Chapter 3 Jiva Jagat Isvara
3-1 Introduction
It is desirable to begin with the obvious, namely, the creation and human being. The world is constituted of living and non-living beings. It also includes invisible entities, e.g., thoughts, and emotions. A human being is a living being. Though Upanishads differ in the details of creation, there is consensus about a causeless creator called Brahman and that the creation is cyclic, not linear. A linear creation with a beginning and an end runs into logical fallacies. In the cyclic version, there is no beginning and no end. Pedantically, it is absurd to talk about any beginning of creation because time is a part of creation. An immediate question that begs an answer is about the source of raw materials for creation. Before the creation, there was nothing except the creator. Upanishadic answer is that the creator has the material within Himself like a spider having material inside itself. The material is the mAyA power of Brahman which does not exist separately from Brahman. Cyclic creation and the material within the creator lead to a third proposition. In one cycle, the world emerges out of the creator, runs its course according to certain laws, and then resolves into the creator to remain there in potential form and become ready at an appropriate time for the next cycle. It is called creation-sustenance-dissolution. The word ‘creation’ is a misnomer because it conveys that a new thing comes into existence which is not correct. A more appropriate word is manifestation.
Creation is not in one shot. It is in stages. Five basic elements, namely, space, air, water, fire, and earth in their nascent forms are created. They are subtle and combine to form the cosmic subtle body. It is HiranyAgarbha constituted of the invisible cosmic mind and vital forces. The five elements combine in varying proportions and form gross elements of the same names. The gross elements combine and form gross bodies. The cosmic gross body is virAt. At the micro level, living beings are created. A living being including a human being is made of consciousness, the gross and the subtle bodies. The gross body is the physical body and the subtle body constitutes the mind, vital forces, and invisible sense organs which are behind the physical part. Besides the gross and subtle bodies, there is another body called the causal body.
The causal body is the depository of invisible results of actions including latent tendencies ( vAsanAs). They are used in the current life. KArmic balance is the unutilized results of actions at the end of the current life. It is sanchit karma and is the cause of the next birth. In the state of deep sleep when the mind is resolved, the latent tendencies are in potential form. Deep sleep is the cause of the waking state and dream state. A human being has three states of experience, namely, waking state, dream state, and deep sleep. In deep sleep, there is an experience of blankness or nothingness. There is another classification of a human being. It is of five sheaths. The outermost sheath is the food sheath representing the gross physical part. Subtler than it is the sheath of vital forces. There are five vital forces, namely, prAna, apAna, vyAna, sAmana, and udAna. The differentiation is because of the functions. Prana is responsible for breathing, apAna for excretion, vyAna for circulation, sAmana for digestion, and udAna for reverse or upward movement required in case of emergency and at death. Subtler than vital forces sheath is mind sheath followed by intellect sheath and bliss sheath. Bliss sheath is the state of deep sleep. As the mind is resolved during deep sleep, there is an experience of happiness. A person coming out of deep sleep is happy and recollects happiness from memory.
There is order in creation. It is governed by the laws of cause and effect. A human being is engaged in action. The birth of a living being is because of karmic balance called sanchit karma carried from the previous birth. A portion of sanchit called prArabdha is ready for fructification and causes (current) birth. A living being exhausts prArabdha by experiencing the results of his actions in the form of happiness and sorrow. Balance sanchit is unutilized in the current life. In the current life, fresh karma called agamA is generated by every action. Some fructify in the current life and balance is added to sanchit making it bigger. Death occurs when prArabdha is exhausted. Sanchit karmic balance is carried forward to the next birth. A necessary corollary is that if there is no sanchit karma at the time of death, there is no rebirth and one is free from the cycle of birth and death, i.e., worldly life (samsAra). A jnani has no rebirth because his sanchit karma is burnt and there is no agamA due to Self-knowledge.
The mind and the five sense organs discharge their functions according to the laws of nature. If they do not perform their duties, there are serious consequences. Their duties are sacred and are regulated by different devatAs called presiding deities. The sun is for the eyes, space for the ears, wind (vAyu) for the skin, water for the tongue, earth for the nose, and moon for the mind.
A living being is called jiva. For our purpose, jiva refers to a human being. The Upanishads describe how a jiva comes into existence. It will come later. At present, the reader would be curious to know the source of the raw materials for the world. Jivas constitute the source. A jiva is engaged in actions that produce results. There are visible and invisible results. Invisible results are in the form of merits (punya) and demerits (pApa) enjoyed by the jiva in the current life or the later life. In one cycle of creation, there are many births of living beings including human beings. At the end of a cycle of creation, there is a storehouse of all the non-fructified results of the actions of the jivas. At the time of dissolution of a cycle of creation, this storehouse goes back to and resides in Brahman in a potential state and forms the raw material for the next creation. Its other names are mAyA or prakriti. It is unmanifest. Maya is the power of Brahman because of which the world is manifested. Isvara is Brahman with mAyA. In other words, Isvara is the creator at the empirical level. A noteworthy inference is that the type of world we live in is not determined by the creator. It is as per the laws of karma administered by Isvara. Jiva has got what he asked for. Individual Upanishads deal with the subject in greater detail in different manners without disturbing the core idea.
3-2 Three qualities
There are three qualities, namely, sattva, rajas, and tamas. Every worldly object or phenomenon is classified according to the dominant quality. Sattva represents calmness, knowledge, serenity, selflessness, etc. Rajas is action, selfishness, power, etc. Tamas represents dullness, ignorance, deceit, etc. For example, an action is sattvic if it is beneficial to humanity at large. It is rajasic if it benefits only the doer or those close to him but without harming others. It is tamasic if it benefits the doer at the cost of others.
3-3 Brahman and Isvara Brahman is nirguna, i.e., attribute free. Brahman with mAyA is Isvara or saguna Brahman or God. Brahman, Isvara, and God are used interchangeably. The context would make clear if nirguna Brahman is referred to or saguna Brahman.
3-4 Aitareya Upanishad
3-4-1 Aitareya 1.1.1 to 1.1.4 In the ‘beginning’, absolute Self alone was there. BSB 3.3.16 and 3.3.17 discuss Aitareya 1.1.1 because there is a doubt whether the supreme Self, i.e., Brahman is referred to by the word Self or someone else. It is clarified that the supreme Self is talked about. Brahman alone was there. Brahman is beyond time. Therefore, beginning is in inverted commas. He winked. It indicates that Brahman is of the nature of consciousness. He visualized and desired to create the world. It means that He has the power of creation called mAyA. It is like the creation of a dream by a human being. Isvara i.e., Brahman plus mAyA created 14 worlds in four groups. The Upanishad does not give details of the creation of 14 worlds. The creation is cyclical and it has no beginning. The present cycle of creation rested in Brahman in potential form with karmic balance, i.e., non-fructified punya and pApas of the ivas at the end of the previous cycle of creation. The present creation is for the jvas to experience the punya and pApa brought from the previous cycle of creation. No jiva can stop the cycle of creation. He can come out of this cycle if he gains Self-knowledge whereby his karmic balance becomes nil at the time of death.
The 14 worlds in four groups are not created directly. It is in stages of the basic five elements, gross elements, etc. The four groups are AmbhA, MArichi, MAra, and Apah. Ambha has five lokas. Below Ambha is MArichi with one loka. Below it is MAra with one loka, namely, Bhu Loka (human world). Below it is Apah which has 7 lokas. Brahm loka is the highest loka and PatAla loka is the lowest. Are the lokas mythological? One view is that they represent gradations in experience. Higher lokas have better fields of experience compared to lower lokas. The gradation is not random. Though the lokas are inert and do not have punya and pApa, they are created because of the punya and pApa of living beings. A question may be asked as to how can Brahman, devoid of materials, create different lokas. It is clarified that name and form remain in their unmanifested state in Brahman just like the (undiversified) foam remains in the water and becomes manifested foam. There is another metaphor. Just as an intelligent juggler, who has no material, transforms himself, as it were, into a second self, similarly Brahman, the supreme magician, creates Himself as another in the form of the universe.
The universe has three divisions: adhyAtma, adhibhauta, and adhidaiva. AdhyAtma comprises organs, and mind. Sense organs interact with the world called adibhauta having sensory objects. AdhyAtma and adhibhauta complement each other. Adhidaiva are the natural forces, e.g., rain. The Upanishad points out problems of the world in the form of hunger and thirst felt by sense organs and the presiding deities. The mind has got hunger to know more and more. Hunger and thirst are expressions of incompleteness.
3-4-2 Aitareya 1.3.1 to 1.3.10
The sense organs occupy respective positions in the human body without encroaching on other’s place. Their respective deities bless them. God has provided solid food from the water. The food runs away from its devourers apprehending death. VirAt, the cosmic gross body together with senses tries to consume the food through speech but fails. Supposing they succeed, everyone will be satisfied by merely talking about food. His attempts to take the food through eyes, ears, nostrils, procreative organs, senses of touch, and mind also fail. Finally, he takes the food through the mouth with the help of apAna, the indrawing air. The Upanishad conveys the message that foods for different sense organs are different meaning thereby that the fields of their operation are mutually exclusive. It is significant because sense organs are the direct source of knowledge and are one of the six sources of knowledge.
3-4-3 Aitareya 1.3.11 and 1.3.12
The organs occupy their positions in the body and have their deities but are without any ruler. A witnessing ruler must supervise their functioning to ensure that they discharge their functions for the witnessing ruler. Befitting His status, God enters the body through an aperture at the top of the head, and not through the feet. It is like a king entering the city. Another metaphor is of a dream. The mind projects a dream world and enters it. A jiva blessed by the embodied God, who is of the nature of consciousness, has worldly experiences of three types: waking, dreaming, and sleep. The Upanishadic message is that in the absence of God, the inert sense organs cannot function. Consciousness, the essential nature of God, lends sentiency to the organs to make them functional. The embodied God is jivAtma. In the waking state, jiva experiences the normal world. In the dream, the mind projects a dream world out of latent tendencies. During sleep, the mind is in a dormant state and there is blankness. The consciousness is the witness of the blankness. There is an experience of blankness. This is why, on waking up from sleep, a person remembers his sleep. There cannot be a memory without an earlier experience. And there is no experience without consciousness.
Contd Part 5