Verse
36 (This is What I Am)
नित्यशुद्धविमुक्तैकमखण्डानन्दमद्वयम् ।
सत्यं
ज्ञानमनन्तं यत्परं
ब्रह्माहमेव तत्
॥ ३६॥
NITYA, SHUDDHA,
VIMUKTAIKAM,
AKHANDA-AANANDAM ADVAYAM
SATYAM JNAANAM ANANTAM
YAT
PARAM BRAHMA AHAM
EVA TAT
[Eternal, pure,
ever-liberated and One, indivisible Bliss, and non-dual Existence, Knowledge
and Infinite; I am verily that Supreme Brahman.]
“AHAM” is again the key word in this verse.
NITHYA SHUDDHAM: I am ever pure. I am
not affected by the impurities of the dualities like sukha, dukha at any time.
VIMUKTHAHA: I am always liberated
and free - in the past, the present or the future.
EKAM: I am the one and the only one without a
second.
AKHANDAM: I have no parts or divisions and
I cannot be divided into any such individual parts. The Anaatma has several
parts. Sareeram has many parts. Mind has many parts. But, I, the Atma, am
division-less.
AANANDAM: I am the eternal Bliss. I have no
inadequacies. I do not miss anything. I do not have any regrets. When any thing
comes into my life or goes out of my life, it creates no ripples in me. I am
the aanandam, the eternal bliss
ADVAYAM: I am one without a
second. I am all pervading, including the Sareera Thrayam and the
world. I am the cause of every thing. Everything is merely my reflection
and is Mithya. I am therefore the only one without a second.
SATHYAM, JNANAM, ANANTHAM BRAHMA: This
is again the definition of Brahma. Sathyam means Pure Existence. Death,
Pralayam etc does not affect my existence – but only of the Sareera thrayam and
the external world. JNANAM means - I am pure consciousness. ANANTHAM means - I
am beginning-less and end-less but is infinite in time and space.
YATH PARAM BRAHMA: The one with these characteristics
is the PARAM BRAHMA (Supreme Brahma).
AHAM YEVA THATH: I am that Param Brahma. I AM THE
ABSOLUTE, INFINITE BRAHMAN.
Again
an assertion is made as to who we really are. And again we have nine qualities
painted before us in a panorama of exquisite beauty.
To
contemplate on these thoughts is the way to directly experience the Self. This
concludes the Nididhyasana or meditation upon the Self. In the process, we have
unearthed the richest of spiritual treasure.
The
Brahma Nishtha sage drinks his fill of these qualities as though they are
nectar to him. Since beginning the quest for perfection from verse 30, starting
with the doctrine of negation, we have completed all the three Lakshanas or
definitions or pointers to the Self. This verse gives the final, Swaroopa
Lakshana, the direct pointer to the Self by telling us what It actually is.
Satyam,
Jnaanam, Anantam:
This
is a very familiar Upanishadic statement appearing in the Taittiriya Upanishad,
and dealt with in great detail in Sankara Bhashya on that Upanishad. Here,
Sri Sankara repeats the words as they are the most eloquent expression to
describe the nature of the Self.
This Taittriya
Upanishad verse gave the complete expression on “BRAHMAN” for the first
time, with the clarity found in very few Upanishad verses. The verse says,
TAITTIRIYA
UPANISHAD | 2.1.1 |
OM!
brahmavidapnoti param | tadesa'bhyukta | satyam jnanamanantam brahma | yo veda
nihitam guhayam parame vyoman | so'snute sarvan kaman saha | brahmana
vipasciteti || tasmadva etasmadatmana akasah sambhutah | akasadvayuh |
vayoragnih | agnerapah | adbhyah prthivi | prthivya osadhayah | osadhibhyo'nnam
| annatpurusah | sa va esa puruso'nnnarasamayah | tasyedameva sirah | ayam
daksinah paksah | ayamuttarah paksah | ayamatma | idam puccham pratistha |
tadapyesa sloko bhavati || 2.1.1 ||
(OM!
The knower of Brahman attains the highest. Here is a verse uttering that very fact:
“Brahman is truth, knowledge, and infinite. One who knows that Brahman as
existing in the intellect which is lodged in the supreme space in the heart, enjoys,
in identification with the all-knowing Brahman, all desirable things simultaneously.
"
From
that Brahman indeed, which is the Self, was produced space. From space emerged air.
From air was born fire. From fire was created water. From water sprang up earth.
From earth were born the herbs. From the herbs was produced food. From food was
born the human. That human, such as one is, is a product of the essence of food.
Of one this indeed , is the head , this is the southern (right) side;
this is the northern (left) side ; this is the Self ; this is the stabilizing
tail.)
Sathyam
affirms Brahman by negating non-existence; Jnaanam affirms It by negating
inertness; and Anantam affirms It by negating incompleteness. In this way we
have the most comprehensive description of the nature of the Supreme Truth.
This
one expression “Sathyam Jnanam Anantam” is sufficient and complete in itself
for contemplation, meditation and absorption and the subjective experience
of Brahman / Atman, within the cave of a sadhaka’s heart!!!!
The
session on this one expression taken by the Author is a very elaborate one and
it spreads to more than 3 hours as it is a verse which is the essence of all
Upanishads.
Love.
