Chapter 6 JnAna and Moksha
6-5 Katha Upanishad
6-5-14 Katha 1.3.11 The unmanifested (Avyakta) is higher than mahat, the Purusha is higher than the unmanifested. Purusha is the highest. He is the highest goal.
At the end of a cycle of creation called pralaya, the world resolves in Brahman and is in potential and causal state. It is the ‘unmanifested’ mentioned in the mantra above. It is the maya power of Brahman. Brahman is also called Purusha. In the next cycle of creation, cosmic subtle body is the first born and creation of names and forms unfolds in stages. The cosmic subtle body is Hiranyagarbha, also called mahat. The unmanifest causal body is superior to Hiranyagarbha. Beyond this unmanifest, there is another unmanifest called Brahman (BG 8.20) or Purusha. The universe has two states, namely, unmanifest (potential form) and manifested names and forms. To know Brahman is the highest human goal, i.e., moksha.
BSB 1.4.1 to 1.4.4 discuss Katha 1.3.11. Samkhya is the purva paksha who claims that the ‘unmanifest’ in the mantra refers to PradhAna of Samkhya which is the undifferentiated primordial state of the creation and is the cause of creation. The aphorist says that the ‘unmanifest’ is not the cause of creation. It is the maya power of Brahman who is the cause of creation. The main reason is that in Samkhya, unmanifest, i.e., Pradhana is real and independent of Brahman (Purusha) and is insentient. In Vedanta, the unmanifest, i.e., maya, is the power of and dependent on Brahman. Maya on its own cannot evolve in creation unless blessed by Brahman. As against Pradhana in Samkhya, in Vedanta, Isvara which is Brahman plus maya, is considered the cause of creation.
BSB 1.4.4 gives an ingenious reason why the word ‘unmanifest’ does not refer to PradhAna. Shankarcharya comments:” Pradhana is presented in the Samkhya Smrti as a thing to be known, since according to them, freedom (or the detachment of the soul from Nature) ensues from knowing the difference between the Gunas (that constitute Pradhana) and Purusha (soul). One cannot know the Purusha to be different from the three Gunas, unless one has known the nature of the Gunas. And at places they mention Pradhana as a thing to be known for the sake of acquiring supernatural powers. But here in the Upanishad this Avyakta is not mentioned as a thing to be known, the term Avyakta being used as a mere epithet. There is no other text to show that Avyakta is either to be known or adored.” [Translated by Swami Gambhirananda. Brahma Sutra Bhasya Kindle Edition.]
Note: A micromodel of causal state is deep sleep. The mind is resolved during deep and remain in the potential. Just as the roots, branches etc are potentially in the seed and manifest at appropriate time. Deep sleep is bliss sheath. The Consciousness principle is like a witness of the blank state of deep sleep and is superior to bliss sheath. It is superior because it is subtler than and pervades it. During deep sleep there is of blankness which is recalled (from memory) on waking up. There can be no memory without prior experience and no experience without consciousness. Therefore, it follows that consciousness does exist during sleep. The consciousness is the common factor in all three states. It is like a witness to the absence (deep sleep) and the presence (waking and dream) of thoughts. When the mind is illumined by consciousness, there arises the I thought. Consciousness is the original I, the Self.
6-5-15 Katha 1.3.12 Though Atma dwells in all living beings, a person of unrefined mind and intellect attached to sense objects fails to recognise It. It is visible to those whose intellect is purified, refined and sharpened and the mind is free from likes and dislikes and is made one-pointed by practice of meditation. Such a mind sees AtmA which is ‘hidden’ under the five sheaths. One is pre-occupied with five sheaths all the time and loses sight of AtmA. For example, when a person sees the hand in the light, the presence of light is not evident to him. If he turns his attention from the hand to the light, he discerns the presence of light. To discern the ever-present light (Consciousness), one needs a very subtle mind. Turning the attention to Consciousness means owning up – I am not the thought; I am the awareness through which the thoughts are made aware of. With a sharp intellect, one can distinguish one object from another – such as light and hand. Similarly, to separate the subject (Consciousness) from the object, one requires a subtle intellect. One without the subtle intellect treats consciousness as an object and searches it in meditation. He cannot find it because the searcher is the searched and need not be searched.
6-5-16 Katha 1.3.13 Yama prescribes a spiritual discipline to realize the Supreme. An aspirant must control his outgoing senses by the mind. Then the mind must be brought under the control of the discriminative faculty; that is, it must be withdrawn from all sense-objects. The discriminative faculty in turn must be controlled by the higher individual intelligence and this must be governed wholly by the Supreme Intelligence.
6-5-17 Katha 1.3.14 Wise men call upon others to awake from the slumber of ignorance, arise and go to knower of truth, seek his blessings in all humility and learn Self-knowledge from him. The path is difficult to tread. One must be strong, wakeful and persevering. [ Also see 5-4-6 in Part8]
6-5-18 Katha 1.3.15
Yama defines the innermost essence of our being. Because of its extreme subtlety, it cannot be heard or felt or smelled or tasted like any ordinary object. It never dies. It has neither beginning nor end. It is unchangeable. Realizing this Supreme Reality, man escapes from the jaws of death and attains immortality. Yama has gradually led Nachiketa to a point where he can reveal to him the secret of death. In case it is thought that there is a place where he can find Brahman and become immortal, Yama removes the misconception and says that immortality is a state of mind and is not gained so long as man clings to name and form of perishable objects. The substance remains, form perishes. Therefore, the form-man dies; but not that which dwells within. Although inconceivably subtle, the sages have used analogies to explain inner Self. They have described It as beyond mind and speech; too subtle for ordinary perception, but not beyond the range of purified vision.
6-5-19 Katha 1.3.16 A student who has heard and repeated the ancient story of Nachiketa attains jnAna and moksha either in current life or krama-mukti in Brahm-Loka.
6-5-20 Katha 1.3.17 A simple recitation of this chapter is beneficial. If a seeker reads or chants aloud for others to hear, and especially if he reads this supreme secret to an assembly of pious persons of physical and mental purity, in due course, the seeker will develop interest in learning the meaning and eventually gets Jnana and liberation.
6-5-21 Katha 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 The sense organs are by nature outgoing and are attracted by varieties of sense objects in the outside world. The sense objects and happiness derived from them are impermanent. Consequently, a human being suffers. The Upanishad gives a warning. Ignorant and non-discriminating people chase worldly objects and go from death to death. They do not learn from the experience that the objects are perishable and cause of suffering. One addiction replaces other. The indiscriminate ones have attachment to anAtmA and not to AtmA. Arjuna was attached to Bhishma’s and Drona’s anAtmA and not to AtmA. If he was attached to AtmA he would not have worried about killing them. AtmA is never be killed. Discriminating people do not hanker after impermanent things even in the midst of such distractions.
6-5-22 Katha 2.1.3 and 2.1.4 Anything that is experienced is negated as anAtma, be it external world, physical body or the internal mind. BMS are the instruments of experience. AtmA alone cannot experience. The inert BMS also cannot experience. BMS blessed by AtmA transacts with the world and enjoys worldly experience like seeing, tasting, smelling, hearing, sexual pleasures. It is as though AtmA is the enjoyer. Every experience reveals the experiencer. Anything outside consciousness is non-existent. An unknown thing is also within consciousness when it is known. Existence and consciousness represent same reality. This Consciousness is that AtmA which Nachiketa wanted to know through the third boon.
AtmA is the witness of all three states of experience, namely, waking, dream, and sleep. It is in and through the three states, it is the common factor and invariable, while the objects in time and space vary. A discriminative person is free of sorrow in life because he identifies himself with Atma which is beyond the three states of experiences and is not tainted.
Contd Part 21