This is the first of several blogs to follow supporting our study and discussion of this Upanishad.
Among the treasures of the Sama Veda are the Chandogya Brahmana consisting of ten parts. The last eight constitute the Chandogya Upanishad. In turn, the Upanishad itself may be broadly divided into two sections. The first five parts deal with Upasana or ritualistic worship, with emphasis on meditation and sacred chanting. The second section of three parts , discusses certain fundamental doctrines of Vedanta philosophy, namely, the Vedantic dictum ‘That thou art’ (Tattvamasi), the doctrine of Brahman.
The Chandogya Upanishad, along with the Brihadaranyaka, are regarded as the oldest of the Upanishads and form the basis of the later development of Vedanta philosophy. Sankaracharya, in establishing non-dual Vedanta, derived support from statements such as ‘One without a second’ (VI.xiv.1), ‘From It the universe comes forth, into It the universe merges, and in It the universe breathes. Therefore a man should meditate on Brahman with a calm mind’ (III.xiv.1), and ‘That is the Self. That thou art’ (VI.xiv.1). All the major topics of this Upanishad are covered and understood with the help of Sankaracharya’s commentary.
For purposes of our study we are focusing on the essence of the teaching contained in this Upanishad. The ultimate goal of the Upanishads is to show the way to Liberation through Jnana, or the knowledge of Brahman, in which all distinctions between the doer, the result of action, and the instrument of action, and also between the embodied self, the universe, and the Ultimate Reality, are completely effaced. This attainment traditionally requires diligent discipline on the part of the aspirant through two preliminary practices known as karma (action) and upasana (meditation). Karma consists of action (traditionally ritualistic worship) with a view to enjoying happiness on earth, and in the heavenly worlds after death. This is desired by average persons who are attached to physical pleasures. But as these phenomenal pleasures come to an end when the momentum given by the physical body is reduced or exhausted, more reflective persons become dissatisfied with them. For them, the Upanishads prescribe upasana (meditation).
Upasana, as defined by Sankaracharya in his introduction to the Chandogya says that its purpose is to procure a support for the mind and make it flow inward toward realizing the true nature of the Atman. The object of meditation can be Saguna Brahman (God with form) or the object of meditation can be such symbols as OM representative of Nirguna Brahman (formless). The result of the upasana or meditation is that it endows the mind with calmness, devotion, introspection and concentration. If it is performed without ulterior motive it results in the purification of the mind, which makes it fit for the practice of Jnana yoga or the knowledge of Brahman.
Once he or she has prepared the mind by the performance of devotional rituals and one pointed meditation, he finds it easy to cultivate the four virtues recommended for the attainment of Jnana (knowledge of Brahman).
These are the following:
Cultivating the discrimination between the Real (Atman–Brahman, the real Self) and the unreal (the phenomenal changing self).
Renunciation of the unreal, and identification of one’s being with the real.
Controlling the sense organs and the mind and developing faith (shraddha) in the words of the teacher and the scriptures (i.e. the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras)
And cherishing an unwavering desire for Liberation.
As a result the seeker realizes Brahman, gets rid of doubt, fear and attachment to the unreal world, and experiences peace, immortality and bliss.
This Upanishad charts an inward course going from speech, breath, vital energy (prana) and ultimately to the Self, or Brahman. Prana tends to become the focus of attention whenever it comes. We will focus on chanting, and the famous story of Satyakama (IV.4) initially. In subsequent study groups we will continue with the stories of Shevataketu, Narada, City of Brahman, and Indra. We will see how Prana also provides an explanation for the process we call death, as prana, life-energy, is withdrawn – into its ultimate source (VI.15). This prepares us for the triumphant declaration of Brahmaloka, the ‘Land of No Change’ beyond all death and suffering. While we actually visit this state without knowing it while in deep sleep (VI.8.1 and VIII.3.2), we can possess it in full awareness through the heroic spiritual disciplines to which the Upanishads are always leading us. We can live in this very world free from sorrow, perturbation, and distress of any kind; and then for us death, while it claims the body, will never touch us because we are identified completely with the Self, which is a bulwark or bridge which none of these phenomenal manifestations can cross (VIII.4) because the physical and mental expressions vanish and are transferred and transformed into their source*(the Brahman). Our journey is from ignorance to true knowledge.
Note: *See our previous study of the upper and lower bird where the lower bird vanishes into the upper bird. He was the upper bird all along. (Mundaka Upanishad III)
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.
OM! Salutations to the Supreme Self! OM Hari OM!
~ Adi Sankaracharya
Some important highlights from the first two chapters include:
The glorification of chanting of the Sama-veda:
Slokas 1- 7 , 9 -10
1. One should contemplate the syllable OM as the Udgitha, for one sings aloud (ud-gai-) OM. To explain further:
2. The earth is the essence of all beings, the waters the essence of earth, plants the essence of the waters, a man (purusha) the essence of plants, speech the essence of a man, the rc the essence of speech, the saman the essence of rc, the Udgitha the essence of the saman.
3. This (the Udgitha– the supreme, the ultimate) is the essence of the essences, the highest….. above all else that human beings hold holy. OM is the Self of all.
4. It has been debated, ‘Which is the rc? Which is the saman? Which is the Udgitha?
5. Speech is the rc. Breath is the saman. The syllable OM is the Udgitha. ‘This is a couple speech and breath, and rc and saman.
6. This couple come together in the syllable OM. When two come together as a couple, they fulfill one another’s desire.
7. The one, who, knowing this, contemplates the syllable as the Udgitha becomes a fulfiller of desires.
9. By it the threefold knowledge exists: one sounds OM, one praises OM, one chants aloud OM, for the reverence of the syllable with its greatness and essence.
10. So both do it, the one who knows this and the one who does not know. But knowledge and ignorance are different . What one does with knowledge, with faith, with inner meaning (upanishad), is more powerful. This is the explanation of the syllable.
(Note: OM is mentioned in all the Vedas but in the Sama veda it is the loud chanting of OM, the Udgitha that is emphasized in the ritualistic worship of endowing it with power. Whether one is praying and chanting for personal rewards or chanting for liberation, the OM becomes the fulfiller of that desire).
~ Valerie Roebuck translation
Chapter III – The Wisdom of the Sage Shandilya
A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.
The Self is to be realized by the purified mind, and the illumined consciousness, whose form is light, whose thoughts are true; Who, like the ether, remains pure and unattached, from whom proceed all works, all desires, all odors, all tastes; who pervades all, who is beyond the senses, and in whom there is fullness of joy forever – he is my very Self, dwelling within the lotus of my heart.
Smaller than a grain of rice is the Self; smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller even than a kernel of a grain of millet is the Self. This is the Self, dwelling in my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than all the world.
This Self who gives rise to all works, all desires, all odors, all tastes, who pervades the universe, who is beyond words, who is joy abiding, who is ever present in my heart, is Brahman indeed.
He who worships him, puts his trust in him, shall surely attain him.
Giving a method of realization to his disciples, the seer, Shandilya said that at the moment of death a knower of Brahman should meditate on the following truths:
Thou art imperishable. Thou art the changeless Reality. Thou art the source of life.
Chapter IV – The Story of Satyakama
We will conclude this first blog on the Chandogya with the story of Satyakama in Chapter IV. Like Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad, Satyakama’s principal attribute is a sincere desire to know the truth, this highest knowledge, the knowledge of Brahman, having drunk of which one never thirsts. We also found a reference to the teacher Ghora Angirasa, the teacher of Krishna, just prior to the start of this story. By this we know that Krishna himself is the embodiment of the Upanishadic wisdom, and was therefore qualified to give the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, which has been called the cream and the essence of the Upanishads.
A feature that may seem odd to modern readers is the instructions to the seeker, Satyakama, by animals and the forces of nature. However, we may recall the last chapter of the Yoga Sutras which is titled Kaivalya Pada (Liberation). About this chapter, Swami Vivekananda notes in ‘How to know God’, that upon liberation “nature’s (prakriti’s) task is done. This unselfish task which our sweet nurse, Nature, had imposed upon herself. She gently took the self forgetting soul by the hand, as it were, and showed him all the experiences in the universe, all manifestations bringing him higher and higher through various bodies till his lost glory came back and he remembered his own nature”.
The teachings by the animals about Brahman indicate to us that there is nothing that is not pervaded by the Self, that is “outside of the Self”. Rather, the Self encompasses all relative beings as well as the Absolute. (Remember the Peace Invocation from the Shvetashvatara – from the full comes the full.)
Let us now read the story of Satyakama: Satyakama is illegitimate, but is accepted by the sage, Gautama, because he is truthful about his parentage. There is no ego based slyness or embarrassment of any sort.
(Read Swami Prbhavananda and Frederick Manchester translation or Eknath Easwaran translation)
We see that Satyakama at the instruction of his guru, Gautama, lived many years in the forest tending the herd of cows. When the herd reached a thousand, the Bull suggested that they return to the guru. During his return journey Satyakama learnt from animals, birds, and elements of nature that the entire cosmos is a manifestation in Brahman, though only a foot (a part) of Brahman. This was not learning in an ordinary intellectual sense. Rather it was direct experience as well as sensitivity and respect towards the Brahman manifesting in and as all beings.
When at last Satyakama arrived at the home of his teacher and reverently presented himself before him, Gautama seeing him exclaimed, “my son, your face shines like a knower of Brahman. By whom were you taught? By beings other than men replied Satyakama; but I desire that you too should teach me. For I have heard from the wise that the knowledge which the teacher imparts will alone lead to the supreme good.” Then the sage taught him that knowledge and left nothing out. Because of his humility, truthfulness, persistence, and kindness, Satyakama was worthy and capable of being instructed fully in the wisdom of the sages. And so he was.
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 Swami Swahananda and Swami Madhavananda Eknath Easwaran Valerie Roebuck Robert Ernest Hume S. Radhakrishnan
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