Sankara, which will come after few
verses.
In
one of the recent sessions, the author dealt with water, wave, bubble, ocean
illustration in detail to drive home the essence of “Brahma Sathyam Jagat
Mithya”.
While
the 3 bodies are being related to bubble in this verse by Sankara in the sense
that they are ephemeral, they arise and they disappear and exactly in the same
way, Human beings’ 3 bodies - Gross, Subtle and Causal - emerge when a being is
born, they exist with his existence and they are gone when the body dies / when
the prana leaves the body.
However,
a different or to say, the ultimate dimension was given in the illustration of
the water, bubble, wave, ocean given by the author to few disciples.
All
the “NETI, NETI, NETI in Vedanta, negation of all upadhis, all 3 bodies etc. is
gone through, only to arrive at the ONE ITI, the SELF, the PURE CONSCIOUSNESS
or the ATMAN.
Sankara’s
Nirvana Shatakam which is all about negating every possible perception of this
creation, the human beings and all the 3 bodies of a being, at the end, Sankara
does and Sankara must end with the last verse which says,
Aham
Nirvikalpo Niraakaara-Ruupo
Vibhu-Tvaacca Sarvatra Sarve[a-I]ndriyaannaam
Na
Caa-Sanggatam Naiva Muktirna Meyah
Cid-ananda-rupah
Shivoham Shivoham
I am Without any Variation, and Without any Form, I am Present
Everywhere as the underlying Substratum of everything, and behind all Sense Organs, Neither do
I get Attached to anything, nor
get Freed from anything,
I am the Ever Pure Blissful
Consciousness; I am Siva, I am Siva, The Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness.
Now, if the same bubble which signifies 3 bodies of a human
being, after reaching the state as per the above verse, then how the
same bubble or our 3 bodies appear / what they mean to a Jivan Mukhta who has
realized SELF and exists as SIVOHAM???
The answer was revealed in the session by the author when he
said,
“The bubble, the wave, the ocean and all bubble, all waves,
the entire ocean and all oceans do not have an independent identity when one
realizes the SELF.”
To such a seer, all these, in fact, everything in this
creation are no more separate from the state in which he exists. All
duality ends there, when it says, even there is no mukhtir, na bandah, there is
neither bondage nor liberation!!!
At that state, there is nothing
separate from His state, His SELF, there are no upadhis for Him, there is no
more NETI for Him!!!
Love.
