Svetasvathara Upanishad – 9

Chapter 3 (Mantras 8 to 15) 

Mantra 3-8

vedaham etam purusham mahantam adityavarnam tamasah parastat I

tam eva viditva’timrtyumeti nanyah pantha vidyate'yanaya II 3.8 II

(Rishi says) I know the great Purusha, who is luminous, like the sun and beyond darkness. Only by knowing Him one goes beyond death; there is no other way to the Supreme Goal.

            This Upanishadic Mantra occurs in the Purusha Suktam with slight modification as under:

vedahametam purusham mahantam adityavarnam tamasah parastat

tamevam vidvan amrita iha bhavati nanyah pantha vidyate'yanaya (20)

"I have known that great Purusha (Supreme Being) who is brilliant like the sun and who is beyond all darkness. One who knows Him thus becomes immortal (even) here. There is no other path for liberation than this"

Brahman is referred to here as Purusha because He dwells within the heart in every body (pura) and also because He fills the whole universe (purnam).  The Rishi of the Svetasvatara Upanishad says with all emphasis at his command, that knowledge of Brahman, the Absolute, who is described as bright, effulgent, shining like the sun, alone can destroy the darkness of ignorance and free men from the cycle of births and deaths. There is no other way of escape from samsara cycle i.e., there is no other path to liberation than the realization that one’s innermost Self is the birthless and deathless Brahman.

Mantra 3-9

yasmat param naparam asti kimchid yasmannaniyo na jyayo'sti kaschit I

vrksha iva stabdho divi tishthatyekastenedam purnam purushena sarvam II 3.9 II

There is nothing higher than or different from this Purusha.  Also, there is nothing bigger or smaller than Him.  He stands alone in the glory of His being fixed like a tree and fills the whole universe.

            The whole world is filled with Purusha (Brahman). Hence there cannot be any question of somebody being superior or inferior to Purusha or something being different from Purusha or something being bigger or smaller than Purusha. Thus Brahman stands alone by Himself as a tree, established in His own glory.  Brahman pervades the universe as gold pervades an ornament. He is the only substance in the universe while the names and forms are all created by Maya. Maya creates the ideas of superiority, inferiority, difference etc., which belong to the realm of phenomenal world.

Mantra 3-10

tato yad uttarataram tadarupam anamayam I

ya etad vidur amrtas te bhavanti athetare duhkham evapiyanti II 3.10 II

That (Brahman) is farthest from this world, is without form and without affliction They who know It become immortal. Others, indeed, suffer misery.

            Brahman, the Absolute, cannot be brought into relation with the world as all conception of relation is based on space, time and causation, and all these comes under the realm of Maya only. This Supreme Brahman is without form and is beyond sorrow or suffering.  The knowledge that this Supreme Brahman alone, through Maya, appears as both the Creator and the world, and the realisation of one’s oneness with the Supreme Brahman bestows immortality upon the seeker.  One cannot escape sorrow and suffering in the phenomenal world without this realisation.

Mantra 3-11

sarvananasirogrivah sarvabhutaguhasayah I

sarvavyapi sa bhagavams tasmat sarvagatah sivah II 3.11 II

The faces, heads and necks of all beings are His.  He dwells in the hearts of all beings. He is the all-pervading Bhagavan. Therefore, He is the omnipresent and benign Lord.

            The previous Mantra described Brahman as transcendental (nirguna) and this Mantra describes the same Brahman as Personal God (saguna).  The 1^st  Mantra of Purusha Suktam which is also 14^th Mantra of this chapter says:

sahasra shirsha purushaha sahasrakshas sahasrapat |

sa bhumim vishvato vritva atyatishthad dashangulam ||

The Purusha (the Supreme Being) has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand feet. He has enveloped this world from all sides and has (even) transcended it by ten fingers.

            The implication of the above statements is that when we see multiplicity like you and me, mine and yours, he and she and so on, we develop relationships based on differences such as love and hatred, likes and dislikes. But when we are able to go beyond these diversities and perceive all as the one unitary whole, we automatically love all and hatred cannot appear on the scene.

            This Mantra calls the Supreme Being as Bhagavan. The word Bhagavan means He who is the embodiment of all the six divine attributes viz., aisvarya - total power, virya - strength, yasa - fame, sri - wealth, jnana - wisdom and vairagya - dispassion.  All faces, heads, and necks, belong to the Lord only as He is the Virat Purusha, the Universal Person. He fills the entire universe. He is the inner personality of all, antaryamin.  So He guides the senses, mind and intellect and actions of all. This Bhagavan, called as Siva, is omnipresent and is the embodiment of all that is good. That is his real nature.

Mantra 3-12

mahan prabhur vai purushah sattvasyaisha pravartakah I

sunirmalam imam praptim isano jyotir avyayah II 3.12 II

He, indeed, is the great Purusha, all pervasive and all-powerful. He also inspires the mind to attain the state of purity. He is the Supreme Lord, self-luminous and imperishable.

            This Mantra further eulogizes the Purusha.  Purusha is all-powerful, all-pervasive, imperishable, non-decaying and pure, free from any trace of ignorance and He directs one’s intellect and inspires one to attain the Self-knowledge. 

Mantra 3-13

angushthamatrah purusho'ntaratma sada jananam hrdaye samnivishtah I

hrda manisha manasabhiklpto ya etad vidur amrtas te bhavanti II 3.13 II

The Purusha with a size as small as the thumb, is ever seated in the heart of beings as their inner Self.  He is known by the mind, which controls knowledge and is perceived in the heart. Those who realise this become immortal.

            The description of Purusha as angushtamatrah, of the size of a thumb, must not be taken too literally because the Self is not a physical entity so that one can measure it or describe it as big or small. It is just immeasurable or infinite and is also antaryamin, the inner Self of everybody. He is commonly stated as residing inside the hearts and hence can be perceived only by the mind alone. When such knowledge of the Self is realised, one becomes free, becomes immortal.  Though one is always free, one is not aware of it. Becoming free is a matter of change in our understanding.

Mantra 3-14&15

sahasrasirsha purushah sahasrakshah sahasrapat I

sa bhumim visvato vrtva atyatishthad dasangulam II 3.14 II

purusha evedam sarvam yad bhutam yaccha bhavyam I

utamrtatvasyesano yadannenatirohati II3.15 II

The Purusha with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, compasses the universe on all sides and extends beyond it by ten fingers. (14) The Purusha alone is all this-what has been and what will be. He is also the Lord of Immortality and of whatever grows by food. (15)

            The Mantras 14 and 15 are the same as Purusha Suktham Mantras (1&2). Of these the first, the Mantra 14 was quoted earlier in Mantra 11. In the previous Mantra 13, Purusha, the Brahman, was described as being of the size of thumb. And now in Mantra 14 He is being described as vast and all-embracing, extending beyond the universe.  In short, He is immeasurable, infinite and fills everything in universe both inside and outside, incuding the universe itself. The state of immanence was described in the previous Mantra and here the state of transcendence is brought out. The Purusha is the Lord of the Past, Present and Future. He is the Lord of Immortality and also the bestower of immortality.  Unlike the mortals He is beyond the concept of time. He is timeless, immortal - amrita.

-----------------------------------