Atma Bodha - Post 66

Verse 56

तिर्यगूर्ध्वमधः पूर्णं सच्चिदानन्दमद्वयम् ।

अनन्तं नित्यमेकं यत्तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ५६॥

TIRYAK OORDHVAM ADHAH POORNAM

SAC-CHID-AANANDAM ADVAYAM

ANANTAM NITYAM EKAM YAT

TAT BRAHMA ITI AVADHAARAYET

[That which pervades all the quarters, above and below, which is Existence; Consciousness - Bliss Absolute, and Non-dual, which is Infinite, Eternal, the One alone, realize That to be Brahman.]

In the last few verses, Sankara vividly and poetically describes the state of a Jivanmukhta, the one who is liberated even while he is alive.

Now, from this verse onwards, Sankara takes us through the description of “Brahman”.

Brahman - Beyond Life, Mind and Brain 

Brain

How do we grasp intellectually this idea of oneness of Brahman? We start with the grossest of the above three factors which are part of the evolution in nature. The brain is the grossest. We are usually trained to think that if the brain is not functioning, there is no mind, and certainly no life.

Mind

It is well-known that certain creatures go into a state of extended hibernation, sometimes through actually freezing themselves. In this state, all physical signs of life are withdrawn. There is no circulation, no breathing, no movement whatsoever. It is a state that might be equated to death.

However, when the time is over, the life returns to that body as before. It proves that the mind existed even when the brain was no longer functioning. The valuable conclusion here is that mind exists independently of the brain. It may use the brain for its functioning but it is independent of it. The mind exists entirely in the subtle body, while the brain exists in the gross body. They are two different levels of manifestation.

Life

Then there is the third factor – Life. Our existence is proven by the life that manifests through us. But we know that only through our mind. The mind is the instrument for this knowledge. Just as the mind is seen to exist when the brain is not functioning, we can also posit that life still exists when the mind is withdrawn.

The proof of that is deep sleep when there is no mind, but life is ongoing. The Pranas are still functioning without the mind. So the independence ascribed to the mind in relation to the brain, may also be granted to life in relation to the mind.

An important conclusion can be made from the above analysis.

Life is something that exists all the time. We cannot limit it only to the existence of this body. What is the implication of this? – It sets the stage for establishing the Theory of Reincarnation. 

The Theory of Reincarnation We know that even though the physical body may drop, the Mind does not. It goes to its subtle realm, with all the impressions and tendencies familiar to it. The subtle realm of the mind is the Sattwic portion of the Tanmatras or subtle elements.

In the same way, Life also continues after death in its own subtle realm different from that of the mind. The subtle realm of Life or the Pranas is the Rajasic portion of the Tanmatras or subtle elements. When conditions ripen, the Mind and Life come together again to manifest in another Birth, to continue the evolutionary journey from where it left off.

The relevance of this discussion is that it explains how the Jnani identifies himself with the all pervading, one and eternal Self.

The Jnani does not see life and mind as being dependent on the existence of the body. There is a transcendence of this mortal structure which permits him to behold the bigger picture unavailable to ordinary beings.

So, it is now clear that that Mind creates the delusion of something being alive or dead. Beyond the mind there is a Consciousness which is self-aware as Bliss and Knowledge.

Thus, through reason, we have arrived at the amazing conclusion that both Mind and Life are not restrained by the boundaries of the physical body, nor dependent on it for their existence. This is the understanding which we should have when we talk of the Self being “one, eternal and non-dual.”

Acharya in this sloka is explaining the all pervading Brahman as the Existence-knowledge and Bliss. Our scriptures proclaim the same about Brahman as that which is infinite, eternal, and absolute. i.e. that which is complete and all pervading.

The very shanti mantra of the Upanishads proclaim the absoluteness or completeness of Self or Brahman as:

AUM PUURNAMADAH PUURNAMIDAM

PUURNAAT PUURNAMUDACHYATE.

PUURNASYA PUURNAMAADAAYA PUURNAMEVAAVASHISHHYATE...

Om! That (the Supreme being Brahman) is full; this (the limited Self, jeeva) is full, (for) from the full the full (indeed) arises. When the full is taken from the full, what remains is full indeed.

Such an infinite and complete Brahman should be all pervading and all permeating and non dual only. It is all that which is existing. Hence there can be nothing beyond it or apart from it.

Directions, parts, or sides can exist for a limited thing alone, but not the absolute consciousness. Such infinite and non dual Brahman can thus never have any front nor back nor any limitations. Hence Acharya here is explaining that east, west, all directions, here and everywhere, it is but Brahman that pervades.

Sruti explains the same in various places such as Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.11 sloka as:

BRAHMAIVEDAMAMRITAM PURASTAADH BRAHMA PASHCHAAD BRAHMA DAKSHINATASHCHOTTARENA ADHASHCHORDHVAM CHA PRASRITAM BRAHMAIVEDAM VISHVAMIDAM VARISHHTHAM.H

All this that is in front is but Brahman, the immortal. Brahman is at the back, as also on the right and the left. It is extended above and below, too. This world is nothing but Brahman, the highest.

And in chandogya Upanishad 7.25.1 as:

SA EVAADHASTAATSA UPARISHHTAATSA PASHCHAATSA PURASTAATSA

DAKSHINATAH SA UTTARATAH SA EVEDA SARVAMITYATHAATO.AHAMKAARAADESHA

EVAAHAMEVAADHASTAADAHAMUPARISHHTAADAHM PASHCHAADAHAM PURASTAADAHAM

DAKSHINATO.AHAMUTTARATO.AHAMEVEDA SARVAMITI

That infinite alone is below. That is above. That is behind. That is in front. That is to the south. That is to the north. That alone is all this. So next is the teaching in regard to the self-sense. I alone am below. I am above. I am behind. I am in front. I am to the south. I am to the north. I alone am all this.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 65

Verse 55

यद्दृष्ट्वा नापरं दृश्यं यद्भूत्वा न पुनर्भवः ।

यज्ज्ञात्वा नापरं ज्ञेयं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ५५॥

YAD DRISHTVAA NA APARAM DRISHYAM

YAT BHOOTVAA NA PUNAR-BHAVAH

YAJ JNAATVAA NA APARAM JNEYAM

TAT BRAHMA ITI AVA-DHAARAYET

(Having seen which nothing more remains to be seen; having become which, one is not born again in this world; and having known which nothing remains to be known. Realize That to be Brahman)

The essence of this verse is the beginning as well as the essence of Mundaka Upanishad.

In this Upanishad, Saunaka, the great sacrificer, approaches Angiras duly and with respect and asks: “What is that, O Bhagavan, through the knowledge of which everything becomes known?”

The knowledge of everything through the knowledge of one thing means that everything is made up of that same thing.

Ordinarily the knowledge of one thing does not imply the knowledge of another thing.

But Brahma-Vidya is not a knowledge which excludes other kinds of knowledge, but that which transmutes into itself all kinds of knowledge.

Spiritual knowledge means the direct experience arrived at through the fusion of the essence of the object of knowledge into the essence of the subject of knowledge. Hence spiritual knowledge is indivisible experience, not divisible like intellectual knowledge.

The first three points listed below addresses the purpose; the second three points addresses the object or the means.

i)   Attainment: achievement and success are the prime motivations or purposes for most people in this world. Addressing such people, Sri Shankaracharya makes the first point: his aim is to make them think of higher purposes than the usual worldly ones.

ii)   Blessedness: However, there are those who may not be interested in attaining some gain, but who are drawn by their nature towards feelings of happiness. For these people, the second point is made to indicate to them there is something much higher than worldly happiness and joy.

iii)    Knowledge: And thirdly, there is a small minority that is driven by the quest for knowledge. They may have no desire for fame and glory and possession, but have an intense desire to possess knowledge. For them the third point is made to tell them that even in the field of knowledge there is nothing greater to be known than the Self.

The above were covered in the previous verse 54.

Now, for the Objects, which are covered in the present verse:

iv)   Seeing: This is the ego’s yardstick to measure itself by possessing that which it beholds and make them extensions of itself.

v)    Becoming: This is the ego’s yardstick by which it wants to become something because it is not content with what it already is.

vi) Knowing: This is the ego’s yardstick by which it measures itself by the amount of knowledge it possesses, because it is not content with what it already knows.

In this verse, these yardsticks are called into question. 

There is no yardstick to gauge the state of the Jnani. He has crossed all yardsticks that can measure only limited objects. He is now in the realm of the Infinite. Infinity alone answers these needs satisfactorily, and Infinity is only experienced by the sage of Realization and none else. Only to a man of Realization do the six statements become an actual fact.

The Man of Realization: We may well understand Sat Chit Ananda but it is very difficult to understand the man of Realization.

It is not that the Jnani becomes Brahman; the Jnani at the moment of realization comes to understand that he always IS Brahman.

Why is there no further desire for one who becomes one with Brahman? The key to understanding the Jnani lies in the fact that he has transcended the mind. The entire human pursuit is brought into the spotlight by these two verses.

Our experience of the world is entirely a mental one. We see the world through our mind. Because the mind is an instrument bound to the realm of “Ignorance”, its conception of the world is always like that of one craving to have and want more. It can never be contented.

In every worldly pursuit, when we gain anything, we are never satisfied because we always want more. These two verses ridicule such narrow vision as possessed by one’s mind. They contrast it with the majesty of the Self. They are the perfect answer to a Sadhaka’s search.

They bring stability to his mind by arresting its tendency to reach outwards for fulfillment. All fulfillments are obtained by realizing the Self. 

Hence, for a sincere sadhaka, these two verses need to be memorized, contemplated and experienced subjectively. They are his anchor in spiritual life.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 64

Verse 54

यल्लाभान्नापरो लाभो यत्सुखान्नापरं सुखम् ।

यज्ज्ञानान्नापरं ज्ञानं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ५४॥

YAL LAABHAAN NA APAROH LAABHOH

YAT SUKHAAN NA APARAM SUKHAM

YAJ JNAANAAN NA APARAM JNAANAM

TAT BRAHMA ITI AVA DHAARAYET

[Apart from this attainment there is no other, apart from this blessedness there is no other, apart from this knowledge there is no other. Realize That (Attainment, Blessedness or Bliss, existence as that knowledge) to be Brahman.]

The realization of Self is explained here as the greatest gain, the greatest knowledge having gained which, there is no more a sense of incompleteness.

Having enjoyed the bliss of Self, none will strive for a greater bliss, having known which, there will be never any thirst to know anything more.

Something new is sought out for gained only when there is imperfection or incompleteness. It is only when there is a sense of dissatisfaction that one tries to gain more happiness or more knowledge or something higher.

A Jiva, once born, fails to know / realize that he is absolute SELF and he takes himself to be this little body, mind and intellect.

With this mistaken identity, he runs hither and thither, from pillar to post, from one relationship to another, from one attainment to another attainment, from one knowledge to another knowledge, from one source of happiness to another source of happiness.

Imperfection thus is only for the limited egoistic Jiva. When the jiva rediscovers itself to be the absolute Self or Brahman, all imperfections are understood or known to be mere illusions and all struggles are ended.

  

The great sage Yajnavalkya instructs the same import to Janaka in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-iii-32 thus:-

“It becomes (transparent) like water, one, the witness, and without a second. This is the sphere (state) of Brahman, O Emperor”

Thus did Yajnavalkya instruct Janaka:-

“This is its supreme attainment, this is its supreme glory, this is its highest world, this is its supreme bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other beings live.”

Lord also explains such a liberated one in Gita second chapter as:

PRAJAHAATI YADAA KAAMAANSARVAANPAARTHA MANOGATAAN.H

AATMANYEVAATMANAA TUSHHTAH STHITAPRAGYASTADOCHYATE...

“When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts off all the desires of the mind, then is he said to be one of steady knowledge”.

DUHKHESHHVANUDVIGNAMANAAH

SUKHESHHU VIGATASPRIHAH.

VIITARAAGABHAYAKRODHAH STHITADHIIRMUNIRUCHYATE.

“He, whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all longing for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and wrath, he is called a sage, a man of steady knowledge.”

When the absolute is realized as Self, nothing else remains to be sought after. That absoluteness or perfection or completeness, knowing which everything becomes known, is indicated here by Acharya as Brahman.

There is no greater knowledge than this knowledge of the Brahman, (or, can we say, as the knowledge as Brahman, because SELF is Pure Knowledge itself and knowledge of anything external)

There is no greater sukham (Supreme Ananda or Bliss) than the sukham realized from Atma Jnanam.

There is no greater gain in life than Brahma Jnanam.

Thus, the highest goal of any one’s life is to strive for such Atma Jnanam.

Love.