Verse
48
आत्मैवेदं जगत्सर्वमात्मनोऽन्यन्न विद्यते ।
मृदो यद्वद्घटादीनि स्वात्मानं सर्वमीक्षते ॥ ४८॥
AATMAA EVA IDAM JAGAT
SARVAM
AATMANAH ANYAT NA VIDHYATE
MRIDAH YADVAT
GHAT-AADEENI
SWAATMAANAM SARVAM
EEKSHATE
[This entire universe is
verily the Atman Itself. Nothing whatsoever other than Atman exists. Just
as pots, etc, can be said to be only clay, so also, the wise one sees
everything as his own Self.]
There
is a vision which sees unity everywhere. The corollary to this of seeing
diversity in this world is the origin of all our problems. A vision which sees
‘Unity in Diversity’ is the saintly vision that is upheld here.
An
extreme example of universal vision - A Mahatma was in meditation in a forest.
A tiger came and was dragging him away for its meal. The Mahatma remained in
his state of meditation, going on with his chanting. This was actually
witnessed by Tapovan maharaj, as shared by a monk of Chinmaya
ashram in one of his writings.
“Mrido Ghatadini”
Simile: The Clay Pots
Earlier
we had come across a similar simile – gold and the gold ornaments. Here it is
clay and the variety of clay pottery. The message is the same: They come out of
clay, exist in clay and finally merge back into clay.
Just
in the previous post, the author explained the same thing with wave and water
example where, the wave come out of water, exist in water and finally recede
and merge into water.
In the 2 verses - 47 and 48, Acharya is explaining about a
realized one. Acharya is here explaining about the yogi as one who sees the
entire world through the eyes of wisdom as his own Self.
Lord explains this same import in many places in Gita while
explaining about a Jnani, a Yogi and a Bhakta. 6th chapter 32nd sloka says:
aatmaupamyena
sarvatra samam pashyati yo.arjuna .
sukham vaa
yadi vaa dukham sa yogii paramo matah ..
“Whoso, by comparison with himself, sees the same everywhere, O
Arjuna, be it pleasure or pain, he is deemed the highest Yogin.”
Mundaka Upanishad III-ii-6 says: “Those
to whom the entity presented by the Vedantic knowledge has become fully
ascertained, who are assiduous and have become pure in mind through the Yoga of
monasticism – all of them, at the supreme moment of final departure, become
identified with the supreme Immortality in the worlds that are Brahman, and
they become freed on every side.”
To a realized one there is no duality whatsoever and the entire
world is but Self, the universe of names and forms appears to be a mere
imagination just like the imaginary existence of the snake on the rope. Also
since an imaginary object is the same as its substratum the entire universe and
its diverse objects are perceived by the known as the same as Self.
Where there is but Self, how can there be duality and aversion
towards anything else?
This was explained in the context of "LOVE ALL SERVE
ALL", in the previous post.
Hence to such a realized one who perceives Self everywhere,
everything is but Self and names and forms are just super impositions.
If one gets an opportunity to watch the videos of
Anandamayi ma / Paramahamsa Yogananda / Swami Sivananda and in this contemporary
world, one visits Amma and experiences her supreme love when she draws
them to her and hugs them, they can verily experience these saint's state
where, they perceive the human beings not as human beings, but AS SELF / AS
DIVINITY / AS GOD.
When one young visitor visited Swami Sivananda and stood adamantly
without prostrating at the Master's feet, Sivananda smiled and prostrated at
that young visitor's feet. We can imagine the plight of that visitor. More than
that, we can know or at least imagine how the saint would
be experiencing the divinity in that young visitor to be prostrating at
his feet!
Long back, in old Sai Sadan building, when one child sang a
bhajan very well, after the bhajan, the author went to that child, prostrated
at the child's feet, to the utter disbelief and amazement of the child and its
mother.
They may not be reading this post otherwise, they can recall
that scene easily.
Thus, a real jnani loves the whole world as his own Self. Having
incarnated in human form, Swami also radiates the same endless love to the
entire humanity.
Each one present in the SK hall might have committed few / many /
too many mistakes in their lives and they may be suffering due to various
gradations of impurity within themselves but when Swami comes floating in
to the hall and looks at the devotees gathered there, can any one in
this world claim or prove or even say that Swami differentiates between a saint
and a sinner seated in that hall?
Love.
