Saddarsanam -2

(Verses 6 to 10)

Verse 6

Sarupa-buddhir-jagatisvare ca sarupa-dhir-athmani yavad-asti ।
Arupa athma yadi kah prapasyet sa drstir-eka'navadhir-hi purna ॥

As long as there is an understanding that I am with form i.e. I am the body, there will be idea about the world and the Lord that they have form.  If the Self is without form, who will see?  That vision is, indeed, one without a limit and is complete.

The way one looks at the world is basically dependant on the way one looks at oneself.  If one sees oneself with body and mind i.e. with name, form and attributes, then in his vision Lord can only be with form even though in reality he is without form. Only when one gives up identifying the body as ‘I’, can one see or realize Self.   Since in that state of self-realization one remains only as Self, the nameless and formless existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ananda), one can then see only that nameless and formless existence-consciousness-bliss and can never see the names and forms of this world.  Sri Hanuman elaborating on his relation with Sri Rama says:

Deha-buddaya tu dasoham, Jiva buddaya tvad-amsakah I

Athma buddayatvam-evaham iti me nischita matih II

Identified with body, I am Thy servant; as individuality, I am thy part; but as Pure Self we are one. This is my firm conviction.

So Maharishi asks in this verse that if one is oneself the formless Self, who remains separate from the seer to perceive the formless Truth.

Verse 7

Yat-panchakosatmakam-asti deham tad-antara kim bhuvanam chakasti ।
Deham vina pancha-vidham tadetat pasyanti ke va bhuvanam bhanantu ॥

The body is of the nature of the five-fold sheaths.  Apart from that does the world shine? Without the five-fold body, who at all can see the world? Let people explain.

The very perception of jagat and Iswara is dependant on the arrival of ahamkara and ahamkara comes into being when one identifies with the anathma.   Ahamkara here in Vedanta means individuality and not pride, vanity and superiority complex as in Dharma sastra.  Anathma is the body made up of pancha kosas; annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya. All the five kosas function together to give us the experience of the world. The world would not exist for one, but for the body.  The world is only an interpretation given by the five-fold body.  A beam of light passing through a prism is seen to have seven colours.  Similarly the body creates the illusion of plurality in the world.  Identification with body is nourished by ajjnanam.  Ajjnanam is the oil that keeps up the flame of ahamkara.  When through Jnanam, ajjnanam is dried up, ahamkara is extinguished along with the misconception that gave rise to the identification.   

Verse 8

Sabdadi-rupam bhuvanam samastam sabdadi-sattendriya-vrtti-bhasya ।
Sattendriyanam manaso vase syat manomayam tad-bhuvanam vadamah ॥

The entire world is of the form of sound etc.  The existence of sound etc., is illumined by the functions of sense-organs.  The existence of the sense-organs is in the control of mind.   Therefore, we say that the world is made up of the mind.

It is not the existent universe that disturbs one but it is the experienced universe that disturbs one.  The experienced world is there because of ahamkara, the experiencer (pramatha) only.  The experienced world is called jiva srishti and the existant world, Iswara srishti.  Ahankara is the basis for the experienced universe. The Universe consists of five-fold objects;sabda, sparsa, rupa, rasa and gandha as revealed by the five sense-organs; ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose respectively. The sense-organs function under the control of the mind.  Thus the mind and the world are interconnected.  When the mind is awake and active as in waking state, the world as Jiva srishti is experienced as thought modifications i.e. as projection of mind. When the mind is resolved temporarily in deep sleep, the experienced world also is resolved temporarily. So Maharishi concludes in this verse that the world is the projection of mind.

Verse 9

Dhiya sahodeti dhiyastam-eti lokas-tato dhi-pravibhasya esah ।
Dhi-loka-janma-ksaya-dhama purnam sad-vastu janma-ksaya-sunyam-ekam ॥

This world rises and sets with the ‘I’ thought.  Therefore the world is illumined by the ‘I’ thought.  The Reality is the abode of the birth and death of ‘I’ thought and the world and is one, purnam, without birth and decay

We can say mind and ahamkara are synonymous as when mind is awake fully or partially as in waking and dream state, ahamkara is present and when mind stands resolved in deep sleep state, ahamkara is also resolved.   So the experienced world that is made up of mind rises with the ‘I’ thought and sets with the ‘I’ thought.  The ‘I’ thought is endowed with the reflection of Consciousness , Chidabasa,  and hence illumines the  experienced world for the mind.  Enquiry into the origin of the ‘I’ thought  takes one to the vision of Sat, the Real ‘I’, the non-dual divisionless ‘Existence’ principle and Consciousness  which is free from birth and decay and which does not lack anything and is the substratum in which both ahamkara and jagat appear and resolve.

Verse 10

Bhavantu saddarsana-sadhanani parasya namakrtibhih saparyah ।
Sad-vastuni prapta-tad-athma-bhava nisthaiva saddarsanam-ityavehi ॥

Let the worship of names and forms of the Supreme be means to the vision of Truth.   Know that abidance in the Reality (Brahman) as ‘It is me’ alone as the vision of Truth.

The aim of ahamkara vichara is Saddarsanam, which is equal to Brahma jnanam,  Brahma Jnanam is abiding in Brahman, Brahma nishta according to Maharishi, as Brahman is not an object about which you gain knowledge as in the case of physical objects like atom.  But vichara marga is not an easy marga for the unprepared ones. For them a religious way of life with worship of Saguna Brahman in their chosen form can be a means to gain nirguna Brahma Jnanam provided they use puja to go beyond puja/dvaitam.  For abiding in Brahman is enjoying the knowledge “I am Brahman”.   For acquiring this knowledge ahamkara vichara is the direct means and puja is the indirect mean or in other words, puja is the parampara sadhanam and vichara, sakshat sadhanam. Puja and other related religious practices by refining the mind ridding it of raga-dwesha and kama-krodha help in taking up vichara for acquiring Jnanam.  Regarding seeing God or the Reality, Maharishi once said, “To see is to know, to know is to become and to become is to be”. Therefore, being the Reality (that is, abiding as the real Self, which is devoid of name and form), having known the truth that the ahamkara (which is the seer of names and forms) is non-existent and has become one with the Reality, alone is truly seeing the Reality, which is Sat-darshan.

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