Peace Invocation
Om Aapyaayantu mamaangaani vaak-praanas-chakshuh srotram atho balamindriyaani cha sarvaani | sarvam brahmoupanishadam maaham brahma niraa-kuryaam maa maa brahma niraakarot; aniraakaranam-astu aniraakaranam may astu yadaatmani nirate ya upanishatsu dharmaah te mayi santu te mayi santu ||
|| Om saantih; saantih; saantih ||
~ Swami Gambhirananda translation
May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength and all the organs, become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman ; may not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning (of me by Brahman), let there be no rejection (of Brahman) by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self; may they repose in me.
Om! Peace, peace, peace.
Narada’s Education
This appears to be the early education of Narada who subsequently became a great sage. Interestingly, just as Nachiketa approaches Yama, Svetaketu his own father, Narada approaches the sage Sanatkumara. These young seekers of liberation want to deepen their knowledge and realize Brahman. One of the cardinal truths in all these teachings is that there is no peace or real happiness outside of this knowledge (Atma jnana). Sanatkumara teaches Narada the ascending steps to reality and direct spiritual experience with various meditations. There are many important points to be made here. Two of them are:
Only the knower of Brahman really knows anything. Only those who know the Eternal Being are jnanis– knowers. This is a necessary outlook for all sadhakas who set out to seek the Absolute. Unless they hold on to this outlook, they may become distracted along the way or settle for less.
The seeker or sadhaka must ask for a qualified teacher for teaching and a qualified teacher will not teach unless asked sincerely.
So throughout the teaching Narada keeps questioning Sanatkumara.
We will read these passages from the selected sections in the translations of Eknath Easwaran and Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester.
This knowledge is summed up in Sloka 26.2.
The Self is one, though it appears to be many. Go beyond decay and death, beyond separateness and sorrow.
Control the senses and purify the mind. In a pure mind there is constant awareness of the Self. Where there is constant awareness of the Self, freedom ends bondage and joy ends sorrow. This is a key meditation.
We also have the possibility of following the example of Narada of going beyond sorrow, beyond darkness, to the light of the Self.
The City of Brahman
The Chandogya is one of the two largest Upanishads. We, in the blog and the study group, are trying to give a glimpse and in-road to the magnificent and inspiring wisdom teachings left by the ancient sages of India. This blog gives us a view of the knowledge shared by these enlightened teachers. As a fine example of such teaching we see in this chapter a poetic description of the domain of Brahman which answers the question of what remains over when the body dies.
“Within the city of Brahman, which is the body, there is the heart, and within the heart there is a little house. This house has the shape of a lotus, and within it dwells that which is to be sought after, inquired about, and realized. What then is that which, dwelling within this little house, this lotus of the heart, is to be sought after,inquired about, and realized?”
The lotus of the heart, the innermost core, is the space of Consciousness. (not the element of space of the panchabhutas or primal elements) but chidakasha, the inner space of Pure Consciousness.
“All things that exist, all beings and all desires, are in this city of Brahman; what then becomes of them when old age approaches and the body dissolves in death? Though old age comes to the body, the lotus of the heart does not grow old. At the death of the body, it does not die. The lotus of the heart, where Brahman exists in all its glory- that, and not the body, is the true city of Brahman. Brahman, dwelling therein, is untouched by any deed, ageless, deathless, free from grief, free from hunger and free from thirst. His desires are right desires, and his desires are fulfilled. (8:1:4-5).
The Self desires only what is real, thinks nothing but what is true. Those who leave here knowing who they are and what they truly desire have freedom everywhere, both in this world and in the next.
…Those who see themselves in all creatures go day by day into the world of Brahman in the heart. (3.3) Established in peace, they rise above body consciousness to the supreme light of the Self. Immortal, free from fear, this Self is Brahman, called the True. (3.4).
Absorbed in the Self, the sage is freed from identity with the body and mind and lives in blissful consciousness. The Self is the immortal, the fearless, the Self is Brahman. This Brahman is eternal truth.
The Self is the bridge between the phenomenal world as we know it and the city of Brahman which is the true abode of infinite peace and happiness.
In the Chandogya Upanishad, if you read it in its entirety, you will find various techniques and methods to cross the boundary between the jiva (the individual self) and Brahman (the higher Self).
The teaching of Prajapati to Indra and Virochana
This last section of the Chandogya Upanishad which we will discuss in our Study Group continues the theme of identification with the body versus identification with the real Self. The story of Indra and Virochana also illustrates that a seeker has to have real determination and discipline to pursue spiritual realization. If there is not the sincere quest to know Brahman or one’s own real Self, it is easy to be satisfied with facile explanations about the nature of Brahman.
Robert Ernest Hume in his translation in the 7th khanda which he calls the Progressive Instruction of Indra by Prajapati concerning the real Self says the following –
‘The Self (Atman), which is free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless, whose desire is the Real, whose conception is the Real – He should be searched out, Him one should desire to understand. He obtains all worlds and all desires who has found out and who understands that Self. Thus spake Prajapati. (7.1)
Then both the gods and the devils (devas-asuras) heard it. Then they said: ‘Come! Let us search out that Self, the Self by searching out whom one obtains all worlds and all desires.’
Then Indra from among the gods went forth unto him, and Virochana from among the devils.
Then, without communicating with each other, the two came into the presence of Prajapati,
Fuel in hand (in token of discipleship). (7.2)
Just as Yama tests Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad by offering property, prosperity and longevity, Prajapati gives Indra, (representative of the demi-gods) and Virochana (the leader of the demons) the pleasures of body, senses and mind as the Brahman to be obtained. Virochana and Indra who have dwelt with Prajapati for 32 years and asked to know the Self (the Real I) get this as their first answer. Virochana is satisfied and goes back to the demons and tells them to enjoy phenomenal pleasures to their fullest. (See Hume translation, 8th khanda, sloka 4). Indra, however, returning home, reflects upon this and realizes that Brahman cannot be the body or mind as these are finite and subject to birth, growth, decay and death.
So, Indra is not satisfied with this answer and returns to Prajapati, asking to know more. He ends up staying with Prajapati for over a hundred years and is given superficial answers until Prajapati is satisfied that Indra is an earnest seeker of the knowledge of Brahman. Only then is this sacred knowledge taught in full to Indra.
‘O Maghavan, verily, this body (sarira) is mortal. It has been appropriated by Death (Mrityu). But it is the standing ground of that deathless, bodiless Self (Atman). Verily, he who is incorporate has been appropriated by pleasure and pain. Verily, there is no freedom from pleasure and pain for one who is incorporate. Verily, while one is bodiless, pleasure and pain do not touch him.’ (12.1)
~ Robert Ernest Hume translation
The same sloka as translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester is as follows:
This body is mortal, always gripped by death, but within it dwells the immortal Self. This Self, when associated in our consciousness with the body, is subject to pleasure and pain; and so long as this association continues freedom from pleasure and pain can no man find.
Rising above physical consciousness, knowing the Self to be distinct from the senses and the mind-knowing it in its true light-one rejoices and is free.
We will read sections of Prajapati’s answers and Indra’s determination to learn more about the true nature of Brahman.
Please note: excerpts, commentary and references from the following teachers of Vedanta. Vedanta Society lectures and literature Swami Sarvapriyananda Swami Nikhilananda Swami Gambhirananda Swami Swahananda and Madhavananda.
Excerpts from the following commentaries and translations of the Upanishads: Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester Robert Ernest Hume Swami Swahananda and Swami Madhavananda Eknath Easwaran
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