Chapter 8, Section 11
Mantra 8-11-1
tadyatraitatsuptah samastah samprasannah svapnam na
vijanaatyesha athmeti hovachaitadamrtamabhayametadbrahmeti sa ha santahṛdayah
pravavraja sa haprapyaiva devanetadbhayam dadarsa naha khalvayamevam
sampratyatmanam janatyayamahamasmiti no evemani bhutani vinasamevapito bhavati
nahamatra bhogyam pasyamiti || 8.11.1 ||
(Prajapathi said) "When a person is
asleep, with senses withdrawn and serene and sees no dream-that is the Athma.
It is immortal and fearless. It is Brahman." Then Indra went away
satisfied in heart. But even before he had reached the gods, he got this doubt:
"In truth this (i.e. the one in dreamless sleep) does not know itself as if
it has gone to annihilation, as it were. I do not see any good in this."
After the second stay of thirty-two
years Prajapathi said to Indra “When a person is in dreamless deep sleep, sushupthi
avastha, he is calm and composed as his senses are withdrawn into mind and
mind is also at rest. This suptha purusha, the deep-sleep self is the Athma
and this is fearless and immortal and this is Brahman.” In the earlier teachings he pointed to Visva,
the waker-self, and to Taijasa, the dream-self, both with Athma
as lakshyartha, as Athma. In both occasions Indra mistook the vachyartha
as Athma and returned later for further teaching when he found by
reasoning that it is not correct. And now Prajapathi has pointed to Prajna,
the suptha purusha, whose lakshyartha also is Athma,
as Athma. This time also Indra missed the point and went away satisfied
thinking that Prajna is the Athma. But on the way to Indra-loka,
he thought “‘When I have dreamless sleep, why is it
that I am not conscious of anything—inner world or outer world or even of
myself? It’s as if I have been annihilated and everything has disappeared. How
could this Athma which Prajapathi is repeatedly telling as
fearless and immortal can be a Sunyam? So I will go back to Prajapathi
once again seeking clarification”. So
reasoning Indra returned to Prajapathi with samitpani in hand.
Mantra 8-11-2&3
sa samitpaṇih punareyaya tam ha prajapatiruvacha maghavanyacchantahrdayah
pravrajih kimicchanpunaragama iti sa hovacha naha khalvayam bhagava evam sampratyathmanam janatyayamahamasmithi no evemani bhutani vinasamevapito
bhavati nahamatra bhogyam pasyamiti || 8.11.2 ||
evamevaisha maghavanniti hovachaitam tveva te bhuyo'nuvyakhyasyami
no evanyatraitasmadvasaparani pancha varshanithi sa haparani pancha varshanyuvasa
tanyekasatam sampeduretattadyadahurekasatam ha vai varshani maghavanprajapatau
brahmacaryamuvasa tasmai hovacha || 8.11.3 || iti ekadasah khandah ||
Indra returned with fuel in hand. Prajapati asked: ‘Indra, you left happy in mind. What has
made you come back?’ Indra replied: ‘Revered
Sir, when the self is in deep sleep, it is not able to recognize itself as “I am
so-and-so,” as it does when it is awake. Not only that, it does not even
recognize beings around it. It is as if the self has reached utter annihilation.
I don’t see anything good in this’. (2) Prajapati said: ‘Indra, it
is so. I will explain the Athma to you again. Stay here another five
years.’ Indra lived there another five years. The total time Indra spent thus
was one hundred and one years. This is what sages refer to when they say,
‘Indra lived with Prajapati for one hundred and one years
practising Brahmacharya.’ Then
Prajāpati said to him: (3) End of Chapter eleven.
Indra came
back again to Prajapathi carrying samithpani as an expression of
his desire to learn further. Though Prjapathi
guessed the purpose he didn’t show it and asked the reason for his return. Then Indra narrated his deliberation on Prajapathi’s
teaching and said “Revered Sir, the suptha purusha, the deep-sleep-self,
no doubt, is free from the drawbacks seen in the case of svapna purusha,
but it is also not free from drawbacks. In deep sleep it is not aware of itself
nor of the world outside. It is if it has been annihilated and everything has
disappeared. I feel it cannot be the immortal Athma and so I want to
know more about the Athma”. Hearing
him Prajapathi thought, “Now Indra has negated the karana sareera
also as Athma. Earlier by
negating Visva and Taijasa he has negated the sthula sareera
and sukshma sareera and with this negation, all the three sareeras
had been negated and he is to be taught about Athma only straight”. Since impurities lingering in Indra’s mind
were very little, now Prajapathi asked Indra to stay for another five years
only, making it in total of one hundred and one years, practising Brahmacharya
to attain total chitta suddhi. The reason for this long
stay in this story is to stress the importance of chitta suddhi for gaining
Self-knowledge unlike the gaining of secular knowledge, where chitta
ekagratha alone is sufficient. Indra
stayed there for another five years and at the end of the period Prajapathi
gave his final instructions on Athma, which will appear in the next
section. This section ends here.
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