Monday, 26 April 2021

Kaivalya Upanishad – 5

 

Mantras 15 to 19


Mantra 15

Etasmajjayate pranah, manah sarvendriyani ca |

Kham vayurjyotirapah, prthivi visvasya dharini || 15 ||

From this (Jivathma) are born the prana, mind, all sense organs, space, air, fire, water, and the earth which is the supporter of all.

In the previous verse it was shown that Jivathma as Paramathma is the substratum of the whole physical world.  In this verse it is revealed that Jivathma which is none other than Paramathma is the material cause of all creation as well. 

Kham vayurjyotirapah, prthivi visvasya dhariniPancha bhuthas namely space, air, fire, water and earth, the supporter of all things and beings

Etasmajjayate – are born from this Jivathma. The use of word Etasmat is significant as it means ‘from this’ which is something a lot closer than Tasmaat which means “from That”.  To indicate the closeness of Paramathma who is right in oneself is the main purpose of using the former word.

 Pranah - the five-fold physiological system (pancha praṇas) – prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana. which are born out of rajoguna of the pancha sukshma bhuthas.

Manah - the four-fold internal organs (antahkaranam) consisting of the mind (manah), intellect (buddhi), memory (chittam) and ego (ahankara) that is born out of the satva guna of the pancha sukshma bhuthas.

Sarvendriyani - the ten sense organs – five organs of knowledge (jnanendriyani) and five organs of action (karmendriyani) that are born out of the satvaguna of the individual sukshma bhuthas.

In short, as Jivathma one is the jagat karanam Brahman.

Mantra 16

Yatparam Brahma sarvathma, visvasyayatanam mahat I

Sukshmatsukshmataram nityam, tattvameva tvameva tat II 16 II

You are indeed that infinite, eternal, supreme Brahman which is the Self of all, which is the abode of all, and which is subtler than the subtle. That (Brahman) is indeed you.

This is a Mahavakhya Mantra.  Lord Brahma first gives the description of Brahman as Supreme, eternal, infinite, essence of all living beings as Sat-Chit Athma, as subtler than the subtlest and the support of the entire Universe. He then tells the sishya ‘You are that Brahman’ and reinforces the statement by restating it in reverse as ‘That Brahman is you only’.

Mantra 17

Jagratsvapnasusṣuptyadi-prapancham yatprakasate I

Tad brahmahamiti jnatva, sarvabandhaih pramuchyate II 17 II

I am that Brahman which illumines the worlds like waking, dream, and sleep. Having known thus, one is liberated from all bonds.

Like the previous Mantra this Mantra is also another Upadesa Mahavakhya Mantra.

The Consciousness (Jivathma) illumines avasthatrayam that consists of:

·         Jagrat avastha – the extroverted state of mind that travels out through the sense organs

·         Svapna avastha – the introverted state of mind turned towards its own memories and vasanas

·         Sushupti avastha– the state when the mind is neither extroverted or introverted, but passive and relaxed

Jivathma is the observer of the mind as well as its three states. Therefore, these attributes (the three states) belong to the mind and not to Jivathma.  Jivathma is the avasthatraya sakshi, different from avasthatrayam. Therefore, the problems of samsara belong to avasthatrayam and not to Jivathma, the sakshi. The attitude that I,as Jivathma, am samsara vilakshanah is called sakshi bhava.  When one re-lives the experience and is established in the fact that he is not the limited ego but the Brahman he is mentally released from all the shackles that bind him to the worldly life through the body-mind complex.

Mantra 18

Trishu dhamasu yadbhogyam, bhokta bhogasca yadbhavet I

Tebhyo vilaksanah sakshi, cinmatro’ham sadasivah II 18 II

I am distinct from all those which are the subject (of experience,) the object (of experience,) and the instrument (of experience) in all the three states. (I am) the witness which is pure consciousness and which is ever auspicious.

This Mantra is Anubhava Mahavakhya Mantra.  This is a declaration by the sishya who has attained Jnanam through the teaching of guru, to reveal to the guru his understanding of the Ikyam Jnanam.  This is also a Nitidyasana Mantra to get oneself established in the Ikya Jnanam. In this Mantra the sishya retells from his personal stand-point what the guru taught in the previous Mantra.  Pure Consciousness also called original Consciousness is neither the waker, waking and object perceived, nor the dreamer, dreaming and the dream-objects, nor the deep-sleeper, the deep-sleeping and the total absence of everything in the deep-sleep.  It is called Sakshi from one’s own standpoint and is one’s intrinsic nature. It is also called Jivathma and is none other than the ever auspicious ParamathmaParamathma is described here as Chit Aananda swarupaha.  Jivathma as ahamkara is vachyartha and Jivathma as Sakshi is lakshyartha. Ikyam is applicable in the case of lakshyartha only.

Mantra 19

Mayyeva sakalam jatam, mayi sarvam pratishthitam I

Mayi sarvam layam yati, tad brahmadvayamasmyaham II 19 II

Everything is born in me alone; everything is based on me alone; everything resolves into me alone. I am that non-dual Brahman.

This is another Nitidyasana Mantra coming from the sishya.  Here while declaring the Jiva-Brahma-Ikyam the Sat aspect of Brahman is emphasised. These declarations are made not for others but to one’s own mind to meditate upon.  In the dream one feels that one is one within the dream world, but the moment he wakes up, he says that the dream world is born out of him,  rests in him  and resolves into him i.e.he is the srshti-sthithi-laya karanam for the dream-world he experienced. He can say this only as a waker, but not as a dreamer.  Similarly, after waking up to Athma Jnanam ending the great sleep of Self-ignorance (Athma ajjnanam), the sishya is able to make the statement that the jagrat prapanca is a great dream which is born out of him, rests in him and resolves in him i.e he as Self that is Brahman is the srishti-sthithi-laya karanam for the Jagrat Prapancha.  The essence of  this declaration is “I (as lakshyartha) am the non-dual Brahman in which everything is born, exists and ultimately merges, in short the srishti-sthithi-laya-karana for this universe”.  What this declaration amounts to is that we are living in an unreal world, having unreal experiences of unreal objects and feeling joys and sorrows that are all unreal which will be revealed to us when we realize our Real Self and Its identity with the Supreme Brahman

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