Tattva Bodha - Post 26

The Formation of the Tanmatras

Eteshaam pancha-tattvaanaam madhye,

aakaashasya saatvikaamshaat shrotra indriyam sambhootam;

vaayoh saatvikaamshaat tvak indriyam sambhootam;

agneh saatvikaamshaat chakshuh indriyam sambhootam;

jalasya saatvikaamshaat rasana indriyam sambhootam;

prithivyaah saatvikaamshaat ghraana indriyam sambhootam;

Among these five Great Tanmatras or subtle elements,

from the Sattvic aspect of Space, the organ of hearing (ear) evolved;

from the Sattvic aspect of Air, the organ of touch (skin) evolved;

from the Sattvic aspect of Fire, the organ of sight (eye) evolved;

from the Sattvic aspect of Water, the organ of taste (tongue) evolved;

from the Sattvic aspect of Earth, the organ of smell (nose) evolved;

The first set (of eleven) comprises manas (mind), five buddhi-indriyas (five senses of perception: hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling) and five karma- indriyas (five organs of action or rather the functioning of these five organs: speech, apprehension, locomotion, excretion and procreation). The set of eleven represents the first stage of man’s contact with the world. 

It is characterized as sattvic-ahamkara; meaning its components are predominantly of sattva nature.

The second set of five (out of the group of sixteen mentioned above) consists the five subtle elements (tanmatras): shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa and gandha (elemental sound, touch, form, taste and smell). 

This set of five is characterized by rajasa, the Guna of action. 

The function of the rajasa Ahamkara is to motivate two other Gunas to be creative.

From out of the second set consisting five subtle elements, emerges Bhutas a set of five gross elements, the basic elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air and space (pancha-bhuta) leading to the gross or external world. 

This set of five gross elements is said to be tamasa-ahamkara, meaning they are the forms of Ahamkara characterized by predominance of the Guna tamas. 

Because of the predominance of tamas, the Bhutas or material elements are incapable of reflecting intelligence. They are therefore called insentient matter.

The gross elements are produced by various combinations of subtle elements. 

To illustrate: 

    

For Space, the quality of sound alone is supported.

For Air, the quality of touch is added, so there is sound and touch.

For Fire, the quality of form is added, so there is in fire sound, touch and form. 

For Water, the quality of taste is added; it supports sound, touch, form and taste. 

For Earth, the quality of smell is added; earth supports all the above five qualities. 

THE SATTVA EVOLUTES 

Note carefully that in the following verse we are only speaking of the subtle senses, not the physical sense organs. Hence instead of “ear” we are translating it as the faculty of hearing. The organ is only placed in brackets as a reference to this faculty. 

We take note that the organs of knowledge are built of the Sattvic aspect. There is no Rajas or Tamas in them. That is a characteristic of knowledge. Knowledge indicates the presence of Sattva. To know anything requires Sattva, the most refined of the three qualities. It is not the gross physical organs of knowledge that know anything, but it is their subtle equivalents in the subtle body.

And when we say five subtle elements, which component must be responsible? 

The Sattva Guna which stands for Jnana Shakti. The Sattva Guna components of the five elements are responsible for the generation of the five sense organs of knowledge. 

What is the order of generation? 

- The Sattva Guna component of Space is responsible for ears

- The Sattva Guna component of Air is the generator of skin

- The Sattva Guna component of Fire is the generator of Eye

- The Sattva Guna component of Water is the generator of Tongue 

- The Sattva Guna component of Earth is the generator of Nose 

Love.

Tattva Bodha - Post 25

MAYA AND CREATION

Athah Chatur vimshati Tattva

Utpatti prakaranam

Vakshyaamah

Now then, the twenty four principles

And how they evolved from the beginning

shall be explained

All the studies that we did till now, whether Sharira Trayam or Avastha Trayam are all associated with the individual or microcosm. In Sanskrit we use the word Vyashti. 

Today we are going to the next topic through which we are entering Samashti or macrocosm. The topic is Srishtihi or creation or cosmology. 

We begin with the 24 factors that are going to be enumerated hereunder, and whose evolution is going to be explained. 

The 24 Factors are (from grossest to subtlest): 

i) The five gross elements;

ii) The five Pranas;

iii) The five Karmendriyas; 

iv) The five Jnanendriyas; 

v) The fourfold Antahkarana, namely, mind, memory, intellect and the ego. 

These add up to 24 Factors. There is a 25th factor we speak of and it is called Maya. However, we do not count it here because it is not an evolute of creation. It is causeless and so has no beginning. Thus it is not part of the “evolution” of the universe, it is the primary factor from which all the 24 Factors have arisen. 

MAYA 

The term Maya appears in the Svetasvatara Upanishad and in the Gita, chapter VII-14, Mama Maya - the divine illusion of Mine. Svetasvatara Upanishad IV-10 declares that Maya is the material cause of the world and the possessor of Maya is the great Lord. 

Maya is that portion of the primitive non-intelligent principle in which pure Sattva is not subordinated to Rajas and Tamas. In other words, that portion in which pure Sattva is predominant is called Maya. The world is regarded as Maya, as it cannot be accepted as real. 

Does Maya really exist or not? The Advaitin gives a reply: This inscrutable, indescribable Maya cannot be said either to exist or not to exist. It is a strange phenomenon which cannot be accounted by any law of nature. 

Maya is Anirvachaniya i.e., incapable of being described. It is neither Sat (real) like Brahman nor Asat (unreal) like a barren woman's son or horn of a hare or a lotus flower in the sky. 

The phenomena produced by a magician do not really exist, because they vanish soon. The magician himself is fully aware that it is mere illusion. But we cannot say that they do not exist at all, because we are conscious of the phenomena, though only for a short time. 

We are never conscious of a thing which is altogether non-existent like the lotus flower in the sky. Similar is the phenomenon called the universe which is imagined to be distinct from Brahman. 

It is like the silver for which the mother-of-pearl is mistaken. It is difficult to conceive how the infinite comes out of itself into the finite. The magician brings out a mango tree before us from out of nothing. The tree is there, though we cannot explain it. So we call it Maya or illusion. 

If we know the nature of the Brahman, all names and forms and limitations will melt away. The world is Maya as it is not the essential truth of the infinite reality of the Brahman. 

The world somehow exists and its relation to the Brahman is indescribable. The illusion vanishes by attainment of knowledge of the Brahman. Sages, Rishis and Srutis emphatically declare that the Maya vanishes entirely as soon as the knowledge of the Supreme Self dawns.

Maya in Vedanta and in general in Hindu philosophy is seen as the great illusory power behind creation. It is a projection of illusion upon the substratum of Brahman, using the three primary qualities called the Gunas, namely, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, as the building blocks of this entire creation. 

The word Maya literally stands for “ya ma sa maya” – meaning that which is not but which appears to be. From the standpoint of Truth there is no world. As far as the rope is concerned, there never was a snake. Yet we experience the world, illusory or unreal though it be, and we cannot simply deny its existence. 

Maya has two major powers: 

i) Avaharana Shakti: This is the “Veiling Power” by which the Truth or nature of Brahman is kept hidden from our knowledge. Due to it, there arises the non-apprehension of the Truth. 

ii) Vikshepa Shakti: This is the “Projecting Power” by which the world is ‘projected’ rather than created. The Indian philosophers do not give this world the status of reality and hence the term ‘projection’ is more appropriate to it. Due to it, there arises the mis-apprehension of the Truth; the unreal is taken to be the Real. 

The veiling power has to precede the projection. If that were not so, then the snake would not be seen for the rope in the first place. Everything that is created by Maya has these two powers. The veiling is built-in, as it were, and each living being has some power to extend creation within the limitations imposed upon it by its particular body. 

Differences between Maya and Brahman 

And what is the common feature of Brahman and Maya? Both are beginning-less. They have no origin. And what are their differences? Differences are more to be noted: 

- Brahman is the non-material consciousness whereas Maya is material principle.  

- Brahman the consciousness being beyond time and space, is never subject to change. Therefore, it is changeless. Whereas Maya the matter principle can never remain the same. 

- The consciousness principle is Nirvikalpa not subject to spatial division – here one consciousness, there one consciousness : this can never arise. It is division-less and beyond time and space. 

Whereas Maya the material is subject to multiplication and division. Maya is like an amoeba where it multiples by division. Maya can multiply into the cosmos by division. 

These are the basic differences between Brahman and Maya and out of this mixture alone this universe manifests out of the seed which is Maya. In our scriptures the word Creation is always replaced by the word Manifestation. 

Love.

Tattva Bodha - Post 24

ANANDA - BLISS

In the final analysis, what we all want is happiness. What is happiness? And more importantly, how can we be truly happy? The search after happiness forms the field of enquiry in a remarkable section of the Taittiriya Upanishad. What exactly is studied about happiness? The answer is: whether happiness is born of sense contacts between subject and object (as is usually understood) or whether happiness is the very nature of the Self. 

The Upanishad starts by looking at sense enjoyments as the source of happiness. 

The Upanishad proceeds to construct a model of maximum human happiness. Imagine a young man, physically strong, bursting with vitality and energy. He is highly educated and morally upright. Old age, physical weakness, ignorance and moral corruption—all causes of misery—are ruled out. Poverty, of course, is one of the greatest barriers to the fulfillment of desires and so the Upanishad endows this fortunate young man with plenty of cash—all the wealth of the world, in fact. 

Now imagine the happiness of this person—young, vital, energetic, noble, very highly educated and extremely wealthy. This is the unit of human happiness: ‘ekah manusha ananda’. 

Is it possible to get even greater happiness? Yes, but not in this human existence. For, this earthly existence, these material objects of enjoyment and the very human frame itself, all have their limitations. Beyond this familiar plane of existence there are superior worlds, finer objects of enjoyment and powerful bodies designed for greater enjoyment. Such is the manushya-gandharva-loka where happiness is one hundred times the maximum happiness possible in a human body! 

Even this is by no means the end. The Upanishad speaks of an ascending ladder of lokas, or worlds, of truly cosmic proportions. As one ascends to these higher heavens, happiness is multiplied by a hundred times at each level. In the highest heavens, happiness is millions and billions of times greater than the maximum of human happiness! 

How does one reach these lokas? By the merit earned through the religious rituals prescribed in the Vedas. Of course, one has to wait till death to travel to these higher lokas. 

Then comes the real point of this analysis. The Upanishad says that all happiness is only a reflection of the happiness of the Self, Atmananda. 

The bliss of the Self is reflected in the serene mind and experienced as happiness. Man, in his ignorance, feels that happiness is due to the enjoyment of a variety of sense objects and spends all his life trying to get happiness out of sense enjoyment. If one can actually make the mind calm enough, it will be filled with happiness—without need of external objects. What a great discovery — finding the joy within! 

An example

Water is placed in a pot and then placed over a stove to be heated. It rises to boiling point. It is then removed from the source of heat and left on the table. What happens to the water? It returns to room temperature. Why? – because it is its nature to be at room temperature.

In the same way it is our nature to be happy. Due to the excitement from the outside, we are taken on a swinging ride between pleasure and pain, joys and sorrows. When all disturbing forces are removed, it is our nature to settle down to the “room temperature” of happiness.

When we remove ourselves from the heating source of all thought disturbances, of whatever cause and whatever intensity, by the proper practice of Sadhana, we are sure to settle down to the state of calmness, equipoise and balance which enables us to enjoy the naturally exuding fragrance of happiness from our own Self. This is what Vedanta is pointing our attention towards.

You are Sat Chit Ananda 

So ultimately we are guided to experience ourselves in this manner: “I am and therefore I exist; I know that I am; and I am blissfully aware that I am.”

This is the triple definition of the Self – Sat-Chit-Ananda.

Love.