Chapter 18 That Thou Art (TTA)
This is the biggest chapter containing 233 verses. The title of the chapter is derived from one of the Great Upanishadic Statements which proclaims that the essential nature of Jiva (individual soul) is the essential nature of the God. The Jiva is essentially Self whose nature is Consciousness and the God is essentially Existence and that ultimately Consciousness and Existence are the same. In the opening two verses, Sri Shankara offers salutations to the Self which witnesses the modifications of the intellect. The modifications arise from and subside in consciousness. He pays obeisance to his Grand preceptor (Teacher of his Teacher) who established the authority of the Upanishadic teaching by refuting the opposite doctrines. The verse 3 reasons that the Sruti, out of compassion and affection akin to a mother’s love, teaches that an individual soul is eternally free. The chapter discusses many concepts related to TTA. This post and those to follow discuss verses serially but also includes other verses with similar concepts.
18.04/05 A man is eternally free, but he is ignorant about his true nature, i.e., freedom. It is Self-ignorance and the remedy is Self-knowledge. It is analogous to removal of the wrong notion of snake and recognizing the rope in the presence of light, i.e., knowledge. The teacher teaches, “Thou art That”, based on the authority of Sruti and reasoning. The followers of Karma Kanda, ritualistic part of Vedas do not accept the authority of Jnana Kanda, knowledge part of the Vedas. As both originate from the same Vedas, the knowledge part is as authoritative as the ritualistic part.
18.06-08 The Self is the witnessing consciousness. It is the witness of thoughts. Two types of thoughts arise. One is “I am an agent of action” and the other is “I am the Self” which is actionless. The former is born of ignorance because the mind and body act and not the real I, the Self which is action free. The notion that “I am an agent” is negated by right knowledge. When A sees B walking, A’s eyes see that the B’s body is walking. A identifies B with his body and concludes that B walks. This is direct knowledge derived from sense perception. When the scripture says that A does not walk, it refers to A’s real nature, i.e., consciousness which does not walk because it is the witness of the bodily act of walking. Thus, there is no contradiction between two means of knowledge, i.e., when according to perception, A walks and according to the scripture, A does not walk. The perception is experience based whereas scripture is knowledge based.
“Wherever the Veda speaks of (the Self as) ‘the agent’, ‘the enjoyer’, it does so in order to conform to worldly ideas. The notion ‘I am the real’, on the other hand, arises specifically from the Veda. The former notion is cancelled by the latter.” [Shankara, Shri. The Thousand Teachings of Shankara: Upadesha Sahasri, Sadan. Kindle Edition.]
18.09 to 18.18 In the ten verses, Sri Shankara introduces an opponent (Purva Paksha-PP) Prasamkhyavadi who maintains that liberation does not arise only by listening to TTA. It should be followed by repetition of “I am Brahman”. PP argues as below.
1 It is not possible to gain knowledge by hearing the teaching. It should be followed by repetition (18.10). There is no direct perception of the non-dual Self by hearing the text alone. The Vedas enjoin actions for getting results as is seen in Veda Purva Bhaga. To get the result of liberation, action of repetition is necessary (18.11).
2 Disciplines such as self-control, etc., will be purposeless if Brahman can be known by hearing alone. One should do repetition until there is direct experience of Brahman (18.12).
3 Although Self-knowledge is capable of removing impressions gained from sense-perceptions, one is attracted to sensory objects due to attachment (18.13). Direct experience often contradicts knowledge (18.185/186) even though direct experience is mithya. To make the knowledge firm, meditation is necessary (18.211/212). Even if in rare case, no contradiction is evident, it should be assumed that repetition was practiced in earlier lives (18.14-16). As liberation is a kind of result, action is required to attain it (18.17). Sanyas Ashrama is meant for repetition (18.18) to actualize the knowledge.
4 According to Br Up 2.4.5, Self should be realized by hearing, reflecting and meditating. Thus, Sruti talks about agency and enjoins actions such as meditation, etc., for gaining Self-knowledge.
5 Direct knowledge of Brahman and bliss of liberation are not produced by ascertaining the meaning of words and TTA. Knowing a fruit is not sufficient unless it is tasted. “Repetition of I am Brahman” is therefore enjoined (18.201).
Contd