Hari Aum,
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 74:
gR^ihatvenaiva kaashhThaani khadgatvenaiva lohataa .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning: As the house if seen in wood and a sword is seen in iron. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person.
Explanation: With this sloka the author ends the explanations with examples to show how an ignorant person is deluded by considering his body to be atman.
We have seen two different kinds of illustrations to prove the unreal nature of the objects in the world. The illusions of water seen in desert , where water doesn’t really exist at all but is seen to exist. The case of names and forms seen in the world but which may be at an empirical point of view, but at a vyavaharika level they are unreal.
In this sloka the author explains with the example of house made of wood. What we see as a house is in reality wood alone. The house is made of wood alone and name is assigned to it. The indwelling self in all individuals the same. It is the same consciousness, which make activities happen in the world. It is the underlying substratum of the world. This is what is clearly brought out through the example.
The sword made of iron is just a name and form given to iron metal. Similarly we see different names and forms for the same consciousness principle residing in all. The outer covering of the body is different. We see people of different skin colors, different heights, weights etc. We get deluded considering these names and forms as real. We consider ourselves to be the body and hence consider others to be different from others. Thus we like some people and dislike some others. But when we understand that outer appearances are deceptive and one should see the all Brahman present in everything in the world.
Sloka 75:
tathaa vR^iksha viparyaaso jalaadbhavati kasyachit.h .
tadvadaatmani dehatvaM pashyatyaGYaanayogataH
Meaning : As the reflection of a tree is seen in a water body, so also an ignorant person considers his atman as the body.
Explanation: From this sloka till the next 12 slokas, the author explains the how ignorance makes a person consider himself to be the body. He gives lots of illustrations from a different perspective, the perspective of an ignorant person. We have seen earlier that an ignorant person ignores his atman and considers himself to be the body. A seeker differentiates atman and his body and concentrates on his self. A jnaani is a person in a state of perfection where he considers his body and atman as Brahman.
In a river or lake we can see the reflection of a nearby tree. We all have seen this in our lives. Through these simple examples, vedantic perspective are brought out clearly with worldly experiences we have in life.
The reflection we see of the tree in the water is an illusion and its not the real tree. But it appears as a real tree. As we know how a tree looks , when we see the reflection of the tree in water, we understand it is not a real tree and only an illusion. Incase we were not aware of the real nature of a tree or how a tree looks, then we would consider the reflection of the tree as a real tree. Same understanding can be applied to our current state we do know who we are. We do not know that we are the self. Hence we consider ourselves to be the body due to ignorance. This ignorance of the self as “I”, deludes us in the world. So a person considers himself to be the body due to ignorance.
Seeing the reflection of tree in the water, a person who is ignorant may even try to get the fruits from the tree, may seek many things from the tree, but we all know that this will lead him only to sorrow, as he is seeking which is not actually exisiting. We are sure about the illusory nature of the reflection of the tree in water, but we do not know that we are in the same kind of illusion which is the world. We are seeking many objects in the world which are temporary, which are not real and hence would lead us to sorrow alone in the long run. But we are not able to convince ourselves of the truth that the world is just an illusion of names and forms.
Thus the author brings out through the example that the world is just an illusion.
Sloka 76:
potena gachchhataH pu.nsaH sarvaM bhaatiiva chaJNchalam.h .
tadvadaatmani dehatvaM pashyatyaGYaanayogataH
Meaning: A person traveling in a boat would see that all objects are moving. Similarly a person considers himself to be the body.
Explanation: Continuing the explanations through examples, sankaracharya gives example of a person who is traveling in a boat and feels that the other objects he sees are moving,
We have experienced such things many times. When we are traveling in train, we see through the window that the crops, trees , poles are moving. But we are aware that we are traveling in the train and that the train is moving, making us feel that the other objects that we see are moving. But this is only an illusion created in our mind. But due to the knowledge that we have , that we are moving in the train, immediately our intellect reiterates saying that ”No its me who is moving”. The knowledge that we are the self.
Would help a person to understand the truth, to realize oneself and not to get deluded in the world and be surrounded by sorrows.
This example also brings out that the experiences we have in the world is not real as the world itself is an illusion.
An ignorant person hence considers himself to be the body , due to the ignorance of the self.
Sloka 77:
piitatva.n hi yathaa shubhre doshhaadbhavati kasyachit.h .
tadvadaatmani dehatvaM pashyatyaGYaanayogataH
Meaning : A person suffering from jaundice would see everything as yellow in color. Similarly an ignorant person sees the self as the body.
Explanation: Through another examples the author is explaining as to how an ignorant person is considering himself to be the body.In this sloka he talks about the perspective vision of a ignorant person.
A person suffering from jaundice sees everything in the world as yellow in color. This is because of the disease he is suffering from. This changes his vision of the objects in the world. This doesn’t mean that the objects in the world are yellow in color. It is the vision of the person which is wrong , as he is suffering from disease. If he considers that the objects he sees are by nature yellow in color, then he is foolish. It means he is ignoring that he has the disease, as a result of which a wrong perception of the objects in the world is created. He will get the right perspective of the objects he sees only when he is cured of the disease. These are simple facts we all are aware of.
In the same fashion ignorant people in the world, who consider themselves to be the body, are suffering with the disease of Ignorance if we can say so. So their perspective of the world is wrong. They have wrong ideas and impressions about the world in mind. They do not know the nature of the world and create impressions of the world through their own experiences and interpretations ,due to lack of self knowledge. This will just lead one to sorrow.
We all know that given an object each person interprets in different ways, his interpretations depend on the knowledge of the object he has. The person who has the appropriate knowledge will be in a position to give the right perspective. A scientist who has discovered something, he would be the right person to explain about his discovery, than people who have looked at his discovery.
Thus the vision of an ignorant person in the world is wrong. This can be set right only with knowledge. As ignorance is the cause, the solution for the same is knowledge and could be nothing else.
Lord Krishna in gita 4th chapter says
sreyan dravya-mayad yajnaj jnana-yajnah parantapa sarvam karmakhilam partha jnane parisamapyate
Thus an ignorant person considers himself to be the body, only because he doesn’t have the right knowledge.
Sloka 78:
chaxubhyaaM bhramashiilaabhyaa.n sarvaM bhaati bhramaatmakam.h .
tadvadaatmani dehatvaM pashyatyaGYaanayogataH
Meaning: A person who has faulty eyes, will have fault vision of the world. In the same way an ignorant person consider the atman as the body.
Explanation: The author has explained through an example of a person suffering from jaundice, about the vision of the world. He continues the same explanation in this sloka as well.
A person who has faulty eyes will have faulty vision. A person who has long sight or a short sight , or a cataract in the eye, would not be able to see the objects properly. This impaired vision would impede the functionality of the eyes and a person can no longer depend on his vision entirely. He would need to seek the help of people with right vision, to guide them. Even though his eyes are not functioning properly if a person thinks that whatever he sees is the right vision, then he will end up in trouble.
As a person who has an impaired vision seeks a guide who directs him , So also ignorant people like us should approach the people with right vision of the world, to impart the self knowledge to us. Guru is the right person who has knowledge of scripts and how has treaded that path and is a self-realization soul. He is the person who has the right vision of the objects in the world, through whose help we will be able to cross over the ocean of transmigration .
Lord Krishna says in the 4th chapter thus
tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah
A person should serve the Guru and put proper questions to get the knowledge of the self from the Guru. Thus alone he attains self knowledge . This also shows that without the grace of a Guru a person cannot think about self –knowledge.
Hari Aum
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Slokas 69 to 73
Hari Aum,
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 69:
yathaiva mR^inmayaH kuMbhastadvaddeho.api chinmayaH .
aatmaanaatmavibhaago.ayaM mudhaiva kriyate.abudhaiH
Meaning : As a mud pot is mud alone, so also in a body chit or consciousness alone exists. Ignorant person separates the atman and anatman but of its of no use.
Explanation: In this sloka sankaracharya explains the how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body.
It’s a general experience to answer that “My name is XXX” when asked upon by some one. We also use terms like “My stomach is paining” . We have the knowledge that even if the parts of the body are not present, we see people living. We do try to correlate both these facts and figure out the truth. The above statements clearly show that we are not the body. There exists a significant principle which pervades the whole universe that gives existence to the whole creation seen. Thus an ignorant person doesn’t see the underlying substratum of each and every entity in the world. As the pot is made of mud alone, so also in the body chit or consciousness or atman is present , which always persists as “I exist”.
An ignorant person considers his body as atman and thinks the body is real, even though he sees that it undergoes many changes over period of time. He seeks for happiness in the world, which is ever changing, forgetting that his own nature is anandam and that he is seeks the same ananda through the temporary objects of the world.
Thus an ignorant person concentrates on the body which he considers as atman and ignores the atman. Thereby he is doing a distinction of atman and anatman without realizing that the atman is not his body. He considers atman and body to be one .
When a sadhaka knows the truth that body is illusiory and is just name and form in Brahman, he discriminates real from unreal and differentiates the atman from the anatman. He tries to concentrate on his self.
Slowly when the sadhaka realizes the truth , he becomes jnaani who experiences what he tried to practice. Once a person reaches this state, he no more differentiates between atman and anatman. For him Brahman alone exists in the world. Everything is pervaded by Brahman. For his all bodies are all individuals are his self alone, he doesn’t see any duality at all. Thus the author explains the different perspective of the ignorant person,sadhaka and a jnaani towards the body.
Sloka 70:
sarpatvena yathaa rajjuu rajatatvena shuktikaa .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning: As snake is seen in rope, as silver is seen in nacer. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person
Explanation: In the previous sloka the author has explained how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body. In this sloka and next few slokas he explains through illustrations the same truth for our better understanding.
All names and forms seen in the world are illusion in Brahman. As pot is made of mud alone so also there is Brahman alone exists as atman in each individual and Brahman alone that is present in the entire universe. Unaware of this truth, an ignorant person fails to understand the eternal nature of his self of sat chit ananda. He thereby seeks objects of this world for happiness. This is due to superimposition or adhyaasa of the body over self or atman, due to ignorance of the self.
We might imagine snake to be the rope. But when we try to understand whether its really a snake, using our discrimination , we figure out that we have been deluded by our own mind and that it was never a snake and was rope alone all the time. Thus when a person tries to know the ultimate truth , he understands that never a world existed and it is out of his ignorance he imagined a world . Once the veils of ignorance are removed , he would see the perceive the true nature of the world.
Similar another analogy of silver seen in nacer is given by the author. When we observe and try to check whether it is really sliver that we seen in nacer, the truth is revealed.
Thus when a person is in ignorance , as a rope is seen as snake and silver is seen in nacer, so also a person considers himself to be the body. So with the illustrations of the illusion of snake in rope and silver in nacer, author shows that a person is deluded by illusions in this world.
Sloka 71:
ghaTatvena yathaa pR^ithvii paTatvenaiva ta.ntavaH .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning : Earth is seen as pot , thread is seen as cloth. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person
Explanation: In this sloka author gives another illustration to show how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body.
Earth which makes up the pot is known as pot and not earth. Its called as pot though each particle of the pot is mud or earth alone. People conveniently ignore the fact that it is mud alone. They are deluded by names and forms.
A cloth is woven from thread alone, without thread there are no clothes. Even though we know this fact that without existence of a thread, the name and form of the cloth or dress cannot exist, we ignore it .
The whole world is pervaded by Brahman alone. As the mundaka Upanishad says about Brahman being all pervading.
Brahmaivedam amritam purastaat
Brahma paschaat brahma dakshinatascha uttarena
Adah cha urdhvam cha prasritam
Brahmaiva idam vishwam idam varistam
Brahman alone is present here, he is behind and before,he is in the south and in the north, on top,below, Thus he is present everywhere in the whole universe.
But still we see only the names of forms in the world, which are illusions in Brahman. Names and forms exist only due to the substratum of Brahman. If Brahman doesn’t exist, nothing exists, but we still hold onto the unreal names and forms in the world and forget the ever existsing, eternal, all pervading Brahman which is our very nature. Thus an ignorant person considers his body as atman.
Sloka 72 :
kanaka.n kuNDalatvena taraN^gatvena vai jalam.h .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning: As the gold is seen as earring, as water is seen as waves. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person.
Explanation: Author gives another example of gold and gold ornaments and waves in an ocean to show how a person considers himself to be the body.
Whether it’s a necklace or an ear ring, it is made of gold alone. All ornaments are made of gold alone. Ornaments are not different from gold.. If a person doesn’t acknowledge that gold and necklace are the same , then its foolishness.
The whole world is made up of Brahman alone. The names and forms are just illusions.
If we do not acknowledge this fact and consider the names and forms as real we will end up in sorrow. As scriptures proclaim “Anithyam asukham lokam” , World is temporary and full of sorrow. If we stick to the name and form it will lead us to sorrow alone. A goldsmith who sees all ornaments as gold alone. Similar attitude we have to develop towards the world. We should be able to see everything as Brahman alone, of the nature of sat chit ananda. Negating the names and forms if a person concentrates and reiterates through his intellect that the truth behind all the illusions is Brahman alone, he will be able to come out of the superimposition and perceive the truth.
Waves might seem to be different from the ocean. Waves are created in the ocean, they are formed out of the ocean and merge back into the ocean. They are part of the ocean, but might seem to be different from the ocean for a short duration of time. Ocean and water is made up of water alone. Both have different names. So name and form are only illusions when the reality is water alone. We cannot say that wave is not water.
Waves form keeps changing until it merges back into the ocean.
The nature of the world is also temporary and changing. Anything that is temporary cannot give us permanent happiness which are seeking in the world. Once the object no more exists, what was giving happiness earlier with give sorrow. Understanding this temporary nature of the world, a person should realize oneself, which would give him eternal bliss. The only permanent entity in this world is Brahman , which of the nature of sat chit ananda which alone would give a person permanent happiness.
Sloka 73:
purushhatvena vai sthaaNurjalatvena mariichikaa .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning : As people are seen in the lamppost, as water is seen in the desert . Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person.
Explanation: Sankaracharya gives another example to show how foolish it is to consider the body as atman.
In a lamppost a person would see the reflection of objects, but what a person sees depends on what a person wants to see. A policeman would see a thief in a lamppost, as he always in lookout to catch thieves. His mind is most of the time thinking about them.
A lover would see his lover, as his mind always dwells in the moments he or she spends with his/her lover.
Similarly we see the world as we want to see. Our perception of the world, entirely depends on our thoughts which constitute our mind. Our mind which is a bundle of thoughts created due to the impressions. The attitude behind perceiving things in the world changes our experience with the world. The world will still remain the same, but the perception of the world differs. The lamppost in which different people see different objects is one and the same, but the perception of each person differs based on their mental state. Likewise what is perceived in this world is a based on our mental state.
A jnaani sees nothing but Brahman as existing everything, pervading the entire world. For him duality has no existence whatsoever. He revels ever in Brahman and hence is always blissful. A mudah perceives the world of names and forms, considers them real and suffers as a result of this. This perception of the ignorant person just gives him sorrow. Understanding the truth and changing our attitude our perception towards the world changes. The circumstances we might face in the world may not change but our attitude to handle them changes, due to the knowledge that has dawned in us, of which we are totally convinced.
So names and forms seen in world are like the reflections seen in the lamppost, they r temporary and only give sorrow.
We all know the example of water in desert. The names and forms in the world are as illusory as the water seen in desert. A jnaani who also might see the water but knows that water doesn’t really exist, is not effected even though he might run towards the water. A jnaani knows the world is an illusion, still he does actions necessary. So world or the scenario hasn’t changed , a person may still perceive the water in desert, but the knowledge that world is unreal, helps us to have an equipoised mind all the time. Whatever may be the outcome of the actions we perform in the world we will remain unaffected.
This is the attitude we have to develop towards the objects in the world, else we shall end up considering the body to be the atman, not able to differentiate the real from the unreal.
Hari Aum
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 69:
yathaiva mR^inmayaH kuMbhastadvaddeho.api chinmayaH .
aatmaanaatmavibhaago.ayaM mudhaiva kriyate.abudhaiH
Meaning : As a mud pot is mud alone, so also in a body chit or consciousness alone exists. Ignorant person separates the atman and anatman but of its of no use.
Explanation: In this sloka sankaracharya explains the how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body.
It’s a general experience to answer that “My name is XXX” when asked upon by some one. We also use terms like “My stomach is paining” . We have the knowledge that even if the parts of the body are not present, we see people living. We do try to correlate both these facts and figure out the truth. The above statements clearly show that we are not the body. There exists a significant principle which pervades the whole universe that gives existence to the whole creation seen. Thus an ignorant person doesn’t see the underlying substratum of each and every entity in the world. As the pot is made of mud alone, so also in the body chit or consciousness or atman is present , which always persists as “I exist”.
An ignorant person considers his body as atman and thinks the body is real, even though he sees that it undergoes many changes over period of time. He seeks for happiness in the world, which is ever changing, forgetting that his own nature is anandam and that he is seeks the same ananda through the temporary objects of the world.
Thus an ignorant person concentrates on the body which he considers as atman and ignores the atman. Thereby he is doing a distinction of atman and anatman without realizing that the atman is not his body. He considers atman and body to be one .
When a sadhaka knows the truth that body is illusiory and is just name and form in Brahman, he discriminates real from unreal and differentiates the atman from the anatman. He tries to concentrate on his self.
Slowly when the sadhaka realizes the truth , he becomes jnaani who experiences what he tried to practice. Once a person reaches this state, he no more differentiates between atman and anatman. For him Brahman alone exists in the world. Everything is pervaded by Brahman. For his all bodies are all individuals are his self alone, he doesn’t see any duality at all. Thus the author explains the different perspective of the ignorant person,sadhaka and a jnaani towards the body.
Sloka 70:
sarpatvena yathaa rajjuu rajatatvena shuktikaa .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning: As snake is seen in rope, as silver is seen in nacer. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person
Explanation: In the previous sloka the author has explained how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body. In this sloka and next few slokas he explains through illustrations the same truth for our better understanding.
All names and forms seen in the world are illusion in Brahman. As pot is made of mud alone so also there is Brahman alone exists as atman in each individual and Brahman alone that is present in the entire universe. Unaware of this truth, an ignorant person fails to understand the eternal nature of his self of sat chit ananda. He thereby seeks objects of this world for happiness. This is due to superimposition or adhyaasa of the body over self or atman, due to ignorance of the self.
We might imagine snake to be the rope. But when we try to understand whether its really a snake, using our discrimination , we figure out that we have been deluded by our own mind and that it was never a snake and was rope alone all the time. Thus when a person tries to know the ultimate truth , he understands that never a world existed and it is out of his ignorance he imagined a world . Once the veils of ignorance are removed , he would see the perceive the true nature of the world.
Similar another analogy of silver seen in nacer is given by the author. When we observe and try to check whether it is really sliver that we seen in nacer, the truth is revealed.
Thus when a person is in ignorance , as a rope is seen as snake and silver is seen in nacer, so also a person considers himself to be the body. So with the illustrations of the illusion of snake in rope and silver in nacer, author shows that a person is deluded by illusions in this world.
Sloka 71:
ghaTatvena yathaa pR^ithvii paTatvenaiva ta.ntavaH .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning : Earth is seen as pot , thread is seen as cloth. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person
Explanation: In this sloka author gives another illustration to show how an ignorant person considers himself to be the body.
Earth which makes up the pot is known as pot and not earth. Its called as pot though each particle of the pot is mud or earth alone. People conveniently ignore the fact that it is mud alone. They are deluded by names and forms.
A cloth is woven from thread alone, without thread there are no clothes. Even though we know this fact that without existence of a thread, the name and form of the cloth or dress cannot exist, we ignore it .
The whole world is pervaded by Brahman alone. As the mundaka Upanishad says about Brahman being all pervading.
Brahmaivedam amritam purastaat
Brahma paschaat brahma dakshinatascha uttarena
Adah cha urdhvam cha prasritam
Brahmaiva idam vishwam idam varistam
Brahman alone is present here, he is behind and before,he is in the south and in the north, on top,below, Thus he is present everywhere in the whole universe.
But still we see only the names of forms in the world, which are illusions in Brahman. Names and forms exist only due to the substratum of Brahman. If Brahman doesn’t exist, nothing exists, but we still hold onto the unreal names and forms in the world and forget the ever existsing, eternal, all pervading Brahman which is our very nature. Thus an ignorant person considers his body as atman.
Sloka 72 :
kanaka.n kuNDalatvena taraN^gatvena vai jalam.h .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning: As the gold is seen as earring, as water is seen as waves. Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person.
Explanation: Author gives another example of gold and gold ornaments and waves in an ocean to show how a person considers himself to be the body.
Whether it’s a necklace or an ear ring, it is made of gold alone. All ornaments are made of gold alone. Ornaments are not different from gold.. If a person doesn’t acknowledge that gold and necklace are the same , then its foolishness.
The whole world is made up of Brahman alone. The names and forms are just illusions.
If we do not acknowledge this fact and consider the names and forms as real we will end up in sorrow. As scriptures proclaim “Anithyam asukham lokam” , World is temporary and full of sorrow. If we stick to the name and form it will lead us to sorrow alone. A goldsmith who sees all ornaments as gold alone. Similar attitude we have to develop towards the world. We should be able to see everything as Brahman alone, of the nature of sat chit ananda. Negating the names and forms if a person concentrates and reiterates through his intellect that the truth behind all the illusions is Brahman alone, he will be able to come out of the superimposition and perceive the truth.
Waves might seem to be different from the ocean. Waves are created in the ocean, they are formed out of the ocean and merge back into the ocean. They are part of the ocean, but might seem to be different from the ocean for a short duration of time. Ocean and water is made up of water alone. Both have different names. So name and form are only illusions when the reality is water alone. We cannot say that wave is not water.
Waves form keeps changing until it merges back into the ocean.
The nature of the world is also temporary and changing. Anything that is temporary cannot give us permanent happiness which are seeking in the world. Once the object no more exists, what was giving happiness earlier with give sorrow. Understanding this temporary nature of the world, a person should realize oneself, which would give him eternal bliss. The only permanent entity in this world is Brahman , which of the nature of sat chit ananda which alone would give a person permanent happiness.
Sloka 73:
purushhatvena vai sthaaNurjalatvena mariichikaa .
vinirNiitaa vimuuDhena dehatvena tathaatmataa
Meaning : As people are seen in the lamppost, as water is seen in the desert . Similarly the atman is seen as the body by an ignorant person.
Explanation: Sankaracharya gives another example to show how foolish it is to consider the body as atman.
In a lamppost a person would see the reflection of objects, but what a person sees depends on what a person wants to see. A policeman would see a thief in a lamppost, as he always in lookout to catch thieves. His mind is most of the time thinking about them.
A lover would see his lover, as his mind always dwells in the moments he or she spends with his/her lover.
Similarly we see the world as we want to see. Our perception of the world, entirely depends on our thoughts which constitute our mind. Our mind which is a bundle of thoughts created due to the impressions. The attitude behind perceiving things in the world changes our experience with the world. The world will still remain the same, but the perception of the world differs. The lamppost in which different people see different objects is one and the same, but the perception of each person differs based on their mental state. Likewise what is perceived in this world is a based on our mental state.
A jnaani sees nothing but Brahman as existing everything, pervading the entire world. For him duality has no existence whatsoever. He revels ever in Brahman and hence is always blissful. A mudah perceives the world of names and forms, considers them real and suffers as a result of this. This perception of the ignorant person just gives him sorrow. Understanding the truth and changing our attitude our perception towards the world changes. The circumstances we might face in the world may not change but our attitude to handle them changes, due to the knowledge that has dawned in us, of which we are totally convinced.
So names and forms seen in world are like the reflections seen in the lamppost, they r temporary and only give sorrow.
We all know the example of water in desert. The names and forms in the world are as illusory as the water seen in desert. A jnaani who also might see the water but knows that water doesn’t really exist, is not effected even though he might run towards the water. A jnaani knows the world is an illusion, still he does actions necessary. So world or the scenario hasn’t changed , a person may still perceive the water in desert, but the knowledge that world is unreal, helps us to have an equipoised mind all the time. Whatever may be the outcome of the actions we perform in the world we will remain unaffected.
This is the attitude we have to develop towards the objects in the world, else we shall end up considering the body to be the atman, not able to differentiate the real from the unreal.
Hari Aum
Slokas 64 to 68
Hari Aum,
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 64:
ghaTanaamna yathaa pR^ithvii paTanaamnaa hi ta.ntavaH .
jagannamnaa chidaabhaati GYeya.n tattadabhaavataH
Meaning : As that which is called a pot is mud alone and that which is called a cloth is thread alone, similarly the world in the consciousness alone shines, Know the truth by negating the names and forms .
Explanation: Through our experience we know that the pots are nothing but mud alone and the name pot is given to the form of this mud. Thus negating the name and form of the pot we will come to know that its mud alone and pot was just a name assigned to the form by us.
With thread alone a cloth is woven. Without thread there is no cloth. If we deny the fact that the cloth is thread alone, we are denying the very existence of the cloth.
Similarly the world is filled with Brahman alone of the nature of consciousness, existence and bliss . It’s the underlying substratum of whole universe. Krishna says in Gita 15th chapter thus
Gam avishya cha bhutani dharayami aham ojasahPushnami osadhih sarvah somo bhutva rasatmakaha
It means that Brahman alone is present in the whole creation, he is present in the earth, sustains the vegetation of the earth, thus supports life on earth. He is alone present as the pancha bhutas air, water, fire, earth and space.
It is the eye behind the eyes, the ear behind the ears. Its said in the 15th chapter that
yat aditya gatam tejo, jagat bhasayithee akhilamYat Chandramasi yat cha agnau tat tejo viddhi mamakam
Brahman alone is the light for the sun ,light and moon. They depend derive their strength from Brahman alone. He is all pervading only entity present in the entire universe. Whole universe is contained in him.
A person can realize this truth only by negating the names and forms he sees in the world. Ascertaining himself in the beginning that Brahman alone is the reality behind all the forms and dualities seen in the world. Through constant practice over a period of time, he would reach such a state, wherein he wouldn’t perceive any duality whatsoever. His perspective of the world will completely change. This change in perspective would bring him the eternal bliss. Jnaani’s are in such a state where they reveal in the bliss of brahmam. They see everything to be themselves. They do not have any notion of “my body”. They consider everyone as his or herself. They find themselves as dwelling in every individual. This is the state wherein there is no duality, hence no sorrow but eternal bliss alone exists. This is what is the state we all should aspire to be in.
Sloka 65:
sarvo.api vyavahaarastu brahmaNaa kriyate janaiH .
aGYaanaanna vijaananti mR^ideva hi ghaTaadikam.h
Meaning: All the activities done in the world are done through Brahman alone. Ignorant people do not understand this as they consider the mud as pot only.
Explanation: Sankaracharya till the earlier few slokas gave various examples to explain that Brahman alone is present here and a person should negate all names and forms to understand the truth of ultimate reality. In this sloka he explain the perspective vision of the world by a person with knowledge of Brahman and an ignorant person.
A person having the knowledge of ultimate truth ,that Brahman alone is present in the entire world and there cannot exist anything apart from Brahman see’s no duality. He is never deluded by the names and forms and hence remains blissful. On the contrary a person lacking this knowledge would see duality in the world and would suffer in the world. He considers the pot as real and ignores mud from which pot is made. So when pot is destroyed , he grieves forgetting that mud alone had become the pot and it alone remains when the pot vanishes.
As mentioned in the 4th chapter of Gita
brahmarpanam brahma havir ,brahmagnau brahmana hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyam ,brahma-karma-samadhina
Here it means the whole world is like a homa(sacrificial offerings) where in the offerings are done to Brahman. That which is offered is Brahman, the fire unto which offerings are done is Brahman, the person who offers is also Brahman, the fruit to be achived out of the offerings done is also Brahman only. Thus a person should perform all his activities in the world as an offering to the lord ishwara, this would give him liberation.
This is the attitude a person should have while executing his duties in this world. If such is the case, no matter whatever action he does, whether it is a good action or bad action , he is not effected by it, as he offers everything to Brahman alone. He doesn’t consider himself the doer of activities hence wouldn’t enjoy the fruits of it. Thus anything favorable or unfavorable incidents happen in his life, he considers them to be the “prasad” of Ishwara. Such a person has the attitude of complete surrender to the lord. He sees god as the doer of actions and enjoyer of fruits. Thus he gets liberated from the fruits of the action done and thus from the life chain of birth and death.
Incase of an ignorant man, he gets attached to the activities he does, seeks some results, and enjoys the results of it and desires for more.He is never satisfied with what ever he has, no matter how much ever he has in life.He will always feels a sense of lacking or unfulfillment in life. He does actions seeking some results and enjoys the fruits of it and inturn does some more activites and thus takes births to enjoy all the fruits of action done. Thus he gets entangled in birth and death cycle.
Sloka 66:
kaaryakaaraNataa nityamaaste ghaTamR^idoryathaa .
tathaiva shrutiyuktibhyaM prapaJNcha brahmaNoriha
Meaning: The cause and effect is present always in case of pot and mud . Similarly as per scriptures , the same exists for world and the Brahman.
Explanation: The author continues the analysis after explaning that all actions are done through Brahman alone. He explains the cause and effect of the world.
All gold ornaments are made of gold alone, the ornaments are forms of gold. Here the cause of the ornaments is gold, the effect produced is the ornament. Similar is the case with world and Brahman. The effect of the world is from the substratum of Brahman. As per mundaka Upanishad it is said that as a spider weaves its own web , where the material and the maker is the spider alone, so also the world is from Brahman alone.
As per mundaka Upanishad
“yatha oornanabhi srujathe grinhathecha yatha prithivyam oshadhayah sambhavanthi
yathaa sathah purushaath keshalomaani thatha aksharaath sambhavathi iha vishvam”
The cause lies in the effect alone. It is always present. The mud is in the pot, but we fail to perceive mud in the pot and get deluded by the form of the pot. We get deluded by different gold ornaments and like some ornaments do not like other ornaments, forgetting that every ornament is made of gold alone.
Brahman alone is present in each individual as satchitananda. We fail to know this and dislike some people and like others. This leads us to sorrow.
This is mentioned in chandogya Upanishad as
Yatha soumya ekena mrit pindena sarvam mrin mayam vijnaatham syaat
Vaachaarambhanam vikaaro naama dheyam mrittiketyeva satyam
Knowing mud we come to know all forms of mud. Thus knowing the substratum, the names and forms are known. Thus Brahman alone exists in the world and whatever we see is just names and forms. Thus the relation between the cause of Brahman and the effect of world is proved beyond doubt in scriptures.
Sloka 67:
gR^ihyamaaNe ghaTe yadvanmR^ittikaa.ayaati vai balaat.h .
viikshamaaNe prapaJNche.api brahmaivaabhaati bhaasuram.h
Meaning: As a person endowed with knowledge would see mud alone in the pot, similarly Brahman alone can be perceived in the world, if seen from that perspective.Explanation: Sankaracharya till now has explained with various examples logically to prove that Brahman alone is present in the world. A sadhaka can have questions like1) Will world look something different to what I see now, Incase I view only Brahman in the world .2) How should one practice it? These questions are answered in this sloka and coming slokas.Till now it is proved beyond doubt that the ultimate truth of the world is Brahman alone. When one is logically convinced that Brahman alone is present in the world, to experience the same i.e Brahman alone is present in the world a person should ascertain whatever he says as Brahman all the time and that names and forms are just an illusion in the substratum of Brahman. Our current day experience of the world is due to the superimposition of the Ego over the self, to overcome this , one should constantly remind himself of the truth of ultimate reality.Whenever a person views pot as mud, he wouldn’t he deluded by the name and form of mud. Knowing that all gold ornaments are gold alone a person would see only gold in all ornaments, It wouldn’t matter to him what ornament it is. He sees all as gold.Similarly endowed with the eyes of knowledge a person should see Brahman as all pervading in the world. When he sees oneness in everything in the world, the person has no sorrow at all, as nothing exists apart from his self and everyone loves oneself, hence such a person loves the whole world .For him everyone is the same, he shows equal love to all. He has pure love to one and all without any expectations from them. Such a person is said to be a yogi, a person having sama dristhi or equanimity of mind.
In gita 2nd chapter Krishna says about an yogi thus
“sidhyasidhyo samo bhuthwa samathwam yoga uchyathe”
Thus changing our perspective towards the world is what is intended .The world would remain the same, the circumstances would remain the same .All the troubles we might face wouldn’t cease to exist, but only we wouldn’t be effected by anything that happens and will remain ever blissful, irrespective of the circumstances.
Sloka 68:
sadaivaatmaa vishuddho.asti hyashuddho bhaati vai sadaa .
yathaiva dvividhaa rajjurGYaanino.aGYaanino.anisham.h
Meaning : Atman is always free from bondages. But its perceived as bonded. Similarly perspective vision of a rope by a jnaani and an ajnaani is different.Explanation: Sankaracharya in the earlier sloka speaks about what a sadhaka should do to perceive world as Brahman. In this sloka through an example he illustrates how it can be achieved.We are not the body but the self, but due to superimposition for over period of time we have considered ourselves to be the body. So it might sound impossible for us to practice what sankaracharya propounds as “Brahma satyam jagath mithya” in half a sloka the entire essence of the Upanishads.But ancient sages and mahatmas have proved that it isn’t impossible and it isn’t something to be achieved as its one’s own self and not different from his self.To explain how it needs to be implemented, he gives the example of snake and rope.A person who sees the rope as a snake thinks that it is a real snake and gets scared. He runs away. But a person who sees the rope as rope, isn’t deluded. Here we see two perspectives, a perspective of a jnaani and an ajnaani. A jnaani is like a person who knows that it’s a rope and not snake, whereas an ajnaani who doesn’t takes the world to be real and is deluded by the world and suffers.Jnaani is unaffected by anything that happens around him in the world. As he knows that the only truth is Brahman. So the world doesn’t change for a jnaani. Its the same world seen by both a jnaani and an ajnaani, but the perspective of looking at the world is different. Internal vision of the world is what makes the difference, thought the world is seen as filled with names and forms by both. A jnaani would see the substratum of everything he sees in the world as brahman. A ajnaani would only perceive the world with duality.
Even though atman is ever liberated and is only a witness to all the activities in the world , a ajnaani not knowing his real nature of self, thinks he is bonded ,he associates himself with objects of the world, which bring him sorrow finally. On the contrary jnaani knows that atman is his true nature and that atman is untainited and is eternal and he remains as a witness to all the activities performed by him.Thus he doesn’t enjoy the fruits of actions and gets liberated from life cycle of birth and death.So one should strive to attain this attitude of seeing Brahman in everything in the world, this would help a seeker in self-realization.
Hari Aum
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 64:
ghaTanaamna yathaa pR^ithvii paTanaamnaa hi ta.ntavaH .
jagannamnaa chidaabhaati GYeya.n tattadabhaavataH
Meaning : As that which is called a pot is mud alone and that which is called a cloth is thread alone, similarly the world in the consciousness alone shines, Know the truth by negating the names and forms .
Explanation: Through our experience we know that the pots are nothing but mud alone and the name pot is given to the form of this mud. Thus negating the name and form of the pot we will come to know that its mud alone and pot was just a name assigned to the form by us.
With thread alone a cloth is woven. Without thread there is no cloth. If we deny the fact that the cloth is thread alone, we are denying the very existence of the cloth.
Similarly the world is filled with Brahman alone of the nature of consciousness, existence and bliss . It’s the underlying substratum of whole universe. Krishna says in Gita 15th chapter thus
Gam avishya cha bhutani dharayami aham ojasahPushnami osadhih sarvah somo bhutva rasatmakaha
It means that Brahman alone is present in the whole creation, he is present in the earth, sustains the vegetation of the earth, thus supports life on earth. He is alone present as the pancha bhutas air, water, fire, earth and space.
It is the eye behind the eyes, the ear behind the ears. Its said in the 15th chapter that
yat aditya gatam tejo, jagat bhasayithee akhilamYat Chandramasi yat cha agnau tat tejo viddhi mamakam
Brahman alone is the light for the sun ,light and moon. They depend derive their strength from Brahman alone. He is all pervading only entity present in the entire universe. Whole universe is contained in him.
A person can realize this truth only by negating the names and forms he sees in the world. Ascertaining himself in the beginning that Brahman alone is the reality behind all the forms and dualities seen in the world. Through constant practice over a period of time, he would reach such a state, wherein he wouldn’t perceive any duality whatsoever. His perspective of the world will completely change. This change in perspective would bring him the eternal bliss. Jnaani’s are in such a state where they reveal in the bliss of brahmam. They see everything to be themselves. They do not have any notion of “my body”. They consider everyone as his or herself. They find themselves as dwelling in every individual. This is the state wherein there is no duality, hence no sorrow but eternal bliss alone exists. This is what is the state we all should aspire to be in.
Sloka 65:
sarvo.api vyavahaarastu brahmaNaa kriyate janaiH .
aGYaanaanna vijaananti mR^ideva hi ghaTaadikam.h
Meaning: All the activities done in the world are done through Brahman alone. Ignorant people do not understand this as they consider the mud as pot only.
Explanation: Sankaracharya till the earlier few slokas gave various examples to explain that Brahman alone is present here and a person should negate all names and forms to understand the truth of ultimate reality. In this sloka he explain the perspective vision of the world by a person with knowledge of Brahman and an ignorant person.
A person having the knowledge of ultimate truth ,that Brahman alone is present in the entire world and there cannot exist anything apart from Brahman see’s no duality. He is never deluded by the names and forms and hence remains blissful. On the contrary a person lacking this knowledge would see duality in the world and would suffer in the world. He considers the pot as real and ignores mud from which pot is made. So when pot is destroyed , he grieves forgetting that mud alone had become the pot and it alone remains when the pot vanishes.
As mentioned in the 4th chapter of Gita
brahmarpanam brahma havir ,brahmagnau brahmana hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyam ,brahma-karma-samadhina
Here it means the whole world is like a homa(sacrificial offerings) where in the offerings are done to Brahman. That which is offered is Brahman, the fire unto which offerings are done is Brahman, the person who offers is also Brahman, the fruit to be achived out of the offerings done is also Brahman only. Thus a person should perform all his activities in the world as an offering to the lord ishwara, this would give him liberation.
This is the attitude a person should have while executing his duties in this world. If such is the case, no matter whatever action he does, whether it is a good action or bad action , he is not effected by it, as he offers everything to Brahman alone. He doesn’t consider himself the doer of activities hence wouldn’t enjoy the fruits of it. Thus anything favorable or unfavorable incidents happen in his life, he considers them to be the “prasad” of Ishwara. Such a person has the attitude of complete surrender to the lord. He sees god as the doer of actions and enjoyer of fruits. Thus he gets liberated from the fruits of the action done and thus from the life chain of birth and death.
Incase of an ignorant man, he gets attached to the activities he does, seeks some results, and enjoys the results of it and desires for more.He is never satisfied with what ever he has, no matter how much ever he has in life.He will always feels a sense of lacking or unfulfillment in life. He does actions seeking some results and enjoys the fruits of it and inturn does some more activites and thus takes births to enjoy all the fruits of action done. Thus he gets entangled in birth and death cycle.
Sloka 66:
kaaryakaaraNataa nityamaaste ghaTamR^idoryathaa .
tathaiva shrutiyuktibhyaM prapaJNcha brahmaNoriha
Meaning: The cause and effect is present always in case of pot and mud . Similarly as per scriptures , the same exists for world and the Brahman.
Explanation: The author continues the analysis after explaning that all actions are done through Brahman alone. He explains the cause and effect of the world.
All gold ornaments are made of gold alone, the ornaments are forms of gold. Here the cause of the ornaments is gold, the effect produced is the ornament. Similar is the case with world and Brahman. The effect of the world is from the substratum of Brahman. As per mundaka Upanishad it is said that as a spider weaves its own web , where the material and the maker is the spider alone, so also the world is from Brahman alone.
As per mundaka Upanishad
“yatha oornanabhi srujathe grinhathecha yatha prithivyam oshadhayah sambhavanthi
yathaa sathah purushaath keshalomaani thatha aksharaath sambhavathi iha vishvam”
The cause lies in the effect alone. It is always present. The mud is in the pot, but we fail to perceive mud in the pot and get deluded by the form of the pot. We get deluded by different gold ornaments and like some ornaments do not like other ornaments, forgetting that every ornament is made of gold alone.
Brahman alone is present in each individual as satchitananda. We fail to know this and dislike some people and like others. This leads us to sorrow.
This is mentioned in chandogya Upanishad as
Yatha soumya ekena mrit pindena sarvam mrin mayam vijnaatham syaat
Vaachaarambhanam vikaaro naama dheyam mrittiketyeva satyam
Knowing mud we come to know all forms of mud. Thus knowing the substratum, the names and forms are known. Thus Brahman alone exists in the world and whatever we see is just names and forms. Thus the relation between the cause of Brahman and the effect of world is proved beyond doubt in scriptures.
Sloka 67:
gR^ihyamaaNe ghaTe yadvanmR^ittikaa.ayaati vai balaat.h .
viikshamaaNe prapaJNche.api brahmaivaabhaati bhaasuram.h
Meaning: As a person endowed with knowledge would see mud alone in the pot, similarly Brahman alone can be perceived in the world, if seen from that perspective.Explanation: Sankaracharya till now has explained with various examples logically to prove that Brahman alone is present in the world. A sadhaka can have questions like1) Will world look something different to what I see now, Incase I view only Brahman in the world .2) How should one practice it? These questions are answered in this sloka and coming slokas.Till now it is proved beyond doubt that the ultimate truth of the world is Brahman alone. When one is logically convinced that Brahman alone is present in the world, to experience the same i.e Brahman alone is present in the world a person should ascertain whatever he says as Brahman all the time and that names and forms are just an illusion in the substratum of Brahman. Our current day experience of the world is due to the superimposition of the Ego over the self, to overcome this , one should constantly remind himself of the truth of ultimate reality.Whenever a person views pot as mud, he wouldn’t he deluded by the name and form of mud. Knowing that all gold ornaments are gold alone a person would see only gold in all ornaments, It wouldn’t matter to him what ornament it is. He sees all as gold.Similarly endowed with the eyes of knowledge a person should see Brahman as all pervading in the world. When he sees oneness in everything in the world, the person has no sorrow at all, as nothing exists apart from his self and everyone loves oneself, hence such a person loves the whole world .For him everyone is the same, he shows equal love to all. He has pure love to one and all without any expectations from them. Such a person is said to be a yogi, a person having sama dristhi or equanimity of mind.
In gita 2nd chapter Krishna says about an yogi thus
“sidhyasidhyo samo bhuthwa samathwam yoga uchyathe”
Thus changing our perspective towards the world is what is intended .The world would remain the same, the circumstances would remain the same .All the troubles we might face wouldn’t cease to exist, but only we wouldn’t be effected by anything that happens and will remain ever blissful, irrespective of the circumstances.
Sloka 68:
sadaivaatmaa vishuddho.asti hyashuddho bhaati vai sadaa .
yathaiva dvividhaa rajjurGYaanino.aGYaanino.anisham.h
Meaning : Atman is always free from bondages. But its perceived as bonded. Similarly perspective vision of a rope by a jnaani and an ajnaani is different.Explanation: Sankaracharya in the earlier sloka speaks about what a sadhaka should do to perceive world as Brahman. In this sloka through an example he illustrates how it can be achieved.We are not the body but the self, but due to superimposition for over period of time we have considered ourselves to be the body. So it might sound impossible for us to practice what sankaracharya propounds as “Brahma satyam jagath mithya” in half a sloka the entire essence of the Upanishads.But ancient sages and mahatmas have proved that it isn’t impossible and it isn’t something to be achieved as its one’s own self and not different from his self.To explain how it needs to be implemented, he gives the example of snake and rope.A person who sees the rope as a snake thinks that it is a real snake and gets scared. He runs away. But a person who sees the rope as rope, isn’t deluded. Here we see two perspectives, a perspective of a jnaani and an ajnaani. A jnaani is like a person who knows that it’s a rope and not snake, whereas an ajnaani who doesn’t takes the world to be real and is deluded by the world and suffers.Jnaani is unaffected by anything that happens around him in the world. As he knows that the only truth is Brahman. So the world doesn’t change for a jnaani. Its the same world seen by both a jnaani and an ajnaani, but the perspective of looking at the world is different. Internal vision of the world is what makes the difference, thought the world is seen as filled with names and forms by both. A jnaani would see the substratum of everything he sees in the world as brahman. A ajnaani would only perceive the world with duality.
Even though atman is ever liberated and is only a witness to all the activities in the world , a ajnaani not knowing his real nature of self, thinks he is bonded ,he associates himself with objects of the world, which bring him sorrow finally. On the contrary jnaani knows that atman is his true nature and that atman is untainited and is eternal and he remains as a witness to all the activities performed by him.Thus he doesn’t enjoy the fruits of actions and gets liberated from life cycle of birth and death.So one should strive to attain this attitude of seeing Brahman in everything in the world, this would help a seeker in self-realization.
Hari Aum
Slokas 59 to 63
Hari Aum,
Prostrations at the Lotus feet of AMMA.
Sloka 59:
yathaa mR^idi ghaTo naama kanake kuNDalaabhidhaa .
shuktau hi rajatakhyaatirjiivashabdastathaa pare
Meaning: As pot is an illusion in mud, as silver is an illusion in nacer, same way jeeva as an illusion in Brahman, can be known if seen from this perspective.
Explanation: The avasta trayam analysis proving that the illusory nature of the avasta’s and the truth of the atman as a witness of the three avasta’s was explained earlier. Thereby also saying that the world perceived in the waking state is also an illusion. After proving logically the mithya world, Sankaracharya gives illustrations in this regard to explain that the world is mithya.
Any vedantic work whether dvaita or advaita should cover 3 aspects , Esha, Jeeva and Brahman. Author proves the world as mithya explaining the three aspects in coming slokas. In this sloka author explains through examples about Jeeva being an illusion.
In this sloka he talks about jeeva and atman. Pot is made of mud. It a name given to the form of mud. Hence pot is not a different entity. Its essence is mud. There is no existence of the pot without mud. If we consider pot from being different from mud we will be deluded. Hence the form of pot seen is an illusion in mud. The reality is mud alone.
One may see silver in Nacer. But it really doesn’t exist. Nacer doesn’t contain silver. But we may perceive silver . But it doesn’t mean silver is present in nacer. It is just an illusion. When known that nacer doesn’t contain silver, we will not see silver any more. It is similar to the example of water seen in desert. Once we know there is no water in the desert, with that knowledge our intellect will be clear and we will not perceive and even though we might perceive water externally sometimes we know that its only an illusion and doesn’t exist.
We see many things in the world. But all are names and forms of Brahman alone. All names and forms are illusions and their substratum being Brahman. Hence we should never get deluded by the name and form of the world. This nature of the world is brought out with the example of mud pot as explained above.
Once we know that the whole is pervaded by Brahman of nature of consciousness alone, all the names and forms vanish. All the illusions created in the mind about the world vanish. The differences created in mind among various names and forms will vanish. We will perceive the all pervading Brahman everywhere. Till ignorance exists the illusions exist. As soon as we know that rope alone was there and snake was never present, We see the rope only. This is explained by the example of silver in nacer.
Thus the author with the two examples of mud pot and silver in nacer explains the outlook one should have about the world. This alone will help a sadhaka to come out of the illusion. As long as we are in the illusion we cannot perceive the truth. Truth can be perceived only when we move out of the illusion. Only when we do not see a snake in the rope , the rope is seen. When we view the snake we don’t see the rope.
Example of mud pot is of name and form in the world. One may see the name and form after realization of the truth also, but he would understand that its just an illusion. The illustration of the silver in nacer is and illusion. Once knowledge dawns about the truth behind we don’t perceive the illusion. So its called anirvachaneeyam or an illusion is that which cannot be explained. It is neither sat nor asat. Its not sat as silver never existed in nacer. Its not asat as silver is perceived till some time. Similarly Jeeva is just an illusion in the atman.
Sloka 60 :
yathaiva vyomni niilatva.n yathaa niiraM marusthale .
purushhastva.n yathaa sthaaNau tadvadvishva.n chidaatmani
Meaning: As mud gets the name of pot , as gold becomes ear rings. In Nacer an illusion of sliver is seen. So also in paramatham jeeva is seen .
Explanation: Author continues explanation that the jeeva is just an illusion in the atman and that he is the atman alone. He give few more examples to illustrate this view .
As pot is made of mud alone. Knowing the pot we know everything that is made of mud. As the essence is mud alone. Chandogya Upanishad says
“Yatha soumya ekena mrit pindena sarvam mrin mayam vijnaatham syaat
Vaachaarambhanam vikaaro naama dheyam mrittiketyeva satyam”
By knowing piece of mud all forms made of mud are known. All are but forms of the same mud. Mud alone is the reality.
As mud pot and wall are all made of mud , so also the whole world is made of Brahman alone.
So also any ornament made out of gold is gold alone. We may differentiate it as necklace, earrings and bangles, but in essence it is gold alone. The gold smith would treat any ornament as gold alone.
In nacer we see silver ,which is also an illusion as we have seen in the earlier sloka.
Thus jeeva is an illusion in the atman.
As a goldsmith sees gold in all ornaments made of gold, Likewise a jeevan mukta would see anything in the world as Brahman alone. In bhagavatham it is said that
“Vadanati tat tatva vidaha tattvam yat gnana advaiyam
Brahma ithi paramathethi Bhagavanithi shadbhathe”
Meaning the knower’s of the ultimate truth talk about the adviteeyam, that which is one alone and is all pervading as having different names like Brahman, bhagavan and paramatha. By whatever name it is called it’s the same fundamental principle of consciousness. Similarly Jeeva in essence is Brahman alone. Scriptures call it by various names Brahman, Jeeva, kutastha ,purusha,satchidananda etc. But in essence it is atman alone. The all pervading satchidananda.
Sloka 61:
yathaiva vyomni niilatva.n yathaa niiraM marusthale .
purushhastva.n yathaa sthaaNau tadvadvishva.n chidaatmani
Meaning: As the sky is blue in color, as water is seen in desert, as we see a person in a lamp post so also we see the whole world in consciousness.
Explanation: The earlier two slokas we have seen the explanation of Jeeva with respect to the consciousness. In this sloka the author speaks about the world with regards to the substratum of Brahman.
The sky is blue in color and we all know that space is colorless and the blue color of the sky is attributed to the reflection and refraction of light. Hence the color of the sky we see in not the true color. It is just an illusion.
We all are well aware of water seen in a desert which is also an illusion. This examples show that we have a vision of something which actually in reality doesn’t exist but only seems to exist. Water is not present in the desert nor the sky color is blue.
Similarly in a lamp post , people are seen by the viewer. Depending on the mind of the viewer different objects are seen in the lamppost. A thief sees a police in the lamppost ,as all the time he is fearing of getting caught by the police, so also a police is always in search of thieves would see a thief in the lamp post. A lover would see his love in the lamppost and goes towards it. The author says similar is the world.
The world is seen in the substratum of consciousness. Nothing else is present here but Brahman ,but still we perceive duality. As a lover sees his love in the lamppost we are seeing objects in the world. Not only whatever we see is not true and is an illusion, we also interpret it as per our mindsets. We see what we would like to see in the world.
Brahman is that which is one alone, which is all pervading and is the essence of the whole world. In one of his works sankaracharya says
“Jaati neeti kula gotra doorakam
Nama roopa guna dosha varjitam
Desha kala vishaya ati vartiyat
Brahmam tattvamasi bhaava yatmani “
Brahman is beyond species, caste, names and forms, good and bad, space and time . It is the ultimate truth of “I am the atman of nature of supreme consciousness”.
Thus the perception of the world , is similar to the objects perceived in lamppost and depend on the person perceiving it.
Thus a jeevan mukta just perceives the substratum of Brahman in everything and is always blissful, whereas the other in the world perceive duality and hence are ever are suffering from sorrows.
Sloka 62:
yathaiva shuunye vetaalo gandharvaaNaaM pura.n yathaa .
yathaakaashe dvichandratva.n tadvatsatye jagatsthitiH
Meaning: As a person sees ghost in voidness, as a person thinks about city of gandharvas in the sky, as seeing two moons in the sky, so as is the truth of the world perceived.
Explanation: The author continues the analysis of the world as names and forms and as an illusion in the substratum of the world. As per scriptures “Neha nana asthi kinchana” , there is no duality whatsoever. Sankaracharya proves the same point through the analysis of the truth of the world.
The author explains with some more examples in this sloka.
As is our general experience to imagine a ghost in space, though we may realize later that it wasn’t a ghost, similarly after realizing the nature of the world, we will no more fear anything in the world.
One may imagine that a city of gandharva’s exists in the sky, contrary to the truth of space alone present. So also a person sees the world, even though Brahman alone is present.
As mentioned by sankaracharya in one of his works of brahma jnaanavali maala
Ghata kudhyadikam sarvam mrittaka matra meva hi
Tatvad brahma jagad sarvam ithi Vedanta dindima”
As Pot is mud alone, so also the world is Brahman alone.
Two moons can also be viewed in sky, but we know that there is one moon alone, likewise people see duality in the world, they differentiate between various names and forms , they develop like and dislike with them, not knowing that everything is just a name and form of the ultimate reality of brahman.
Brahman alone is present here and all we perceive in the world are just names and forms of Brahman. We are getting deluded by the names and forms, as we do not understand the substratum of all objects as Brahman alone. Once we realize this, we will see each and every object in the world as Brahman alone, this would make a person blissful all the time, no matter whatever he is doing, he will always see Brahman everywhere .Jeevan muktha’s are people perceive the world thus and always rejoice in bliss.
Sloka 63:
yathaa taraN^gakallolairjalameva sphuratyalam.h .
paatraruupeNa taamra.n hi brahmaaNDaughaistathaatmataa
Meaning: As waves are nothing but water alone, as copper vessels are copper alone, so also the whole universe is atman alone
Explanation: Author continues the analysis of the illusion of the world through few more examples. Repetition is one of the ways of driving in the concept in the minds of the readers and helps them to develop strong conviction of the truth of the world, which we have been percieveing as full of dualities, due to the superimposition of the ego over the self.
The waves seen in the ocean are water alone. The waves are just a name give to the water in the ocean. Wave is just another form of water.
The vessels made of copper are copper alone. Upon melting these vessels turn to copper only. Hence a name and shape or form is given to copper , and vessel is seen as a different object to copper, though in essence copper alone exists in copper vessel.
As we all know the scripture lines of “Brahma satyam, jagad mithya, jeevo brahmaiva na parah”
Brahman alone is the truth , world is an illusion and the various forms seen in the world are Brahman alone.
Hari Aum
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