Svetasvathara Upanishad – 13

Chapter 4 (Mantras 16 to 22(end)) 

Mantra 4-16

ghrtat param mandam ivatisukshmam jnatva sivam sarvabhuteshu gudham I

visvasyaikam pariveshtitaram jnatva devam muchyate sarvapasaih II 4.16 II

By knowing Him, the auspicious, hidden in all beings, like the film that rises to the surface of clarified butter, the sole Pervader of the universe, the Brahman, one is released from all fetters.

One becomes free forever from all bondages by knowing the Brahman who is subtle as a film on the clarified butter and who is supreme good for all, who is hidden in all beings and who pervades the entire world.

Mantra 4-17

esha devo visvakarma mahatma sada jananam hrdaye samnivishtah I

hrda manisha manasabhiklpto ya etad vidur amrtas te bhavanti II 4.17 II

The creator of the world; great souled, the Supreme Lord, always seated in the heart of every one; He manifests Himself by meditating through heart, intellect and mind; They who know Him become immortal.  

The omnipresent and omnipotent Supreme Lord, the sole creator of the world is always seated in everyone’s heart. He is revealed through meditation. One who realises Him as his Real Self becomes free from the cycle of birth and death.

Mantra 4-18

yadatamastanna diva na ratrir na sannacasacchiva eva kevalah I

tad aksharam tat savitur varenyam prajna cha tasmat prasrta purani II 4.18 II

When there is complete absence of the darkness of ignorance, then what is experienced is neither day nor night; neither existence or non-existence; only Brahman, undifferentiated and bliss absolute, called here Siva.  Even the presiding deity of sun and other planets paid homage to this Brahman. From Him has emerged the ancient wisdom that spread all over the world.

            Because darkness is symbolic of ignorance, the Upanishad says that Brahman is without darkness.  Brahman is knowledge itself.  Brahman is the Absolute. Words are simply not enough to give an idea what it is like.  Brahman is not an object that one can perceive and describe. It is beyond the description of relative terms like day and night, existence and non-existence.  It is something permanent and full which never changes.  In the words of Dr.S. Radhakrishnan “The characterization of the Supreme which transcends the duality of subject and object can only be negative and cannot be a field of clear definition and demonstration”.   He is the source of all the wisdom that has come down to us in the form of Vedas.

Mantra 4-19

nainam urdhvam na tiryancham na madhye parijagrabhat I

na tasya pratima asti yasya nama mahad yasah II 4.19 II

No one can grasp Him from above, or across, or in the middle. There is none equal to Him. His name is ‘Great Glory’.

            Brahman who has been described in various ways in the previous Mantras is beyond one’s perception.  He cannot be seen or grasped in whatever manner one may try because He is entirely beyond grasp.  When Sastras talk of knowing Him, it only means realizing Him through personal experience. Such a realized soul too cannot express Him through words because mind and speech cannot reach there.  He is absolutely different from physical objects which can be understood or grasped. Mundaka Upanishad (2.2.10) and Katha Upanishad (2.2.15) speak of Him thus “Him the sun does not illumine, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor the lightning–nor, verily, fires kindled upon the earth. He is the one light that gives light to all…”.  To say anything about Him is to limit the unlimited.  He has no equal and He is what He is and so He is called “Great Glory”.

Mantra 4-20

na samdrse tishthati rupam asya na chakshusha pasyati kaschanainam I

hrda hrdistham manasa ya enam evam vidur amrtas te bhavanti II 4.20 II

Brahman is not perceptible; no one can see Him with the eyes. Yet, through pure intellect and the Knowledge of Unity based upon reflection, one can realize Him in the pure heart. When one realises Him, He becomes immortal.

Brahman is not perceptible.  Nobody can visualize Him physically. Those who experience Him through meditation become immortal - free from birth and death forever.

Mantra 4-21

ajata ityevam kaschid bhiruh prapadyate I

rudra yatte dakshinam mukham tena mam pahi nityam II 4.21 II

O Rudra, You are birthlesss and this is why people frightened by death seek refuge with you. Please turn your benign face towards me and protect me always.

     This Mantra reveals the attitude of Bhakti or devotion to Brahman, who is called Rudra here. Some intelligent, discriminating people know Brahman to be birthless and so deathless as well i.e. immortal.  Fearing death and desirous of freedom from the cycle of birth and death, they take refuge in Him, realizing that the immortal Brahman can alone save them from the cycle of birth and death. So the Mantra is a prayer to Brahman for His Grace to get liberated from this fearful cycle of birth and death.   

Mantra 4-22

ma nas toke tanaye ma na ayushi ma no goshu ma no asveshu ririshah I

viran ma no rudra bhamito vadhir havishmantah sadam it tva havamahe II 4.22 II

O Rudra, Please do not be angry with us and hurt us or our sons and grandsons.  Do not destroy our cattle, horses and our strong servants. With oblations in hand, we pray to you seeking your protection.

            This Mantra is also occurring in Anuvaka 10 of Rudra Suktham (Namakam).  This Mantra presents a contrasting picture of the trend of the discussions. So far, the prayer has been for Knowledge. Now this prayer is of mundane variety seeking personal blessing and material advantage from the Supreme implying the idea of dualism. The reason is that before one can attain Brahma Jnanam, the Supreme knowledge, one is on a relative plane and one is conscious that one has a body.  So long as one lives in the relative plane of life and one is conscious of one’s body, one can reach non-dualism through dualism alone.  As long as one is attached to the body, one has to have recourse to dualism-to worship and prayer. But he must remember that his goal is non-dualism. In this process, one is using non-dualism to reach dualism. With this Mantra, the chapter ends.

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Svetasvathara Upanishad – 11

Chapter 4 (Mantras1 to 7) 

Mantra 4-1

ya eko'varno bahudha saktiyogad varnan anekan nihitartho dadhati I

vi chaiti chante visvamadau sa devah sa no buddhya subhaya samyunaktu II 4.1 II

The Lord, One and Undifferentiated, by the manifold application of His powers produces, in the beginning, different objects for reasons not known and, in the end, withdraws the universe into Himself.  May this self-luminous Lord endow us with clear intellect!

            This Mantra is a prayer to Lord, the Brahman, that we may be endowed with a clear intellect, with a description of that Brahman.  Brahman in His formless aspect is devoid of form and colour, yet, in the beginning of creation for some unknown reasons assumes various forms and colours through His power of Maya which is non-different from Him. We, the finite beings, cannot understand the reasons behind the creation by that infinite Brahman. It is His Lila. In the end, this universe of all forms and colours dissolve in Him as well. He initiates this cycle of creation, maintenance and dissolution without any selfish purpose but for the ultimate good of the Jivas.  That Supreme Brahman is really one without the second and is Self-luminous. We can only pray unto Him, for a good mind and clear intellect that enables us to understand our essential oneness with Him.

Mantras 4-2,3&4

tad evagnistadadityastadvayustadu chandramah I

tad eva sukram tad brahma tad apas tat prajapatih II 4.2 II

tvam stri tvam puman asi tvam kumara utha va kumari I

tvam jirno dandena vanchasi tvam jato bhavasi visvatomukhah II 4.3 II

nilah patango harito lohitakshas tadidgarbha rtavah samudrah I

anadimattvam vibhutvena varthase yato jathani bhuvanani visva II 4.4 II

That Brahman is the fire, the sun, the moon, the constellation of stars, Hiranyagarbha, water and Virat. (2)  You are the woman, you are the man; you are the boy and the girl also. You are the old man walking with the help of a stick. It is you alone who is born in all forms and has faces in all directions. (3)  You are the blue bee; You are the green parrot with red eyes; You are the thunder-clouds carrying lightning, the seasons and the oceans. You are beginningless and omnipresent. From you alone all the worlds are born.

            The Brahman is described in various terms. In Mantra 2 He is described as all devatas i.e. Agni (fire), Aapah (water), Aditya (sun), Vayu, Chandramah, Nakshtras, Hiranya garbha and Virat. In short, all the devatas are the manifestations of the Brahman only; they are not independent and different. In Mantras 3 and 4, various other forms and phenomenon are described as His manifestations. The entire universe is His manifestation only. There is no limitation to the form in which He, the Formless, incarnates. The realised seeker perceives only the Brahman in all objects, sentient and insentient; having all colours and forms because all these worlds and dwellers therein emanated from Him. The Formless appearing in a multitude of forms from moment to moment is His great play, Lila, as in the case of His appearances before Gopis or His visvarupa darshana before Arjuna and Yashoda.  In His all-pervading aspect he is in everything, omnipresent, and takes up every form. He is the master of Prakriti which is discussed in the next Mantra.

Mantra 4-5

ajamekam lohitasuklakrshnam bahvih prajah srjamanam sarupah I

ajo hyeko jushamano'nusete jahaty enam bhuktabhogamajo'nyah II 4.5 II

The one unborn Prakriti - red, white and black - gives birth to many creatures like itself. An unborn individual soul becomes attached to it and enjoys it, while another unborn individual soul rejects it after knowing the ephemeral nature of the sense world from his earlier experience.

            The Mantra says Prakriti (nature) is ajam i.e., unborn, without beginning. It is the combination of three gunas which gives rise to the diversities in the world. Prakriti (nature) creates many creatures like itself which are governed by three gunas, satva, rajas and tamas.  The three gunas are described here as three colours; white, red and black; white standing for satva representing wisdom; red for rajas representing activity; black for tamas representing inertia.  The Mantra says figuratively that an ignorant person feels drawn towards this sense world and he enjoys it while another clever and discriminative individual knows the ephemeral nature of this sense world on the basis of his previous experience and therefore rejects it. If one goes beyond all these diversities he will find that behind the diverse names and forms there is only One i.e., Brahman. This knowledge destroys ignorance. About ignorance and knowledge there is more discussion in the next two Mantras. 

Mantras 4-6&7

dva suparna sayuja sakhaya samanam vrksham parishasvajate I

tayoranyah pippalam svadvattyanasnann anyo abhichakasiti II 4.6 II

samane vrkshe purusho nimagno’nisaya sochati muhyamanah I

jushtam yada pasyaty anyamisamasya mahimanamiti vitasokah II 4.7 II

Two birds, bound one to the other in close friendship, are perched on the same tree. One of them tastes the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree; the other, tasting neither, calmly looks on. (6) Seated on the same tree, the individual self (jiva), deluded by forgetfulness of his identity with the divine Self, bewildered by his ego, grieves and is sad. But when he recognizes the other as the Lord worshipped by all and His glory, he becomes free from grief. (7)

            These two Mantras are in Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.1&2) as well. The Mantras are employing the metaphor of two birds, closely related, seated on the same tree. Tree stands for the body and the two birds are Jiva, the individual self and Athma, the Brahman which is the Cosmic Self.  In the example, one of the birds, the Jiva, eats the fruits of the tree, some sweet, some bitter. That is to say, the Jiva identifying itself with the body gets involved in various activities of the world and experiencing samsara is confused and distraught. The other bird, Athma, the Brahman, just sits there without eating anything as a detached witness. The form of every sentient being has two indwellers, the two selves just like the two birds. However, they do not have the same experience of the tree. The individual self, the Jiva, tastes the fruit of the tree in the form of the inner and outer senses, and according to the quality of that experience is made happy, unhappy, contented, discontented and thus undergoes experiences, sometimes laughing and sometimes weeping, immersed in thought and bewildered by his own helplessness.

            The Supreme Self, on the other hand, tasting neither (sweet or bitter experiences), calmly observes. Brahman also experiences because He is the indweller of all as Athma and is aware of all that the individual self experiences; yet, He looks on without being affected or conditioned by such experiences. But He knows exactly the effect and conditioning that accrues to the individual self. He is experiencing right along with Jiva as witness only without being involved in any of the experiences.  When the Jiva sees, right in the core of his being, the very Supreme he has been hitherto worshipping as separate from himself, all is changed.   Experiencing within his own being the presence and the glory of the Supreme, and realizing that glory as his own, the individual becomes liberated from sorrow.  Dr. Radhakrishnan says “In Mantra 6, the cause of sorrow is traced to the sense of helplessness induced in us when we are lost in the objective world. In Mantra 7, freedom from sorrow is traced to our getting beyond object, thinking and establishing contact with Real being”.

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Svetasvatara Upanishad – 1

 Shanthi Mantras & Chapter 1 (Mantras 1 &2)

            The Svetasvatara Upanishad belongs to the Krishna Yajur Veda. It is a short Upanishad consisting of 113 Mantras divided into six chapters.  It derives its name from the sage who taught it. The peculiarity of this Upanishad is that it contains passages that can be interpreted to support dualism, qualified non-dualism, non-dualism and even other systems of thought. Certain verses can also be related to the Sankhya philosophy of Kapila. Hence the protagonists of different schools of philosophy quote from it to support their respective views. But it is not one of the ten Upanishads that are called major Upanishads and for which Sri Adhi Sankara has written commentary.  Dr.S.Radhakrishnan is of the view that “it teaches the unity of souls and the world in the one Supreme Reality treating it as an attempt to reconcile the different philosophical and religious views which prevailed at the time of its composition”.  So let us take up the study of the Upanishad as one that propounds inclusiveness of the different schools of thought.

            It has two Shanthi Mantras, the first of which is one unique to Krishna Yajur Veda and is a popular Mantra that is recited in school prayers as well, as it prays for good rapport between the teacher and the student besides praying for the good health of both, as follows:

Om saha naavavatu I saha nau bhunaktu I saha veeryam karavaavahai I

tejaswi naavadheetamastu maa vidvishaavahai I Om shanti, shanti, shanti II

May He protect us both (teacher and the taught)! May He cause us both to enjoy the bliss of Mukti! May we both exert to discover the true meaning of the sacred scriptures! May our studies be fruitful! May we never quarrel with each other! Om peace, peace, peace!

            The second Shanthi Mantra is one which is unique to ShuklaYajur Veda Upanishads. This Shanthi Mantra is confusing when read as such. But when interpreted we understand it contains the Vedantic idea of Brahma Satyam, Jagan Mitya. The Shanthi Mantra with the straight meaning is as follows:

Om Poornamadah Poornamidam Poornaat Poornam-Udachyate I

Poornasya Poorna-maadaaya Poorna-mevaa-vasishyate.I

Om shanthi, shanthi, shanthi II

That is Whole; this is Whole; from that Whole this Whole becomes manifest. From the Whole when the Whole is taken out what remains is the Whole only. (Purnam here means not limited by time, space and object which means it is whole, infinite.). Om peace, peace, peace.

What it means is: - The invisible Brahman is whole, infinite; the visible world is also whole, infinite. From the whole that is Brahman, the whole that is the visible universe has come. Even after this whole that is the visible universe has come out of that whole that is Brahman, the Brahman remains still the same whole.

Both the Shanthi Mantras end with 'Om peace, peace, peace';  the traditional appeal for peace from the three types of obstacles, which are:

1) Adhyathmikam – Obstacles arising from within oneself like one’s personal ill-health, negative mood etc. i.e. obstacles arising from oneself.

2) Aadhi bauthikam – Obstacles arising from other known sources or external situations like ill-health of a family member, noisy neighbourhood etc. i.e. obstacles arising from one’s environs.

3) Aadhi daivikam – obstacles arising from unseen sources like floods, storm etc. obstacles arising from nature.

            Now let us take up chapter one which consists of 16 Mantras.

Mantra 1.1

Harih Om II brahmavadino vadanti -

kimkaranam brahma kutah sma jata jivamah kena kva ca saṃpratishthah I

adhisthitah kena sukhetareshu vartamahe brahmavido vyavastham II1.1II

Harih Om. A few Brahmavadis discuss among themselves on these lines: O Knowers of the Brahman, what is the root cause of this world? Is it Brahman? From what have we been born? Due to what do we live? In what are we abiding? Under whose orders are we passing through pain and pleasure? Under what set rules are we being governed?

            A few seekers of Brahman met as a study-group to discuss matters relating to their study.  They address each other as knower of Brahman, even though they are seekers only and take up a few questions relating to the creation, preservation and the ultimate dissolution of the beings (Jivas) and the universe, for discussion.  The questions can be briefly stated as:

1)    What is the ultimate cause of the world? Is it Brahman?

2)      Where have we come from? (where did we exist before we came into our mother’s womb)

3)    What is the support of our life?

4)    Where do we go after death?

5)    What law governs our joy and sorrow?

6)    What is the power behind our action?

Mantra 1.2

kalaḥ svabhavo niyatir yadrchcha bhutani yonih purusheti chintya I

samyoga esham natvathmabhavad athmapyanisah sukhaduhkhahetoh II 1.2 II

Time, nature, law, chance, matter, energy, intelligence - neither these, nor a combination of these, can bear examination because of their own birth, identity and the existence of the self. The self also is not a free agent, being under the sway of happiness and misery.

            The members of the study group discussed various factors as the cause of the universe like, time; nature of the object; accident or chance; the five elements and the Jivathma and also the combination of all of them.  As relative cannot be the cause of the absolute and combination presupposes existence of another entity to bring them together all of them were ruled out. Jivathma also cannot be the independent cause as its happiness or suffering is dependent on its past karma and is itself a dependent entity. Since they could not arrive at an answer, they decided to meditate on this question, which will be described in the next Mantra, that we shall see in the next blog.

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