Svetasvathara Upanishad – 14

  Chapter 5 (Mantras 1 to 7)

Mantra 5-1

dve akshare brahmapare tvanante vidyavidye nihite yatra gudhe I

ksharam tvavidya hyamrtam tu vidya vidyavidye isate yas tu so'nyah II 5.1 II

In the changeless, infinite Supreme Brahman remain hidden both knowledge and ignorance. Ignorance leads to worldliness and knowledge, to Immortality. Brahman, who controls both knowledge and ignorance, is different from both.

            Brahman is unlimited by time, space or other factors and He is not subject to any modification.  He is higher than the first manifest who is called Hiranyagarbha (also as Brahma and Prajapati).   As Brahman is the Lord of everything, knowledge and ignorance, both belonging to Maya, the power of Brahman, are under His control.  Maya of ignorance entangles a person in the phenomenal world, while Maya of knowledge takes him to spiritual pursuits by means of which the seeker attains Liberation.  So ignorance is the cause of samsara and continuing entanglement in the cycle of birth and death while knowledge, revealing the identity of one’s Self as Brahman leads to immortality, liberating one from the cycle of birth and death.

Mantra 5-2

yo yonim yonim adhitishthatyeko visvani rupani yonis cha sarvah I

rsim prasutam kapilam yas tam agre jnanair bibharti jayamanam cha pasyet II 5.2 II

He, the non-dual Brahman, rules over every position and controls all forms and all sources.  He, in the beginning, filled with wisdom the omniscient Hiranyagarbha, His own creation.

            The non-dual Brahman is the source of everything and is within all forms physical, elemental and intangible. He (Brahman) controls them as their inmost Ruler and immortal Self. He is filled with all knowledge of the past, present and future.  He produced the first manifestation, Hiranyagarbha, the first-born in the relative universe and gave him the knowledge of Vedas and from Hiranyagarbha this knowledge has come to us.

Mantra 5-3

ekaikam jalam bahudha vikurvannasmin kshetre samharaty esha devah I

bhuyah sṛshtva patayas tathesah sarvadhipatyam kurute mahatma II 5.3 II

At the time of the creation the Lord spreads out individual nets in various ways and then at the time of the cosmic dissolution withdraws them into the great Prakriti. Again the all-pervading Deity creates the aggregates of body and senses, both individual and collective and their controllers also and thus exercises His overlordship.

            This Mantra describes the process of the cycle of creation and dissolution. At the beginning of the cycle the Lord (Saguna Brahman) projects from His Maya or Prakriti, various aggregates of body, mind, senses and prana. These aggregates which are the bodies of human, sub-human, and super-human creatures are created according to their actions and thoughts in the previous cycle. These bodies are called net because they entrap the Purusha (Brahman associated with the body) and entangle him in the world. The Purusha is the diversified aspects of Brahman, identified with and limited by diverse material bodies. This identification is the result of Maya. But Brahman itself, unaffected by Maya, is the super-controller.

            At the time of the cosmic dissolution the bodies merge in the great Prakriti. They are projected again at the beginning of the next cycle. The first form that is projected at the beginning of the cycle is called Hiranyagarbha. Then other individual forms come into existence - super-humans, humans and sub-humans and they go back to Brahman at the end of the cycle to re-appear again.  Thus this wheel goes on and on.

Mantra 5-4

sarva disa urdhvamadhascha tiryak prakasayan bhrajate yad vanadvan I

evam sa devo bhagavan varenyo yonisvabhavan adhitishthaty ekah II 5.4 II

As the sun shines, illuminating all the regions, above, below, and across, so too, that one adorable God, repository of all goodness and greatness, rules over everything that has the nature of a cause.

            What the Mantra implies is that these so called causes of the world are not in themselves causes; they operate as causes only because the Bhagavan works through them. He is the ultimate cause of all the causes as well. Like the sun, that illumines everywhere-on high places, low places, on all sides, the self-luminous Brahman, rules everywhere. 

Mantra 5-5

yaccha svabhavam pachati visvayonih pachyamscha sarvan parinamayed yah I

sarvam etad visvam adhitishthaty eko gunams cha sarvan viniyojayed yah II 5.5 II

He who is the cause of all, enables all things to function according to their nature.  He also helps everything attain its maturity.  He is non-dual and rules over the whole universe and engages the gunas in their respective functions.

            Brahman is the source of everything, the cause of all causes, the first cause. He brings out His own nature in the form of all great elements and their powers to cause the world. That is to say, at the end of the cycle whatever powers the phenomenal elements were having disappear and such powers are brought back by Him at the commencement of the next cycle from which the manifest world evolves further. Through the interaction of the three gunas, the manifest world of different forms, names and functions carries on its schedule in a systematic way. In this way Brahman alone organizes the whole universe and rules over it.

Mantra 5-6

tad vedaguhyopanishatsu gudham tad brahma vedate brahmayonim I

ye purvam deva rshayas cha tad vidus te tanmaya amrta vai babhuvuh II 5.6 II

That which is hidden in the Upanishads, which forms the essence of the Vedas, Brahma knows as the source of the Vedas. The gods and seers of olden times who realised That became one with That and attained immortality.

The subject of Cosmic Self, Brahman, taught in the Upanishads is very esoteric and constitutes the very essence of the Vedas. Hence it is called hidden. The source of the Vedas is Brahman only. Brahma the Hiranyagarbha, the first manifestation of Brahman, first acquired this knowledge of the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and then he passed it on to the ancient gods and sages. Through that knowledge they realised Brahman as their own true Self and that realisation of essential oneness with Brahman is termed as attaining immortality.

Mantra 5-7

gunanvayo yah phalakarmakarta krtasya tasyaiva sa copabhokta I

sa visvarupas trigunas trivartma pranadhipah sancharati svakarmabhih II 5.7 II

Brahman associated with the three gunas is called the individual self, Jiva.  Jiva performs action, seeking the fruits and reaps the fruits of his action.  Though ruler of the pranas, Jiva becomes bound by the three gunas and assuming all forms wanders about through the three paths, as a result of his own deeds.

            The three gunas, satva, rajas and tamas, combine to form the nature of every Jiva.  Bhagavad Gita (14-6to8) describes their binding action thus: “Satva binds by attachment to knowledge and happiness; Rajas binds through attachment to actions and their fruit; Tamas binds through heedlessness, sleep and indolence”. Jiva, bound by the gunas, performs actions in the world and reaps the consequences of such actions. In order to experience the fruit of the actions, the Jiva appears as different forms in different species and wherever he goes the three gunas are always associated with him. After death he moves along the three paths viz., Devayana (the path of gods), Pitruyana (the path of forefathers), and Tiryanmarga (the path to lower births). Though this Jiva is the Lord of vital forces in the body, yet goes on moving around the cycle of birth and death, manifesting in different species in different walks of life, goaded by his past actions, until he is emancipated.

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