Kathopanishad – 7

Valli 5

In the fifth valli, Lord Yama continues the discussion on Athma.  In the first Mantra, he compares the body to a city with 11 gates.  The ten golakas that represent two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, navel, genital organ, anus and the subtle aperture in the crown of the head, called Brahma-randhira  are the eleven gates referred to here, through which communications with outside world and imports and exports into this city of anathma take place.  The adhishtana devatas of these organs are the gatekeepers.  Just as the gates of the city are closed at night, these golakas are closed in deep sleep. The king of the city who keeps the activities going, by his mere presence is the Jivathma, who is ‘ajaha’ and ‘avakra chetasaha’ i.e. birthless and of the nature of undifferentiated Consciousness.  While in this Mantra, Athma, as Jivathma manifest in the body, is described for the purpose of one’s meditation, in the next Mantra, Athma, as Paramathma, pervading the whole cosmos in every form, is described, thus bringing out once again Jivathma Paramathma Ikyam. This is what  Sri Krishna says to Arjuna, calling this body as Kshetra and himself as Kshetrajna ((Gita 13-2):  “Kshetrajnam chaapi maam viddhi sarvakshetreshu Bharatha, (Know Myself as the Kshetrajna in in all the Kshetras, O Arjuna)”.

In Mantras 3, 4, 5 and 6 more description of Jivathma’s functions  and what happens after death are given.  It is not the apparently sentient prana that is responsible for body’s activities but Athma which lends sentiency to prana through chidabasa that is responsible for body’s activities.  Athma survives the body after death, in unmanifest form, as the medium for its manifestation, sukshma sareera, has left the body.  It is the sukshma sareera with chidabasa and karana sareera, which together we may call the ‘life energy’ and which is referred to as soul in some religious literature, that leaves the sthula sareera, at the time of death in the case of ajnani, i.e. one who is not qualified for videha mukthi.  Depending upon their fructifying karma, the ‘life energy’ takes a new body, human, animal or plant or that of any other living creature like worm.  “yathaa karma yathaa srutam (It all happens as per one’s karma and upasana)”,  says Lord Yama, implying one is oneself responsible for the nature of birth as the new body one gets, depends on karmaphala and upasanaphala.   In the case of a jnani, the sukshma sareera dissolves merging with the subtle elements and the karana sareera merges with the total karana sareera and so there is no more birth.

After briefly discussing what happens after death, Yama again from Mantra 8 onwards goes back to describe Athma lakshanam and Jivathma Paramathma Ikyam. The three states we saw earlier, the waking state , dream state and the deep sleep state is for the Jeeva only, not for the Jivathma, which is beyond all the three states and is a silent witness to the desires of waking state and dream state and the desirelessness  of deep sleep state. This Jivathma is none other than the Paramathma, which is eternal, pure and the resting place of all the worlds (Mantra 8). 

Paramathma is unbroken whole and one only but appears to be divided through its manifestations in various objects and bodies of the world which are called its upadhis.  Upadhi is one that falsely lends its properties to the other with which it is intimately connected.  Here upadhis are many, varied and diverse, but Brahman that is Athma, is only one.  It appears to have taken over the properties, good and bad of each of the upadhis, with which it is associated, but is really not affected by them and remains untainted by them.  This is brought out through examples, Agni tatva, Vayu tatva and Surya prakasa.(Mantras 9,10 and 11). 

Agnir yathaiko bhuvanam pravishtah roopam roopam prati-roopah babhuva I

Ekastathaa sarva-bhutantaratma roopam roopam pratiroopah bahih cha. II

The one Athma which is in all beings (assumes) various forms in keeping with every form (of being) just as one fire-element, which is in the universe, assumes various forms in keeping with every form (of object). (It is) outside also. (2-2-9)

Vaayuryathaiko bhuvanam pravishtah roopam roopam prati-roopah babhuva I

Ekastathaa sarva-bhutantaratma roopam roopam pratiroopah bahih cha. II

The one Athma which is in all beings (assumes) various forms in keeping with every form (of being) just as one air-element, which is in the universe, assumes various forms in keeping with every form (of object). (It is) outside also. (2-2-10)

Sooryah yathaa sarva lokasya chakshuh na lipyate chaakshushaih baahya-doshaih I

Ekastathaa sarva-bhutantaratma na lipyate loka duhkhena baahyah. II

Being transcendental, the one Athma which is in all beings is not affected by the sorrows of the world just as the sun, the eye of the entire world is not affected by the perceptual (and) external impurities. (2-2-11)

Agni takes the shape of the fuel on which it is invoked and seems to be of different shapes and forms with location and with a certain time-span of existence. The plurality, location and duration are only that of the fuels on which it is manifested and not of Agni tatva itself.  The same applies to Vayu tatva. The names, forms and the properties are of the containers only and not of Vayu itself.  Surya prakasa lights up all the activities of the world good, bad, cruel, holy etc. in the daytime, but the type of activities carried out in its light does not contaminate it.  It remains pure and unaffected whether it lights up a sewage pool or a scent factory.  Similarly Athma which is the inner Self of all beings is immanent, enwrapped in every form, and also at the same time transcendental, unaffected by the properties, perfect or imperfect, of any. 

Those who are able to realize this Brahman, the supreme cosmic controller, as the Athma in all Jivas, the eternal one in all perishable bodies, the sentient one in all insentient  anathmas, they attain everlasting peace and bliss, declares Yama in Mantras 12 and 13. One Brahman appears as many Athmas as it enlivens the living creatures, as one sun lights up the whole world. This idea is echoed in the following verse of Gita (13-33):

Yathaa prakaashayatyekah kritsnam lokamimam ravih I

Kshetram kshetree tathaa kritsnam prakaashayati Bharata II

Arjuna, as the one sun illumines the entire universe, so the one Brahman who abides in all kshetras, illumines all kshetras (as Athma  in each kshetra).

Now Nachiketas gets a doubt which he expresses in Mantra 14:

“Tat etat”, iti manyante anir-deshyam paramam sukham I

Katham nu tat vijaaneeyaam kim u bhaati vibhaati vaa. II

‘This is That’ – thus do the sages perceive that indescribable highest Bliss. How shall I know That? Does It shine of Itself, or does it shine by another light?

Nachiketas asks Lord Yama how he can realize that infinite, indescribable bliss and whether it shines by itself or is illuminated by any other light? Lord Yama replies to that question in Mantra 15, a famous Mantra which appears in Mundakopanishad (2-2-10) and Svetasvatara Upanishad (6-14) as well. 

Na tatra suryah bhaati na chandra taarakam

            na imaa vidyutah bhaanti kutah ayam agnih I

Tam eva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam   

tasya bhaasaa sarvam idam vibhaati. II

 The sun does not shine there, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the lightning, much less this fire.  It shining, everything shines after It; by Its light all these shine! (2-2-15) 

The sun, the moon or stars or any other known source of light, celestial or of this world cannot illuminate It, as they all shine in Its borrowed light only and It needs no external source of light to reveal Itself.  Athma, the Self is the very Existence principle which lends existence to all else including sun, moon, stars, lightning and even the Pancha Bhuthas including Agni tatva.  So there can be no other ‘light’ to illumine the ‘light of all lights’.  This is explicitly stated by Sri Krishna in Gita (15-12).

Yadaadityagatam tejo jagad bhaasayate’khilam;

Yacchandramasi yacchaagnau tattejo viddhi maamakam. 

That light which residing in the sun, illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire—know that light to be Mine. (Gita 15-12)

‘The light in the sun that illumines the whole world and that which is also in moon and fire, know that light to be Mine only’ declares Lord Krishna in this verse.   With this declaration by Lord Yama that the self-effulgent Brahman is “variously shining” through every manifestation in creation, large or small, sentient or inert, the fifth Valli comes to an end.

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