6.8.1 to 6.8.7
In deep sleep, the mind and sense organs resolve and the jiva resolves into pure existence. Sleep is called svapiti. The etymological meaning of the term svapiti is ‘one goes’, or ‘reaches’ sva, i.e., the self. The word sva connotes one’s own being or essential nature. One is absorbed in oneself in sleep. There is no individuality. Though the mind and sense organs are resolved, jiva continues to exist because there is prana, i.e., life. A clay pot resolves into clay. The clay is the nature of pot. The true nature of an entity is the locus of its resolution.
In the case of a jiva, the true nature is pure existence in which it resolves during sleep. The true nature happens to be bliss because the jiva recollects the bliss experienced during sleep. As the reflection of a person in the mirror merges in the person when mirror is removed, in a similar way, when the mind resolves, the supreme deity which is in the form of conscious individual soul as its reflection in the mind, regains its true nature by giving up its appearance as the individual soul. The Upanishad uses a beautiful metaphor. A bird’s leg is tied to a string. It flies here and there within the limit of the length of the string. After being tired of flying and finding no resting place, it comes back and rests at the place where it is tied. Likewise, a man after struggling in the waking and dream states, rests in deep sleep in which individuality is resolved and he abides in his true nature, i.e., existence and bliss. As experience of bliss is recollected by memory, it proves existence of consciousness during sleep. Sleep is a universal phenomenon. Every jiva rests in his true nature during sleep.
Brahman which is of the nature of existence, consciousness and bliss is the root of jiva. A jiva has no support anywhere in this world, except his own self, as the peg is the resting place of the bird in the illustration. Unfortunately, nobody pays heed and works hard seeking support outside but it is not there! Everything, beginning with food is traced back to the ultimate support, the Being.
The Upanishad analyses the true nature of hunger and thirst which everyone feels. A hungry man desires to eat food. The hunger has arisen because the eaten food has been absorbed by the water element. It is an indication that some subtle force is working inside the body. From the effect, cause is to be found. The food is dissolved by water and drawn further inward by the action of water. One feels thirsty because water is absorbed or dried up by the fire principle in the system. The fire draws into itself the water principle causing thirst. What remains is a heat in the system and energy that is generated on account of the consumed food. When food is dissolved by water, and water is absorbed by fire, it is converted into energy in the system. That is why one feels strong on consuming food, and that is also the reason why one feels hungry and thirsty later on.
The ultimate cause is that which is not absorbed into a higher cause and there is cessation of the absorption process. Earth is absorbed into the water element, the water element into the fire element and the fire element into the ultimate Reality which is called Sat, pure Being. It is pure existence that is behind the particularity of objects. Just as the varieties of furniture can be resolved into the cause which is the wood.
There is an inherent tendency of every effect to return to its cause. Everything is restless, everything moves, everything is tense, and everything has an objective to transcend itself and reach the pure Being. This itself is a pointer to the existence of a causeless cause beyond everything. This is the philosophical background to which the mind is driven through the analogical explanations by Sage Uddalaka, when he says that the earth element goes back into the water element, the water element into the fire element, and the fire element into that pure Being, the causeless cause of all things.
The bottom line is that when food (earth) is the shoot, look for water as root; when water is the shoot, look for fire as the root. When fire is the shoot, look for Being as the root. There is no root beyond Brahman. The original source of three deities constituting a jiva is Brahman. At the time of death, his speech is resolved in mind, mind in prana, and prana in fire. As the fire leaves and merges in Brahman, the body becomes cold. Merger in Brahman is common to both jnAni and ajnAni. For a jnAni, there is no karmic balance and there is no rebirth. An ajnAni takes rebirth due to karmic balance.
The teacher concludes the 8th sections by saying that Brahman is the reality behind the world and is also the reality behind a jiva. Thou art that. You are Brahman, Svetaketu. Therefore, according to Vedanta, a man does not require any spiritual practice to ‘experience’ Brahman. Because he is Brahman in three periods of time. The problem is that he is ignorant of this supreme truth.
Contd Part 5