Shankara writes:
ज्ञानप्रसादेन आत्मावबोधनसमर्थमपि स्वभावेन सर्वप्राणिनां ज्ञानं बाह्यविषयरागादिदोषकलुषितमप्रसन्नमशुद्धं सन्नावबोधयति नित्यसंनिहितमप्यात्मतत्त्वं मलावनद्धमिवादर्शम् , विलुलितमिव सलिलम्।
तद्यदेन्द्रिय विषयसंसर्गजनितरागादिमलकालुष्यापनयनादादर्शसलिलादिवत्प्रसादितं स्वच्छं शान्तमवतिष्ठते, तदा ज्ञानस्य प्रसादः स्यात् ।
तेन ज्ञानप्रसादेन विशुद्धसत्त्वः विशुद्धान्तःकरणः योग्यो ब्रह्म द्रष्टुं यस्मात् , ततः तस्मात्तु तमात्मानं पश्यते पश्यति उपलभते निष्कलं सर्वावयवभेदवर्जितं ध्यायमानः सत्यादिसाधनवानुपसंहृतकरण एकाग्रेण मनसा ध्यायमानः चिन्तयन् ॥
[Meaning: The Grace of the Knowledge, though the intellect in all men is by nature competent to know brahman, still being polluted by such faults as love for external objects etc., thereby becoming unclear and impure, it does not, like a stained mirror and muddy water, grasp the entity of the Atman though always present nearby.
But when, through the removal of polluting taints such as desire—arising from contact with sense-objects—the intellect is made clear and calm like a mirror or still water, it becomes lucid. By this clarity of the intellect, the mind is purified, and the person becomes fit to realize brahman. Therefore, one sees brahman, which is partless, through contemplative meditation—having taken recourse to aids such as truth, having controlled the senses, and with a focused mind. (Translation adapted from S. Sitarama Sastri, 1905.)
Shankara avers that every human being already possesses Self-knowledge, thereby instilling confidence in us regarding the realization of the Self. We do not have to procure It from anywhere outside; It has always been with us and is available here and now.
In spite of this, we feel inadequate or incompetent. The reason is that we are polluted by our craving for external objects. Our capacity for knowing is preoccupied with thoughts of objects characterized by name, form, and action. It becomes muddied, much like pure rainwater that turns turbid after falling to the ground and flowing into rivers.
We fail to know brahman not because brahman is absent, but because we are not prepared to recognize It. We are, in essence, That, but are like a mirror covered with dust. The dust and pollutants are outward, object-oriented thoughts. Once these obstructing impurities are removed, the Self is known to shine in purity, tranquility, and brilliance.
Therefore, we must first purify the mind. This is what is meant by steadying the mind. A focused mind gains the capacity to realize the one undivided Self, which is all-pervasive and present both within and without. This realization is true, all-encompassing vision. The practices and ritualistic actions taught by the inferior knowledge (aparA vidyA) cannot take us there.
The muNDaka Upanishad holds that the source of all objects in the world is brahman. Their origination is explained along lines similar to those in the prashna Upanishad:
तपसा चीयते ब्रह्म ततोऽन्नमभिजायते ।
अन्नात्प्राणो मनः सत्यं लोकाः कर्मसु चामृतम् ॥ – 1.1.8, muNDaka.
[Meaning: Through knowledge, brahman appears to grow (as it were). From that arises food (the unmanifest). From food evolve prANa (Hiraṇyagarbha), the cosmic mind, the elements, the worlds, and the immortality associated with actions. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda.)]
The Upanishad further adds:
तदेतत्सत्यं यथा सुदीप्तात्पावकाद्विस्फुलिङ्गाः सहस्रशः प्रभवन्ते सरूपाः ।
तथाक्षराद्विविधाः सोम्य भावाः प्रजायन्ते तत्र चैवापियन्ति ॥ – 2.1.1, muNDaka
[Meaning: As from a blazing fire, sparks by the thousands issue forth, akin to the fire itself, so too, O’ Gentle one, from the Imperishable arise diverse beings, and into It they again merge.]
Just as sparks—being themselves fire—scatter in all directions from a blazing flame, so do all beings and all entities appear to arise from ever-shining brahman.
दिव्यो ह्यमूर्तः पुरुषः सबाह्याभ्यन्तरो ह्यजः ।
अप्राणो ह्यमनाः शुभ्रो ह्यक्षरात्परतः परः ॥ – 2.1.2, muNDaka.
[Meaning: The Purusha is transcendent and formless, present both externally and internally, unborn, without prANa or mind, pure, and beyond even the higher imperishable (mAyA).]
Both the life-force and the mind seem to arise from brahman. Shanara explains:
यद्यपि देहाद्युपाधिभेददृष्टिभेदेषु सप्राणः समनाः सेन्द्रियः सविषय इव प्रत्यवभासते… तथापि तु स्वतः परमार्थस्वरूपदृष्टीनाम् अप्राणः…
[Meaning: Though, due to ignorance and identification with limiting adjuncts such as the body, the Self appears as endowed with prāṇa, mind, senses, and objects—just as the sky appears tinged by the qualities of what is superimposed upon it—yet, to those who perceive the Reality, It is without prāṇa and such attributes.]
Our usual standpoint is based on the belief, “I am the body.” This, however, is a view born of ignorance. From that standpoint, it appears as though various entities arise from the Self, leading us to think that the indivisible One has become many. For example, we cannot perceive space as it is; we see it as blue or dark, as though it were a dome or vault, though space possesses none of these attributes.
Similarly, we attribute the multiplicity we perceive to Consciousness, though Consciousness neither creates nor acts. One who knows the Self rightly does not perceive multiplicity such as life-force, mind, and so on as independently real.
For the same reason, we feel that the Self is remote. We begin to perceive cycles of creation, sustenance, and dissolution—though in truth, these have never occurred. They merely appear so. Shankara continues (2.1.3):
न हि तेनाविद्याविषयेणानृतेन प्राणेन सप्राणत्वं परस्य स्यात्…
[Meaning: The Supreme cannot truly be said to possess prANa, which belongs to the realm of ignorance and unreality—just as a childless person cannot be said to have a son merely because of seeing one in a dream.]
Due to ignorance, we imagine that the multiplicity we perceive has been created. But what is imagined through ignorance cannot truly exist. A childless person cannot claim to have a son on the basis of a dream. Likewise, the creation we experience is akin to something seen in a dream.
अग्निर्मूर्धा चक्षुषी चन्द्रसूर्यौ… – 2.1.4, muNDaka
[Meaning: The indwelling Self of all is that whose head is heaven, whose eyes are the sun and moon, whose ears are the directions, whose speech is the Veda, whose breath is air, whose heart is the universe, and from whose feet the earth has emerged.]
We attempt to conceive the vast manifestation of the Self in such laudatory imagery.
अतः समुद्रा गिरयश्च सर्वेऽस्मात्… — 2.1.9, muNDaka
[Meaning: From Him arise oceans, mountains, rivers, plants, and all nourishing essences—by which the inner Self abides among beings.]
We conceive that everything has emerged from That—mountains, rivers, oceans, medicinal herbs, human beings, gods, animals, birds, inert objects, life-force, and so on. We even suppose that our thoughts and concepts originate from the Self.
If we hold that all percepts have arisen from the Self, this is aparA vidyA (lower knowledge). If we understand that nothing has truly arisen—and that all that is, is only the Self—this is par vidyA (higher knowledge). The lower knowledge is taught initially and must ultimately be sublated by higher knowledge for the realization of the Self.
The muNDaka Upanishad thus invokes the doctrine of superimposition and sublation. We must examine whether the world we perceive is real or unreal. If we take it to be real, then there must be two entities—the Seer and the seen—and both would have to be real. This is how our current perception operates. The seer is the individual (jIva), and the seen is the world (jagat).
The world may be considered in two aspects: the microcosm (our body) and the macrocosm (the vast external universe). Of these, we take the world to be “mine,” while the knower of the world is taken to be the individual “I.” This “I” is the knowing principle—it observes the world, experiences pleasure and pain, and seeks liberation from this struggle.
The Upanishad identifies a total of 16 components (parts) like the life-force, ID tag (name) etc. which make up the world (whether the microcosm or the macrocosm). There is an indivisible whole. We have to find the indivisible one whole. Is “I” the whole?
If we look closely at our own experience, what I am, we find that there are some components within ‘me’ too. These are the ‘thoughts.’ Thoughts and ‘I’ also are present in both the awake and dream states. We may think that there are no thoughts in the deep sleep state and ‘I’ alone is present then. But we find that thoughts emerge as soon as we wake up the next morning.
(To Continue … Part 21 (muNDaka 4))