The knowledge of Nirguna Brahman

Gita essays – 15

Knowledge of Nirguna Brahman is called Para vidya in Mundakpopanishad, as this is the knowledge of unchanging eternal Reality and this knowledge is also glorified as one knowing which everything else becomes known. It is the teaching of this knowledge that Lord Krishna takes up as a means of Liberation here and now, Sadyo mukthi or Jivan mukthi, at the start of chapter 9 of Gita.  He introduces this knowledge by describing it glowingly to keep Arjuna interested in the teaching in verse 2.

This is the greatest knowledge, the greatest secret, the most sacred, directly experienceable, unopposed to dharma, very easy to pursue and imperishable. (9-2)

The glory of this knowledge is lited as:

1)    This is the greatest knowledge because it deals with the only absolute Reality, Nirguna Brahman and it also gives Liberation with its fruits of fulfilment and bliss even during one’s life time. 

2)    It is the greatest secret as this is the knowledge about the Self indwelling in the body and about the identity of the individual Self with the Supreme Self that is to be realized by oneself after learning sastras from a competent teacher.  

3)    It is the most sacred as it purifies destroying all the accumulated karmas on realization, like a lamp that destroys darkness immediately.

4)    The benefit can be immediately experienced

5)    It is in keeping with Vedic teaching as the teaching is taken from upanishads.. 

6)    Gaining through this knowledge, Liberation as Jivan mukthi, is much easier as compared to the process of gaining Liberation through krama mukthi. 

7)    The benefit of Liberation, obtained through this knowledge, is eternal. 

To acquire this knowledge and get out of samsara, the seeker should have shraddha in the scriptures and the teacher as well, warns Lord in the next verse.  Then he starts describing Nirguna Brahma swarupam as:

1)    He is avyaktha, formless i.e. not available for perception by any sense-organs.

2)    He is all-pervading, sarvagatha, and has no spatial limitation;

3)    He is Jagat aadharam or Jagat adhishtanam, the resting place of the entire universe.

4)    He is asangha, unattached. 

5)    He is the srishti, sthithi, laya karanam of this entire universe

6)    He is not a kartha or bhoktha but only a mere sakshi.

Let us see in detail each aspect of His Swarupam.   Firstly He is stated to be avyakthah, formless.  Mundakopanishad (1-1-5) describes Nirguna Brahman as “invisible, ungraspable, ----- without attributes; has neither eyes, nor ears, nor hands, nor feet”.  Kathopanishad (1-3-15) also describes Him as “soundless, touchless, colourless,--- tasteless, eternal, odourless” etc.,  Since He has no form, He has no space limitations and is all-pervading, Sarvagataha.  Just as the wind rests in space, the entire universe rests in Him.  But as the universe is mithya and not Satyam, He is not in the Universe though Universe is in Him.  We can see it through an example.  In the semi-darkness a rope is mistaken for a snake. Here the snake is mithya and rope is satyam. Here we can say that the mithya snake is in the Satyam rope but not the Satyam rope in the mithya snake.  So Nirguna Brahman is mithya Jagat adhishtanam.  He is asangha, unattached like the space, which is the resting place of the wind that is not attached to any of the odours, pleasant or unpleasant, the wind carries.  Further as space sustains the wind, He also supports the Universe. So He is the sthithi karanam.  As the night falls at the end of one day time of Brahmaji,, which is equal to one chathur yuga and called kalpa, the entire created world dissolves into unmanifested condition in His Prakrithi, Maya, and is thrown again into manifest condition as new creation when night, of another kalpa duration, ends and a new day dawns in Brahmaji’s life.  This process of creation and dissolution goes on eternally in a cyclic process. So He is also srishti, laya karanam.  Putting together this and the previous space and wind analogy, we can say He is the srishti, sthithi, laya karanam of the entire universe. Though we say He is the karanam of creation and dissolution of the universe, He has no karthruthvam or bhokthruthvam and is only a witness to this cyclic process. It is His inseparable power Maya that keeps the cycle of srishti and laya going in His presence.  So He is not a kartha or a bhoktha but a sakshi only.

It is the ignorance of Nirguna Brahman, the higher nature of Brahman as Para prakriti, who is beyond time and space and attributeless, that is the cause of samsara, Lord Krishna points out in verse 11.  Not knowing His higher nature, Para prakrithi, people know of Him only through His lower nature, apara prakrithi, as Saguna Brahman only, with form and attributes. Apara prakrithi is subject to time and space and so cannot give eternal release from bondage and so these people cannot escape from samsara.  Then he talks of two sets of these people.  One set of people driven by their dominant rajasic and tamasic tendencies are possessed of the delusive nature of Rakshasas and Asuras, with wrong knowledge, vain desires and vain hopes and act without viveka.  Kathopanishad describes such people as “Living in the midst of ignorance and considering themselves intelligent and enlightened, the senseless people go round and round following crooked courses, just like the blind led by the blind”. (1-2-5)

The other set of people who are of satvic nature worship Him with a single-minded devotion.  Knowing He is the source of all things in creation, they see Him in all persons and objects of creation, as a knowledgeable person sees gold in all golden ornaments.  They constantly sing His glory and prostrate before The Lord with total detachment, surrendering all false identifications arising out of the ego-consciousness.  Lord calls these people with divine nature whose life is a continuous worship of Him as mahathmas.  There are yet other people with wisdom who engage in jnana yajna and offer worship in many ways knowing Him as one and as distinct.  Just as oblation is offered in fire in yajna, in jnana yajna, false knowledge and wrong knowledge is offered (destroyed), in the fire of correct knowledge.  Here Lord describes Himself as “Viswathomukham”, who has faces everywhere, as a  revealation of His Viswarupa.   To show He is everything and there is nothing apart from Him, He lists as a sample the following 36 items as Himself only in the next four verses.  They are:

kratu, the Vedic ritual; yajna, the sacrifice; svadha, offering to the departed; aushadham, herbage and food grains; mantrah, sacred chanting; ajyam, clarified butter; agni, fire; pitha, father (of the world); matha, mother (of the world); dhatha, sustainer (of the world); pithamaha, grandfather (of the world);vedhyam, the one to be known; pavithram, purifier; Omkara, the syllable Om; Rik, Sama, Yajur Vedas; gatih, supreme goal; bharta, supporter; Prabu, Lord; sakshi, witness; nivasah, abode; saranam, refuge; suhrit, well-wisher; prabhavah, origin; pralayah, dissolution; sthaanam, substratum; nidhanam, storehouse; avyayam beejam, imperishable seed; tapami, radiate heat (as the Sun); varsham, rainfall; amritha, immortality; mrityu, death, sat, being and asat, non-being.

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