Verse 61
यद्भासा भास्यतेऽर्कादि भास्यैर्यत्तु न भास्यते ।
येन सर्वमिदं भाति तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ६१॥
YAD BHAASAA BHAASYATE ARKAADI
BHAASYAIH YAH TU NA BHAASYATE
YENA SARVAM IDAM BHAATI
TAT BRAHMA ITI AVA-DHAARAYET
[That by the light of
which, the luminous orbs like the sun and the moon are illumined, but that
which is not illumined by their light - realize that to be Brahman.]
We are now entering
the concluding phase of the text. The nature of the Self is so completely
different from anything that we experience in this physical world, that we can
hardly reach it through words. Yet that is what we are attempting through
various analogies and similes.
Sankara leaves
us with a few final glittering similes with which he attempts to express the
inexpressible. These analogies, taken from our experience of the world, take us
pretty close to the Truth.
1) We know the sun as
the source of all illumination in this world. The moon reflects the light of
the sun at night, and so also becomes one of the sources of illumination. Their
luminosity, however, is only at the physical level.
2) The second Pada
switches over to the philosophical meaning of the word ‘Luminous’ or
‘Illuminate’, where it means “being aware” or “to know”, and we use the capital
letter to differentiate it from its ordinary use.
These two great
external sources of light are of no help in Illuminating the Self. In fact,
they can be known to us only by the Light of the Self.
“BY WHICH ALL THIS
SHINES”
3(i) As Knowers through Consciousness:
Not only the sun and the moon but all other things, even abstract things, are
available to us only because of Consciousness. Awareness or the
conscious-principle in us enables us to know.
3(ii) As vehicles of Consciousness: We
contribute to the existence of all things known to us. Were it not for our
Consciousness, we would not even know of their existence. An object becomes
known only if I shed my light of consciousness on it, through my mind.
The mind serves only
as a ‘conduit’ for my consciousness to flow to the object and bring it to my
awareness. Viewed this way, what is the sun? It is a modification of the mind.
The mind appears and sets in consciousness. It is ‘Me’ the Self that gives
existence to my mind, and thus to the sun. In this sense, it is ‘Me’ that makes
my whole world alive.
3(iii) As
Mirrors of Consciousness:. When we use a mirror to reflect the sunlight to
some other place nearby, the sun does not shine there directly, but
through the mirror it reached there.
So also, in the realm
of Consciousness, we are the mirrors that are reflecting Consciousness to the
sun and the moon (or any other object for that matter), and by doing so we
become aware of their existence and their nature. Thus, all things become known
to us because of Consciousness.
3(iv) As Flow of
Consciousness: The eye sees the
sun, but the sun does not know it. The mind sees through the eye, but the eye
does not know it. Consciousness flows through the mind, but the ignorant mind
does not know it. Consciousness illumines the intellect, intellect
illumines the mind, mind illumines the eye, which then
illumines the sun. In short, this is the sequence of the flow of Consciousness:
CONSCIOUSNESS>>INTELLECT>>MIND>>SENSES (EYE)>>OBJECT
Consciousness Must be
All-Pervading: The verse “Na Tatra
Sooryo Bhaati Na Chandra Taarakam” means exactly the same as this verse. If any
part of the above chain in the flow of consciousness is removed, we will not
see the sun. The message is Consciousness is Brahman; It is all-pervading.
That which illumines
all others, which cannot be illumined by anything other than itself, is ever
the Self Luminuous consciousness.
In the above flow of CONSCIOUSNESS>>INTELLECT>>MIND>>SENSES (EYE)>>OBJECT, even prior
to human species emerging on this earth, even before intellect ever came into
existence at cosmic level or at individual level, that which
eternally existed is the SELF LUMINOUS CONSCIOUSNESS!!.
The essence of this
verse is dealt in the first verse of Drik Drsya Viveka .
|
1
|
Roopam drishyam
lochanam drik,
|
Form is the seen,
the eye is the seer;
|
|
2
|
tat drishyam drik
tu maanasam;
|
that eye is the
seen, and mind is its seer;
|
|
3
|
Drishyaa
dhee-vrittayah saakshee
|
of the thoughts in
the mind, the Inner Witness
|
|
4
|
drik eva na tu
drishyate.
|
alone is the Seer,
and is never the seen.
|
This verse is taken
up by the author in detail in spiritual sessions. It is said that one who has
absorbed this one verse and takes up this one verse for meditation, can realize
Brahman through intense contemplation on this single verse in Vedanta.
To conclude, the
Seer, which illumines the intellect, and intellect illumines mind, mind
illumines senses and senses experience the objects, (that seer) eternally
exists as SEER, THE WITNESS CONSCIOUSNESS BECAUSE THERE IS NO SEER EXISTING
PRIOR TO IT WHICH CAN SEE THIS WITNESS CONSCIOUSNESS.
Exactly the same
essence is given by Sankara in the above verse-"That which illumines
all other things but which has nothing else to illumine it - realize THAT
as Brahman".
Love.
