Chapter 8 Section 2 (8.2.1 to 8.2.10)
A person who practices dahAropAsana goes to Brahm Loka after death where he has two choices: one of liberation and other of enjoyment. In the former choice, he can enjoy the pleasures of higher qualities which last until the end of one cycle of creation and he takes rebirth in the next cycle of creation. Additionally, he gets extraordinary powers. He can enjoy the pleasures of all 14 worlds. It is the greatest material pleasure which cannot be acquired by physical effort. One view is that by meditation, the mind acquires extraordinary powers and can project and enjoy such experiences in the waking state. No physical effort is required. Any experience is effectively in the form of a thought, and a powerful mind can create thoughts. Meditation on Isvara gives powers of Isvara except the power of creation. A seeker of liberation is not interested in enjoyment and special powers. He has the choice to get the Vedantic teachings from Brahmaji, become enlightened and be liberated
Section 3 (8.3.1 to 8.3.5) A jnAni knows that his true nature is Consciousness and Ananda. An ajnAni also resolves in his true nature during sleep when the mind resolves and a jIva merges with Self. There are peace and happiness. But there is lack of knowledge because the mind is resolved. The happiness happens whenever one sleeps, but one does not have the idea that he has merged with Self. He recalls it on waking up but wrongly assumes the waking state as his true state though it is like a costume.
8.3.4 uses the word samprasAda. It means that when consciousness is cognitively freed from wrong notion of bodily attachment, it as though rises upwards like a flame of brilliance. It is the supreme luminosity. It is light in its own right, a light that does not require another light to illumine. It is one’s real nature. On knowing it, one is established in one’s true form. As we wake up from dream and recognise our true nature as being different from what we felt to be in dream, so does one on gaining knowledge recognise one’s real nature and shake off the old notions of connections with bodies and one differing from the other.
In 8.3.5, Upanishad reinterprets the term satyam by play of words. Isvara is satyam. Satyam is made of three words: sa, ti (i is dropped while pronouncing), and yam. Immortality is represented by sa, mortality by ti, and yam means one which holds the two together. Isvara, the satyam holds together both non-changing and changing. Isvara is Brahman plus maya. Brahman is unchanging, and maya is changing.
Section 4 (8.4.1 to 8.4.4) The previous sections are about meditation on the space in the heart as Isvara. Isvara is now compared with an embankment made of earth to protect and channelize water in a field. Isvara administers the laws of nature and protects the universe by ensuring that there is order and harmony. Isvara is the controller of time, space, and causation. He is free from ‘sin’ of worldly virtues and vices. As the meditator becomes one with Isvara, he is also free from worldly sufferings like blindness, etc. He has freedom to act in all 14 worlds. Ultimately, he gets krama mukti.
Section 5 (8.5.1 to 8.5.4)
The Upanishad glorifies the discipline of celibacy. It is subsidiary to knowledge which is the direct means to liberation. Practice of celibacy is a sacrifice. Celibacy gives the strength to worship the Supreme and develop a longing for knowing the Self. Celibacy is like observance of silence and contemplation which is possible when one has control over senses.
Benefits of brahmacharya are described by play of words and comparing it with sattraynam ritual. It is a huge ritual involving many priests and is performed over a long period. Sattrayanam has two parts. Sat means Isvara and trayanam means protection. The practitioner of brahmacharya is protected by Isvara. Brahmacharya is as good as practicing five spiritual disciplines, namely, sacrifice, sattrayanam, silence, fasting, and leading a forest-life. It is one with many rolled in it.
Contd Part 12