Aitareya Upanishad - 7

 

Chapter 3, Section 1

Mantra 1

Om. Ko’yam athmeti vayam upaasmahe? katarah sa athma? yena va pasyati, yena va srinoti, yena va gandhanaajighrati, yena va vacham vyakaroti, yena va svadu chasvadu cha vijaanaati? II1II

Om! Who is the one that we worship as the Self? Which of the two is the Self? Is it that by which one sees and by which one hears; also by which one smells fragrance and by which one utters speech and by which one tastes the sweet or the sour?

 

This Mantra wants to convey the role of Athma, the Pure Consciousness, as the real Self, the witness in whose presence one visualizes all objects through one’s eyes; hears sounds through the ears; smells through the nostrils; speaks through the speech organ; distinguishes the tasty from the non-tasty through the tongue as contrasted with the Jiva, the ego-self, who is associated with the reflection of Athma in the mind and is looked upon as the kartha and bhoktha in all one’s actions listed above.  So it starts with the question by the student as to which of the two, the Brahman and Purusha, who had been introduced in the earlier chapters and who are present in the human body as Consciousness and Prana is to be meditated upon in upasana to attain the Liberation that the sage Vamadeva attained. 

Mantra 2

Yadetad hridayam manas chaitat, samjnanamaajnanam vijnanam prajnanam medha drishtirdhrirtirmatirmanisha jutih smritih sankalpah kraturasuh kamo vasa iti. sarvanyevaitani prajnanasya namadheyani bhavanti. II2II

Is it the heart (intellect) and the mind? It is consciousness, lordship, knowledge, wisdom, retentive power of mind, sense knowledge, steadfastness, thought, thoughtfulness, sorrow, memory, concepts, purpose, life, desire, longing: all these are but various names of Consciousness (Prajnanam). 

The question raised was answered by the Acharya that Consciousness is that Athma which is to be meditated upon. This entity – Consciousness – has several names as stated in the Mantra.  The several names are nothing other than Consciousness in the sense that all different ornaments are  nothing but gold.  After the enumeration of inner world faculties in this Mantra, the various objects of the outside world are listed in the next Mantra.

Mantra 3

esha brahmaisha indra esha prajapatirete sarve deva imani cha, panchamahabhutani prithivi vayur akasa apo jyotimsi tyetanimani cha, kshudramisraniva bijanitarani chetarani chandajani cha, jarujani chasvedajani chodbhijjani cha, asva gavah purusha hastino yatki~nchedam prani ja~ngamam cha, patatri cha, yachcha sthavaram sarvam tatprajanetram prajnane pratishthitam, prajnanetro lokah prajna pratishtha, prajnanam brahma.II3II 

This is Brahma, This is Indra, This is Prajapati; This is all these gods; This is the five great elements—earth, air, akasa, water, fire; This is all these small creatures and the other seeds of creation; those born of an egg, of a womb, of sweat and of earth; This is the horses, cows, human beings, elephants and whatever breathes here, whether moving on legs or flying in the air or immovable. All these are guided by Consciousness and are supported by Consciousness. The Universe has Consciousness as its guide (eye).  Consciousness is the basis of all; verily the Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma). 

Having been so taught the student came to the conclusion that Consciousness itself is the creator of all and it is This that provided multifaceted powers to all. This alone is worthy of being worshipped by everybody. This Itself is Brahma, Indra and Prajapati. The gods such as Indra, the five elements and creatures born of egg, uterus, sweat, and erupting from the earth, horses, cattle, elephants, and humans- all collectively referred to as world of moving and non-moving creatures; all derive power from Consciousness that is the Knowledge itself.  Only due to Its power all are capable of functioning and they all are seated in It alone. The entire universe is sentient or animated only due to this Supreme Power who is their base.. That Consciousness is Brahman who is described in several ways by different thinkers as it is conceived in their minds. “Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma)” is the Mahavakya (Great Saying of Jiva-Brahma-Ikyam) propounded by this Upanishad.

Mantra 4

sa etena prajnenatmana smallokad utkramya amushminsvarge loke sarvan kaman aptva amritah samabhavat samabhavat. II4II

He, having realized oneness with Pure Consciousness, soared from this world and having obtained all desires in yonder heavenly world, became immortal; yes, became immortal. 

The Upanishad concludes with an assertion that the one who has this knowledge of one’s true Self, Athma, as Pure Consciousness, that is Brahman, transcends beyond this world in the sense that he could no more come back to the lower identifications with his body and mind. He lives in his own Infinite experience of Bliss Absolute in himself, desiring nothing, wanting nothing and expecting nothing.  After death he merges with the Supreme Absolute of everlasting bliss getting rid of the cycles of birth and death, which the Upanishad names as ‘becoming immortal’.  The words ‘becoming immortal’ is repeated to indicate the end of the chapter as well as of the Upanishad.

Acknowledgement

While concluding the series of blogs on Aitareya Upanishad, I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the speeches and writings on Aitareya Upanishad, of:

1)   Swami Chinmayananda

2)    Swami Paramarthananda  &

3)  Sri T.N.Sethumadhavan

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