Chapter 8, Section 1
Mantras 8-1-1to3
Om. atha yadidamasminbrahmapure daharam pundarikam vesma
daharo'sminnantarakasastasminyadantastadanveshṭavyam tadvava vijijnasitavyamiti || 8.1.1 ||
tam cedbruyuryadidamasminbrahmapure daharam pundarikaṃ vesma
daharo'sminnantarakasah kiṃ tadatra vidyate yadanveshtavyam yadvava
vijijnasitavyamiti sa bruyat || 8.1.2 ||
yavanva ayamakasastavnnesho'ntarhṛdaya akasa ubhe
asmindyavaprthivi antareva samahite ubhavagnischa vayuscha suryacandramasavubhau
vidyunnakshatrani yacchasyehasti yaccha nasti sarvam tadasminsamahitamiti || 8.1.3 ||
Om. This body is the city of Brahman. Within it is an abode in
the shape of a lotus (i.e., the heart), and within that there is a small inner Akasa.
What is within that, that should be sought; that indeed one should desire to
understand. (1) If the disciples ask, ‘In
this city of Brahman in that which is an abode
in the shape of a lotus (i.e., the heart), and in that small Akasa
within - what is it that lies there which should be sought and which one should
desire to know?’—the teacher should reply: ‘The Akasa in the heart is as
big as the Akasa outside. Heaven and earth are both within it, so also
fire and air, the sun and the moon, lightning and the stars. Everything exists
within that Akasa in the embodied self—whatever it (the embodied self) has
or does not have’. (2&3)
Chapter 8 has got 15 sections or khandas. The first six sections deal with Saguna Brahma Upasana. The next six sections deal with Nirguna Brahma Jnanam in the form of dialogue between Prajapathi and Indra, giving this chapter the name Prajapathi Vidhya. The last three sections talk about general scriptural disciplines. For the Saguna Brahma upasana the alambanam is the inner space within the heart. The Upanishad itself is imagining a dialogue between a guru and disciples, all unnamed. With this brief introduction we will enter into the chapter.
The physical body is called Brahmapuram, city of Iswara, the Saguna Brahman, whom also along with Nirguna Brahman we shall refer to as Brahman only. In the physical body is the heart which is lotus shaped and within it is the inner subtle space called inner Akasa, Daharakasa, which will be referred to as Akasa hereafter. Because of the common characteristics of subtlety, incorporeality and all-pervasiveness Brahman is called here Akasa. Indeed, Brahman manifests in oneself as Chaitanyam in the Daharakasa. Guru is saying that one should desire to understand this Brahman without naming it, but referring to it as Akasa. And the disciples want to know what is there that they should enquire into about this small Akasa as they could not comprehend that it is Brahman, the teacher is referring to. Guru in his reply describes the Chaitanyam as the inner Akasa and says that it is all-pervading and all lokas higher and lower, and the pancha bhuthas like fire and water and all the galaxies with the planets and stars are located therein.. Since Chaitanyam is a manifestation of Brahman, guru adds that all that one has and has not, in short everything is only located in the inner Akasa and there is nothing which is not. One can recall here Lord Krishna’s statement to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita (18-61) –“Iswarah sarva bhuthanam hrd dese Arjuna thishtathi (Arjuna, Iswara abides in the heart of all beings)”.
Mantra 8-1-4
tam chedbruyurasmimschedidam brahmapure sarvam samahitam sarvani
cha bhutani sarve cha kama yadaitajjara vapnoti pradhvamsate va kim
tato'tisishyata iti || 8.1.4 ||
If the disciples ask the teacher, ‘If in this body (brahmapura) are all this, all beings,
and all desires, then what is left behind when the body gets old or perishes?’—
The disciples now have another doubt. What happens to all
beings and everything else which are in the inner Akasa, when the body
which is subject to decay and death, perishes in death. For, when the container is destroyed, the inner
contents also will get destroyed.
Mantras 8-1-5&6
sa bruyatnasya jarayaitajjiryati na vadhenasya hanyata
etatsatyam brahmapuramasmikamah samahitah esha atmapahatapapma vijaro
vimṛtyurvisoko vijighatso'pipasah satyakamah satyasamkalpo yatha hyeveha praja
anvavisanti yathanusasanam yam yamantamabhikama bhavanti yam janapadam yam
ksetrabhagam tam tamevopajivanti || 8.1.5 ||
tadyatheha karmajito lokah kshiyata evamevamutra
punyajito lokah kshiyate tadya ihatmanamanuvidya vrajantyetamscha
satyankamamstesham sarveshu lokeshvakamacharo bhavatyatha ya ihatmanamanivudya
vrajantyetamscha satyankamamstesham sarveshu lokeshu kamacharo bhavati || 8.1.6 || iti prathamah khandah ||
The teacher replies: “The body may decay due to old age, but the
space within never decays. Nor does it perish with the death of the body. This
is the real abode of Brahman. All our desires are
concentrated in it. It is the Athma, free from all sins as well as from
old age, death, bereavement, hunger, and thirst, whose desire is of the Truth
and whose resolve is of Truth. Just as in this world, the subjects follow as
they are commanded and whatever province they desire, be it a country or a part
of a field, on that they live. (5) Everything perishes, whether it is something
you have acquired through hard work in this world or it is a place in the other
world which you have acquired through meritorious deeds. Those who leave this
world without knowing the Athma and these True desires are not free, no
matter where they go. But those who leave this world after knowing the Athma
and these True desires are free to act as they wish in all the worlds.” End of first section.
Now the guru clarifies that the inner Akasa in the heart is Brahman, which is eternal, not subject to modifications and is the substratum for the entire creation. And Brahman obtains in the body and is not dependent on the body for anything. Brahmapura is now to be interpreted as Brahman, the abode of Cosmos, instead of equating it to body as the abode of Brahman. The Athma indicated by the inner Akasa is the real Brahmapura. It is like revising the statement from ‘The space in the hall’ first to ‘space is inside the hall and outside as well’ later and finally to’ all halls are in space only’. Since it is free of all changes including old age and death, it follows it undergoes no change with the body. It does not decay with the body nor does it perish with the body. And for the purpose of meditation on inner Akasa as Athma that is Brahman, he describes Brahman as free from old age, free from sins, free from death, free from sorrow, free from hunger, free from thirst, whose desire is of Truth, and whose resolve is of the Truth. If a seeker of liberation does not with the help of the teacher and scriptures know the Athma as characterized here, he is a loser as he cannot have the freedom which belongs to one who acquires this knowledge and he lives as a slave of samsara. For, the enjoyment of pleasure due to the punya earned through good karma is only temporary, so also will be the stay and enjoyment in other worlds earned through good karma. But in the case of one who practices meditation on the inner Akasa on Brahman, Daharakasa upasana, he does not suffer from these limitations and he finds complete fulfilment of desires in this world and in other worlds, acquiring various siddhis which is discussed in the next section. The purpose of this passage is to glorify upasana over karma and to motivate the seeker of liberation not to stop with Vedic rites but advance to the higher stage of upasana on Athma, the Brahman, which will take him by Sukla gathi to Brahma loka where through gaining Jnanam attain Mukthi there itself. This path of krama Mukthi is not available for those who stop with karma and their stay in whatever loka they go to, comes to an end with the exhaustion of punya and they are back in the cycle of birth and death.
-------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment