Jneyam, the Supreme Brahman.

Gita essays 22

Arjuna wanted to know from Lord Krishna about six technical terms of Vedanta.  Lord explained about three terms, Kshetram, Kshetrajna and Jnanam in verses 1 to 12 of Chapter 13 of Gita. From verse 13, Lord started explaining about Jneyam. Jneyam means that which is to be known.  In verse 13 Lord Krishna says “It is the supreme Brahman which is beginningless”. That means Jneyam stands for Paramathma, and Lord has defined earlier Kshetrajna as Paramathma which means that Jeyam is synonymous with Kshetrajna and both refer to Supreme Brahman.  As Brahma Jnanam is same as Ikya Jnanam, one with Brahma Jnanam realizes the identity of his Real Self with Brahman and no longer feels he is a mortal self essentially. Therefore Lord adds that knowing that which is to be known, one attains immortality.  Further Brahman is the topic of Upanishads which are referred to as Brahma Vidya.  So as explanation for Jneyam, Lord is giving the condensed essence of Upanishads in verses 13 to 19.  Let me also refer to Jneyam as Brahman hereafter. 

In verse 13, Lord describes Brahman as beginningless and beyond Sat and Asat.  Brahman being beyond Time is beginningless. Brahman is the all-pervading Pure Consciousness and It is the only subject and everything else is object. Being subject only and also the pervading principle, it cannot be perceived and so it cannot be said to be Sat.  Because it alone lends sentiency to all beings and makes them sentient, it cannot said to be Asat also. Being neither Sat nor Asat, it is beyond both. As one perceiving principle behind all perceptions of all living beings It is described in the next verse 14 as “With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere It exists in the world, enveloping all.” Then Lord proceeds to describe the indescribable Brahman in paradoxes following the method adopted in Upanishads.

In verse 15, Lord describes  “Shining by the functions of all the sense organs, yet without the sense organs; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities, yet their experiencer”.  The Pure Consciousness as the Real Self in us functioning through the sense organs looks as though It possesses all sense organs. But the sense organs decay and perish while the Pure Consciousness which functions through them and which provides each of them with its own individual faculty is eternal and changeless, just as electricity is not the light in the bulb or sound in the radio and yet when it functions through the bulb it looks as if it were light, and when it functions through the radio it looks as if it were sound.  Further the world of plurality is not the Consciousness but it is the Consciousness that supports the world of multiplicities just as cotton in the cloth.  Cotton is in the cloth but cloth is not the cotton. And it is the cotton in the cloth that supports the cloth.  Again Consciousness conditioned by the mind is the Jiva which is the experiencer of the Gunas and Pure Consciousness by itself as ‘the Absolute' is free of Gunas and their effects.

In verse 16 Lord elaborates on the all-pervasive nature of Brahman.  Brahman is described as being “outside and inside living beings, unmoving and moving.  far and near. Unknowable being subtle.”  Pure Consciousness is all-pervading, formless and manifests through mediums only. So inside living beings it is in manifest condition and outside it stays unmanifest.  As It is all pervasive it cannot move and so unmoving.  It is all encompassing and so in moving objects it looks as if it is moving. As Absolute, it looks far away for the ignorant; but being one’s own Self it is near for the wise.  Being the intelligence of intelligence, it is not knowable to the intelligence.

In verse 17 Lord describes Brahman as “undivided, appearing as if divided in beings and also the creator, the destroyer, and the sustainer of all beings.” Although space is one entity it looks divided as room space, pot space etc.  Same way Brahman manifesting in various mediums appear to be divided in them.  Waves rise from Ocean, stay and play on the surface of the ocean and finally go back into the ocean.  Ocean can be said to be the creator, sustainer and destroyer of waves.  Same way Brahman being the substratum for the entire cosmos, to an Ajnani, It appears to be the creator, sustainer and destroyer of this world of plurality with all its beings.

 In verse 18, Lord describing Brahman states “It is the light of all lights and is beyond darkness. As Knowledge, the object of knowledge, the goal of knowledge, It is seated in the hearts of all.”  We perceive the outer world through sense-organs, made sentient by Brahman, the Pure Consciousness.  So Brahman is compared to light here.  It is the light of all lights because without Consciousness none of the lights including Sun could be perceived.  Consciousness is light Absolute; so there can be no darkness there, as darkness is only the absence of light.  So It is beyond darkness.  It is the Consciousness that makes all our experiences possible and illumines our life and It is also our Real Self.  To gain knowledge of this Self is the ultimate goal of all spiritual sadhanas. Though Consciousness pervades all over the body, it is considered as manifested in the spiritual heart from where all noble thoughts emanate, for the purpose of meditation. So It is said to dwell in the hearts of all.  In verse 19 Lord Krishna while talking about Kshetram, Kshetrajna, Jnanam and Jneyam, glorifies this knowledge as the only one which leads the seeker to Him. 

The description of Brahman by the Lord in the above verses is composed of Upanishadic statements only can be seen from a few Mantras from the Upanishads quoted below:

It (Brahman) moves and moves not; It is far and likewise near. It is inside all this and It is outside all this (Isavasya Upanishad, 5)

That Brahman shines forth, vast, self-luminous, inconceivable, and subtler than the subtle. He is far beyond what is far and yet is here very near at hand. Verily, He is seen here, dwelling in the cave of the heart of conscious beings. (Mundakopanishad, 3-1-7)

His(Brahman’s) hands and feet are everywhere; His eyes, heads, and faces are everywhere; His ears are everywhere; He exists encompassing all. (Swetasvatara Upanishad, 3-16)

The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor the lightning, not to speak of this fire. When He shines, everything shines after Him; by His light everything is lighted. (Mundakopanishad, 2-2-10)

“---luminous, like the sun, and beyond darkness ---“ (Swetasvatara Upanishad, 3-8)

“---light of lights ---“(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,4-4-16).

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Athma - One and Many

Sanathana dharma i.e. Hinduism has six systems of philosophy based on Vedas, which are known as Shad-darsanas. Each is a way of looking into the Truth.  One of them is Uttara mimamsa, also known as Vedanta, as the philosophy is based on Upanishads, which constitute the latter part of Vedas, i.e. Veda anta bhaga. Vedanta has three main subsects Advaita, Visishatadvaita and Dvaita. They all base their philosophy not only on Upanishads, but on Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita as well and all these three together are called “Prasthana Thriam”, three authoritative texts.  The difference between the systems arises due to the difference in their interpretation of the texts.  Before going into a brief discussion of the three Vedanta schools of philosophy and their treatment of Athma, let me  at the outset explain that I will be referring in this blog,  Athma, the sentient force behind the body-mind complex, as Jeevathma and Brahman, the Cosmic equivalent of Athma, as Paramatma.  Jeevathma is what is commonly referred to as soul in all religious literatures.

Dvaita

Dvaita is a Sanskrit word that means "duality, dualism”. The Dvaita or "dualist" school of philosophy originated with Sri Madhvacharya who was born in Karnataka state in 13^th century. Madhvacharya called it Tattvavada and based his philosophy on Bhagavatha puranam as well along with Prasthana Thriam.  To Madhvacharya Lord Vishnu is the Paramathma and Paramathma is saguna and is different from Jeevathmas, which are many, and from the insentient objects, Jada.  Paramatma is a real eternal entity that governs and controls the universe.  According to Madhvacharya there are two orders of reality: 1. svatantra, independent reality, which consists of Paramatma alone and 2. paratantra, dependent reality, which consists of jeevathmas and jada.  So as per Dvaita philosophy, there are three realities Paramathma, Jeevathma and jada, one independent and two dependant on the one independent.

“I” is supposed to be the insentient body containing a sentient  jeevathma, which is different from the ever-powerful Paramathma, from other insentient objects that constitute the world and also from  other jeevathmas.  Madhvacharya outlines  pancabheda, the five-fold difference between

1.  Paramatma and Jeevathma

2.  Paramathma and Jada

3.  Jeevathma and jada

4. one jeevathma and another Jeevathma

5.  one jada and another jada

Jeevathma can never be one with Paramathma and Moksha, Liberation, is described as the realization that all finite reality is essentially dependent on the Supreme Paramathma.  Bhakthi yoga is the means for Liberation. Further Jeevathmas are divided into three grades.  One grade of Jeevathmas, mukthi-yogyas, only qualify for liberation, another, nithya-samsarins, are subject to the eternal  transmigration cycle of entry and exit in bodies while a third grade, tamo-yogyas, are condemned to eternal hell. 

So in a nutshell as per Dvaita philosophy, Jeevathmas are many and Jeevathma  is the servant of Paramatma and Jeevathma can never claim unity with Paramatma.

Visishtadvaita

The Vishishtadvaitic thought is considered to have existed for a long time and Ramanujacharya who accepts the Prasthana Thriam as well as the works of Alwars as the source of authority for his philosophy is now revered as the main proponent of Visishtadvaita philosophy.  Visishtadvaita is so called because it inculcates Advaita, oneness with Visesha,  attributes.  Like Dvaita, it holds Lord Vishnu as Paramathma and He is supreme as creator and redeemer. He is saguna, with qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and infinite love. He has no base attributes like sorrow, mortality, and change in Him.  

Ramanujacharya introduces a new concept “aprathak-siddhi” meaning “inseparability” to define the relation between Paramathma, Jeevathmas and Jagat.  All the three are Real but they are not separate Realities, as Jagat and Jeevathmas form part of Paramathma as His body.  Paramathma is Angi and Jeevathmas and Jagat are His Angas.  So all the three are eternal and inseparable but not the same. The three forming one is the non-duality part and Jagat and Jeevathmas inhering in Paramathma as attributes to a substance is the qualification part of non-duality.

Moksha is through Bakthi and Grace of Paramathma, that is attained through Prapatti or saranagathi  to Lord.  Karma and Jnana are only means to Bhakthi.  Moksha means giving up the worldly existence and passage to Vaikuntha to remain forever in presence of Lord Vishnu. The liberated Jeevathma attains to the nature of Lord but does not become identical with it. The Jeevathmas are classified in three groups :

1.   Nityas, or the eternally free Jeevathmas  who were never in Samsara
2.    Muktas, or the Jeevathmas that were once in Samsara but are now free
3. Baddhas, or the Jeevathmas  which are still in Samsara

So in a nutshell Jeevathmas are many and part of Paramathma but not Paramathma itself like a seed in the jackfruit which is not jackfruit itself. 

Advaita 

Though there had been earlier exponents of Advaita philosophy it is Sri Adi Sankara who perfected it and gave a finishing touch to it.  The Advaita philosophy enunciated by him is beautifully summed up in one line “Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah – Parmathma (Brahman) alone is Real; this world is apparently Real and the Jeevatma is not different from Paramatma”   Here Mithya is the word used to describe the world.  Mithya is not false but something which appears true but on investigation revealed as not true.  For instance the blueness of sky that you can perceive ordinarily but on investigation is revealed as not true. Same way with sunrise and sunset for sun does not really rise or set.  As Swami Paramathmananda states "Mithya object can have experienceability, transactability and utility but has no Reality"  

In my blogs on Athma and Jeeva-Iswara Ikyam, advaitic view of Athma and its identity with Brahman have been discussed.  To sum them up, Reality is Paramathma only and everything else is manifestation of Paramathma with form and name and that Paramathma is same as Jeevathma, in terms of the idiom used in this blog. 

To revert back to the terms used in the earlier blogs; as per Dvaita, Athmas are many and Athma is different from Brahman that is Saguna; as per Visishtadvaita, Athmas are many and different from Brahman that is Saguna, but they have a special relationship of Angi and Anga with the Saguna Brahman;  and  as per Advaita,  Athma is one and identical with Brahman that is Nirguna, and is defined as “Existence, Consciousness, Bliss” which is its intrinsic nature.  Swami Jitadmananda while describing Swami Vivekanananda’s practical Vedanta says “By Vedanta Vivekananda always meant all the three schools of Vedanta; dualism ( Dvaita) leads by the process of reason to qualified monism (Visishtadvaita) and qualified monism culminating in the same way in Advaita.  Dualism, qualified monism and non-dualism (Advaita) are only three gradually ascending stages of vision which unfolds themselves as one develops finer and finer intelligence”.  A jnani with advaitic vision experiences Brahman as “isness” of his thoughts in the inner mind in meditation and as “isness” behind the many in the outer world when interacting with the outer world involving duality.

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Iswara’s Grace

Sri Krishna says in Gita (9-29) “समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योस्ति न प्रियः”। (Samoham sarva bhutheshu na may dweshyosthi na priyaha)  I am same to all beings; there is none hateful or dear to me.  This declaration He makes not as the son of Devaki but as Paramathma, whom we shall refer to as Iswara.  But we feel in practice some seem to be recipients more of Iswara’s Grace or Iswara Kripa or Anugraha than others.  What is the yardstick to qualify for the special Grace, one may wonder. I want to analyse it in this blog in the light of other statements Sri Krishna makes in the same chapter.

As Sri Krishna says ‘I am same to all’, He does not choose anybody to shower special Grace; rather He showers His Grace equally on all.  It is only we through our actions need qualify ourselves to take advantage of His Grace.  Acharya Sankara  illustrates this through an example.  In winter people light a fire and sit around it.  The fire gives the same warmth to all, but the one who sits near it seems to receive more warmth than the ones sitting a bit far off.  Swami Paramarthananda gives an example from current scenario. Solar energy flows same to all, but the one who has erected a solar panel gets the benefit of electricity from it to escape power-cut.  The one who has attained a higher degree of mental purity, through selfless prayer, worship and actions done in karmayoga spirit makes oneself eligible to take advantage of the Grace like the farmer who has tilled the land and sowed the seeds beforehand, gets greater benefit from the rains and reaps a good harvest as compared to the one who has neglected the field and let the water go waste.  This Sri Krishna himself states in the second line of the above quoted verse: ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहं॥ (Ye bhajanthi tum am bhakthya mayi te teshu chapyaham) But those who worship me devoutly, abide in Me and I too am in them. This means that more you get closer to Him the more you feel His nearness to you.

Now the question is “How to get closer to Him?  Does it need special sadhanas like Vrata, Upasana, Yagna or a special Puja somewhere?”  Sri Krishna Himself has given the solution earlier in the same chapter in verse 29.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् । (Yatkaroshi  yadasnasi yajjuhoshi dadasi yat) 

यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥ (Yattapasyasi Kaunteya tatkurushva madarpanam)

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, whatever you do by way of penance,O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me.  

This attitude converts the very life itself of bhaktha as a worship of Iswara.  There is no division as secular and religious work, as all work is treated as worship, being an offering to Iswara. With such an attitude one will not stray from the path of dharma; rather he will give up any bad or immoral habits, acquired earlier.  Sri Girish Chandra ghosh, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a good dramatist but also a great drunkard.  When he confessed his inability to give up drinks, Sri Ramakrishna asked him only to offer every glass of drink to him before taking it. Gosh did accordingly but could do so only for one day and from the second day onwards, he could not bring himself to offer the drinks to his master and so gave up the habit of drinks itself.  When one invokes God in all of one’s actions sincerely, one acquires selflessness in actions. As God comes more in one’s life, the less the play of ego in one’s life, as what is ego but edging god out and replacing it with ‘I’. 

Sri Krishna goes on to list a few actions, the first among them being food.  The food we take has a great impact on our thoughts.   The more satvic the food the more satvic tends to be our mind.  In Chandogya Upanishad Sanatkumara tells Narada “आहारशद्धौ सत्वशुद्धिः” (Aahara suddhau satva suddhihi) When nourishment is pure, thought processes of the mind also become pure.  When one performs religious acts or sadhanas offering them to Iswara, he eschews selfish motive in performance.  As one gives everything with the mindset that he is giving to none other than Iswara, he cultivates humility and eschews arrogance that comes from a feeling of superiority as giver.

Such a virtuous, selfless, egoless action done with humility and with dedication to Iswara earns one Punya, good karma-phala.  Swami Paramarthananda in his lecture on God’s Grace observes that God's Grace is only another name for the ripe Punya-phala that becomes ready for tapping, because God as karma-phala dhata has no preferences and only acts as per the law of karma laid down by Himself to regulate our lives.  When the accrued Punya becomes ripe for tapping is not within one’s knowledge.  So when one enjoys the benefit of ripe punya-phala it looks as though one is enjoying special Grace.  So if one wants the favour of special Grace let him through righteous, selfless, egoless actions performed with humility and devotion, earn the Punya-phala and make oneself  eligible to receive the Punya-phala as His Grace, which may be then or later, depending upon when it becomes ripe and ready for tapping.

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Parabhaktha, the Jeevanmuktha

Arjuna in his query regarding Gunatheetha, has also asked how one can transcend the three gunas (Gita 14-21). Lord Krishna, in his reply, discusses this in two verses 14-26 & 27 after briefly enumerating the qualities of Gunatheetha. He prescribes ananya, nish-kama bhakthi to ‘Him’ i.e. unswerving all-time devotion to ‘Him’ seeking no material benefits but only ‘His’ Grace, as a sadhana for transcending the gunas in verse 26, and in verse 27 explains who that ‘He’ is. It is not that Krishna, son of Devaki-Vasudeva, with a form and a body that is mortal and subject to changes which Arjuna is seeing before him, but the Uttama Purusha, the eternal, immutable Supreme, who pervading the three worlds sustains them, and is called the Paramatma (15-17). Such a bhakthi is called parabhakthi, the supreme devotion and one who has this bhakthi is parabhaktha, the supreme devotee. This parabhaktha is one who through total surrender to Paramatma, rises above the gunas, overcomes the spell of maya, sheds his identification with body-mind-complex, realizes his true Self as Athma, and continues to live in the body as Jeevanmuktha, free of samsara, until the exhaustion of prarabhdha.  “Such a bhaktha who holds me extremely dear, I too hold him dear” Lord Krishna has declared earlier (7-17). The characteristics of this bhaktha, whom Lord Krishna holds dear, the Parabhaktha that is Jeevanmuktha, Lord Krishna lists out in detail in 7 verses, from 13 to 19, in chapter 12.  Since the qualities of a Parabaktha are listed elaborately here, they are listed in groups and not individually.  They are:

1) अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च adveshta sarva bhuthanam maitrah karuna eva cha– Parabhaktha bears no hatred, ill-will or malice towards all other creatures, humans included, and he is friendly and compassionate towards one and all.

2) निर्ममो निरहंकारः nirmamo nirahamkaraha – He is free from the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. He is always conscious of his real identity as sakshi ‘I”, and the ego ‘I’ he uses for transactions with the world as slave ’I’.  He has no attachment either to his meagre possessions, nor to any relationships.

3) समदुःखसखः क्षमी sama-dukha-sukha kshami – He views with equanimity, pleasure and pain, and he is of forgiving nature.  In fact, in his vision, there is nothing for him to forgive as he lives in the present, carrying no memory of past wrongs or insults, and in the present, as he does not identify himself with the name and form, any offence or insult, does not touch him.

4) संतुष्टः सततं योगी santhushtah satatam yogi – He is always happy and contented and is firmly established in meditation.

5) यता्मा दृढनिश्चयः yatatma drdha-nischayaha – His body, mind and senses are under his control and he is a man of firm conviction

6) मय्यर्पितमनोबद्धिः mayyarpitha mano buddhihi – His mind and intellect are ever dedicated to Paramatma

7) यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकोन्नोद्विजते च यः yasmanno dvijate loko lokanno dvijate cha yaha - He feels oneness with the world and his heart is full of love for all other living beings, and his calm, peaceful, compassionate composure is one that is not  affected by the happenings in the external world, nor does it cause agitations in the external world.

8) हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्त: harshamarsha bhayodvegair mukthaha – As regards inward agitations, he is also free of them for excesses of joy, fear, intolerance, and anxiety do not touch him.   Whatever feelings or emotions that come to his mind, they have no force, and are short-lived.

9) अनपेक्षः सूचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यतह: anapekshah suchirdaksha udhasino gathavyathaha – Here another set of mental qualities are described. His mind has no dependence on external things, is pure, alert, unconcerned and untroubled

10) सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी sarvaarambaparityagi – He has renounced all ego-centric selfish undertakings.  Whatever he does is for universal welfare and social good and without any selfish motive. 

11) यो न हृ्ष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति yo na hrishyathi na dweshti na sochathi na kankshathi – He does not become elated when something agreeable happens nor does he suffer pangs of regret if something disagreeable happens.  He does not grieve over a loss or long for a gain.

12) सुभासुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान् subhasubhaparityagi bhakthiman – He is ever devoted to Paramatma.  As he is beyond dharma and adharma, right and wrong, he is not concerned about the punya or papa attached to his action.  Acharya Sankara, while discussing Jeevanmuktha in Tattva Bodha states in section 13 that any punya arising out of his action will accrue to those who praise, adore and worship him, while papa, if any, will go to those who insult or abuse him.

13) समः सत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानपमानयोः samah satrau cha mitre cha tatha manapamanayoh – He is the same to all whether they are his well-wishers or ill-wishers as he has love for all.  He treats alike honour and dishonour, i.e. with total nonchalance.

14) शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः sithoshna sukha dukheshu samah sangavivarjitaha – He is free from all attachments, including his body-mind-complex. So he is immune to bodily and mental discomforts and disturbances, and his placidity suffers no change in all circumstances affecting the body-mind, like climate changes from one extreme to other or swings in experiences like pleasure and pain.

15) तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनि tulyanindasthuthrmouni –  His equanimity is undisturbed by praise or blame. He does not indulge in loose talk or gossip and enjoys silence as a means of communion with his Self. This state of silence arises out of intoxication with the supreme love for the Supreme Lord.  This is described in Narada Bhakthi sutras in sutra 6 as मत्तो भवति, स्तब्धो भवति, आत्मारामो भवति matho bhavathi, sthabdho bhavathi, athmaramo bhavathi i.e.  he becomes intoxicated with devotion, and enjoys silently that state of ecstacy, united in the Self, that is Paramathma.

16) संतुष्टो येनकेनचित् अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिः भक्तिमान् santhushto yena kenachit anikethah sthiramathihi bhakthiman  –  In all places he feels at home, while calling no place as his home. He is happy and contented with whatever he has or gets and has no demands from anybody and no expectations in life.  He has a steady mind, fixed in devotion to Paramatma.

This parabhaktha, Lord Krishna describes as ब्रह्मभूतः Brahmabhuthaha, one who has attained Brahman, in verse 54 of Chapter 18.  A Parabhaktha is indeed a Parama Jnani, as it is true in reverse as  well..

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