THE SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD

THE SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD
isbn# 1-891470-36-1
$15.00
Swami Vedananda

scars publications and design
Editor@scars.tv
http://scars.tv

first edition
printed in the United States of America

Freedom & Strength Press
You can’t be free or strong until you can speak up

THE SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD copyright © 2001 Swami Vedananda
book design copyright © 2001 Scars Publications and Design
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

FOREWORD

“The Upanishads are a great mine of strength. Therein lies strength enough to invigorate the whole world; the whole world can be vivified, made strong, energized through them.”
(Swami Vivekananda)
The Svetasvatara Upanishad, though not one of the more ancient Upanishads, is nevertheless considered a major Upanishad. It contains varieties of Vedantic ideas both philosophical and religious. Emphasis on bhakti, which is not usually found in Upanishadic literature, is one of its special features. There are beautiful imageries regarding the Ultimate Reality or Godhead, which form very appropriate themes for meditation. The Svetasvatara Upanishad is interspersed with hints and instructions for practicing the presence of God; it is an excellent handbook for spiritual life. The present edition of the Svetasvatara Upanishad is based on Sri Shankaracharya’s commentary as explained during the classes given by the late Revered Swami Bhaskareshwaranandaji, who was one of the respected, scholarly monks of the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Vedananda, the compiler of this book, had attended his classes, and with the help of the notes of Swami Shivatattwananda has worked hard to bring out the message of the Upanishad as commented on by Acharya Shankara and elucidated by the Revered Swami. He has ably accomplished this difficult task. Trust spiritual seekers of different denominations will find this valuable work to be a useful guide in their spiritual life.

Swami Prabuddhananda
Vedanta Society of Northern California
San Francisco, June 3, 2001

PREFACE

The Upanishads are the philosophical portions of the Vedas. They speak of the oneness of all existence. The real nature of man is shown essentially as divine and identical with the infinite Impersonal God. The way to that realization is shown by the Rishis who themselves realized the truth spoken of in these Upanishads. The subject matter of the present work is the Svetasvatara Upanishad, on which the great Shankaracharya of the eighth century A.D has written a commentary in Sanskrit. Swami Bhaskareshwarananda elucidated this commentary and other Upanishads in depth at his classes at the Nagpur centre of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, under whom I studied for a long time. This work is unique for its great clarity in understanding the intricate philosophical points involved in grasping the nature of Reality, which is extremely subtle. It will be a great boon to the students of Vedanta Philosohy all over the world. In my opinion such a book on the deep and intricate Advaita philosophy of this Upanishad with great clarity has not yet been published .
The Svetasvatara Upanishad containing 113 verses and divided into six chapters belongs to the Krishna (Black) Yajur Veda and is named after its author the Rishi Svetasvatara. No date can be given to this or other Upanishads , but tradition believes them to be at least 4000 years old. It expounds the philosophy of Advaita (Monism) with emphasis on Advaita Bhakti. This work on the Svetasvatara Upanishad, is a detailed elucidation of Shankaracharya’s commentary (8th century A.D) on the Upanishad by the Revd. Swami Bhaskareshwarananda who threw light on this and other Upanishads at his classes at the Nagpur Center. A brief description of the classes at the Nagpur center and brief details of Swami Bhaskareshwarananada, the central figure in this work, is given below.
In the year 1925 Revd. Swami Shivananda (Mahapurush Maharaj) a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and a brother disciple of Swami Vivekananda of world fame, laid the foundation stone of the Ramakrishna Math at Nagpur, Central India. Later in 1927 he sent his disciple, Revd. Swami Bhaskareswarananda, to Nagpur to establish the Center. Mahapurush Maharaj, in addition, revealed to Swami Bhaskareshwarananda of the glorious spiritual vision he had of the future Nagpur Math and inspired him to establish the Math. Swami Bhaskareshwarananda was himself an extraordinary spiritual soul of a high order. At the age of five his mother, a devotee of the holy mother (Sarada Devi the Divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna) took him to the holy mother who blessed him and prophesized a great future for the boy in the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Bhaskareshwarananada had tremendous guru Bhakti and Mahapurushji his teacher had great love and appreciation for his disciple. Swami Bhaskareshwarananda had the unique oppurtunity of studying and discussing the Sastras with Mahapurushji his guru. Knowing well the ability of Swami Bhaskareshwarananda, Mahapurushji early in the twenties directed him to hold classes on the Vedantic Scriptures at the Bhubhaneswar Math and himself sat in those classes to encourage the disciple. At the Nagpur Math Swami Bhaskareshwarananda was particular to hold Classes on the Sastras for the inmates which he did till the early 70’s., before he passed away in 1976. I had the great fortune of attending those classes from 1953 to 1976, with a gap of about two years. In 1953 when I visited the Nagpur Ashram (Center) for the first time I observed that Swami Bhaskareshwarananda was taking classes for the inmates twice a day morning and evening, which indicates he had something positive to give to the students. He usually followed the commentary of the great Sankaracharya while expounding the Sastras. Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s deep spiritual insight clearly becomes manifest in this work.. He invariably saw a psychological sequence in the unfoldment of spiritual thought in each succeeding mantra or verse of the Upanishad and brought new light on Sankara’s commentary. The original notes of Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s classes on the Svetasvatara Upanishad were jotted down by Swami Shivatattwananda a senior monk at the Nagpur Math. The late Swami Shivatattwananda was very scholarly. He had translated a major portion of the Lila prasanga (life of Sri. Ramakrishna), the Gospel of Sri. Ramakrishna, the four Yogas of Swami Vivekananda and other books into Marathi.
Many others like me utilized Swami Shivatattwananada’s notes for our study. Swami Shivatattwananda’s notes were for his own use and therefore were brief and abstract and suited to his own advanced understanding. Therefore I have elaborated upon it giving additional explanations for clarity and easy understanding of the reader. It has become possible to write this book, since I was fortunate to study the Upanishads and other Sastras under Swami Bhaskareshwarananda for eighteen years, grasping his subtle and deep thoughts on the Vedanta philosophy. The additional valuable help was Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s class notes on this Upanishad which forms the general basis for this work.
I have quoted from Sri Ramakrishna’s and Swami Vivekananada’s teachings at a few places, being the views of the most modern Teachers of Vedanta, for further clarity. The knowledge of Brahman the theme of the Upanishad being extremely subtle, these illuminating thoughts of Swami Bhaskareshwarananda on this Upanishad I feel will be a great help to many. The verses have been translated keeping in view the transcendental meanings they are intended to convey rather than their literal meanings.
I have tried to bring out to the best of my ability Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s deep spiritiual thoughts in elucidating the commentary of the great Acharya Shankara on the Svetasvatara Upanishad. It is interesting to note that Swami Vivekananda has profusely quoted from this Upanisad both at the Chicago parliament of Religions (1893) and in his other lectures in the West, which will indicate its importance. This work is unique for its detailed and lucid exposition of Sankaracharya’s commentary on each and every verse and an elucidation of his lengthy introduction to the Upanishad
A number of philosophical terms occur in this work. For clarity these have been classified and explained in the Technical Glossary and the student is advised to familiarize himself with these terms first before reading this work on the Upanishad. It is hoped the book will be a great help to all seekers of Moksha (freedom), through the knowledge of this Upanishad.

Swami Vedananda.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am pleased to acknowledge the help that I received from persons mentioned below in bringing out this book. First of all I wish to thank Swami Prabuddhananda of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, USA, for generously welcoming me to the Vedanta Retreat at Olema, where this work had its inception. The Swami also graciously agreed to write a Foreword to this book. By the grace of Sri Ramakrishna the following chain of events took pace: Swami Vedananda, also of the San Francisco Vedanta Society, had a desire to study the Svetasvatara Upanishad, a desire he conveyed to me, knowing very well of my regular visits to the USA. I readily agreed, and for a few months we studied the Upanishad together at Olema with the help of Revered Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s class notes. This effort ultimately crystallized in the form of the present work. In this way Swami Vedananda assisted in the preparation of the initial draft manuscripts pertaining to Shankaracharya’s introduction to the Upanishad and the first three chapters, and later assisted in the final proof reading of the whole book. Another sannyasin, whose name I wish to publish later after receiving permission, did the proof reading of the book at the drafting stage. I am also obliged to a friend of mine (who does not wish his name to be published) for all the help that I received in typing and proof reading of the Sanskrit verses and their transliterations. My heartfelt thanks go to Mr. John P. Kennedy, a friend of mine, for his generous contribution towards the publication of this book.

Lastly my thanks to Srimati M. Jayalakshmi, Ms. C.Subhashini, Ms.T Meena and Ms. Shailaja Kasinadhuni all of Hyderabad, India, for working on the manuscripts on the Computer. Lastly my thanks to all others who contributed in bringing out this book in many other ways.

Swami Vedananda

SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD

List of Abbreviations

1) Adh. Adhyatma Upanisad
2) Adh. Ra Adhyatma Ramayana
3) Ai. Aitareya Upanisad
4) Ai. A. Aitareya Aranyaka
5) Aru. Aruneya Upanisad
6) Asr. Asrama Upanisad
7) Ath. Atharvasiras Upanisad
8) B.G. Bhagvadgita
9) B.S Brahma Sutras
Br. Su. Brahma Sutras
10) Bb. Brahmabindu Upanisad
11) Bhag. Srimad Bhagavata Purana
12) Br. Brihadranyaka Upanisad
Br. Up. Brihadranyaka Upanisad
13) Br. Pu. Brahma Purana
14) Ch. Chandogya Upanisad
15) Chh. Up Chandogya Upanisad
16) Is. Isavasya Upanisad
Isa. Up. Isavasya Upanisad
17) Ka. Katha Upanisad
Ka. Up Katha Upanisad
18) Kai. Kaivalya Upanisad
19) Kau. Br. Kausitaki Brahmana
20) Kau. Kausitaki Upanisad
21) Ke. Kena Upanisad
Ke. Up Kena Upanisad
22) L. P. Linga Purana
23) M. W. Monier Williams:
Sanskrit-English dictionary
24) Ma. Up. Mandukya Upanisad
25) Ma. Ka. Mandukya Karika
26) Ma. Na. Mahanarayana Upanisad
27) Mai. Maitreyi Upanisad
28) Mbh. Anu. Mahabharata, Anusasana-Parva
29) Mbh. As. Mahabharata,
Asvamedhika-Parva
30) Mbh. Ud. Mahabharata,
Udyoga-Parva
31) Mu. Mundaka Upanisad
Mu. Up. Mundaka Upanisad
32) N. Narayana’s Dipika
33) Nr. Pu. Narasimha-Purva-Tapani
Upanisad
34) Pa. Su. Panini-Sutras
35) Par. Paramahamsa Upanisad
36) Pr. Prasna Upanisad
37) R. Rg-Veda
38) S. Sankaranand’s Dipika
39) S. Br. Satapatha Brahmana
40) S. Y. Sukla Yajur-Veda
41) Sa. Sandilya Upanisad
42) Su. Subala Upanisad
43) Sve. Svetasvatara Upanisad
Svet. Up. Svetasvatara Upanisad
44) Tai. Taittriya Upanisad
45) Tai. A. Taittriya Aranyaka
46) Tai. Br. Taittriya Brahmana
47) Tai. S. Taittriya Samhita
48) V. P. Visnu Purana
49) Yaj. Yati. Yajnavalkya Yati- Dharmastra
50) Yoga. Yoga-Sikha Upanisad
51) Yoga. Vas. Yoga Vasishtha

SANKARACHARYA’S
INTRODUCTION

This is a summary of the Introduction to the Commentary by Sri Shankaracharya. The student may come across repetitions in this introduction as well as in the explanations to the Upanishad. He is requested to bear with them, as in the expounding of the Vedanta, such repetitions have been found necessary. The main trend of this upanishad is Advaita bhakti (devotion); namely, this upanishad inculcates the understanding that sadhaka (the spiritual aspirant), sadhana, (the spiritual practice), and siddhi (the attainment of perfection in the sadhana) are all the Lila of the supreme reality (that is, it is all the supreme reality alone, but appearing in these guises). This is expressed in a personal way by devotees as “it is all His lila”. This is what is termed “advaita bhakti”.
To say that “everything is He, that appears as this world” is a different way of expression, from saying that “there is no sadhaka, sadhana, nor siddhi excepting Brahman, as in the path of pure “jnana” or the path of knowledge. The path of Advaita jnana emphasizes “neti, neti” “not this, not this”. Here the emphasis is on seeing Him alone the Absolute and Unchangeable as manifesting through illusory forms called the world including oneself. These forms are seen as appearances of the formless (Absolute). This Advaita Bhakti naturally leads to devotion as well as knowledge, the forms melting into their reality the formless.
Jnana arises in a relative sense from the performance of sadhana by the sadhaka, but from the absolute standpoint it is all His lila. You are not really there at all, nor your sadhana, nor your success. All these are His lila, that is to say, the Supreme Being appearing as such. In the words of Sri Ramakrishna, “naham, naham, tuhum tuhum, I am not, Thou alone art”, expresses this advaita Bhakti.
If the subject goes, the object also goes, or rather, the subject and object become one. It is all He only. He appears as all this.
Consciousness of doership should be eliminated in sadhana. Then only it becomes subject-objectless or transcendental sadhana. The idea is that the one consciousness is appearing as the doer, doing and deed. Therefore “I am not doing anything” is the philosophical truth.
Due to ignorance Brahman himself merges in His own avidya, appears as all subjects and objects of the world and all these subjects and objects assume an apparent individuality separate from Brahman. The reactions to this ignorance, are attachment, aversion, etc which brings about a tendency towards samsara or relative existence, characterized by cyclical coming and going in the form of birth and death.
The sadhaka must deeply feel this painful and meaningless nature of relative existence, for without such deep analysis and perception, the desire for freedom from relative existence will never arise, and the sadhaka will ever remain in the grip of endless desires for enjoyment. For this reason, Sri Shankaracharya at the very outset of his commentary gives a long description of the consequences that befall one, if he takes the subject-object world as real and lives that life. The main problem in life is that we take the subject-object consciousness as real, and that ignorance leads to the cycle of births and deaths.
Sri Shankaracharya wants us to feel these reactions of ignorance intensely that are taking place in our lives. What then is the cause of this series of births and deaths? Avidya (ignorance) or error is the only cause. Avidya is the dualistic belief that the world and I are true, and to live one’s life on that basis. The means to overcome this avidya should naturally correspond with the nature of Reality, where no world or I exists. Therefore if “I” and “mine” are retained to any degree in sadhana, the means, one can never reach Brahman. The sadhana accordingly should be of a subject-objectless nature corresponding to the nature of the goal, free from I and mine. Further this subject-objectless consciousness within sadhana, should vibrate as experience and not merely as an idea. One should be able to feel it in one’s inner being. Relatively one feels he is the doer, but one should feel that really he is not the doer, but that the Lord appears as the doer. What then is the way to overcome this ignorance? First of all, a good or fit birth is necessary; that is to say a birth wherein virtues like discrimination, renunciation, and purity can arise and be nurtured. Then there must be purification through karma yoga . Then one must be able to surrender at the feet of a real Acharya (illumined teacher), and become qualified for self-realization by practicing the three-fold sadhana of hearing, reflecting and deeply meditating on the ultimate reality under his guidance. One should hear from the guru about the subject-objectless nature of Brahman. This means not merely to hear, but to feel this in one’s psychic being, in one’s heart where one feels one’s “I” to be located. So also, one’s reflection and meditation must be deeply felt in the core of one’s being. Reflection (manana) and meditation (nididhyasana) are really a further development of the process of hearing (sravana). The three are one and the same thing, one leading to the next. Spiritual realization will not take place by the process of hearing only, unless it develops into absorption. Hear the truth; let it play in your thought; then merge in it. This is the process of sravana, manana and nididhyasana. After performing such sadhana “I am Brahman” (“Aham Brahmasmi”), such a vibration will arise. Not “I am” there and then this “I” is Brahman, but “He is all” or “All this is Brahman alone” (“Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma”)
Nothing other than Brahman is appearing before us; this is the idea. This is the consciousness that one will achieve through proper practice of deep introspective hearing, reflection and meditation, maintaining the consciousness of Brahma-Lila in his sadhana. As opposed to this, where one feels he is doing the sadhana himself and takes the sadhana to be real and not as the lila of Brahman, the result will be Samsara and not Moksha.
In view of this, what is the place and significance of sadhana in spiritual life? No man, however clever or intelligent, can get out of this bondage of maya by himself. Success in sadhana comes by adhering to the line of teachers. Prepare your life by karma yoga (disciplined and dedicated work), then surrender to a qualified teacher. Perform spiritual practices according to his instructions, not mechanically, but through your whole being Ñ always keeping the Brahma Lila consciousness behind your sadhana (“Not I but Thou art the doer, deed, and action”). No doubt subject-object consciousness will arise during sadhana, but side-by-side one must struggle to bring in the transcendental subject-objectless consciousness.
Sankaracharya in the beginning of his introduction to this Upanishad gives a description in philosophical terms (of what has been briefly described above), the apparent evolution of the nondual Brahman through various stages. These stages commence from Maya or delusion. Brahman falls a victim to His own maya and becomes the jiva in bondage. Ignorance (of jiva) and the subject-object consciousness within the jiva cause the jiva to perform actions, good and bad. The consequent reactions of such actions cause the jiva to get lost in the ocean of samsara. Later, its performing dedicated unselfish actions, surrendering the results to God, brings about the dawning of purity and discrimination in the jiva. Finally, its going to a guru and being taught by him get rid of avidya and grief and bring about the attaining to Moksha or freedom. This entire phenomenon of relative existence is described for creating vairagya for Samsara in the sadhaka, and to form the basis of sadhana by looking upon the entire phenomenon as the very Lila of Brahman and attaining to Mukti. It unfolds the message of the Upanishad and prepares the corresponding psyche required of the student for the study of the Upanishad. The above philosophic description is detailed below.
CHIT SADANANDA ADVITIYA BRAHMA SVARUPO API ATMA Ñ The Atma (jiva) though being of the nature of existence, consciousness, bliss and one without a second.
It means the jiva in its real nature is the absolute reality and therefore in truth there is no real sadhaka or jiva as such and Brahman himself is the sadhaka and sadhana in lila. These ideas must be present in sadhana if success is to ensue. The sadhaka should know that his own and everyone else’s existence, consciousness and bliss are all He in lila. He is all of mine, as well as the entire world. Whatever sadhana I am doing is all His lila. If this idea does not come, sadhana will not take one to Brahman or freedom.
Then who are you? You and your sadhana are He in lila. Whatever you are doing is His lila, manifestation. The Absolute takes your form in lila and is doing the sadhana as it were. The sadhana is also his lila and not yours. After knowing this to be the truth, dynamic sadhana (and not merely sitting quiet) with that consciousness is required, in order to make this an experience in life.
SVA ASHRAYAYA Ñ Ignorance or Maya rests in Him.
Maya is not a separate entity from Him. The evolution of Brahman as the world proceeds from maya or Avidya, which Maya is His lila expression. From within that infinite, Maya evolves. Maya has no reality of its own. It is the power of the Lord (“Devatma Shakti”). Its reality is Brahman. So the idea is Brahman Himself becomes Maya or ignorance and that is His lila expression (which is the beginning of the world phenomenon).
SVA VISHAYAYA Ñ He becomes a victim of His own Avidya. That is Brahman Himself falls a prey to his own maya and becomes the bound Jiva. So the sadhaka has to feel in sadhana, that his state of bondage is the lila of Brahman and not real.
To explain further, an aspirant usually thinks, that he will realize Brahman “through his own power or effort”. Such a thought is contrary to the nature of Brahman as shown above, since the bound soul is the Lord Himself in lila and there is no real entity like the aspirant and his ‘I’ separate from Brahman. The egoistic feeling “I shall realize by my own personal effort” is thus totally contrary to the nature of Brahman.
What is the aspirant’s role then? The aspirant’s effort should be without the idea of his doership, but with the idea that the Lord appears as the doer and that the entire sadhana is His lila appearance. Karma yoga without the idea of doership will prepare the mind for merging in Brahman.
SVA ANUBHAVAGAMYAYA Ñ All experience it in this way; “I do not ‘know’ about myself”. Just as in the Deep Sleep State, every one feels “I ‘exist’, but I do not ‘know’ about myself”. This shows that even while one is within ignorance, knowledge or consciousness flashes. From this the conclusion is that the Brahman after being bound as a jiva is expressing His own knowledge of ignorance in the form “I do not know about myself”, which is also His lila expression. So Sankara wants to show that even in ignorance there is knowledge, which shows it is all the lila of the Chit Brahman.
SAABHASAYA Ñ The subject-object consciousness within one, that “I am a sadhaka doing sadhana” is His reflection. This refers to the subject-object consciousness with which the sadhaka is doing all his activities in the world; whether he gets bound thereby or he gets released from samsara, his consciousness is the reflection of the Chit aspect of Brahman. The idea is that the entire phenomenon of sadhaka in bondage and his sadhana for attaining to freedom is the reflection of the Chit (consciousness) and therefore is the lila of Brahman. The bound soul as well as the aspirant after liberation (“Mumukshu”) are both He. Meaning thereby that all is the reflection of consciousness (“Chit”) of the Brahman. The subject-object consciousness in which one dwells is the lila of the Chit aspect of Brahman and is the efficient cause for all one’s activity in the world. That subject-object consciousness is His reflection. Everything is a reflection of consciousness. In view of this, the sadhaka should feel that there is no real individual (jiva) doing sadhana, but rather that the Lord, appears as sadhaka, as sadhana, and as the success or achievements of sadhana (“siddhi”). All aspects of sadhana, such as the approach to the teacher, work, etc should be done dynamically with this consciousness.
PRATIBADDHA SVABHAVIKA ASHESHA PURUSHARTHAH Ñ Coming within the spell of avidya, Atma (Jiva) becomes lost to its own glory and majesty. So if one dies without realization, obstructed by his own subject-object consciousness, this will be his fate. So the idea is that one should feel this intensely and give up the life of falsity.
APURUSHARTHAM PURUSHARTHAM MANYAMANAH Ñ Due to avidya, the jiva considers what is not the highest good of life to be the highest good. For instance he considers the earning of wealth or other such avocations to be the highest goal, and deviates from the supreme goal of human life, namely eternal freedom and gets bound in the cycle of repeated birth and death. Subsequently due to the effect of some meritorious work done with a sense of offering it to God in some life, he attains a fit body (like Brahmin). Brahmin here will signify any one who has the capacity to contemplate on the transcendental Brahman, which is the fitness referred to here. He then goes to a real guru and hears from him about the truth and through the process of hearing, reflecting and meditating on the truth revealed by the guru, realizes the truth in the form “I am Brahman”. Thus released from avidya he becomes free from grief. One has to be convinced that without knowledge (jnana) there is no Moksha. This is obvious, because what is meant by Moksa? It is removal of ajnana by jnana. One takes the world as real only because of ignorance and this can go only by jnana (knowledge) and by no other way.
At this important juncture Sankaracharya quotes from authoritative scriptures (Shrutis and Smritis) to convince the sadhaka and generate faith in him about the necessity of jnana which alone can bestow immortality. The quotations drawn from various scriptural sources are a sermon on jnana, depicting its various phases. For the sake of brevity out of about thirty-two quotations only the first five of them have been mentioned below.
“By knowing Brahman one attains immortality here. There is no other way to its attainment.” (Taittiriya Aranyaka VI.i.6)
“If he does not know it (Atman), a great destruction (indeed) awaits him.” (Ke. Up.II.5.)
“Those who know it (Brahman) become Immortal.” (Ka. Up II.3.2)
“Desiring what, and for whose sake, are you exhausting out the body.” (Br.Up.IV.iv.12)
“After knowing It (Brahman) one is not stained by sinful action.”
“The knower of Atman transcends grief.” (Chh. Up. VII.i.3.)
“Having realized atman ... one is freed from the jaws of death.” (Ka. Up.I.3.15.)
All these quotations are for creating faith and enthusiasm in sadhana and to show the efficacy of knowledge to dispel ignorance, so that the sadhaka may get lost in Brahman through sadhana, without the least doubt about its efficacy to dispel darkness. Further, understanding the thought in these quotations, will transform the personality of the sadhaka, raising him from the level of the individual to the universal. Such knowledge, already dwells in all and just as the Rishis of the past unveiled this knowledge, so also through sadhana all can do the same. Thus observing the wise man who has attained to the vision of Brahman in all, all others will be inspired to achieve the same.
VISHUDDHIH PARAMA MATA Ñ This is the supreme purity that dawns by realizing Brahman. Not only is a life based on sex differences impure in this context, but also all other pursuits in the world, except the supreme pursuit of Brahmajnana (the knowledge of Brahman) are within ignorance or impurity. Therefore Brahmajnana is the greatest purifier. This has been revealed by the above scriptural quotations. Advaita Bhakti (which is same as Advaita knowledge) is the way as depicted by all the above quotations and therefore it is in the fitness of things that the teachings of the Upanishad whose purpose is to show the way of knowledge should begin.
Advaita bhakti or jnana as the only means of sadhana for moksha was impressed on the sadhaka by various quotations from authoritative shrutis and smritis to convince the sadhaka that jnana alone leads to realization. Also if the meaning of the word Upanishad is penetrated etymologically, as well as literally, it reveals that by jnana alone destruction of ignorance (samsara) takes place. Upa (the prefix) means near, Ni means completely and Shad means to destroy. Thus Upanisad means it shatters and destroys avidya, or ignorance, the seed of samsara, resulting in the knowledge of Brahman (jnana). Thus by penetrating the meaning of the word Upanishad, the truth that by jnana alone, relative existence is destroyed resulting in Moksha is also established. So Upanishad means not a mere book but knowledge as above which destroys Avidya. When one is following the Upanishad, he is following the revelations concerning the supreme knowledge, the goal of humanity. After stating this, Sankara discusses a very important question, as to whether Karma and Jnana are on a par for the realization of Brahman. Usually in most sadhakas treading the path, when they reach a high state of purity and are pure enough for a life of exclusive meditation accompanied by intense vairagya (symbolised by jnana), a counter thought negating this course of action comes in the form, “karma is very neccessary, the guru has also said this, the Upanishads have praised karma in certain sections and in modern times Swami Vivekananda and other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna too have placed tremendous emphasis on Karma etc.”. He therefore instead of merging in Brahman through jnana either reverts to karma, or tries to retain both karma and jnana and does not achieve the goal. Shankaracharya makes a sharp distinction between karma as such and jnana and holds the view, that the value of karma is to bring purity in the sadhaka and make him fit for transcendental contemplation or the intuition of the Brahman, which later sadhana is the scope of jnana. Without the purification through karma he will never be able to feel the transcendental consciousness and that is the place of karma in his life. In this sense Sankara says, that karma is a means of realization, but not directly. If one understands the position of karma and jnana in this sense, then there remains no conflict between the two. So purification through karma is as important as jnana for realization, is the right understanding about karma. But karma is an intoxicating thing and brings in its wake, name, fame, power and the glamour of achieving concrete results, and very often one is lost in karma for its glamour, losing sight of the purpose for which the karma was commenced, viz. the bringing about the purity for transcendental contemplation. Thus falling a prey to name and fame, one becomes attached to karma and succumbs to it and does not wish to enter the portals of jnana, which involves the complete transcendence (renunciation) of the empirical consciousness of karma and merging in the subject-objectless consciousness (the Brahman). Thus due to his drag for retaining karma, he as it were declares, there is no need for meditation, study of shastras, approaching a guru and hearing the truth from him etc. (which forms the upasana for jnana), but if he goes on doing karma that itself will one day bring realization. He feels karma alone or karma mixed with some jnana (Samucchaya) is the way and not the total merging in the reality, which involves his giving up his empirical karma consciousness to which he has become attached. Karma as such thus becomes a permanent element in his life as a matter of course. In this connection a great saint has said “work is to be done not for works sake, but for transcending work (consciousness)” (Swami Shivananda). When Swami Vivekananda says “it is better to be born in a Church than to die in it” he is implying this same idea of attachment to karma which does not allow one to go beyond it and merge in the reality. Sankaracharya is not belittling karma, but is cautioning against its magnification, which deviates the sadhaka from merging in Brahman and gets him lost in karma (in the world). By karma, Sankaracharya refers to the consciousness in karma with which normally karma is performed, involving the realism of a doer, deed and what is done. Whereas Jnana from the consciousness point of view is quite different, it is subject-objectless consciousness where every thing is one, characterized by deep absorption in the transcendental reality. So from the consciousness point of view karma and jnana are different and obviously when the consciousness of jnana rises the consciousness of karma diminishes and finally disappears. The sadhaka through further absorption in that jnana consciousness realizes the Brahman. The above is the view of the Shruti. However illustrating the opponent’s viewpoint and to sustain a discussion, Sankara quotes two verses from the scriptures, showing that karma too can directly take one to realization as follows (and later refutes the same). “We (the devas) have drunk the soma juice; therefore we are immortal” (Atharvasira Upanisad III.2.) and “Those who perform the sacrifice known as the Chaturmasyam earn undying merit”.
These quotations cannot be accepted as valid, since they contradict the Vedas, the Smritis, and also reason. In order to remove the false notions regarding karma and jnana, and to refute those who believe to the contrary that karma also can take one directly to realization as does jnana, Sankaracharya quotes sixteen verses from several scriptures, showing that karma does not take one directly to moksha as does jnana. For the sake of brevity only eight of them have been reproduced here.
“As on this earth the objects (such as rice or wheat) earned by action (such as tilling the ground, sowing etc.) come to an end (through consumption), so also, in the heavenly world, the celestial pleasures earned by meritorious action come to an end through enjoyment.” (Mahavakya Upanishad 3.) “Neither by work, nor by offspring, nor by wealth, does one attain Immortality, but by renunciation alone.” (Kaivalya upanishad I. 3; Mahanarayana Upanishad VIII. 14.) “Frail indeed are those rafts of the sacrifices, conducted by eighteen persons, upon whom rests the inferior work; therefore they (the results of the sacrifices) are perishable. Fools who rejoice in them as the Highest Good fall victims again and again to old age and death.” (Mu.Up.I.ii.7.) “Nothing that is eternal can be produced by what is not eternal.” (Mu.Up.I.ii.12.)
The following are cited from the smritis.
“A man is bound by karma and freed by knowledge; therefore the far-seeing sannyasins do not engage in karma.” (Mbh.Sa.241.7) “This ancient samsara is said to be tainted because it is filled with the impurities of ignorance. Liberation is attained through the destruction of impurities, and not through millions of actions.” (L.P.H.89-90). “The wise do not achieve liberation by means of offspring or actions or wealth. It is achieved only by means of renunciation. Otherwise, alas, one roams about in the world.” (L.P.E.20). “As one performs work, so one develops attachment to its fruit, which stands in the way of transcending death. The wise, by means of knowledge alone, realize the eternal and self effulgent Brahman; there is no other path to its realization.” (Mbh.Ud.,Sanatsujata,42.9). “Thus abiding by the dictates of the three Vedas and desiring desires, they are subject to going and returning.” (B.G. IX.21.) “All actions- such as giving gifts of various kinds, performing penance, austerities and sacrifices, being truthful, making pilgrimages, and performing the duties belonging to various stages of life- yield fruits which are reaped in heaven. They are mixed with pain and are impermanent. But Knowledge yields a fruit that is certain, peaceful, significant and (everlasting).” etc. (Mbh.Sa.329.40,-331.44)
Thus karma cannot be a direct means to liberation, for such a view contradicts the injunctions of both the Vedas and the Smritis. As regards the objection that the Shruti exhorts one to a life of activity for a hundred years (Isa Up.2.), implying that karma along with jnana is the way to liberation, the answer is, that the said passage applies only to those who are fit for action and not to those knowers of Brahman who have transcended the (duality) consciousness inevitable in karma. In support of this is the following quotation from the Gita. “But verily, the man who rejoices in the Self and is satisfied in the Self and is content in the Self alone-he has nothing for which he should work. He has no object to gain by what he does in this world, nor any to lose by what he has not done; nor is there anyone, among all beings, on whom he need depend for any object.” (B.G.III 17-18). Therefore in the state of realization no longer karma consciousness remains. This does not however imply that the realized soul will not do any karma, but what is being implied is that karma consciousness involving “doership” is no longer seen in his life. That the realized souls work after realization is well known. A jnani is never deprived of his knowledge as a result of action and never gets entangled in this world due to action because of his transformed or illumined nondual consciousness.
In support of the above discussion, regarding the position of karma and jnana the following passages from Swami Vivekananda will throw further light on the same. “Mark therefore, the ordinary theory of practical religion, what it leads to. Charity is great but the moment you say it is all, you run the risk of running into materialism. It is not religion. It is no better than atheism- a little less.———have you found nothing else in the Bible than working for fellow creatures, building—-hospitals? ——That sort of practical religion is good, not bad; but it is just kindergarten religion. It leads nowhere. ———-What is the ideal of religion, then, if this cannot be practical (religion)? And it certainly cannot be. What are we here for? We are here for freedom, for knowledge. We want to know in order to make ourselves free. “— —” The infinite human soul can never be satisfied but by the infinite itself—-Infinite desire can only be satisfied by infinite knowledge—nothing short of that.”
“—-What is practical religion then? To get to that state—freedom, the attainment of freedom.”(C/W vol IV pp. 239 to 241, 10th Edn. June 1972)—— “This is practical religion. What else? Cleaning streets and building hospitals? Their value consists only in this renunciation.” (ibid pp. 243 Vol IV, The practice of religion, 10th Edn. June 1972).
Here, by “renunciation” Swami Vivekananda means the purity attained by work (by charity and building hospitals) resulting in renunciation which makes one fit for merging in the transcendental reality. “Knowledge or freedom” stands for jnana, the merging in the transcendental Reality. Here is another quotation from Swami Vivekananda. “DISCIPLE. Ñ Sir, now you are speaking of jnana; but sometimes you proclaim the superiority of Bhakti, sometimes of karma, and sometimes of yoga. This confuses our understanding. Swami Vivekananda. Ñ Well, the truth is this, the knowledge of Brahman is the ultimate goal-the highest destiny of man. But man cannot be absorbed in Brahman all the time. When he comes out of it he must have something to engage himself. At that time he should do such work as will contribute to the real well-being of beings. Therefore do I urge you in the service of jivas in a spirit of oneness. But, my son, such are the intricacies of work, that even great saints are caught in them and become attached. Therefore work has to be done without any desire for results. This is the teaching of the Gita. But know that in the knowledge of Brahman there is no touch of any relation with work. Good works, at the most, purify the mind. Therefore has the commentator Sankara so sharply criticized the doctrine of the combination of Karma and Jnana. Some attain to the knowledge of Brahman by means of unselfish work. This is also (only) a means, but the end is the realization of Brahaman. Know this thoroughly, that the goal of discrimination and of all other modes of practice is the realization of Brahman.” (C/W of S.V. vol. VII pp.197-98 edn 1997). Here is another quote from a disciple reflecting the view of Swami Vivekananda. “Disciple. Ñ Sir, you said just now that knowledge and work are contradictory, that in the supreme knowledge there is no room at all for work, or in other words, that by means of work the realization of Brahman cannot be attained. Why then do you now and then speak words calculated to awaken great Rajas (activity)? You were telling me the other day ‘Work, work, work Ñ there is no other way’.” (Reply by) Swami Vivekananda Ñ Going round the whole world, I find that people of this country (India) are immersed in great Tamas (inactivity), compared to people of other countries. ——- (for the sake of brevity the reply of Swami Vivekananda has been curtailed and produced only in part)——- Therefore I teach the people of this country to be full of activities,” (C/W vol VII pp. 181 to 183 edn 1997).
In a way this is what Sankara implies when he says Karma does not bestow liberation, as does Jnana, as karma is the means and not the goal. But the knower of Brahman goes beyond all such differences of karma and jnana. In order to emphasize the power and glory of knowledge, Sankara quotes again from the scriptures showing that a jnani may be engaged in intense activity all his life and nothing adverse would result from such actions. (As a matter of fact, the world movers like Krishna and the Buddha were the greatest karma yogis that were ever born.) “Knowing it one is not touched by evil action.” (Br.Up.IV.iv.23.) “Sin does not touch such a person.” (Chh.Up.IV.xiv.3.) “Things done or not done do not trouble him.” (Br.Up.IV.iv.22.) “All his sins are consumed [in the fire of knowledge]” (Chh.Up.V.xxiv.3.) “The fire of knowledge consumes all actions” (Linga purana). “There is no doubt that the activities of the jnani are completely consumed, without leaving any fruit behind. Even though he may play with (so called) sins of various kinds, yet he remains unaffected thereby.” (Linga Purana). Sankara as a finale to the above discussion on karma and jnana quotes from Vyasa’s Brahma Sutras, the greatest authority of the Shastras. In the Brahma Sutra (III.iv.1.) Vyasa asks the question, “What is the means to the attainment of realization? Is it action or knowledge?” Then he replies that knowledge alone is the means to liberation, because that is the purport of the Vedas. The opponent raises the objection that since the Jnanakanda comes after the karmakanda in the Vedas; karma precedes jnana and is a part of it. To explain, a man does an action say like puja (worship), after that he should meditate and become one with his ishta Ñ the chosen Ideal (the jnana part). After the deed (the puja) which is the first part the karma, the second part is the jnana (in the form of meditation and becoming one with the ishta) which follows the karma. Thus jnana is an auxillary (or Anga) to karma and this is what the Vedas imply. To this objection Vyasa replies in (Br.Su.III.iv.8.) as follows. “Since there is no subject-object consciousness in Brahman (jnana), the consciousness of subject-object or karma consciousness cannot remain in it, as they are categorically different to each other. Further the results of action and jnana are not the same. Jnana results in eternal liberation, where as karma leads to the cycle of birth and death. Thus jnana can never be a part of karma nor have any connection with it, nor can it be combined with it. Therefore the conclusion is by jnana alone one attains to mukti and through karma alone one attains to jnana. Karma and jnana can never be combined (Samucchaya) as they are categorically different (from the consciousness point of view)”. Since it has been established as above that knowledge alone is the means to liberation it is in the fitness of things that the Svetasvatara upanisad should now reveal the knowledge to its listeners. OBJECTION. If bondage of the jiva is false then it could be removed by knowledge and immortality attained thereby. But observation tells us that bondage (which indirectly means the perception of multiplicity or world in which one feels one is bound) is not false since it is a matter of universal perception and being real this multiplicity cannot be denied. Further this bondage is experienced through forms such as “I” and “you” by all. “I” and “You” are totally dissimilar entities to the atman which is one without a second and therefore they cannot be held to be superimposed on the atman (as viewed by the shastras); as only things of a similar nature are seen to be superimposed on each other, like a snake on a rope. Therefore the world of multiplicity is real and accordingly bondage and the world is not an illusion or superimposition and cannot be removed by knowledge, as held by the Shastras.
THE REPLY: Merely because things (multiplicity) are perceived they do not become real, since both real and unreal objects are matters of perception, as for instance the perception of a mirage in the desert. [As regards the contention that this multiplicity is perceived by all universally and therefore it is true, the Rishis the realized souls who see differently have not been taken into account by the opponent. (Says Swami Saradananada, in the Great Master.)] No doubt all experience the things of the world for some time and after some time those very things become non-existent or zero and this changeability shows that they are illusory. Thus if the world is penetrated critically then its vacuumness will dawn. Therefore bondage is not real and being of the nature of superimposition, it is bound to go by knowledge. Thus ignorance can go only by knowledge. So the conclusion is, the world of multiplicity is unreal being the result of maya or ignorance, as asserted by the scriptures. This is also known from the following scriptural passages. Only ten out of fifteen verses are reproduced below for the sake of brevity.
“There is not that second thing ...” (Br. Up.IV.iii.23.)
“The one alone is real; there is no second. How? When Truth is known, no knowable exists.” (Subala Upanisad V.15.) “There is only one, which is without a second.” (Chh.Up.VI.ii.1) “The difference being only in a name, arising from speech.” (Chh.Up.VI.i.5.) “The One alone is real; therefore there exists no multiplicity in the universe.” (Adhyatma Upanishad 63.) “Reality is to be known as one alone.” “Know, then, that prakriti is maya.” (Svet.Up.IV.10.) “Brahman projects the universe through the power of its maya.” (Svet. Up.IV.9.) “Indra (the supreme Lord), through maya, assumes diverse forms.” (Ri.VI.xlvii.18.) To quote from the Bhagavad Gita: “though I am unborn and eternal by nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, subjugating My prakriti, I accept birth through My own maya.” (IV.6.) “It is indivisible, and yet It is, as it were, divided among beings.” (XIII.16.)

Thus the Vedas as well as the Smritis speak of the phenomenal world of names and forms as unreal. It is unreal because it constantly changes and finally disappears. In Brahman there is no grossness or subtleness, so the gross objects like the earth which are finite cannot exist in Brahman, which means this gross concrete world is not real. It is as unreal as seeing two moons where only one moon exists in reality. Therefore the existence of the world can only be thought of as the luminosity of Brahman or as its lila but not as a separate existence from Brahman.
Upholding the above view, Vyasa in the Brahma Sutras(III.ii.11.) denies on the authority of the scriptures that Brahman has two distinct separate aspects, Saguna and Nirguna (qualified and unqualified). If they should exist separately, then both will become finite, as one will limit the other. Nirguna Brahman is not an antithesis to Saguna Brahman. Brahman is one without a second and has no other to limit it. The other which is perceived, as the world of I and mine (the Saguna) is its lila. When we talk of Advaita and say Advaita Brahman has these two aspects, a hidden duality of two as above remains and hence that duality is illumined here. Nirguna is not an opposite of Saguna, but the truth is that that which is Nirguna is itself Saguna in lila.
Therefore Brahman is only one and its appearance as many is called by such terms, as luminosity (Prakasha), Vilasa, Vivarta, Saguna and lila. So lila means that there is absolutely no reality in appearance. In this connection Sri Ramakrishna has said “that calm water (of a lake) is identical with its shimmering (agitated) state”. They are both one and the same and not two.
Here the opponent points out that in the Shruti there is a distinct description of Saguna Brahman, as for instance the verse “As from a burning fire many sparks of same nature come out, so from that imperishable One, the many have come out and again merge in it in the end.”(Mu. Up.2.1.1.). This shows that the world has come out of Brahman and the opponent therefore says Brahman has two distinct aspects, the world and Brahman. But this is denied by Vyasa in (Br.Su. III.ii.12.). Upadhi (limiting adjunct) is apparently creating this difference, but in truth, that which is beyond upadhi is verily within upadhi, there is no difference at all and there are no two there. So upadhi is not real. Therefore Nirguna and Saguna refer to the same Brahman, the Impersonal and Personal in One. The description of creation arising from Brahman in the Shruti, is to show the non-difference of the world and Brahman and not that the world is another aspect. The world as such is condemned by the Shruti, but in itself is deified as Brahman. Some poets do the opposite and become a prey to samsara, by accepting Pantheism, which is not the truth. Accordingly the Vyasa Sutra concludes that Brahman is free from all differentiations. “API CHAIVAMEKE”= It (Brahman) is one alone. (Br.Su.III.ii.13.). The implication of non-difference in Brahman means, there is no world as something distinct and separate from Brahman. It is for this reason that the Shruti condemns the belief in the existence of the world as such. Even though the world is the lila of Brahman, yet the Shruti condemns the world, for the above reason. From this, one has to understand the real meaning of “the world is Brahma lila”, to mean there is no world at all. The implication is that the world as such has to be transcended and not deified as such. The latter is pantheism and not the truth. Here to convince the sadhaka, the following verses from scriptures are quoted to show that the scriptures do not support differentiation (or bheda) in Brahman. “By the mind alone is Brahman to be attained. There exists no diversity in it whatsoever, He who sees diversity in It, as it were, goes from death to death.” (Br.Up.IV.iv.19). “The enjoyer, the objects of enjoyment, and the Ruler- the triad... is nothing but Brahman.” (Svet. Up.I.12.) So one has to do sadhana with this consciousness of non-difference of world and Brahman, that the world is the lila of Brahman and not a real entity separate from Brahman. Then the question arises if that Brahman is undifferentiated, then is it with form (Sakara), or formless (Nirakara)? The question actually is what is the AKARA or form of Brahman? The answer is, “AR00PAVADEVA HI TATPRADHANATVAT” (Br.Su.III.ii.14)=Primarily or essentially Brahman is formless. Just as Saguna and Nirguna refer to one and the same Brahman, so the subject-objectless Brahman (Nirguna) appears in lila as the various subject-object consciousness perceived in the world. [This form of thought symbolizes the sadhana of jnana.] In the very same way the formless reality (Aroopa) appears as with form (Roopa) and both form and formless belong to one and the same reality. The formless itself appears as forms through upadhis. This is the harmony between Sakara and Nirakara. The subject objectless reality (Aroopa) appears in lila (through upadhis) in various forms. [This Aroopa-Roopa form of sadhana is symbolic of the path of bhakti.] Both the jnana sadhana and bhakti sadhana as above are fundamentally the same, but their difference relates to the psyche of sadhakas through which Brahman is felt. Where the feeling or love is predominant (bhakti psyche), then the sadhaka turns to the form and through form he sees only the formless. Where thought is predominant (jnana psyche), then subject object consciousness (Saguna) is seen as the lila appearance of the subject-objectless consciousness (Nirguna Brahman). When subject object forms in the world (roopas), are perceived as the lila of the Aroopa Brahman, then it is bhakti psyche through which the reality is felt leading to Advaita Bhakti. When subject object consciousness in the world is perceived as the lila of Brahman, then it becomes Advaita jnana. From the above clarification it will be seen that form and formlessness belong to one and the same reality. Both Saguna and Sakara are the Brahman in manifestation. However the Shruti wishes to clarify in (Br.Su.III.ii.14.) that Brahman is not with form literally, just as Saguna is not literally true, but is true only as lila of the Nirguna. It means Brahman has no form really but appears in lila in many forms. Sri Ramakrishna illustrates this through the beautiful story of the chameleon. “The chameleon changes its color (forms) at different times, but itself is beyond all color (or formless)”. The forms of Brahman are just like those, mere appearances. If Brahman is really with form, then it will become a finite object like things of the world. Again its formlessness is spoken of, not in contrast to form. He the indescribable (or formless) appears through Upadhi as if with form and not really. These forms are conducive to upasana (devotion and meditation) and Brahman’s appearance in these illusory forms in no way effects the indescribable (formless) nature of Brahman. And all sadhana is possible only within maya through “forms of subject-object” and “consciousness of subject-object”.
In philosophical terms it means Brahman is grasped through “Bhakti Nishtha” (forms) or “jnana Nishta” ( consciousness) according to one’s psyche. By form is meant not only the forms such as Indra, Vishnu etc. but also the whole world of forms (or roopas). From the formless (Aroopa) the whole world of forms appears, just as from Nirguna the Saguna Brahman appears. So from the Aroopa (formless Brahman) the roopa or form has come, but the form is lila and not real and has no real existence.
The harmony between the devotee (upasaka or bhakta) and the philosopher (jnani) is thus shown here. The formless performs the lila of forms. Since in the Shruti there are descriptions of forms, this question has been raised and its answer has been given above. So no I and mine exist really, but they are the lila forms of that formless Brahman. With this consciousness sadhana is to be done. In order to state the position of the scriptures on the essential nature of Brahman as depicted above, here are various quotations from the scriptures. “It is neither gross nor subtle nor short nor long.”(Br.Up.3.8.8). “It is soundless, formless and indestructible” (Ka.Up.1.3.15). “Akasa alone is the bearer of names and forms; that which is within them is Brahman.” (Chh.Up. VIII.xiv.i.)
Thus Sakara and Nirakara refer to one and the same Brahman and to understand this truth more clearly the scriptural passage describing the nature of a lump of salt is relevant. “As in a dense mass of salt there is no distinction as to interior or exterior, so also is Atman a dense mass of consciousness devoid of exterior or interior”. (Br.Up.IV.v.13.). This illustration reveals the real understanding, as regards Aroopa (formless) and Roopa (form) of Brahman. Not the least distinction can be made between them. Sakara in and out is Nirakara, just like the lump of salt. This is the sense in which Upadhi is to be understood. For example, one sees a mountain form (which is a upadhi) and many other such forms, but every bit of those forms through and through is the Aroopa itself, even though one perceives forms there. This is the idea implied in the illustration of the lump of salt. The formless itself appears as the form and it is the same salt through and through. One transcends the form (Roopa) by Neti Neti (Not this, Not this) then he gets to the Aroopa or Iti Iti (This, this). Then one comes to know that in reality Roopa and Aroopa are one and the same Brahman. Quotations of a transcendent nature of Brahman free from all differentiation follow in the original text. Of these only two are reproduced for brevity. “Now, therefore, follows the description (of Brahman); ‘Not this, not this.’” (Br.Up.II.iii.6.). “It (Brahman) is different from the known; It is above the unknown.” (Ke. Up.I.4.). There is however a danger of misunderstanding Aroopa and roopa in a Pantheistic way, which is not the truth. To illumine this misunderstanding, the illustration of the reflected Sun and Moon in water is cited from the Brahmabindhu Upanisad. “As the non-dual akasa (space) appears differently (as to form, odour, etc.) on account of its being limited by different pots, and as the sun appears differently on account of its being reflected in the water contained in different receptacles, so, likewise Atman manifests different forms on account of its association with different Upadhis.” (Brahmabindhu Upanisad 11.) To get to the real Sun one has to negate the reflected Sun by the process of neti neti (not this not this). When that is done, the real nature of the reflected sun (the roopa) will be known to be the real sun (the aroopa). The illustration of the reflected sun aptly demonstrates the sadhana of neti neti and iti iti (this this) to perceive Brahman in millions of forms being experienced in the world. It also means Aroopa and Roopa are not two, but that Aroopa is Roopa and vice versa. To get to the Aroopa, which is the goal, one has to transcend or negate form or Roopa and not to get lost or die in the form, which will be suicidal. Brahman is transcendent over I and mine, which are like the forms of the reflected sun, therefore to get to Brahman I and mine have to be transcended. Thus in this sense all the forms like man, woman etc. are to be transcended fully to perceive Brahman the only existence in them. When all forms are thus transcended, then through Advaita Bhakti will knowledge dawn, that every form is in essence that Brahman. The point of emphasis is that the forms perceived are as illusory as the forms of the reflected sun in water, but their real nature is the sun. Thus one’s form, as also all other forms are that reality itself and this is Advaita Bhakti. As an illustration of this truth in real life, the perception of the divine in the most degraded forms of women (prostitutes of Calcutta) by Sri Ramakrishna when he used to pass through the city can be cited. He sees the Aroopa only when His eyes fall on the Roopa of those women. From this profound truth the conclusion can be drawn that sadhana, the sadhaka and the goal, all three falling under the category of forms are essentially Brahman. Feeling this truth in this way, is Advaita Bhakti and sadhana. The realized souls perceive the truth in this way. What the ignorant see as the world of forms, the wise perceive as Brahman. Adhyasa or superimposition was the earlier answer for the cause of world perception. But now the stage is well set for the real answer. Superimposition can be spoken of in respect of a real thing superimposing itself on another, but not of a nonexistent object. Therefore the world phenomenon or perception of forms takes place, due to mere subjective error or illusion and not due to real Adhyasa or superimposition. Fundamentally it is nothing but an error and this error is called relatively by the term Adhyasa. When knowledge dawns then there is no subject nor object nor any real form, but only the vilasa or the lila of the chit Brahman. This profound truth is further explained through quotations from an Upanisad and the Gita in the text. “If the killer thinks he kills and if the killed (person) thinks he is killed, neither knows aright. The Self kills not, nor is it killed.” (Ka.Up.I.ii.19.) “He who looks on the Self as the slayer, and he who looks on the Self as the slain, neither of these apprehends aright. The Self slays not nor is It slain.” (B.G.II.19.). The idea is, killer and killed (the forms) are experienced only in the state of ignorance and in the state of knowledge nothing other than Brahman is seen.
The Svetasvatara Upanisad now therefore commences its teachings, in order to remove false notions such as Adhyasa and to establish the truth of the oneness of the Atman.

SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD PEACE CHANTS
(SHANTI PATH)

OM. THAT (ABSOLUTE BRAHMAN) IS INFINITE, AND THIS (RELATIVE UNIVERSE) IS INFINITE. THE RELATIVE (INFINITE) IS PROJECTED FROM THAT ABSOLUTE (INFINITE). THE
RELATIVE (INFINITE) HAVING COME FROM THAT ABSOLUTE (INFINITE), EVER REMAINS THAT INFINITE (CORRESPONDING TO THE VISION OF THE SAGES AND RATIONALITY AS WELL). OM! PEACE! PEACE! PEACE!

Sri Sankaracharya has elaborated the trend in the peace chants in his commentary on this Upanishad. The peace chants convey the fundamental spirit of the Upanishad in a nutshell. There is a definite connection between the peace chant and the life’s goal and the means of attainment. The nature of Brahman and the nature of the world are both essential for reaching the goal and these are revealed in the Shanti Path. Brahman and the universe, Nirguna and Saguna (Brahman without qualities and with qualities), Nirakara and Sakara (the formless and that with form) are all one and there is no difference (abhedha). This idea which will be elaborated in this Upanishad has its genesis in the peace chant. Moksha is the result of Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma (All this is verily Brahman) practiced either through Bhakti (feeling) or through jnana (knowledge) but with transcendent immanent consciousness in both. The peace chants corresponding to the above truth in the Upanishad prepares the corresponding psyche of the sadhaka, in which the transcendent immanent consciousness can play.

OM. PURNAMADAH PURNAMIDAM = That (absolute Brahman) is infinite, and this (relative universe) is infinite. The meaning is, that which is the Absolute is the Relative in lila. Whatever exists is the one Brahman, which evolves without any change in it. Seeing evolution that appears to take place should not carry one away. Purnam means there is no duality in the reality. But in the ignorant there is this imperfection of duality, which carries one away from the truth. Therefore it is the purna consciousness alone that can take one Godward. Sri Ramakrishna explained this truth through the illustration of the ocean in waves and the calm ocean. They both are one and the same ocean. Therefore the Absolute (calm ocean) and the Relative (ocean in waves) are one and the same reality. Purnamadah means every one and every thing is essentially that infinite being. (Therefore every one has the drag within to attain perfection). PURNAMIDAM= The sun, moon, stars and men, women (the Idam) are merely forms or waves on that ocean of existence and hence are in essence that Ocean or Brahman itself. The idea is there is no world there but Brahman alone is. This should bring tremendous Vairagya for the world in the sadhaka and automatically all attraction and repulsion for the world will disappear. The ocean is unaffected whether the waves arise or the waves disappear. No addition or subtraction to the ocean takes place. So also the ocean with waves is that very same Absolute infinite Brahman which the calm ocean is. Sri Ramakrishna expressed this as follows. That which exists when the eyes remain closed is the same God that one sees when the eyes are opened. The idea is when one perceives the snake it is nothing but the rope that he perceives and that is knowledge. Thus there are really no distinctions like the secular and spiritual, as all is one life. PURNAT PURNAM UDACHYATE ==From the infinite and self-effulgent Brahman, the universe rises (is projected). Since it is a projection without any change in the infinite, there is no reality of the projected (the Universe) except that of Brahman (the infinite) anywhere. Udachyate means projected through Maya. PURNASYA PURNAMADAYA =Having come from that infinite this relative (the universe) remains as the infinite. This is the absolute truth where the snake is seen as identical with the absolute Brahman (the rope), since there is no such thing as the snake really existing there. If one feels that he does not exist nor does the world, but that they are both appearances like the waves on the ocean which alone exists, then he has the right intuition corresponding to the nature of Brahman under discussion. PURNAM EVA AVASHISHYATE== The realized souls perceive this world as that infinite Brahman and rationally also it is the truth. Even though today one perceives the world as such due to ignorance, when knowledge will arise he will see it only as the rope (Brahman) everywhere. In samadhi as well as in Vyuthan (descent) he will see only the Brahman. OM! PEACE! PEACE! PEACE=The above knowledge will give real peace. The repetition three times indicates that misery (Ashanti) is three fold which will all be removed by this knowledge. Any thing other than this knowledge only apparently appears to give enjoyment. This peace chant (shanti path) reveals a state where all is one and therefore nothing exists to ask for. This is the real Advaita Bhakti where there remains nothing to ask for. Who is to worship whom when all is one?

MAY HE PROTECT US BOTH (THE TEACHER AND THE TAUGHT) TOGETHER (FROM DANGERS AND OBSTRUCTIONS TO INTUITION) MAY (THAT KNOWLEDGE) FULFILL US BOTH. MAY WE HAVE FITNESS AND VIGOUR FOR (KNOWLEDGE). LET WHAT WE STUDY BE REVEALING. MAY OUR RELATIONSHIP BE UNDYING. OM. PEACE! PEACE! PEACE!

SAHA NAAVAVATU= The guru and disciple are mentioned showing thereby knowledge can come only through a competent guru from whom it has to be heard. May the teacher and the taught be protected from the obstructions and dangers in the spiritual path. The idea is let not our intuition be obstructed by any chance. It is not mere protection for leading a happy life, but let our knowledge be protected
SAHA NAU BHUNAKTU= May that knowledge we shall receive, fulfill our thirst for knowledge.
SAHA VIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI= May we attain to the fitness for that knowledge. Viryam refers to the fitness for knowledge or the power or capacity before entering into sadhana for knowledge.
TEJASVI NAU ADITHAM ASTU= May what we study reveal that Brahman and let it not be a mere intellectual study. MA VIDVISHAVAHAI= Let our (guru-disciple) relationship be uninterrupted and unfailing with no obstructions. Let not our relationship be tainted by maya’s effect at any time.
OM.SHANTI! SHANTI! SHANTI! =May all types of digressions either subjective or objective cease, so that we may not be carried away from the ideal. Let no spark of desire deviate us from the ideal, lest what we have studied becomes lost through such desire. Thus undisturbed may we meditate on the truth. The idea is that without internal and external peace no meditation is possible.

CHAPTER 1

HARIH OM; THOSE SEEKING TO KNOW BRAHMAN QUESTION, WHAT IS BRAHMAN’S NATURE THE CAUSE (OF THIS WORLD)? WHENCE ARE WE BORN? BY WHAT DO WE LIVE AND (AT DISSOLUTION) WHERE DO WE EXIST. O KNOWERS OF BRAHMAN! IMPELLED BY WHOM ARE WE ENGROSSED IN JOY AND SORROW. (M 1)

Those deeply interested in the nature of reality assemble together to discuss its nature. Since the world is experienced by all, the question is asked “who is the cause of creation, how does it continue to exist and where does it exist at the time of dissolution.” Many apparent causes are discussed and will later be shown as not the real cause. The world includes the ‘questioner’, therefore the relationship of the questioner and the world, with the Reality is to be enquired into and this mantra deals with this. When the nature of the origin, the Brahman, is known then the nature of its products (I and World) will flash. Therefore the question about the nature of Brahman. BRAHMA VADINAH VADANTI- KIM KARANAM BRAHMA Ñ Those accustomed to deliberate on Brahman, ask, what is the nature of that Brahman who is the cause of this world? The sadhaka must know his position in relation to the origin, by knowing this, he will be convinced that he and the world are zeros and that only Brahman is. This will lead to absolute surrender and ultimately the realization of Brahman through the Brahma-lila consciousness, which will dawn on him. Brahma-lila means the appearance of Brahman as the world without really becoming that, just as the rope appears as the snake without really becoming the snake. So the snake is the lila of the rope and in this very sense every thing is held to be the lila of Brahman. Is Brahman the source and what is its nature? An inquiry into the nature of Brahman will reveal there is no I or world in it. The first question, is about TAT (the reality) the Brahman? Next it pertains to IDAM, the phenomenal world about its birth, continuance and dissolution. Both these questions when properly addressed and enquired into will bring us to the truth, that really there is no birth, no continuance nor dissolution and only Brahman alone exists. Sankaracharya specifically points out that in every such spiritual question the answer lies hidden in the question itself. This is further clarified in the explanations to the questions below. KUTAH ASMA JATAH Ñ Where from are we born? “Where have I & the world come from”? Ñ A critical study of this question will show that in Brahman, which is the origin there is no I or world. So the knowledge will flash that world and I are mere appearances and are zeros. Later it will be seen that the origin, the absolute, being one without a second (EKAM EVA ADVITIYAM), the second and third observed to exist in It are all MITHYA (illusions) and can be viewed only as Brahman in lila. Thus the nature of I and the world is revealed by questioning their origin. Similarly in the question KUTAH ASMA JATAH “from where are we born?” the position of “born” is questioned. This will lead to the answer that no one is ever born as there can be no second and third in the Absolute that could come out of It. Thus Brahman is not only the origin of the sadhaka but also of all the other phases of the world (SRUSHTI STHITI PRALAYA Ñ Creation sustenance & dissolution) that are questioned and shown to have no existence. The queries “How are I and the world maintained” and “where do we go at the time of PRALAYA (dissolution)” will be answered as the lila of His. Your STHITI (Existence) is in Him. So ‘I’ and the world at once cease to exist, because He existing, you, your mother, father etc appear to exist. So surrender yourself completely through this inquiry. Since by myself ‘I’ do not exist, I have no individuality, nor does the world exist. This understanding will lead to transcendental absorption in Brahman. Then NISHTHA (Steadiness) in that, through JNANA (Knowledge) or BHAKTI (devotion) will lead to MOKSHA. ‘I and mine’ appear from, and disappear in that reality and nowhere else. ADHISTITHAH KENA SUKHETHARESHU VARTAMAHE? Ñ Impelled by whom are we engrossed in happiness and misery. In our lives both happiness and misery are experienced. He is the background of this and it is His lila. Relatively due to ignorance I experience happiness and misery but from the absolute standpoint it is all Brahma lila. By knowing this, one can proceed towards the transcendental truth. So both the relative and absolute phases are the expressions of Brahman and Brahman alone. These questions are for understanding the basic consciousness and the basic illumination necessary for leading a spiritual life. Otherwise what disciplines (sadhana) will a sadhaka be able to undertake without this basic understanding? The underlying light in all these questions is that everything is the Brahma lila. (end M 1)

TIME, INHERENT NATURE, FATE, CHANCE, THE ELEMENTS AND THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL AS THE SOURCE (OF THIS WORLD) NEEDS DELIBERARATION. THEIR COMBINATION TOO IS NOT THE SOURCE, BECAUSE THAT IS FOR (THE BENEFIT OF) THE SOUL , THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL IS ALSO NOT THE SOURCE, BEING A SLAVE TO JOY AND SORROW. (M 2)

For grasping the relation between sadhaka and Brahman many questions were asked in the first mantra. In answer it will be shown that there is no other cause than Brahman for all of them. Thus this world which is nothing but ‘I and mine’ is shown to be one with Brahman and that there is no real cause for it, as only Brahman exists. KALA, SVABHAVAH, NIYATI, YADRUCCHA, BHUTANI, YONI, PURUSHA ITI CHINTYA = Time, Inherent Nature, Destiny, the elements and the individual soul, as causes require further reflection. KALA = Time. Every thing in the world changes and time is a factor, so one thinks time to be the cause and not Brahman. Accordingly one digresses from truth. Therefore time, the elements etc are shown as not the cause. In reality Brahman is also not the cause. because if the world be real, then only can a cause exist. Therefore Brahman is only the apparent cause of an apparent world. SVABAVAH = Inherent nature. A man struggles to go beyond, but fails again and again, so he concludes, alas! everything is inherent nature, which is insurmountable and can never be overcome, and gives up sadhana. This is another digression, which takes one away from the truth. NIYATI = Destiny. Man feels he is destined to remain as he is, whatever he may do, because he feels his karma has created his destiny, which is insurmountable. So God as a reality of everything disappears and destiny as a reality occupies its place in his life. YADRUCCHA = Chance. A man feels that everything takes place by chance. A man is rich or poor merely by chance, because he feels, “I did so much but got nothing whereas the other has become rich in a day” Thus he digresses and does not proceed toward God who is the reality of himself and chance as well. BHUTANI = Elements. A man reads some scientific book and thinks the elements are the cause of the world. This is another digression, which takes him away from God who is the real cause. PURUSHA ITI = An intelligent principle behind everything. A man thinks there is an intelligent principle behind this world, just as in ourselves intelligence guides us, so he concludes that this intelligent principle (purusha) is the cause. This again contradicts the lila of Brahman, which is the truth and is another digression. So the conclusion is that one should relate oneself to Brahman the only reality and not to these illusory causes such as time, chance, etc. At the same time one should know that all these relative causes are the expressions of that One Brahman in lila who is the only cause. ATMA API = Jiva or the individual soul is also not the cause. The jiva (individual soul) is also not the cause because it is not independent. Its non-independence is because it is a slave to happiness and misery and further it has no power of regulating creation and therefore cannot be the cause. (End M 2)

THEY THROUGH THE YOGA OF MEDITATION DISCOVERED THE MYSTERIOUS (CREATIVE) POWER OF THE DEITY, HIDDEN WITHIN ITS OWN GUNAS (EFFECTS). THAT NON-DUAL ONE RULES OVER ALL OTHER (RELATIVE) CAUSES, FROM TIME UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL. (M 3)

Reason has value since it removes the scum of emotional understanding. But reason alone cannot take one to the Truth unaided by transcendental intuition. It is by the help of transcendental intuition that the truth is realized. The sadhaka commences his journey of enquiry, with a belief in the separate existence of himself, the world and Brahman. This is contradictory to the nature of truth and thus leads him to many a false notion about the Truth. Since reason is within the cobweb of subject-object realism or consciousness it cannot take one to the truth which lies beyond. When the identity of sadhaka and world with Brahman and their having no separate existence apart from Brahman is grasped, then the the nature of Reality becomes revealed. This unique relation of the sadhaka and the world with Brahman, the rishis realized through DHYANA YOGA (meditation) and expressed this truth in the words “The mysterious Power of Brahman lying hidden within its own gunas”. DHYANA YOGA = The yoga of meditation. The meditation here refers to the correspondence between the means and the goal, the means must be subject-objectless, since the goal, the Brahman is subject-objectless. So the meditation must be of a subject-objectless nature; Not in the form “I am one with Brahman”, but in the form “there is no I at all, Brahman alone is”. Through such meditation the rishis discovered the nature of the world, and the nature of the cause of the world, the Brahman. Intellect or reason was exercised to the extent possible, but reason being within the realm of subject and object, could not take them to the Transcendental truth. Therefore they resorted to DHYANA YOGA which provided them with the intuitive light enabling them to realize the truth. What is DHYANA? It is the one pointedness of the CHITTA, the mind. Normally the CHITTA vibrates in hundreds of forms of subject-object consciousness. All these thought waves are to be tranquilized and given one direction. They are to be tranquilized by knowing the relation between them and BRAHMAN, that they are in fact the lila of Brahman. This correspondence between the Chitta and Brahman felt through meditation gave them the one pointedness and tranquility of mind in which the intuition of the transcendental Brahman took place. Dhyana yoga therefore also means the correspondence between the goal and the means. This correspondence may be said to be the yoga part in meditation. This transcendental intuition obtained through meditation ripens into realization. Just as a lover’s love, vibrates through his whole being and is not outside his being, so also it is necessary to feel the questions in mantras one and two and their answers in mantra three through one’s whole being with one pointedness of mind which forms a phase of the Dhyana Yoga. This was how the rishis attained to the knowledge of Brahman. The questions should be felt very intensely and a crying need felt for their answers. This is implied in the statement “they discovered the truth through Dhyana yoga”. As regards feeling the questions intensely, there is an example. What is my relationship with the creator? I have hands, legs, feet, face, mother, father and I experience this world. Where have all these come from? What is the nature of that which is the cause of all these? Have they all come from time? (Since Time brings in causality, the truth of causality is also questioned as follows). Is He beyond cause or is He the cause or is He not the cause? Or is He the efficient cause? Or the material cause, or both? Thus several questions were raised in mantras one and two. The questions have been answered in mantra three, not intellectually but by the light of intuition obtained through DHYANA YOGA. The sadhaka has to realize the vast difference between light of understanding through meditation and that through mere intellectual cogitation of scholars etc. For example everyone knows intellectually that KARMA YOGA brings in purity, but to feel it through the being as Swami Vivekananda did through the experience of ADVAITA SAMADHI of Ramakrishna and his own advaita experience and then declaring to the world in the words SHIV BHAVE JIVA SEVA, meaning service to man as God is service to God Himself, is quite a different vision of karma yoga . The Shruti here is stressing this very important point when it points out that they discovered (APASYAN) the import of all the questions and their answers through the yoga of Dhyana and not through reason or intellectual cogitation. The need for all sadhakas to follow the same principle in seeking the truth is being stressed. YAH KARANANI NIKHILANI TANI ÑADHITISHTHATI EKAH = Who rules over all relative causes from time to the individual soul. So long as one is in ignorance, there is an origin of the world and relative causes like time, destiny, chance and other relative causes of the world, which are valid. But when the absolute knowledge dawns, all these disappear. So the Shruti to explain this position is stating that all these relative causes are also He Himself in lila, He being the supreme cause of all these. The rishis discovered all these through DHYANA YOGA. The question KIM KARANAM (is Brahman the cause) itself does not arise when knowledge dawns because it would be like questioning about the son of a barren woman who does not exist. Thus there is no KARANAM (cause) of the world since from the absolute standpoint the world does not exist. So really He is not the cause of the world but appears as relative cause like Time etc. through UPADHIS (adjuncts). In the same manner He is the efficient and material cause of the world. DEVATMASHAKTIM SVAGUNAIH NIGUDHAM = The power of the Lord remains hidden within His own gunas. What is this maya? It is DEVA ATMA SHAKTI. DEVA means self luminous reality, It is one without a second and its SHAKTI has no ATMA (self) of its own. So the shakti of Brahman is identical with It. Just as fire and its burning power are identical and the Sun is identical with Sunlight, so also is Brahman (the Deva) identical with its power the shakti (the universe). This power, the universe that is like the rays of the Sun, relatively is made up of the gunas Ñ the satva, rajas and tamas, the matrix of all phenomena. This phenomenon made up of the gunas hides the reality (the noumenon) and reality is not perceived thereby. When the rope is seen as the snake, no longer the rope is seen, as the snake hides it. This is the sense of “hidden within its own gunas”. The world as such is SHUNYA (a zero), but its reality is Brahman and this MAYA (the world) or the DEVA ATMA SHAKTI is neither existence nor non-existence, but the DEVA itself fundamentally. This they saw in SAMADHI. In the expression YAH KARANANI etc, the rishi shows that Brahman plays the lila as world, as time, as nature etc. Your birth after birth continuously which is according to your karma is His lila. Thus he becomes KARANAM or cause in lila, at the same time He is AKARANAM or not the cause as there is no change in Him really. Even though the world does not exist still we feel, it is there. That is His lila-the DEVA-ATMA-SHAKTI. Thus the real light is given here. The above idea in an aphoristic form has been expressed as DEVA ATMA SHAKTIM SVA GUNAIH NIGUDHAM here. In a subsequent mantra the details of this aphoristic statement will be told. Thus ADVAITA is the fundamental foundation not only of the world, but also of sadhana , moksha, heaven etc. Even though the SAKAMA SADHAKA (aspirant with desire) may not understand the full Truth of ADVAITA, yet advaita is the background of his desire for heaven and also his sadhana for that. This idea Sri Ramakrishna expressed when he said “keep the advaita jnana in your pocket and do whatever you like.” This means advaita consciousness when grasped even if it be very little, it works through the subconscious and becomes the cause for the gradual evolution of the sadhaka. Thus by just keeping the advaita consciousness in his pocket (in his being) which is the truth, the sadhaka makes tremendous progress. (end m 3)

THEY SAW HIM AS THE ONE RIM (OF THE WHEEL), WITH THREEE TIERS, SIXTEEN ENDS, FIFTY SPOKES, TWENTY FASTENERS, HAVING SIX VARIATIONS OF EIGHT EXTENSIONS, ONE BONDAGE OF INFINITE FORMS, THREE DIFFERENT PATHS AND THE TWO (VIRTUE AND VICE) WHICH CAUSE DELUSION. (M 4)

In 4 & 5 mantras, Brahma lila in detail is described. Mantra 4 commences depicting the relative existence of Brahman in the form of a rotating wheel and in mantra 5 in the form of a river. If Brahman alone were to exist, in its Absolute state of Existence, Knowledge and Bliss, then there would be no world, no bondage, no sadhaka, no sadhana and no transmigration. In the absence of wordly existence, there would be no bondage or liberation and there would be no ordinary person to attain liberation. This would be the position if Brahman was only the Absolute and not also the relative. But Brahman is not only transcendent but is also immanent as the world. Therefore liberation from bondage by sadhana etc is possible in the relative or immanent state of Brahman. Even though it is true that everything is the lila of Brahman, to enable the sadhaka to grasp this Truth in all its practical bearings, the subtle and detailed particulars of this lila have to be stated. The sadhaka is confronted with hundreds of varieties of the world experiences and he has to become aware that everyone of these is Brahma lila with no exception. So these phenomena which the sadhaka experiences are divided into distinct categories such as the Ruler aspect, the three constituents of nature, 16 transformations, such as earth, water, mind, sense organs etc, misconceptions numbering 50, such as disability, satisfaction, success, delusion etc. Then the real idea is brought into focus that all these are Brahma lila. By this illumination the sadhaka will realize that every moment whatever is happening in his life or in the world is all Brahma lila. Thus he will be able to feel the lila of Brahman, at every instant in every phase of his life and of the world. Merely stating everything is His lila is not enough. The Shruti therefore describes everything that is taking place in the sadhaka’s life and then shows all that as the lila of Brahman in this Mantra. The world as such is zero, but in itself it is Brahman. If the sadhaka is convinced of this, then it will result in absorption in Brahman, then to total surrender and finally realization. The sadhaka must have the above consciousness, in the background of all his sadhana. Then, there are many psychological forces which are the reactions of wrong perceptions and these forces are also Brahman in lila. These ‘reactions’ are 50 in number and form the spokes, which support the wheel of samsara and keep it moving. The sadhaka has to transcend all these psychological forces by the knowledge of Brahma lila. Knowledge of the nature of these forces, which drags one to samsara, has tremendous value for the sadhaka to overcome them. The sadhaka will know that they are mere appearances of Brahman and thus transcend them. BRAHMA CHAKRA = Wheel of Brahman. It is so called, because Brahman is the reality of everything within the wheel. ‘CHAKRA’ or wheel is used to denote that everything in it is moving or in a state of constant flux. Repeated cycle of birth and death is like a rotating wheel and so shruti and Sankara call it Brahma Chakra. From infinite time this rotation is going on and PRALAYA means the end of this lila. So every one who is in the Chakra will have to move or rotate constantly. The emphasis is on movement or motion. By this the sadhaka will be convinced of the need for negation or ‘NETI, NETI’ or VAIRAGYA (Renunciation), as the first requirement for stopping this movement. Not only everything is the lila of Brahman, but also if the lila is taken to be real as in the case of the ordinary person in ignorance, then it becomes a spoke or support to the wheel of rotation. Thus by looking upon it as lila, the entire wheel disappears in Brahman, and this is Moksha. Contrarily looking upon it as real sustains the wheel’s eternal rotation resulting in bondage. To help the sadhaka attain this consciousness, the description of Brahma Chakra in mantra four is commenced. TAM EKA NEMIN = Him they saw as the one Main Rim, Support of the wheel. The whole world phenomenon of effects (the KARYA JAGAT) has MAYA (also called the Unmanifest, Nature, Nescience etc) of the Supreme Non-dual Self as its source. It is called the Rim, because it is the one background or support of millions of effects, just as the rim supports the many constituents of a wheel. This is the similarity here of Maya (Brahman) with the Rim. Thus the whole world phenomenon is the lila of that Non-dual Brahman and has no reality of its own. The rishis saw this truth in samadhi. TRI VRUTAM SHODASA ANTAM = Covered by three gunas and having sixteen transformations or manifestations. The entire gamut of samsara lies within these three gunas of SATVA, RAJAS, & TAMAS, and sixteen transformations comprising the five elements, viz. earth, water, fire, air and space, and the eleven consisting of, the mind, five sense organs and the five organs of action. Whatever is called the world lies within the extent of these. All these different manifestations are to be known as the lila of that Supreme One, and to know and assert this truth is sadhana. Merely doing some actions is not sadhana. So the sadhaka has to be convinced that “world” means all these, and all these are Brahman in lila. The basic consciousness of lila is being demonstrated through the illustration of the wheel of Brahman. An alternative interpretation of TAM EKA NEMIN : World is viewed in a different way, as cause and effect. World means all these (16 transformations) manifestations Ñ the effects, of which the undifferentiated is the cause (the one rim). So here also every thing as the lila of the One is impressed. So give up the falsity and see the Truth of lila. Renunciation means to see it as lila. So give up all the spokes by the knowledge of Brahma lila. All this is the DEVA ATMA SHAKTI SVA GUNAI NIGUDHAM (The power of the Lord remaining hidden in His own Gunas). So illumine the sense organs and the objects (which represent the deva atma shakti) as all Maya, but as the lila of Brahman. PRAKRITI ASHTAKAIH = the eight (ingredients) of Nature which create bondage. Bondage is caused by the contact of sense organs with the sense objects. For example the organs are always eager and restless to contact their objects. What are the organs and objects constituted of? They are of the lower PRAKRITI (B. Gita, Ch.7/4), nothing but earth, water, fire, air, intellect etc., but man foolishly thinks he is deriving satisfaction and pleasure from contact with objects, while the fact is that he is bound and fastened to the wheel of Samsara thereby. This is one of the bondages of PRAKRITI ASHTAKA, involving elements and matter. Then there is DHATU ASTAKAM: The contact of organs with objects is viewed differently. The constituents of contact are mere skin flesh, blood, fat, bone, marrow etc. So in reality these filthy things are binding you fast whenever contact of organs and objects occur. Then there is the bondage of AISHWARYA ASHTAKAM. The yogic powers of becoming very small etc. bind you to samsara by not allowing you to know your infinite nature. These are the psychological forces, which bind and cause one to rotate in samsara. Some of the other bondages under this heading have been included under fifty spokes for convenience. SHATARDHARAM = FIFTY SPOKES which are the misconceptions, are elaborated in Shankara’s commentary in great detail. Below, some of these misconceptions are summarized and explained. The principle to understand here is that a misconception not only diverts the sadhaka from pursuing the goal but also binds him fast to Samsara. TUSHTI (Satisfaction) Ñ These are the vibrations of mental pleasure (intelligence), arising out of contact of senses with their objects, which are the bondages. One is deluded by thinking that he is getting pleasure and satisfaction from such contacts because the senses and their objects when analyzed are observed to be made up of the 8 elements the DHATUS, which cannot produce pleasure. But yet these contacts with objects like man or woman, along with the subjective idea, I am the enjoyer with a body, create pleasure and satisfaction binding one fast to samsara. Thus the senses cheat you day and night in this manner creating bondages. These bondages rotate you in the Chakra. By the knowledge of lila, the spokes and the twenty fasteners the nails, will fall and release you from samsara. So all these are the expressions of the 50 spokes, they are the outcome of contact of sense organs with objects and are therefore Maya and have to be transcended. The contact of the sense organs with objects is the chief cause of their intensification and this contact is to be avoided initially and later illumined as the lila of the One. ASHAKTI = Handicap or disability. A man with the disability of stammering feels it all his life, so also is the case with blindness or deafness etc. He thinks this inability will prevent him from many endeavors including God Realization and thus it becomes an obstruction or a spoke. MAHA MOHA = Deep delusion. A man develops fascination for a thing, (a girl, wealth etc.) and it further develops into attachment and clinging. This is another psychological force or a spoke binding him. ANDHA TAA-MISRA = Psychological frustration. A man has abundance of wealth, which remains unutilized, and he is suddenly struck with paralysis resulting in great frustration. This psychological force is a spoke. TUSHTI = Satisfaction. A man remains totally satisfied for example with knowledge of agriculture, biochemistry, fossils etc. This satisfaction prevents him from enquiring into God. This type of satisfaction is an obstruction or spoke. SUHRD PRAPTI = Friends’company. Some are lost in company of friends, without them they are nowhere. This is another spoke, taking one away from God. VAIRAGYA = Renunciation is extremely necessary to perceive the Brahma Chakra as lila. Without this the sadhaka will perceive it as JAGAT or Samsara Chakra and revolve with it with all attendant peacelessness. The eight SIDDHIS = The eight successes. SHABDA = Instinctive knowledge or psychic power, acquired in past lives is awakened in this life by a little training or study. Such knowledge is a spoke, which takes one away from the Truth. In another form of this Siddhi one may be born with a wonderful tendency for science or music and at a young age becomes a sensation in the world. The fame and success in that field takes him away from the real goal Ñ God, and therefore is a spoke. ADHYANA = Power of intellectual study. For example a man with a high intellectual capacity who can read whole libraries in a short time is lost in that itself taking him away from God. So the eight siddhis are spokes. For example what greatness is there if one has developed the power, say, to hear from London while in New York without the help of any material gadget, when this can be accomplished through telephone or radio? So these siddhis are bondages as they take one away from God. DEVATA PUJA. Then there is the bondage of devata worhsip, because there also there is subject object contact, which contact does not allow one to transcend and go to God. EIGHT GUNAS = eight qualities. Then there are the eight qualities, which are the bondages. e.g. ‘A man thinks, I will do good’ Sri. Ramakrishna said while coming down to the normal plane from Samadhi, ‘Who are you to do good to the world’? Doing good with dualistic consciousness is within bondage. VISHWA RUPAIKA PAASHAM = One fundamental basic universal bondage is the desire or vasana or emotion of loveÑwhen that is there, all the other bondages follow in its train, for example love for the opposite sex, son, wealth, when these are there, all the other bondages follow. DWINIMITTAIKA MOHAM = The delusion that is caused by two factors (virtue and vice). The delusion or desire to plunge into the world is caused by good and bad actions performed earlier with dualistic consciousness or the realism of the subject and the object or of I and mine. So one has to remove the consciousness of ‘I and mine’ by knowledge. TRI MARGA BHEDAM = The three paths of righteousness, unrighteousness and knowledge. The knowledge referred to lies within the limitation of subject and object such as the knowledge of secular sciences etc. When there is lack of absolute illumination, man is compelled to live in the dualistic plane of ignorance taking subject object KNOWLEDGE of world as real and accordingly lives a life either of righteousness, unrighteousness or of knowledge. All these falling within ignorance does not take him to God directly. So one has to transcend the life of DHARMA and ADHARMA (righteousness & unrighteousness) and also the life of pursuit of ordinary knowledge to reach the goal of freedom. BHAVA ASHTAKA signifies the subject-contact both in a life of DHARMA and also in a life of ADHARMA Ñ e.g. a life of mere vairgya or aloofness from the world without illumination is also a bondage since he believes in the separate existence of himself and the world which he wishes to avoid by means of renunciation. VINSHATI PRATYARABHI : Man is not conscious that he is in bondage when his sense organs are perceiving their objects like sound, form, taste, etc. Swami Vivekananda says that the eyes are compelled to see; the ears are compelled to hear; these are also spokes. Perceptions themselves are bondages because they perceive things other than the reality. In the KATHA UPANISHAD it has been shown that the very nature of the sense organs is to perceive the outside phenomenon and not the reality within (PARANCHIKHANI). So all these bondages are to be transcended by the lila consciousness. (END M 4)

WE KNOW THE (RIVER) THAT HAS FIVE CURRENTS OF WATER, MADE TURBULENT AND WINDING BY THE FIVE ELEMENTS, WHOSE WAVES ARE THE FIVE ORGANS OF ACTION, WHOSE ORIGIN (MIND) IS THE ROOT OF FIVE PERCEPTIONS, WHICH HAS FIVE WHIRLPOOLS AND WHOSE RAPIDS ARE THE FIVE FOLD MISERY. FURTHER IT HAS FIVE PAIN BEARING OBSTRUCTIONS AND (TOTALS) FIFTY VARIATIONS. (M 5)

Brahman, which was presented in the form of a wheel in mantra four, is now described in the form of a river. The idea is to cater to a variety of temperaments and therefore the same idea is expressed in the form of a river, which may appeal to some. The sadhaka is conscious of himself and a world. By critical observation of the essential nature of the sadhaka and of the world, through illustration of a river, the illumination that sadhaka and world are essentially Brahman will be brought to light. Brahman, the cause, is itself the sadhaka and the world, which are its effects, and this identity is to be grasped and therefore the description in the form of a river commences. (a) PANCHA SHROTAH = Five currents of water. The perceptions taking place through the sense organs are the five currents of the river. The sense perceptions deviate one from the Truth of the one without a second. That is, when the perceptions (with realism of subject-object) are experienced they drag one away from the transcendental Truth, like the currents of the river. Thus seeing, hearing, touching etc in the unillumined person takes him away from the Truth. Thus he continuously transmigrates and suffers various other reactions in life. So change of perception is the way. Do not see the world as the world, but see it as God. That is, do not see it in the form of subject and object but see that at the core it is the subject-object-less Reality and the subject-object form of vision is apparently superimposed on Brahman, the reality. This will put a stop to the incorrect world perception, which is the cause of bondage. Thus the divinisation of all perceptions is the way to the Truth. (b) PANCHA PRANA URMIM etc = The waves are the five organs of action. It also could mean the five pranas (vital forces) prana, apana etc. PANCHA PRANA URMIM is taken up now even though in the text it comes third, as it is more psychological to take it up here. The subject-object perceptions in (a) give rise to reactions or waves of five pranas. The prana, apana, etc. forces get energised, meaning that the reactions of perceptions take gross physical and mental shape, the karma and jnana indriyas get energised, and gross action is committed by the sadhaka. So change or spiritualisation of perceptions is the way to avoid all this. The subject-object perception gives rise to a reaction, which is called the wave here. Seeing a woman as a woman is the initial subject-object empirical perception, which gives rise to other reactions. The effect of these is to energize the pranas, goading the person to commit gross physical action, if he is not able to control the reactions in their early stages. So instead of the ordinary perception, ‘I am the subject and woman is an object of enjoyment’ one has to transcendentalise his perception and see the one Brahman appearing as both the subject and the object. Alternatively if the five pranas in the text are taken to mean the five organs of action, the empirical perception energizes the five organs of action resulting in gross action and bondage which is not desirable (c) PANCHA YONI = The senses and their objects are made of the five elements. So all constituents of perception are made of elements and since they are constitutionally so, they can never reach or even allow one to see Brahman but on the contrary will always drag one away from Brahman the Unity. If one thinks let me just taste a little of this world (and has worldly perception) he will be dragged into it. So change of perception means seeing everything as the lila of Brahman. This is the only way. (d) PANCHA BUDHYADI MOOLAM = The nature of perceptions depends on the mind which is their source. The organs receive sensations from the world. But that receiving depends on the nature of one’s mind. If there is God in the mind then the perceptions will be Godly. If the mind is demonic then perceptions will be demonic. So spiritualize the mind, then the perceptions through the organs will also be spiritualized. The whole world is based on mind. “Whatever one sees is nothing but the states of his own mind, because when the mind ceases to function, duality is no longer perceived.” (Mandukya karika 3-31) (e) PANCHA AVARTAM = The five whirlpools. The river of life has five whirlpools, the five objects such as sound, touch etc are comparable to whirlpools, since creatures get drowned in those objects being fascinated (as has been explained under b). (f) PANCHA DUKHA OGHA VEGAM = The speeding rush of five sorrows. This is observed towards the end of life. From birth to death life is not only moving, but is moving through these five painful states of being in the womb, birth, old age, disease and death. The flow of the river, its waves, its whirlpools and its rapidity is symbolic of the sorrowful life of creatures, whose pain rapidly increases as it proceeds. As Buddha said, life is full of sorrow (sarvam dukham). Really in life all momentary happiness is tinged with pain. (g) PANCHA PARVAM = The five stages of pain bearing obstructions. The five pain bearing obstructions add to the intensity of the painful states described in (f) above. For e.g. AVIDYA or cloudiness of mind is one such obstruction. A person becomes egoistic and that is another obstruction. Attachment and repulsion, jealousy and clinging to life are the other obstructions. These reinforce the flow of life in the form of birth and death. Tremendous attachment to life itself is another form of obstruction. The Root cause of all these is the mind, “MANAH EVA BANDHA MOKSHA KARANAM” (mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation). PANCHASHAD BHEDAM = Fifty different flow patterns. Shankara has omitted this. It means in these fifty different ways the life flows. In the text only the prominent ones, PANCA SROTA etc have been enumerated, but these other fifty represent their reactions. Even SUKHA (Happiness) is a form of DUKHA (pain) because as you go on enjoying, it will always end in pain; that is pleasure (sukha) changes into pain (dukha). When you will know that He appears as all these then you will attain to Supersensuous (ATINDRIYA) perception. The River of Samsara will then be perceived as Brahma lila. (End M 5)

IN THIS GREAT WHEEL OF BRAHMAN, ALL LIFE EXISTS AND IN THAT IT FINALLY DISSOLVES, IN IT THE JIVA ROTATES CONSIDERING ITSELF AS SEPARATE FROM BRAHMAN (THE CONTROLLER). WHEN HOWEVER IT ADORES (IDENTIFIES WITH) GOD, IT BECOMES IMMORTAL. (M 6)

So far in mantras four and five Brahman was revealed through the two illustrations of wheel and river. But there is the danger of a pantheistic understanding when the Brahmic Consciousness is described through illustrations. Usually the understanding takes the form; Brahman exists along with world phenomena (SA PRAPANCHA), where the duality of world and Brahman still remains. This being an error requires further illumination and this is the theme of mantra six. PRUTHAK ATMANAM PRERITARAM MATHVAÑBHRAMYATE BRAHMACHAKRE = The jiva considering himself as separate from Brahman rotates in the wheel of Brahman. It is shown that the cause of Transmigration or Rotation in Samsara is because of the wrong belief ‘I am a ‘(Jiva), separate from Brahman ‘my Controller’. So long this belief prevails in one’s sadhana one is bound to rotate in this Samsara. However if one does sadhana with the belief in the unreality of ‘I and world’ even though they appear to exist and identifies oneself with Brahman, then there is no more rotation or birth for one in samsara. One attains MOKSHA or identity with the Reality. The illustrations of the wheel and river are to be understood in the sense of One Transcendent and Immanent Reality appearing as all, like the rope appearing as the snake, and not in a pantheistic sense. Then only they lead to Moksha. So spiritual life means change of perception and not just some good habits or religious observances. Here is a quotation: “He who worships God thinking, He is one and I am another, does not know. He is like an animal to the gods” (Brh. Upanisad 1.4.10) Accordingly the perception of duality leads to Samsara and he who believes all as the One Self attains to Moksha. (end M 6)

BRAHMAN IS TAUGHT (IN THE UPANISADS) AS SUPREME (BECAUSE IT IS BEYOND THE TOUCH OF THE PHENOMENAL). IN THAT UNCHANGEABLE, THE TRIPLE PHENOMENA (THE ENJOYER, THE OBJECT AND THEIR CONTROLER) HAVE THEIR FIRM SUPPORT. THE KNOWERS OF BRAHMAN UNDERSTANDING THIS, MERGE IN BRAHMAN BY BECOMING ONE WITH IT AND ARE FREED FROM BIRTH. (M 7)

In mantras four and five the illustrations of the wheel of Brahman and that of a river were employed to illustrate the truth. This can lead to a false understanding, that Brahman has really become the wheel of samsara, which however is not the truth. This point is clarified in mantras six and seven. The right perception that Brahman appears as the phenomenal was indicated through the two illustrations. But because of misunderstanding, the sadhaka feels that the phenomenal universe has been explained as existing along with Brahman. Accordingly he feels identification with Brahman (which is moksha) is not possible. But the Shruti however has said in mantra six that “By identifying with Him Immortality is achieved”. The sadhaka’s misunderstanding arises from his belief in the separate existence of the phenomenal universe along with Brahman. The Shruti knowing that its earlier instructions have been misunderstood clarifies in strong and categorical terms that Brahman is Absolute and no universe exists along with it or in it as follows. BRAHMAN IS TAUGHT (IN THE UPANISADS) AS SUPREME (BECAUSE IT IS BEYOND DUALITY WITH NO TOUCH OF THE PHENOMENAL). By saying that Brahman is “beyond” the Shruti shows its right implication to mean an absolute consciousness with no touch of the world. To attain this state, meditation on SAGUNA BRAHMAN (Brahman with maya) is only a step. In the Saguna Brahman consciousness there remains some realism of the world which contradicts the truth. But Advaita asserts that the universe is a mere appearance, or a misreading of Brahman. In reality Brahman alone exists, but is misread as the universe, just as the rope which alone exists, is misread as the snake. UDGITAM = Brahman has been proclaimed to be. We have to recall to memory what objective is being achieved by mantra seven. The Truth is, the Absolute (Brahman) is itself the Relative (Universe). In mantras five and six the right perception of the Relative (Samsara), as the Absolute (Brahman) was shown. But that is usually misunderstood in the sense that the Absolute and Relative may exist together and that the Relative has also a separate existence. By the terms UDGITAM, PARAMAM and SUPRATISHTA AKSHARAM the Shruti wants to clarify that the One Absolute alone exists and there is no separate universe, even though in the stage of sadhana and in the process of merging in the Absolute, the universe has a relative existence, so long one is in ignorance. This relative existence vanishes when the Absolute is reached. To convince the sadhaka of this Absolute nature of Reality Shankaracharya has quoted from many Upanishads about this distinct nature of Brahman. The word ‘distinct’ implies the complete Transcendence of Brahman over the world. Brahman has no touch with the world, as the world does not exist, just as the rope has no contact with the snake imagined in it. In this connection it will be observed that even some great philosophers have felt it necessary to maintain the existence of the subject-object world, obstructing the merging in that Absolute subject-object-less consciousness. So the Shruti comes down on such notions by declaring that Brahman is Udgitam (distinct from the world). Tremendous uncompromising Vairagya for the world, is the other implication of Udgitam. So Udgitam means that the Truth is ‘Beyond’ this subject-object based world which is a false superimposition on Brahman and Shankara’s many scriptural quotations confirms this truth. PARAMAM: Brahman has no connection with the world. If it has connection then it is not Supreme (PARAMAM) at all, because then it will be affected by the qualities of the world. Brahman is also Paramam because it is proclaimed as Transcendent in the scriptures. From the characteristics of Brahman, viz, it’s having no touch with the universe some philosophers wrongly conclude that the scriptures imply that the universe can exist as a separate entity. This is clarified below. TASMIN TRAYAM = In that absolute is this world of enjoyer, enjoyment and God their controller. What is this world we experience? It is nothing but ‘I and mine’ and God the third, or I the enjoyer, the enjoyed and the enjoyment. The Shruti says that you feel your ‘I and mine’ as real, even though they have no existence because with death they disappear. To the question how are these three taken to be real then? The answer is, Just as the rope appears as the snake, Brahman appears as the three (The Trayam). Therefore the reality of these three is Brahman and as such the three do not exist in reality. This is the meaning of Transcendent-Immanent Brahma lila where everything else other than Brahman is a mere appearance. Brahman being “beyond” means, the world is a zero. SUPRATISTHAKSHARAM: It means well or excellently established in Brahman which is changeless. Man usually feels his existence (or support) in himself, as also existence of the world in itself. This support may be called CHALAPRATISHTHITA or a temporal support that disappears. This temporal Pratishtha being within maya has to be illumined by the knowledge that their real Pratishtha or foundation is in Brahman, which implies they (I and the world) have no existence at all. This perfect understanding will lead to a life of real surrender of one’s personality to God by knowledge and not by emotion, where traces of individuality remain hidden. This is the stable Pratishtha in Brahman; this is the view expressed by the Shruti. Now some philosophers have the idea that since the world is changing, Brahman, its foundation must also be changing. If Brahman’s changeless nature is thus altered, it can easily be sustained that Brahman can transform itself really into the world like milk transforming itself into curd. The Shruti says that this is not the truth because the triad of phenomena namely the individual soul, the world and God are Supratishthitha in Aksharam, that is they have their foundation in the Changeless. Without any real change Brahman appears to change into these three, which have no existence. LINA BRAHMANI TAT PARAH YONI MUKTA = Remaining absorbed they get merged in Brahman and become freed from birth and death. This portion of the text refers to sadhana. The subject-object gross, subtle and psychological layers of the personality of the individual and of the world are all appearances, so also all the cosmic layers. One has to bring the consciousness of Brahman in all of them and illumine them as Brahman and Brahman alone and that is sadhana. In sadhana one has to be sure that the means (sadhana) corresponds to the goal. TAT PARAH indicates that you must be lost in Brahman and not merely have some intellectual ideas about Brahman. Brahman appearing as all, must vibrate in sadhana, then only it may be said the means (sadhana) corresponds to the goal. To execute the means correctly the control of organs and unwavering concentration are to be practiced leading to Samadhi or Self Absorption. (end m 7)

THE UNIVERSE A COMBINATION OF THE MANIFESTED PERISHABLE AND THE UNMANIFESTED IMPERISHABLE WHICH ARE INHERENTLY UNITED, IS SUSTAINED BY BRAHMAN. BY ACCEPTING ENJOYERSHIP (JIVA) BECOMES HELPLESS AND BOUND. KNOWING THE DEITY HE IS FREED FROM ALL FETTERS. (M 8)

In mantra seven it was said the knowers of Brahman get merged in Brahman. A question or doubt arises in respect of merging. Because merging is possible only where there are two, one who will merge and another entity in whom he can merge. So the objection is that the identity of the individual soul and Brahman claimed in Advaita is not true since the shruti itself recognizing a difference speaks of their merging as above. The questioner asserts, merger implies that Advaita or Nonduality is not true, but that an integral unitary consciousness where the Jivas and Brahman exist together is more appropriate. The Upanishad having the above apprehension in view clarifies the position in this mantra. The Shruti shows that Brahman through Maya or Upadhi (adjunct) appears as the Jiva and the world. In this appearance or the state of ignorance or Maya or Upadhi, the apparent separateness of jiva and Brahman is felt. This apparent separateness makes the merging of jiva and Brahman possible in the sadhana stage. So this apparent merging in the state of ignorance, which the Shruti is referring to, does not disprove the truth of Advaita which speaks of the identity of Jiva Brahman. Further Jiva and Brahman being in essence one, their merging is possible. In other philosophical systems (BHEDA ABHEDA) where the Jiva and Brahman are held to be fundamentally different entities merging will be impossible. This idea is clarified through an illustration later below. Therefore merging does not imply that Jiva and Brahman are two distinct entities as the questioner imagines. Vedanta affirms “JIVO BRAHMA EVA NA APARA” which according to the Advaitic view implies that the Jiva and Brahman are one and there is no Jiva at all different from Brahman at any point of time excepting through upadhi or lila or vivarta. For example the space in a jar becomes one with the all pervading space, when the jar is broken. The merging referred to in the mantra is in this sense. But the water in a jar cannot merge with the all-pervading space, for the reason, they are fundamentally different. Accordingly if Jiva and Brahman were fundamentally different, merging would be impossible. Since the shruti speaks of their merging, the conclusion is, they are identical. Now again the same question is asked in another form, “If Jiva and Brahman are already identical why then does the shruti talk of ‘merging’ when there has never been any separation at any time of Jiva and Brahman according to Advaita”. It is here that Sankara throws light. He says even though Jiva and Brahman are absolutely identical, in the state of sadhana or ignorance, because of Upadhi, an apparent difference between them is experienced by the sadhaka, and this apparent difference is the basis of all sadhana, and merging is possible only due to this apparent difference and by no other way. The Advaitic view that Jiva and Brahman are identical is thus not affected in any way by the apparent process of merging mentioned in the mantra. Rather it upholds the truth of their identity. Therefore Upadhi, (Limiting adjunct), provides the apparent realism required for merging. The merging is a process, in which actually there is no merging, but apparently it appears like merging. From this it is concluded that Upadhi is the real answer, (for the apparent difference), not that Brahman really transforms itself into Jiva and world. In the gross state of Maya the Jiva experiences almost an infinite variety of objects like father, wife, son, wealth, rivers, mountains etc., taking him away from the truth of Oneness. His concentration and attention is dissipated among these many objects. Therefore for proceeding from Maya or multiplicity to Brahman the unity, the first step is to reduce the multiplicity to two and shift one’s concentration from the many to the two. This the Shruti speaks of in this mantra and categorizes the entire multiplicity of the world into two, the Jiva (the KSHARA and the VYAKTA the perishable and manifest) and ISWARA (the AKSHARA and the AVYAKTA the imperishable and unmanifest). Iswara is the whole, the original cause from which all individuals (jivas) have come out. In the jiva category is included every thing like men, women, rivers mountains etc. Individuals are changing and tangible, but Iswara is intangible and immutable. Iswara means the reality (Brahman) within jivas and the world. The Brahman in lila is Iswara and jiva, when there is no lila, it itself is Brahman the Nirupadhic Iswara. So ultimately there are only these two things in the world, Iswara and Jiva. Beyond these two is the Absolute Brahman who sustains them. The idea is Brahman through Maya appears as the unmanifest world called Iswara, in whom the manifested world remains in unmanifest form. That unmaniifest world becomes manifest, as this world of multiple jivas. The unmanifest lila of Brahman is called Iswara and the manifested lila is called Jivas. Thus Iswara and Jiva are two different names of one and the same Brahman. So one has to feel this whole world as jiva and Iswara and then feel Jiva and Iswara as Brahman. Further AKSHARA and AVYAKTA the indestructible and unmanifest signifies Iswara. KSHARA and VYAKTA the destructible and manifest signify Jiva. Brahman is beyond the two and is called the PURUSHOTTAMA, which appears as the Iswara and the Jiva. In the GITA (chapter 15 slokas 16, 17) this has been well clarified. The significance of the terms KSHARA and manifest, describing the Jiva, is that the jiva’s nature (yours) is constantly changing, yet everyone says I, I, due to ignorance, even though the I is passing away and has no existence. So the jiva should seek refuge in Iswara from whom he has come and who is indestructible, this is the idea. So the idea is, from multiplicity or variety in which the ordinary person always dwells, let him categorize the multiple worlds of many into two (Jiva and Iswara) and ultimately from these two to their unity the Absolute Brahman called as Purushottama in the Gita. These three are not three different things but one and the same reality that assumes different limiting adjuncts. The text describes the transition of the supreme Brahman (ISHAH) into Iswara and Jiva. All this is the lila of that Supreme Brahman. Brahman itself is being called by different names (to denote different states of His lila). The stages of Sadhana are from gross body and world, to consciousness of Jiva and Iswara; from Jiva and Iswara to Brahman. The world of multiplicity is to be reduced to Two and the Two to the unity, Brahman. SAMYUKTAM ETAT KSHARAM AKSHARAM CHA = The destructible the manifested; and the indestructible the unmanifested, are inherently united. Samyukta means that they are inherently united: the Jiva and Iswara. The individual soul (jiva) can never be separated from Iswara, and God can never be separated from jiva, because they are one Fundamental Reality appearing as two. The individual should know from all this that he is potentially God and his Godhood becomes only veiled and the veil is removed by knowledge, as above. Thus by knowing Brahman the jiva is freed from all fetters. BHARATE VISVAM ISAH = The One Supreme Brahman (Isah) is the support of the Two (jiva and Iswara) which comprises the universe. So sadhana is to feel that both Jiva and Iswara exist in one Transcendent and Immanent Reality, Brahman. Merging is possible only in ignorance but in the state of JNANA no merging is possible. It is Upadhi that creates the apparent distinction of Sadhaka, Sadhana and Siddhi (the goal), enabling merging in Brahman. (end m 8)

THEY ARE BOTH BIRTHLESS, THE ALL-KNOWING AND ALL-POWERFUL (ISWARA) AND THE (JIVA) OF LIMITED KNOWLEDGE AND POWER. THE BIRTHLESS ALONE IS (THROUGH MAYA) THE ENJOYER, ENJOYMENT AND THE OBJECT. THE INFINITE ATMA OF INUMERABLE FORMS IS NOT THE AGENT. WHEN THE THREE (ISWARA JIVA AND NATURE) ARE KNOWN AS BRAHMAN (ONE IS LIBERATED). (M 9)

The sadhaka was told to ‘merge’ in Brahman. But due to his frailties of lust, greed and desires for enjoyment etc, it is not possible for him to merge in God even though he may wish for that. The sadhakas usually are not aware that all these frailties are first to be illumined and removed. They connive at these frailties and try to merge in God and fail in their attempts. They also wrongly imagine that, since the Scriptures declare Jivas as essentially Brahman, no sadhana for the removal of frailties etc. is needed. Such sadhakas lead a life of hypocrisy constantly succumbing to their frailties. As this is against the truth, the Shruti in this mantra shows the great difference that exists between the jiva in ignorance and the Iswara. It also shows that these frailties of the jiva are true so long he is in the relative life of ignorance. It is only when knowledge is attained that they disappear. Since the need for their removal, before one can merge in God, is fundamental it is highlighted in this mantra. The shruti, apprehending the above view, affirms the existence of a relative life where sadhana and merging is possible. In the Absolute life of course, there is neither sadhana nor merging. That there is the existence of a relative life is described in the text below. AJA HI EKA BHOKTRU BHOGYARTHAYUKTAH = The Birthless one has indeed become the enjoyer and enjoyment (or the relative life) through Maya. The idea is that there is a relative life of many frailties today, where sadhana is possible and rather very necessary. Usually a sadhaka in ignorance is not aware of his own limitations as compared with the Goal. To make him cognize his own frailties the text states. JNA AJNAU DVAU AJAU ISA ANISAU = God (Iswara) is the all knowing and powerful, the Jiva is ignorant and powerless, but both are birthless. The great disparity between the individual and God is shown. He, Iswara, is all knowing as he is CHIT or Consciousness by itself whereas the individual soul being conscious of father, mother, girl, wealth, I and mine, and their reactions becomes helpless and powerless. When the sadhaka becomes aware of this great disparity then he will become conscious, that if he is to merge in God, he must give up all these limitations and become I-less, My-less and pure. DVAU AJAU = The individual soul and God are both birthless. This is because He, the birthless, is the Reality of both. In your real essential nature you are the birthless, not that you are totally nothing or helpless. How will you transcend your limitations? By the illumination that He is you, the world and everything of you. If the sadhaka thinks that today as he is, he is the nondual Brahman and behaves accordingly, there will be great danger ahead for him. The story of the mahout Narayana and the elephant Narayana related by Sri Ramakrisna clarifies this very point. The existence of a Relative life and an Absolute life is indicated by the story. One has to be aware of this and do sadhana observing care and caution till the frailties are gone. Again due to engaging oneself in sadhana in the Relative life, the idea comes that the world as such, has some existence (apart from Brahman). Accordingly the sadhakas wish to cling to their life of sadhana eternally, but the world has neither Relative reality nor Absolute reality; Brahman being the only existence. It is our ignorance, which interprets Brahman as the world. To point out this truth the text says as follows. ANANTASCHA ATMA VISVAROOPAH HI AKARTA = The infinite Atma itself is the innumerable forms of the world and indeed is not the agent. It is due to Maya that the man in ignorance experiences the ROOPA (form) of his father, mother etc as such, but the man of realization sees them as the (ROOPAS) forms of the One without a second, the Atma. That means, he sees no world at all, but only the Brahman in its place. That is, he sees the snake as the rope itself. In sadhana we feel, I do, I enjoy, I walk etc; instead, all these feelings are to be felt as the appearances of the One. This is the meaning of “the Infinite Self manifests itself in lila in many forms as the universe and is not the agent”. The enjoyer and enjoyment in it are unreal and unsubstantial, being appearances. Therefore even though the universe is the Self’s manifestation, the infinitude of the Self-remains unaffected. This Relative (Viswaroopa) has as its underlying reality the infinite Brahman and therefore it is called infinite. The famous illustration of the rope and snake can throw more light on this. The snake (Viswaroopa} if taken as totally sunya or nothing will lead to the sunyavada of Buddhism. If taken as SAT or real will lead to Pantheism. But the truth is the snake is the rope itself having neither existence nor non-existence as the snake. This is the vivartavada of the shruti. Thus the relative life in the world, where sadhana is posssible, is due to ignorance. All reactions and world experiences are relatively true and they disappear only in the state of Jnana. TRAYAM YADA VINDATE BRAHMAM ETAT = When the soul realizes that the enjoyer, the enjoyable and the enjoyment do not really exist apart from Brahman and are appearances of Brahman itself, then it attains to Absolute bliss and continues in a state of identification with Brahman. When name and form are transcended as appearances then Brahman alone remains. (End m 9)

NATURE IS PERISHABLE, THE SUPREME GOD IS IMPERISHABLE. BOTH NATURE AND SOUL ARE GOVERNED BY THAT ONE (SUPREME) DEITY. REPEATED MEDITATION CORRESPONDING TO THE TRUTH AND ABSOLUTE UNION WITH HIM, CULMINATES IN THE CESSATION OF MAYA IN THE FORM OF THE UNIVERSE. (M 10)

In the earlier mantras the subjective side of man, the enjoyer and enjoyment were shown as the lila of Brahman. Now the objective side pertaining to the world is illumined. Man has to live in the world, do sadhana and work in the world. What is the relation of this world with God? That is to be known. World as such is not Brahman because it is KSHARA (destructible). KSHARA PRADHANAM AMRTA AKSHARAM = The world (Nature) is destructible but God is indestructible. The idea being impressed is that the world as such cannot be Brahman as it is destructible. KSHARA ATMANAVISHATE DEVA EKAH = The world and the individual soul are ruled by the One Deity, the Non Dual Brahman. The sadhaka, including himself in the world, should feel the One without a second as the reality of Nature, Iswara (God) and the jivas. Here the sadhaka’s constitutional nature is to feel the Reality through the objective side. The sadhaka has to transcend not only himself, his body etc, but also the world being experienced by him. He has to feel within himself that the world and I as such, are zeros but in themselves are the reality. TASYA ABHIDHYANAT YOJANAT TATVABHAVAT BHUYASCHA = By repeated meditation on Him corresponding to the truth and identifying with Him. Not only one has to meditate, but meditate with consciousness corresponding to the truth and Absolute union, in the form ‘I am Brahman’ where no I and mine or subject-object remains. This is the right type of meditation which will take one to Realization. VISWA MAYA NIVRITI = The universe as such disappears and the one Brahman alone is seen everywhere. There is no more sorrow, delusion, happiness etc, the dual throng, as the One Non- Dual Reality alone is perceived. (End m 10)

KNOWING THE DEITY ALL BONDAGES FALL, WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF BONDAGES, COMES THE LIBERATION FROM BIRTH AND DEATH. BY MEDITATION ON HIM COMES THE THIRD, THE DIVINE POWERS, AFTER THE FALL OF THE BODY. (RENOUNCING THOSE POWERS) HE ATTAINS TO ABSOLUTE-SELF-FULLFILMENT. (M 11)

Mukti means full illumination of individuality or ‘I’. Till then no moksha is possible. In that state of spiritual evolution where the ‘I’ is not completely transcended one attains to Divine powers and Godhood only, but not to moksha. The effect of a trace of individuality remaining (Godhood), is contrasted with the complete loss of individuality (Moksha), to enable the sadhaka to transcend the ‘I’ completely. JNATVA DEVAM ETC. = Knowing the Reality. In the first two lines of the mantra, the result of perfect knowledge in which no trace of individuality remains is shown. This is moksha, the ultimate goal, which the sadhaka has to strive for, the absolute cessation of individuality by illumination . But before he reaches that high state, the yogi meditating on God with a trace of I remaining attains to the state of Godhood which is marked by VISWA AISVARYAM, the full Divine Glory and Power, but not to Moksha. It is a state indicated by “I do not want to be sugar, but want to eat sugar”, in the Bhakti scriptures. He goes to Brahma Loka (heaven) because of a trace of individuality remaining. Of course he comes back again and renouncing all yogic and divine powers of that God state, becomes APTA KAMAH free, and attains to MUKTI. The renouncing of all yogic and divine powers indicates the total loss of individuality and the complete renunciation of desire. Thus by contrast the effect of perfect knowledge (jnana) resulting in Moksha is here shown, and also shown is the effect of traces of desire or I or individuality remaining as the state of Godhood. TASYA ABHIDHYANAT TRITIYAM DEHA BHEDE VISWAISVARYAM = By the meditation on Him comes the third, the divine powers and glory, after the fall of the body. What is Dhyana? Meditation means struggle between a meditator and a goal of meditation within the realm of subject and object. This means, there is desire or I-consciousness still in him. This trace of I or desire in his meditation takes him to Brahma Loka or the God state and not to freedom. But again it is the right Dhyana or meditation alone that will lead to Mukti. The ‘I-less’or subject-objectless meditation, where the meditator, the meditated and the goal of meditation are known to be the one Brahman alone brings us to the real JNANA or Moksha. So this perfect Dhyana alone, can lead to absolute knowledge. The gist of the whole mantra is that “I” and “mine” has to be transcended completely for MOKSHA. If they remain even in their most subtle form, they can only lead to Divine power or glory or to the state of Godhood but not to MOKSHA. Transcending individuality completely and becoming one with Brahman is the theme of this mantra. But this is to be achieved gradually through Karma Yoga and through meditation step by step and not by a jump. (end M 11)

THIS (BRAHMAN) THAT DWELLS IN ONE’S HEART IS TO BE KNOWN WITH GREAT REGULARITY. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE (WORTHY OF) KNOWING THAN THIS. THE ENJOYER, ENJOYMENT AND THEIR RULER, SPOKEN OF AS THREE DIFFERENT THINGS (ARE TO BE KNOWN) AS THE (ONE) BRAMAN. (M 12)

What that Brahma lila consciousness is, was told from various angles. In this mantra sadhana is being emphasized, because to have just a clear idea of Brahman is not enough. Nor is it enough merely to know the details of sadhana. Rather one has to plunge into sadhana to make it part and parcel of one’s being and that is being emphasised. NITYAM EVA ATMA SAMSTHAM = With regularity giving up all worldliness, feelingfully through one’s whole being sadhana is to be done. Nitya indicates that regularly and on principle sadhana is to be performed, not haphazardly and halfheartedly. ATMA SAMSTHAM indicates that worldliness should go. You should feel within your being that world and I are illusory as such, and they are Brahman in lila. This vairagya should permeate your sadhana. NA ATAH VEDITAVYAM HI KINCHIT = This means, you should also feel deeply that there is nothing else worthy of being known or requiring your attention and that all other things are vain and momentary. This should constantly be brought to awareness. In sum and substance it means you should have tremendous Vairagya for the world and become ATMASAMSTHAM (established in God). Thus you have to make great effort to be lost in Brahman through Sadhana. In this connection the tremendous Sadhana into which the first disciples of Sri Ramakrishna plunged, after his passing away to make the Truth their own, expresses the meaning of this mantra. Also one may go to places of pilgrimage for Sadhana, but the real place or locus is within, because realization takes place within and not outside. ETAT JNEYAM = This should be known. The emphasis is on realizing what has been told. When the desire to actually realize is intense then concentration and the understanding of the Brahma lila consciousness will automatically dawn. Sankara has two interpretations for the first two lines of the mantra. The first interpretation stresses the immanental aspect of God, which is Advaita Bhakti, surcharged with jnana. Feeling is more predominant. The sadhaka feels that the reality of ‘me and the world’ is His immanence and attains to the subject-object less Reality. In the second interpretation the constitution of Transcendence (ADVAITA Jnani type) is elaborated. Here the sadhaka feels directly the zeroness of himself and the world and Brahman as the reality of the two. Since he is transcendental and thoughtful, this type of transcendental approach to reality is constitutional for him. APAROKSHAH means there is no subject-object in the Reality and this sadhaka’s constitutional psyche corresponds to that as he is transcendental. Sadhana can take the above two forms; that is the idea. BHOKTA BHOGYAM PRERITARAM CHA = The three, the enjoyer, the enjoyment and the Supreme Lord. The Knowledge that all these are the three different forms of the one Brahman in lila is common to both the Advaita Bhakta and the Advaita Jnani. Feeling is predominant in the Bhakta and knowledge in the jnani. (end m12)

THE FORM OF FIRE WHEN LATENT IN ITS SOURCE (THE WOOD) IS NOT VISIBLE, YET ITS INVISIBLE LATENT EXISTENCE IS NEVER LOST AND BECOMES VISIBLE BY REPEATEDLY RUBBING ITS SOURCE (THE WOOD). AS IN THE CASE OF THESE TWO (FIRE IN VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE FORMS) CAN THE SELF BE REALISED IN THE BODY WITH THE HELP OF OM. (M 13)

MAKING ONE’S BODY THE LOWER PIECE OF WOOD, OM THE UPPER PIECE AND BY THE PRACTICE OF MEDIATION SIMILAR TO RUBBING, REALISE THE GOD WHICH IS HIDDEN, AS IT WERE. (M 14)

A rare few sadhakas have the capacity to feel the one transcendent immanent consciousness directly, either through jnana or through Bhakti. For others meditation on a symbol of the transcendent immanent reality is more constitutional. The symbols such as OM, the avataras such as Ramakrishna, Christ etc and one’s Guru are some of the symbols for the meditation on Brahman. Meditation on symbols is not in anyway inferior to the direct meditation on Brahman. It is merely a question of constitution. But vairagya and the consciousness of Brahman within the symbol, or without, are common to both types of sadhakas. The symbol has to be looked upon as the absolute reality and accordingly meditated upon. Thus meditation on any incarnation like Sri Ramakrishna, Christ etc can take one to the goal if one has the right Brahmic Consciousness about them and not otherwise. The right consciousness is, that they are in essence the Supreme Brahman itself in human form, not a saint, a superman, nor even a prophet. The first two lines of the mantra show that the Truth lies hidden, although only apparently and therefore one should never be disappointed if he fails a few times to get it. He should be convinced that truth lies within him and he will get it even though he cannot see it today. Repeated rubbing or sustained sadhana till the goal is reached is indicated in the text by SA BHUYA EVA etc. As Christ said in this connection “knock and it shall be opened”. As in the case of an Avatara, the symbol ‘OM’ by its very construction should be known as indicating the Supreme Brahman and then meditated upon repeatedly. SVA DEHAM ARANIM KRITVA PRANAVAM CHA UTTARAARANIM = Making one’s body the lower wood and OM the upper piece of wood. Just as when two pieces of wood are rubbed the friction brings out the latent fire already existing within, so does repeated meditation brings out the truth already within. The Avatara or ‘OM’ represents one piece of wood and our personalities represent the other piece. Meditation represents the rubbing and God who is already within, manifests like fire from the rubbing of wood. NA LINGANASHAH = Fire even though not visible in wood exists in its invisible form inside. The idea is God is there ever within in invisible form and never void, only repeated effort is required for His manifestation. (end m 13 & m 14)

AS OIL IN SESAMUM, AS BUTTER IN CURDS, AS WATER IN UNDER GROUND STREAMS, AS FIRE (HIDDEN) IN WOOD (IS PERCEIVED), SIMILARLY THE ATMAN WITHIN ONESELF IS PERCEIVED, THROUGH TRUTH AND CONCENTRATION. (M 15)

Many illustrations have been given showing that the Truth is already within and, though apparently not visible, can be seen by repeated sadhana. By these illustrations the sadhaka should overcome all depressions and disappointments which he is bound to experience during his sadhana. He should never give up sadhana because the truth is already within, as shown by these many illustrations. SATYENA ENAM TAPASA YO ANUPASHYATI = By him who practices moral and ethical values and who controls the mind and sense organs resulting in concentration and one pointedness of mind, is this Self realized. Further if sadhana is to be successful it is important to practice moral and ethical values and concentration along with sadhana. By concentration or Tapas is meant control of the mind and sense organs to make them extremely one pointed. Further Atman is to be realized within one’s own self and not in anything else outside. So everything else other than Atman has to be transcended. The Atman appears to be covered by the physical sheath, mental and vital sheaths. These sheaths which are mistaken as the Atman are obstructions to the manifestations of the real nature of the Atman and so have to be transcended. He who practices the moral and ethical virtues along with control of mind, sense organs and meditation,alone attains the goal. (end m 15)

THAT WHICH IS THE SOURCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE AND CONCENTRATION AND IN WHICH LIES THE HIGHEST GOOD, THAT ALL PERVADING SELF IS KNOWN, JUST LIKE (KNOWING) THE ALL PERVASIVENESS OF GHEE IN MILK. (M 16)

Whatever exists is He, is shown by the all pervasiveness of the Atman. SARVA VYAPINAM ATMANAM = The Self which is all-pervasive. The emphasis is on the nature of Atman, which is all-pervasive. The sense of all pervasiveness is as in the upanishadic shloka “He shining everything shines after Him” etc. He being there everything is and if He is not, nothing exists. All pervasiveness means His is the only existence and nothing exists apart from Him. In this sense the indivisible Atman pervades the gross, the subtle and the causal personality of the sadhaka and the world. An illustration of this is given. Just as clarified butter (ghee) pervades milk through and through, the Atman pervades every thing. ATMAVIDYA TAPO MOOLAM = The reality which is the source of all merits. The merits of the sadhaka like self knowledge and deep concentration including his Bhakti, Jnana, Vairagya and a life of Tyaga and austerity is indicated by “ATMA VIDYA” and “TAPAS” in the text. Now it is being pointed out that the sole cause or source of these merits of the sadhaka is the indivisible All Pervading Atman and not the sadhaka. In other words Brahman is the background and essence of all these in lila. That being so, the sadhaka should never think that these merits are his own. Such egoistic feelings will bring about his downfall. Knowledge of this metaphysical truth that all merits are His expressions or reflections, will lead to total surrender and knowledge of Brahman. Another interpretation is that for the revelation of Brahman, Atma vidya (self knowledge) and concentration (Tapas) are the causes (moola) or means. In this interpretation sadhana or self effort is being stressed rather than self surrender. Shankara has combined the essence of both interpretations as follows : The sadhaka should make self effort through concentration and self knowledge and should also combine this with self surrender based on the metaphysical truth that all his merits and achievements have Brahman as their source, lest egoistic ideas concerning them cause his downfall. BRAHMA UPANISHAD PARAM = In which lies the highest good. The all pervading Brahman which is the highest good is realized by one who constantly makes effort and not by one who identifies himself with the various sheaths like the food sheath, the mental sheath etc. which are unreal and within limitation. The idea is, the sadhaka who runs after the conveniences and comforts of his body taking it as real will never realize the Truth. Rather he should practice continence, truth (moral virtues), concentration and knowledge constantly transcending the unreal and the limited, being aware of the Real. (End m 16 and chapter 1)

CHAPTER 2

O SAVITA WHEN I COMMENCE TO MEDITATE ON THE SELF, RESTRAIN THE OUT GOING POWER OF MIND AND ORGANS AND CENTRALISE THEIR POWER WITHIN (MY) BODY, TO ATTAIN KNOWLEDGE. (M 1)

In the earlier chapter the force of knowledge and the force of spiritual morality for God realisation were indicated. Now the force of prayer is shown in spiritual life. But prayer also should accord with the nature of reality or the goal. AGNIR JYOTI = The power of the mind and organs to perceive external objects. As long as they function the Self remains hidden, therefore the prayer for their control and going inward so that energy is not dissipated. The sadhaka has understood (through Chapter 1) that Brahman alone is real and all else is illusory or unreal. But when he attempts to bring this Truth in practical life he is confronted with innumerable digressions, thoughts and actions contrary to it. These antithetical currents flow through the mind and organs. They carry him away to the world. What are these currents? They are the cosmic power or Shakti (Savita) expressing itself through mind and organs in the whole world. Today the Shakti of the sadhaka is going outside and is being dissipated, accordingly no concentration takes place. By prayer to the Sun, the symbol of cosmic Shakti, the outgoingness will stop, get centralized and go inside. Savita is the cosmic Shakti, the power of all powers, the Brahman with Shakti, the power even of all the Devatas. NICHAYYA = Centralize all powers and make the personality ingoing which is always outgoing. So before commencement of meditation this prayer to Savita. “Oh, Savita it is your power alone that is expressing through mind and organs and there is no other power besides. So be gracious, restrain the power from dissipating through mind and organs and centralize the power within my body and organs”. For what purpose? TATTWAYA = For knowledge of the Self. Thus by such prayer which is in accordance with nature of reality the vibrations of the mind will be tranquilized and the sadhaka will be anchored in ATMAN and undisturbed meditation will take place. So the prayer is a dedicated surrender to the power of all powers, which will be later shown as Brahman itself. Transcendental intuitive personality will be obtained by prayer and all digressions will stop. The transcendental nature of reality will also dawn in the sadhaka by right prayer. (end m 1)

WITH THE BLESSINGS OF THE DEITY (THE SUN), OUR MINDS JOINED TO THE SUPREME SELF, WE STRIVE THROUGH MEDITATION FOR THAT SUPREME BLISS (OF BRAHMAN) ACCORDING TO OUR ABILITY. (M 2)

Earlier SAT and CHIT aspects were stressed upon, now in this mantra the ANANDA aspect is being stressed in the words SUVARGEYAYA SAKTYA, meaning, let us struggle for the bliss of Brahman. The reason for stressing the Ananda (bliss) aspect of Brahman, is because in the world it is the urge for pleasure or bliss that is the driving force plunging one in worldly activities. But the joy of Brahman is the real joy and worldly joy is a mere shadow, a spark, a mere reflection of that Infinite bliss. So the new point in this mantra is, let us through meditation and by the grace of Savita, strive for that Brahmananda which is the real joy itself, and whose mere sparks are the worldly joys. SUVARGA or heaven here stands for the Supreme Brahman, as it alone is of the nature of absolute bliss and in which all other joys are included. DEVASYA SAVITUH SAVE = With the blessings of the deity Savita, signifies the need for “I” less sadhana for the knowledge of Brahman. (end m 2)

THE MIND AND SENSES WHICH ARE NOW UNITED WITH BRAHMAN AND ARE UNCOVERING HIS EFFULGENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS, MAY THEY BY YOUR COMPASSSION OH SUN, NOT RELAPSE (TOWARDS WORLDLINESS AGAIN). (M 3)

The prayers correspond to the states of evolution of the sadhaka, in the spiritual realm. In the earlier mantra the prayer was for stilling the outgoing mind and sense organs, the sadhaka being at the lowest rung of the spiritual ladder. Accordingly the mind has attained tranquillity. Now the prayer is that they may not relapse into worldly ways again. Because there is every possibility even at this stage to break off and deviate to the world. YUKTVAYA = The illumination that One Reality alone is inside and outside is experienced, and his mind has become tranquil and intuition or SAMYAK DARSHANA is being experienced. The prayer now is for maintaining this state of tranquillity of mind and organs, because at this point there is every possibility of the mind relapsing or going away from the ideal towards the world. Since the mind is subtle now, hidden samskaras surface suddenly and drag the sadhaka away towards Samsara. SUVARYATAH = The mind and senses are now intent on the Supreme Self and not on objects like sound, touch etc. BRIHAD JYOTI DHIYA DIVAM KARISHYATAH = The light, effulgence and consciousness of the Brahman that is great, is being uncovered (by mind and senses). So the prayer to Savita at this stage is, “Oh, Savita my mind and senses are now proceeding towards that Bliss of Brahman through the light of intuition, let them not relapse and proceed again towards sense objects”. Let me not by any chance relapse to the world. Let my sense organs and mind remain tranquil. I am now convinced God alone is True and the world illusory. Let me merge in Him fully. (end m3)

A GREAT PRAISE OF THE DEITY SAVITA IS NEEEDED BY THOSE BRAHMINS WHO UNITE THEIR MIND AND SENSES (WITH THE SELF), SINCE HE IS THE ORDAINER OF ALL RITES, IS EXCEEDINGLY ALL PERVASIVE, IS OMNISCIENT AND HENCE FULL OF WISDOM AND IS NONDUAL. (M 4)

The sadhaka now has evolved further. Earlier he could not conceive Savita as Brahman. He could only feel Savita as the power or Shakti. The prayer now corresponds to a further evolution of the sadhaka, where he can feel Shakti as Chaitanya (Consciousness). So he prays thus, Oh Savita you are the all pervading One without a second reality, and You alone are the Shakti manifesting in all Yagnas (sacrifices). HOTRA VIDADHE = The One itself has become all the powers and the rites in the world (in lila). The sadhaka can now feel Brahman and rites are identical and not two. Oh Savita, you are Para Brahman . The whole world is your manifestation (lila). You are not only the Consciousness and Reality of the world but the power in all the rites, the bestower of the fruits of rites, and you are all the powers of the world in lila. You are the Existence of all existences, the Consciousness of all consciousness and the Power of all powers. The terms VIPRASYA, BRIHATAH and VIPASCITAH meaning, all pervading, great, and omniscient, respectively, express the above idea of Sakthi (Power) now perceived as Brahman. VIPRAH = (Brahmin). Here by Brahmin is indicated the sadhaka who on account of purity is able to feel the Brahma lila consciousness. He is now exhorted to pray very deeply and intensely to the Deity Savita for the absolute intuition so that he may realize the truth of the One appearing as the many (including Power) in lila, and thus fully merge in the ocean of Brahman. The nature of that deity is again elaborated below. VAYUNAVIT = The witness of all knowledge and nondual in nature is that Savita to whom one is exhorted to pray. Thus intense prayer is being stressed by the Shruti, as at this point the sadhaka is coming to understand that Savita, the only reality, is expressing itself as all the rites, and their fruits etc. That is, Consciousness itself is appearing as the whole world. By this prayer right meditation will follow and intuition will develop into perfect knowledge. HOTRA = All powers of the world. The deity is the power of all powers. Through power the sadhaka has to come to CHAITANYA or Consciousness and from consciousness to reality or Brahman. Deep and intense prayer brings about this transformation. So the sadhaka is exhorted to pray now. By prayer he will realize the SHAKTI as the lila or vilasa of Brahman. SAVITA, now is not a material Shakti or power, It is Consciousness or Chaitanya. Power merged in Chaitanya and that in Reality itself. The sadhaka is now able to conceive Shakti as the lila of Brahman. From now on the real meditation or Dhyana will start. Since the sadhaka is realising the power of all powers, the Savita, as the very lila of Brahman; intense prayer is prescribed for its culmination at this psychological point. By this deep prayer the intuition will culminate in Jnana and the sadhaka will be lost in the ocean of Brahman. (end m 4)

O SENSES AND MIND SALUTATIONS BE TO YOU, WHOSE (SOURCE) IS THE (VERY) ETERNAL BRAHMAN WITH WHOM I UNITE. MAY THIS HYMN OF MINE WHO AM ON THE PATH OF THE WISE GO FORTH IN ALL DIRECTIONS. MAY THE SONS OF BRAHMA WHO REIGN OVER HEAVENLY REGIONS HEAR. (M 5)

The final result of ATMA VIDYA TAPO MOOLAM practiced by the sadhaka was the experience of Samadhi. The sadhaka now describes the final stages as it were which brought him to Samadhi and even the state of VYUTHAN the coming down to the relative plane after Samadhi. YUJE VAM BRAHMA PURVYAM NAMOBHIH = Salutations to sense organs and their deities by whose grace I am able to concentrate, and thus attain to right intuitive flash of Brahman. ‘Vam’ refers to mind and organs and PURVYAM to Brahman. Mind and organs means the whole subjective and objective empirical world order. The sadhaka salutes the mind and organs, and their Presiding Deities, since by their attaining to tranquillity, he has successfully been able to intuit the Transcendental Brahmic Consciousness. Had the mind and organs not come under complete control, the flash of Brahmic Consciousness would not have been possible. With that flash of intuitive knowledge, he now feels that the mind and organs viz. the whole empirical subjective and objective phenomena as the manifestation of Brahman in lila. No longer do, mind, senses and the individual remain as separate existences. This illumination dawns because of the complete tranquillity of mind and organs. Therefore the path of tranquility of mind and organs is the path for the ancients and the moderns as well. That is the golden thread by which the sadhaka goes from the beginning of sadhana to the end. Since this sadhaka’s psyche was feelingful (Bhakti) at the begining of sadhana, the flash of intuition of Brahma lila also takes a devotional turn at the time of final plunge in samadhi, and also after samadhi. Accordingly the devotional type sees everything through feeling or Bhakti (the Immanence of God) and this is Advaita Bhakti. However by the same control and tranquillity of mind the Jnani (philosophical) type sees the transcendental aspect of God beyond name and form, where thought and reason is predominant. Thus the Truth of Oneness is realized either through the predominance of knowledge or Bhakti depending on the constitution of the sadhaka. Shankara interpreting YUJE VAM BRAHMA PURVYAM has indicated the above two types. In both cases the control of the mind and organs and their tranquility is fundamental and common. From that controlled and tranquil state alone Samadhi is reached. SRUNAVANTU VISHWE = Oh those who reside in the Universe hear me. Here the state after Samadhi of the sadhaka is described where he feels everything in the world as Divine. He emphatically declares “I have seen in Samadhi that everything is the manifestation (lila) of Brahman; let the world hear this Truth which I have seen in Samadhi”. So up to now the Shruti has shown all the gradual stages from the beginning of Sadhana to Samadhi. In the beginning the sadhaka’s mind and organs were always running outward and restless. Next they attained to tranquility and finally to Samadhi and thence to the Immanence of God or VYUTHAN or coming down from Samadhi to the relative world : a prayerful attitude pervaded the whole process. Prayer in an advanced state itself becomes meditation (DHYANA). NAMOBHIH (salutations to you) indicates this. AMRITASYA PUTRAH = Sons of immortality The sadhaka now realizes the entire human race as divine and addresses them as sons of immortality (Swami Vivekananda elaborated this very mantra and idea at the Parliament of Religions Chicago 1893). ETU PATHI EVA SUREH = I am on the same path as that was trod by the Ancient Rishis. As did all Bhaktas and Jnanis who have merged in God in the past I am also today on the same path, namely the path of complete tranquilization of mind and organs. SHLOKA VI ETU : Let this hymn in the form of prayer of what I have realized, become intense and spread over the whole world. (end m 5)

WHERE FIRE IS KINDLED BY RUBBING, WHERE THE AIR IS RESTRAINED, WHERE SOMA IS DRUNK EXCESSIVELY, THERE THE MIND BECOMES ATTACHED. (M 6)

Prayer to Savita was shown as the fundamental basis of all stages of Sadhana beginning from control of mind and organs to Samadhi and thence to descent or VYUTHAN. The theme of the prayer was thou art the only Reality everywhere. (Not I but Thou as Sri Ramakrishna put it). Thus the essential attitude to be maintained in Sadhana from beginning to end was shown. In this mantra the same thing is put in a negative way, namely, if right attitude is lacking then Samsara or a life of enjoyment will be the result. If there is the right attitude behind all Sadhana then Samadhi or mukti will be gained. Philosophically speaking, if subject-object consciousness (I & mine) remains in Sadhana the result is Bhoga or enjoyment. If subject-object less consciousness or attitude is brought into Sadhana then it leads to Samadhi or Mukti. So the tremendous importance of proper attitude or right consciousness in spiritual life is impressed upon the sadhaka, by condemnation of the attitude based on ignorance. Shankara in the first interpretation of the text shows that the sadhana performed without the right consciousness or attitude will engross the sadhaka in Samsara. This is the effect of performance of work, believing the world to be true as such and with no spiritual consciousness behind the work. The second interpretation shows the effect of right perception or consciousness in Sadhana. These are actually not two interpretations but the two phases of Divine and ignorance consciousness which have different results. AGNI YATRA ABHIMATHYATE = Where by rubbing, fire is produced. Agni (fire) is the Supreme Self because by its knowledge all ignorance is burnt away, just as fire burns all trash. The Brahma lila Consciousness is equated with Agni here. Rubbing signifies the performance of work. This Consciousness or attitude functioning in work becomes the cause for his purification at all stages of sadhana from the lowest to the highest stages of Samadhi. The idea is that Pranayama and Dhyana performed with the above consciousness will result in Samadhi and if performed without such attitude will only improve the bodily health and lead to a life of enjoyment or samsara. Dhyana becomes Dhyana and Pranayama becomes Pranayama only when the right consciousness is behind them, otherwise it is a mere physical and mental exercise. VAYUH YATRA ADHIRUDHYATE = Where the air is restrained. Only by such Pranayama with proper consciousness will the ANAHATA-DHVANI or cosmic sound be heard. In this state of Anahata dhvani the consciousness of all individuals of the world vibrates in the sadhaka’s consciousness. This is the state of undifferentiated consciousness. SOMAH YATRA ATIRICHYATE = Where the sacrifice is unselfish. This indicates all Karma such as SOMA, YAJNA (sacrifices) and DANA (Charity) etc should transcend the limitations of individualism, selfishness and sectarianism etc. Only then will the mind be purified by those Karmas. So purity is not gained by doing much or big works or even by good works but by the right consciousness in work. It also implies that ideal Karma is that which is done with great sincerity and extreme attention to the minutest detail, if purity is to result and lead to Dhyana. Dhyana is not a karma to be done for some hours. It is deepening of the consciousness of “Not I but thou”, so also Japa and Pranayama. For realizing that consciousness one performs Dhyana, Japa, Pranayama, Tapas, Yajna etc. which are not ends in themselves. But all these are to be done with that basic consciousness of the One appearing as these many to realize that very consciousness. (End M 6)

ONE SHOULD WORSHIP THE ETERNAL BRAHMAN AND GET ABSORBED IN HIM ONLY AFTER OBTAINING THE BLESSINGS OF SAVITRA (THE SUN). THUS THE SCRIPTURAL WORK WILL NOT BIND YOU. (M 7)

We have seen that in the last few mantras the idea about Savita was expanding and in this mantra by Savita is implied Brahman itself. The blessings of Savita (SAVITA PRASAVENA) = The idea is one should become aware of the truth that the manifested world of doer, doing, and deed is He himself, and this consciousness should pervade all Karma and perceptions of the sadhaka. However Maya can produce a false attitude whereby a sadhaka thinks: “Well, there is no need of worrying about right consciousness etc, just go on doing work and that is all that is needed”. When the right consciousness is not there, its opposite, the delusive perception of man, woman, as such, and I and mine will be the basis of the sadhaka’s perceptions and actions. The sadhaka will then always seek for bodily comforts, and a life of enjoyment and becomes self centered and thus fall into Samsara. This is a psychological truth and it will and must take place when the imperfect consciousness or attitude remains. This position will lead the sadhaka gradually deeper into samsara or bondage. So the Shruti shows the right attitude by which he will not get bound by the karmas enjoined by the scriptures. SAVITRA PRASAVENA = The right consciousness of Savitra, as the producer of ANNA the world phenomenon. This indicates that right consciousness or perception is to be gained and karma performed accordingly. That right consciousness being the YONI (source) of Samadhi or Mukti, the sadhaka is exhorted by the Shruti to concentrate on that consciousness and become one with it as below. “TATRA YONIM KRINAVASE” = Concentrate and get absorbed in that Brahman. NA HI TE PURTAM AKSHIPAT = Those works enjoined by the scriptures will not create bondage or attachment and lead to Samsara. The Shruti is showing the effect of right consciousness, which is to burn all actions along with their seeds to ashes by knowledge (see Gita Chap 4-37 echoing the same thought). So as a corollary it follows that where the right consciousness does not exist, the opposite namely bondage, attachment, enjoyment etc will follow as a matter of course even though one may do holy works ordained by the scriptures. Thus the mantra is emphasizing the importance of performing work with the right consciousness as opposed to merely performing work taking the world and the work to be true as such. Right consciousness also means right perceptions. e.g. if you perceive a woman as a woman the reactions are different than when you perceive her as manifestation of the Divine; the one leads to bondage and the other to Moksha. (End m7)

THE WISE ONE, HOLDING THE UPPER THREE PARTS OF HIS BODY ERECT, WITHDRAWING THE SENSES INTO THE HEART BY THE MIND, SHOULD CROSS OVER THE FEARFUL TORRENTS (OF RELATIVE EXISTENCE) BY THE RAFT (OF BRAHMAN CONSCIOUSNESS). (M 8)

In the previous mantra sadhaka was exhorted to concentrate on the consciousness that the One Brahman appears as all (the many) in lila. This was to be brought into practical life through Karma Yoga, by bringing the above consciousness in Karma. Now in this mantra in addition to Karma, Dhyana or meditation should also be practiced. This is being told by the Shruti below. TRIRUNNATAM STHAPYA SAMAM SHARIRAM HRIDI INDRIYANI MANASA SANNIVESHYA = Sitting with the head, neck and chest erect and withdrawing the senses by the mind within the heart. Asana or sitting posture helps Dhyana or concentration of mind, because, the physical, psychological and metaphysical aspects of personality are the three phases of the lila of the One Reality. The physical affects the psychological and metaphysical phases of the personality. Therefore sitting straight with the head, neck and chest erect, creates a stability on the physical plane that will ward off Tamas or lethargy on the mental plane. Otherwise if one sits carelessly he may go to sleep rather meditate on God. So the need for sitting erect is stressed. But sitting erect alone is not sufficient, one must be aware that the purpose of sitting erect is for meditating on God; otherwise the sadhaka may pass into LAYA or sleep after some concentration even while sitting erect. For strengthening the conviction of the Brahma Lila consciousness the study of scriptures is an important aid to be practiced in addition to meditation. BRAHMA UDUPENA PRATARETA VIDWAN = With the help of the consciousness of Brahman which is like a float the wise one crosses the ocean of samsara. The next step is the merging of the sense organs in the mind, which implies the stilling or tranquilizing of the mind. This will automatically take place if the sadhaka has the consciousness of Brahma lila established in his heart through Bhakti or Jnana. The Brahma lila consciousness thus becomes the float, or boat for achieving the tranquility of the mind. Where this consciousness is absent it becomes the cause for digressions of the mind. The idea is, the mind and organs come under control easily if the sadhaka has grasped the Brahma lila consciousness, and concentrates on that either directly or through symbols. The Brahmic consciousness can be felt directly by some, but for those who cannot directly conceive the Transcendental Brahman an ALAMBANA or symbol is of great help, Avataras like Christ, Ramakrishna etc are the symbols. But the symbols are not to be meditated upon as such but as representing the very Absolute Brahman, so proper consciousness about the symbol is needed in this method. The sadhaka usually faces innumerable digressions due to lack of concentration. These digressions are offset by meditation on the symbol with the right Brahmic Consciousness and the digressions will naturally subside. Thus the Consciousness of Brahman directly or through symbol becomes the means for concentration and control of the senses and also the means for attaining to Moksha by crossing the river of samsara. BHAYA-VAHANI = The terrible currents of relative existence. Samsara is a terrifying and painful current; this is the meaning. If one is convinced of the painful nature of relative existence, that conviction helps one to crossover to freedom. The cause of the painful relative existence is the absence of Brahma lila consciousness in the sadhaka, and the means of attaining to freedom is the practice of Brahma lila consciousness. So cognizing the world as full of pain takes the sadhaka to freedom (as in the case of the Buddha). (end m8)

One who is duly restrained IN HIS ACTIONS should, having fully CONTROLLED the VITAL FORCES in this body, EXHALE THROUGH the nose when the vital force HAS BECOME POWERLESS. The UNERRING WISE MAN SHOULD HOLD HIS MIND UNDER CONTROL, LIKE (KEEPING UNDER CONTROL) A CHARIOT to which is yoked AN UNRULY HORSE. (M. 9)

On Mantra 9 Shankara has made a long commentary as introduction to this mantra which deals with Pranayama. In these notes only the essential principles have been touched upon. Shankara’s Commentary (Brief extract) follows.
“Pranayama is being presented because the heart of a person whose mental defects have been removed by pranayama becomes fixed in Brahman.”
A description of Pranayama indicating regulated exhaling, inhaling and withholding of breath follows. Then follows a description of the sitting posture or Asana for the performance of Pranayama. After that, mention is made of prayer and worship to Ganesha, then comes the actual performance of Pranayama for the purification of the nerves. Certain definitions of Pranayama and an explanation of how the vital force is brought under control follow this. The Sandhya ritual should also proceed along with Pranayama. The One without a second, Brahman appears as the physical, the psychological and the metaphysical states of the sadhaka. All these states belong to one reality. When physical digressions are tranquilized through Asana and Pranayama, in the psychological plane intuition of the reality becomes possible. This is the rationality behind practice of Pranayama. The objective is to centralize (or concentrate) the Cosmic Shakti (or Prana) in the body, and in the prayer to Savita it was already shown that the power in the body and the power in the cosmos are one and the same manifestation of Brahman. Normally the shakti in the body is dissipated due to lack of tranquillity, and Pranayama helps to stop this and concentrate the Shakti. This same objective is obtained through Bhakti and Jnana as well. But it must be remembered that Pranayama and Asana etc are not the goal of spiritual life but are primary helps to the goal. When Dhyana develops there is no further need of Pranayama. KUSHA ASANA, prayer to Ganesa and moderation:(Sankara’s Commentary): The significance of KUSHA ASANA is to have a reasonably soft seat. If the seat is too hard the mind may digress towards body. The prayer to Ganesa is for the deification of Pranayama. “Let me not die in Pranayama, Oh Lord, but let me attain to its goal.” Otherwise Pranayama will become a mere physical exercise without the spiritual attitude behind. The moderation in food, rest etc as told in the Gita also applies while performing Pranayama. SANDHYA etc (KARMAS) : Shankara’s Commentary : Not only Pranayama but Sandhya etc are also to be done, as also study of scriptures and other sadhanas. PRANAVAM TRYAM ATMAKAM GARGI = O, Gargi OM has three limbs. (Sankara’s Commentary.) Deification of Pranayama is again being stressed. Otherwise it will be a physical feat. The outlook on Pranayama should be spiritualised by relating the three parts of AUM, A.U.M. with the three parts of inhaling, retaining and exhaling. TRAYANAM KARANAM BRAHMA = Thus Pranayama consists of the three. (Shankara’s Commentary) The three states of creation, preservation and destruction which are the lila manifestation of Brahman are equated with Recheka (exhaling), Kumbhaka (retaining) and Puraka (inhaling) respectively; thus stressing the need for deification of Pranayama. The goal is spiritual tranquillity and not mere physical tranquillity. VIDWAN MANAH DHARAYETA = The wise man should control the mind. Shankara’s Commentary: Pranayama is not the goal but the means for controlling the mind, just as a charioteer is the means for controlling the unruly horses of a chariot. (end m 9)

LET CONCENTRATION ON THE SELF BE PRACTICED IN A CLEAN AND LEVEL SPOT, FREE FROM PEBBLES AND DUST, SHELTERD FROM FIRE, WATER (RAIN), NOISE AND WIND, PLEASING TO THE MIND AND EYE AND NOT FREQUENTED SUCH AS A CAVE. (M 10)

In the previous mantra details of the practice of Pranayama with spiritual consciousness were described. In this mantra a suitable place for the practice of Pranayama is delineated to offset any eccentricity in this regard. For example a man may get an idea, that he must sit on a seat of nails or on hard pebbles. Such ideas being digressions and detrimental are to be avoided. A convenient and pleasing location without external disturbances of noise, fire, wind, etc and pleasing to the eye is recommended, so that there are no disturbing reactions on the mind. Neither should one seek comfort nor should one become eccentric in determining the physical environment for sadhana. The main thing is to concentrate the mind on Brahman in a peaceful environment. (end m 10)

VISIONS OF MIST, SMOKE, THE SUN, WIND, FIRE, FIREFLIES, LIGHTNING, CRYSTAL AND THE MOON APPEAR FIRST BEFORE BRAHMAN IS REVEALED IN THE PATH OF YOGA. (M 11)

Certain visions which the sadhaka experiencesces, being the forerunners to the revelation of Brahman in the path of Yoga are being described. Mainly these may take place for those following the path of Pranayama. They are but secondary indications of his progress on the spiritual path. The main thing desired however is the change of character for good whether visions occur or not. Also visions may or may not occur to all. In other paths the Ishta (chosen Ideal) may become more radiant and effulgent. Still in others the nature of God (God Consciousness) will dawn and become even clearer. In ‘Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master’ Swami Saradananda has said that visions alone are not the criterion of progress but the change in one’s character for good is the main indication. The idea is that if one has many visions but no change or transformation in character those visions are as good as useless. The main thing to observe is whether those visions enhance one’s God vision or not. (end m 11)

WHEN THE SUBTLE ESSENCE OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AIR, SPACE BECOME MANIFEST, THEN NO LONGER THERE IS DEATH, NOR DISEASE, NOR OLD AGE FOR THE YOGI WHOSE BODY STANDS (PURIFIED) BY THE FIRE OF YOGA. (M 12)

In this and the next mantra (13) the emanation of subtle powers of the sense organs due to the gross personality becoming subtle, by the practice of yoga are being described. Since the sense organs have become subtle, the powers like smell of the earth are experienced. The whole personality becomes subtle and a good body, relatively free from disease, suitable for sadhana is attained. This shows that the sadhaka has now transcended his gross personality. The sadhaka should not pay attention to these subtle powers, but instead positively concentrate on the goal, the attainment of God, which is his main objective. As explained in the previous mantra the standard of judgment, is the attainment of God consciousness whether subtle powers come or not. Also these subtle powers may not be experienced by sadhakas in all paths, but the important criterion is that the character must change for good in all paths. (end m12)

THE FIRST SIGNS OF ENTERING YOGA THEY SAY ARE LIGHTNESS AND HEALTHINESS OF BODY, NONCOVETOUSNESS, A CLEAR COMPLEXION, A BEAUTIFUL VOICE AND MEAGRENESS OF URINE AND FAECES. (M 13)

In the previous mantra it was mentioned that those commencing the practice of the yoga of Pranayama awaken the subtle powers of the sense organs. In this mantra the effects on the body, such as lightness, health, clearness of complexion etc as the first indications of entering into yoga are mentioned. The Shruti however cautions that Pranayama by itself is not the goal as stated below. YOGA PRAVRITIM PRATHAMAM = The first indications of entering yoga. These are just the beginnings or the preliminary indications for those practicing Pranayama, which is only one of the purification methods. The implication is that one should not consider Pranayama as the goal. One should rather be aware that there are higher stages of sadhana such as Dhyana and Samadhi, which are to be reached. Accordingly at the end of Sankara’s commentary on mantra 7 (Chapter 2) it has been well pointed out that the main aim is concentration and self absorption in Brahman (TATRA YONIM KRINAVASE M7), and for this, the process of purification through Pranayama is one of the means. (end M 13)

JUST AS A GOLDEN DISC COVERED WITH MUD SHINES BRILLIANTLY AFTER SCRUBBING WELL, (SIMILARLY) THE EMBODIED SOUL INTUITING HIS NATURE (AS SELF), BECOMES THE (EFFULGENT) NONDUAL BRAHMAN, FULLFILLED AND FREE FROM SORROW. (M 14)

The sadhaka’s attainment of Samadhi and thence his descent to the relative world (VYUTTHAN) has so far been described. Concluding the topic, a description of that realization which is preceded by the stages of impurity and purity before its final attainment is made explicit in this mantra. A gold disc that is dull at first, when covered with dirt, becomes resplendent and shining after repeated rubbings when the dirt is removed, is an apt illustration for the attainment of Samadhi, from the state of ignorance. By Sadhana, when the impurity of subject-object realism goes, then the real nature of the subject-object-Less Atman shines. Avidya or subject-object realism is the dirt and the Sadhana of Atma Tattvam, Tapas, Pranayama and other auxiliaries removes it. ATMA TATTVAM PRASAMIKSHYA = By reflection and intuition of the nature of Atman. The sadhaka within ignorance feels the subject, ‘I’, and the world, the ‘object’, as two real distinct entities and deals with them accordingly and that is the impurity. However by intuiting the nature of the Atman which is of a subject-object-less nature, which is synonymous to the process of purification in the illustration, he attains to the nondual subject-object less perception, the goal. VITA SHOKO BHAVATI = Becomes free from all sorrows. Purification means the illumination of subject object realism. To the extent one feels the unreality of the world, to that extent one is pure in the spiritual realm. The sadhaka realizing the nondual nature (subject-object-less nature) of the Atman becomes fully satisfied and free from all sorrows, because the world of subject-object perception is the cause of all sorrows and misery in life. In conclusion it can be said that Absolute purification is Absolute realization. (end of m 14)

WHEN THE YOGI REALISES THE IDENTITY OF HIS REALITY THE SELF, WITH BRAHMAN WHICH IS BIRTHLESS, UNCHANGING AND UNTOUCHED BY EFFECTS (CREATED BY) OF IGNORANCE AND WHICH REALIZATION IS COMPARABLE TO (THE NATURE) OF A LAMP, (THEN) KNOWING THE DEITY HE IS FREED FROM ALL FETTERS. (M 15)

The state of realization or Samadhi experience has two phases. We may call the phase of purification by knowledge, as the negative phase as described in mantra 14. Here in mantra 15 the positive phase is told. This refers to the absolute identity of the sadhaka with Brahman transcendentally. What happens when the sadhaka is absolutely purified by knowledge? The answer is he simultaneously realizes his identity with Brahman. For this an analogy, the luminosity of a lamp, is cited. Luminosity is the very nature of the lamp. That is, the lamp and its luminosity are identical. So the universe and the sadhaka (the luminosity of Brahman) are identical with Brahman (the Lamp). Luminosity is one with the lamp, so also Brahman and its power are one and that is being illustrated by the analogy of the lamp. Further identity of the sadhaka and Brahman is not attained but is their very nature: an eternal fact only cognized in Samadhi. By absolute purification all differences vanish, and the one Existence alone shines. Absolute purification is therefore absolute realization. Pure mind and pure Atma are one and the same. So the realization dawns in the sadhaka in samadhi that he was never different from Brahman at any time. Just as the lamp and its luminosity were never different, so also Brahman and the sadhaka (jiva) were never different and there was never a sadhaka really. This is what Sri Ramakrishna meant by Shuddha (pure) mind and Shuddha Atma is one and the same, the obverse and reverse of the same coin. In mantra 14, Shuddha mind is shown and in mantra 15, Sudha Atma is depicted. In the last two lines of the mantra the real nature of the sadhaka as birthless, unchanging and untouched by anything is shown and when he realizes this, his real nature, he becomes free of all sorrow and bondage. Samadhi means transformation or change of the sadhaka’s consciousness, leading to identity of the sadhaka and Brahman. This identity is not achieved or attained, but was always there and only becomes revealed to the sadhaka. (end m 15)

THIS VERY DEITY IS ALL THE DIRECTIONS AND THE INTERMEDIATES AS WELL. HE WAS THE FIRST BORN. HE IS IN THE WOMB, HE IT IS THAT IS BORN AND HE THAT WHICH SHALL BE BORN. HE EXISTS IN ALL BEINGS WITH HIS FACES EVERYWHERE. (M 16)

In SHRINAVANTU VISVE (M 5) a description of the sadhaka’s coming down to the relative plane (VYUTTHAN or descent), from the plane of samadhi was told. In this mantra it is made explicit by a description of the relative world, which is now perceived as the absolute by the sadhaka. The sadhaka now sees the world in a different way. Earlier in the state of ignorance he was experiencing ‘I am’, ‘there is a river’, ‘a mountain’ ‘my wife’ etc., all separate from him. But now he sees all relative things of the world as that very Brahman itself. This is the real vision, which the sage attains to; the Brahma lila Consciousness that becomes a fact in his life after Samadhi. He sees the gross world of individuals and the cosmic subtle world as all the lila of Brahman. SA EVA JATA = He alone is born. We say that a person is born but the realized soul sees that as the lila of Brahman. So also all happenings of the world he sees as Brahma lila whereas we see them as such. We see an earthquake as a physical disaster or happening, but he sees it as the lila manifestation of Brahman. So from these statements of the Shruti we should develop implicit faith in the Truth of Brahma lila which is an actual experience and vision of the realized soul. Initially “All is Brahman” formed the background of his sadhana. This has now become a fact in his life. In this mantra the sadhaka is giving a detailed description of his experience of this very world after attaining to Samadhi. The birth of individuals in the past, present and the future (the cycle of birth and death) is now perceived as Brahma lila. So also everything that is perceived by human consciousness is seen as Brahma lila. The Truth has become a fact in his life and this is called Samyakdarshana. (End m 16)

HE WHO IS IN FIRE, IN WATER, WHO HAS ENTERED THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE (HIS CREATION), AND HE WHO IS IN THE PLANTS AND THE TREES, SALUTATIONS TO THAT DEITY AGAIN AND AGAIN. (M 17)

The description of his vision after he descends to the relative world from Samadhi is continued in this mantra, where he sees the relative as the Absolute. The emphasis earlier was on salutation as an auxiliary to sadhana. Now the salutation is after attaining the goal. Salutation or adoration is an expression of Bhakti and faith in the existence of the reality and the importance of these two for realization is being stressed. No dualistic salutation is however meant here, but a salutation in which the saluter, the saluted and the salutation, all three are the one Brahman. The importance of salutaton is being emphasized by one who has realized the highest truth, so that all sadhakas may be convinced of the need of that. This God-man points out that the same God who is in the fire, water, and pervades the whole world, is in the plants and also in the big trees, in sum and substance, everywhere. He salutes such a God again and again, showing thereby that there is nothing other than God anywhere including himself and his salutations. The repeated salutations express his deep experience of the truth of ‘Not I but Thou and Thou alone’. This is Advaita Bhakti. The sadhaka should realize that these are not intellectual speculations but direct realizations of Truth and thereby develop firm faith in the teachings of the Shruti. YOH VISHVAM BHUVANAM AAVIVESHA = Who has entered the whole world projected by Him. When the universe is perceived as the lila of Brahman, His entering into it and sustaining it is all perceived as His lila. Thus even though salutations express Advaita Bhakti of the sadhaka, the whole background of sadhana is perfect Jnana; since lila means there is no universe apart from Brahman anywhere. (End m 17)

CHAPTER 3

THE UNCHANGEABLE ONE WHOSE IS THE NET (OF MAYA), IS (ALSO) THE CONTROLLER AND THE LAWS OF CONTROL. HE, IT IS THAT CONTROLS ALL THE WORLDS WITH HIS LAWS OF CONTROL, WHEN THEY COME INTO BEING AND DURING THEIR CONTINUANCE. THEY WHO KNOW THIS TRUTH BECOME IMMORTAL. (M 1)

The description of Brahma lila Consciousness is continued in this mantra. We observe in the world the phenomenon of control and controlled. An officer controls the subordinate, father the son, and so on in society. In the physical world the suns are controlling the planets, millions of objects are rotating at enormous speeds but without colliding against each other through certain laws of control. The planets are revolving perfectly through laws such as gravitation which exercise the control over them and keep them in perfect orbit. Thoughts control and hands work according to the thoughts within. This duality of control and controlled existing everywhere is His Lila. This the Shruti wants to illumine through this mantra. YAH EKO JAALAWAN ISHANIBHIH = The One nondual being Himself is the net of maya and the control and controlled are His divine powers (in lila). He is the controller, the controlled, and the control in lila. So all this duality of controlling and controlled is His lila. He himself lets himself be caught in the net of control and controlled and gets bound. The whole phenomenon of control and the bondage of all beings are his lila. He is both the efficient and material cause of this phenomenon. A wife controls the husband or vice versa but it is He who has become the force of control there as also the wife and husband. None can escape his net, because He has become the net and all those bound. So He is called the Jalavan, the possessor of the net. Not only does Brahman get caught in the net of maya and become bound, but it is Brahman alone who cuts his own net and gets out of it. None else does that. It is again He who controls all laws of destruction and construction and is the co-ordinator everywhere. The main point of emphasis is that even though all this is seeming to take place, involving wives and husbands, suns and planets etc., there is no sadhaka, wife, sun nor husband there except the One Brahman. Nothing in reality takes place as it is all the appearance of Brahman. In the world, the phenomenon of controller and controlled creates a sense of realism of the world. To remove that deep realism this mantra illumines the phenomenon of control and controlled as the mere appearance of Brahman or its Lila. (End m 1)

NONE ELSE BUT HE THE ONE RUDRA, CONTROLS THESE WORLDS WITH HIS OWN POWERS,AND BEING INFINITE, THERE IS NO SECOND (RULER). HE RESIDES IN ALL BEINGS, MANIFESTING THE WORLDS, BECOMES THEIR PROTECTOR AND AT THE END WITHDRAWS THEM DURING DISSOLUTION. (M 2)

The emphasis in this mantra is to show that there is no actuality in lila or appearance, since a poetic tendency in the world looks upon creation as real, leading to disastrous consequences. EKO HI RUDRA = The one Deity Rudra alone (exists) indeed. Being infinite and nondual, nothing other than Him can exist. Since it is so, there is no real existence of rivers, mountains etc. because He alone is everywhere and there is no other to Him. Thereby the poetic tendency attributing realism to the world is removed. So also there is no actual bondage like one being caught in a net, for the same reason. The rulership of the Lord (ISHATE) is also lila or appearance. This is the Consciousness with which the perfected souls see the universe and all its happenings, its laws of control etc. SANCHUKOCHA ANTAKALE = Withdraws at the time of dissolution. Dissolution is also His lila. It is as if a drama has come to an end. A person lives about 70 years and dies. There is nothing actual in that as it is a mere appearance of Brahman. This is going on eternally. The Lord himself appears as both the efficient and material cause of the universe in lila. (End m 2)

THE ONE DEITY HAS HIS EYES, HIS FACE , HIS ARMS AND FEET EVERYWHERE. IT IS HE WHO INSTILLS FLIGHT IN BIRDS AND MOVEMENT IN HUMANS WHILE PROJECTING HEAVEN AND EARTH. (M 3)

How does the perfect man see this very world after coming down from the plane of samadhi is the topic being delineated. SARVAM KHALVIDAM BRAHMA = The One without a second reality experienced in samadhi is the very reality of all things, happenings and laws etc of this world in all its phases, in lila. This is the experience of the perfect man. He sees the Relative as the Absolute. In this mantra it is shown that the will, the urge in the sense organs, to see, to hear, to smell and to touch is also the lila of Brahman. The will and the urge in the organs to see, hear and touch do not belong to the organs or to the individual but to Brahman; this is the idea. So also the urge causing movement in the hands and legs of humans, and the urge in birds to fly is the lila power of Brahman and not that of the hands or wings themselves. We out of ignorance think ‘my will’, ‘my power’, ‘I see’, ‘I hear’, ‘I walk’, etc. But the fact is all is His apparent manifestation. He willing, everything moves including the sun, moon, mind and organs. This shows that things are not real in themselves as they appear to be, but are the lila expressions of Brahman. DHAMATI = Energizes. The idea is that wherever in the world seeing, walking, flying, thinking etc, is taking place, it is all He, (The Brahman) appearing like that. The will and energy seen in the world behind all phenomena is He appearing in lila, including the physical, psychological and the vital aspects of personality. (End m 3)

MAY THAT ONE RUDRA WHO IS THE SOURCE AND POWERS EVEN OF GODS, WHO PROJECTED HIRANYAGARBHA IN THE BEGINING, WHO IS THE GREAT SEER AND PROTECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE, ENDOW US WITH RIGHT INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING. (M 4)

WHO IS THE SOURCE AND POWERS ... AND PROTECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE = The God to whom he prays is the Supreme Being the reality of everything, including the sadhaka. None exists beyond His purview, because He is one without a second and nondual. So far the Shruti showed in all phases of the world, the very Brahman as the reality. With this illumination which has gone deep into his heart the sadhaka understands fully that ‘I’ and ‘Mine’, ‘the world’ and ‘individuality’ are mere appearances. Also that his individuality cannot reach the Truth. Accordingly he has come to the understanding that complete surrender and prayer at the feet of Reality is the only way left now. This is the after effect of the illumination by the preceding mantras, describing the perfect vision after samadhi of the realized soul. Prayer and surrender to the Reality is based on the above knowledge of the Shruti and not on mere emotion. For Moksha, intuitive experience or knowledge is required which the sadhaka desires intensely now. So to whom will he pray for that? To that Deva (Lord) who is the very source of the Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Isvara and who is the power of all Devatas and without whom nothing can exist. The idea is that since He is the only source and Reality of all these, He is also the cosmic person to be prayed to. So this prayer is to the God of gods for granting the proper Buddhi or Psyche through which one will realize the Transcendent-Immanent one without a second Reality. Without this Buddhi how can one realize? So the Shruti is showing that one should attain to the proper Buddhi or Psyche, knowing one’s individuality to be a zero. For that, prayer or appeal is extremely necessary. The prayer is for actualizing the Truth of Brahma Lila described by the perfect man after attaining to samadhi. The prayer shows the intense agony of heart due to lack of capacity within the sadhaka and his great thirst for realizing the Truth, the truth of ‘Not I, but Thou’ practised for a long time. It implies that all sadhakas need to make a comparable effort to achieve this result along with prayer. (End m 4)

O RUDRA THROUGH THY BENIGN PLEASING SINLESS AND CALM FORM THAT IS REALLY YOURS, O GIRISHANTA PLEASE LOOK AT US. (M 5)

In the previous mantra the sadhaka prayed for that intuition or Buddhi through which the real nature of Brahman may flash in him. But intuition is only the means and has to ripen into realization. In this mantra therefore the prayer is ‘Let my intuition mature into direct realization.’ Absolute realization means going beyond the phenomenal world perception, which is full of the differences of man, woman, the dualities created by name and form. It implies seeing the reality beyond name and form; beyond the realm of subject and object. YA TE RUDRA SIVA TANU AGHORA APAAPAKASHINI = Oh Rudra, I pray for thy Transcendental, real, pleasing form (nature) and not your terrible Mayic form, which is the world full of incongruities.The Maya roopa or form is terrible. But that O Lord is not your real nature. Maya roopa refers to perceiving the world of man and woman and things as such, which brings terrible reactions in its wake and is the cause of all misery. The moment one sees oneself as separate from another and different from him that very moment misery has already commenced because the Truth of Oneness or unity is violated. This is the subject-object consciousness or ignorance in which ordinary men live and pass their whole lives. But that through which Moksha or Liberation is attained is the subject-object-less consciousness. In that lies all freedom, all auspiciousness, all fearlessness and peace. But in the other are fear, bondage, misery and suffering. So the sadhaka prays for the revelation of the subject-object-less form of the Lord. He prays for that form of the Lord beyond name and form, because the empirical vision of name and form is creating many fears, miseries and sufferings. The prayer is for Advaita knowledge in the language of Bhakti. The theme of the Upanishad, it must be remembered is Advaita Bhakti. ABHICAKASIHI = Look at me, wearing your real form. ‘Until I experience your Absolute subject-object-less nature I will not be able to see God in everything or everything as the lila of God’. The idea is that first one has to realize that Advaita Brahma Consciousness beyond name and form and only after that one can perceive the real immanence of God in the world. For this, Vairagya for the world as such is the first step. The sadhaka’s desire to perceive the reality beyond the phenomenal world shows his intense vairagya for the world. Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching “First tie the knot of Advaita in your cloth and then do whatever you like”, is echoing the above truth of this Upanishad. Such simple sayings of Sri Ramakrishna establish the deep and profound truths of the Vedas and since he arrived at the truth without reference to the Vedas, it is said that he came as almost illiterate in order to establish the truth of the Vedas in this age. (End m 5)

O GIRISHANTA THE ARROW WHICH YOU HOLD FOR THROWING, MAKE THAT (ABSOLUTELY) PURE, LEST YOU INJURE ANY PERSON (OF OURS) AND THIS WORLD. (M 6)

Brahman is not only Nirguna (without qualities) but is also Saguna (with qualities). What is Nirguna appears as Saguna. It is not that there are two separate realities. There is only one. To remove the antithesis between Nirguna and Saguna this mantra is commenced. That which is Nirguna is Saguna in lila. This is the perfect Brahma Jnana or Mukti. Only Nirguna realization is a partial realization because the Saguna (the phenomenal world) remains unexplained in such a realization. Sri Ramakrishna taught this very truth to Totapuri, his guru, in recent times. Totapuri had achieved the realization of Brahman as Nirguna only (partial truth) and therefore denied the appearance of Brahman in Saguna form. Later coming in touch with Sri Ramakrishna he realised the complete truth, that Brahman the Nirguna is Saguna in lila. That which is Brahman is the Avatara and Jagat in lila. The formless is with form in lila. MA HIMSIH PURUSHAM JAGAT = Do not injure this phenomenal world. In mantra 4 the Shruti revealed the Nitya Brahman or Nirguna aspect of Brahman. In this mantra the prayer is for right intuition or right perception of the lila Brahman (the Saguna) to make the realization complete or whole as this is real Mukti. The prayer is, ‘If you do not show me the truth about your lila aspect, then you will kill me or injure me and the world by throwing the arrow of incorrect perception of the world at me due to which I will perceive the world as such and not as immanence of the Divine.’ SIVAM GIRITRA TAM KURU = Oh Lord, make that Arrow of perception transcendent and immanent. The prayer is for that intuition or perception by which he can see the whole world as Brahma lila. Since the sadhaka in mantra 4 prayed for the Nirguna aspect of Brahman by negating the world of phenomena, the truth about the world of phenomena remains still a mystery to him. So the prayer is for complete realization whereby he will realize the noumenon (Nirguna) itself to be the phenomenon (Saguna). Further it is to be understood that without realizing the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the Nirguna aspect first, the lila aspect of Brahman cannot be perfectly realized. The sequence of mantras 4 & 5 illustrates this point. So complete Brahma Jnana is only possible when both aspects are realized by the sadhaka. This is the perfect state where the sadhaka perceives the entire world of phenomena as the very divine after descending from the plane of Samadhi. Sri Ramakrishna explained this through a beautiful simile. A person negates the steps of a staircase while ascending the roof, and while descending observes the steps to be made of the same material as the roof, showing thereby that the noumenon (the roof) and the phenomenon (the stairs) are one and the same reality. (end M6)

THEY BECOME IMMORTAL BY KNOWING HIM WHO IS BEYOND THE UNIVERSE (THE GROSS) AND BEYOND HIRANYAGARBHA (THE SUBTLE) AND (YET) WHO IS GREAT BECAUSE OF PERVADING THE UNIVERSE AND BEING THE ONE HIDDEN REALITY OF ALL FORMS AND SHAPES. (M 7)

Prayer for right intuitive understanding of the two aspects of Brahman, the Nitya and the Lila (the Absolute and Relative) was the content of the mantras 5 & 6. But emotional prayer is not enough to sustain one till the goal is reached. The truth of “SARVAM KHALU IDAM BRAHMA” (Whatever exists is God) has to be rationally and convincingly understood. For instance that the sadhaka himself has no existence apart from Brahman is not apparent to the sadhaka. The Shruti in this mantra aims to bring about a rational conviction of what the sadhaka is seeking through prayer. A rational explanation of the nature of Brahman and the universe through the philosophy of cause and effect is put forth before the sadhaka. The idea is to solidify the understanding of the sadhaka attained through prayer, by knowledge, as the basic understanding of the Truth has to be very adamantine for sustaining the sadhaka in his spiritual path. Otherwise regress is possible. AMRITA BHAVANTI = The sadhaka becomes immortal (freed from all fetters) by knowing that Supreme Lord (the ISHAM), who is (TATAH PARAM) beyond the universe, meaning that He the Brahman is Transcendent over the universe, being its Transcendental cause. Therefore the universe and individuals are Brahman’s effect and that the effect is the cause itself in another form is a rational observation. By thinking deeply on this philosophical truth one will realize that in reality the universe is nothing but Brahman itself the cause and has no separate existence. The rational understanding and conviction that there is no universe apart from Brahman is a fundamental prerequisite for the success of sadhana. The Shruti brings about this understanding and conviction in this mantra and solidifies the understanding attained through earlier prayer. The Shruti explains this in “BRAHMA PARAM BRIHANTAM.” Brahma param means Brahman is Transcendent over Hiranyagarbha, the universe which is its effect. Brihantam means, it is great because it pervades all its effects being their cause. VISHVASYA EKAM PARIVESHTITARAM = He the One pervades the whole universe. Since Brahman the cause pervades the whole universe its effect, it itself is the effect known as the universe. Just as the desert is itself the mirage its effect, which it pervades. The mirage and desert are identical. Similarly Brahman and the universe are identical. This is the sense of all pervasiveness. GUDHAM means it lies hidden within as the reality of the infinite variety of forms. When name and form creating the illusion of variety goes, the One Reality alone remains. From these rational statements of the Shruti, the sadhaka is to be fully convinced that there is no universe apart from the Transcendent Immanent One without a second Brahman. Thus the conviction attained through prayer is reinforced by the knowledge of cause and effect. This reinforcement by knowledge here is synonymous to the MANANA and NIDIDHYASANA aspects of sadhana. The triple sadhana being SHRAVANA, MANANA and NIDIDHYASANA. Hearing, reflecting and meditating are the three phases in the realization of Brahman according to Vedanta. (End m 7.)

I HAVE REALISED THIS GREAT BEING WHO IS EFFULGENT LIKE THE SUN AND BEYOND ALL DARKNESS. KNOWING HIM ALONE ONE TRANSCENDS DEATH AND THERE EXISTS NO OTHER WAY. (M 8)

The conviction of Brahman-Lila consciousness or the consciousness of the One appearing as the many was reinforced by knowledge in the previous mantra. The same conviction is being reinforced in this mantra through the authoritative statement of one who has realized the above Truth. His realization and declaration is the authority for all to be convinced that the truth is as stated by the Shruti in the earlier mantras. ADITYA VARNAM = Self Luminous like the sun. He the Brahman is itself the subject and itself the object and thus He is the subject-object-less reality beyond ignorance. Ignorance means attributing realism to the subject and object as two separate real entities. TAMASAH PARASTAT = Beyond darkness. So long as a person dwells within the realm of subject-object consciousness that person is said to dwell in darkness because the Truth is hidden from him. The Truth being subject-object-less in nature is said to be beyond darkness, which is characterized by the realism of subject and object. NA ANYAH PANTHA VIDYATE AYANAYA = There is no other way or path than this. The idea is that all paths such as Karma; Bhakti, Jnana, Yoga etc become paths only if the Brahma lila consciousness functions in them. Therefore this Brahma lila consciousness is said to be the only path. The idea is that forms of sadhana may differ but the consciousness behind them is only one. This is the authoritative statement of the rishi after Realization. Therefore sadhana is all a question of consciousness or attitude. (End m 8)

THERE IS NONE SUPERIOR OR INFERIOR TO HIM, NONE LARGER OR SMALLER THAN HIM, IMMOVABLE LIKE A TREE AND FILLING THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE THE ONE INFINITE RESIDES IN HIS OWN GLORY. ( M 9)

At the end of mantra 8 it was said that by knowing Him alone one transcends death, and there is no other way than this. The significance of this is clarified in this mantra. YASMAT PARAM NA APARAM ASTI KINCHIT YASMAT NA ANIYO NA JYAYO ASTI KASCHIT = There is none superior or inferior to Him, none larger or smaller than Him. In Brahman, which is the goal, there is no subject and object. It is SVAYAM, meaning it itself is the subject and the object. There is no other to Him. By showing that there is no superior or inferior, greater or smaller in Brahman, the infinite nature of Brahman is being pointed out. VRIKSHA IVA STABDHO DIVI TISHTHATI EKAH TENEDAM PURUSHENA SARVAM = Like a tree immovable He stands alone filling the entire universe. This implies that there is nothing like a universe separate from Brahman, since all that exists is Brahman and Brahman alone. Philosophically speaking the effect is the cause in another form and so the universe being an effect disappears into its cause, the Brahman. This is spiritual reason, which indicates that there can be no universe separate from Brahman. Whatever exists is Brahman and Brahman alone. Just as a tree stands unmoving so is Brahman unmoving and unchangeable and the universe of change is merely apparent. Brahman stands in its own glory being the one without a second Transcendent and Immanent reality having no other to it. It has been said earlier that there is no other way than this to reach Brahman. It is so because Brahman being the only Reality nothing other than it can exist. And whatever else is seen to exist can only be mere appearance. It is only by bringing this consciousness in sadhana that Brahman can be reached. Contrarily if anything other than Brahman is imagined to exist like the “world” or the “individual” and then sadhana is performed, one will not be able to reach the goal; this is the idea. Here a question crops up, how then do the scriptures speak of four paths of Jnana, Karma, Bhakti and Yoga? The answer is that the forms or paths may be many but the consciousness underlying all of them is one and the same. The consciousness in the means (the paths) must correspond to the nature of the goal if the paths are to take one to the goal; this is the great idea being conveyed. (End m 9)

THAT HIGHEST STATE COMPARED TO THE WORLDLY STATE IS FORMLESS AND FREE FROM MISERY, THOSE WHO KNOW THIS BECOME IMMORTAL, WHILE THE REST GET ONLY MISERY. (M 10)

Reinforcement of conviction is very necessary and is continued in this mantra. One has to constantly remember the nature of the goal which is subject-object-less. On the other hand if one accepts the world of subject and object as true and does sadhana then samsara will be the result and not Moksha; this is the idea. That is, if one runs after name and fame, or seeks one’s personal interests while doing sadhana, and is attached to kith and kin, then it will become a sadhana performed with subject-object realism with no correspondence with the nature of the goal. The Shruti shows the contrast of results of sadhana performed with these two different attitudes and exhorts the sadhaka to follow the right attitude. Brahman’s nature being Absolute Transcendence, beyond all cause and effect, formless, beyond the realm of misery, this is the consciousness which will give Immortality or Moksha. Alternatively all other consciousness within the realm of subject-object realism like my father, my name, my wealth etc. will lead only to sorrow and misery. It is for bliss or ananda that man runs after this world. But the Shruti shows the real happiness or bliss lies in man’s own transcendent nature. Instead of seeking for that Immortal Bliss he seeks temporal sense pleasures and gratification which only bring more misery in their train. The sadhaka should therefore totally renounce all worldly drags and struggle for Immortal Bliss. By feeling the contrast of the results obtained by these different attitudes the sadhaka’s unconscious drags to the world, lurking within will get destroyed leading to a deeper absorption (NIDIDHYASANA) in God. The sadhaka should seek for bliss in that Transcendent world and not in this world. Give up this world completely without a lingering longing look behind is the message being conveyed. (End m 10)

HE THE LORD IS ALL THE FACES, HEADS AND NECKS AND RESIDES IN THE INTELLECT OF ALL BEINGS, HE IS ALL-PERVASIVE, AND HE IS THE GREATNESS AND POWER IN BEINGS AND HENCE THE OMNIPRESENT SHIVA. (M 11)

Brahman is the inherent reality of the sadhaka and the world, and hence in reality there is no sadhaka and world as such anywhere excepting Brahman. This being a fact, if one does sadhana with the above conviction corresponding to the nature of reality, the Truth must flash in him. The false consciousness, which attributes realism to ‘I’ and ‘the world’, is the obstruction. That has to be removed by transforming one’s consciousness by bringing in the Brahma lila consciousness in sadhana. For bringing this right consciousness the Shruti enlightens the sadhaka by showing that, all faces, all heads, all necks in the entire world are all His. It is He who dwells as the intellect in all. Further he pervades the entire universe. This is the ‘SARVAM KHALU IDAM BRAHMA’ consciousness, which the sadhaka has to bring into his life by transforming his present consciousness of world realism, which is opposed to it. SA BHAGAVAN TASMAT SARVAGATA SHIVA = It is the Lord who expresses himself as all powers and virtues in beings and therefore is the omnipresent Siva. The idea being conveyed is that wherever power or greatness is manifested in individuals or even in nations, it is the lila expression of Bhagavan and not those of the individuals or nations. We out of ignorance say Napoleon’s power or the power of a Nation not knowing that it is God Himself manifesting as that power. Ignorance of this, makes man run after power, name and fame in the world, not knowing that they belong to God. Sri Ramakrishna said in this connection that wherever greatness is seen in individuals it is the power of God manifested in the form of greatness there.
Observing their own vairagya and other spiritual achievements a sense of self achievement or pride can delude sadhakas proceeding towards the goal and hence this illumination in this mantra. God is not only all faces, hands, necks etc of all individuals of the world but He is also their name, fame, glory and power. Therefore everything is Brahma-lila. This mantra focuses the consciousness on Brahma Lila, which goes undetected in moments of elation, rapture, achievements etc usually attributed to one’s own self. (End m 11)

THE INFINITE LORD INDEED IS THE PROPELLER OF MIND TOWARDS THE SUPREME TRANSCENDENTAL ATTAINMENT. HE THE IMPERISHABLE IS (ALSO) THE RULER AND THE LIGHT (OF THAT ATTAINMENT). (M 12)

The conviction that everything taking place in the sadhaka’s secular and spiritual life is the lila of Brahman, is an essential necessity. Ordinarily all these are viewed as expressions of the individuality. The Shruti is making the sadhaka conscious that they in reality pertain to Brahman and not to the sadhaka. In this mantra the urge to merge in Brahman, in the sadhaka as he advances in the spiritual realm, is shown as the lila of Brahman and that it does not pertain to the sadhaka. SUNIRMALAM IMAM PRAPTIM = For the attainment of the transcendental perception, the impulsion is from Brahman and not from the sadhaka. This subtle truth is pointed now at the appropriate time of the sadhaka’s evolution as he has attained to a deep conviction of the Truth of the Oneness of Existence, his mind having become subtle. The general principle followed by the Shruti is to reveal the Truth corresponding to the level of evolution attained by the sadhaka. The sadhaka can now feel that his intuition and urge to merge in Brahman are the lila of Brahman and not his. The sadhaka will no longer be able to perpetuate his individuality. SUNIRMALAM PRAPTIM = Supremely pure (transcendental) attainment. Here the purity of subject-object-lessness is meant, The idea is that the sadhaka’s mind is powerfully drawn as it were into the transcendental realm of Brahman from the empirical consciousness. This urge of being drawn is shown as the lila of Brahman. The idea is that Brahman itself manifests as intuition, since the sadhaka’s ‘I’ has ceased to exist because of illumination. We have to understand from this that sadhana has to become absolutely ‘I’less. We may say that the sadhaka’s faith and conviction in ‘Not I but Thou’ is becoming absolute as his ‘I’ is vanishing completely as it were. ISHANAH JYOTI AVYAYAH = He the imperishable is the ruler and the light behind this supreme attainment of the sadhaka. The idea is it is all the lila of Brahman, as the sadhaka has no existence in the state of realization. (End m 12)

THE PURUSHA, AS THE INDWELLING SELF IS EVER SEATED IN THE HEARTS OF MEN OF THE SIZE OF A THUMB (THE PSYCHIC BEING). HE THE LORD OF INTUITION REVEALS (HIMSELF) IN THAT TRANSCENDENTAL MIND (WHICH IS HE). THOSE WHO KNOW THIS BECOME IMMORTAL. (M 13)

The urge in the sadhaka for merging (the prerana), to be one with Brahman was shown as the lila of Brahman in mantra 12. In this mantra the psyche (its locus and form) where that ‘urge’ takes place is shown as Brahma-lila. By ‘HRIDAYE’ this transcendental psyche within is referred to and devotionally stated to be lying ‘deep within one’s heart’. The experience of ‘ALL IS BRAHMAN’ does not take place in the sky, but within one’s being, the Hridaya. That being is not a separate reality from Brahman, but is Brahman itself in lila and this the mantra aims to show. This Hridaya is further described in the text as follows: ANGUSHTHA MATRAH PURUSHAH ANTARATMA SADA JANANAM HRIDAYE SANNIVISHTA = The Purusha of the size of the thumb ever resides in the hearts of men. The idea is, the psychic being where God is felt, is deep in the heart where He is ever residing. This implies that the psychic being is God Himself in lila and this is the point of emphasis here. The size of a thumb is from the physiological point of view only and has reference to the size of the cave of the heart where He resides and is not to be taken literally. The indwelling Purusha is ever seated within all; this means that it is not left to the choice of men, to have Him or not to have Him. Further it is the locus where the urge to merge in Brahman functions and is described as the Purusha or Brahman in lila. When the mind of the sadhaka becomes subject-object-less (transcendental) it becomes identical with the Purusha. In that enlightened mind knowledge is possible. Thus the subject-object-less state of mind of the sadhaka is called HRIDA and becomes the intuition for the revelation of Brahman. The feeling or communion of the sadhaka with Brahman is not to be felt dualistically but transcendentally. It means the sadhaka, his feeling of communion with Brahman are all the lila of One Reality. However before he is fully established in the subject-object-less state, the ‘I’ of the sadhaka may persist in a subtle form. Due to that the realization takes the form ‘I am one with Brahman’. This is still a mental modification (vritti) and not the perfect realization of Brahman. The perfect realization occurs when the VRITTI becomes the DIPTI (illumination), where no longer the I remains. The sadhaka by the illumination in the first two lines of the mantra becomes aware of this subtle ‘I’ lurking in his realization, and attains to the perfect Dipti realization by transcending this subtle ‘I’ as indicated in the second two lines. HRIDA MANVISHA MANASA = The subject-object-less mind is referred to by HRIDA MANASA, where the intuition of Brahman takes place. MANVISHA = The Lord is the Ruler or Prabhu of that knowledge or intuition (and not the sadhaka) indicating the need of ‘I’-less sadhana. The idea is that intuition; knowledge and realization are all the manifestations of Brahman, the individual having absolutely nothing to do but to get out of the scene at every stage. Everything is Brahman in lila; this is the theme. ABHIKRLIPTA = He the Brahman is Revealed in that subject-object-less intuition. YAH ETAT VIDUH AMRITA TE BHAVANTI = Only the DIPTI realization as above leads to perfect Immortality. (End m 3).

THE PURUSHA HAS THOUSAND HEADS, THOUSAND EYES AND THOUSAND FEET. PERVADING THE UNIVERSE IN AND OUT HE REMAINS TRANSCENDENT OVER IT BY TEN FINGERS BREADTH. (M14)

In the 13th mantra it was mentioned that “the Purusha is ever seated in the hearts of men”, implying that Truth has to be felt within. A limited understanding of this can take the form as God within the individual; thus the subtle ‘I’ of individuality remains in realization. But God is not only in the individual but everywhere and in all, since reality alone exists, there can be no existence of the individual and world. Therefore there is no ‘you’ or ‘all’ as the Reality is One without a Second and all Pervasive. If the understanding of God were limited to one’s heart, then God as my support in a dualistic sense will result. The dualism of pervader and pervaded or the support and supported is to be avoided as that violates the truth of Oneness of Advaita. Brahman never really becomes the ‘Jiva’ or ‘you’ and hence there is no question of it existing within you or pervading you. The ‘you or ‘Jiva’ is an illusion on Brahman, just as the snake is an illusion on the rope in the famous illustration in the Vedanta. To reinforce the above right understanding the Upanishad clarifies what is meant by realization taking place “within you” ATYATISTHAT DASHANGULAM = He remains transcendent over the universe by ten fingers breadth as it were. He the Reality or Purusha has become infinite heads, infinite eyes and infinite feet by His lila, but in reality He ever remains transcendent over his lila creation, which means there is no real creation. By Dashangulam is shown that the infinite is ever transcendent over everything, it being subject-object-less. That means you and all are mere illusions and the reality (or rope) alone exists. Thus Brahman is shown to be transcendent, immanent, One without a second Reality. Brahman is in you but not confined to you, but He is in all. He is in that ‘you’ which is free from ‘I’ and ‘mine’. But in actuality there is no ‘you’ and ‘all’ as Brahman is the only Reality. Therefore the Antaratman or Inner Self is to be felt in this subject-object-less way. It is true that at one stage in sadhana, Brahman is felt within as the Antaratman, in a limited way leading to the imperfect realization “I am one with Brahman”, where the subtle ‘I’ of the sadhaka still persists in his realization. This is the Advaita vritti realization, which matures to Advaita Dipti realization by further illumination when the ‘I’ completely disappears and Samadhi is reached. The mantra aims at bringing about the above perfect Advaita Dipti realization through illumination. (End m 14)

PURUSHA INDEED IS ALL THAT WAS IN THE PAST, THAT WILL BE IN THE FUTURE, AND ALL THE PRESENT THAT GROWS THROUGH FOOD. BESIDES HE IS THE ORDAINER OF IMMORTALITY. (M 15)

In the previous mantra it was mentioned that Atman has to be realized within. This idea of within can create a real existence of an individual, within whom realization can take place. But it was earlier shown that Brahman alone exists; therefore no individual exists, wherein this realization can take place. In this mantra, the idea that Brahman is the support of a real individual in whom realization takes place is illumined. There is no real ADHARA (supporter) and ADHEYA (supported) in Brahman as it is all one. In the state of ignorance, He appears as you and the world and not in a real sense. PURUSHA EVA. The emphasis by Eva is to show that Purusha alone has become the past, present and future in lila sense. That means apart from Brahman there is no past, present and future even though they appear real, to those in ignorance. The growth of bodies by the intake of food, observed in the world may create a sense of realism of the universe, but that growth (change) also is shown as the lila appearance of Brahman. The idea of Oneness of Existence is being stressed to remove the possibility of any duality in comprehending the Truth. UTA AMRITATVASYA ISANAH = Besides he is Immortality and its lord. This shows that there is nothing like Moksha as a real entity separate from Him. Nor is there sadhana in a real sense. Both Sadhana and Moksha are His lila appearances. He himself is the sadhaka, the sadhana and the goal. All this sadhana, Moksha etc. are to be understood in the lila sense, for the realization of that Transcendental Brahman. When it is said that He is all of the past, the present and the future and all that grows, a pantheistic dualistic idea that God has really become all these may delude the sadhaka. This mantra aims to remove this pantheistic dualism. The Ultimate truth is Brahman through maya or lila becomes the many but not in reality. (End m 15).

IT HAS HANDS, FEET, EYES, HEADS, FACES AND EARS EVERYWHERE AND EXISTS PERVADING EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE. (M 16)

IT APPEARS AS IF POSSESSED OF THE QUALITIES OF THE SENSES, EVENTHOUGH DEVOID OF THE SENSES. IT IS THE LORD OF ALL, THEIR CAUSE AND THE REFUGE. (M 17)

The mantras 16 & 17 are taken together as they indicate one idea. We have seen in mantras 14 & 15 that the One Purusha in lila appears as the whole world. The idea of Adhara and Adheya i.e. the dualism of support and supported was illumined. The same illumination is again reinforced in these two mantras. The mind of the sadhaka having become subtle can comprehend the subtle Truth being explained. The Truth is One without a Second in which there is no experiencer separate from Brahman. This truth percolating through the human personality constituted by the sense organs of knowledge and action etc. causes the sadhaka to feel it in the form “Thou art my support”. This is called the Advaita Vritti realization, which may be termed as a mental modification. This Vritti experience has to reach the Advaita Dipti or full illumination. For this experience the ‘human personality’, the medium of experience has to be transcended completely by illumination. The ‘I’ lurking within this Advaita Vritti is very subtle and difficult to transcend and hence the need for repetition in these mantras. With this in view the Shruti shows in mantra 16 that all karma indriyas, the organs of action are the lila of Brahman. Further since Brahman pervades all, Brahman is the only reality of all the karma indriyas. Thus the karma indriyas are illumined as non-existing and Brahman as the only existence. In mantra 17, the Jnana indriyas, the sense organs of knowledge and their functions of seeing, hearing, thinking etc are shown as the limiting adjuncts (the upadhis) of Brahman in lila. Thus the human personality as a whole is shown to be the lila of Brahman, hence not real and therefore has to be transcended completely. By this illumination the realization will become perfect. No trace of the human personality will remain there (in the form of subtle I) any longer in that realization and Brahman alone beyond thought and speech will be realized. The physical personality and sense perceptions of human beings as entities do not exist as such, but are the appearances of that One non-dual Brahaman; this is the idea. Thus the sadhaka attains the Advaita Dipti experience of samadhi by understanding the limitation of his Advaita Vritti experience, limited by his human personality. (End mantras 16 & 17)

THE LORD OF THE ENTIRE WORLD OF THE MOVING AND THE UNMOVING GETS EMBODIED IN THE CITY OF NINE GATES (THE BODY), AND MOVES OUTWARD (TO GRASP EXTERNAL OBJECTS). (M 18)

Realization is not attained by a jump. A deep samskara or conviction regarding the nature of Reality is required. For this, repeated sadhana of an illumined type is needed. A sadhana, in which sadhaka, sadhana and siddhi (the goal), are all known as Brahman in Lila and where the ‘I’ is completely dissolved in Thou, is the illumination referred to here. ‘I am not’ ‘Thou alone appearest as my sadhana, siddhi and as myself’ is the consciousness to be maintained in sadhana. Thus the Shruti following the above principle repeats the same Truth in different forms in these various mantras, as the truth is extremely subtle. The idea in repetition is that repeated illumination is needed before the highest samadhi is reached. Otherwise one can get stuck in the stage of ‘He is my support’ which is within ignorance. LELAYATE BAHIH = The embodied soul moves outwards to grasp objects. The idea is the Supreme Soul in its state of embodiment, is constantly struggling to grasp the outer objects, assuming the limiting adjuncts of body, mind and sense organs. This embodied state can only be transcended, when viewed as the lila of Brahman. The same thought of Brahma lila taking place everywhere as indicated in mantras 14 to 17 is also reinforced in this mantra in the text by “LELAYATE BAHIH”. Just as in mantra 14, Brahman becomes in lila infinite faces, infinite eyes etc and in mantra 15 Brahman in lila is the past, present and future and in mantra 16, Brahman in lila becomes infinite hands, ears etc everywhere, in this mantra Jivahood accompanied by acts of perception and enjoyment of objects is shown to be the lila of Brahman. Another equally convincing interpretation of the text is as follows: The Supreme Soul even though being the Lord of the whole universe, is constantly deviating from its real nature by assuming the limitations of body, mind and sense organs and experiencing the external objects. This is the state of its bondage and misery. Therefore repeated sadhana is needed to get back to its original Supreme state. The inborn tendency of grasping external objects by the embodied soul is highlighted by the Shruti for emphasizing the need of repeated sadhana. The idea is, this maya is so terrible that it does not go away easily. Sri Ramakrishna describes the following scene: A person pushes the sedge growing on a pond of water, but the very next moment the sedge covers the water again. Just so ignorance constantly veils the soul again and again even though knowledge unveils the truth temporarily. So the need for repeated sadhana is emphasized by the Shruti itself. (End m 18.)

WITHOUT HANDS AND FEET HE MOVES AND GRASPS, WITHOUT EYES HE SEES, WITHOUT EARS HE HEARS. HE IS THE KNOWER WHEREVER THERE IS KNOWING, BUT THERE IS NO KNOWER OF HIM. THEY SPEAK OF HIM AS THE FIRST, THE PURUSHA AND THE GREAT. (M 19)

The nature of Brahman is again focussed for the final plunge or samadhi. The newness in this mantra is to inspire the sadhaka to struggle for the final plunge by showing its result. What is Moksha, your ideal? And what is samsara in which you dwell at present? A critical understanding of these at this psychological point of plunging in samadhi is the context. Samsara is movement from birth to death. There is always change in ones state of bliss, calmness, peace, existence etc. Nothing is permanent in samsara. Whereas Moksha is eternal bliss, unchanging existence, eternal Peace and Blessedness. Not that you will be in bliss today and tomorrow in sorrow. It is eternal bliss and peace beyond all understanding, in which there is no coming and going at all. You will attain this unchanging position and this is Moksha. So give up samsara which is momentary, to gain the eternal unchanging Bliss of Moksha; this is the context. For this the nature of the goal (Moksha) is focused, so that the sadhaka may lose himself totally in Brahman. The last vestige of realism of ‘I’, which may linger in the Brahma-Lila consciousness, will disappear by this illumination. A strong push for merging in the reality will be generated in the sadhaka for the samadhi experience. APANI APADA = Without hands and feet. He is without these, yet he appears to move and grasp things. He is so, since He is the One Transcendent Immanent Consciousness, which in lila appears as the phenomenon of moving and grasping things with physical hands and feet. PASHYATI ACHAKSHU = Sees without eyes. The whole process of perception including eyes is appearances of Brahman; Brahman appears as the seeing consciousness. So also He hears without ears, is to be understood as Brahman appearing as the hearing consciousness. SA VETI VEDYAM = He is the knower wherever there is knowing. Wherever there is subject object knowing, He is the relative knower there in Lila. That is, He appears as the knower, the knowledge and known in all relative knowing. There is no real sadhaka there, excepting the Chit Brahman appearing as all those factors of knowing etc. This real swaroopa or nature of Brahman at the time of final plunging into samadhi is shown, since no trace of the sadhaka or his ‘I’ can remain in samadhi . The mantra is for inspiring the sadhaka to take the final plunge into samadhi, by totally losing his individuality to gain the highest bliss of Brahman. So the Shruti exhorts one to take the final plunge into that Brahman, by giving up the present consciousness of samsara. You will gain the Eternal by losing the ephemeral. The sadhaka is inspired to take the final plunge without any lingering longing look towards samsara. (End m 19)

SUBTLER THAN THE SUBTLE AND GREATER THAN THE GREAT, IS THE SELF THAT RESIDES IN THE HEARTS OF ALL. ONE BECOMES SORROWLESS, BY SEEING HIM THE DESIRELESS AND GLORIOUS (AS ONESELF) THROUGH GOD’S GRACE. (M 20)

So far knowledge that everything is the lila of that One Brahman was told. To attain to that, Absolute Purity based on moral and ethical life is extremely necessary. Also purity, moral values and control of mind are to be based on the nature of Brahman or spiritual consciousness and not on mere empirical or emotional grounds. This is stressed in this mantra. Equal emphasis on absolute purity along with equal emphasis on spiritual knowledge for attaining to the goal of Brahman is stressed. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”, echoes the same idea. The purity of subject-object-less consciousness is referred to here. AKRATUM = Him (Brahman) the desireless. He being so, you cannot attain to him without purity. So no trace of impurity should be there. The least subject-object consciousness means impurity. So one has to become completely ‘I’ less and ‘my’ less and that is the subject-object-less purity. Mere knowledge without purity has no value in the spiritual realm. ANORANIYAN MAHATO MAHIYAN = He is the smallest and also the greatest, such is the Atman who resides in all. The goal, the nature of Brahman is again described to make the sadhaka aware of the need to become absolutely ‘I’ less. Since He has become the smallest and also the greatest there is no other to Him and hence He is all; this is the idea. DHATU PRASADAT = By the grace of the Supreme Lord. When the Supreme Lord becomes favourable there arises the knowledge of His true nature which is One without a Second. The dawning of this knowledge in the sadhaka is called God’s grace, as it is not the outcome of the individuals effort. This knowledge however dawns only when the individual’s consciousness corresponds to the nature of the One without a Second Reality, in whom there are no such ideas as man opposite to woman, but only He appearing everywhere as man and woman. Such purity of perception, being the outcome of knowledge of His nature is called His grace. Thus ‘I’-less effort and purity based on spiritual consciousness precedes divine grace. In this manner he realizes his own Glory as God and becomes free from grief. An alternative interpretation of Dhatu Prasad is as follows. Divine Grace or Dhatu Prasad means the tranquillity that comes after control of mind and senses based on knowledge. Since Dhatu also means organs and only when they come under control is realization possible, here Dhatu prasad means by the tranquillity of the mind and senses (by their grace). (End m 20.)

I KNOW THAT ANCIENT ONE, OF WHOM THE KNOWERS OF BRAHMAN SPEAK AS ETERNAL AND BIRTHLESS, WHO IS UNDECAYING AND THE SELF OF ALL AND IS OMNIPRESENT BY VIRTUE OF PERVADING ALL. (M 21)

The chapter is concluded by an authoritative statement of a Rishi who declares that he has realized this very truth under discussion. Therefore the truth is not mere subjective imagination, but a direct perception which can be experienced by all. The after effect of such perception is Ajaram and Janma Nirodham i.e. free from all changes such as decrepitude, birth, death etc. Moreover by virtue of all pervasiveness He is the Self of all and is omnipresent and accordingly there is no other to Him. The Rishi realizes that Transcendent Immanent One without a Second Reality where nothing other than Brahman exists. BRAHMA VADINO VADANTI = It has been realized not by one but by all knowers of Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna said in this connection “All jackals howl alike”, meaning all knowers of Brahman speak of the same truth, in all religions and climes after realizing the truth. From the above statements of the Rishi, the sadhaka will be inspired to merge fully in the reality, transcending the relative illusory consciousness of samsara, which has been obstructing his merging in the Absolute. (End m 21.)

CHAPTER 4

THAT DEITY WHO IS ONE WITHOUT A SECOND, WHOSE PURPOSE IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE, BRINGS ABOUT THE WORLD OF THE MANY INTO BEING IN THE BEGINING BY HIS POWERS AND WITHDDRAWS IN THE END (INTO HIMSELF). MAY HE ENDOW US WITH RIGHT UNDERSTANDING. (M 1)

The truth by its very nature is profound and very difficult to grasp. The difficulty to its understanding is compounded as it were by samskaras or instincts in man. The idea that “this world as such is true” is the effect of impressions of many past lives. Man has been running after enjoyments for many lives in the past and their effect on him is the samskara or impression which makes him believe this world is true as it is. Inspite of hearing the truth many times, this samskara or instinct works against that understanding. Therefore there is a great need for repetition of the same truth, which is the context of this and the next two chapters. The newness in this chapter is to make the sadhaka aware, that in spite of the truth having been made explicit by the guru and the scripture, his instinct will overwhelm that understanding. So he has to exercise great care and caution in life till realization is reached, and constantly counter the force of Samskara.
NIHITHARTHA means whose purpose is incomprehensible. The stress is on purposeless creation or will-less evolution. A real creation will imply that Brahman is imperfect and to fulfill some want it creates. But Brahman being a subject-object-less reality, a real creation is not possible. Then why does Brahman appear as the world? The answer is Nihitartha or without purpose. The idea that everything has a purpose is ingrained in man, because everything in the relative world is always seen to have a purpose behind. But the Shruti wants to emphasize that there can be no purpose in God, and therefore it is a lila creation. To counter past samskaras causing realism of the world, the Shruti is emphasizing the purpose-less aspect of creation.
VARNAN ANEKAN NIHITARTHO DADHATI = The one becomes the many without purpose or more aptly whose purpose is incomprehensible. The many therefore is His lila and all that constitutes the many is He and He alone is the idea. VICHAITI CHA ANTE VISHVAM = The many (universe) is ultimately withdrawn. This again shows that whatever was called as the universe during its period of existence was He and He alone in lila. (End m 1)

INDEED THAT IS FIRE, THAT IS THE SUN, THAT IS AIR AND THAT IS THE MOON; THAT INDEED IS PURE, THAT IS BRAHMA, THAT IS WATER AND THAT IS PRAJAPATI. (M 2)

This world is a mere appearance or lila of Brahman was shown in mantra 1. A purposeless creation is possible only when it is lila or appearance. That being the truth, in the next 3 mantras, all the particular objects of the world both sentient and insentient are shown as Brahman itself having no reality of their own. Thus creation arises from Brahman rests in Brahman and disappears in Brahman. The sadhaka has to gain the knowledge that whatever he perceives as the objects of the world are in reality Brahman and Brahman alone, and whatever perception of form and shape of objects are observed are mere forms or appearances. (End m 2)

THOU ART THE WOMAN, THOU ART THE MAN, AND THOU ART THE BOY AND THE GIRL TOO. THOU ART THE OLD MAN TOTTERING ON A STAFF. THOU ART BORN WITH FACES EVERYWHERE. (M 3)

A beautiful description of the same lila continues. The human forms confronting man in his daily life are taken up and shown that He alone is the essence of all these forms of men and women. The idea is there is no man and woman there but the Brahman and Brahman alone.
It may be of interest to note here, that Swami Vivekananda emphasized the worship of the living God (manifested in the above human forms) rather than invented symbols of God, as the highest form of worship and service to God, while quoting this mantra in his lecture Practical Vedanta part II, p 318, Vol.2 complete works 1948 Edn. (End m 3)

THOU ART THE BLUE BEE, THOU THE GREEN PARROT WITH RED EYES; THOU ART THE CLOUD, THE SEASONS AND THE SEAS. THOU ART WITHOUT BEGINING, THOU ART THE OMNIPRESENT FROM WHOM ALL THE WORLDS HAVE SPRUNG. (M 4)

The same lila description continues but stressing the beginningless aspect of Brahman. ANADI = Beginningless. Since Brahman is omnipresent and beginningless, all forms, having sprung from Him, have no beginnings of their own: and hence have no reality of their own. Therefore it is Brahman alone that appears, as the parrot, the seas and the seasons in lila, is the conclusion. (End m 4)

ONE PRODUCING MANY OFFSPRINGS OF ITS OWN KIND, OF RED, WHITE AND BLACK COLOURS IS A SHE GOAT (NATURE), WITH WHOM A HE GOAT (JIVA) ENJOYS AND SLEEPS: ANOTHER HE GOAT AFTER LEARNING FROM ENJOYMENT RENOUNCES HER. (M 5)

The absolute state is indeed most profound and worthy of realization. But man forgets that, unless the relative life, in which he dwells today, is illumined and removed through vairagya. Otherwise that absolute state cannot be attained. He desires to retain the present and also realize the Absolute which is impossible. Therefore the Shruti says ENAM JAHATI, meaning that he who gives up this false relative life of enjoyment, he alone becomes free. The need for total renunciation of falsity is being stressed. The individual soul is compared to a he goat who sleeps or enjoys with a she goat comparable to Nature or Maya and becomes bound thereby. When the individual soul renounces this life of maya, knowing it to be false through experience and illumination, it attains to freedom. The absolute state of realization was described in mantra 4; here it is shown that unless one renounces his thirst and clinging to the relative life of enjoyment, through illumination and the bitter experiences of the life of enjoyment, he cannot attain to the absolute. The idea is that without Tyaga or renunciation based on illumination, the truth cannot be attained. The white, red and black colours indicate satva, rajas, and tamas, the gunas of Nature, which bind the soul. JUSHAMANO ANUSHETE = Enjoys along with attachment and identification. This category of Jiva will never realize the truth, as he is deeply immersed in worldliness. Who then realizes? JAHATI ENAM BHUKTA BHOGAM = He who gives up everything and becomes transcendent over the world after experiencing the futility of enjoyment, is the other category of Jiva who will realize the truth. Thus the need for tremendous vairagya for the world is stressed. (End M 5)

TWO BIRDS OF BEAUTIFUL FLIGHT, EVER TOGETHER AND KNOWN BY THE SAME NAME, HOLD ON TO THE SAME TREE. OF THESE ONE EATS THE FRUITS OF VARIOUS TASTES, WHILE THE OTHER (MERELY) LOOKS ON WITHOUT EATING. (M 6 )

In mantra 5 the importance of the life of renunciation in comparison with the life of enjoyment as a step to realization was told. But tyaga or renunciation alone is not enough for realization. The intrinsic relationship between sadhaka and Brahman has also to be known. This mantra reveals this relationship, and the efficacy of renunciation through a simile of two birds sitting on the same tree. The supreme soul and the individual soul (the two birds) live on the same tree, the body. The tree represents the body since it perishes like the body. The same tree signifies in one and the same life. In this very life both have their being or abode.
SAYUJA = Ever together. It means that one cannot leave the other because they are constitutionally one, just as a shadow can never leave its reality. The idea is that God can never leave the sadhaka or the sadhaka ever leave God. SUPARNA = Of beautiful movement. The movement refers to the descent of the jiva from Brahman and its ascent to Brahman in maya. The sadhaka’s actions and movements are all fundamentally the lila of Brahman; this is the idea. SAKHAYA Ñ Known by the same name, means they are from the same source. The one Brahman apparently manifests as these two birds. This nature of the Jiva’s relationship with Brahman, as fundamentally one with Brahman, has to be felt deeply. Although they appear as two, their essential oneness is to be grasped. It is due to ignorance alone, that the sadhaka abandons Brahman, his very source and existence, and hugs samsara which is alien to him and without substance, and suffers untold misery. If the sadhaka grasps this idea of oneness with Brahman and holds on to it, inspite of ignorance veiling this truth, he will gradually through sadhana reach the goal. ANASHNAN ABHICHAKASHITI = Without eating the sweet & bitter fruits the higher bird remains a witness. God the higher bird remains untouched, and unattached to the world, immersed in his own transcendent glory. The lower bird, seeing the transcendent and glorious position of his friend, the higher bird (God), and knowing his relationship with him, becomes transcendent over the world. The jiva’s relative life has to take a transcendental turn; this is the idea. The life of enjoyment has to be given up, by loving identification with Him, your beloved and very source through knowledge based on illumination as above. The fruits are the results of actions, which manifest as pleasant and unpleasant experiences. (End m 6)

THE DELUDED JIVA, DROWNED (IN LIFE’S OCEAN), FEELS POWERLESS AND MOANS. WHEN HOWEVER HE PERCEIVES, THE BLESSEDNESS AND MAJESTY OF THE OTHER, THE LORD, ON THE SELF-SAME TREE, HE IS FREED FROM SORROW. (M 7)

Brahman the goal is fully transcendent over the world. The sadhaka however, is fully entangled in the world today. His perceptions which are of a subject-object nature are totally antithetical to the nature of reality. One has to feel intensely this disparity in the sadhaka’s perceptions of the world in comparison with the perceptions of a perfected soul, for proceeding to the spiritual goal. Advaita bhakti is intense love for the ideal of oneness in which there can be no I and mine, and the higher bird represents this ideal. For attaining this Advaita bhakti it is of utmost importance to cognize the nature of reactions taking place in the life of ignorance. ANISHAYA SHOCHATI MUHYAMANAH = Moans on account of a feeling of total helplessness. Shankaracharya has elaborated at length the nature of this helplessness, as this has to be felt deeply. On account of ignorance, the jiva takes the body and relative existence to be real, and engages in various desires and actions with attachment and a sense of I & mine, lacking discrimination. Finally, when the death of kith and kin overtakes him, and the fear of impending death haunts him at every instant and old age and disease overtakes him, he becomes utterly helpless and frustrated. After repeatedly suffering thus, through many lives, ultimately with the help of a guru’s instructions, he practices self control, truthfulness, control of mind and renunciation, realizes in meditation the supreme soul (the higher bird) untouched by the effects of ignorance, and is released from all sorrows. Thus he realizes the transcendent supreme lord and becomes free from all sorrows. It is then alone that he realizes the manifested world as a form of the Lord. An alternate interpretation is as follows. Earlier the sadhaka was to transcend everything and get absorbed in Brahman. Here the sadhaka has to look upon this relative existence as the very lila of Brahman. This enables him to see the immanent aspect and get absorbed in the immanence of God. Thus realization of Brahman is possible either through absorption in the transcendental aspect or through absorption in the immanental aspect. It depends on the constitutional make-up, temperament and feeling of the sadhaka as to which path he would adopt. (End m 7)

(SINCE) THE VEDAS AND ALL THE GODS ARE ROOTED IN THAT SUPREME IMPERISHABLE RESEMBLING THE SKY, WITHOUT KNOWING THAT BEING, WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE VEDAS? (THEREFORE) ONLY THOSE WHO KNOW HIM THUS, REMAIN SELF-FULFILLED. (M 8)

This mantra suggests that one should concentrate on the great self-fulfillment that comes after realization. Because man enamoured of the world of relative existence struggles for temporal results and never attains to eternal self-fulfillment. RICHO AKSHARE PARAME VYOMAN YASMIN DEVA ADHI VISHWE NISHEDUH = The Vedas and all the gods are rooted in that supreme imperishable who is like the sky. The vedas (karma kanda or work portion) are the guiding force for the performance of sacrifices, rites etc. which lead to heavenly enjoyments and to the position of gods. But these enjoyments and positions are temporary and can never give eternal self-fulfillment. Further they are the lila manifestations of that One Absolute. So the Shruti exhorts the sadhaka not to be lost in them but to struggle to be merged in their very source the Absolute, by knowing whom alone, one attains to eternal self-fulfillment. KIM RICHA KARISHYATI = What can the mere observances of the Vedas achieve? The sacrifices and other rites mentioned in the Vedas only lead to ephemeral results and not to eternal self-fulfillment. Therefore one should not get lost in the mere glamour and results of these, forgetting the goal. Rather one should concentrate and get absorbed in the Reality which alone leads to eternal self-fulfillment and for which disinterested work is the means. The idea is that the goal should not be lost sight of. The results of work, like the attainment of heaven and the positions of the gods, are temporal, like the disappearing waves, on the ocean of existence which is their support. The idea is all other pursuits are vain as compared to realizing Him who is their very source and support. So comparing the end results, one should choose that which will give eternal self-fulfillment, which is knowing Him. (End m 8)

THE LORD OF MAYA PROJECTS THE VEDAS, SACRIFICES, RITES, VOWS, THE PAST, THE FUTURE, THE PRESENT AND ALL THOSE WHICH THE VEDAS SPEAK OF. HE PROJECTS THIS WORLD AND GETS BOUND IN IT BY BECOMING ANOTHER ENTITY (JIVA) THROUGH MAYA. (M 9)

If all is Brahman how then is this world experienced? This question lies deep within, in spite of many earlier explanations. Secondly the sadhaka feels “I am, and I am entangled in this world”. These are the two major obstructions to realization, which are illumined in this mantra. Whatever we see, and whatever we experience, is all maya of the mayi. Mayi the unchangeable, through maya or His mysterious power appears as the phenomenal world, but not in reality, just like the mirage in the desert. To convince the sadhaka of this fact, the mantra states as follows. CHANDANSI YAJNAH KRATAVO VRATANI BHUTAM BHAVYAM YAT CHA VEDA VADANTI = The world in its past, present, and future, the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas, all actions, vedic and non-vedic, and the vedas themselves are all the lila appearances of that Brahman. Therefore one has to be convinced, that the world being mere appearance, has to be transcended, in spite of its appearing as real. One feels I am, and I am entangled in woman, wealth and many other things of the world. But one has to be convinced that this I, and its entanglement is also the appearance of Brahman. The next question is if all is maya, how is it I am powerfully attracted to mother, wife, wealth, name and fame? So they must be true. In answer the mantra says. ASMAN MAYI SRIJATE VISHVAM ETAT TASMIN CHA ANYO MAYAYA SANNIRUDDHAH = This lord of maya projects this world and becomes bound in it, by becoming as if different (as a jiva). He is both the material and efficient cause of the universe. That means, He in lila becomes the mother, wife etc. including oneself but not in reality. By this knowledge, the sadhaka has to be convinced, that there is really no I nor its entanglement nor the objects of the world even though apparently they seem to exist, and thus be merged in Brahman the only reality who appears as all these. (End m 9)

KNOW NATURE TO BE MAYA, AND THE SUPREME LORD THE REALITY OF MAYA. INDEED BY OBJECTS WHICH ARE HIS OWN EFFECTS, THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE IS PERVADED. (M 10)

Granted the absolute is unchangeable, the question arises, whence has come this changeful universe, the individual, and its entanglement. It is through maya that all these have come into existence was the answer. This answer creates a doubt in sadhaka, that this maya may be a real entity. Accordingly he thinks, there could be the existence of a mayic jiva, a mayic world, and mayic entanglement. This mantra illumines this subtle mayic realism of the world experienced by sadhaka, in the words below. MAYAM TU PRAKRITIM VIDYAT MAYINAM TU MAHESWARAM. He the lord, is the mayi, of this maya, in the sense of the rope and the snake, in the illustration in Vedanta. The rope is the Mayi, and the snake the Maya. Thus the snake comprises the universe, the jiva, and it’s entanglement in it; and Brahman the rope. Accordingly, there exists, neither a false or real universe, but Brahman and Brahman alone. It is Brahman, that gives reality to the universe, which as such does not exist. This is called superimposition. TASYA AVAYABHUTAISTU VYAPTAM SARVAM IDAM JAGAT. Brahman the cause becomes all the effects or objects which constitute the universe, and in virtue of being their cause, pervades all of them which are its effects. Just as the desert pervades all objects of the mirage and every object in the mirage is the desert and desert alone. This means the jiva, the world, and jiva’s entanglement in it are really not there, and what exists is Brahman and Brahman alone. Maya is a subjective error, of one in ignorance, in which state the reality, the rope is taken to be the snake (the universe). The idea of the many vanishes for him who has attained to knowledge. In conclusion, when it is said this universe is maya, it means it is Brahman. (End of m 10)

HE IS THE ONE SUPREME, WHO PRESIDES OVER ALL PHASES OF NATURE, FROM WHOM ALL THIS (UNIVERSE) ARISES, AND IN WHOM IT MERGES. REALISING HIM THE LORD, THE BENEFICIENT, THE ADORABLE AND THE EFFULGENT, ONE ATTAINS TO THE SUPREME PEACE. (M 11)

It is normally understood that God is the background of this world. This subtle duality of world and God its background is illumined in this mantra, because Advaita or Oneness is the truth. YO YONIM YONIM ADHITSHITHATI EKAH = Although one without a second and nondual He is the ruler of all phases of Nature. He is the transcendental background of Nature, since no universe exists apart from Him. He without the least change in Him appears as both the ruler and ruled, in lila, showing His absolute transcendence and independence. It is He who imparts substance and appearance to all forms of Nature without the least change in Him. This is how He rules and becomes as it were the substratum of the world, in lila. SAM ETI VI ETI CHA = Into whom the world merges at the time of dissolution and from whom the world emerges at the time of creation. The idea is Brahman appears as the background during creation and not during dissolution, because then there is no longer the world. That means He is not the background always. Therefore He is the transcendental background and not a real background of a real world. He is the background in lila sense, and not really. As for example the desert is the transcendental background of the mirage, but not its eternal real background, as the mirage is an illusion on the desert, or to be more exact the desert is the mirage itself. The conclusion is, Brahman is not the background of the world, but what we call, as the world is Brahman itself. EKAH = He the nondual one without a second, appears in lila, as the world, its background and as the individuals. The deep sleep state gives us a glimpse of the subject-objectless nature of that reality. He who realizes that Brahman which has no duality in it as above, through the instruction of the scripture and the guru, alone attains to real peace. (End m 11)

RUDRA WHO IS THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS, AND MANIFESTS AS THEIR DIVINE POWERS, THE PROTECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE GREAT SEER, AND WHO AT THE BEGINING SAW HIRANYAGARBHA BEING BORN; MAY HE ENDOW US WITH RIGHT UNDERSTANDING. (M 12)

The sadhaka has come to the real understanding that in the reality there is no “I” Ñ the individual, nor the world, nor its background, as He alone appears as all these in lila. Since this is the truth, there is no other way, but the complete surrender of the individual at the feet of reality. The mantra is an appeal by the sadhaka through an illumined prayer, for the perfect manifestation of intuition corresponding to the nature of Brahman. The reality is seen as the supreme source even of gods, their divine powers and of the many in lila, in the prayer. YO HIRANYAGARBHAM PASHYATA JAYAMANAM = The great seer Rudra, the protector of the universe, who at the beginning gave birth to Hiranyagarbha. The idea is, He appears as, Rudra, Hiranyagarbha, the “I”, the world and its background. Pashyata means that he actually saw the truth of this lila. So this advaitic prayer based on knowledge will lead to realization and has the attitude of total surrender. Since He is all, there is no other way, but appealing through prayer and surrender, for realization. (End m 12)

TO THAT BLISSFUL DEITY, WHO IS THE LORD OF THE GODS, ON WHOM THE WORLDS ARE SUPERIMPOSED AND WHO RULES THE WORLD OF TWO LEGGED AND FOUR LEGGED (CREATURES), WE OFFER OUR SERVICE WITH OBLATION. (M 13)

Prayer alone is not enough for right understanding, Karma without “I and mine” consciousness, is necessary for purity and attaining the right understanding. The text first describes the nature of the deity, to whom the karma as offering is to be made. Because the act of offering must correspond to His nature, who is the goal to be realized.
The consciousness of duality, of doer, object and deed in karma is the oblation here, since only karma done without “I and mine” consciousness can produce the necessary purity. KASMAI DEVAYA HAVISHA VIDHEMA = To that Deity who is bliss, we offer service with oblation. To Him from whom all these worlds have come, and who rules the worlds, the offering is made with the consciousness that every thing is He; the doer is He, the karma and its result are also He. So every thing is offered to Him with that consciousness. So the prayer is, let my karma, performed as an offering, produce the right intuition through attainment of purity. (End m 13)

KNOWING SIVA, WHO IS MORE SUBTLE THAN THE SUBTLEST, EXISTING IN THE MIDST OF IMPENETRABLE MAYA (THE WORLD), THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE OF INNUMERABLE FORMS, WHO EVER REMAINING ONE, PERVADES THE UNIVERSE (OF MANY), ONE ATTAINS TO THE SUPREME PEACE. (M 14)

Since the sadhaka has attained to psychic fitness, the prayerful attitude of mantras 12 and 13 is reinforced by knowledge, in this mantra. Without knowledge the emotional psychic fitness attained through prayer may disappear. JNATVA SIVAM = Knowing the nature of Siva. The one without a second appears as the relative chain of cause-effect. The subtle becoming the gross etc. is all His lila. His nature is further described in the passage below. SUKSHMAT ATI SUKSHMAM = He is the most subtle; this is the idea. The one without a second appears as all the relative causes and the relative effects in lila. The elements are subtler than the gross universe. The gross, the subtle are all His lila. This subtle knowledge about Him is being emphasized, as by knowing His nature alone one’s sadhana can be successful.
KALILASYA MADHYE = He exists in the midst of the mysterious and impenetrable samsara. The idea is that so long you are under the grip of ignorance you will be overwhelmed by samsara (even though you are potentially Divine), unless you exercise great caution in life. When you will be convinced of this impenetrable nature of the samsara you are in, whose mystery no reason can unravel, then only transcendence and control over all one’s weaknesses is possible. It becomes knowledge and renunciation, when one knows the impenetrable nature of maya, because none has attained to Peace without such knowledge. This same wisdom is revealed in the Gita by the lord Krishna in “VERILY, THIS DIVINE ILLUSION OF MINE, CONSTITUTED OF THE GUNAS, IS DIFFICULT TO CROSS OVER”; (Gita ch 7/14) (end m 14)

HE ALONE, WAS THE PROTECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE IN THE PAST AGES. HE IS THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE AND RESIDES IN ALL BEINGS. IN HIM THE BRAHMARISHIS AND GODS REMAIN IDENTIFIED, KNOWING HIM THUS, IS ONE FREED FROM THE CLUTCHES OF DEATH. (M 15)

Reinforcement of the previous idea continues, by showing that the Rishis of the past attained the truth through this very way. Every one also, can attain, if he follows this way. The way is identification with Him by giving up I and mine completely. SA EVA KALE BHUVANASYA GOPTA VISHWADHIPAH SARVA BHUTESHU GUDHAH = He in the past ages, was Himself the karma and fruit of all beings, their ruler and indweller. This is so because all this is His very lila. Therefore sadhana has to be I-less and my-less, and identification or non-difference with Him should be the watchword and background throughout sadhana. JNATVA = Knowing directly as “I am Brahman”. They knew that they had no separate individuality even while performing sadhana, for they knew that their I, their karma and its fruit, was the lila of His. YASMIN YUKTAH = With whom the Brahma rishis and gods remained identified. The rishis of the past attained the truth, through the consciousness of identity with the reality. So also one destroys the bondages of death by this consciousness of identity with Him. (End m 15)

LIKE THE FINE FILM (ESSENCE) THAT SURFACES ON BUTTER (WHEN HEATED), IS (THE WAY TO) KNOWING THE EXTREMELY SUBTLE SIVA (BRAHMAN), HIDDEN IN ALL BEINGS. KNOWING THE ONE DEITY ENCOMPASSING THE UNIVERSE, ONE IS FREED FROM ALL FETTERS. (M 16)

Just as by heating butter you get its delightful essence, so also by penetrating the world, you get to its essence, the infinite bliss of Brahman. The idea is that one has to get to the essence, to get bliss in both cases. JNATVA SIVAM SARVA BHUTESHU GUDHAM = By knowing Siva who is the essence in all beings. Thus Knowing Siva alone, who is the hidden essence in all, does one become blissful. Therefore burn away the world of ignorance, based on I and mine, the world of, lust, greed, father, mother, wife and wealth, by the fire of knowledge, to get to the essence, the infinite bliss of Brahman. So heat the world by the fire of knowledge of Siva to get to its essence. Otherwise leaving the essence man runs after the falsity due to ignorance and suffers. VISHWASYA EKAM PARIVESHTITARAM JNATVA DEVAM = Knowing the deity to be the One all pervading reality of the universe, is the fire of knowledge by which to burn the world away. So the Shruti says He pervades the world. Just as in the illustration of the mirage and desert, the mirage is illusory and the desert pervading the mirage alone is true. So also He alone is true and the world pervaded by Him being illusory has to be renounced. This is the idea. He is the one transcendent and immanent reality, and knowing Him to be thus, one is freed from bondage. The significance of “pervading all” and “knowing the Deity one is freed from all fetters” has already been explained in mantra 15 of chapter 2 and mantra 7 of chapter 3. (End m 16)

THIS NONDUAL DEITY WHOSE WORK IS THIS UNIVERSE, EVER ABIDES IN THE HEARTS OF MEN. HE IS REALISED THROUGH INTUITION OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL, DISCRIMINATING INTELLIGENCE AND SUSTAINED CONTEMPLATION. THOSE WHO REALISE THIS TRUTH BECOME IMMORTAL. (M17)

Brahman is that infinite joy and the sadhaka has been inspired to realize that Brahman. What is that Brahman? Where and how to realize Brahman is told in this mantra. MAHATMA = He is the one without a second the nondual reality, ESHA DEVAH VISHVA KARMA SADA JANANAM HRIDAYE SANNIVISHTA. He the One without a second has become the whole universe in Lila, and exists as the abiding reality of all beings. Thus the sadhaka and Reality can never be separated. He is to be realized in the Hridaya, the heart or intuitive being, because He resides there as the very reality of the individual. The heart is where one feels, and is the locus where He has to be realized. HRIDA = Is the real instrument of sadhana, the subject-object-less intuition of the transcendental reality, attained through Neti Neti, the negation of the phenomenal, based on the nature of the transcendental Reality, as taught in the scriptures. MANISHA = The intuition referred to above is not to be attained emotionally, but through VIVEKA or discriminating intelligence that distinguishes the real human goal from its opposite, based on the discrimination between the Self and non-Self. MANASA = The continuous reflection or contemplation, based on the above intuition leads to the knowledge of Brahman. It refers to the sadhana, the dwelling in that transcendental intuition continuously till the goal is reached. The four vedantic disciplines* precede this sadhana. Those who realize the truth in this manner become immortal, by knowing their infinite nature; this is the idea. [*The four Vedantic disciplines are: the discrimination between the real and the unreal, the giving up of all enjoyments here or hereafter, the control of the mind and senses, detachment and a hankering for liberation.] (End m 17)

WHEN IGNORANCE IS GONE, THEN THERE REMAINS NEITHER DAY NOR NIGHT, NO EXISTENCE OR NON EXISTENCE, BUT SIVA ALONE THE ABSOLUTE AND IMPERISHABLE. FROM HIM PROCEEDED THE ANCIENT WISDOM. THAT SAVITA (INDEED) IS WORTHY OF ADORATION. (M 18)

This mantra illumines the subtle ignorance of I, lurking within the sadhaka, prior to the attainment of the highest state of samadhi. After transcending the subtle “I” of ignorance, the sadhaka will be lost in the Reality. The text calls that state as ATAMAH where no darkness of ignorance exists. When a little knowledge of truth flashes, it is called day and when this knowledge becomes dim, it is called night. This waxing and waning of knowledge does not take place in the state of realization as oneness or unity has been reached. It also indicates that there can be no attainer and attained in that state of nondual realization. NA SAT NA ASAT SIVA EVA KEVALAM = In that state of realization there is neither existence nor non-existence. But what exists there is the self-luminous absolute subject-objectless being Siva, of the nature of eternal illumination. There remains no superimposition of anything like existence or non-existence in that absolute state. This is the state of samadhi where there is no attainer, nor is there the waxing or waning of illumination. It is eternal self-illumination. Samadhi is not a subject-object attainment of the individual, but the spontaneous manifestation of the Reality; this important idea the Shruti wishes to stress in this mantra.
SAVITUH VARENYAM. Savita is the manifested Brahman (The Saguna) in lila. This Saguna Brahman is equally worthy of adoration, since it is identical with the Nirguna Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna said, that which is Nirguna is Saguna in Lila. The reality of the world of objects is identical with the reality beyond the world of objects. That which is the absolute is the relative in lila. When name and form of Saguna disappear by illumination, then that itself is the Nirguna Brahman. PRAJNA CHA PRASRUTA PURANI. Prajna here refers to the consciousness of the Absolute. That absolute manifests itself in the form of realization in lila. The idea is that individual effort or sadhana was not the cause of realization, if it had been, then there would have been an attainer which is denied. The individual does not exist in realization is being emphasized. Further it signifies that realization is possible only through a succession of teachers who themselves realized the truth. (End m 18)

NONE CAN GRASP HIM FROM ABOVE, OR ACROSS, NOR IN THE MIDDLE. HE HAS NO PARALELL, WHOSE NAME IS GREAT FAME. (M 19)

Earlier it was said, that there could be no attainer attaining to realization, as the reality is subject-object-less. This is being further emphasized in this mantra. NA ENAM URDHVAM NA (TIRYAM) NA MADHYE PARIJAGRABHAT = No body can grasp Him from above, nor across, nor in the middle. He cannot be grasped in a subject-object way, as is possible with things in the world, as He has no parts. Therefore realization is possible only by absolute subject-objectless consciousness and by no other means. YASYA NAMA MAHAD YASHAH = Whose name is great fame. The absolute reality is glorified by pointing its unique characteristic of fame. In the world fame is dependent on the existence of the subject and the object as two separate entities. But Brahman’s uniqueness is because of its unique subject-objectless nature, as there is no other to Him. Though He is only one, yet He appears as innumerable beings in millions of variegated forms, and that is His unique mysticism or great fame. So meditate deeply on this unique mysticism of His; even though being the one unchangeable, He becomes the many in Lila. By this you will get rid of the subtle I, still lurking within you; which is an obstruction to the final experience of samadhi. Nobody ever realizes Him. But realized persons are there, which means, realization dawns, when the ‘I’ completely dies and ‘He’ manifests Himself. Complete surrender at the feet of reality with I-less sadhana, is therefore the way to realization. NA TASYA PRATIMA ASTI = There is nothing similar to Him anywhere, since He is one without a second. This implies, there exists nothing besides Him, anywhere in the world. This being His essential nature, to attain Him, I-less Sadhana is the only means; this is being stressed. (END m19)

HIS VISION IS NOT WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE SENSES, NONE SEES HIS FORM WITH THE EYES. THOSE WHO THROUGH NEGATION, A PURIFIED INTELLECT AND MIND, SEE HIM WITHIN, GAIN IMMORTALITY. (M 20)

It was told in earlier mantras that negation or ‘Neti, Neti’, is the way to realize the Truth. The sadhaka feels “well, if I and the world and everything are negated then what remains may be a void”. Out of this fear he may give up sadhana and even avoid the samadhi experience. This mantra shows that negation of everything does not lead to a void but to a positive state. But that positive state is beyond sense perception. NA SANDRISHE TISHTHATI ROOPAMASYA = It has no form such as seen in the world, but TISHTHATI indicates it is not a void, but that it has a distinct perception of its own, a form which is beyond the subject-object finite category. The eyes can perceive an object, but That, being subject-object-less, the eyes cannot perceive. The idea is it is a formless positive state (AROOPA ROOPA) beyond the forms of perception of the senses, but not a void. When ‘I & mine’ is transcended completely by knowledge, then that positive superconscious state flashes. This may be described as Transcendental Absolute Positivism. HRIDA HRIDISTHAM MANASA = Through the transcendental intuition gained through negation (NETI NETI) of the phenomenal, as taught in the scriptures. This has to be felt within (Hridistham) in the heart, not outside oneself and by continuous contemplation through the mind. When by renunciation and knowledge, the consciousness of ‘I’ and ‘world’ is crushed, it is then that the positive state is perceived everywhere. It is then, that the real Brahmic individuality flashes, when the present false individuality disappears through knowledge. YAH ENAM EVAM VIDUH AMRITA TE BHAVANTI = Thus knowing Him, is immortality attained. Immortality does not mean living long; It means the perception of Brahman as the only real, eternal existence everywhere. The first two lines of the text show the impossibility of perceiving truth through the senses. The second two lines show that it has to be realized within, through the complete negation of the phenomenal world (by Transcendence), accompanied by purity of mind and intellect (the four disciplines of sadhana). In this connection it is interesting to note that Swami Vivekananda quoted this very mantra in his lecture “Unity in Diversity”. The translation of the mantra is reproduced here for the benefit of the reader. “None sees Him with the eyes. It is in the mind, in the pure mind, that He is seen, and thus immortality is gained.” (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda volume 2, page 185 in 1997 Edn). Swami Vivekananda quoted this mantra to stress the point of purity of mind as the main requirement. Seeking a change of place, and running here and there for a better environment is of no avail until the mind is purified. The idea is that the whole energy has to be spent on purifying the mind alone. (End M 20)

THOU ART UNBORN, AND SO A RARE PERSON STRICKEN WITH (SPIRITUAL) FEAR TAKES REFUGE IN THEE. O RUDRA, PROTECT ME FOREVER WITH THAT BENIGN FACE OF YOURS. (M 21)

AJATA ITI EVAM KASCHIT BHIRU PRAPADYATE = Thou art unborn and so a rare person stricken with (spiritual) fear takes refuge in thee. One more important point for leading the spiritual life is revealed in this mantra. Only a rare soul, who has understood that the reality is never born, will have spiritual fear, for he experiences a real world in front of him, which has been denied in the words “Thou art unborn”. By the single word that the reality is “unborn”, the sadhaka has understood the unreality of worldly existence, and hence his experience of fear that the world will overwhelm him. It is a rare sadhaka alone, who knows that a life of ‘I & mine’, taking the world to be real as such, is opposed to that birthless Reality which is beyond birth, old age, hunger and thirst. This psychological fear of getting lost in the world, by being overpowered by ‘I and mine’ consciousness, is an asset in the life of a spiritual sadhaka. Just as discrimination and renunciation are essential for spiritual life, so also is spiritual fear a necessity. So prayer to that One without a second Reality, out of fear of getting lost in the world, is shown as a necessary step in the spiritual path. RUDRA YAT TE DAKSHINAM MUKHAM TENA MAM PAHI NITYAM = O Rudra protect me forever with thy benign face. I am full of desires, of I and mine, where as, thou art transcendental and beyond this mire of duality. So protect me with that transcendental consciousness, which is your very nature; this is the prayer. Why prayer? Because, where is the sadhaka? When it is all ‘Thou’ and ‘Thou’ alone there cannot be any sadhaka who can protect himself. So there is no other way than complete surrender at the feet of reality, and knowing this, he prays. So this is a knowledgeful prayer, based on illumination seeking for Divine grace. This is Bhakti, where there is no ‘my’ in sadhana, no ‘I’ of my own. It is all ‘Thou’ and ‘Thou’ alone. Thou alone shall protect me. That is the out come of Divine grace, which manifests when ‘I and mine’ is completely transcended by prayer. In conclusion, the lila consciousness described so far, will be replaced fully, by the Advaita Bhakti Consciousness of total surrender at the feet of Reality. In this state, the sadhaka totally disappears, and the Divine manifests itself fully. (End m 21)

OH RUDRA DO NOT DESTROY OUR SON, GRANDSON, OUR LIFE, OUR CATTLE AND OUR HORSES. OUT OF ANGER DO NOT KILL OUR HEROIC SERVANTS. WE ALWAYS INVOKE THEE THUS WITH OUR OFFERINGS. (M 22)

In the previous mantra absolute surrender to the Reality was prayed for. But this is possible only when purity is attained. For purity performance of Karma with yoga consciousness is a necessity. In the relative world, performance of Karma requires many facilities like a calm place to stay food and many other secular requirements. The prayer now is for granting, protecting and maintaining the appropriate environment, in which Karma Yoga may be performed without any disturbance. In ancient times, sons, grandsons, cattle, horses and servants were the tools sustaining a life of karma yoga. So also in modern times, with some difference. If the sadhaka were a sannyasin he would pray for an Ashrama or a similar facility, where he could perform Karma Yoga, for the benefit of self and the world. For example Sri Ramakrishna prayed for a sadhana enclosure, in a lonely spot in the panchavati, during the period of his sadhana, and the Mother granted his prayer. So the prayer is for a protected environment, and favorable circumstances, for performance of Karma undisturbed. (End m 22)

CHAPTER 5

THE TWO, KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE, LIE HIDDEN IN THAT INFINITE IMPERISHABLE HIGHER THAN BRAHMA. THE PERISHABLE IS IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE IS (LIKENESS OF) IMMORTALITY. BUT HE WHO RULES KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE IS DIFFERENT (FROM BOTH). (M 1)

In the psychic being where the falsity of the subject-object world is felt, the sadhaka feels his oneness with Brahman. That this manifestation of oneness takes place by Brahman’s grace was indicated in mantra 18 of chapter 4 (from Him proceeded the ancient wisdom). The idea is that the flash of intuition is Brahman’s expression and not that of the sadhaka. But in this intuition the sadhaka’s subtle I, as the feeler of oneness, remains and this state is accompanied with tremendous joy, deluding the sadhaka to believe he has attained the supreme goal. This subtle “I” can become gross any moment and drag the sadhaka into samsara again. There is therefore the necessity of illumination at this stage as to why this wonderful blissful state (called Anandamaya kosha) has to be transcended by the sadhaka. Because even though it is a very high state of achievement, compared with the goal (Brahman), it is no better than the gross state of subject-object consciousness of ignorance in which the ordinary man dwells, as both states are within Maya (within subject-object consciousness). The Shruti points that out in this mantra.
VIDYA AVIDYA NIHITE YATRA GUDHE = In whom lie hidden knowledge and ignorance. VIDYA refers to Knowledge or the subject-object less intuition of the nature of Reality. This is not yet realization, but an intuitive knowledge, where still a subtle “I” of the subject -object order lingers. This Vidya is still within Maya. AVIDYA or ignorance refers to gross subject - object perceptions in which the ordinary man dwells. When he transcends the consciousness of Avidya he comes to the consciousness of Vidya. Both these vidya and avidya are within Maya and belong to the same category (ignorance) and Brahman is different from both of them. ‘Nihite’ means they exist in Brahman in lila sense. The one Brahman in lila appears as Avidya and as Vidya. Therefore so long as a sadhaka is within the realm of Vidya and Avidya he is not safe till realization is reached, as they are reflected consciousness of Brahman. Vidya is like a golden chain that binds and Avidya like an iron chain.
DVE AKSHARE BRAHMAPARE TU ANANTE = In the infinite and imperishable, who is beyond Brahma are the two (knowledge and ignorance) hidden.
The idea is that Reality is beyond both Knowledge and ignorance and is characterized by Absolute subject-object-less-ness. The state of Vidya is also called the ANANDAMAYA KOSHA (Bliss sheath). Because of tremendous joy in Vidya the sadhaka is disinclined to go beyond the joy and thinks that to be the final achievement. So the text says Reality is however beyond both Vidya and Avidya and is distinctly different from both. Even Hiranyagarbha and Virat etc. are all its lila.
By contrast, the Real nature of Brahman and its reflected gross and pure natures (Avidya and Vidya respectively) are shown, so that the sadhaka may transcend both and reach the Reality. There is specific need, to show that the high state of Vidya is also within ignorance because of tremendous bliss in that state (which misleads the sadhaka).
Without this knowledge there is every possibility of the sadhaka falling away from the state of Vidya to lower levels of consciousness. First Avidya is to be transcended by Vidya, then Vidya is to be transcended by the above specific knowledge that it is still within Maya.
VIDYA AVIDYE ISHATE YASTU SAH ANYAH = He who rules VIDYA and AVIDYA is different from them. Why again is Vidya or intuition to be transcended? Because that which rules Vidya and Avidya is different (ANYAH) from them. It is the witness beyond both, but in lila appears as Vidya and Avidya. One has to first feel Vidya and Avidya as distinct from Brahman, and then illumine them as the lila of that very Brahman. Otherwise the tremendous joy or Ananda in Vidya, will not allow the sadhaka to proceed to truth which is different from it. Vidya, Avidya and Brahman are not three different things, it is all the lila of the one reality, Brahman. (end M 1)

HE IS THE ONE, WHO PRESIDES OVER ALL POSITIONS (OF NATURE) AND OVER THE INFINITE VARIETY OF FORMS AND COLOURS (IN NATURE). IN THE BEGINING OF CREATION, IT IS HE WHO WITNESSED THE SAGE KAPILA BEING BORN AND IT IS HE WHO FILLED HIM WITH KNOWLEDGE. (M 2)

The Vidya and the Avidya of the previous mantra are to be transcended for the knowledge of Brahman. How and by what means are they to be transcended? For this a deeper knowledge of Brahma-lila is reiterated in this mantra to enable the sadhaka to transcend both Vidya and Avidya.
YONIM YONIM ADHI TISHTHATI EKAH = Ekah means the nondual one. Wherever anything exists, He (Brahman) is that; this is the idea. The World means, so many things such as sky, rivers, mountains, men, women etc. Yonim yonim, means, He is the source, the Ruler and the efficient and material cause of all these. He existing, all these appear to exist. From this analysis one has to be convinced, that the least trace of one’s “I” and the existence of any object other than Brahman violates the nature of Brahman. Accordingly one has to get rid of this “I” which persists in a subtle manner in the intuition of Brahman during sadhana.
VISWANI RUPANI YONISCHASARVA = Further, things have colour, complexion and peculiarities. All these phases of things are also his lila. There are many forms of creatures like tigers, zebras, elephants etc; all these forms are also His lila. Further they are composed of elements, primal matter or Nature, which are also His lila. So nothing exists which is not He. Just as in a sugar ball everything is sugar in and out; so He alone is everywhere, that is the idea. By this deep illumination, sadhaka and world disappear totally, and everywhere He alone is seen. This illumination is aimed at getting rid of all subtle traces of “I” and the “world” present in the intuition of Brahman.
RISHIM PRASUTAM KAPILAM YASTAM AGRE = He himself in lila is born as Hiranyagarbha, the world in subtle form at the time of creation and He himself in lila is born as the Rishi Kapila. He himself becomes the gross world or Virat in lila. He becomes all the Jivas and Jagat in lila. Nowhere is there anything excepting Him; this is the idea.
PASHYET : He saw Himself becoming the subtle and gross world; the One without a second, becoming the many through His own lila.
JNANAIR BIBHARTI : He filled him (Kapila) with knowledge. Kapila and his philosophy, his knowledge, powers and his Vairagya are all the manifestations of that One in lila. The idea is that everything of this world is He and He alone and by this knowledge of lila, the subtle “I” of Vidya has to be transcended, which otherwise normally is very difficult to transcend, because of the tremendous joy in that state. (End M 2)

THE SUPREME DEITY, SPREADS OUT THE NETS OF INDIVIDUALISED MAYA ON THIS FIELD (OF SAMSARA) AND WITHDRAWS THE SAME (IN THE END). THE GREAT LORD THROWS AGAIN THE (MAYIC) NET OF THE RULERS OF THE WORLD AND HOLDS SWAY OVER THEM ALL. (M 3)

The description of the lila of the One becoming the many continues in this mantra. He casts the net of samsara consisting of men, women, animals, insects etc. their karmas, aspirations and fruits of karma. Brahman Himself becomes all these, the net, the individuals and their karmas. In this cyclic net which lasts many ages, men perform work and transmigrate according to their karma, taking their individualities to be true and get bound in the net by the fruits of their karmas. Even though the whole series is Brahman’s lila, the individuals taking their limited individualities to be true (and not as lila) experience bondage and transmigrate.
A deeper illumination of lila as above is expressed in EKAIKAM JALAM BAHUDHA VIKURVAN, which means that Karma and fruit of Karma of each individual enlarges the initial net to a infinite series of births and deaths which finally (Samharati) terminates only at the time of dissolution of the universe or at the time of Moksha.
By BAHUDHA VIKURVAN (diversifies) is also meant the transformation of species according to Karma, man to animal, animal to insect etc and vice versa, the evolution that takes place, which is also the lila of Brahman.
A man is born and the initial net or Jala of karma starts and this one net leads to millions of other nets through births and deaths till dissolution. The vastness of maya’s workings is depicted and simultaneously it is shown that all this is His lila. They are released either by attaining Mukti, or at the end of a cycle at the time of dissolution of the universe when Brahman withdraws its lila.
After a cycle again the multitude of beings come into manifestation and the same lila continues as before. In that lila are the Prajapatis (the rulers of men). Even the Gods controlling Rain, Wind, Heat, etc are the lila of that One. From this description of lila one has to gain the knowledge, that one’s life, karma and its fruits are fundamentally the lila of Brahman. But when the individual considers himself and all these as real (and as his own), it becomes the cause of his bondage and transmigration. So one has to first feel that one is caught in the net, and side by side, for transcending this bondage, one has to feel that this is all the lila of Brahman. By this illumination the sadhaka will come to know that he has to transcend Vidya also, inspite of its being a state of tremendous joy. In this mantra the evolution from world to Brahman is shown. In the next will be shown the evolution or lila from Brahman to world. (End M 3)

JUST AS THE SUN ILLUMINES ALL DIRECTIONS, ABOVE, BELOW AND ACROSS THROUGH HIS LIGHT, IN THE SAME WAY, DOES THE ONE EFFULGENT AND ADORABLE GOD RULE OVER ALL OBJECTS BEING THEIR VERY SOURCE. (M 4)

The understanding that everything in the world is Brahman is given through 3 phases of illumination in this mantra. The illumination proceeds from Brahman to world. The three phases are dealt under ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, below.
(a) Everything of the world is the lila of that Brahman. The world and all its objects have no existence other than Brahman; is the context. In what way can the above be explained? Here an illustration is given; just as the Sun, its rays and its illumination are all identically one, so is He identically one with all His objects, which are His effects, He being their ultimate source. The non-difference of the things of the world from Brahman is to be grasped.
(b) EVAM SA DEVAH VARENYAM = He is adorable for the same reason as in (a), as He is One without a Second, the only Reality and therefore He alone is adorable. Is there then a world apart from Him which can be adored? The answer is no. So from adorableness also, it has to be understood that He and world are identical, like the Sun and its rays. It also implies that apart from Him there is nothing else worthy of attainment in the world. This attitude of adorableness, will lead to total renunciation of the world as a zero, and to the realization of Brahman.
(c) YONI SVABHAVAN ADHITISHTHATI EKAH = He is the cause of the whole universe and therefore He and none else can rule the universe. The idea is God Himself becomes all the objects of the world in lila. Further He alone rules all these objects. Here again the identity of everything with Brahman, whom He rules in the sense of Sun and its rays is to be understood. Though one sees a world, it is Brahman and Brahman alone that one perceives; this is the idea. Alternatively when you analyze the things of the world through cause and effect you reach no fixity and are perplexed. For example we cannot prove whether the egg (as cause) came first or the hen. Therefore the conclusion is the whole series of cause and effect, which produces the objects of the world is an illusion, and Brahman, the Chief Cause, alone appears in lila as all these causes and effects. So sadhaka will naturally get absorbed in Brahman through these three phases of illumination, by transcending the world. (End M 4)

THE ONE CAUSE OF THE UNIVERSE, WHO MANIFESTS AS NATURE OF THINGS AND AS TRANSFORMATIONS IN ALL MUTABLE THINGS, IT IS HE WHO INSTILLS THE QUALITIES IN THINGS AND THE ONE (NONDUAL) WHO RULES THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. ( M 5)

VISWA YONI = The source of the universe, meaning the cause of all objects in the universe. In mantra 4, Yoni Svabhavan referred to the objects such as the Earth, which are the effects of Brahman, their cause. By the dual terms Visva Yoni and Yoni Svabhavan is implied that He is the cause-effect mystery of all objects in the world. The cause becoming the effect and the effect becoming the next cause and so on. What then is this cause-effect mystery? It is the lila of the Nondual One; and this cause-effect chain has no realism of its own.
YATCHA SVABHAVAM PACHATI = Who manifests the nature of things. For example burning is the function of fire and hearing is the function of the ear. The idea is that the One in lila manifests not only as the ear but also as its function of hearing and so also as fire and its burning power. The Unchangeable manifests in lila as the changeable. Thus objects and their functions disappear in Brahman by this illumination.
PACHYANCHA SARVAN PARINAMAYED YAH = Transforms all things that are changeable. For example a seed is seen to transform itself into a tree when sown. Here however the process of transformation from seed to tree is shown as the lila of Brahman (and not as inherent nature of seed, which is only apparent).
GUNANCHA SARVAN = The qualities of Satva, Rajas and Tamas in things are here shown as the lila of that One. When we look at an object, say a man, perception of man arises and not of a cow. We can call this Sattva here. Further in that perception there arises a quality of attraction in us towards the object seen. That is Rajas or dynamism. Some objects convey a sense of inertness and that is Tamas. The idea is, all these qualities of things arising from perception are the lila of Brahman. So everything to the minutest detail is shown as the lila of Brahman. With this deep illumination the sadhaka will be able to transcend the imperfect, but high state of consciousness of Vidya of the earlier mantra 1. (end M 5)

THAT (NATURE OF SELF) LIES HIDDEN IN THE UPANISHADS, WHICH ARE THE REVELATIONS OF THE VEDAS. BRAHMA KNOWS THAT WHICH HAS THE VEDAS AS ITS BASIS. THE ANCIENT SEERS AND GODS WHO KNEW IT, INDEED BECAME ONE WITH IT AND ATTAINED IMMORTALITY. (M 6)

YAH PURVAM DEVAH RISHAYASCHA TAD VIDUH = The truth which the past sages of the world realized. To impress the truth upon the sadhaka the text states, that Brahma and all the rishis of the past realized this very Truth. This is said so that the sadhaka may not digress, and so that he may be convinced that this truth, enshrined in the Upanishads (which will include all revealed scriptures) is a universal truth which many sages all over the world have realized in the past. It is the only thing to be realized in life and there is nothing else worthy of pursuit. When he is convinced thus, all digressions will vanish and he will get absorbed in the truth.
TAD VEDA GUHYO UPANISHATSU GUDHAM BRAHMAYONIM = The truth lies hidden in the Upanishads which are the revelations, and Brahma knows this truth which has the Vedas as its basis. The Upanishads, which are the records of the experiences of the Rishis, are the real authority and source for this Truth. They are not mere literature but the embodiment of truth. There may be some relative truth in AESOP’s Fables and the like, but they cannot be the authority for the Truth; this is the idea. Therefore Sankaracharya has called the Truth “VEDA PRAMANAK” (the Vedas are the authority for the Truth). The Vedas are like a temple in which God, the Truth, lies hidden. So one should follow the Upanishads if one wants the truth. Further, all those in all countries who have realized truth speak in the same way, which shows its universal nature. As Sri Ramakrishna said “All jackals howl alike”. This means it is a universal Truth, verifiable by all, transcending race, time and country.
TE TANMAYA AMRITA VAI BABHUVUH = They (Rishis) became totally identified and absorbed in that truth and thereby attained immortality. Therefore one has to identify oneself with Truth completely without any digression. All can do that, whether Hindu, Christian, or Moslem. (End M 6)

THE JIVA HAS MASTERSHIP OVER PRANA AND ENGAGES IN ACTION SEEKING ITS FRUIT, SWAYED BY THE THREE GUNAS, ACCORDINDLY FOLLOWS THE THREE PATHS; ENJOYS THE FRUITS OF ACTIONS DONE, RESULTING IN MANY FORMS (OF BIRTH) AND TRANSMIGRATES BECAUSE OF HIS OWN KARMA. (M.7)

Attention is being focussed on the nature of the Jiva and the reactions it experiences in the world. Unless these reactions of jivahood are deeply felt, the nature of the Absolute, namely, that all is Brahman, cannot be grasped nor can it be realized. The idea is that the sadhaka has to observe his present personal position of jivahood in comparison with that of the Absolute, which he has to attain. Many are not conscious of their jivahood, but feel themselves as “ I am John or I am Sita”. To feel the state of Jiva is higher than feeling “I am John” and is the first step to a higher evolution and therefore the mantra describes the jiva consciousness so that one may become aware of that.
PRANA ADHIPAH = Master of Prana (is the Jiva).Within the vital, physical, organic and psychological aspects of personality (which are vibrant) a reality or being is felt to exist as their master and this is the Jiva or individual consciousness. Very few are able to feel even this Jiva consciousness. Rather they feel ‘I am John’ or ‘I am Sheela’ which is only a superficial aspect of the Jiva consciousness. So one has to feel himself as a Jiva, an empirical being with eyes, ears, mind and their functions and reactions, existing in the gross, subtle and causal planes successively.
VISHWARUPA = The jiva assumes many forms. Further such a Jiva led by his thoughts, engages in actions like, eating, enjoying, creating, accumulating and other worldly actions life after life. This produces fresh seeds of karma for further enjoyment. This results in transmigration from one form of life into another, such as human to human, or human to animal and vice versa, and to innumerable other forms of life, denoted by the term Vishwa Rupa.
GUNAN ANVAYAH = He is under the control of the gunas (sattva, rajas & tamas) which stimulate his past tendencies compelling him to commit actions even against his will. The thoughts and actions which are the outcome of past samskaras or tendencies (which lie dormant), are activated by the qualities Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. It is for this reason that the Jiva feels, sometimes calm, active, or inert, according to the prevailing quality. The idea is that the sadhaka is completely under the control of the gunas and is helpless against them and falls a prey to his samskaras against his will. He is only safe after realization. Even the wisest person is overwhelmed by the gunas; therefore extreme care and caution is to be exercised till realization and one should never be complacent or confident, about one’s self-control in matters of behavior while dealing with sense objects like men, women, wealth etc. If the sadhaka becomes aware of these effects of ignorance, which overwhelm him and knows them to be antagonistic to the nature of the Absolute, then the consciousness of the Absolute will gradually dawn in him. To make further progress in the spiritual realm, the sadhaka thus has to cognize his present position of jivahood as described above, and compare it with the Absolute State which he has to reach. (End m 7)

OF THE SIZE OF THE THUMB, BUT BRILLIANT LIKE THE SUN, ASSOCIATED WITH VOLITION, EGOISM, THE QUALITIES OF THE INTELLECT AND THE BODY (IS THE JIVA); WHO CONSIDERS (HIMSELF) TO BE DIFFERENT (FROM BRAHMAN) AND IS (SUBTLE) LIKE THE TIP OF A GOAD. (M 8)

The nature of Jiva as such and its Reality, Brahman, are together depicted in this mantra. The idea is to describe the empirical and transcendental positions together and then to show their identity or nondifference. Brahman’s descent to Jivahood and Jiva’s ascent to Brahmanhood are both Brahma-Lila. That the jiva and the phenomenal world he experiences are false (the empirical position) has to be transcended.
RAVI TULYA RUPA = The individual soul or Jiva which is essentially of the nature of Brahman is like the rays of the sun which are identical with the sun. Just as the sun is self-luminous and identical with its own rays or light, so also is Brahman identical with its luminous rays, which constitute the Jiva and the world. The non-difference between Jiva, world and Brahman is being made explicit by the example of the sun and its rays. Therefore Jiva and Jagat are the very Brahman in lila and have no separate existence.
SAMKALPA AHAMKARA SAMANVITAH = Associated with psychological vibrations and egoism. The Jiva experiences psychological volitions, such as emotions, aspirations, memory, happiness, anger, sorrow etc along with the sense of ‘I’ or egoism. Since all these appear to be conscious, he takes them to be the Self or Atman, which is an error. The Atman reflects itself through Buddhi and Mind and these reflections are perceived as the above psychological volitions. Being reflections they cannot be real and therefore have to be transcended.
ATMA GUNENA = The jiva associates itself with the qualities of the body, like old age etc. The physical and biological personality which consists of hands, legs, nose, blindness etc are all reflections and as such are false notions of the Atman, but are taken as real. Accordingly whatever happens to the body is thought of as happening to the Atman. Thus the Atman which is not the body and its qualities, is taken to be the body. Therefore, being mere reflections, the body and qualities have to be transcended.
ARAGRAMATRA = Like the tip of a goad. This refers to the subtle (personality) body of the jiva (the sukshmasharira). For example it functions like the dream subject-object consciousness, which is subtler than the gross waking experience. The Jiva considers himself to be the totality of the gross, the subtle and the causal experiences and that totality as the Atman. The ignorant one takes these states as the Atman even though they are mere reflections of the Atman in subject-object forms. So all these which comprise the jiva personality and which the jiva takes to be real have to be transcended; this is the idea. Thus the subtle subject-object perceptions of the subtle body delude the jiva to believe that he and those perceptions are true and are the Atman.
APARA APIDRISHTAH = All these being reflections of Brahman appear to be conscious and real, just like the reflection of the Sun on a globule of water which appears like the real Sun. Due to this conscious element in them they are taken as the real existence or the Atman itself. This confusion is true of all physical, psychological, and biological modifications of mind. Therefore the Jiva takes himself to be the aggregate of physical, psychological and biological vibrations and as a real entity separate from Brahman. Therefore, transcending all these as mere reflections, the identity of Jiva with Brahman has to be realized. (End m 8)

KNOW THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL TO BE, AS SUBTLE AS THE TIP OF A HAIR SUBDIVIDED HUNDREDS OF TIMES. HOWEVER (IN HIS REAL NATURE) HE IS THE INFINITE. (M 9)
SA JIVAH VIJNEYAH = The jiva is to be known as very subtle. The same thought as in mantra 8 is told through another illustration. Brahman appears as the subtle jiva personality as in dream, the subtlety being similar to a tip of hair divided and subdivided hundreds of times. The jiva considers the subtle subject-object consciousness in the dream to be real and accordingly considers itself to be a real conscious entity separate from Brahman. This is the subtle delusion of the jiva due to which he considers himself to be real and the Shruti is making it known.
SA CHA ANANTYAYA KALPATE = The real nature of the jiva is however infinite. So one has to transcend the Jiva personality, knowing that the jiva is the Infinite Brahman. (End m 9)

THIS ONE INDEED IS NOT A WOMAN, NOR MAN, NOR NEUTER. WHICHEVER BODY (GENDER) IT ASSUMES, IT BELIEVES THAT TO BE (ITS GENDER). (M 10)

Another very strong delusion of Jivahood is the ingrained notion of male and female consciousness. Not only one has the false consciousness of being a body mass, but also that mass of a body is felt as male or female. This mysterious delusion is a subjective error and pertains to the empirical self, to the mind and buddhi and not to the Atman. This error is universal in the state of ignorance. Never does one feel I am just a body, but one always feels I am a male or female. This ingrained delusion is the seat of tremendous mischief, the cause of lust and undesirable reactions in the world. Therefore the Shruti in this separate mantra illumines this mysterious delusion in the Jiva, to show that no such distinction exists in the Atman, but yet the body gender is superimposed on the Atman due to Avidya. The idea of sex difference is not in the Atman but in the empirical self, in the ego, intellect, mind and body, which are to be transcended to reach the Atman.
TENA TENA RAKSHYATE = The idea of male and female that persists in ignorance is due to difference of forms or bodies, which differences are superimposed on the Atman (differences which do not exist in the Atman). Superimposing the qualities of particular bodies on itself , the Atman thinks’ I am a male or I am a female’ which is not true. Therefore one has to go beyond the differentiation of sex as there is no sex in the Atman. (End m 10)

AS BY FEEDING FOOD AND DRINK, THE BODY GROWS, SO DOES THE EMBODIED SOUL ATTAIN VARIOUS FORMS (BODIES), IN APPROPRIATE PLACES (WOMBS), ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS (THE FOOD), ACCOMPANIED BY DESIRE, CONTACT, ATTACHMENT AND DELUSION. (M 11)

In this mantra a graphic description of the cause of transmigration is given. The sadhaka becoming aware of the causes of transmigration can thus control the cause of repeated births and deaths and get merged in the birthless Brahman, by renouncing the drag for enjoyment. The food and drink causing repeated births are the psychological drags (samskaras), which develop every time a sadhaka enjoys and which drag him further to repeat the enjoyment when circumstances become favorable. Thus becoming a slave to enjoyment, the sadhaka is lost to the ideal of freedom, the goal, and rotates in the cycle of birth and death, without any rest. All these miseries can be avoided, if the psychological drags which cause this rotation are cognized and not allowed to function. So the text points out this in SAMKALPANA SPARSHANA DRISHTI MOHA = Desire, touch, sight and delusion. Motivated actions are preceded by the above. Desire (Samkalpa) or the drag for pleasure is the first which precedes touching, seeing, hearing and smelling and is the primary cause for the encasement of the soul in various bodies.
First the pleasure in such touch, or seeing is visualized, and then the drag to act becomes dynamic. At this point, the sadhaka is compelled to act and cannot restrain himself, since he is now totally overwhelmed by his samskaras, losing all control over himself. The action does not end there, it leaves its scar or samskara for future powerful drags when similar circumstances arise. Samkalpa or desire is not a simple thing. It has a tremendous force to drag one into the deep mire of samsara.
KARMA ANUGANI ANUKRAMENA DEHI STHANESHU ROOPANI ABHISAMPRAPADYATE = In accordance with the nature of actions, the embodied one, assumes successively, different bodies, in appropriate wombs.
Depending on the nature of these actions (KARMA ANUGANI) the embodied one is compelled to assume different categories of bodies, such as man, woman, animal etc., as the fruits of those actions. Thus he is born in different wombs, among Gods, or animals or men, according to the nature of drags and actions. With regard to this an illustration is cited. Just as food and drink enhance the growth of body, so does the embodied one transmigrate (grow) repeatedly by the powerful psychological drags (samskaras) and actions thereof (the food and drink). Therefore sadhakas have to live very carefully not only avoiding enjoyments but more importantly overcoming the drag for enjoyment. (End m 11)

THE EMBODIED SOUL, CHOOSES GROSS, SUBTLE AND MANY OTHER BODIES, BASED ON HIS OWN TENDENCIES. THE NATURE OF ACTIONS AND TENDENCIES OF MIND, ARE OBSERVED TO BE THE CAUSE FOR FURTHER EMBODIMENT IN OTHER BODIES. (M 12)

The renunciation of enjoyments was the theme of the earlier mantra. In this mantra, the drag for enjoyment is shown as the cause that brings about the connection with another body. Therefore to stop future embodiment this drag for enjoyment has to be cognized and given up.
SAMYOGA HETU APARO API DRISHTAH = The cause for entering these other bodies is discussed below. The shruti wants to show how man is compelled to take on bodies. The quality of action and the quality of mind, in a particular body generate this compelling force. If one takes care of the nature of one’s actions and of one’s mind or thought, then one can avoid embodiment; this is the idea. Therefore the text states as follows.
KRIYA GUNAIH ATMA GUNAIH CHA TESHAM = Based on the quality of action and of mind in those bodies. The soul is compelled to be born because of the drag of samskara, created by the quality of action and of mind, nurtured, in those bodies. Every thing does not end with enjoyment, it leaves a samskara or drag for the future repetition of enjoyment. This drag for enjoyment or samskara is what compels one to take up another body. Therefore one has not only to transcend enjoyment, but more importantly the drag for enjoyment.
It is this drag for enjoyment, which makes one assume innumerable bodies and rotate in this Samsara. Even a good life, say of a Devata (a god) is the outcome of this past tendency or drag. The idea is, this drag becomes the cause, either for a good or bad life, depending on the nature of samskara, both of which are in ignorance. Therefore to stop samsara or rotation itself, either in good or bad bodies, the drag for enjoyment has to be renounced. This tendency for enjoyment is also the cause of digressing from the goal of freedom and the strengthening of the false individuality. Therefore one has to transcend not only enjoyment, but also the tendency or drag towards enjoyment as well, to reach the goal. (End m 12)

THE BEGININGLESS AND INFINITE EXISTS IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS (THE WORLD) AND IS THE PROJECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE OF VARIOUS FORMS. REALISING HIM, THE ONE WHO PERVADES THE UNIVERSE, ONE IS FREED FROM ALL FETTERS. (M 13)

ANADIANANTAM KALILASYA MADHYE = The beginingless infinite, exists in the midst of chaos (the world). The world is to be given up, not because grapes are sour, but because it is a false superimposition on Brahman, which alone exists. So giving up or transcending the world and living in God, is the only way to peace. The context here is that man wishes to cling to the world and enjoy it for the present, thinking, sometime later, or in some other life he shall give it up and realize God. This is wishful thinking, as enjoyment will only take him deeper into the mire of samsara, from where it will be difficult to come out. So unless one makes a round about turn, here and now, and determines to transcend the world by giving up enjoyment, real peace is impossible.
VISHWASYA SRASHTARAM ANEKA ROOPAM = He is the projector of the universe of infinite forms. Know that God is the reality behind all forms which are illusory. Therefore one has to give up name and form which is illusory and thus go to Him. The implication is that by lila He appears as innumerable illusory forms and not in reality, ever remaining infinite and beginingless.
ANADI ANANTAM = He is beginingless, and infinite. This changeful world is ever antithetical to Him, since He is beginingless, infinite and changeless. Thus such a changeful world which emanates from Him can be only His lila. So the emphasis is on transcending the world for attaining Him. Therefore knowledge of the world as His lila and the performance of unselfish work for transcending the apparent individuality, are the means for attaining to peace.
PARIVESHTITARAM = He pervades the universe in the sense of the desert pervading the mirage. That is to say, there is no real world, which He pervades, just as there is no real mirage, which the desert pervades.
DEVAM JNATVA MUCHYATE SARVA PASHAIHI = By knowing Him (to be as above) does one go beyond all miseries. (End m 13)

THE BODILESS (TRANSCENDENT OVER CREATION), WHO IS GRASPED BY TRANSCENDENTAL INTUITION, WHO CREATES AND WITHDRAWS, THE PURE ONE WHO PROJECTS THE ELEMENTS (PRANA ETC.); REALISING HIM, THEY ARE FREED FROM (BONDAGE OF) THE BODY. (M 14)

In concluding the chapter, the way of grasping that supreme, through the transcendental intuition (consciousness) in which there is not the least trace of the world is being shown. Simultaneously the nature of reality is also being described to indicate that the intuition to grasp Him should correspond to the nature of reality. That is, to realize Him one has to make one’s consciousness correspond to His nature. For that, His transcendental nature is described first in the text, so that the sadhaka may transform his empirical consciousness to correspond to that.
BHAVA GRAHYAM = He is grasped by the pure heart. Transcendent or subject-object-less consciousness is purity and subject-object consciousness is impurity. The heart in which the consciousness of One without a Second resides, can have no place for the world in it. An intuition in which there is no trace of the world is implied. A psychic condition in which the world as such, is felt to be totally false is the background of that intuition.
ANIDAKHYAM BHAVA ABHAVA KARAM SHIVAM KALA SARGA KARAM = that pure one called the bodiless, since he ever remains transcendent over the body, over creation and destruction, over the physical, the psychological and intellectual phases of ‘I’ and the world. It is He who creates and again withdraws, who projects the sixteen elements like prana etc and who is the pure one.
This transcendence of His over every thing is in virtue of His being the One without a Second. When one’s consciousness corresponds to this absolutely transcendental nature of His, then only is His vision possible. Accordingly the text says, those who know Him thus become identical with Him and therefore are freed from the idea of being a body. The principle here is that the goal and the means to the goal (the consciousness in the psyche during sadhana), should correspond to each other if realization is to take place. Sri Ramakrishna said in this context, “As is your consciousness so is your gain” meaning to the extent ones consciousness corresponds to Brahman’s nature to that extent one advances in spiritual life or gains spiritual life. Therefore sadhana means the effort to transform one’s consciousness to correspond with the subject-objectless nature of Brahman and not merely performing some actions. (End m 14 and Chapter5)

CHAPTER 6

SOME INTELLIGENT ONES SPEAK OF INHERENT NATURE (AS CAUSE). OTHERS SIMILARLY UNDER DELUSION, SPEAK OF TIME. HOWEVER IT IS BECAUSE OF THE GLORY OF GOD, THAT THIS WHEEL OF BRAHMAN ROTATES IN THE WORLD. (M 1)

The sixth chapter is a conclusion of the whole Upanishad, being further reflections on all previous concepts with some new points as well. The world is Brahma lila, was the thought in all the five chapters and particularly in the last chapter (mantra 14), where it was mentioned that He creates the Prana etc.(the sixteen elements or parts). But the question as to how He creates or does the lila is the new point taken up here. For the first time the word ‘VIVARTA’ (superimposition) appears in the Upanishad in mantra two of this chapter. This word further reinforces the idea of Brahma lila. The empirical causes of creation, like Time and inherent nature discussed in chapter one, are addressed again to show that they are not the real causes of the Brahma Chakra (the world phenomenon).
SVABHAVAM EKE KAVAYO VADANTI = Some intelligent people speak of inherent nature as the cause. Empirical observations are seen to lead to wrong conclusions . A seed by its inherent nature is found to change itself into a tree when sowed. Thus some philosophers like Bergson and Schopenhaur think of a self-evolving principle inherent in Nature. They hold that even consciousness is a product of that, called the “elan vital” or self-evolving will. The world is thought to be its evolution. We shall see later that the text refutes this as cause, as was explained in Chapter one.
KALAM TATHA ANYE PARIMUHYAMANAH = Similarly others under delusion think of Time as the cause. All these empirical ideas (as causes) arise, when one is in the domain of ignorance or subject-object consciousness. Through the terms, Brahma Chakra, Mahima and Vivarta, which are pregnant with meaning, the text reveals the real cause of the world as Brahma lila.
BRAHMA CHAKRA and MAHIMA = The rotating wheel of Brahman (the world phenomenon) is the glory of Brahman. The rotating wheel of Brahman refers to the changing universe. The continuously changing aspect of things is the point of emphasis in Brahma chakra. For example look at, one’s life, how continuously it is changing, from birth to death. Nothing is steady, fixed or permanent in one’s life, so also in the whole world. The glory or Mahima of Brahman is that inspite of being the One without a Second and absolutely changeless reality; He appears as the continuously changing phenomenon, the world, denoted by Brahma Chakra.
VIVARTATE = It (Brahman) appears. Like the rope appearing as the snake, Brahman appears as the world and that appearance is called the Vivarta of Brahman. This term occurs in mantra two of this chapter, but is taken up here for better elucidation. Thus Vivartavada is an Upanishadic idea (theory), illustrating the Brahma lila consciousness and is not a creation of Sankacharya as imagined by some. Just as a rope appears as a snake, Brahman appears as the universe, or one may even say the universe appears to be superimposed on Brahman. This is the idea of Vivartavada. This Vivartavada solidifies the understanding of the Brahmalila consciousness by emphasizing the absolute non-realism of the lila or appearance. Without any change or transformation of any type in Brahman, it appears as the changeful universe; this is the idea conveyed by Vivarta. If one concentrates deeply on the significance of the terms, Brahma Chakra, Mahima and Vivarta, right understanding of the lila consciousness will dawn. His appearing as the world, is a deep inexplicable mystery, and the terms Brahma lila, Mahima and Vivarta (superimposition) attempt to clarify that idea. Since the world is always changing, it is illusory and hence is a superimposition or Vivarta of Brahman and not a real transformation. So one has to give up all empirical ideas like inherent nature, time etc. as causes of the world phenomenon and know that the mysterious power of Brahman (Mahima) as the cause for the appearance of the universe. (End m 1)

BY WHOM ALL THIS IS PERVADED CONSTANTLY, WHO IS THE KNOWER EVERYWHERE, THE CREATOR OF TIME, (THE SOURCE OF) ALL GOODNESS, WHO IS OMNISCIENT, AT WHOSE DIRECTION, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AIR AND SPACE (CALLED) THIS WORK, APPEARS THROUGH SUPERIMPOSITION. (ONE SHOULD) MEDITATE ON THIS. (M 2)

CHINTAYAM = He (of the nature as depicted in the above mantra) is to be meditated upon. In mantra one it was told that all this (creation) happens through his glory or Mahima,. It is now made more explicit by the term “Vivarta” or superimposition. That the world phenomenon is superimposed on Brahman is the idea conveyed by Vivarta, just as the snake is superimposed on the rope in the famous illustration of Vedanta. Vivarta is an explanation as to how the One appears as the many, without really becoming the many. The example of dream demonstrates adequately this sense of Vivarta. The whole dream is the Vivarta or appearance of the One without a second, the Brahman. So also the world is the Vivarta of the One without a second.
YENA AVRITAM NITYAM IDAM HI = By whom indeed all this is constantly pervaded. If God, the rope goes, the world, the snake cannot remain for a second. This is the sense in which “world is pervaded by God” is to be understood. The conclusion of this analysis is that the world phenomenon (the snake) is Brahman (the rope) itself, being identical with it. There is in reality only the rope always, and the snake never exists. So we can conclude from this, that when we perceive the snake, it is the rope alone that we perceive. The world is Brahman in this sense and the world thus stands deified, but not as such.
TENA ISITAM KARMA VIVARTATE = At His direction this karma in the form of creation, of earth, water, fire, etc., appears or is superimposed is the idea. The idea is, God does not will these things, but He appears as all these, just as it happens in a dream. He appears as the five elements, earth, air, water, fire and space and also as Time and inherent nature. The whole world phenomenon (the Vivarta of Brahman) is here called His Karma.
JNAH KALAKARO GUNI SARVAVID YAH = He is the knower everywhere, is the Creator of Time, is sinless and all Knowing, being the transcendent and immanent One without a second consciousness He is all these; this is the idea. Wherever there is a knower knowing any thing, He appears as that.
GUNI = Sinless. Being subject-object-less by nature He is sinless, as sin is possible only in the domain of subject-object. This sinlessness does not refer to empirical morality; but His very nature being subject-objectless, is sinless.
TENA ISHITAM KARMA VIVARTATE HA PRITHVI AP TEJAH ANILA KHANI = At His direction the karma in the form (creation) of earth, water, fire etc. appears. As regards Karma there are two views, transformation and Vivarta. What is done actually, that is karma, involving a doer and a deed (transformation). However, if the karma or movements that are taking place all over the world are viewed as the lila of the Lord, then there is no actual doing or deed, but all is only an appearance of His. This is the second view about Karma (called Vivarta). Karma Vivartate in the text is to be understood in this light. The mantra is concluded by “CHINTYAM”, indicating the need for abandoning thinking on all other things and exclusively devoting oneself to meditation on this Truth. (End m 2)

AFTER CREATING THAT WORK WITHOUT ANY CHANGE IN HIM (WITNESSING), AGAIN BRINGS ABOUT UNION (OF SELF) WITH ONE, TWO, THREE OR EIGHT PRINCIPLES OF NATURE: WITH TIME AS A FACTOR AND SUBTLER QUALITIES OF MIND AS WELL. (M 3)

The Vivarta is told in detail with practical bearing on life. Brahman is “Vivartate” as the world, just as the rope appears as the snake. The constant identity of appearance (world) and reality (Brahman) is the point being stressed in this mantra.
TAT KARMA KRITVA VINIVARTYA BHUYA = After having done that work remaining as a witness. It means, He remains unchanged after doing the work. What that work is, has been described in mantra two, under “Tena ishitam karma Vivartate ha”. This indicates that His work of creation of earth, water, fire, etc. is of the nature of Vivarta and not real. He himself appears as the work, without any change in Him and He remains identical with the work. So Brahman is ever the same even though He appears as the work.
TATTVASYA TATTVENA SAMETYA YOGAM = The Self after bringing about combination with the principles of Nature remains identical with the phenomenon that appears (the snake). The idea is, the snake (creation) appears, because the rope is behind and identical with it. For this reason the snake is called the Vivarta of the rope. They are not two, since creation (appearance) has no separate existence from Brahman, the rope. So the Self and the phenomenon (the Biological, psychological personalities, men, women and their karma etc.) are constantly identical; this is the idea conveyed. Thus the biological and psychological personalities being the outcome (appearances) of the rapid combination of Self with the principles of Prakriti appear to be real, but in truth they are the Vivarta of the Self. The Self alone is real and is constantly identical with the physical, biological and psychological personalities that appear as the snake. This idea is echoed in the Buddhist example of a lighted firebrand moved rapidly producing the impression of a circle or other figures, which do not really exist. The rapid movement of the firebrand is similar here to the rapid combination of the principles of Prakriti and the Self. The point of illumination (from the Buddhist example) is the unreality of unit perceptions, like a man, woman, a biological personality etc. which are comprised basically of the elements of Prakriti and their rapid combination with the Self. Thus by meditating on this aspect of the Truth of Vivarta, absorption in Brahman, the unchangeable, is possible by knowing the phenomenal as not something separate from It, but as identical with It.
EKENA DVABHYAM TRBHIR ASHTABHIRVA-KALENA-SUKSHMAI = The appearance or Vivarta proceeds in a sequence by the rapid combination of the Self with the principles of Prakriti in the order of one, two, three, or eight. In the Bhagavad Gita is the following verse describing these principles of prakriti.”This Prakriti of Mine is divided eightfold thus; earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and also egoism” (B.G.7.4). The manner in which perception of things occurs in the individual is being delineated. The combination of the Self (say with some items of Prakriti, one-two etc.) results in the perception of the physical body; that is, the individual becomes conscious as if he has a body. Then the next combination makes him conscious of his biological personality. Next by the rapid combination of mind, buddhi and egoism, a psychological personality is perceived by him within the biological personality. Further in that psychological personality the perception of the waves of desires, emotions, passions and many good and bad thought currents, are perceived. Thus the cumulative effect of several perceptions results in the perception of a complete human being and the world. So according to this analysis, man is not what he appears to be. This constitutes the whole man. Time is a factor in this successive combination, and qualities of mind are the subtler factors. The whole series is the Vivarta of Brahman, from the principles of Prakriti to the perception of the human personality and the world phenomenon.
The combination of Tattvas (Prakriti) and the Self occurs very rapidly, creating the perception of a biological and psychological personality (body). The combinations occur so rapidly within the individual’s perception that he is unable to discern that a combination (in perception) of many separate Tattvas (elements) together is causing the unit perception like the biological and psychological personality. By this knowledge the sadhaka will be able to feel the principle of Vivarta in the minutest aspects of his life and of the world. He will be able to cognize God (the rope) as the constant substratum and as identical with all these phenomena, just as the rope and snake are constantly identical and are never two separate entities at any time. As already pointed out, the idea of illusory unit perception caused by Vivarta is echoed in the Buddhist example of a lighted firebrand, moved rapidly producing the impression of a circle or other figures, which do not really exist there. However the point of illumination here from the above Buddhist illustration is the unreality of unit perceptions like a man, woman etc. which are caused by the rapid combination of several gross and subtle principles of nature (in the order of one, two, three or eight as indicated in the text). In a nutshell the individual’s biological and psychological personality appears due to the extremely rapid combination of elements with the Self and all these take place due to the Vivarta of Brahman. So also are all other bodies which one perceives, the Vivarta of the One. So sadhana is to know what the jiva is, what his thoughts, actions, his biological and psychological personalities are. In the light of the Shruti they are mere superimpositions on the Self and are false appearances of the Brahman and are to be transcended by this knowledge of Vivarta. If one understands the process of perception as taking place due to separate processes of perceptions such as form, touch, taste, smell, mind, buddhi and egoism then it corresponds with the thought expressed in the Upanishads about a sequence existing at the time of creation. But if one takes the perception as a whole, as the cumulative Vivarta of the One then also it satisfies the truth. This mantra has three interpretations. What has been detailed above is the FIRST INTERPRETATION being the elucidation of Sankaracharya’s commentary. The second is by Sri Sankarananda and the third by another commentator.
SECOND INTERPRETATION = The next life or transmigration is also shown as the Vivarta of the One, because life comprises of the past, the present and future. Ignorance is the fundamental cause of desire. Even though the world is unreal and unsubstantial it is taken as real, this is the first error or Maya. This ignorance is the first Vivarta of that One in both its individual and collective aspects (the number one in the text). Due to taking the world as real, desire arises leading to good and bad karma, which forms the second Vivarta (the number ‘two’) in the text. The good and bad karmas are also His Vivarta including the agent of the karma. These karmas lead to transmigration into another body. The sattva, rajas and tamas are most primordial forces, whose expressions are the eight principles of Prakriti (Nature). It is these that form the body and determine its quality. Thus the qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, account for the third (appearance) Vivarta in the text. Further transmigration takes place due to karma, leading to another birth and this is the “eighth” indicated in the text. Thus one, two, three are here explained. The idea is to show that from primordial Maya or ignorance up to the production of body and transmigration is all the Vivarta of the One. So the conclusion by this analysis is, one should meditate and concentrate on that One, who appears as this phenomenon of transmigration etc. and not to be lost in appearance.
THIRD INTERPRETATION = Everything is the lila of that One; but how is this to be realized, that it is His lila? For this, sadhana is needed and the text refers to this below, which forms the subject of the third interpretation.
KARMA KRITVA VINIVARTYA BHUYA = Do motiveless Karma and transcend karma. The transcendence of karma alone produces purity. Then that purity will lead to the knowledge of Brahman. This transcendence is indicated by VINIVARTYA, the method of doing work. The reality appears as the doer, doing and deed without any change in it and this idea (of Vinivartya) has to be brought in karma. Karma is to be done with this Vivarta consciousness, then only it produces purity; this is the idea.
EKENA = By one. Here one is taken to mean the guidance of a Guru or a Realized Soul as the “first” requirement. To serve Him with love and devotion when the “Two” or second step, love for God and Guru will arise and the sadhaka will be able to understand the transcendental thought of the scriptures. Then to meditate on that and get absorbed in that, which forms the third, the number “Three” in the text. The merits of compassion, purity and other moral virtues, like self control will dawn in the sadhaka representing the “Eighth” in the text. Lastly ‘KALENA’, in course of time the direct experience of Brahman will take place. The first two interpretations showed the Brahma lila in this and the next life respectively. The third interpretation focuses attention on practical sadhana to be performed in the sense of lila. All these three interpretations are to be grasped for understanding the mantra in full and are equally valid. (End m 3.)

HAVING PERFORMED ACTIONS UNDER THE SWAY OF GUNAS, HE WHO SURRENDERS THEM AND ALL INCLINATIONS OF HIS MIND (TO GOD); IN THEIR ABSENCE, THE EFFECTS OF ACTIONS DONE GETS DESTROYED. WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF EFFECTS OF ACTIONS, HE GETS LOST IN (BRAHMAN), WHICH IS DISTINCT FROM NATURE. (M 4)

In the earlier mantras the Brahma lila or the Vivarta consciousness was shown as the basis for realizing the Truth. But mere emotional understanding of this lila is not enough. It has to be understood rationally through a well-prepared transcendent psyche by the sadhaka. Such an understanding will arise only through purity that is attained through the proper performance of karma with yoga consciousness. In this mantra the need for karma yoga is being emphasized. This was touched upon in the interpretation of mantra 3, but the Shruti itself is making it explicit in this mantra .
ARABHYA KARMANI GUNA ANVITANI, BHAVANCHA SARVAN VINIYOJAYED YAH = The karmas performed under the sway of the gunas and the inclinations of the mind are to be offered to God. What is expected to result from this sadhana of karma yoga? It is the dawning of Vivarta consciousness by degrees in the sadhaka. Feeling the Vivarta consciousness depends upon psychic fitness which can come only by purity through karma yoga. Reality appears as the world phenomenon, this is the sense of Vivarta consciousness. But this realization can come only through purity of mind. Vivarta is a deeper understanding of the lila consciousness and to grasp it, purity is needed. Just as the rope appears as the snake, there being no real existence of the snake at all, Brahman appears as the world. This is the basic consciousness of Vivarta. Vivarta encompasses not only this life of the sadhaka but the past and future lives as well, as also of the world in the past, present and future. From an understanding of Vivarta the sadhaka will be convinced that the whole world in reality is Brahman and Brahman alone. In the first two lines of the mantra, the sadhaka is exhorted to perform the sadhana of karma yoga.
GUNA ANVITANI = The karma associated with the three gunas.
There are different temperaments in the world and to include all of them in the ambit of karma, the association of these qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas in karma is being mentioned. Because One’s karma is bound up with his qualities, he will chose only such karmas which will suit his quality and therefore there is bound to be difference in types of work undertaken by different persons. Thus all can do karmayoga according to their nature and benefit thereby. Some may perform predominantly Sattvic karma, others Rajasic and some others Tamasic, but all these karmas if performed with a sense of offering to God and non-doership, as described in the Gita, will lead to purity. The need for ‘I’-less sadhana is being stressed. For example one may feel: I am able to merge in God, or one may feel: I am unable to merge in God, both these feelings involve the ‘I’, the empirical personality and therefore are not the right attitude in sadhana, which should be I-less and My-less.
BHAVAN CHA SARVAN VINIYOJAYED YAH = All objects, feelings and volitions experienced at all levels of existence, in the world as a whole, including himself, are surrendered to God by this sadhaka. The Bhavas refer to the objects at various levels of existence such as the gross, the subtle, and the causal, at the individual and cosmic levels of the world. These are experienced due to subject-object realism. The idea is that subject-object realism at all levels is to be transcended by Vivarta consciousness by the sadhaka.
TATTVATAH ANYAH = (After that) He becomes totally different from Prakriti. The idea is he becomes one with Brahman, where no longer Prakriti exists. When this state is reached, the sadhaka becomes totally disconnected from all karma and all levels of relative existence. The Bhavas or objects and inclinations of mind at all levels of relative existence get merged in the Reality, having no reality of their own. All karma together with its results falls off from him. Not that he will not do any work thereafter, but whatever he does will be the direct expression of Divinity (Advaita karma) and will be for the Cosmic good. He has become Brahman now. This high position which is attained by the right performance of karma is shown. With the attainment of purity by karma yoga, gradually the Vivarta consciousness dawns by degrees, leading to the climax of identity with Brahman. No longer is the snake (Prakriti) perceived, the rope and rope alone remains. (End m 4).

HE IS THE ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING, THE CAUSE OF CONJUNCTION (WITH BODY). HE IS SEEN AS BEYOND THE TRIPLE CONCEPT OF TIME AND BEYOND ALL PARTICULARS. HIS ARE THE INFINITE FORMS, THE ADORABLE ONE WHO RESIDES IN THE HEART AND WHO HAS BECOME THE WORLD, IS TO BE MEDITATED PRIOR (TO KNOWLEDGE). (M 5)

Until now Vivarta consciousness was stressed upon, which brings the sadhaka to the understanding that everything is the appearance of Brahman. The repeated stress on ‘appearance’ results in a separate existence of appearance as an entity, in the mind of the sadhaka. He feels ‘appearance’ as having a separate existence from Brahman. This mantra aims at removing this error, experienced by many a sadhaka. A fit sadhaka (Adhikari) after visualizing the Vivarta consciousness would get totally lost in Brahman, the Real; but since all sadhakas are not so transcendentally fit, they succumb to the above error concerning appearance. With this end in view the Shruti now emphasizes Brahman as the only positive Existence everywhere. The consciousness that precedes the real knowledge of Brahman is now described.
Brahman alone is shown as the basis or matrix of every phenomenon, and there is no existence of something separate called an appearance or phenomenon. Whatever is termed as appearance is Brahman alone. There is ultimately nothing like false or real appearance in realization, because appearance and Reality are identical and one and the same.
ADI SA SAMYOGA NIMITTA HETUH. = The One without a second is alone the cause of conjunction, which brings about embodiment in the body, even though relatively Maya or Ignorance is the cause. The idea is that without Him maya or ignorance cannot exist by itself independently and therefore cannot not be the cause of conjunction. It becomes a cause only because He exists; this is the idea. So the emphasis is on Him as the cause and not maya and this the Shruti wishes to clarify.
PARA TRI KAALAAD = Beyond past, present and future. He is the only Reality existing beyond the triple concept of time. The emphasis is on Him and Him alone who appears as the triple concept of Time.
AKALAH = He has no parts or particulars in Him as He is One without a Second. This points to His nature so that one may get rid of the idea that the phenomenal (the parts) exists together with Him.
VISHWA ROOPAM = His are all the forms. The emphasis is again on Him who appears as all forms, and that all forms as such have no existence of their own.
BHAVA BHOOTAM = He alone becomes the universe or the snake. The snake (the world) is His appearance, not somebody else’s. There is no real snake besides the rope in the illustration. So Brahman alone exists as the world and the world as such does not exist.
IDYAM = In virtue of His nature as described above, He is the only one worthy of adoration.
SVA CHITTASTHAM UPASYA PURVAM = Before attaining to Moksha, the above consciousness (with particular stress on Him and Him alone) should be grasped by one’s Chitta (mind) and by meditation should be brought into practice for months and years before perfect realization can take place; this is the idea. (End m 5)

FROM WHOM PROCEEDS THIS WORLD, WHO IS BEYOND THE FORMS OF TREE (OF SAMSARA), TIME AND DIFFERENT (FROM THEM). KNOWING HIM AS THE BASIS OF GOODNESS, THE DESTROYER OF WICKEDNESS, THE LORD OF GREATNESS (OF DIVINE POWERS ), THE INDWELLER, AND THE IMMORTAL Support of the UNIVERSE (ONE BECOMES Liberated). (M 6)

The emphasis on Brahman as the only Existence everywhere is continued in this mantra. Mere negation of the world, emphasizing only nothingness or appearance or Vivarta, will result in imperfect renunciation. Because the Truth is, everything is He and nothing separately called “appearance” exists... As was said earlier, Vivarta sadhana should not end with everything as nothing or appearance, but should lead to a positive state, where whatever exists is realized as Brahman. For grasping this nature of truth, the relative existence is described and, side by side, it is shown that the relative is none other than He the Absolute.
SA VRIKSHA KALAKRITIBHIH PARO ANYAH = He is beyond all the forms of the phenomenal world ( the tree of samsara) and Time and different from them. He is the only existence within all this Maya (appearance) and also beyond. So concentrate on Him and not on the phenomenal world or Time, which are His Vivarta (appearances). So merge in Him who is the only positive existence; this is the idea.
DHARMAAVAHAM PAAPANUDAM BHAGESHAM = The basis of all goodness and the destroyer of wickedness. Good and bad are dependent on one’s consciousness, while one is in the domain of subject-object consciousness or ignorance. But He the Lord, is the basis or substratum of all subject-object consciousness. When He flashes in the heart there remains no good or bad because He is subject-object-less. But goodness is His expression, because it is an expression near to unity which is His very nature. He is the destroyer of sin, as sin is opposed to His Unity of Existence. He is the lord of all greatness, being the substratum of all that is great. Thus realizing Him, one becomes immortal, one with the Atman, different from Prakriti and the elements and attains to VISHVA DHAAMA the abode of the universe and not to nothingness. (end m 6)

WE KNOW HIM, THE SUPREME LORD OF LORDS, THE SUPREME GOD OF GODS, THE RULER OF RULERS, HIGHER THAN THE MOST HIGH, THE MOST ADORABLE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE. (M 7)

VIDAMA DEVAM = We know Him. The same emphasis on Brahman as positive existence continues. The authority of the Rishis who realized Him is quoted to bring about conviction. The Rishis realized truth by asserting the positive existence of Brahman everywhere and not by stressing on nothingness, or mere appearance. This is known from their expression VIDAMA. (we know Him) which is positive. Accordingly the text begins with an emphasis on (tam) Him and concludes by ‘We know Him (vidama), stressing His existence everywhere.
TAM ISHVARANAM PARAMAM MAHESHWARAM etc. = Him who is the Supreme God of gods, the Ruler of all Rulers, the Highest of the most High and who is the Reality of all these appearances. Here also, by a penetrative perception of Him alone, as the Supreme positive Existence and Substratum of everything of this phenomenal world did they realize the truth and not by stressing everything as zero or appearance. (End m 7).

HE HAS NEITHER BODY NOR ORGANS; NONE IS SEEN EQUAL OR SUPERIOR TO HIM. HIS SUPREME POWER IS HEARD TO BE OF VARIOUS KINDS, ‘KNOWING’ AND ‘CONTROLLING ‘ IS IN HIS VERY NATURE (M 8)

In this mantra the supremeness of the Reality the ‘Rope’ is shown to emphasize His positive existence. His unique qualities are enumerated to establish that.
NA TASYA KARYAM KARANAM CHA VIDYATE etc = He has no body or organs. If one has body and organs he becomes a finite object. But He is bodiless and devoid of sense organs being subject-objectless and therefore the ‘Infinite’ or the Highest..
NA TAT SAMAH CHA ABHYADHIKASCHA DRISHYATE = None is seen equal or superior to him. He is matchless and therefore the Supreme positive existence.
PARA ASYA SHAKTIH VIVIDHA EVA SHRUYATE = His supreme power is heard of having diverse expressions. The supreme powers of His are the revelations in the Vedas (scriptures) which are not the inferences of men. His power further expresses itself as the infinite variety of perceptions (subjects and objects) perceived as the world. The subjects and the objects, the consciousness within them and the energy within, is all He himself and the sadhaka has no part to play in them. This, His Shakti, having been described as the DEVATMASHAKTI earlier, is not a separate existence from Him, He is identical with that, just as fire is identical with its burning power. Thus the entire world including the sadhaka is shown to be His power.
JNANA BALA KRIYA CHA = The power of knowing and the power of ruling or controlling everything by mere proximity or presence. Subject-object consciousness is one expression of the Devatma shakti. Then the energy within that consciousness is His other expression. Thus subject-object consciousness and the urge to act that rises in consciousness is all He. In all these expressions of consciousness the individual has no part as He appears as all these including the “I” of the individual. Since He alone is all these by virtue of His own power He is the only positive existence everywhere and is the only worthy One to be realized. (End m8).

THERE IS NONE WHO LORDS OVER HIM IN THIS WORLD, NONE CONTROLS HIM, (THERE IS ) NO SIGN TO INFER HIM. HE IS THE CAUSE (OF ALL), THE LORD OF THE LORD OF ORGANS, NONE BRINGS HIM INTO EXISTENCE AND NONE HIS OVERLORD. (M 9)

The emphasis on Him as the only existence everywhere, continues in this mantra. Because He is subject-objectless by nature, there is no ruler over Him, so also there is no ground of inference (LINGAM) regarding Him. Because if He comes within the purview of inference, no longer does He remain Infinite. So also there is none who is His creator. From these characteristics of His, it is being emphasized, that there can be no existence other than Him anywhere and being the Supreme Existence, He is the only one worthy of realization. The emphasis is on Him as the only positive Existence. (End m 9).

THE ONE DEITY WHO COVERED HIMSELF WITH EFFECTS OF HIS OWN PRADHANA (PRIMAL MATTER) SPONTANEOUSLY, AS A SPIDER COVERS ITSELF WITH ITS OWN THREADS, MAY HE GRANT US ONENESS WITH BRAHMAN. (M. 10)

The world of names, forms and actions arising out of the unmanifested ( PRADHANAJAIH), are the effects of PRADHANA and are mere appearances of Brahman. Pradhana refers to primal matter in its undifferentiated (Pradhana) state, the first entity to evolve. Therefore fundamentally everything is He. This truth is illustrated by the example of the spider and its web. The threads of the web emanate from the spider and therefore are in essence the spider itself. Further the spider remains covered by its threads. So also all names, forms and actions, which emanate from the unmanifested Brahman, cover Brahman and have no reality of their own. Therefore Brahman is the only existence.
SA NAH DADHAATU BRAHMA-APYAYAM = May He grant us oneness with that Brahman. For realizing the truth both knowledge and prayer are the means. But the prayer should be subject-object-less, corresponding to the nature of Brahman. So the mantra first shows that everything emanates from Him that covers Him; this is the knowledge portion. After that the mantra appeals through prayer for attaining to a corresponding psychic fitness for realizing that Truth of Oneness. So the prayer is for identity with that Brahman who appears as all the names, forms and actions in the universe. (End m 10).

THE ONE DEITY IS HIDDEN IN ALL BEINGS AND IS ALL-PERVASIVE AND THE INMOST SELF OF ALL. HE IS THE SUPERVISOR OF ACTIONS, RESIDES IN ALL BEINGS, THE WITNESS, THE CONSCIOUSNESS (IN BEINGS), THE ABSOLUTE DEVOID OF THE QUALITIES. ( M 11)

The emphasis on Brahman or the ‘Rope’ continues. But there is a subtle difference in that the sadhaka is now directly experiencing the Truth of Brahman. Wherever the snake is perceived he sees only the rope (Brahman) and describes the same as in the text below.
EKO DEVAH = The One Deity alone exists. The emphasis is on Brahman the only existence and the world as such has no existence. Brahman is the only existence being perceived now by the sadhaka. The idea is there is no world in his perception now, and this is his direct experience.
SARVA BHUTA ANTARATMA and SARVA BHUTA ADHIVASAH = The Being residing in me and in all. The expression of the sadhaka here is more direct than in an earlier verse where he says Brahman is the ruler. Here he refers to Brahman as his very Self (Atma). This shows the sadhaka is now very near to God, the after effect of prayer and sadhana. For this very reason Sankara in his commentary has said that in this and mantra 12 the sadhaka is expressing the Truth directly like a fruit held in one’s palm. So there is directness now in the experience of God, in the expressions Sarva Bhutadhivasa, the witness, the consciousness in beings etc. The sadhaka now feels directly within his heart that Brahman alone resides in him and in all. The expressions SAKSHI (Witness), KARMA ADHYAKSHAH (Supervisor of actions) and CHETA (the bestower of consciousness) are all to be understood in the sense of Rope appearing as Snake, with emphasis on the Rope the Brahman, the only positive Existence. (End m 11).

THE ONE INDEPENDENT (BRAHMAN) DIVERSIFIES THE SINGLE SEED OF THE MANY ACTIONLESS (JIVAS). THE WISE ONES PERCEIVING HIM AS EXISTING WITHIN THEMSELVES ATTAIN TO THE ETERNAL BLISS AND NOT OTHERS. (M 12)

The sadhaka is inspired to merge in Brahman by pointing out the Absolute Joy of Realization, the Bliss aspect of Satchidananda. Thereby the sadhaka will be eager to merge in Brahman, visualizing the Absolute Joy of that state. Further a deeper understanding of the Vivarta consciousness is revealed by the text in the words “THE ONE INDEPENDENT WHO DIVERSIFIES THE SINGLE SEED OF THE MANY ACTIONLESS (JIVAS)”. Millions of Jivas seem to emanate from that One along with their aspirations, actions, bodies, and their life here and hereafter. All this is His Vivarta or appearance. He is independent because He is subject-objectless by nature. The seed is Maya or the subtle elements and this seed diversifies into the aspirations, actions, bodies etc of millions of jivas through the principle of Vivarta. So the idea is that millions of individuals, their actions, their desires and their very lives are the Vivarta of the One Brahman. This is the vision of the wise ones which has to be brought by sadhana into practical life by all others.
EKO VASI NISHKRIYANAM BAHUNAM = The One Independent Existence brings about the many Jivas into being, who are actionless fundamentally. The Jivas are called actionless (unchangeable), even though they are changeable, because they are the Vivarta of Brahman, and hence in reality they are the actionless Brahman itself.
The superimposition of the jiva on Brahman, consists in his belief as an agent, as an enjoyer, happy, sorrowful, lean, stout, a human being, the son of such and such a one, and a doer of actions. The idea is that from the most subtle to the most gross aspects of the Jiva, his material and conscious aspects, are all fundamentally the Vivarta of Brahman. The Jivas are also called Nishkriya (actionless), a term used for indicating Brahman, to emphasize Brahman as their Existence, since all Jivas, their bodies, their thoughts and actions are only apparent and Brahman is their only reality.
TAM ATMASTHAM YAH ANUPSHAYANTI DHIRAH TESHAM SUKHAM SHAASHVATAM NA ITARESAM = He who realizes that One Existence within himself, such a wise one alone attains to infinite bliss and not others. The joy of that infinite bliss (sukham shaasvatam) is mentioned to make the sadhaka extremely eager to realize that bliss himself. In this mantra the stress is on the blissful aspect of Brahman. Earlier the stress was on the consciousness aspect of Brahaman. (End m 12)

HE IS THE ETERNAL OF THE ETERNALS, THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE CONSCIOUS (BEINGS): THE NONDUAL ONE WHO AWARDS THE DESIRED ENJOYMENTS TO THE MANY. BY KNOWING THAT DEITY, WHO IS THE CAUSE (OF ALL) AND WHO CAN BE KNOWN THROUGH SANKHYA AND YOGA ONE IS RELEASED FROM ALL FETTERS. (M 13)

The point of stress in this mantra is the correspondence between the means and the goal which is an essential requirement for realization.
SAMKHYAYOGAADHI GAMYAM = He can be reached through Samkhya and yoga. Samkhyayoga refers to the Transcendental knowledge of TAT TVAM ASI Ñ Thou art That, gained through the process of hearing, reflecting and becoming. There should be correspondence between consciousness of Brahman (the goal) and the consciousness in sadhana (the means), for taking one to the goal. By actualizing the consciousness of Brahman grasped through the teacher and the scripture, through ones sadhana, Realization takes place; this is the idea.
NISHKRIYANAM = The actionless many (the Jivas). This has been explained under mantra 12.
NITYO NITYANAM = He is the Eternal of all eternals (the jivas).
He, the Brahman is the Reality of all and the consciousness of all. The sense here is that whatever is being perceived as the snake, is nothing but the rope. This consciousness if carefully cultivated, will take one to realization. Here, the jivas are called eternal because their real nature is Brahman and in reality no jiva exists. The Absolute and the relative (jivas) are identical; this is the idea. An alternative explanation is based on the idea of eternity in common parlance. The earth for instance is considered as eternal relative to other objects. This sense of eternality of objects is also a lila aspect of His.
From the relative point of view the jivas and the world are observed to be changing and their background, the Brahman, is unchanging. The changing aspect is the Vivarta of that unchangeable. Here also the changing aspect (the world and jivas) being of the nature of Vivarta (the snake) do not exist really and Brahman alone (the Rope) exists.
CHETANAH CHETANANAM = The Consciousness of all conscious beings. Wherever consciousness is seen to exist it is His consciousness that is reflected there.
Fundamentally He is the One Absolute Consciousness, but relatively through Vivarta He appears as the many consciousnesses of jivas who exist only apparently. Therefore the Absolute consciousness and the relative consciousness of the many jivas (the consciousness that expresses as their thought, actions etc.) are identical; this is the idea.
EKO BAHUNAM = The One non-dual Brahman becomes the many in lila.
The fundamental Absolute position and the relative position are distinguished for clarity. Fundamentally everything is the non-dual One, Who is Eternal and the only Consciousness. But in His relative position (lila) He appears (Vivartate) as the Jivas and as their consciousness. So by the above understanding the concentration will be shifted and focussed on the Absolute fundamental position of Brahman, who is the only existence and consciousness, as that alone will lead to Samadhi and freedom from all fetters. One has to catch hold of this Vivarta idea and live one’s life in the light of that.. (End m 13.)

THERE THE SUN DOES NOT ILLUMINE, NOR THE MOON NOR STARS; NOR THESE FLASHES OF LIGHTNING ILLUMINE. HOW CAN THIS FIRE ILLUMINE? HE SHINING EVERYTHING SHINES AFTER HIM. IT IS HIS LIGHT THAT ILLUMINES ALL. (M 14)

The emphasis on Brahman as the only Reality continues with a little difference in presentation. When we see an object, we feel it exists and also simultaneously knowledge about that object arises. This knowledge of the object is called ‘Bhati’ or ‘prakasha’ which may be translated in English as shining or revealing. Brahman is the basis of all these “prakashas’ of various objects. He shining, all this particular relative consciousness like sun, moon etc emanate from Him; this is the idea. Therefore it was said in the previous mantra that He is ‘’CHETANAH CHETANANAM” Ñ The consciousness of all consciousness, like sun. moon, wall, pot and other objects.
NA TATRA SURYO BHATI NA CHANDRA TARAKAM Ñ KUTO AYAM AGNI = The sun cannot reveal that Brahman, nor the moon, nor the stars, much less this fire.
The sun is a revealer of objects in this dark world, but this sun cannot illumine or reveal that Self, the Brahman, nor can these lesser lights like the moon etc. illumine that Self. Rather it is the Self that illumines the sun, the moon, etc. and the reason for this is stated in the text below.
TAM EVA BHANTAM ANUBHATI SARVAM TASYA BHASA SARVAM IDAM VIBHATI = By His consciousness, all relative consciousness, like the sun, moon, etc. come into being. All objects like pots, walls, moon, sun etc convey particular ideas (Prakash or Bhati) to us when we perceive them. For instance we say this is a pot, this is a wall, this is a sun etc. That One Brahman appears as these various relative conceptions (Prakash or Bhati). Therefore it is said: He shining all these shine after Him. For this reason it was said in the previous mantra that He is CHETANAH CHETANANAM. The emphasis is on Him the Supreme consciousness, whose forms are the relative consciousness of sun, moon, etc. in the world. The whole world is nothing but forms of consciousness and He is the Consciousness whose forms all these are. This relative consciousness being within the realm of subject-object, they cannot illumine Him who is subject-object-less. (M 14)

IN THE MIDST OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE ONE SUPREME SELF, HE HIMSELF IS THE FIRE THAT ABIDES IN THE WATER (THE BODY) , BY KNOWING HIM ALONE ONE GOES BEYOND DEATH; THERE IS NO OTHER PATH TO REACH THE GOAL. (M 15)
The consciousness of Vivarta which removes all realism of the subject-object world is being shown as the only way to moksha. Brahman has become the world not by transformation, but by lila or Vivarta, just as the rope becomes the snake. The full grasp of this consciousness is Moksha. Now why this is the only way is being explained.
EKAH HAMSAH = The one Supreme Self,. Hamsa, is that which destroys ignorance. Since there is no other way to knowledge except by the destruction of ignorance, knowledge of the supreme Self becomes the only way to Moksha. Avidya is wrong perception, taking the world as real, it can be destroyed only by right perception (Vivarta consciousness). Ignorance cannot go by the sword or by karma or by charity, except by Knowledge. The full understanding of the Vivarta consciousness is knowledge, which removes ignorance. Thus the sadhaka comes to know rationally why this is the only way, and attains a firm footing on the path.

HAMSA = SAMYAK DARSHAN (right perception) is called here Hamsa and also FIRE as they both destroy ignorance. The Brahma Consciousness is called Hamsa and fire, because fire and not ice is the only way to burn anything.
HAMSA WHO HIMSELF IS THE FIRE = Hamsa means one who destroys bondage or ignorance. By FIRE is meant the Brahmic consciousness residing within the sadhaka which burns away ignorance, which ignorance expresses itself as samsara and individuality.
SALILE SANNIVISHTA = That (Fire) abides in the body. The term salile which means in water, here means the body and has two interpretations.
FIRST INTERPRETATION = The body is the fruit of ones karma. As you sow, so do you reap (the body). So the body is the fruit of ones karma and in that fit body, which is the fruit of the right performance of sadhana (karma yoga), is Brahman realized. So when karma is done with the consciousness that Brahman is the abiding reality of all factors of karma (lila consciousness) it will take one to Brahma-jnana. In this interpretation, karma yoga sadhana brings one ultimately to Brahma-jnana.
SECOND INTERPRETATION = As in pure water the Sun reflects perfectly; so in a pure mind He (Brahman) shines. Pure mind means transcendental intuition in which there is no subject-object. In that pure mind He shines and destroys ignorance fully. In this interpretation salile means in transcendental intuition.
NA ANYAH PANTHA = There is no other way to freedom than this. This is the only way to Moksha. One hears of many paths like Jnana, Bhakti, Karma and Yoga, how then is this the only way? The idea is that the paths may be many but in all the paths the means must correspond to the goal and then only it becomes a path. So the consciousness in the means which must correspond to the nature of Brahman is common to all paths and therefore this consciousness of Brahman in the means is the only way to destroy ignorance. It is the knowledge of Vivarta or lila of Brahman that brings about the correspondence in the means and the goal and through that alone can one know Him. Thus the sadhaka, grasping the deep import of this illumination at this stage of his evolution, will be able to attain to intense vairagya and realize the falsity of all appearances and merge in Brahman, the only reality. The Transcendental consciousness in which there is no subject-object and which is attained through the understanding of Vivarta or lila, is the consciousness in which He shines and this destroys the Avidya. So knowing Him thus alone one goes beyond death and there is no other way. (End m 15).

HE BRINGS THE UNIVERSE INTO EXISTENCE, IS THE KNOWER OF THE UNIVERSE, THE SELF AND SOURCE OF ALL, THE KNOWER EVERYWHERE, THE CREATOR OF TIME, THE PERFECT ONE, THE OMNISCIENT; THE RULER OF THE UNMANIFEST AND THE JIVA, THE LORD OF THE QUALITIES AND THE CAUSE OF TRANSMIGRATION, RELATIVE EXISTENCE, BONDAGE AND MOKSHA. (M 16)

The only way to Moksha is to attune oneself with Brahman the subject-object-less consciousness. For this purpose the various forms of subject-object consciousness that constitute relative life are being enumerated in this mantra and simultaneously it is being pointed out, that it is the One Brahman alone who is appearing in lila in all these forms of consciousness. With this illumination the sadhaka will realize that whatever he is experiencing is Brahman and Brahman alone and get lost in Brahman, the goal. The various phases of Jiva and the world are split up, and shown as the Vivarta of that One. The sadhaka feels his existence, his consciousness, his inmost self (his I), his knowership, his enjoyership and his gross, subtle and material aspects, and the world . He also feels his bondage, relative existence, Moksha etc. All these phases of Jiva and the world in the minutest details are shown as the Vivarta of the One, so that the sadhaka may be fully convinced that the jiva and world inside and outside are nothing but Brahman. These phases of the sadhaka and the world are just like the snake on the rope (in that beautiful illustration of the Vedanta). That every part of the snake is the rope (the Brahman) is the illumination being conveyed.
SA VISHVAKRIT VISHVAVID ATMA YONI JNA = Whatever of existence is in the sadhaka and in the world and whatever consciousness is in sadhaka and in the world, belongs to Brahman. Jna refers to the ‘knower’ aspect of the Jiva. Wherever there is a knower knowing anything, it is He. Further He alone is the Source (Atma Yoni), the material and efficient cause of the jivas, including their consciousness and sense of individuality. All these have to be understood as arising from Brahman in the Vivarta sense.
SA KALA KARO GUNI SARVA VID YAH = He appears as time. He is the perfect One (sinless). He appears in lila as all phases of the jiva and the world. Since Time is a factor in all phases of the Jiva and the world, Time is taken up and shown as the Vivarta of the One.
Guni refers to the perfect (sinless) Brahman, the One without a Second in which no other exists. Sin is possible only where another exists. So all phases of Jiva and the world such as the enjoyer, the knower, the material and efficient side of the jiva and the world are the Vivarta of that Perfect nondual One (the Guni).
GUNESA = The controller of the three qualities, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. In life there is not only matter but also primordial forces of gross and subtle matter, the Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; all these are also the Vivarta of that One. As in the individual, so in all humans, animals etc., He alone appears as all these qualities. The idea is to show through qualities, that He appears (Vivarta) as every creature in the world.
PRADHANA KSHETRAJNA PATI = He is the Lord of the unmanifested, the Lord of the knower of the body and of all manifestation. Whatever is experienced in life is shown as His lila, the subtle (unmanifested) becoming the gross. For instance the sadhaka feels his existence, his consciousness, his I, the knower in him, the gross the subtle material sides of himself and the world, but all these are from that unmanifested in Vivarta sense.
SAMSARA MOKSHA STHITIH BANDHA HETU = The cause of transmigration, Liberation, continuance and bondage. The sadhaka’s repeated rotation in samsara (transmigration) is the lila of that Brahman. The sadhaka feels I was, I am, and I shall be; this is the Sthiti (continuance) phase of sadhaka and that is the lila of His. The sadhaka’s experience of bandhana or bondage in life, is also the Vivarta of the One. Further the sadhaka experiences the need for freedom or Moksha; that is also His Vivarta. By this Transcendental illumination of everything as the lila of the One, the consciousness of the sadhaka, which is steeped in appearance (in the snake), taking it as real due to ignorance, will get concentrated on the rope, the Brahman, the only Real. (End m 16).

HE IS THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE, THE IMMORTAL, THE RULER FROM WITHIN (THE UNIVERSE), THE KNOWER, THE OMNIPRESENT PROTECTOR OF THIS UNIVERSE AND WHO RULES THIS WORLD ETERNALLY. NO OTHER AGENT EXISTS WHO RULES (THE WORLD). (M 17)

In this mantra two additional phases of Brahma lila are told in addition to those in mantra 16.
BHUVANASYA ASYA GOPTA = Protector of this universe. In the world we observe a protecting force everywhere. Millions of huge objects like the planets are rotating in space but they do not collide and destroy themselves, because of a protecting force behind. This protecting force everywhere is His lila.
YAH ISE ASYA JAGATO NITYAMEVA = He who rules this world perfectly and constantly.
There is a Rulership aspect of Him in the world that can be observed. Without His ruling, things do not take place in the world. For example in the mother’s breast, milk comes due to the coordinating function of several nerves and other factors, the rulership is evident there in that coordination. This rulership is also His lila.
ISHAH SAMSTHAH = His rulership is based on His being identical with the universe and is not of a dualistic nature. It is not a relative rulership involving two, but a transcendental rulership where the ruler and the ruled are identical. He is not the Lord, lording over somebody else, but is both the Lord and Lorded. He is behind all vibrations of thought and movement in the Advaitic sense, just as the rope rules every movement of the snake being its very substratum.
SA TANMAYO = His existence and consciousness is the Self of everything. He is the existence of the sadhaka and his consciousness in lila. For example the sadhaka’s feeling his own existence and being consciousness of his father and mother are His lila appearances in those forms.
AMRITA = He is Immortal. Inspite of appearing as vibrations of thought, as sense perceptions and the world of names and forms through His power of lila, He ever remains the Unchangeable and Immortal One, without any change in Him. This signifies His Transcendence over all phenomena.
NA ANYA HETU VIDYATE ISHANAYA = None else is the cause for the rulership in the world. The idea is He himself is the Ruler and the Ruled and therefore none other than Him rules the world. He alone appears as the Ruler, Ruled and rulership in Vivarta sense. (End m 17).

HE WHO CREATED BRAHMA IN THE BEGINING AND WHO INDEED DELIVERED THE VEDAS UNTO HIM, IN THAT VERY DEITY, THE ILLUMINATOR OF THE SELF, I, CRAVING FOR LIBERATION, SEEK REFUGE. (M 18)

YO BRAHMANAM VIDADHATI PURVAM YO VAI VEDANSCHA PRAHINOTI TASMAI.
The significance of the first two lines of the mantra is that Brahma (the cosmic Being) from whom the gross world emanates is the lila of that One Brahman. The Vedas are also the lila of that very One. Thus there is nothing in this world, that is not He. Therefore the sadhaka as a separate entity does not exist and the sadhaka has to be convinced of this. Therefore based on the above truth, the sadhaka has to know that the subject-object world that is experienced by him, being mere appearance is to be transcended in its gross and subtlest aspects right from the beginning of sadhana upto the attainment of Samadhi. On the basis of this thorough going illumination, which has been the theme throughout the Upanishad and in this chapter, the sadhaka has come to understand, not emotionally but rationally, that his I or individuality has no existence at all and is the greatest obstruction to realization and therefore has to be transcended. He accordingly feels convinced that without complete surrender of his “I” at the feet of Reality there is no other way left. So the Shruti at this point reveals the mental condition of the sadhaka showing his intense desire for surrender along with intense desire for Moksha or freedom, in the following words.
TAM HA DEVAM ATMABUDDHIPRAKASHAM MUMUKSHUR VAI SHARANAM AHAM PRAPADYE = I who am seeking for liberation take refuge in that deity who verily illumines my understanding of the Atman. The expression the “Deity illumines”, is to show that right understanding in a sadhaka, comes through His lila (the manifestation or the effect of His grace) and is not an achievement of the sadhaka who does not exist in the state of realization. This attitude of surrender is the automatic outcome of Knowledge and not an expression of emotion. Surrender reinforces the emphasis on Brahman as the only Reality, which has been the theme throughout. It implies there is no individuality of the sadhaka separate from Brahman. The new point is, that this surrender will come only in one aspiring for Moksha or freedom and not in others. Few feel they are in bondage and have to be released from bondage. Rather the normal person feels life as charming, pleasurable and full of enjoyment. So in this mantra the need for surrender by the light of knowledge of Brahman and the desire to get out of bondage as a necessity is emphasized. That Brahman is the background of the life of sadhaka and of the world is the content of the first two lines of the text. In the next two lines, aspiration for real freedom and surrender are shown as offshoots of real understanding of the truth. By the above knowledge sadhaka will attain to transcendental union or oneness with the Reality. He will know that the physical, the psychological and the metaphysical states of sadhaka and the world are all Brahman in lila. This is Atma Buddhi.
ATMA BUDDHI PRASADAM = He who makes the attainment of the knowledge of the Self, favorable (by his grace). The idea is that the sadhaka’s I or individuality can have no place in the knowledge of the Self, because in that state no sadhaka can exist. So prasadam or grace indicates that sadhaka, sadhana and siddhi (the realization), all three are Brahman in lila or the Vivarta of Brahman. There is no function of individuality as an instrument (of intuition or knowledge) in realization. The whole process is the lila of Brahman.
ATMA BUDDHI PRAKASHAM = This is another reading of the same text. The world and I do not exist; He the Brahman is the reality of both. This consciousness gained by sadhaka is called Atma Buddhi Prakasham which in essence is the same as explained under Prasadam. The word Prasadam is a devotional expression and Prakasham is a knowledgeful expression of the same Truth.
MUMUKSHUR VAI SHARANAM AHAM PRAPADYE = Aspiring for freedom I seek refuge in the Reality. The importance and necessity of aspiring for freedom from bondage is being stressed, which alone can bring the real attitude of surrender for realization, as has already been explained and both these are imperative for realization. (End m 18).

(IN THAT) PARTLESS, ACTIONLESS, TRANQUIL, FAULTLESS, TAINTLESS, THE SUPREME BRIDGE TO IMMORTALITY AND (WHO IS) LIKE THE FIRE OF A BLAZING LOG (I TAKE REFUGE). (M 19)

The Truth is extremely subtle because there is not the least trace of “I” and world in it. Until now the truth was told superimposing the phenomenal world on the Reality and showing it as the lila of the Reality. This emphasis on lila makes the sadhaka believe in a subtle existence of lila, which is an obstruction to the merging in the Absolute Brahman. To remove all traces of reality of I and world, that may linger in understanding lila or appearance, the Shruti describes now the Absolute nature of reality with no touch of the world phenomenon in It; the Reality in itself, in its Nirvikalpa (manifestationless) state. Since the real import of the lila consciousness can only be grasped after descent from the samadhi experience, the nature of that absolute state is being described, where, no trace of I, world, or anything called appearance, exists, with a view to illumine the sadhaka.
DAGDHA INDHANAM EVA ANALAM = Like the fire of a fully blazing faggot. Just as, in the fire of a fully blazing faggot there is no trace of smoke, so also there is not the least trace of the world (of subject and object), when the absolute nature of reality flashes (Samadhi). Fire and fire alone inside and outside is seen in the faggot, so also Brahman and Brahman alone everywhere is seen in the state of Samadhi. By this knowledge the sadhaka’s intuition will take an Absolute Transcendental turn, removing all traces of reality of lila that may linger in the sadhaka, plunging him into Samadhi.
NISHKALAM NISHKRIYAM, SANTAM, NIRAVADYAM, NIRANJANAM = Partless, Actionless, Tranquil, Faultless and Taintless. The subject-object-less Reality has no parts, so also is it actionless, faultless etc. since there is no subject and object in It. There is nothing like the phenomenal world (the snake) in it, It is all Rope and Rope alone. This understanding will lead to total surrender of the I of the sadhaka, leading to samadhi.
AMRITASYA PARAM SETU = The supreme bridge to Immortality. This Absolute intuition of Brahman is the bridge to Immortality. It is an intuition which corresponds to the Absolute nature of Brahman. So in a way Brahman itself is the bridge to reach Brahman, because of Absolute correspondence of the means and the goal. By the above illumination the Vritti (Vikalpa) realization of the sadhaka will become the Dipti (Nirvikalpa) realization. The intuition becomes Absolute and Perfect realization follows. (End M19)

WHEN MEN WILL (BE ABLE TO) ROLL UP THE SKY, LIKE HIDE, THEN WILL THERE BE THE END OF SORROW, WITHOUT KNOWING THE DEITY. (M 20)

Just as it would be an impossible feat for men to roll up the vast sky as if it is a piece of hide, so also without the knowledge of Brahman, it will be impossible to get rid of sorrow. The stress here is on the impossibility of getting rid of sorrow by any other means than by the knowledge of Brahman. So understanding this, one has to struggle to realize Brahman and be convinced there is no other way to get rid of sorrow. Sorrow is caused by ignorance which in essence is taking the body and mind as real and as the Self. But the Self is bodiless and beyond mind. Therefore it is only the knowledge of the subject-object-less Self, that can bring about the end of sorrow and no other means exists for that. The sadhaka has to be convinced about this truth and try his utmost to realize that subject-object-less Brahman in his life.
TADA DEVAM AVIJNAYA DUKHASYAANTAH BHAVISHYATI = Then without knowing the Deity will men attain the end of sorrow! So long as one does not have the knowledge of the Self, he will be born amongst creatures (including animals) being deluded, will experience this phenomenal world, will transmigrate and suffer pain and sorrow. There is no way of escaping this misery but by realizing ones Absolute nature as free from hunger, sorrow, death and devoid of this relative existence. Therefore the Shruti says that one should be fully convinced that ignorance (sorrow and misery), can only be destroyed by knowledge and by no other means. (End m 20)

THE RISHI SVETASVATARA BY THE POWER OF AUSTERITIES AND BY THE GRACE OF GOD REALISED THE SUPREME BRAHMAN AND FULLY TAUGHT THIS SUPREMELY HOLY TRUTH, CHERISHED BY THE RISHIS, TO THE HIGHEST ORDER OF MONKS. (M 21)

The Rishis are the real revealers of the transcendental truths of the Vedas (scriptures) concerning the Self. Svetasvatara himself a Rishi, expounds this supreme truth, being a vidwan (one who has realised the truth) and not a mere Pandit (having bookish knowledge). He realized the truth by the power of austerities (karmayoga) which made him fit for the transcendental meditation on the truth. The power of austerities (sadhana) performed was through the instructions of a guru. So the truth can come only from a man of realization and not from mere scholars; this is the idea. The need for tremendous faith in the scriptures being the revelations of the Rishis, for realizing the Truth is being stressed. The truth comes from a guru who has transcended his human personality and become one with truth and not from others howsoever great they might be in the relative world.
ATYASHRAMIBHYAH = Highest order of monks. This signifies the tremendous fitness required of the sadhaka before he can realize or even understand the transcendental truth. Their own intellectual conceptions of Truth or those of famous intellectuals (scholars) in the world carry very often sadhakas away. This cannot take one to the Truth as the Truth is transcendental and beyond speech and mind. Therefore the only authority for Truth, are the scriptures which are the Transcendental revelations of the Rishis. So one has to develop deep faith on the scriptures for realizing the truth. The Rishi Svetasvatara realized this Transcendental Impersonal Truth by becoming fit and then revealed that realization to his disciples and not his personal whims or intellectual ideas about Truth. The Scriptures are the revelations of one who has Transcended ‘I & mine’ completely, and so one has to develop deep faith in the statements of the scriptures, as they are the only source for understanding the nature of transcendental truth. This idea the Shruti expresses in the last two lines of the mantra.
TAPAH PRABHAVAT DEVA PRASADAT CHA = Through the power of austerities and through the grace of God. For realizing the Truth the Rishi Svetasvatara made himself psychologically fit by sadhana, developing his own spiritual personality. Karma yoga (TAPAH) is for purity of mind and after that to be absorbed in the transcendental truth without the least sense of ‘I & mine’ is necessary. When the ‘I & mine’ completely goes, Brahman flashes and this is called the grace of God. The idea is that he does not realize the truth by his I, but when his I goes, God comes in automatically and that is called grace. For this, several lives of sadhana and tapasya (austerities) have been generally observed to be necessary.
ATYASHRAMIBHYAH = Those who have renounced the world, the monks are meant. Because naturally they will be free to a large extent from the sense of I and Mine. The Rishi Svetasvatara delivered this knowledge of Brahman to fit disciples (monks who symbolize fitness). The fitness is directly related to the degree of renunciation or the giving up of all worldly desires and attachments for the sake of living in God. The fitness is required not only of the teacher but of the taught as well. One has to train himself to be fit to receive the Truth. Otherwise even to grasp the ideas of lila and Vivarta would be difficult, not to speak of realization. Four grades of renouncers or monks have been described in the scriptures and the highest amongst these is referred to as Atyashrami in the text, who is perfectly fit to grasp the Truth; while others are fit to a lesser degree.
PARAMAM PAVITRAM = Supremely holy truth. Every spiritual Truth is holy, but this knowledge of Brahman is supremely holy since it is a revelation.
SAMYAG RISHI SANGA JUSTAM = The Truth which is realized and conveyed through a traditional succession of teachers and disciples is meant. Samyag refers to the fact that both the teacher and the taught fulfilled the conditions required for realization. The Truth is revealed by a Guru to his disciple, who in turn becomes the Guru and conveys it to his disciples. Thus the traditional line of gurus and disciples reveals the Truth in this world and not by intellectual philosophers or scholars; this is the idea. Only a guru who has realized the Truth can convey it to another. The Shruti is emphasizing the need for actual realization or experience before it can be conveyed. This has been the traditional law of spiritual fulfillment by illumined teachers and their disciples. This tradition is not to be confused with sects etc. Sanga indicates a traditional line of illumined gurus and Svetasvatara was one such illumined Rishi. Sampradaya refers to the traditional line of Gurus and disciples who are spiritually illumined to convey the truth and not to any particular sect. It is by hearing from such gurus alone and meditating on the Truth that realization dawns in the disciple. Thus the Brahma Vidya (knowledge of Brahman) continues to be revealed in the world through the Guru-Sishya Parampara (tradition). (End m 21)

THE SUPREMELY MYSTERIOUS KNOWLEDGE IN THE UPANISHADS WAS TAUGHT IN THE PREVIOUS CYCLE. IT IS NOT TO BE GIVEN TO ONE WHO IS NOT SELF CONTROLLED, NOR TO ONE WHO IS NOT A SON, NOR AGAIN TO ONE WHO IS NOT A DISCIPLE. (M 22)

Earlier the emphasis was on the right consciousness, now the requisites for realization are being emphasized.
VEDANTE PARAMAM GUHYAM PURAKALPE PRACHODITAM Ñ The mysterious knowledge that is in all the Upanishads, was taught in the previous Cycle (former Age) .The previous Cycle suggests that the Truth was revealed again and again in the past and will continue to be revealed in the future as well, being the eternal truth. It also suggests that the traditional line of Gurus (Sampradaya) is not a sect but refers to their realization. They are not founders of Sects but discoverers of truth. GUHYA means the truth is deep and transcendental, hidden in the inmost being of man and therefore requires intense sadhana to unveil it. The Upanishads are the revelations of Rishis who directly realized the truth. Therefore one has to develop faith on the Upanishads. The previous cycle also suggests that the Transcendental Truth that is in the Upanishads is eternal and does not require any further research, but only requires to be unveiled, realized or discovered. The Truth being Eternal and Unchanging is not to be created, as it exists Eternally. The Rishis who had become fit by purifying themselves discovered the Eternal Truth in themselves in every age. Thus came the tradition of a succession of teachers and disciples of the Truth. The truth is called the Eternal religion or Sanatana Dharma, Transcending Time and Space, as it is Ever Existing and Unchanging, like the law of gravitation. It has only to be revealed and for that certain conditions are fundamental. These are highlighted in this mantra.
NA APRASANTHAYA DHATAVYAM NA APUTRAYA ASISHYAYA VA PUNAH Ñ It is not to be given to one who has no self-control, or to one who is not a son, or to one who is not a disciple.
The importance of fitness is being emphasized. A person without self-control and a slave to attachment and passions is totally unfit to receive the Truth and therefore one should carefully test a disciple before imparting this Transcendental Truth. The significance of a son is to show that a loving relation as between a son and father should exist between the Guru and disciple before the Truth can be conveyed. Because it is love that opens the door to realization. Only a true disciple will have faith and love in the guru and his teachings and hence the mention of discipleship. It also implies that the Truth is not to be given to a son or disciple out of mere affection or attachment, if they have no self-control or discipleship in them. These statements are emphasizing the high degree of fitness required. If a person is not fit one should rather make him fit by Karma Yoga and other disciplines, but not thrust this Transcendental Truth on him out of attachment. Otherwise it may even destroy his present spiritual attitude and obstruct his future spiritual evolution as well. (End m 22)

HE WHO HAS SUPREME LOVE TO GOD AND EQUAL LOVE TO HIS GURU, TO THAT GREAT SOUL INDEED, THESE TRUTHS (THAT HAVE BEEN) SPOKEN BECOME REVEALED. (M 23)

The emphasis again is on the intense love required of the disciple for his Guru. He must have as much love to the Guru as to the Supreme Lord. He must see God Himself in the guru and love him. A sadhaka may have fitness, but if he lacks love for the ideal (God) and Guru, then realization is hard to achieve. So the tremendous importance of a loving relation with the Guru is stressed. It is only then the knowledge of Brahman will flash in the sadhaka. Shankara illustrates the type of intense love required. Just as a man whose head is on fire runs straight to the nearest source of water without any side glances to the right or left, so also does the sadhaka run to the Guru to quench the fire of ignorance, that has been tormenting him. Tremendous Vairagya for the world realizing its utter voidness and intense desire to know the Truth from the Guru is implied. It is then only that realization flashes. This of course, is characteristic of the ideal sadhaka, but all others also have to struggle to approach this ideal gradually. (End m23)

May He protect us both (the teacher and the taught) together (from dangers and obstructions to intuition). May (that knowledge) fulfill us both. May we have fitness and vigor (for knowledge). Let what we study be revealing. May our relationship be undying. Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS

A number of philosophical terms that appear frequently in these notes, and that may require some additional clarification, are listed together in this technical glossary for the convenience of the reader.

1. Brahma Lila: This has reference to the phenomenal universe, perceived by all as such. The theory of Maya is one of the main pillars on which Vedanta rests. It proposes that the Absolute Brahman, the One without a Second, indirectly described as “Existence-Consciousness-Bliss” but wholly beyond mind and speech, is the only reality. This Absolute perceived through time, space, and causation (or name and form) appears as the universe. Time, space, and causation are like the lens through which the Absolute is seen. So, the universe as such is merely an appearance of Brahman. By Brahma Lila consciousness is meant this appearance of Brahman as the universe. As opposed to this, the universe perceived as a real entity constitutes ignorance. Brahma Lila consciousness is the real and correct perception. Using Shankaracharya’s snake-rope analogy, it means to see the universe (analogous to the snake) as an appearance of Brahman (here analogous to the rope). Brahma Lila consciousness is not an intellectual proposition, but is the outcome of purity, and is to be actually felt in one’s being. Furthermore, one cannot feel this Brahma Lila consciousness without a deep conviction of the falsity of the world as experienced. Only those who know in their heart of hearts that the subject-object world experience is false will be able to feel this. So renunciation (vairagya) and purity are indispensable for feeling this Brahma lila consciousness. One will then feel that this subject-object world experience, which is absolutely false as such, is really but the appearance of Brahman. This is the Brahma lila consciousness. Without first feeling that God alone is real and all else is illusory, this Brahma lila consciousness cannot be felt.

2. Subject-Object Consciousness and Subject-Objectless Consciousness: This is a unique way of explaining the consciousness of ignorance and the consciousness of knowledge. This was Swami Bhaskareshwarananda’s approach in teaching the truths of Vedanta and his entire teachings seem to center around this method. We can trace this method of approach in Shankaracharya’s commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads as well. Even Sri Krishna in the Gita has stated that all mankind proceed to the truth through these two types of consciousness. For example in verse 3 of chapter III of the Gita, the Lord mentions that these two “nishthas” or paths of consciousness were in vogue from time immemorial. He calls one of these, the way of work (Karma), whose approach is characterized by subject-object consciousness, and calls the other the way of Jnana, or knowledge, whose approach is based on subject-objectless consciousness. A person under the spell of ignorance will find himself compelled to follow the path of karma. Such a person believes in the duality of existence; namely, the subject (himself), and the world (the object). He wishes therefore to interact with the world and that is karma and is natural for him. On the other hand, a person who has spiritual knowledge (jnana) believes the subject to be the reality and the object to be also the same reality. There is therefore in him no desire for the subject to interact with the object. Because he has understood through his whole being that all is one, therefore his mind gravitates towards the realm of subject-objectlessness, since he has understood that to be the truth. The process of evolution to the highest truth is through these two forms of consciousness, or paths, and there is a categorical difference between them. The whole of the Vedas has been divided between these two, namely the karmakanda and the jnanakanda. This shows that there are two paths. Are there then two separate goals to be reached? No, the one goal of both is the subject-objectless state, but the vedic sages, knowing that the vast majority of mankind dwell in the realm of subject-object consciousness, have provided a gradual path (karma) leading to the higher state of subject-objectlessness the realm of jnana.

3. Advaita Bhakti: When advaita (Oneness with the Reality) is realized through feeling, that is called Advaita Bhakti, as distinct from Advaita jnana realized through knowledge or reasoning through the intellect. We can thus differentiate two paths, but there is really no difference since the goal of both is Oneness. May be the advaitist following bhakti makes himself extremely humble, and uses such expressions as “I am nothing”, “I am the dust of your feet”, “Thou art everything” etc. Thus he loses his “I” completely and attains to oneness with God. In his sadhana he emphasizes love to the Divine based on the non-existence of his I or his individuality and existence as belonging only to the reality. The advaita jnani, as distinct from the advaita bhakta, on the other hand, identifies himself with the Absolute, expanding his “I” to the highest extent until it becomes one with the only existence, Brahman. Here also the apparent “I” disappears as only the infinite remains. In both cases the apparent individuality or “I” disappears in Brahman. Therefore, Sri Ramakrishna said that pure bhakti and pure jnana are one and the same. This purity is attained when the “I” of ignorance, which makes the sadhaka feel separate from God, vanishes totally. This happens in both cases, only the method is different. The greater the loss of individuality, the greater is one’s purity in the realm of the spirit. This purity indicating the loss of individuality is common to both bhakti and jnana.

4. Illumination of subject-object consciousness by subject-object-less consciousness (refers to sadhana). Absolute subject-objectless consciousness is realized only in samadhi, when one realizes one’s identity with Brahman. This is the highest degree of subject-objectless consciousness. But there are lower degrees of this before realization is reached, which may be called as the intuition of the Absolute. This subject-objectless consciousness is, as Sri Ramakrishna explained, “naham, naham, tuhum, tuhum”, “not I, not I, but Thou and its extreme form is samadhi, but there can be lower subtler forms where the “I” is to a great extent attenuated, and known as unreal but not totally non-existent. In that state one feels “Thou alone art”. This lower degree of understanding which is an intuitive knowledge of the Absolute is also called the subject-objectless consciousness because it reflects the nature of Brahman. The subject-object consciousness of ignorance is illumined, when this subject-object-less consciousness dawns in the sadhaka. It is just like saying that the “not I but Thou” consciousness illumines the consciousness of “I” and “mine”. So we may say that the functioning of the subject-objectless consciousness in the sadhaka purifies him or enables him to illumine the false subject-object consciousness of ignorance being experienced by him. The perception of sameness everywhere (samyak darsana) is the means and also the goal. When it becomes a fact in one’s life it is samadhi, but till such time it remains as the means. In this sense subject-objectless consciousness is the means for the illumination of subject-object consciousness, (or the ignorance consciousness) and also the goal. Therefore samyak darsana (perception of sameness) means subject-objectless consciousness. The ancient seers of the shruti have said “sarvam khalvidam Brahma”, (“Everything here is that very Brahman”). It follows that in Brahman there can be no subject and no object because everything is one. So Brahman is of the nature of subject-object-less consciousness. Whom does this statement of the scriptures benefit? It is for those who dwell in ignorance within the realm of subject-object consciousness. Therefore, for the dawning of illumination it is necessary to struggle to achieve this subject-objectless consciousness. This struggle becomes karma yoga, when the karma is done with this subject object-less consciousness, in spite of subject object consciousness prevailing, while performing karma. So also the same subject object-less sadhana has to be brought in Bhakti yoga, Jnanayoga and Raja Yoga for realizing the truth through those Yogas.

5. Vyutthan: This is the state of descent to the relative world after samadhi. The Incarnations of God are called “avataras”. The word “avatarana” means to descend. The avatara is one who has descended from his absolute, natural state to a state of manifestation. One must understand that the state of manifestation in normal individuals is in ignorance and is a state of bondage, since they are not aware of their higher state, the Absolute, which is their true nature. The avataras, as also certain other categories of realized souls, can come down from the Absolute State, however their manifested state remains fully illumined, unlike that of the ignorant, because of their experience of Samadhi. This coming down again to the realm of “I” and “mine” the relative, after full illumination or Samadhi is called “Vyutthan”. It must be admitted, however, that from the highest standpoint, ascent or descent, manifested or unmanifested states, ignorance or wisdom, are all terms within the domain of Maya. Brahman alone is, one and totally without any second entity; there is not the least trace of multiplicity here (“Ekam eva advayam brahma; neha nanasti kincana”).

6. JNANA NISHTHA: Steadiness in spiritual knowledge or consciousness. It refers to the state just before the attainment of samadhi. The sadhaka commences his spiritual journey with an inkling of jnana or knowledge, but along with it functions his ignorance as well. But as he advances in jnana, ignorance gradually diminishes and jnana alone becomes predominant. The consciousness of jnana then flows like the unbroken and continuous stream of oil, poured from one vessel into another. The vibrations of ignorance completely disappear. No other object or consciousness other than Brahman remains in his mind. The subject objectlessness of jnana prevails. Thus this state called jnana nishta precedes the samadhi experience, before he becomes one with Brahman. In the state of Jnana nishta he is totally convinced that Brahman is the only existence, but he has yet to realize that truth which is only in the form of unwavering conviction. The obstruction to that realization is his subtle “I” through which he feels his identity with Brahman. That is to say the “feeler” of identity or the subtle “I” remains in the state of Jnana nishta, and for that reason it is not yet realization.

7. BHAKTI NISHTHA: Steadiness in (Advaita Bhakti). Through love the sadhaka, attains to the oneness of existence instead of through knowledge, the other steps as indicated under Jnana nishtha, till realization is reached will equally apply here.

8. UPASANA: Means, “literally sitting near”. It also can mean mentally approaching an ideal. The Vedas are divided into two parts the Karma Kanda and the Jnana Kanda. Upasana we may call that which bridges these two. The largest portion of the Vedas is the Karma Kanda dealing mainly with rites and duties and is of the nature of Sakama or motivated actions. Jnana is the other end of the Vedas representing the highest human goal characterized by absolute non-attachment and absolute desirelesness. It is Upasana that brings about the evolution from the state of Karma Kanda to the state of Jnana. Upasana may be described as a kind of mental activity (meditation) auxiliary to karma yoga , which will transform the motivated actions (rites and duties) of the Karma Kanda bringing about purity in the sadhaka, gradually evolving him into higher states up to the Saguna Brahman. Upasana (meditation) is a continuos flow of similar mental modifications of the mind in relation to some object (indicated by the scriptures). Upasana also means meditating on the forms of God like Sri Ramakrishna, Christ etc. To feel God within is an act of Upasana. Upasana will also mean love and adoration of the forms of Deities; singing praises of the Lord etc. It also means the bringing together of the diversified chit (mind) into single unified continuous thought current. As a matter of fact the whole effort of sadhana from the gross Karma kanda up to the attaining of Saguna Brahman can be termed as Upasana. This purifies the mind and evolves the sadhaka in the grasping of higher ideas up to the Saguna Brahman. The mention of Saguna Brahman does not imply that there are two, Saguna and Nirguna, it is because the sadhaka cannot conceive the Nirguna Brahman in his present stage of evolution. Upasana even though falling within the realm of subject and object contains some knowledge of the subject-objectless Brahman, which is the cause for evolution. Here is a quotation from the sricptures. “By rites and duties one attains the world of manes, through Upasana the world of Gods”.

9. ADVAITA VRITTI: Advaita means the oneness of existence. Vritti indicates a mental modification of mind through which the individual is experiencing the oneness with Brahman. This is a very high state of achievement no doubt, just below the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, accompanied with immense joy, but is not perfect realization. That is to say, the “I” of the individual still remains in that realization. The sadhaka can fall to lower levels even from this high state. Describing this state Sri Ramakrishna said, it is just like looking at the flame of a lantern through the glass covering. One is prevented by the glass to touch the flame (the Brahman) and become one with it, even though one is eager to do so. That glass is the “I” obstructing realization.

10. ADVAITA DIPTTI: The sadhaka understands through the light of knowledge that his “I” is obstructing the perfect realization. Through further sadhana by the light of illumination he removes all traces of “I” and becomes lost in the Nirvikalpa Brahman and thus attains to perfect realization.

About Swami Bhaskareshwarananda
(expounder of Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Svetasvatara Upanishad)p align=justify> Swami Bhaskareshwarananda (1897—1976) was born in West Bengal in the Eastern Province of India. He had his college education in Calcutta and obtained bachelor’s degree from the University of Calcutta. His intense eagerness for God realization brought him in close touch with Swami Shivananda (Mahapurush Maharaj) a brother disciple of the world famous Swami Vivekananda. He Joined the Ramakrishna Monastery (some time in the 1920’s) and later received his Sanyasa from his guru Mahapursh Maharaj, the then head of the Ramakrishna World Order of monks and world Mission. He was an extaordinarily rare Spiritual soul of a high order and was the founder President of the Ramakrishna Center at Nagpur, India (1928—1976). To a question from the author of this book, he replied that there was no longer any question of coming and going (the cycle of birth and death) for him, indicating his having attained the Absolute Goal, the highest state of God realization spoken of in all religions.

From Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works (1997 Edition), Volume III, page 182:

“The thoughful men of the West find in our ancient (Hindu) philosophy, especially in the Vedanta, the new impulse of thought they are seeking, the very spiritual food and drink for which they are hungering and thirsting. And it is no wonder that it is so.”

About the author

Born 4 Feb 1925. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering, University of Madras, India 1945. Served under the Government of India, in various Departments as an Engineer and resigned the service in 1970 to devote to an exclusively spiritual life. While in service was living in close touch with his spiritual teacher the Swami Bhaskareshwarananda at Nagpur, attending his Scriptural classes. Was initiated into spiritual life by Revered Swami Sankarananda in 1952, the then President of the worldwide Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement, India. Later came in close touch with Revered Swami Bhaskareshwarananda, president of the Ramakrishna Spiritual Center, Nagpur, India in 1953. Studied the Vedanta Philosophy under him for eighteen years practicing spiritual disciplines under his guidance till his passing away in 1976. Took the spiritual vow of Sanyasa in 1987 from Kailash Ashram Rishikesh, India.
Lectured extensively in India on religion and philosophy. Visited the USA six times between 1986 and 1999 and lectured on the Vedanta philosophy in many cities. Also lectured in Europe in 1995. In March 1998 delivered the prestigious “Thomas Merton Series Lecture” at Palm Desert, California, arranged by the spiritual Ministry, on the Subject of “Universal Religion”. The author, who studied under the Swami Bhaskareshwarananda as above, dived deep into the thoughts expressed by the Swami during his classes and further with the help of his class notes on this Upanishad has brought out this work, harmonizing and integrating the deep and subtle thought and bringing clarity and continuity to the whole work, for the benefit of students who are deeply interested in the transcendental knowledge of this Upanishad.