DEBATE IN JANAKA’S COURTROOM (4)
(KAHOLA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)
अथ हैनं कहोलः कौषीतकेयः पप्रच्छ ।
याज्ञ्नवल्क्येति होवाच ।
यदेव साक्षादपरोक्षाद्ब्रह्म य आत्मा सर्वान्तरः तं मे व्याचक्षवेति ।
Then, Kahola,
son of Kushitaka, questioned.
He said;
“Yaajnavalkya!
“Explain to me
that Brahman that is immediate and not indirect, the Aatman within all.”
एष त आत्मा सर्वान्तरः ।
कतमो याज्ञ्नवल्क्य सर्वान्तरः ।
(Yaajnavalkya
said)
“This one is the
Aatman within all.”
(Kahola
questioned)
“Which is within
all, Yaajnavalkya?”
(What is that which is called Aatman, which is commonly
present in all objects?)
योऽशनायापिपासे शोकं मोहं जरां मृत्युमत्येति ।
(Yaajnavalkya
said)
“That which
transcends hunger, thirst, grief, delusion and death.
(This Aatman is different from the physical body which is
tormented by hunger and thirst; is different from the mind which feels grief
and joy; is different from the intellect which gets deluded by incorrect
understanding.
This Aatman does not ever cease to be.)
एतं वै तमात्मानं विदित्वा ब्राह्मणाः
पुत्रैषणायाश्च वित्तैषणायाश्च
लोकैषणायाश्च व्युत्थायाथ भिक्षाचर्यं चरन्ति ।
Knowing this
very Aatman, the Knowers of Brahman renounce the desire for sons, desire for
wealth, desire for worlds; and live like recluses.
(This Aatman cannot be meditated upon by the mind, cannot be
understood by the intellect; cannot be sensed by the senses.
This Aatman is the inner essence of each and every
individual Jeeva.
One can attain that supremely sacred state if and only the
senses, mind, intellect remain quiet. When there is no perturbation at all,
that unperturbed state alone remains; that is Aatman.
When a person experiences this tranquil state, he
understands the perishing nature of the world; and renounces the desire for
sons, wealth and other worlds.
He renounces all his possessions and lives as a recluse till
his body falls.)
या ह्येव पुत्रैषणा सा वित्तैषणा ।
या वित्तैषणा सा लोकैषणा ।
उभे ह्येते एषणे एव भवतः ।
That which is
the desire for the sons, is the desire for wealth; that which is the desire for
wealth is the desire for the worlds; for these are just desires (one being but
a means to the other).
(A person desires a son in order to continue his family and
to save himself from the hell named ‘Pun’. A Knower of Brahman transcends all
hells and heavens; he has no fear of any hell, and also no need for any son.
Since he has no son or family, he does not covet wealth
also.
He has no desire for other worlds also.
He is free of all desires. He has no duties that bind him.
He has nothing more to achieve.)
तस्माद्ब्राह्मणः पाण्डित्यं निर्विद्य बाल्येन तिष्टासेत् ।
बाल्यं च पाण्डित्यं च निर्विद्याथ मुनिः ।
अमौनं च मौनं च निर्विद्याथ ब्राह्मणः ।
Therefore (one
who wants to be) the Knower of Brahman must achieve expertise in scriptures;
and live upon the strength which comes from knowledge.
Having
understood the strength and knowledge, he becomes silent within; then he
understands what is silence and non-silence.
Then he becomes
the Knower of Brahman”
(A person who wants to experience the state of Brahman should
methodically study scriptures that instruct the Knowledge of Brahman; and by
constant reasoning process understand the instructions; practice them.
Through faith in the instructions of the scriptures, he must
renounce all that is ‘non-Aatman’ and search for the Aatman within.
Then he becomes silent within.
This silence is not the silence of noise as pertaining to
any sense of hearing.
This silence is the silence obtained by true knowledge,
where one understands everything else as perishable and unreal, other than his
true essence, the Aatman.
It is the silent state of truth, where one understands the
waters in the mirage are unreal and no more hankers after it, where one
understands that snake seen in the rope is unreal and no more fears it.
A Knower of Brahman does not maintain any desire for the
perishing objects of the world. He finds no pleasure in any object.
He understands that the inert objects have no quality of
happiness hidden within them.
He has found the source of all joys within himself.
He understands silence and non-silence.
Though he moves among all objects cognized by his six senses
(mind included), he is not affected by their presence or absence. The world is
seen by him as the shine of Aatman. He sees silence within and silence outside.
The reality seen in the world is silenced by true
knowledge.)
स ब्राह्मणः केन स्यात्
येन स्यात्तेनेदृश एव ।
अतोऽन्यदार्तम् ।
(Kahola
questioned)
“How does the
Knower of Brahman conduct himself in the world?”
(Yaajnavalkya
said)
“In whatever way
he feels fit.
Whatever is
other than this, perishes.”
(A Knower of Brahman is freed of all duties. He has nothing
to want for; or nothing to achieve any more.
Then, what should be his conduct like?
It does not matter how or in what makes he makes a living in
the world.
He does not ever transgress the rules laid by the
scriptures.
If he is a king, he continues to live as a king; if he is a
householder, he continues to live as a householder; or he renounces everything
and lives as a mendicant, seeking a life of solitude.
He is free to do what he likes to do.
Any perceived surrounding has no effect on him, since he has
burnt all perceptions in the fire of knowledge.
He exists as Brahman only, whether he is with the body or
without a body.
In his level, his body is non-existent only.
Aatman is deathless; all things other than Aatman perish.
A knower of Brahman is deathless.
Death of the body is not experienced by him; since he has
burnt it already with the fire of Knowledge.)
ततो ह कहोलः कौषीतकेय उपरराम ॥१॥
Thereupon,
Kahola, son of Kushitaka, kept silent.
इति पञ्चमं ब्राह्मणम् ॥
[Thus ends the
Fifth Braahmana section.]
No comments:
Post a Comment