(A jar is having
many holes, with a great lamp placed inside it, having a bright light.
Now imagine it is the
Light of Consciousness.
Through the ‘inner
instrument’ and sense organs, that Light ‘flashes’ outside, and declares “I
know”. [Consciousness is knowledge.]
Only after He
(Consciousness) shines His Light, does the whole universe become known,
To that “Perceiver of
All”, the Revered Form of the Guru, do I offer my salutation; He is the Revered
Form of Sri Dakshinamurti!)
The main point here is
how Jiva obtains knowledge of Jagat, helped by Atman.
This verse is primarily
about the “Theory of Perception”, by which our senses obtain knowledge for us
from the world of sense objects. It is based on the principle of the
all-pervading Consciousness which works in conjunction with the senses.
A simile is presented to
illustrate the whole theory.
Simile of “Lantern with
Holes”
This verse stands out
due to the metaphor it uses. The metaphor used here is a lamp placed
inside a pot. The pot has been pierced with many holes. You see the beams of
light streaming out of the pot through those holes. Sankara uses this beautiful
imagery as a very profound metaphor.
– shining
– light
– lamp
– great lamp
(refers to Consciousness)
– placed
– belly
– pot
– holes, pierced
– many
This whole sentence is
one word.
Jnanam typically means knowledge. But it also means Consciousness.
This Consciousness is shining
like the light of a lamp. It is not an ordinary lamp, but a great lamp. It is
Consciousness.
This light of
Consciousness is like the lamp placed in the belly of a pot.
The pot is pierced with
many holes. The light streams out from the pot.
The seven holes in the
cover of the lantern represent the seven sense organs, i.e. two eyes, two ears,
two nostrils, and one mouth (tongue).
The beams of light
leaving our eyes, leaving our ears, leaving out of our senses going out in the
world, contacting the sense objects and returning the knowledge of the sense
objects to us.
The Light of
Consciousness goes out, first through the subtle instruments (mind and
intellect) and then through the sense organs to the gross sense objects.
The Vritti Vyapti (reflected consciousness) from the intellect and mind
envelopes the object and the Phala
Vyapti of Consciousness reveals or illumines the object, making it known to
us. Consciousness is associated with ‘knowing’.
In this way, mind,
intellect and Consciousness work together to bring knowledge to us.
This is the simplified
“Theory of Perception” in Vedanta. This process is always going on in the
waking state.
There is reflection of
Consciousness taking place in the intellect; only after that, does the
reflected consciousness go out through the senses and return with the
knowledge.
This means the source of
Consciousness is within us. If I am aware of the things outside, there must be
some means for my Consciousness to contact the external object and return with
the knowledge of that object. This is completely in conformance of our
experience. Our Consciousness does in a very real sense pick up the knowledge
of external objects and brings it back to us.
The light of
Consciousness not only illumines your mind but travels out to bring the
knowledge.
To understand this
clearly, please note that my thoughts are known to me and your thoughts are
known to you. There is no difference in the way thoughts are known.
Let us introduce the
concept of “knownness”. The objects have knownness. Your thoughts have
knownness. My thoughts have knownness. But the “knownness” (the way thoughts
are known) of your thoughts is no different than the knownness of my thoughts.
Consciousness does not
have any particular qualities. For example, there is no male Consciousness and
female Consciousness. There is no short Consciousness and tall Consciousness.
There is no Indian Consciousness and American Consciousness. There is no black
Consciousness and white Consciousness. Consciousness is featureless.
You cannot distinguish
between your Consciousness and my Consciousness. They appear to be identical.
That is why Consciousness is called mahadeep.
One Consciousness is
simultaneously present in every pot, simultaneously illumining every mind
(omnipresent).
In a Shruti passage in
Chandhogya Upanishad it is said, “Everything is kissed by our Consciousness.”
This is the same principle at work.
…..Continued in next
post
Love.
