In the commentary on Ch Up 6.1.3, ShankarAchArya says that even if a person has studied all the Vedas and knows all other things which are to be known, he indeed remains unfulfilled if he does not know the Self. As the word ‘unfulfilled’ is not explained, let me do. Unfulfilled means unfulfilled desires. Though a particular human desire is finite, there are countless desires and in this sense they are infinite. A person will have to take infinite births to fulfil them, and he will be in bondage forever. Conversely, with Self-knowledge, a person is complete and has no desires or alternatively all desires are subsumed in his ‘completeness’. He is free in the present life and is also free from rebirth.
The Upanishadic mahAvAkya, namely, Tat Tvam Asi (TTA) occurs in chapter 6. In Vakya Vritti (VV) a disciple approaches the teacher for a solution of worldly miseries (adhyAtmik, adhibhautik and adhidavik ) he is beset with. The teacher says that knowledge of complete identity of individual self with universal Self propounded in TTA is the immediate means to Liberation
The knowledge of TTA is imparted by the sage Uddalaka to his son Svetaketu who has returned after studying twelve years in Gurukul. The teaching is necessitated because Svetaketu does not have Self-knowledge. Moreover, he suffers from unwanted pride thinking that he has completed the study of Vedas though he fails to answer when the father questions him: Have you learnt about teaching by which everything becomes known? He requests the father to teach him, and the father agrees and begins to teach with the help of illustrations. There are varied illustrations. They are for better understanding of the multiform differences in the illustrated things and therefore resulting in firm conviction.
By knowing a lump of earth, all thigs made of earth become known; by knowing a lump of gold, all ornaments made of gold are known, by knowing a nail cutter made of iron, all thigs made of iron are known. The message is that all products of earth, gold and iron are essentially earth, gold, and iron respectively and have no separate existence separate from them. The products have speech and word only as basis. The gold only takes forms of different ornaments. Between gold and ornaments, gold is the reality because it pervades the ornaments. Gold is the cause and ornament is the effect. The cause which inheres the effect is the reality, and the effect is name and form.
VedAntic teaching are in stages. With the above background, the student is ready for the next step, i.e., the teaching about the reality behind the creation by knowing which any worldly thing is known. In the next step it is taught that the reality behind a jiva is not different from the reality behind the creation.
The world is made of living and non-living things. Living things are of three types, namely, those born out of eggs, born out of wombs and those born of plants. Both living and non-living things are made of five elements, namely, space, air, fire, water, and earth. The Upanishad considers fire, water, and space only. It may be because space and air are obvious. The elements have two stages, subtle and gross which are respectively invisible and visible. The subtle fire, water, and earth are respectively, red, white, and black colours. In gross fire, the red part is subtle fire, white part is subtle water, and black part is subtle earth. Thus fire-hood of gross fire vanishes into three colours. The three colours are real. In the same way all worldly objects, big or small, physical or psychic are reducible to three colours. The three colours are also not fundamental. Though they are different from each other, that they exist is undeniable and existence is their ground. It is pure existence. Pure existence is denoted by Existence to avoid confusion. It is unmanifest and different from manifested existence. Ch 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 declare that in the beginning there was Existence alone, one without second and further that the view that existence came out of non-existence is illogical.
ShankarAchArya clarifies that there was Existence alone in the beginning, even now there is Existence alone and will be so in future as well. As regards multiplicity in the world, they are names and forms only and not reality. “For, as in deep sleep, so also before creation it was not possible to grasp this as possessed of name or form. As someone after rising from deep sleep, realizes that in deep sleep the thing that existed was mere existence, i.e., he realizes existence alone, similar was the case before creation.” [ Chandogya Upanishad with Commentary of ShnakarAchArya Translated by Swami GambhirAnanda Advaita Ashrama]. Furthermore, the words and phrase, ‘only one, without second’ emphasize that Existence is both material and intelligent causes of creation. It means that the cause of the universe is not the PradhAna of sAmkhyas for they accept PradhAna to be insentient. Existence is conscious. It is pure consciousness and written as Consciousness to avoid confusion. Existence and Consciousness are not different but are two aspects of the same reality.
As Existence is the reality, it is sacred and Upanishad calls it Deity. All worldly objects are names and forms and words are their basis. ShankarAchArya comments that though words and things are spoken as if they are different from Existence, they are Existence only. A rope is spoken of as a snake, under the idea that it is snake. The word and idea of a snake ceases for one who has discriminating knowledge of rope. Likewise, words and ideas with regard to all worldly objects cease for one who has the discriminating knowledge of Existence. In his vision, Existence alone is.
In Ch 6.4.5, it is said that the ancient, the great householders, the great adepts in Vedas claimed that in their lineage, nobody would speak of anything as unheard of, unthought of, unknown because they had the discriminating knowledge of three colours and in turn of Existence.
Contd Part 2