SELECTIONS
FROM
BRHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAT
[WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE BEGINNING]
WHAT WAS THERE
BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
[I]
1.
In the ‘Supreme without perturbations’ (NIRVIKALPA), there
arose a minute perturbation as it were. The perturbation immediately took the
form of a young Sage sitting under a tree who questioned within himself “What
was there before everything began?”
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीत्पुरुषविधः
In the beginning Atmaa alone was there as the Purusha!
2.
What is in the ‘beginning’?
What was there before the ‘beginning’?
The word ‘beginning’ denotes the space-time phenomenon.
Our brains on this planet are hardwired to see every object
as enclosed within three dimensions. May be there are universes which have
different kinds of brains perceiving objects in an entirely different
dimensional enclosure. May be they see sounds and hear sights! They even may
perceive no solidity in objects and pass right through them.
Anything is possible in the Supreme Brahman who is a
never-ending fountain of possibilities. But whatever the perception be like,
any perceiver is bound to perceive any object only in some space-time box.
The very idea of ‘space and time’ is entwined with the ideas
of ‘there and then’; ‘where and when’; ‘now and here’; ‘beginning and end’.
Time has to begin somewhere; so reasons our brain. There has
to be a beginning to all this we see; so ascertains our intellect. And of
course many brains calmed down with the theory of a God sitting outside space
and time who created this world for his sport.
Since even God needed a space-time phenomenon to sit and do
creation-work, all grandeurs and characters that were beyond human reach were
superimposed on the so called God! And it was firmly believed that by pleasing
him one could reach eternal heavens where you again serve the god as a servant;
or enjoy the pleasures of wine and women; or become sub-gods with super natural
powers helping those who still were struggling to catch the side-glance of
their God.
But in the ancient days the Gods mentioned in the Vedas were
just higher beings with individual functions allotted to them. The Sages and
Brahmins and kings performed rites and offered them oblations which in turn got
delivered to them by the Fire-God. Other than that, there was no special single
God who ruled the worlds.
Brahma, Naaraayana and Shiva were the trinities who took to
creating, maintaining and destroying the worlds. They had their own followers
and devotees. It was just a personal issue and no one was seated on a high
throne as a God. The Gods of the heavens were called Devas – the shining ones.
The English word ‘God’ itself seems to have arisen from the word ‘Khudaa’ – so
say some researchers.
The God of the Upanishads is not the modern version of
Supremeity ruling universes, but just divinities who had some roles allotted to
them. Later on the God the Supreme came into existence through the influence of
various religious heads and philosophers.
3.
However one class of brains was not satisfied with these
gods and heavens. Even if they were real, these intellects yearned to transcend
even such levels of pleasures and godly presences. There was only one question
that churned their minds night and day.
They had understood that their brains were hardwired only to
perceive objects enclosed in time and space. They decided to jump out of their
brains and pursue the Truth which transcended all space and times that ever
existed.
So these unique brains posed the question-
“What was there before ‘beginning’ began?”
“What was there before the time and space ideas corrupted
the brain?”
As their brains remained silent, the answer flashed forth.
{‘Self’
alone was there before the ‘beginning’ began!}
If every object perceived, including the body, mind, or
intellect was not at all there, if the very idea of space and time vanish, what
could remain, but one’s own Self!
So the Sage who contemplated on this profound question of ‘beginning’
suddenly discovered that he alone existed. His identity as a Sage posing the
question had vanished. He just was there as the one question longing for Truth.
He was just a perturbation, a tiny wavelet in the ocean of Reality
He was the ‘First-born’, the so-called Creator.
सोऽनुवीक्ष्य नान्यदात्मनोऽपश्यत्
He observed that there was no one else but himself.
The Sage had lost his own space bound identity.
He now was the single point of consciousness which was the
sum total of all conscious experiences that could randomly express through him.
As a principle of consciousness, he was a being who was at
once the potentiality of all possible experiences.
He could experience any possible world within any space/time
boundary.
He could visualize any possibility that his probing mind
could think of.
He was the high energy point which could burst forth into
all experiences at once.
Still not bound by space and time, he was only the PURUSHA,
the tingling point of consciousness.
There was no space, no time, no identity, no people, no
beginning, and no end.
He was just a throbbing perturbation which was ‘before the
beginning’.
He was just a point of consciousness ready to burst forth
into infinite varieties of perceivers and perceived worlds.
But yet, he had not become all this. He had not perceived
all this.
He was just a lonely perturbation longing to become all
this.
Nothing else was there but himself!
No one else was there but himself!
Nothing else was there but a teeny weeny thought which
wanted to begin the ‘beginning’.
सोऽहमस्मीत्यग्रे व्याहरत्
He first uttered “I am He”!
5.
The ‘thought-identity’ meditated on its own identity and
found that it was a tiny perturbation of the Supreme Brahman who was again just
a ‘point’ holding infinite vibrations like him ready to become all possible
states of space and time.
He knew his source.
He knew that he was the Supreme without any perturbations
and also the tiny perturbation ready to burst forth into countless more
perturbations.
He was the Supreme; yet now he felt he was different.
He knew himself as a perturbation different from the ‘perturbation-less
supreme’.
He was now the sprout bursting out of the dormant seed.
Devolving down to the lower level of differentiation, he
reassured himself with the knowledge that he was the Supreme in essence.
6.
The thought which was just a zero added another number to
it.
The ‘identity-less thought’, thought ‘I am He’!
The thought had separated itself from the source.
The seed had sprouted out of the ground.
The idea of a second one had arisen.
The ‘one’ now separated itself and said “I am He”.
As long as one utters, “I am He”, one cannot said to have
realized his Self.
The words ‘I’ and ‘He’ refer to two different beings.
‘I’ thinks - ‘I am bound’ and ‘He is free’.
The ‘I’ struggles to be the ‘He’ and says, ‘I am He’!
But the seed had sprouted.
‘He’ was now ‘He’ and ‘I’.
This thought now had a name – ‘I’!
This thought which wanted to begin the beginning labeled
itself as ‘I’!
The thought knew only one thing- ‘I exist’; ‘I am’.
ततोऽहंनामाभवत्
तस्मादप्येतह्मार्मिन्त्रितोऽहमित्येवाग्र उक्त्वाथान्यन्नाम
प्रब्रूते यदस्य भवति
Therefore he was called AHAM (I).
Therefore, to this day when a person is addressed,
he first says, “IT IS I”, and says the other name that he
may have.
7.
Every thinking person who is aware of his own existence
knows that he exists. He knows that he is capable of producing thoughts and
ideas unique to himself. He unifies all his thoughts as a single unit and
labels them as ‘I’. Then he adds a name to that ‘I’, so that he need not be
confused with other ‘I’s seen moving in the world.
That is why whenever any one talks about himself, he first
mentions the word ‘I’ and then adds the name to it as of the family he belongs
to.
The word for ‘I’ in Sanskrit is AHAM.
Sanskrit is a language of sounds. What the sound is - that
the object is.
AHAM is just a sound (HM) ascertaining one’s superiority as
a thinking being.
A person can renounce anything in the name of religion or
love or country. But the ‘AHAM’ or ‘I’ cannot be renounced.
‘I’ is the basic vibration common to everyone, which later
on keeps piling up countless thoughts on itself and recognizes itself as
different from the rest of the world.
‘I’ is a label for the collection of some thought processes.
स यत्पूर्वोऽस्मात्सर्वस्मात्सर्वान्पाप्मन औषत् तस्मात्पुरुषः
ओषति ह वै स तं योऽस्मात्पूर्वान्बुभूषति य एवं वेद ॥१॥
Because he was the first and before all the others,
he burnt away all evils, he is the PURUSHA.
He who knows thus, indeed burns one who wants to ‘exist’
before him.
8.
Why did this particular Sage attain the state ‘before the beginning’?
Because he was the winner!
He was the first!
He realized that he was Brahman and still entertained a
desire to understand what was there before the ‘beginning’!
If he had just realized his oneness with the Brahman, he
would have attained the state of the ‘perturbation-less Brahman’ and remained
as the NIRVIKALPA
STATE
But he retained a single thought as his identity as
separated from the NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN.
He wanted to know what was there before anything began!
As any thought has to meet its fulfillment, this thought got
fulfilled by his reaching the state of a perturbation just before anything
began. He was fated to find out the answer to his question by becoming the very
vibration which acted as the seed to the beginning of ‘beginning’.
He was the one who vehemently searched for the answer to his
quest and he ended up where he could know the answer with a personal
experience. Others who had not begun their quest were still searching for their
answers in gods and heavens. But this sincere student burnt all the irrational
ignorant ideas and remained steadfast in his quest and realized the Brahman and
yet retained his identity as that very quest. Since he burnt (AOUSHAT) all
other ideas, since he burnt the entire perceived phenomenon, he is called
PURUSHA.
That is why, in the beginning, all this was Self alone in
the form of a ‘PURUSHA’.
ओषति ह वै स तं योऽस्मात्पूर्वान्बुभूषति य एवं वेद ॥१॥
He who knows thus, indeed burns one who wants to ‘exist’
before him.
9.
He who knows thus indeed burns one who wants to be that
PURUSHA before him.
The aspirant who has a longing to become the very seed which
sprouts into these worlds, must be capable of burning all ideas of one’s own
identity, all the desires, all attachments, all ignorance and know the illusory
nature of the perceived world. If the aspirant, after realizing his Self,
maintains only the longing to know the answer and has no other identity as such,
he will experience the state of the Creator or the First-born and know the
answer for the question he posed in the beginning-
“What was there in the beginning?”
Actually there is no dearth of such states in Brahman.
Infinite such Brahmas with ‘Creation-Vaasanaas’ can exist
simultaneously projecting their own unique worlds.
But such a state can be attained only by persisting on that
one quest and outrunning all other aspirants struggling to reach that state.
All the students can sit and ponder on such questions. But only a person who
has thoroughly burnt off his ignorance can ever aspire to reach such a state.
[II]
सोऽबिभेत् तस्मादेकाकी बिभेति
He was afraid.
Therefore a person who is alone is afraid.
1.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
The thought identity which wanted to know how the beginning
began was conscious of its own existence. It named itself, ‘I’.
This ‘I’ had lost its identity as a Sage, but the ideas
connected to the world it had lived once as a Sage had not vanished. It
retained the subtle memories.
Or rather, it was filled with memories not experienced by it
also.
The thought was now vibrating like a volcano ready to blow
up.
Some restlessness had appeared in that little ‘I’.
It just longed for perceptions.
It was ‘hungry’. It missed something! But what?
The very next idea that popped up was the thought, ‘where
are the others’?
It was not searching for the immediate connections of the
Sage-identity; that was burnt away already. But some vague idea of the missing
world with its multifarious beings was there biting its inner core.
It was as if you were a Sage meditating one moment and the
next moment you are an ‘identity-less vibration’ only conscious of your own
existence as a tiny vibration of the Supreme. Suddenly the world had vanished
and only ‘the longing to know the meaning of it all’ had separated it from the
Brahman. Now it was just the conscious state just before the ‘beginning’.
And there was no one else.
The silence was unnerving.
It was frightening.
He was afraid.
As he was the beginning state of the ‘beginning’, as he was
the seed from whom other beings raise forth, all the beings of his creation
imbibed his own qualities.
He was afraid of being alone in the beginning.
Every one in his creation was also afraid of being alone.
Here the ‘aloneness’ is not the aloneness experienced when
standing alone in an island or mountain. In such places still there is a
satisfaction of having a world around you which is solid and real. But suppose
as you stand on top of a mountain, the entire world is erased off including
your very name and form, along with the space and time boundaries, what will it
be like? If you are just a conscious thought and nothing else is there, what
will it be like?
That was the state of the PURUSHA, who was at the beginning
of the ‘beginning’!
He was afraid!
स हायमीक्षां चक्रे यद्मदन्यन्नास्ति कस्मान्नु बिभेमीति
Then he observed:
If there is nothing else beside myself, what am I afraid
of?
2.
But the thought labeled PURUSHA was not an ordinary ignorant
entity. It had the knowledge of its source. It knew there was nothing else but
Brahman. It knew it was the subtle perturbation in Brahman. It knew it was the
potential state for the worlds that will arise out of it. It knew it was the
beginning of beginning.
So the ‘thought’ thought, “what am I afraid of? There is no
one else beside me! I am the perturbation in the Brahman! I am Brahman! There
is no second person of whom I should be frightened of”.
Thus reasoning, it got rid of its fear.
तत एवास्य भयं वीयाय कस्माद्ध्यभेष्यत्
द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति ॥२॥
From that alone his fear was gone, for what was there to
fear?
Only when a second entity is there, fear arises!
3.
Not only the Purusha who won the race and became the
Creator, but every one of us who imagine ourselves as bound by space and time
are tossed by anxieties, fears, and apprehensions.
But if we could also realize like that PURUSHA, that we are
all just perturbations in the Supreme Brahman; that there is no second entity
other than the Self; then our fears, anxieties and apprehensions will also
vanish away.
When no one is there but the Self, what is there to be
afraid of?
The idea of ‘many’ is an illusion.
PURUSHA got rid of that illusion and became fearless.
Each individual Self becomes fearless when the illusory idea
of ‘many’ vanishes.
[III]
स वै नैव रेमे तस्मदेकाकी न रमते
He was not at all happy.
Therefore a person who is alone is not happy.
1.
Fear was gone; but loneliness?
What to do if nobody is there?
‘To be’ the state of Brahman is different from ‘to be in’
the state of Brahman.
This level was tainted with the idea of ‘I’ and so a ‘you’
was a necessary need in that state. The Purusha longed for a companion.
स द्वितीयमैच्छत्
स हैतावानास यथा स्त्रीपुमांसौ संपरिष्वक्तौ
He desired a second person.
He became a figure which became a female and male
embracing each other.
2.
As he was the only being that existed, he projected a second
being out of himself.
He became two.
He became a figure of a female and male embracing each
other.
3.
Where comes the question of male and female here?
Let us analyze!
If a Purusha, the person who burnt all ignorance, all
attachments, and all desires again entertains a desire to become many, what
happens? He falls into the next level of ignorance.
This next level is not the state of ‘Purusha with
knowledge’, but ‘Purusha without knowledge’. The ‘HE’ becomes a ‘HE with SHE’.
In the Scriptures the term ‘HE’ refers to the pure conscious
state without any taint of the perceived worlds. The perceived states which
exist as an extension of the pure consciousness are referred to by the term SHE.
What else can we denote that state as except by the name
STREE (female, but not a woman as meant in this world), which is the state
where Purusha projects the entire created phenomena of space and time!
All that is perceived is the STREE.
The Self which perceives the world is the PURUSHA.
With the contact of the STREE, (an opposite term for
PUMAAN.) he exists as PUMAAN.
The creation is the union of PUMAAN and STREE, (male and
female), the perceiving Self and the perceived world, the Seer and the Seen.
The perceived world is inert; is not conscious like the
Purusha; and is denoted by the term STREE.
स इममेवात्मानं द्वेधापातयत्
ततः पतिश्च पत्नी चाभवतां
He parted this very body into two.
From that came husband and wife.
4.
So what did the Purusha do?
He was one who wanted to become two.
He himself became both male and female in union.
He then separated the female and kept her as a second person
to give him company.
That is why a man and woman seek each other’s company here
and are united as husband and wife.
तस्मादिदमर्धवृगलमिव स्व इति ह स्माह याज्नवल्क्यः
तस्मादयमाकाशः स्त्रिया पूर्यत एव
तां समभवत्
ततो मनुष्या अजायन्त ॥३॥
Therefore said Yaajnavalkya,
this body is one half of oneself like one of the two
halves of the split pea.
Therefore this space is indeed filled by the wife.
He was united with her.
From that men were born.
5.
What an explanation!
It was Sage Yaajnavalkya who is explaining the theory of Creation
and no wonder he manages to give a very mundane explanation of everything and
finishes it off.
Only a clever student who was capable of subtle thinking
could understand what he meant.
‘How do men get born here?
By the union of female and male, or wife and husband if it
be a civilized society!
So that is what happened before the beginning; the so called
Purusha was there; he wanted to have company; made a female; and by their union
all other humans were born. That is all!’
Except king Janaka, his favorite disciple, all others
swallowed this story and were satisfied in their hearts. ‘Yes, after all a god
and his spouse alone can create all these beings by their union; how else can
it be explained?’
But already we know that the term Purusha refers to the one
who burnt away ignorance.
If he has to create the worlds as per his ideas, he has to
taint himself with ignorance; he has to believe in his own existence as a
separate identity and also believe in the existence of the created worlds.
He has to be a producer and director of a movie who has to
thoroughly believe in the story he imagines as real and make a success of the
movie by perfecting every scene. If the producer himself does not believe in
the story, how can the movie arise?
When a child makes dolls out of wet clay and plays with
them, it believes in their existence for the time being. May be when it gets
bored, it can trample all those dolls and run away happily.
Purusha also has to taint himself with ignorance and become
a STREE if he has to play the game of Creation.
‘The thought of Creation’ which was shining with knowledge
projects a second thought tainted with ignorance.
‘I am Brahman’ state projects ‘I am’ state, which again
projects ‘I’ and ‘You’ state.
The ‘You’ here is denoted by the term STREE.
The taintless Self now becomes the perceiver of worlds and
the worlds get filled with multifarious objects and beings.
The ignorance enveloping the taintless Purusha is the female
embracing the male.
Their union gives rise to this entire perceived phenomenon.
Split a pea. It is one becoming two. The sprout arises by
their oneness getting divided.
Starting from the perception of the gross body that we
identify with, to the flickering star twinkling far beyond, is half of the pea
; all that is perceived as the forms and names bound by space time boundaries.
Which is the other half of the pea?
The individual self or the embodied self, which is now the
ordinary Purusha, the one who resides in the city of nine gates is the other
half.
The world is nothing but the two-fold phenomenon of observer
and observed; perceiver and the perceived.
Every moment the perceiver creates his perceived world.
The perceived world, like a doting wife is not letting go of
the husband and holds on to him tightly. Though we try hard, this perceived
world keeps on ascertaining its reality and we never ever rise from the Purusha
state (embodied state) to the PURUSHA state (the one who burnt away ignorance).
The individual souls forever seeking pleasure from the world
projected by the senses keep on producing perceived phenomena without
a break like a male and female in union give rise to progeny.
Only by discarding the perceived phenomenon as an illusory appearance
can we go back to the un-split pea state and remain as the One undivided
Supreme Brahman.
[IV]
सा हेयमीक्षां चक्रे कथं नु मात्मन एव जनयित्वा संभवति
हन्त तिरोऽसानीति
She thought, “How can the union happen after producing me
from oneself? Alas! Let me hide myself”
1.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
All the ideas of the First-born instantly became realities.
The ignorant part of the individual self became multifarious
species and objects perceived by him.
The inert gross world of appearance always was perceived as
different from oneself. Never could the individual minds grasp the truth that
the entire perceived world was just a projection of their own minds or brains.
Drowned in ignorance and entertaining the misconception that
the perceived world of senses was a treasure house of happiness, the individual
self kept running after the pleasures and by reason of those pursuits various
species arose with various characters.
Whatever we see here is the product of two uniting as one.
Whatever we see here is the perceiver perceiving the world as
different from the Self.
Instead of seeing the world as emanating from one’s own
consciousness, the individual sees himself as a tiny being living inside a huge
world filled with multifarious objects and beings. Completely forgetting his
true essence of Supreme bliss, he runs after inert perceptions longing for
happiness. But like a deer running after the waters of the mirage which keeps
moving forward beyond its reach, falls into the dark pits blindly, the fool who
runs after sense pleasures ends up having countless experiences of pains and
pleasures without end.
When the Self is undivided and the world appearance is just
a picture projecting out of the Self, then where comes the question of
separation and union? Who has to give company to whom when there is nothing
else but the Self? The very action of
the First-born to divide the Self as it were and call it another entity is
absurd enough; to seek pleasure uniting with one who is the Self alone is more
absurd. It is impossible to unite with one’s own Self. It is as idiotic as
saying I am united with my feet or I am united with my hand. Hand or leg is a
projection of the same body. Then how can separation be possible within the
parts of one’s own body? Similarly how can the Self be divided as two and act
out the unification process?
The same factor is mentioned by Sage Yaajnavalkya as –
She thought, ‘how can he be united with me after producing
me from himself?
Well; let me hide myself”.
The female was alarmed that her creator, her own father
desired to unite with her. She felt it was not right. So she ran away from him.
She would never give him the pleasure of union. She hid herself. The best place
to hide was inside her creator. The poor creator never looked within himself to
find the true bliss and kept on searching for her in all the perceived
phenomena.
स गौरभवत् ऋषभ इतरः तां समेवाभवत्
ततो गावोऽजायन्त
वडवेतराभवत् अश्ववृष इतरः
गर्दभीतरा गर्दभ इतरः
अविरितरा मेष इतरः
तां समेवाभवत्
ततोऽजावयोऽजायन्त
एवमेव यदिदं किन्च मिथुनं आ पिपीलिकाभ्यः तत्सर्वमसृजत ॥४॥
She became a cow, the other became a bull;
from that cows were born;
the one became a mare, the other a stallion;
the one became a she-ass, the other became a he-ass and
was united with her;
from that one-hoofed animals were born;
the one became a she-goat, the other a he-goat;
the one became an ewe, the other became a ram and was
united with her; from that goats and sheep were born.
Thus did he project everything that exists in pairs, down
to the ants.
2.
Yaajnavalkya continued his explanation on Creation:
“So my dear students, all that you see – cows, goats,
donkeys up to the level of crawling worms and ants, all are born here by the
union of male and female.”
Those who were satisfied with the simple explanation grinned
happily; ‘didn’t they already know that reproduction alone was the cause of
this world! Just like they were born from the union of their parents, all the
animals and all species had to arise only by the union of male and female.
They also would increase their progeny by uniting with
suitable females. After all Brahma, the first born also produced a female and
united with her in the beginning. To produce different species, he must have
become the male member of the clan, united with the female member and had
produced the progeny for that species.
Brahma must have been the first donkey, first goat, first
bull, first worm, and first ant and so on.’
The clever students were not satisfied by this explanation.
They wrinkled their brows and meditated on the subtle truth
behind those ordinary looking words.
3.
What are cows, donkeys and goats or worms? All these various
species could be unified to mean one
single word – ‘Differentiation’.
The ignorance of one’s own Self, the misconception that one
is different from the Supreme Self alone is the cause of the multifarious
perceived phenomena. As long as one does not realize the perceived world as
one’s own mental projection, as long as one tries to extract pleasures from the
inert perceptions, ignorant of the inherent bliss within the Self, he will go
through various life-experiences in various forms, fulfilling the subtle
longings nagging his mind.
But every conscious being, be it a human or an animal, is
the First born in essence, who in turn is Brahman in essence.
The First-born is the devolved state tainted with ignorance;
all the beings in his creation are just the possible states of his own taint of
ignorance.
All are ‘HE’ in essence; HE is ‘THAT’ in essence!
[V]
सोऽवेत् अहं वाव सृष्टिरस्मि
अहं हीदं सर्वमसृक्षीति
ततः सृष्टिरभवत्
सृष्ट्यां हाम्यैतस्यां भवति य एवम् वेद ॥५॥
He knew, “I indeed am the Creation; I alone projected all
this”.
Then he became the ‘Creation’.
He becomes so in this Creation, he who knows thus.
1.
With the misconceived idea of differentiation, the first
perturbation of the Supreme projected itself as the manifold appearances.
Tainted with the ignorance of one’s own blissful nature, ‘It’ simultaneously
experienced countless experiences becoming a channel for countless latent
tendencies. When all the Vaasanaas or latent tendencies were exhausted, it knew
itself as Brahman.
It knew that it was the process of creation.
It knew that all that was perceived and experienced was but
a projection of the Self.
So this ‘nameless perturbation’, which was the state where
all the Seen worlds were projected, was termed as SRISHTI, the ‘Creation’.
He who understands this Truth, becomes eligible to attain
the same state even if he be a projected being in this creation of another
Creator.
2.
Who can count the number of creations that exist in the
infinite ocean of
Brahman
Sage Vasishta describes each unit of tri-worlds (earth,
nether and heavenly existences) as equal to a dust particle floating in the
sun’s light. The number of Universes and perceived worlds are beyond the
mathematical terminologies. Every possibility gives rise to more possible
states and the vastness of the ocean
of SAVIKALPA BRAHMAN
The process is never-ending.
So if any one is thirsting to know the possible state before
the beginning of beginning, he will become that state and project worlds out of
himself. The world he creates is nothing but the projection of his own mind.
Whatever his ideas are, the world will imbibe those characters. The beings who
arise in his creation will be based on his own creative ability. A scientific
minded Brahma can bring forth worlds strictly adhering to the rules of Physics;
a religious minded Brahma might create a world full of Gods and miracles.
As everything is just a mental projection of a particular
creator, one cannot define any common characteristics for all the worlds that
arise in the BRAHMAN. Creator is just a thought process of a mind which wanted
to know the mystery of creation. Anyone who has such a thirst of knowledge will
attain the state of the Creator and after understanding the Truth will dissolve
that identity also and will remain as the perturbation-less NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN.
[VI]
अथेत्यभ्यमन्थत्
स मुखाच्च योनेर्हस्ताभ्यां चाग्निमसृजत
तस्मादेतदुभयलोकमन्तरतः अलोमका हि योनिरन्ततः
Then he rubbed back and forth (churning);
he produced fire from its source (womb) the mouth and
hands;
therefore both these are hair-less inside;
the womb is also hair-less inside.
1.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
How did the creation process occur?
Sage Yaajnavalkya again puts forth the secrets of creation
behind ordinary words.
‘The Brahma who was at the beginning of beginning, just
rubbed his hands back and forth; heat was produced, he blew the air on it from
the mouth and fire was kindled. The source of all these was the womb; womb is
hairless within; so like the source, the inside of hands and mouth are also
hairless.’
The non-thinking students swallowed the ordinary meaning of
the words.
Brahma was a God who created the world. So no wonder he
first created the Fire, the Sacred One who is worshipped by all as the first
phenomenon. How can fire arise? Heat can be produced only by rubbing stones and
as a God he might have produced heat by rubbing the hands and blew air from the
mouth on it to kindle the fire. The air came out of the belly portion, the very
source of all creations; the belly was hairless within; and so hands and mouth
are also hairless; yes that is the reason our palms are hairless. The students
were happy with the explanation.
But some students knitted their brows and pondered on the
inner meaning of those ordinary looking words.
2.
If the first-born is just a vibration in the Para Brahman,
he is formless. Even if he has a form, it would also be an appearance like all
the other forms seen here. So the explanation had nothing to do with the
hairlessness of mouth or hands or womb.
What could the term ‘womb’ mean? Womb-YONI is the source of
the Creation. Here the term ‘womb’ must mean the subtle state which contains
all the possible appearances that can arise as this worldly existence.
What could the term ‘mouth’ mean? Mouth is the organ, which
has to split into two to blow air, or consume food. So the term ‘mouth’ must
refer to the idea of differentiation that arose in the First-born.
When the taint of ignorance namely ‘differentiation’ arose,
the ‘air’ came out.
What is ‘air’? Praana, the subtle energy, the ‘connecting
force of the non-inert consciousness to the ‘inert perception’.
What is ‘rubbing of hands’? Rubbing is churning (MANTHANA) -
the churning of all the latent tendencies. What happens when the Vaasanaas
start vibrating? Heat is produced. Heat is tension, anxiety or the collection
of all individual thoughts, namely the ego. The subtle collection of Vaasanaas
gets ready to become the ‘fire’ namely ‘the individual Self’. Hands refer to
the organs of action. The organs of action, by their movement produce the space
and time phenomenon.
When a person walks on the road, the legs move and create
the ‘space’ phenomenon. The organs of action create the space/time phenomenon
for the fire (ego) which is ready to consume the fuel of wood (plants) produced
by experiences (waters).
The air that is blown from the mouth is the subtle principle
which keeps the ‘perceiver-perceived’ phenomenon going on.
The source of the fire or ego or the embodied self is the
Supreme Self which is taintless. The term ‘hair-LOMAKAA’ refers to the taint of
ignorance. Since the Supreme Self is taintless, the individual Self is also
taintless.
The differentiation idea, the organs of action are all but
the Supreme Self in essence.
Since there exists nothing but the Self, the
differentiations perceived or the space phenomenon perceived all are nothing
but the Supreme Self.
The waves and wavelets arising out of the ocean are nothing
but the ocean in essence.
तद्यदिदमाहुः
अमुं यजामुं यजेति
एकैकं देवं
एतस्यैव सा विसृष्टिः
एष उ ह्येव सर्वे देवाः ।
Then they talk like this –
Perform the sacrificial rites for him; perform the
sacrificial rites for him. There is only one entity shining forth as the
Supreme.
All that is perceived is projected out of him alone.
He alone indeed is all the divinities.
3.
Yet the ignorant speak of many divinities; perform rituals
to please the manifold divinities.
When there is only the Supreme without any differentiation,
how can there exist other divinities? All the names and forms that are
perceived from the ant up to the Brahma are the projection of the Supreme. All
the divinities are but the Self in essence. What need is there for rituals or
Sacrifices, when there exists not a second one other than the Self?
अथ यत्किन्चेदमार्द्रं तदेतसोऽसृजत तदु सोमः
Whatever is wet here is produced from his seed.
That is SOMA.
4.
What is water? Experiences!
The subtle Vaasanaas grossified fill the mental faculty like
clouds and burst forth into rains of experiences.
So wherever one sees wetness or a possible state of
experience, know it to be arising from the source of Para Brahman. Whatever one
perceives is a potential state expressing itself as a reality. He indeed is the
seed of all experiences. That is his RETAS (virility).
All that we see as perceived worlds are his progeny.
5.
Soma is produced by the Moon.
Moon is the term that refers to the ever oscillating mental
faculty.
The individual soul runs after the inert appearances in
search of happiness.
The mind feels happy when one fulfills his desires.
Then Soma is produced.
The mind is filled with joy.
But this joy is not inherent in the inert objects of
perception; but it is the silence experienced at the end of a
desire-fulfillment. The mind at that moment is silent and remains as its source
only. The happiness felt in the mind by desire-fulfillment is but the bliss of Para
Brahman.
The moon shines by the shine of the Sun.
The witness consciousness which is the Sun is the support of
the mental faculty. The joy felt by the mind through experiences is the essence
of the Self alone.
So whatever is experienced here and gives rise to happiness
(SOMA), is produced from the Supreme Self, the seed of all.
एतावद्वा इदं सर्वं अन्नं चैवान्नादश्च
सोम एवान्नं अग्निरन्नादः
All this is only this much- the food and the eater of
food.
Soma is the food, and the fire, the eater of food.
6.
To sum up, whatever you perceive here as the world is just a
unit of food and food-eater.
The fire, the ever burning channel of Vaasanaas namely the
individual self, keeps consuming the fuel of experiences, and the joy produced
is the Soma, the mind experiencing the silence of the Self.
सैषा ब्रह्मणोऽतिसृष्टिर्यच्छ्रेयसो देवानसृजत
अथ यन्मर्त्यः सन्नमृतानसृजत तस्मादतिसृष्टिः
अतिसृष्ट्यां हास्यैतस्यां भवति य एवं वेद ॥६॥
This is the Super-creation of the Brahma, for he projected
the Gods who were superior to him; being a mere mortal he created the
immortals;
this indeed is a super creation.
He becomes thus in this super creation, he who knows thus.
7.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
The Brahma who created all this indeed deserves the praise.
He not only projected all the species and all their experiences,
but he projected the Gods also as rulers of his creation. He made them superior
to himself.
What a wonder! A mortal excels by creating immortal beings endowed
with all the excellent qualities!
Like a man creating a machine that controls him, this Brahma
projected the gods who rule his own creation.
8.
Having struggled life-long to unfold the mysteries of
creation, he asked the question what was there in the beginning and ended up
being the very state before the ‘beginning’ began. Then he tainted himself with
ignorance; developed the idea of differentiation and projected the inert world
of experiences. Not satisfied he created gods and divinities with powers and
excellence.
But whatever the artist paints on the canvas, whether it is
a picture of a bird or the Sun or a God, all are but pictures created by the
artist. The pictures might look different for the on-looker who does not see
the canvas.
But a knower knows that any picture on the canvas, whether
God or human is but an imagination of the artist. The Supreme alone appears as
all the pictures like the canvas itself appearing as all the pictures.
Here there is no external artist; the very canvas is the
picture also.
From the level of pictures, the canvas remains hidden. From
the level of canvas, all pictures are just its own expressions.
The canvas with pictures is the Savikalpa Brahman. The canvas
bereft of pictures is the Nirvikalpa Brahman. But since canvas is there only
for the existence of pictures the
Para Brahman also exists as the canvas with the pictures of
the world.
The canvas is not affected by whatever forms appearing on it;
similarly Para Brahman is not tainted by the world appearances projected out of
it.
9.
This is indeed a super creation that an ordinary
perturbation of creation created worlds and also gods as rulers.
If any one understands the truth that the immortals and
mortals are made of the same essence of Brahman, he can also aspire for the
role of the Creator and create gods in his super creation.
[VII]
तद्धेदं तर्ह्यव्याकृतमासीत्
तन्नामरूपाभ्यामेव व्याक्रियत
असौनामायमिदंरूप इति
तदिदमप्येतर्हि नामरूपाभ्यामेव व्याक्रियते
असौनामायमिदंरूप इति
This universe was then undifferentiated. It differentiated
only into names and forms. This is of such and such a name and such and such a
form.
So to this day this is differentiated only into name and
form.
This is of such and such a name and such and such a form.
1.
Let us analyze the world created by the creator.
Whatever we see is made of various shapes and we differentiate
them by labeling them with different names.
In the beginning there was no differentiations at all; no
names at all; no forms at all; only THAT existed as the sum-total of all
possibilities.
But by the entry of the Creator, these worlds arose out of
his mind. As he projected them he labeled all the shapes with different names.
Being the projections of the same Creator, all the created beings also refer to
these shapes with the same names as thought out by him.
स एष इह प्रविष्ट आ नखाग्रेभ्यः यथा क्षुरः क्षुरधानेऽवहितः स्यात् विश्वम्भरो वा विश्वम्भरकुलाये तं न पश्यन्ति
This Self entered into these bodies up to the tip of the
nails – like the razor filling its case, or as the fire which sustains the
world remains in its source. Nobody sees the Self.
2.
In the world around us which extends far beyond the galaxies
and black holes, where does the Self exist? Why we do not see it?
We do not see it because it cannot be perceived as an object
outside. It is the embodied one filling as it were the entire body from the tip
of the hair to the tip of the nail. But actually self is not some gas or liquid
which fills a person. Self is the supreme which has projected as all the
conscious beings and the perceived worlds. The embodied one who perceives the world
is in essence the Supreme Self only. The Supreme self alone is the individual
self and his projected world.
What is the individual self?
It is the complete unit of perceiver and perceived taken as
one. The individual self and the perceptions experienced by him together
constitute the individual self.
This self is both the perceiver and the perceived. It is as if it has entered the bodies and
fills them all over, like a razor fills its case. Since we see only the cover,
we do not see the razor.
It is like the fire hidden inside the wood, its source. We
cannot see the fire. We can see only the wood.
Inside the inert body we identify as our selves, the Supreme
alone exists as the individual consciousness projecting the world of names and
forms.yg
अकृत्स्नो हि सः
प्राणन्नेव प्राणो नाम भवति
वदन् वाक् पश्यन्चक्षु: शृण्वन् श्रोत्रं मन्वानो मनः
तान्यस्यैतानि कर्मनामान्येव ।
He is incomplete indeed when-
as the principle of life he goes by the name of PRAANA;
as he talks, he goes by the name of speech; seeing- by the
name of eyes; hearing- by the name of hearing; thinking- by the name of ears;
these are merely names according to its functions.
स योऽत्र एकैकमुपास्ते न स वेद
अकृत्स्नो ह्येषोऽत एकैकेन भवति
आत्मेत्येवोपासीत
अत्र ह्येते सर्व एकं भवन्ति।
He who contemplates on each one separately does not know
the Truth.
‘It’ is incomplete when it is understood separately as
each one.
As self alone it is to be contemplated upon.
Here alone all these become unified.
तदेतत्पदनीयमस्य सर्वस्य यदयमात्मा
अनेन ह्येतद्सर्वं वेद
यथा ह वै पदेनानुविन्देदेवं
कीर्तिं श्लोकं विन्दते य एवं वेद
॥७॥
Like one follows the foot prints, one should seek the Self
which is the essence of all. One knows everything only through the Self.
He who follows the foot prints and attains the self, he
attains fame and praises; He who knows thus.
3.
Self is a term used for the Sanskrit word ATMAN.
ATMAN actually means the essence.
Essence of what?
Essence of a person who is perceived as doing the functions
of breathing, talking, seeing, hearing, thinking etc.
If all these functions are separately viewed, then-
The essence of the breathing person is Praana, the vital
force. Praana is the Atman.
The essence of the talking person is speech. Speech is the
Atman.
The essence of the seeing person is eye. Eye is the Atman.
The essence of the hearing person is ear. Ear is the Atman.
The essence of the thinking person is mind. Mind is the
Atman.
This manner of analyzing everything separately is
misleading.
The essence analyzed like this gives only an incomplete
knowledge.
Actually, the person who breaths, talks, sees, hears and
thinks is just one person who is performing all these functions.
A person does not change every time he performs a different
function.
We have to unify all these functions as belonging to one
person and find out the essence of that person.
We have to ask- Who breaths? Who talks? Who sees? Who hears?
Who thinks?
We have to track down the essence of a person through the
outward functions like finding an animal by following its foot prints.
The essence is the pure consciousness which supports all
these functions.
One is conscious of one’s existence; one is conscious of the
perceptions.
Consciousness alone projects itself as sounds and
perceptions and experiences the world.
Consciousness alone is the support of all the functions
performed by the senses inclusive of the mental faculty.
Just like the foot prints are not the actual animal, the
functions of the senses or the mind do not constitute the essence of the
person.
If by observing the gross functions of the senses, one is
able to contemplate on the subtle nature of the consciousness as oneself, then
he will indeed exist as Brahman alone.
He remains as the essence of all that exists as names and
forms.
He is indeed praiseworthy, even if as Brahman or Self there
is no second one to shower praises on him.
[VIII]
तदेतत्प्रेयः पुत्रात् प्रेयो वित्तात् प्रेयोन्य्स्मात्सर्वस्मात्
अन्तरतरम् यदयमात्मा ।
This Self is dearer than a son; dearer than wealth; dearer
than everything else. This Self is the innermost.
स योऽन्यमात्मनः प्रियं ब्रुवाणं
ब्रूयात्
प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति
ईश्वरो ह
तथैव स्यात्
आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत
स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य
प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति ॥८॥
If one should address a person who calls something dearer
than the Self, and say ‘what you hold as dear will perish’-
You are the Lord; it will truly occur.
One should contemplate only on the Self as dear.
He who contemplates on the Self alone as dear, his dearest
one never is mortal.
Why should one seek the Self?
Because it is dearer than anything else you can perceive in
the world!
What is wrong in seeking the dearest object to the exclusion
of all other objects in the world?!
Is not the son the dearest?
No, the Self alone is the dearest!
Is not wealth the dearest?
No, the Self alone is the dearest!
A man who is ignorant will not accept this truth and will
hold that his son, his daughter, his wife, his relations, his friends, his
house, his property and so on only deserve the title of ‘dearest’ and he will
spend his entire life holding on to them.
To such a person you can boldly point out that, whatever he
holds on to as dearer than his own Self will surely perish and he is in for
suffering.
What you say will indeed happen. For, you are the Lord.
For, you are not here talking about the gross body or the
limited ego, you are talking about the Supreme Self which is the essence of all
that exists.
The Self alone appears as all this.
The Self alone is the son, wealth etc.
These names and forms are just projections of the mind and
will perish.
Self, the essence of all these does not perish.
A realized man has understood that the Self, the Para
Brahman alone is the dearest object that has to be sought with supreme effort.
When he through contemplation and the guidance of the
scriptures has realized his true essence, he remains as Brahman alone.
He can now truthfully declare that all objects in the world
are of perishing nature.
So if he tells an ignorant man, “What you hold as dearer
than the Self, be it a son or wife or property, you are going to lose it and suffer”,
it will come true, for that is the truth.
All the things other than the Self indeed will perish.
Self alone is imperishable.
Self alone is the ‘dearest’!
He will never lose his Self and cry.
Self cannot be destroyed.
Self is existence.
[IX]
तदाहुः यत् ब्रह्मविद्यया सर्वं भविष्यन्तः
मनुष्या मन्यन्ते
किमु तद्ब्रह्मावेद्यस्मात्तत्सर्वमभवदिति ॥९॥
They say-
“Men think-One becomes ‘all’ through the knowledge of
Brahman”.
What did the Brahman know by which it became ‘all’?
The scriptures, realized Sages all make a common statement-
‘One becomes all by the knowledge of Brahman’.
Brahman is all.
So Brahman has some knowledge by which it has become all.
What is that knowledge? What did Brahman know?
Was it without knowledge first and knew something and became
all?
But Brahman is all.
Did it become all without knowing anything? Then knowledge
is worthless.
Did Brahman get the knowledge through some action?
All these doubts arise when they say-
One becomes all through the knowledge of Brahman.
[X]
ब्रह्म वा इदमग्र आसीत्
तदात्मानमेवावेत् अहं ब्रह्मास्मीति
तस्मात्सर्वमभवत्
तद्यो यो देवानां प्रत्यबुद्ध्यत स एव तदभवत्
तथर्षीणां तथा मनुष्याणाम्
Brahman alone was in the beginning.
It knew only itself as, ‘I am Brahman’.
Therefore it became all.
Therefore whoever among gods knew this, it became him.
So with the Sages; so with the mortals.
तद्ध्येतत्पस्यन्नृषिर्वामदेवः प्रतिपेदे
अहं मनुरभवं सूर्यश्चेति ।
तदिदमप्येतर्हि य एवं वेद अहं ब्रह्मास्मीति
स इदं सर्वं भवति
Sage Vaamadeva, when he realized this, knew ‘I am Manu, I
am sun.’
Therefore even now, whosoever knows ‘It’ as ‘I am Brahman’
becomes everything.
तस्य न देवाश्चानाभूत्या ईशते
आत्मा ह्येषां स भवति
Even the gods cannot prevail against them, for he is their
Self.
अथ योऽन्यां देवतामुपास्ते अन्योऽसावन्योऽहमस्मीति
न स वेद
यथा पशुरेवं स देवानाम् ।
He who worships another god, thinking- he is another, I am
another’,
he does not know the truth.
यथा ह वै बहवः पशवो मनुष्यं भुञ्ज्युः
एवमेकैकः पुरुषो देवान् भुनक्ति
एकस्मिन्नेव पशावादीयमानेऽप्रियं
भवति
किमु बहुषु
तस्मादेषां तन्न प्रियं यदेतन्मनुष्या
विद्युः ॥१०॥
He is like an animal for the gods.
Just like all the animals serve the humans, every man
serves the gods.
Even if one animal is lost, it gives pain; what if many
are lost?
Therefore the gods do not want that men should know this.
1.
What is the knowledge that Brahman knows?
Brahman is the knowledge.
There was only knowledge in the beginning which is denoted
by the name Brahman.
Brahman alone was in the beginning.
It knew what?
It knew its own existence.
It was alone.
No worlds were there.
No second person was there.
Only Brahman was there. Brahman knew that it was Brahman.
Brahman alone is the entire manifested world.
Therefore Brahman is all.
There is no second object.
The manifested world or the un-manifest state of the world
makes no difference to Brahman.
Brahman knows there is no second one.
Brahman knows it is all.
Brahman is all.
2.
If a god understands this truth and realizes the Self, he
loses his limited identity and exists as Brahman alone. Or, rather we can say
that Brahman exists as that god who realized the Self.
If a Sage realizes, Brahman exists as that Sage.
If a human realizes, Brahman exists as that person.
But in that state of realization, the God or Sage or man do
not exist as limited personalities. In that state, they are not aware of a
second person, but only the Self.
Since that state is again the state of Brahman who knew
itself as Brahman, the realized ones remain in that state alone. Just as the
state of Brahman knew itself as all, the realized one knows the Self as all.
Sage Vaamadeva in that state said, ‘I am the Manu, I am the
Sun’.
He was not Vaamadeva who uttered so; but it was Brahman who
as Vaamadeva uttered -
‘I am Manu, I am sun’; because Brahman is all.
3.
When any one realizes the Self, he does not anymore fear
gods.
He has no need to worship them or please them with rituals.
He as the state of Brahman is the essence of those Gods
also.
There is no second person.
Gods also are just names and forms projected from Brahman.
Brahman is all. Brahman is all the Gods too.
So how can Gods turn against anyone who is the Self of all?
4.
Since all do not realize, the gods continue their existence
as controllers of the ignorant.
They can exist only for the ignorant who do not know the
Self.
The ignorant identify with their limited forms and believe
that gods are different from them. They worship the gods desiring favors from
them.
These ignorant fools are equal to the animals possessed by a
man.
The animals fear the man and serve him in many ways. Pleased
by their service the man may favor them with food and shelter.
The ignorant ones also serve the gods as their Masters.
The Gods do not want anyone to realize the Self.
They do not want to lose the animals which worship them and
fear them.
Even if one animal is lost, it is painful. Why would they
lose many animals?
Gods are careful that the knowledge of Brahman is not
available to all.
[XI]
{Gods are careful that the knowledge of Brahman is not
available to all.
This statement is further proved in the next few verses.
Sage Yaajnavalkya
suddenly starts talking about kings and rites and the Brahmins.
He talks about Dharma. He talks about the classifications of
Gods. He talks about the duties of a householder.
Within all these ordinary looking words he manages to hide
the knowledge of Brahman.
He does not want to instruct the knowledge of Brahman to the
non-intelligent ones, who cherish the desire for wealth and family; who desire
to perform rites and attain heavens; who desire to propitiate their ancestors;
who desire to be controlled by the king.
So he just superficially discusses the topics of gods,
classifications of men and the duties of a householder. Most of his ignorant
disciples accept the surface meaning of his words and get ready for their next
station of life where they have to marry, get progeny, perform rites, obtain
wealth from the king by performing sacrificial rites for him, please gods
through rites, offer oblations in the fire, worship the sacred fire and so on. However,
his intelligent students just ignored all these surface meanings and obtained
the knowledge of Brahman. They developed dispassion, went off to solitary
places, contemplated on the Self and attained the Supreme state of Brahman.}
ब्रह्म वा इदमग्र आसीदेकमेव
तदेकं सन्न व्यभवत् ।
Brahman alone was there in the beginning;
It was alone.
Being one, It did not flourish.
तच्छ्रेयोरूपमत्यसृजत क्षत्रं
यान्येतानि देवत्रा क्षत्राणि
इन्द्रो वरुणः सोमो रुद्रः पर्जन्यो
यमो मृत्युरीशान इति ।
तस्मात्क्षत्रात्परं
नास्ति
तस्माद्ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियमधस्तादुपास्ते राजसूये
क्षत्र एव यद्यशो दधाति
सैषा क्षत्रस्य
योनिर्यद्ब्रह्म ।
तस्माद्यद्यपि राजा परमतां गच्छति
ब्रह्मैवान्तत उपनिश्रयति स्वां योनिम्
य उ एनं हिनस्ति स्वां स योनिमृच्छति
स पापीयान् भवति
यथा श्रेयांसं हिंसित्वा ॥११॥
It projected excellent forms of might.
Indra, Varuna, Soma, Rudra, Parjanya, Yama, Mrtyu, Ishaana
– all these are gods are the mighty ones.
Nothing excels the mighty.
Therefore the Brahmin worships the mighty one standing
below, in the Raajasuya sacrifice.
He imparts that glory to the mighty ones.
The knower of Brahman is the essence of the mighty ones
also.
Therefore even if the king is supreme, at the end of the
sacrifice he resorts to the knower of Brahman.
He who slights a knower of Brahman strikes at his own
source.
He is a sinner who slights his superior.
1.
In the beginning Brahman alone was there. It knew itself.
It was one.
It was alone.
It was un-manifest.
It became all.
How?
2.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
He created Gods who were superior to him and this became a
super-creation of his.
However any projection is a taint of ignorance.
The mortal mind with limitations was now the state of
Brahman ready to project the worlds.
A state of full freedom where anything one wants can become
a reality.
The treasure box of all possibilities lay open for the Creator
to pick and choose.
The first idea was to make perfect beings; beings who were
powerful and immortal.
So he projected beings endowed with might.
Indra became the mighty ruler of Gods.
Varuna the Lord of waters, the Moon the consumer of Soma,
Rudra the Lord of destruction, Parjanya the Lord of clouds and thunder, Yama
the controller, the God of Death and the Supreme Lord Shiva were the mighty
Gods.
The ignorant expanded their mental world where they saw
heavens occupied by these mighty Gods.
The intelligent students thought otherwise.
Indra was the individual Self, the embodied one who perceived
the world through the senses, INDRIYAs. The individual Self was the Lord whom
the senses served bringing in data.
Varuna, the Lord of waters again was the individual Self who
was indeed the Lord of all experiences (Waters).
Moon was the mind, the collection of thoughts and ideas
which made the AATIVAAHIKA body, the individual Self. The Mind chased the sense
pleasures and felt happy. It consumed Soma (pleasures) and so was Soma.
Rudra was again the principle of destruction which was
inherent in the world of perceptions. Every moment objects changed and were
continuously perishing.
Parjanya, was the collection of Vaasanaas which randomly
chose a Jeeva to express them as realities. These Vaasanaas in turn became
desires in the minds and turned into waters, experiences.
Yama was the controller; the individual self had the need to
control the flow of Vaasanaas. Desires had to be channelized properly. Wrong
desires had to be discarded; right desires had to be cultivated.
Mrtyu, the lord of death was the most feared. Death was an
inevitable end the individual Selves had to meet with. The individual who
identified himself with the mortal coil had to die along with the destruction
of the mortal coil.
Shiva was the most auspicious state. Shiva was the state of
realization.
Shiva was the Supreme controller.
One who realizes the Self is Brahman alone.
He is Shiva himself who surpasses all the other Gods.
Other gods stay in awe of the person who is a knower of
Brahman.
3.
Gods exist by reason of the ignorance in men.
The mortal Sage who became the Creator projected Gods to
control the mortals.
Why are they the controllers?
They are the ones filled with might and have the duty of
maintaining righteousness in the world.
From Indra to Yama, all gods are endowed with might.
In the human world, the king is the mighty one and he
maintains the righteousness in the world.
Who is greater, the mighty one or the knower of Brahman?
The knower of Brahman respects the mighty ones.
Though he knows himself as the Self which is the essence of
all gods and kings, he gives them due respect considering their positions as
controllers.
But the king knows the knower of Brahman alone excels.
The mighty ones - be they gods or kings - revere the knower
of Brahman.
One who slights a knower of Brahman strikes at his own Self.
He is the worst sinner.
A knower of Brahman is Brahman alone. No one can surpass
him.
[XII]
स नैव व्यभवत्
स विशमसृजत
यान्येतानि देवजातानि गणश आख्यायन्ते
वसवो रुद्रा आदित्या विश्वे देवा मरुत इति ॥१२॥
It never flourished.
It projected those beings who sought wealth.
Vasus, Rudras, Aadityaas, Visvadevas, Maruths are the Gods
who sought wealth.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
By creating the Gods he could not expand the worlds. The
ignorance level was too low.
Most of the Gods like Shiva were knowers of Brahman and so
they never conceived any worlds.
Conception was necessary for the expansion of the worlds
inhabited by the ignorant.
The Creator chose the Vaasanaa of wealth and created beings
who coveted wealth. These beings were endowed with the power to conceive
objects of excellent quality and had the desire to possess them too.
Desire for accumulation was necessary to expand the world of
appearances.
Vasus etc became the Gods who coveted wealth.
Men also were born with the desire for wealth and property.
Ignorance flourished.
The world of perceptions expanded and was filled with
countless objects.
[XIII]
स नैव व्यभवत्
स शौद्रं वर्णमसृजत पूषणम्
इयं वै पूषा
इयं हीदं सर्व पुष्यति यदिदं किन्च ॥१३॥
Brahma still did not flourish.
He projected beings who produced nourishment.
Earth is the nourisher.
It nourishes all that exists.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
The controllers and desire filled
beings were not enough to expand the world
of ignorance.
The conceptions had to be like seeds producing more
conceptions in their turn.
A field of experience which could endlessly spread out and
make the conceptions into realities was necessary.
So the Creator projected beings who produced food for all.
Earth was filled with those who took the function of
nourishing all.
Earth is the nourisher of all.
Earth was the field of experiences.
Earth spread out as the conception process went on
unceasingly.
[XIV]
स नेव व्यभवत्
तच्छ्रेयोरूपमत्यसृजत धर्मम्
तदेतत् क्षत्रस्य
क्षत्रं धर्मः
तस्माद्धर्मात्परं नास्ति
अथो अबलीयान् बलीयांसमाशंसते धर्मेण
यथा राज्नैवं
यो वै स धर्मः सत्यं वै तत्
तस्मात् सत्यं वदन्तमाहुः धर्मं वदतीति
धर्म वा वदन्तं सत्यं वदतीति
एतद्द्येवैतदुभयं भवति ॥१४॥
Yet Brahma did not flourish.
He projected the excellent form, Dharma, righteousness.
This Dharma is the controller of the mighty ones.
There is nothing that excels Dharma.
Even a weak man has the capacity to surpass the stronger
one through Dharma; like one confronts a king.
Dharma alone is the Truth.
Therefore when one speaks the Truth, they say he talks
Dharma; when one talks Dharma, they say that he speaks the Truth.
Both words are synonymous.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
Mighty ones, wealth seekers and nourishers were not enough
for the expansion of the ignorant world.
Power of conception was there; desires were there; field of
experiences was there.
There was needed some order.
Reproduction had to become a duty to be followed by all.
Mighty ones needed to be controlled.
Therefore, Brahman projected rules that were to be followed
by all.
Mighty ones were bound to obey those rules.
The rules were denoted by the term Dharma.
Each projected being was bound by its own Dharma.
Mighty ones had to bend their heads if even a weaker one
quoted the rules prescribed by the Creator.
Dharma is the truth. Every being had to perform the duty as
prescribed by the scriptures.
The ignorant were controlled by the mighty ones through
Dharma.
When that Dharma was ignored, every being was chastised by
the mighty beings, kings and gods.
But the Dharma of all was actually the realization of the
Self.
A realized man is above all Dharmas.
For the ignorant one, Dharma alone was the truth that
protected him.
[XV]
तदेतद्ब्रहम क्षत्रं
विट् शूद्रः तदग्निनैव देवेषु ब्रह्माभवत्
ब्राह्मणो मनुष्येषु
क्षत्रियेण क्षत्रियो
वैश्येन वैश्यः
शूद्रेण शूद्रः
तस्मादग्नावेव देवेषु लोकमिच्छन्ते
ब्राह्मणे मनुष्येषु
एताभ्यां हि रूपाभ्यां ब्रह्माभवत्
।
Thus, there were these beings- the knowers, the mighty
ones, beings with desires and beings who provided nourishment.
The god of fire became the knower of Brahman.
He alone became all the other beings on earth.
Fire became the means for the fulfillment of results for
those who performed rites.
A knower of Brahman became the means for the fulfillment
of desires on the earth.
Brahman was both the fire and the knower of Brahman.
अथ यो अस्माल्लोकात्स्वं लोकमदृष्ट्वा
प्रैति
स एनमविदितो न भुनक्ति
यथा वेदो वाननुक्तः
अन्यद्वा कर्माकृतम्
यद्दिह वा अप्यनेवंविन्महत्पुण्यं
कर्म करोति
तद्दस्यान्ततः लोकमुपास्ते न हास्य
कर्म क्षीयते ।
अस्माद्ध्येवात्मनो यद्यत्कामयते
तत्तत्सृजते ॥१५॥
One who does not know the self is not protected by
Brahman, when he departs from this world; for he does not know it.
Like Vedas does not protect one who has not studied them.
Like any other thing does not if one does not know it.
Even if one performs great many meritorious acts in the world,
those acts of his are surely exhausted at the end.
One should only contemplate on the world of Self.
One who contemplates on the world of Self never has his
work exhausted.
From the very self he projects whatever he wants.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the
first vibration of the Creation…:
Fire is the individual Self.
He alone is the knower of Brahman.
Only the Self which identifies itself with a limited form
needs to realize.
The principle of fire was the ‘God of fire’ and a knower of
Brahman.
All beings on earth are denoted by the term fire.
Fire consumes the fuel produced on earth.
The individual self has unceasing experiences in the field
bound by space and time.
God of fire was revered as the one who carries the offerings
to gods.
A knower of Brahman also becomes the means of fulfilling
desires.
Brahman is both the ignorant embodied self and also the
realized Sage.
What happens to one who does not realize the Self?
He moves from life to life chasing sense pleasures forever
caught in the whirlpool of worldly existences.
No god comes to his help, for gods do not want anyone to
realize and move out of their dominion.
Brahman does not help him, for how can anything connect to
you, when you do not know it?
If you have mastered any type of knowledge, then the
knowledge will be useful to you.
For the one who has not sought the knowledge, how can it be
useful in anyway?
Without realizing the Self, a person may engage himself in
meritorious acts and feel satisfied.
But the results of all the meritorious acts are short-lived
and one cannot escape the pains of worldly existence by performing meritorious
acts.
One should make self-realization as the Dharma of his life.
He must unceasingly contemplate on the Self.
Contemplation on the Self is not an action that will give any
meritorious result of short duration.
By contemplating on the Self one remains as Brahman.
The world becomes his projection.
He becomes the Creator who can project whatever he wants.
He can remain as the NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN also without
projecting any world.
He is the Brahman which was in the beginning.
[XVI]
अथो अयं वा आत्मा सर्वेषां भूतानां लोकः
स यज्जुहोति यद्यजते तेन देवानां लोक:
अथ यदनुब्रूते तेन ऋषीणाम्
अथ यत्पितृभ्यो निपृणाति
यत्प्रजामिच्छते
तेन पितृणाम्
अथ यन्मनुष्यान्वासयते
यदेभ्योऽशनम् ददाति तेन मनुष्याणां
अथ यत्पशुभ्यस्तृणोदकं विन्दति तेन पशूनाम्
यदस्य गृहेषु श्वापदा वयांस्या पिपीलिकाभ्य उपजीवन्ति
तेन तेषां लोकः
यथा ह वै स्वाय लोकायारिष्टिमिच्छेत्
एवं हैवंविदे सर्वाणि भूतान्यरिष्टिमिच्छन्ति
तद्वा एतद्विदितं मीमाम्सितम् ॥१६॥
Then this Self is the world for all beings.
Because he makes oblations to the fire and performs
sacrifices, he is the world for gods.
Because he studies Vedas he is the world for Sages.
Because he makes offering to the manes and desires
progeny, he is the world for manes.
Because he gives shelter and food to the men, he is the
world for men.
Because he gets grass and water for the animals, he is the
world for the animals.
Because beasts and birds, even ants live by his support,
he is the world for them.
Just as one wishes his world to be safe, all these beings
wish safety for him.
Thus it is understood and discussed.
Brahman is the Self of all.
Self is the essence of all.
Self is the support of all that exists.
A person who conceives the existence of gods and performs
rites is the support of Gods.
A person who conceives the existence of Sages is the support
of the knowledge taught by them.
A person who conceives the existence of the ancestors is the
support of those manes.
A person who conceives the existence of others like him,
becomes their support.
A person who conceives the animals to serve him, is the
support of the animals.
A person who continuously conceives objects of the world is
the support of all beasts and ants too.
When someone is your support, you wish their wellbeing.
The conceived worlds of gods, Sages, men, animals all wish
the safety of the person who conceives them. They wish him to be ignorant.
The Seen is forever stuck to the Seer.
The Seer and the Seen exist entwined within each other.
The person who believes in the differentiations perceived by
his mind is ignorant and causes the worlds to exist.
Though Self alone is the support and essence of all that exists,
he does not know of it.
He conceives the gods to control him; he conceives the Sages
to guide him; he conceives Manes to protect him; he conceives other men to
share the life with him; he conceives animals to work for him.
With all the conceptions flourishing, those conceptions again conceiving more
objects, the world of appearances is ever-growing.
The Creator was happy.
[XVII]
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीदेक एव
सोऽकामयत जाया मे स्यात्
अथ प्रजायेय
अथ वित्तं मे स्यात्
अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति
एतावान् वै कामः
नेच्छंश्चनातो भूयो विन्देत्
तस्मादप्येतर्ह्येकाकी कामयते
जाया मे स्यात् अथ प्रजायेय
अथ वित्तं मे स्यात्
अथ कर्म कूर्वायेति
Self alone was there in the beginning.
He desired:
‘Let there be a wife for me, that I may be born.
Let me have wealth, I will perform rites.’
This much indeed is the desire. One cannot attain more
than this.
That is why a person who is alone desires-
‘Let me have a wife, so I can get born.
Let me have wealth so I can perform rites.’
स यावदप्येतेषामेकैकं न प्राप्नोति
अकृत्स्न एव तावन्मन्यते
तस्यो कृत्स्नता
मन एवास्यात्मा
वाग्जाया प्राणः प्रजा
चक्षुर्मानुषं
वित्तम् चक्षुषा
हि तद्विन्दते
श्रोत्रं दैवम् श्रोत्रेण
हि तच्छृणोति
आत्मैवास्य कर्म आत्मना हि कर्म करोति
स एष पाङ्क्तो यज्ञ:
पाङ्क्तः पशुः
पाङ्क्तः पुरुषः
पाङ्क्तमिदं सर्वं यदिदं किन्च
तदिदं सर्वमाप्नोति य एवं वेद ॥१७॥
As long as he does not obtain even one of them, he feels
incomplete.
He becomes complete- (because, for him)
mind is the self; speech is the wife; vital forces, the progeny;
eyes the wealth, because he attains wealth through eyes;
ear is the divinity, because he hears of it through the
ear;
self alone is his action, he performs actions through the
self.
This sacrifice has five factors; animals have five factors;
the embodied men have five factors;
all that exists has five factors;
he attains everything who knows thus...
What does any ignorant being of the world want?
A companion to share his life; man desires a woman, woman
desires a man.
The next desire is to reproduce their own kind.
In order to protect the wife and the progeny, the man wants
wealth.
In order to obtain wealth, he performed rites in the olden
days and performs actions today with the desire for accumulating wealth.
That is all any one has the capacity to aspire for in this
human world.
To reproduce and perform actions (rites) to maintain them.
If he cannot obtain them he feels incomplete.
This is what the ignorant who do not realize the Self aspire
for.
However for a person who has only the realization of Self as
his goal in life, what are the wants? Who are his family?
For the realized man, the mind is free of wants. There is no
fluctuating mind at all. He remains as the Self.
His companion is speech only. Knowledge is his wife.
Vital forces are his progeny.
All the beings become his projections and they are his
progeny.
Eyes are his wealth because he perceives and creates the
perceived worlds. All that is perceived by his senses is his wealth.
Ear is his god.
He knows about the Self through his ears.
They are the gods who carry the instructions of the teachers
to his mind and guide him in his path.
All his actions are performed at the level of Brahman.
Action is the person.
As he is Brahman his actions are indeed Brahman.
He is complete with the fiver factors of wife, progeny, wealth,
god and actions.
He is the self; his companion is the self; his wealth is the
self; his progeny is the self; his god is the self; his action is the self.
For a realized man there exists nothing but the Self.
He is always complete.
But for the ignorant running after conceptions, whatever he
wants may not be attained;
because there is nothing to attain outside the Self.
So he is always incomplete.
One who understands this truth will realize the Self and
remain as Brahman alone.
इति चतुर्थं ब्राह्मणम्॥
॥END॥
ॐ
सहनाववतु सह नौ भुनक्तु
सहवीर्यङ्करवावहै
तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु
मा विद्विषावहै
ॐ शान्तिःशान्तिःशान्तिः
Let both of us be protected together.
Let both of us experience together.
Let us both raise the valor together.
Let the ever shining one be attained by us
both.
Let there be no cavalry between us.
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