Svetasvathara Upanishad – 3

 Chapter 1 (Mantras 7 to 11)

Mantra 1-7

udgitam etat paramam tu brahma tasmims trayam svapratishthaksharaṃ cha I

atrantaram brahmavido viditva lina brahmani tatpara yonimuktah II 1.7 II 

Upanishads speak of this Supreme Brahman. In It is established the triad of the enjoyer, the object and the Lord who is the Controller. It is the sustainer of the Universe and It is imperishable. Knowing that Brahman is the inmost being of all, the knowers of Brahman merge with it (at death) and are no longer subject to birth (and death).

            This Mantra clarifies that the realization of Brahman referred to in the previous Mantra relates to the Brahman without any attributes i.e. Supreme Brahman in whom the individual Jiva, the world, and the Brahman merge into one. This Supreme Brahman is the substratum, the imperishable, on which phenomenal universe rests. He is the indwelling Spirit and He is within all of us. When one knows this and understands the universe as just an appearance and understands Brahman as the Reality behind the appearance, he merges in Brahman at death and is freed from the womb thereafter. As Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9) says: “Paramam Brahma veda Brahmaiva bhavati” (whoever knows the Supreme Brahman becomes the very Brahman (becomes one with Brahman at death)). 

Mantra 1-8

samyuktam etat ksharam aksharam cha vyaktavyaktam bharate visvam isah I

anisaschathma badhyate bhoktrbhavaj jnatva devam muchyate sarvapasaih II 1.8 II 

The Lord supports this universe, which consists of a combination of the perishable and the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest. As long as the self does not know the Lord, it gets attached to worldly pleasures, and is bound; but when it knows Him, all fetters fall away from it.            

            Brahman, the Supreme, is the support of phenomena as the rope is the support of the illusory snake or the desert is of the mirage.  Brahman with the power of Maya manifest is called Iswara. Brahman is the support of all relative phenomena which include both the tangible effects and the intangible cause or Iswara. This is stated in Bhagavad Gita (15-16,17) as: “The perishable comprises of all creatures and the imperishable is said to be the unchanging. But there is another Being, the Highest, called the Supreme Being, Uttama Purusha, who is changeless and pervades and sustains the three worlds”.  Under the spell of ignorance, the Jiva whose Real Self is Brahman, in association with body, senses, mind and intellect becomes the doer of the action and the enjoyer of the results and feels bound in samsara. Once the ignorance is destroyed, the Jiva realises his Real nature as Brahman, the Supreme Self and feels freed from the bondage and pleasure and pain have no effect on him thereafter.

Mantra 1-9

jnajnau dvav ajav isanisav aja hy eka bhoktrbhogarthayukta I

anantaschathma visvarupo hy akarta trayam yada vindate brahmam etat II 1.9 II

All-knowing Iswara and the ignorant Jiva are both unborn. Prakrithi (Maya) too, who is engaged in bringing about the relation between these two is unborn.  When all these three are realized as (one in) Brahman, the Jiva as Athma becomes infinite, universal and free from bondage.

            Both Iswara and the Jiva are essentially Brahman which is the substratum and hence they are called unborn. Maya which is the material cause of the universe is inert by itself and is used by Iswara as an instrument for creation, preservation and dissolution of universe. On account of this association with Maya, Iswara himself appears to be like a phenomenal entity, having as it were a body and material substance. Thus Iswara, though non-different from Brahman, the Supreme Lord, on account of his association with Maya appears as a phenomenal being. Since Maya is ultimately unreal, non-dual Brahman alone exists without any ideas of agency, action etc., which belong to the phenomenal world alone. All that exists are Brahman only is brought out in Bhagavad Gita (4-24) which states: “The ladle is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, the offering is poured by Brahman in the fire of Brahman. Brahman itself constitutes the act of pouring the oblation into the fire and Brahman alone is to be reached by him who has concentration on Brahman as the objective.”  The illumined Jiva, who knows Brahman alone as Reality is free from all false conceptions and sees Brahman everywhere and in everything and gets rid of the false notions of doership and enjoyership and becomes free of the bondage of samsara.

Mantra 1-10

ksharam pradhanam amrtaksharam harah ksharatmanav isate deva ekah I

tasyabhidhyanad yojanat tattvabhavad bhuyaschante visvamayanivrttih II 1.10 II

Prakriti (the phenomenal world) is perishable. Hara, the Supreme Being, is immortal and imperishable. This non-dual Supreme Being rules over both prakriti and the individual self. Through constant meditation on Him, one eventually realises one’s identity with Him and is free of the illusion of phenomena.

            Prakriti (Maya) is perishable and is of changing nature.  Brahman who is called here as Hara, because the knowledge of Brahman destroys ajjnanam, the root cause of Jiva’s troubles, is immortal and undecaying.   This non-dual Brahman rules over both the prakrithi and Jiva.  If Jiva constantly meditates on Him, keeping himself always united with Him, realizing his identity with Him, eventually, he is united with Him through Nirvikalpa Samadhi having known the unity between the individual self and the Supreme Self. Then he transcends the Maya; his illusions cease and he is free of all bondages. This identity is revealed in the scriptures through Mahavakhyas such as “Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman)”.

Mantra 1-11

jnatva devam sarvapasapahanih kshinaih klesair janmamrtyuprahanih I

tasyabhidhyanat trtiyam dehabhede visvaisvaryam kevala aptakamah // 1.11 //

When the Lord is known all fetters fall off; with the cessation of ignorance, birth and death come to an end. From meditation on Him one reaches, after death, the third state, viz., the universal lordship, where all his desires are satisfied.  And transcending that state also, abides in the complete Bliss of Brahman.

            This Mantra shows the difference between Jnanam (knowledge) and Dhyanam (meditation).  In the case of Jnanam, the liberation is immediate; while in the case of Dhyanam, liberation is gradual.  In gradual liberation, Jiva goes to the state of overlordship after death, where Jiva is one with Iswara.  There everything is at his disposal and he has a sense of fulfilment.  But it is not Liberation. So Liberation-seeking Jiva does not want to stop there. He wants to be kevala, one without a second, alone. So Jiva seeks and gains Jnanam and attains Liberation.  Merging with Brahman there is no more birth or death or bondage for that liberated Jiva.

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