Part 4
6.9.1 to 6.9.4 and 6.10.1 to 6.10.3
During sleep, mind is resolved and jiva’s individuality is suspended and therefore he does not know his merger with Brahman during sleep. Bees collect juices from different flowers and make honey by mixing the juices. In the honey, there is no trace of individual juice. Eastern and western rivers flowing towards east and west respectively merge in ocean and lose their individuality. Similarly, during sleep, at the time of death, and dissolution of a cycle of creation, all the creatures lose their individuality, and they resolve in Brahman. During sleep, the karmAs are in potential form. On becoming awake, they become live and functional. Hence going to sleep does not mean moksha. There are two types of entry of an individual into pure Being: involuntary and voluntary. In deep sleep, one’s entry is involuntary. There is no knowledge of the entry, and it is not permanent, and one comes back from that state.
Monthly Archives: August 2025
BrihadAranyaka Upanishad (Part 2)
1.4.7
The mantra has core teaching of Vedanta, namely, Brahman is satya, jagat is mithya, and jiva is not different from Brahman. Brahman is all-pervading pure existence. Pure existence is same as pure consciousness. Existence and consciousness are two aspects of Brahman. It is eternal and changeless. It has mAyA power which is a relative reality because it borrows existence from Brahman. MAyA is the aggregate of sanchit karmAs of all the jivAs at the end of one cycle of creation which rests in Brahman in unmanifest and potential form. At appropriate time, the world is projected due to mAyA power. The creation unfolds in stages starting from five elements in nascent forms. The undifferentiated Brahman appears as differentiated names and forms called world. At some stage, jivAs with gross and subtle bodies are created which are inert and they enclose the all-pervading consciousness. It is like a pot enclosing space. The enclosed consciousness is jivAtma. This phenomenon is figuratively described as entry of Brahman. It is like a waking man entering the dream. When the dream is over, the waking man says that he has experienced the dream. It means that the entity which experiences the waking state also experiences the dream.
Four Verses from Bhagavad-Gita
[This Blog Post is presented for advanced students of Advaita Vedanta as a case study in ‘Reflection’ (mananaM).]
It seems to me, as though, there is a fine thread of commonality running through the four verses 4.24; 6.29; 9.4 and 9.5 of Bhagavad-Gita, coming from the Chapters titled respectively, jnAnakarmasamnyAsayoga, dhyAnayoga and rAjavidyArAjaguhyayoga.