Saddarsanam -3

(Verses 11 to 15)

Verse 11

Dvandvani sarvanyakhilas-triputyah kincit-samasritya vibhanti vastu।
Tanmargane syad-galitam samastam na pasyatam sac-chalanam kadapi ॥

All pairs of opposites and all triads shine, taking the support of some entity,  When that is traced all will get dropped.  For them who see the Truth, there is no wavering ever (at any time).

The world we experience is a combination of opposites, positive and negative i.e. Joy and sorrow; heat and cold; success and failure etc.  Also in every experience, there is a triad – the seer, seen and seeing; knower, known and knowing etc. On enquiry we find that all opposites are interdependent i.e. each is understood with reference to the other, like joy and sorrow and without the experience of ‘I’ there is no joy or sorrow.  Also without ‘I’, the seer there is no seeing or seen.  Going to the root of the ‘I’, the pairs and triads disappear in the vision of Truth, Brahma Jnanam.   Having this Jnanam, one is no more disturbed by them, even when they reappear. For all these differences are an unreal appearance and they always cling to or depend upon the ego for their seeming existence. Therefore, when through Self-enquiry the ego is found to be non-existent, all these differences are also found to be non-existent, and that which will remain shining is only Self, the ever-existing and ever-undifferentiated Reality, which is the absolute base upon which the unreal ego and all its products, the dvantvas and triads, seemed to exist.

Verse 12

Vidya katham bhati na ced-avidya vidyam vina kim pravibhaty-avidya।
Dvayam ca kasyeti vicarya mula - svarupa-nishha paramartha-vidya ॥

How can knowledge shine if there is no ignorance? Without knowledge, does ignorance shine? And “Whose are the two?”  Thus. Inquiring into the source (root), abidance in one’s own (true) nature is the Knowledge of the Supreme Truth.

Without the concept of knowledge, we would not know of ignorance and vice versa. So knowledge and ignorance constitute interdependent pair of opposites. Further they are related to the object and knowledge about objects, and ignorance about objects depends upon the other for their seeming existence.  And only when the knowledge of that thing dawns, do we come to know that an ignorance of it existed previously. Thus without our present knowledge of that thing, our prior ignorance would not be known and hence would not exist.  Since knowledge and ignorance about objects are both mere thoughts, they can rise only after the rising of the first thought, the ego.  But when one enquires ‘who am I’, the individual to whom both knowledge and ignorance arise?’, one will realize that the ego or individual who experiences knowledge and ignorance about objects is truly non-existent, and that Self alone truly exists.  Only that Knowledge which thus knows the non-existence of the ego and the sole existence of Self, is true Knowledge. Effortless accessibility of the knowledge is called Jnana nishta.  “I am the Self that is beyond knowledge and ignorance” is the Real knowledge, Paramartha vidya.

Verse 13

Boddharam-atmanam-ajanato yo bodhah sa kim syat-paramartha-bodhah।
Bodhasya bodhyasya ca samsrayam svam vijanatas-tad-dvitayam vinasyet ॥

Can that be true knowledge when the knower does not know himself?  To one who knows oneself, the support of knowledge and the object of knowledge, the two will vanish.

Knowledge of one’s Self, Athma vidya, is called para vidya and all other knowledge is classified as apara vidya. Maharishi states in this verse that only para vidya, Self-knowledge is true knowledge and all apara vidya comes under ignorance only.  For para vidya is knowledge of anathma, which is mithya, not real. Further para vidya, the knowledge of anathma does not free one from limitations.  In other words, the mind, which knows other things without knowing the truth of itself, is wallowing in ignorance only.  However, when the mind gives up knowing other things and tries instead to know itself by scrutinizing ‘Who am I?’, it will be found to be truly non-existent, and hence all its knowledge and ignorance about other things will automatically cease to exist. The resulting state, in which all knowledge and ignorance about objects has ceased to exist due to the destruction of their base, the knowing mind, alone is the state of True knowledge, Sat Darshan, where Consciousness alone remains.

Verse 14

Nidra na vidya grahanam na vidya gṛhnati kincin-na yathartha-bodhe।
Nidra-padartha-grahanetara syat cideva vidya vilasanty-asunya ॥

Sleep is not knowledge. Perception of objects is not knowledge.  One does not grasp anything in true Knowledge.  The knowledge is other than sleep and perception of objects.   It is Consciousness alone, shining, not a void.

In deep sleep state there is no perception of objects.  In waking, dream state there is perception of objects. But in true knowledge i.e. Brahma vidya there is neither perception nor absence of perception for Self, that is Brahman, which is completely devoid of knowledge and ignorance about objects.  Nature of Self, which is Brahma vidya is not to know anything but, only to be, for Self exists and shines as the sole, non-dual Reality and there does not exist anything other than it either for it to know or to make it known.  It is only the mind or ego that which knows objects and their absence and that is not true knowledge but only ignorance.  Self i.e Consciousness is not a void as it is self- effulgent and shines by its own light as the true knowledge.

Verse 15

Satyas-cidatma vividhakrtis-cit sidhyet-prthak-satya-cito na bhinna।
Bhusa-vikarah kimu santi satyam vina suvarnam prthag-atra loke ॥

The Truth is the Consciousness-Self.  The knowledge which is of various forms is neither different nor can it exist without Consciousness,   Here, in the world, can the various gold ornaments exist without gold?

One Consciousness alone appears as different types of knowledge just as one gold appears as different ornaments in association with nama-rupa.  When Consciousness is associated with a particular thought, it appears as a particular knowledge.  Every knowledge is Consciousness itself associated with a particular thought.  The one Consciousness itself appears as manifold cognitions and these cognitions cannot exist separate from Consciousness just as ornaments cannot  exist independently without gold. But Consciousness exists independent of thoughts just as gold without ornaments.

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Saddarsanam -2

(Verses 6 to 10)

Verse 6

Sarupa-buddhir-jagatisvare ca sarupa-dhir-athmani yavad-asti ।
Arupa athma yadi kah prapasyet sa drstir-eka'navadhir-hi purna ॥

As long as there is an understanding that I am with form i.e. I am the body, there will be idea about the world and the Lord that they have form.  If the Self is without form, who will see?  That vision is, indeed, one without a limit and is complete.

The way one looks at the world is basically dependant on the way one looks at oneself.  If one sees oneself with body and mind i.e. with name, form and attributes, then in his vision Lord can only be with form even though in reality he is without form. Only when one gives up identifying the body as ‘I’, can one see or realize Self.   Since in that state of self-realization one remains only as Self, the nameless and formless existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ananda), one can then see only that nameless and formless existence-consciousness-bliss and can never see the names and forms of this world.  Sri Hanuman elaborating on his relation with Sri Rama says:

Deha-buddaya tu dasoham, Jiva buddaya tvad-amsakah I

Athma buddayatvam-evaham iti me nischita matih II

Identified with body, I am Thy servant; as individuality, I am thy part; but as Pure Self we are one. This is my firm conviction.

So Maharishi asks in this verse that if one is oneself the formless Self, who remains separate from the seer to perceive the formless Truth.

Verse 7

Yat-panchakosatmakam-asti deham tad-antara kim bhuvanam chakasti ।
Deham vina pancha-vidham tadetat pasyanti ke va bhuvanam bhanantu ॥

The body is of the nature of the five-fold sheaths.  Apart from that does the world shine? Without the five-fold body, who at all can see the world? Let people explain.

The very perception of jagat and Iswara is dependant on the arrival of ahamkara and ahamkara comes into being when one identifies with the anathma.   Ahamkara here in Vedanta means individuality and not pride, vanity and superiority complex as in Dharma sastra.  Anathma is the body made up of pancha kosas; annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya. All the five kosas function together to give us the experience of the world. The world would not exist for one, but for the body.  The world is only an interpretation given by the five-fold body.  A beam of light passing through a prism is seen to have seven colours.  Similarly the body creates the illusion of plurality in the world.  Identification with body is nourished by ajjnanam.  Ajjnanam is the oil that keeps up the flame of ahamkara.  When through Jnanam, ajjnanam is dried up, ahamkara is extinguished along with the misconception that gave rise to the identification.   

Verse 8

Sabdadi-rupam bhuvanam samastam sabdadi-sattendriya-vrtti-bhasya ।
Sattendriyanam manaso vase syat manomayam tad-bhuvanam vadamah ॥

The entire world is of the form of sound etc.  The existence of sound etc., is illumined by the functions of sense-organs.  The existence of the sense-organs is in the control of mind.   Therefore, we say that the world is made up of the mind.

It is not the existent universe that disturbs one but it is the experienced universe that disturbs one.  The experienced world is there because of ahamkara, the experiencer (pramatha) only.  The experienced world is called jiva srishti and the existant world, Iswara srishti.  Ahankara is the basis for the experienced universe. The Universe consists of five-fold objects;sabda, sparsa, rupa, rasa and gandha as revealed by the five sense-organs; ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose respectively. The sense-organs function under the control of the mind.  Thus the mind and the world are interconnected.  When the mind is awake and active as in waking state, the world as Jiva srishti is experienced as thought modifications i.e. as projection of mind. When the mind is resolved temporarily in deep sleep, the experienced world also is resolved temporarily. So Maharishi concludes in this verse that the world is the projection of mind.

Verse 9

Dhiya sahodeti dhiyastam-eti lokas-tato dhi-pravibhasya esah ।
Dhi-loka-janma-ksaya-dhama purnam sad-vastu janma-ksaya-sunyam-ekam ॥

This world rises and sets with the ‘I’ thought.  Therefore the world is illumined by the ‘I’ thought.  The Reality is the abode of the birth and death of ‘I’ thought and the world and is one, purnam, without birth and decay

We can say mind and ahamkara are synonymous as when mind is awake fully or partially as in waking and dream state, ahamkara is present and when mind stands resolved in deep sleep state, ahamkara is also resolved.   So the experienced world that is made up of mind rises with the ‘I’ thought and sets with the ‘I’ thought.  The ‘I’ thought is endowed with the reflection of Consciousness , Chidabasa,  and hence illumines the  experienced world for the mind.  Enquiry into the origin of the ‘I’ thought  takes one to the vision of Sat, the Real ‘I’, the non-dual divisionless ‘Existence’ principle and Consciousness  which is free from birth and decay and which does not lack anything and is the substratum in which both ahamkara and jagat appear and resolve.

Verse 10

Bhavantu saddarsana-sadhanani parasya namakrtibhih saparyah ।
Sad-vastuni prapta-tad-athma-bhava nisthaiva saddarsanam-ityavehi ॥

Let the worship of names and forms of the Supreme be means to the vision of Truth.   Know that abidance in the Reality (Brahman) as ‘It is me’ alone as the vision of Truth.

The aim of ahamkara vichara is Saddarsanam, which is equal to Brahma jnanam,  Brahma Jnanam is abiding in Brahman, Brahma nishta according to Maharishi, as Brahman is not an object about which you gain knowledge as in the case of physical objects like atom.  But vichara marga is not an easy marga for the unprepared ones. For them a religious way of life with worship of Saguna Brahman in their chosen form can be a means to gain nirguna Brahma Jnanam provided they use puja to go beyond puja/dvaitam.  For abiding in Brahman is enjoying the knowledge “I am Brahman”.   For acquiring this knowledge ahamkara vichara is the direct means and puja is the indirect mean or in other words, puja is the parampara sadhanam and vichara, sakshat sadhanam. Puja and other related religious practices by refining the mind ridding it of raga-dwesha and kama-krodha help in taking up vichara for acquiring Jnanam.  Regarding seeing God or the Reality, Maharishi once said, “To see is to know, to know is to become and to become is to be”. Therefore, being the Reality (that is, abiding as the real Self, which is devoid of name and form), having known the truth that the ahamkara (which is the seer of names and forms) is non-existent and has become one with the Reality, alone is truly seeing the Reality, which is Sat-darshan.

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Saddarsanam - 1

(Verses 1 to 5)

Saddarsanam is a vedantic text written in Tamil originally by Ramana Maharishi under the title “Ulladu Narpadu (உள்ளது நாற்பது), It was translated into Sanskrit by his devotee Vasihta Ganapathi Muni.  Saddarsanam means Vision of Truth i.e. knowledge of Brahman as one's Self and is a short work of 44 verses.

Verse 1

Sat-pratyayah kim nu vihaya santam hrdy-esa chinta-rahito hrd-akyah I

Katham smaramas-tamameyam-ekam tasya smritis-tatra drdaiva nishta II

Can there be thoughts of existence of objects without the Existence principle? (No).  This Existence named as hrt is in the heart itself free from thoughts.  How can we remember that one immeasurable Existence?  Its remembrance is in the form of firm abidance in it.

This is a verse of benediction which is called Mangalacharanam.  Mangalacharanam can be in three different ways; 1) offering best wishes to the humanity, 2) Offering namaskaras to Guru and sastra, 3) statement of the Truth.  Maharishi chooses the third one and defines Brahman as Truth in the first verse.

In the first line Brahman is revealed as Existence.  Whenever we are experiencing an object we are not experiencing the object only, but also an additional thing called “Existence”. We experience the object as ‘is’ i.e book is, pot is etc.  Without ‘is-ness’ no object can exist.  All existent objects have Existence, Sat but Existence is not an object.  The thought of existing objects (sat-pratyaya) are many but the Existence principle is one only. Existence being the support of all is all-pervading.  Though the objects keep changing and differ in name, form, qualities. Existence which supports them is unchanging and so is indestructible.  For instance; a seed ‘is’; it grows into a tree and a tree ‘is’. The tree is cut; then timber ‘is’.  Timber is made into furniture and furniture ‘is’ and so on. The names and forms are created and destroyed but the ‘is-ness’ they enjoy as the unchanging substratum continues.  Thus giving up names and forms Brahman, the Truth, should be experienced as pure Existence.  This very same Existence that permeates all objects is experienced in the heart as Consciousness named hrt.   Consciousness illumines all thoughts, as Sakshi Chaitanyam, itself remaining free from thoughts.  Just as existence of object = object +Existence principle, knowledge of thought = thought + Consciousness.  Brahman, the Existence-Consciouness. is not an object and is free from thoughts and the only way to abide in it is to be one with it as ‘I am Brahman’ and only through this firm abidance can only be Brahman remembered always, according to Maharishi.

Verse 2

Mṛtyunjayam mrtyu-bhiyasritanam aham-matir-mrtyum-upaiti purvam ।
Atha svabhavad-amrteṣu teṣu kathaṃ punar-mrtyu-dhiyo'vakasah II

For those who have taken refuge, out of fear of death, in the Conqueror of death, the “I” thought (notion) is the first to attain death.  Thereafter, in them (who are) by their own nature immortal, how again can there be space for the thought of death? 

This is the second verse of benediction.  In the first one Maharishi expounded the path of jnanam.  In this verse he is taking up the path of bhakthi through bhakthi to Lord Siva.  Lord Siva is here addressed aptly as Mrityunjaya, conqueror of death. Here Maharishi gives a philosophical significance to Siva Puja.  Lord Siva’s bhaktha who is scared of death takes refuge in Him.  Lord Siva by destroying the devotee’s feeling of individuality (aham-mati), rids him of the feeling of mortality and also of the insecurity of samsara.  For with the extinction of individuality, the notion ‘ I am bhaktha’ also goes. When this notion goes, the notion based division also goes. Division is the cause of finitude and feeling of limitation caused by plurality.   So ahamkara-nasa is followed by bhaya-nasa as well because with the destruction of the notion of division, Jiva-Isawara bhedha also goes and the devotee feels one with the Conqueror of Death, Lord Siva.   Anyone identifying with body fears, death and insecurity and suffers samsara.  On realisation of the true identity of his Self with the Lord, no more for him fear of death and insecurity of samsara, Maharishi points out.  But to gain the realisation of identity through the path of devotion one needs to surrender to Lord totally with strong faith.

Verse 3

sarvair-nidanam jagato'hamas-ca vacyah prabhuh kascid-aparasaktih ।
citre'tra lokyam ca vilokita ca patah prakaso'pyabhavat-sa ekah ॥

The primary cause of the world and of the “I” is accepted by all as some Lord with boundless power.  Here, in this picture, that One alone has become the seer, the seen, the screen, and the light also.

When one makes enquiry into the cause for jiva and jagat, one arrives at the third factor, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient Brahman which is the primary cause, a causeless cause. On enquiry one learns that Brahman with his power of Maya projected the world and the beings out of Himself i.e He himself appears as this world and all its beings. To understand this we can take the example of a knitted picture containing sunset behind the mountains, a river running by the side of mountains, persons and animals on the river-bank etc.  If one starts pulling the wool one will realize that one ball of wool had become all this. Similarly Brahman alone is the substratum, the illuminator, for the various names and forms of this world, says Maharishi.  Like movie on a stationery screen this play of jiva and jagat is imagined on Brahman, that is Consciousness, which is one’s Self only.

Verse 4

Arabhyate jiva-jagat-paratma - tattvabhidhanena matam samastam।
Idam trayam yavad-ahaṃ-mati syat sarvottama'ham-mati-sunya-nishta ॥

All philosophies begin with naming of the principles of the individual, the world, and the Supreme Self.   This triad will exist so long as the “I”-notion exists. The best of all is abidance in the Self where there is absence of the “I”-notion.

All the philosophical systems accept three basic tattvams.  They are: 1) Jiva, the individual; 2) Jagat, the world and 3)Paramathma/Isvara, the cause of jiva and jagat.  Insecurity and samsara will continue as long this triad is maintained.   It would be quite impossible to gain the vision of oneness, if one were to keep the ego/ahamkara intact.  The supreme state of oneness is devoid of ego.  In this state of oneness ‘I” am not a kartha, bhoktha, bhaktha, upasaka, pramatha, Jnani etc.  Experience and interaction will continue in this state but all with an awareness that “it is all only nama-rupa”.  So Maharishi advises that one starts with the triad, refines the ahamkara until the finite ahamkara is uprooted and abidance in the absence of the finite ‘I’ notion is achieved.  The absence of the finite ‘I’ notion is achieved only when the infiniteness of the Self as Brahman is realised.

Verse 5

Satyam mrsa va cid-idam jadam va duhkham sukham veti mudha vivadah ।
Adreta-loka niraham-pratitir - nistha'vikalpa parama'khilesta ॥

Arguments that this is true or false, sentient or inert, sorrow or happiness, are to no purpose.  The state free from all thoughts, without the ‘I’ notion and the world, is the supreme state desired by all.

A discussion among equals in order to arrive at truth or a conclusion is called vada.  An argument where the ego is at play is called vivada.  Maharishi feels that vada and vivada regarding the nature of the world as true or false, sentient or inert, sorrow and misery or joy and happiness etc, are wasteful exercises only, as it does not knock off ahamkara for the culmination of enquiry must be in the assured absence of ahamkara.  Only if one knows the truth of ‘I’, the knowing subject, can one correctly know the truth of the world, the known object. Since the resulting state of Self-knowledge is devoid of the ego, which is the root of all problems and sufferings and the cause of all arguments, Maharishi declares it is a desirable state for all. Further in that state of wisdom only there is no division and one sees the world as not real and the localized ‘I’ is not seen.   In samadhi and sushupthi state also divisionlessness is experienced but they are temporary states of divisionlessness where dvaitam is in a potential form and becomes manifest as one comes out of samadhi or sushupthi.   So when one has given up attending to the world and has known oneself by enquiring ‘Who am I’, there is no individual who seeks to know the truth about the world.

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Sadhana and Phalam

Vakyavritti 9

Verse 49

‘Aham brahma’ iti vaakyaartha bodhoh yaavat dridhee bhavet I

Samaadi sahitah taavat abhyase cha sravanaadikam II

One should go on doing sadhanas like sravanam etc., with the practice of internal controls like sama etc,(samadhi shatka sampaththi) until the meaning of the sentence as ‘I am Brahman’ becomes quite firm

If one has grasped correctly the meaning of Mahavakya ‘Tat Tvam asi’, then one has the knowledge “I am Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi)”.  If one is to be firmly established in this knowledge all the time in all circumstances i.e. if one has to become Jnana Nishta with this Jnanam, one should make this knowledge doubt-free and one should rid one’s mind of what Swami Pamarthananda calls as dushta chathushtaya, evil four, which are ahamkara, mamakara, raga and dwesha.  Knowledge can be acquired through sravanam and the acquired knowledge can be made doubt-free through mananam and this doubt-free knowledge can be internalised through nitidyasanam.  This is the primary sadhana.  It should be supported by the secondary sadhana of Sadhana Chathustaya that frees the mind of dushta chathushtaya and makes the mind subtle enough to absorb the teaching in the first place and strong enough to stand in the absorbed knowledge all the time.  The primary and secondary sadhanas have to be deliberately practiced with shraddha and samadhana until this knowledge becomes second nature with the thought ‘I am Brahman’ totally replacing ‘I am Body-mind-complex’ at all times in all circumstances.

Verse 50

Srutih aachaarya prasaadena dridhah bodhah yadaa bhavet I

Nirasta ashesha samsaara nidaanah purushah tadaa II

When this knowledge becomes firm by the Grace of the scriptures and the guru, then for that person the cause of samsara (ajjnanam) is absolutely removed for ever.

From this verse Guru gives the Jnanaphalam.  Through the Grace of guru and scriptures the long, sincere and single-minded practice of the primary and secondary sadhanas mentioned in the previous verse bears fruit as unshakeable firm knowledge of one’s Self as Brahman.  Firm knowledge means the subconscious mind is soaked in this knowledge and it is ever available without effort.  Self-ignorance and consequent self-misconcetion, which constitute jiva-bhava, the cause for samsara is totally and absolutely replaced by Brahma-bhava, the ‘I am Brahman” thought.

Verse 51

Viseerna kaarya karanoh bhoota sookshmaih anaavritah I

Vimukta karma nigadah sadya eva vimuchyate II

Such a man, no more conditioned by his gross and subtle bodies, free from the influence of gross and subtle objects and released of karma gets immediately liberated.

Three essential changes that take place in the personality of the person who attains this blessed state of Self-Realisation i.e. being established in the unshakeable firm knowledge “I am Brahman”:

i) Freedom from the upadhis: The person is no longer conditioned by his gross and subtle bodies (the upadhis);

ii) Freedom from sense attractions: That person’s life is not influenced by sense objects, gross or subtle as he is free from raga, dwesha towards them.

iii) Freedom from karma: With the dawn of self-realisation existing karma, agami and sanchita, is annulled,  As he will mot have karthruthva bhava in his future actions, no further agami karma will accrue to him.  Only prarabhdha karma will remain and he will not be mentally affected by its impact though may be bodily afflicted.

Leading his life as Jivan muktha, he will attain Videha mukthi on exhaustion of prarabhdha karma, which will be described in the next two verses.

Verse 52

Praarabdha karma vegena jivanmuktah yadaa bhavet I

Kinchit kaalam anarabdha karma bandhasya sankshaye II

Verse 53

Nirasta atishaya aanandam vaishnavam paramam padam I

Punah aavritti-rahitam kaivalyam pratipadyate II

The liberated in life (jivanmuktha) continues in life under the force of Prarabhdha (karma) under its power for some time until these karmas produce their results and then he comes to gain that state of Absolute Oneness, the greatest and ultimate Bliss called the Supreme Abode of Vishnu from which there is no return.

Jivanmuktha continues his life in the body to exhaust the prarabhdha karma with which he was born. All other outstanding karmas at the time of his acquiring Athma Jnanam have been annihilated in the fire of Jnanam as Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in Gita (4-37); “Jnaanaagnih sarvakarmaani bhasmasaat kurute --.( the fire of knowledge reduce all karmas to ashes)”.  As he has no feeling of doership in all actions he performs as a Jivanmuktha, no further agami karma attaches to him.  Whatever happens under the influence of prarabhdha karma after acquiring Jnanam, a jivanmuktha accepts with the same sense of detachment that he has for his body. When that karma runs out, all bodies are dissolved as well as all karmas and the Jivanmuktha attains Videhamukthi when the enclosed Consciousness  merges into all-pervading Consciousness i.e. Brahman just like the enclosed pot space that becomes one with the one indivisible space when the pot is broken. Here Brahman is denoted by one of the forms of Saguna Brahman, Vishnu.  When Videhamuktha becomes one with Brahman, the infinite Bliss that is Brahman is His as well and with no body and no karma there is no more birth or return to samsara after attaining Videhamukthi.  With this Blissful note Sri Sankara concludes the text “Vakyavritti”

Acknowledgement

While concluding the series of blogs on Vakyavritti, I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the speeches and writings on this subject, of:

1)    Swami Paramarthananda

2)    Swami Guruparananda  and

3)    Swami Gurubhakthananda  

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Mahavakya analysis

Vakyavritti – 8

Verse 42 

‘Tat Tvam asi’ aadi vaakyam cha taadaatmya pratipaadane I

Lakshyau ‘Tat Tvam’ padaarthau dvaa upadaaya pravartete II

Mahavakyas  like ‘That Thou are’ thus establish the identity of what is meant by the two terms ‘Thou’ and ‘That’ by taking recourse to their implied meaning.

Sishya had asked four questions about Jiva, Brahman,  their identity and Mahavakya  ‘Tat Tvam asi’ in verse 7.   Guru having answered the questions on Jiva, Paramathma, and their identity, starts answering the question on Mahavakya from this verse, with a summary statement  on the interpretation of Mahavakyas that speak of Jiva Brahma Ikyam.  Mahavakyas are many and four main Mahavakyas are:

1)   Prajnanam Brahma – “Consciousness is Brahman” from Rig Veda (Aitareya Upanishad)

2)   Tat Tvam Asi – “Thou art That” from Sama Veda (Chandogya Upanishad)

3)   Aham Brahmasmi – “I am Brahman” from Yajur Veda (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

4)   Ayam Athma Brahma –“This Self is Brahman” from Atharva Veda (Mandukya Upanishad)

Besides these four, there are many others that speak of Jiva Brahma Ikyam.   In Mahavakhyas like ‘That Thou are” and ‘I am Brahman’ we should not blindly take the meaning of the word but choose the appropriate meaning according to the context.

First we apply the primary meaning of the words, vachyartha and if the sentence does not convey the meaning rightly then we take recourse to the secondary or implied meaning, lakshyartha, of the words.  We had seen earlier that identity between Jiva,Tvam and Brahman, Tat can be achieved  by taking the lakshyarthas of Tat and Tvam.  Guru tells sishya that a similar approach is to be adopted in interpreting the Mahavakyas as well.

Verse 43 

Guru uvacha

Hitvaa dvau sabalau vaachyau vaakyam vaakyaartha bodhane I

Yathaa pravartate asmaabhih tathaa vyaakhyaatam aadaraat II

Guru continues:  Discarding the two qualified literal meanings, the Mahavakya reveals the implied meaning.  What these meanings are has already been carefully explained.

Guru is taking up the sentence meaning, vakyartha starting with the direct or literal meaning of the sentence, Mahavakya.  The literal meaning of the sentence is arrived at by taking the literal meaning of the constituent words.  The literal meaning for Tvam is Jeevathma with three sareeras, saguna Jeevathma  and the literal meaning for Tat is Brahman with the three prapanchas. Saguna Brahman.  Saguna Brahman, as creator, has karana-karya relationship with Saguna Jeevathma and so cannot have tadathmyam with Saguna Jeevathma. So discarding the literal meaning of the two words, Tvam and Tat, one has to take up the implied meaning, lakshyartha, of these two words and arrive at their identity, as explained earlier.  Guru who had earlier explained about direct and implied meaning of words by themselves, now explains the dropping of direct meaning and adopting the implied meaning in the context of the sentence as a whole as well, to be thorough in his analysis. 

Verse 44

Aalambanatayaa bhaati yoh asmatpratyayashabdayoh I

Antahkarana sambhinna bodhah sah tvampadabhidhah. II

Verse 45

Mayopadhirjagatyonih sarvajnatvaadilakshanah I

Parokshyasabalah satyaadi aatmakah tatpadabhidhah II

The Consciousness which is expressing itself through the internal organ and which is the object of the idea and word ‘I’ is the direct meaning of the word ‘Thou’.  The qualified Being, the cause of the universe, described as Omniscient etc., mediately known, having the nature of Existence etc., and having Maya for Its upadhi is the direct meaning of ‘That’

These two verses repeat the vachyartha of ‘Tvam’ and ‘Tat’ in the context of arriving at the vakhyartha of Mahavakya ‘Tat Tvam asi’.  The primary meaning  of ‘Tvam’ is Jiva and is the Consciousness along with reflected Consciousness in anthakarana and the body-mind complex.  In view of this association all bodily limitations are also mistakenly considered as its limitations.  The primary meaning of ‘Tat’ is Iswara, i.e. Brahman with Maya who is both the efficient and material cause of the world.  Being the efficient cause of the world It has knowledge of everything in creation and so It is omniscient.  As material cause It is karanam for the  world which is the karyam.  As Brahman is formless and Maya also is without form, It cannot be known directly and has to be inferred indirectly.  Upanishads describe the nature of Brahman as ‘Existence, Consciousness, Bliss’. 

Verse 46

Pratyak parokshata ekasya sadviteeyatva poornataa I

Virudhyete yatastasmaallakshanaa sampravartate II

The qualities of being known directly and also indirectly; and of duality as well as Oneness are incompatible on the part of one and the same substance and so the implied meanings alone have to be selected

In this verse Guru points out that there cannot be identity between ‘Tvam’ and ‘Tat’ when we take the literal word meaning i,e, Jiva and Iswara with their upadhis, by pointing out the contradictions in their nature.   The contradictions pointed out are as follows.  Jiva can be known directly while Iswara can be known only indirectly. Jiva being connected with body-mind complex is many while Iswara is one only. We can list a few more as well like:  Iswara is infinite, while Jiva is finite;  Iswara is karanam, while Jiva is Karyam;  Iswara is all-knowing while Jiva has limited knowledge; and so on.  As identity cannot be established with these contradictions present we have to take recourse to the secondary meaning i.e. lakshyartha only.

Verse 47

Maanaantara virodhe tu mukhya-arthasya aparigrahe I

Mukhya-arthena avinaabhoote prateetih lakshanah uchyate II

As it conflicts with other evidences, the direct word meanings are not acceptable.  The sense that is consistent with other proofs, i.e. the implied meaning, has to be accepted.

When an inconsistency such as seen in the previous verse is encountered in establishing an identity, then the next step is to take recourse to the lakshyartha or secondary or implied meaning.  The secondary meaning should be connected to the primary meaning in one way or the other and related to primary meaning.  In the matter of using secondary meaning, there are three methods available under Lakshana Vriiti, the categories of analyzing a sentence using implied or secondary meaning.  The three methods are:

i) Jahal-Lakshana: “Total Rejection Method”. The entire direct word meaning is rejected and the secondary meaning connected to primary meaning is taken.

ii) Ajahal-Lakshana: “Total Acceptance Method”. The entire direct word meaning is accepted and, in addition, something more connected to the primary meaning is added to make it meaningful.

iii) Jahal-Ajahal-Lakshana: “Part-Rejection and Part-Acceptance Method”. This is also termed Bhaga Tyaga Lakshana (Partial Rejection) or simply Bhaga Lakshana where part of the primary meaning is kept and another part of the primary meaning is given up i.e. the contradictory part is rejected and the common part is retained. 

Verse 48

‘Tat Tvam asi’ aadivaakyeshu lakshanaa bhaaga lakshanaa I

So*yam ityadi vaakyasthapadayoriva, naaparaa. II

In the statement like ‘Thou art That’ etc, Bhaga Lakshana method has to be employed as in the sentence ‘He is this man’, etc.  No other method can be applied.

In the case of Mahavakya ‘Tat Tvam asi’, Bhaga lakshana method, where the contradictory part is rejected and the common part is retained to arrive at the meaning, is adopted to arrive at the secondary meaning of the sentence.   The contrary parts due to the upadhis of both Jiva and Ishwara are rejected and the common parts in both of them are retained, namely Consciousness giving the message that the Consciousness in Jiva and the Consciousness that is Brahman constitute one undivided whole like the space in the pot and space outside which is only the indivisible space.  The contrary parts that are rejected, the three bodies of Jiva and Maya of Brahman are only mithya.  This verse quotes an example to illustrate the use of this method which runs like this.  One person is introduced to an elderly person with words ‘This is that Devadutta’, Devadutta being a young man he had met in his native village twenty years back. That individual discards the contrary features of the young man and old man and retains only the common feature of name only as Devadutta, to recognize him. This is a practical example of the use of Bhaga lakshana method.

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