Chapter 3 Section 1- Asvala brahman
3.1.1 and 3.1.2 King Janak of Videh performs a sacrifice in which many Vedic scholars are present. The king desires to know the most erudite scholar whom he will reward with 1000 cows with gold covered horns. None of the scholars comes forward except Yajnavalkya (in short Yvk), a Vedic scholar who straight away asks one of his disciples to drive home the cows indicating that he considers himself the best. Naturally, other scholars object.
3.1.3 to 3.1.6 Asvala says that everyone is in the grip of death and asks Yvk a series of questions as to how to go beyond death (krama-mukti). Yvk describes various meditations for krama-mukti.
3.1.7 to 3.1.10 are about Vedic rituals.
Chapter 3 Section 2
3.2.1 to 3.2.9 Artabhaga, another scholar poses questions to Yajnavalkya about organs (graha) and their corresponding objects (atigraha). Yvk enumerates eight pairs of graha and atigraha, namely, prana(nose)-apana (odour); mouth-name; tongue-taste; eye-colour; ear-sound; skin-touch, and mind-desire.
3.2.10 Everything is food (consumed) of death. Which is that of which death is the food? Though Yvk knows that death meets its death in Brahm-knowledge, he illustrates by the example of fire Brahm-knowledge is a secret and should not be talked about in public. The fire consumes everything.
3.2.11 Q: When a liberated person dies, do the organs called grahAs and atigrahAs, like name which are the impressions on the mind go up from him or not? A: No, they do not go up. In the case of jnAni, there is no karmic balance. Therefore, there is no rebirth. He does not go up to any higher world. The gross and subtle bodies respectively merge in cosmic gross body and cosmic subtle body.
3.2.12 Q: If everything merges in cosmic body, is there anything left behind? A: The name of the jnAni is left behind in the human world.
3.2.13 Q: At the time of death, organ of speech merges in fire, the nose in air, the eye in the sun, the mind in the moon, the ear in the quarters, the body in the earth, the space inside the heart in the outside, the hair on the body in the herbs, that on the head in the trees and the blood and the seed are deposited in water. Where does the man exist?
Yajnavakya responds that it cannot be answered in a crowd. He takes the hand of the questioner and goes to a secluded place. They discuss and the Upanishad reports that they discuss and praise work. By good work, one becomes good and becomes evil by evil work. At death the gross body falls. The subtle sense organs cannot function in the absence of the gross body. Each organ has a presiding deity. It means that there is a deity part in each organ. Since the organs cannot function, the deity part of each organ goes back to its deity. Where does the jIva exist? It is a secret. Hence the two discuss in private. The death happens when prArabdha is exhausted. And next birth is yet to take place because the next prArabdha has not fructified from out of sanchit karma. There is an intermediate phase. Thus, there is causal body in the form of sanchit karma. This is the conclusion. By good karma, there is birth of a good man and by evil karma, there is birth of evil man. Artabhaga withdraws as his questions have been answered.
Chapter 3 Section 3 does not have Vedantic teachings.
Chapter 3 Section 4
3.4.1 and 3.4.2 The next scholar is Usasta. When someone says, ‘I am fat’, I refers to gross body. If I am upset, I refers to mind. If I understand, I refers to the intellect. The Q: who does I refer to in the great saying: I am Brahman. A: The one who uses prana (out breath) is I, one who uses apana (in breath) is I, one who uses vyana is I, one who uses udana is I.
There is one I which uses different instruments for different functions. The same I is in all beings. Yajnavalkya has not given a direct answer. Usasta gives an example. There are different types of animals and one is asked to pinpoint a cow and he gives the answer that the cow is one who delivers a calf. Yajnvalkya’s answer is like this. Hence, the follow up Q: who is this blessed user? Yajnavalkya says that the Brahman which is the Self cannot be known as an object. It is not possible to pinpoint the Self. In any experience, there is consciousness and there is object of experience. Consciousness cannot be experienced because consciousness enables the experience. To experience consciousness, another consciousness is needed. Thus, leading to infinite ingress. Therefore, consciousness can be cognitively separated from all experiences as an invariable factor. The Self cannot be described like ‘it is a cow’.
The following extracts explains further.
“Vision is of two kinds, ordinary and real. Ordinary vision is a function of the mind as connected with the eye; it is an act, and as such it has a beginning and an end. But the vision that belongs to the self is like the heat and light of fire; being the very essence of the witness, it has neither beginning nor end. Because it appears to be connected with the ordinary vision, which is produced and is but a limiting adjunct of it, it is spoken of as the witness, and also as differentiated into witness and vision. The ordinary vision, however, is coloured by the objects seen through the eye, and of course has a beginning; it appears to be connected with the eternal vision of the self, and is but its reflection; it originates and ends, pervaded by the other. It is therefore that the eternal vision of the self is metaphorically spoken of as the witness, and although eternally seeing, is spoken of as sometimes seeing and sometimes not seeing. But as a matter of fact, the vision of the seer never changes. This is the meaning of the following passage: You cannot see that which is the witness of vision, i.e. which pervades by its eternal vision the act of our ordinary vision. This latter, which is an act, is affected by the objects seen, and reveals only colour (form), but not the inner self that pervades it. Therefore, you cannot see that inner self which is the witness of vision. Similarly, you cannot hear that which is the hearer of hearing; you cannot think that which pervades thought, the mere function of the mind; you cannot know that which pervades knowledge, the mere function of the intellect. This is the very nature of the thing; therefore, it cannot be shown like a cow etc.” [ BrihdArnyaka Upanishad with commentary of ShankarAchArya transalted by Swami MadhavAnanda, Advaita Ashrama]
Contd