Chandogya upanishad (ch. 6,7 & 8) – 10

Chapter 6, Sections 12 & 13 

Mantras 6-12-1to3

nyagrodhaphalamata aharetidam bhagava iti bhinddhiti bhinnam bhagava iti kimatra pasyasityanvya ivema dhana bhagava ityasamangaikam bhinddhiti bhinna bhagava iti kimatra pasyasiti na kimcana bhagava iti || 6.12.1 ||

tam hovacha yam vai somyaitamanimanam na nibhalayasa etasya vai somyaiso'nimna evam mahanyagrodhastisthati sraddhatsva somyeti || 6.12.2 ||

sa ya esho'ṇimaitadatmyamidadm sarvam tatsatyam sa athma tattvamasi svetaketo iti bhuya eva ma bhagavanvijnapayatviti tatha somyeti hovacha || 6.12.3 || iti dvadasah khandah ||

Uddalaka said, ‘Bring me a fruit from this banyan tree.’  Svetaketu replied, ‘I have brought it, sir.’  Uddalaka: ‘Break it.’  Svetaketu: ‘I’ve broken it, sir.’ Uddalaka: ‘What do you see inside?’  Svetaketu: ‘There are tiny seeds, sir.’ Uddalaka: ‘Break one of them, my son.’  Svetaketu: ‘Sir, I’ve broken it.’ Uddalaka: ‘What do you see in it?’  Svetaketu: ‘Nothing, sir’ (1).  Uddalaka said: ‘Dear son, the subtle part in that seed is not visible to you. But in that subtle part lies hidden the huge banyan tree. Have faith in what I say, my son’ (2).  ‘That which is the subtlest of all is the Self of all this. It is Sat, the Existence (that is Brahman). It is the Athma. That thou art, O Svetaketu.’ (Svetaketu then said,) ‘Sir, please explain this to me again.’  ‘Yes, my son, I will explain it again,’ replied his father.  End of twelfth section

            In this section Uddalaka is taking banyan tree as example.  The banyan tree is huge but its fruit is small and its seeds still smaller.  When the seeds are split, the subtle seed particles inside are not visible to the naked eye. But they contain the blueprint of the tree and is the cause of the visible large tree. The tree is potentially present in the seed.  The seed is sown in faith, as the cause of the tree, hoping to see the tree one day.  Similarly, even though Sat, the Existence that is Brahman, alone is the subtle cause of the gross world, only one with faith can realize this truth as Bhagavad Gita (4-39) says “Sraddavan labhathe Jnanam (He who has faith attains Jnanam)”.  Faith in the scriptures and guru’s words aids true enquiry, preventing one falling into the maze of logic and argumentation. So Uddalaka exhorts his son to have shraddah in his words that Sat, the Existence that is Brahman, is the cause of all this and it is the Athma and declares to Svetaketu “You are That (Tattvamasi)”, meaning his real Self is not the mortal body-mind-complex but the immortal Brahman, that is the subtlest essence and Self of all as well.  Svetakeu seeks more clarification and Uddalaka agrees. This part of the Mantra is only a repetition from earlier Mantras - 6.8.7 / 6.9.4 / 6.10.3 / 6.11.3.  This section ends here.

Mantras 6-13-1to3

lavanametadudake'vadhayatha ma pratarupasidatha iti sa ha tatha chakara tam hovacha yaddosha lavaṇamudake'vadha anga tadahareti taddhavamrsya na viveda || 6.13.1 ||
yatha vilinamevangasyantadachameti kathamiti lavanamiti madhyadachameti kathamiti lavanamityantadachameti kathamiti lavanamityabhiprasyaitadatha mopasidatha iti taddha tatha chakara tacchasvatsamvartate tam hovachatra vava kila satsomya na nibhalayase'traiva kileti || 6.13.2 ||

sa ya esho'nimaitadatmyamidam sarvam tatsatyam sa athma tattvamasi svetaketo iti bhuya eva ma bhagavanvijnapayatviti tatha somyeti hovacha || 6.13.3 || iti trayodasah khaṇdah ||

(Uddalaka said,) ‘Put this lump of salt into water and come to me in the morning.’ Svetaketu did as he was told. Uddalaka said to him, ‘My son, bring me the salt that you put into the water.’ Svetaketu looked, but he could not find it, as the salt had dissolved in the water. [Uddalaka said,] ‘My son, drink the water at the surface.’ (Svetaketu did that, and Uddalaka asked,) ‘How does it taste?’ (Svetaketu replied,) ‘It is saline.’ (Uddalaka then said:) ‘Drink it from the middle. How does it taste?’ ‘It is saline.’ ‘Drink it from the bottom. How does it taste?’ ‘It is saline.’ ‘Throw the water away and then come to me.’ Svetaketu did so. The father said to him: ‘There is salt in every part of the water, yet you cannot see it. Similarly, dear son, Sat (the Self) exits here in this body, yet you cannot see it in the body (1,2).’  ‘That which is the subtlest of all is the Self of all this. It is Sat, the Existence (that is Brahman). It is the Athma. That thou art, O Svetaketu.’ (Svetaketu then said,) ‘Sir, please explain this to me again.’ ‘Yes, dear son, I will explain it again,’ replied his father (3).  End of thirteenth section.

            In this section, Uddalaka is using salt dissolved in water as the example.  Uddalaka asked Svetaketu to put salt in a glass of water and leave it overnight. The next morning, he asked Svetaketu to retrieve the salt put into the water.  Svetaketu could neither see nor remove the salt in water as it had dissolved completely.  Since the two pramanams of sight and touch have failed, Uddalaka asked Svetaketu to try the pramanam of taste.  Svetaketu could taste salt in the water, whether it be in the top or the middle or bottom. Similarly, Sat, the Existence that is Brahman that pervades the body and the whole world as well can be perceived only through the proper pramanam of guru-sastra-upadesa and not by any other means as It is not available for perception by the senses, conceptualisation by mind and experimentation in a laboratory.  It is the very Existence principle that gives existence to all, the Self of all beings.  It is Brahman, the supreme and it is the Athma, the Self, that permeates the body like the salt permeating the water in the example.  And Uddalaka declares to Svetaketu “You are That (Tattvamasi)”, meaning his real Self is not the mortal body-mind-complex but the immortal Brahman, that is the subtlest essence and Self of all as well.  Svetaketu seeks more clarification and Uddalaka agrees. This part of the Mantra is only a repetition from earlier Mantras - 6.8.7 / 6.9.4 / 6.10.3 / 6.11.3 / 6.12.3/.  This section ends here.

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