| OM
Ajnanatimirintasyajnananjanasalakaya
Cakshurunmilitam yena tasmai
srigurave namah
ADVAITA VEDANTA
D
Krishna Ayyar
Appendix
10 revised 4.5.06
Notes No. 75-95
NOTE NO 75 ANALYSIS OF MAHAKAVYAS
The process of analysing the majavakya, “Tattvamasi” by negating
the anaatma part and retaining the caityanyam part of the
words “tat” and “tvam” and thus arriving at the purport of
the mahavakya is called jahallahallakshanaa or bhaagatyaagalakshanaa.
The vacyaartha (literal meaning) of “aham” is
jivatma, a mixture of Brahma caitanyam called atma, cidabhasa
and antahkarana. The vacyartha of Iswara is the omniscient
and omnipotent Lord, a mixture of Brahma caitanyam, Maya and
cidabhasa. The qeastion is “How can the omniscient, omnipotent
Iswara and the jivatma with limited knowledge and powers be
identical?” So we take the lakshyaarthaa (implied meaning)
of “tvam”, which is the caitanyam (the original
consciousness) part of jivatma and of “tat” which is
the caitanyam part of Iswara and equate the caitanyam
of jivatma and Iswara with Brahma caitanyam. That is,
we negate the reflecting medium and the reflected consciousness
and retain the original consciousness and we arrive at the
identity. In “tattvamasi, the word “tat” juxtaposed
with the word “tvam” negates the limitation of jivatma
and the word “tvam” juxtaposed with the word
“tat” negates the remoteness of paramatma. In the
case if “aham Brahmasmi” the question is “how can the finite
jivatma be identical with the infinite Brahman?” Here also
by bhagatyagalakshana, we mnegate the cidabhasa and antahkaranam
part of “aham” as jivama and retain the Brahma caitanyam
part of “aham” and equate with Brahman In “ahambramasmi”,
the word “Brahman” negates limitation and the word
“aham” negates remoteness. In some other Mahavakyas,
like “prajnaanm Brahma” which means that the consciousness
of the jivatma is none other than Brahma caitanyam or “ayam
atma Brahma” which means th’this atma is Brahman” the
mahavakyas directly equate the original consciousness in
the jivatma and Brahman; so, no elimination is necessary
and here the process is called “ajajahallakshana”.
Where it is necessary to substitute, for the entire word,
an associated meaning, as in “sarvam khalu idam Brahma”
(“the world is Brahman”), since the world of nama roopas is
mithya, for “the world” we take the meaning of its sub-stratum
which is Brahman as Existence. Here, the process is called
jahallakshana. Another technical term used in this
connection is saamaanaadhikaranyam. Where one side
of the equation is mithya (e.g. world in “World is
Brahman”), it is called baadhasaamaanaadhikaranyam”.
Where both are caitanyam, as in tattvamasi, ahambrahmaasmi
and prajnaanam brahma and ayam atma Brahma,
it is called “aikya saamaanaadhikaranyam”. (Since the
caitanyam part of jivatma is arrived at, in
tat tvam asi and aham Brahma asmi, by negating
the anaatma part of jivatma, some authors take
these also to be badhasaamaaanidhikaranyam).
Jivatma, inseparably until videha mukti, is a mixture of (1) the all pervading
consciousness (2), the reflecting medium, the antahkarana
and (3) the reflected consciousness. The word, “Jivatma” means,
in different contexts a different combination of these three.
When Mundaka Upanishad talks of Jivaatma and paramaatma as
two birds sitting in the tree, one eating the fruit and the
other looking on, “Jivaatma” means the mixture of (2) and
(3). When in Chandogya Upanishad 6.3.3, Brahman is said to
have entered into the three deities as jivatma, “jivatma”
should be taken as (3). When the jnani says “I, the jivaatma,
am Brahman”, jivaatma" means (1). When Sastra talks of
travel of jivatma, after death, to other lokas and of rebirth,
Jivatma means them mixture of (2) and (3).
Knowledge (“prama”) is obtained by five fold pramanaas – “pratyaksha”,
“anumaana”, “upamaana”, “sabda”, “arthaapatti”
and “anupalabdhi”.
(i) Pratyaksha. Pratyaksha is knowledge by direct cognition of an external object
or an internal image in the mind. E.g., I know that there
is a flower pot out there in the garden; I see it. Or I know
that nadasvaram is being played in the far distance, even
though I can't see it; I hear it. I know that a rose has bloomed
in the neighbour's garden beyond the wall; I smell it. My
eyes are closed; someone puts sugar in my mouth; I know it
is sugar because the taste is similar to sugar which I have
tasted before. I know that there is fire in the fire place
even when my back is turned towards the fire because I feel
the heat on my skin.
(ii) Anumaana is knowledge by inference. Inference
is ascertainment of the existence of a thing we want to know
even though it is not perceived (called “sadhyam”)
because of the existence of a thing that is perceived (called
“hetu”) on the basis of the previous experience of
the invariable concomitance of these two things (called “vyapti”).
E.g., I see just smoke rising on the top of the mountain;
I know from previous experience, say observation of what happens
in the yaagssaala (sacrificial hall) or in the kitchen
that whenever there is smoke there is fire; so, I come to
the conclusion that there is fire in the mountain.
(iii) Upamaana. Upamaana is knowledge obtained by comparison, where features similar
to a thing which one already knows is observed in a freshly
observed thing. E.g., a person goes to a forest and sees a
“gavaya” (a species of ox). He observes similarity
between that animal and the cow in his house. Then he has
the cognition “My cow is similar to a gavaya” These
are cases of similarity of entities which are not identical.
(iv)
Sabda. The distinctive (exclusive) means of knowledge by sabda , i.e,
verbal sources is callede “sabdapramaana”.
When, for a statement, its syntactical relation that is purportful
is not sublated by other evidence, that statement is sabdapramaana.
(Vedanta Paribhasha). The pramaana excludes absurd statements
like “Let it be made wet by fire”. The knowledge arising from
verbal sources should be above contradiction by any other
valid pramaana like right perception etc.
(v) Arthaapatti. Where a thing or event we see or hear cannot
be explained but for the assumption of another thing or event,
even though we have not seen or heard the latter, such an
assumption is called arthaapatti.. In other words,
if a meaning of x is not possible save under the assumption
of y, y may be truly asserted. I go to sleep when there has
been no rain; I wake up in the morning and see that the road
is wet. I can't explain the wet condition of the road unless
it had rained when I was sound asleep. So, I obtain the knowledge
that it had rained in the night. Or I see Devadatta growing
fat day by day but I don't see him eating during the day.
These two cognitions can be true only if we postulate that
Devadatta eats at night. The assumption that it had rained
in the night and the assumption that Devadatta eats at night
are cases of arthaapatti... Or in the case of the shell-silver,
silver is negated when I go near the sea –shell. Since the
silver cannot be negated, unless it was a praatibhaasika
entity, I assume that the silver that I perceived was
praatibhaasika mithya. The example given in
Vedanta Paribhasha for arthaapatti by hearing (listening)
is Chandogya Upanishad 7.1.3, which says “ The knower of atma
transcends grief” Since grief will not be transcended through
knowledge, if it was real, we arrive at the meaning that the
grief is unreal. Or, say, I hear that Devadatta who is alive
is not in his house. His being alive, without his being present
in the house cannot be explained unless he had gone out; so,
I assume that Devadatta has gone out. This is also a case
of arthaapatti by hearing.
(vi) Anupalabdhi. In this is non-cognition of a thing serves
as pramaana. This applies in the case of objects which
are ordinarily capable of being perceived by positive means
of cognition, had they existed in the locus in which they
are not perceived now. In other words, When all the conditions
for the perception x is present, and yet x is not perceived,
such non-perception would lead to a true cognition of the
absence of x. For example, there is a garden in which there
are flower pots; among the flower pots, normally, there is
a pot with a beautiful rose. One day when I look out from
my widow, I do not see the flower pot with the rose. Therefore,
I conclude that there is non-existence of the flowerpot with
the rose in the garden.. Only by anupalabdhi pramaana,
the details pertaining to one ritual, for example, are known
to be not the same as the details of some other ritual. Certain
details which do not belong to a particular ritual can only
be known by this pramanam.
(1) Earlier, it
was said that Iswara, Maya and the universe exist as lower
orders of reality only from the point of view of jivas who,
like Iswara, Maya and the cycle of creation of the universe,
are beginningless and that for Brahman, there is no Iswara
or Maya or universe even as lower orders of reality.There
are two reasons why we jivas have to postulate Iswara, Maya
and the universe. The eternal, non-dual, changeless Brahman
devoid of instruments of jnnowledge and action is said to
be the cause of the universe, but we do experience a universe;
therefore we have to postulate an intelligent cause and a
material cause other than Brahman. That is Iswara and Maya,
respectively. Secondly, we, jivas, Sastra says, are
by nature Brahman but are ignorant of the fact and we suffer
in samsara. Therefore we have to predicate a power which hides
our real nature from us. And that is Maya. Since Brahman is
non-dual all these that we predicate have to be assigned a
lower order of reality. But all these predications are only
for us jivas. For Brahman, there is no Iswara or Maya
or a differentiated world of nama roopas, not even as lower
orders of reality. As cited earlier, Upanishads say that Brahman
is acakshuh (devoid of eyes), asrotram (devoid
of ears), arasah (devoid of tasting faculty),amanah
(devoid of a differentiating mind) nishkriya (devoid of
action) etc. So, there is no question of Brahman perceiving
or knowing a universe or jivas or Maya or Iswara, even as
lower orders of reality -Vide Chandogya 7.24.1 “The Infinite
is that where one does not see anything else……..know anything
else.”
(2) We see from
Brhadaranyaka 2.14.12 and 4.5.13, that that once the physical
body falls, (“pretya”), for the videhamukta, there
is no longer the differentiating consciousness, the ahamkaara,
and we know from other passages that he becomes Brahman
Itself. Brhadaranyaka 3.2.11, and 4.4.7, Prasna 6.5 and Mundaka
3.2.7, read with 3.2.6 also say that a sukshma sarira of a
Jivanmukta dissolves at the time of videha mukti in the cosmos,
when he becomes Brahman Itself. Without a sukshma sarira having
a differentiating consciousness (ahamkara), where is the question
of perception or knowledge of universe etc.?
(3) Rememebering
that an example iis not an illustration in all respects, we
can take the rope and the snake. Snake is a superimposition.
It is seen by the passer-by in semi-darkness. When light is
brought it disappears. Rope is like Brahman; it is the adhishtanam.
Snake is like the world. Semi-daarkness is like Maya.The passer-by
is like the jiva affected by the avarana sakti of Maya. Disappearance
of the snake when the light is brought is like the disappearance
of the world for videhamukta. If we assume, for the sake of
argument, that the rope is a conscious entity, we can say
that for the rope there is no snake. Like that, for Brahman
there is no world. (In this example, we have to ignore the
absence of concordane, in so far as the relative orders of
reality of the passer-by and the snake on the one hand and
the jiva and the world on the other is concerned. )
(4) In Brhadaranyaka
Upanishad Bhashya Vartika, I.4.299 and 1.4 300-30, (4) Sureswaracarya
says that from the standpoint of Brahman there is no world
or avidya at all. Also, we see from Gaudapada's Mandukya
karika 2.32 that the origin and dissolution of the world,
jivas being bound and getting liberated etc. are only a vyavaharika
phenomenon; from the paramartika standpoint, there is no origin
or dissolution or jivas.
NOTE NO. 79. DHARMA
ND DHARMI ADHYASA
When you say “I
am the doer” or “I am the enjoyer” or “I am the thinker”,
you are superimposing ahamkara on atma. This is called “dharmi
adhyasa”. When you say “I am angry” you are superimposing
an attribute of ahamkara on atma. This is called “dharma
adhyasa”. When you say “I am conscious”, you are superimposing
the ‘attribute' of atma on ahamkara. This is also dharmi
adhyasa. There cannot be dharma adhyasa involving
the superimposition of atma on ahamkara. Because, first, adhishtanam
cannot be superimposed on upadhi. Secondly, if
you say that atma is myself, it is not error (adhyasa), but
jnanam (“aham Brahmasmi” knowledge).
Mundaka Upanishad
Ch.II, Section 1, M.4 says that vayu mandalam is the
praana of Virat. If the air is polluted, Virat
will have breathing difficulty. Virat is Iswara's sthoola
aspect. We, living beings, the vyashti (microcosm)
are inside Virat, the samashti (macrocosm).
If Virat has breathing problem, we will also have that
problem. (Virat being affected should not be taken
literally. Virat, being Iswara's aspect is beyond all
afflictions. For the religious people, if it is said that
God will be affected, they will desist from that action. It
is with that idea that such things are mentioned in puranas
etc.)
In Puranas, we have more details. E.g., in Bhagavatam, it is said
that trees are the Lord's hair and rivers are Iswara's blood
vessels. So, when we cut trees or pollute the rivers, we are
hurting the Lord and poisoning His blood. If Lord's
blood is contaminated, ours will also be contaminated.
A living being will
be reborn only as a living being, because, the sukshma
sarira is a continuous entity, going from one janma
to another, carrying with it the karma which has to
be exhausted in successive janmas.
Threefold duties
–(1) Fivefold yajna (sacred duties) – (a) Deva yajna
, i.e.Vedic sacrifices pertaining to the worship of deities,
(b) Rishi yajna , i.e., adhyayana(chanting)
and study of Veda, (c) Pitr yajna, i. e., rituals pertaining
to worship of ancestors who are supposed to have gone to one
of the upper lokas, clled pitr loka, on account of their punyam,
(d) Manushya yajna i,e, service to humanity and (e)
bhoota yajna i..e., promotion of the welafre of the
animal and olant kingdom and respect for nature and ecology-
(2) daana (charity) (if material assistance is
beyond one's resources, one should impart knowledge to those
who need it) and tapas (austerity in life, aparigraha
-not acquiring wealth and other things beyond what is
required for sustenance of oneself and one's family and the
requirements of yagna and daana, restraint in
speech, thought and action, not causing physical or mental
hurt to others which involves, inter alia, satyam (truthfilness)
which should be hitam and priyam and ahimsa (non-violence).
( eamples for satyam that is hitam and priyam. Suppose that
your son is taking to evil ways. You have to advise him. You
have to tell him what is the correct way of life but you should
not scold him while doing so. Suppose a person fleeing
from persons trying to murder him has taken refuge in your
house and those people come and ask you whether he is in your
house; you should not disclose the fact that he is in your
house; you should, dodge the people who are searching him).
NOTE
NO. 83. SIDDHIS
Sankaracarya accepts
the existence of siddhis. (Siddhis are supernatural
powers acquired through practices involving prescribed in
Yoga Sastra and worship of deities inmaccordance with the
Tantra system - powers like capacity to foretell the
future, changing the constitution of the body in such a way
that it is light enough for one to travel in air or too hard
to be cut by a sword, exerting influence on other peopl’s
mind, reading other people’s mind etc.
When I say “I”,
if I identify with ahamkara, I am in samsara.
If I own up the unchanging infinite consciousness as I, it
is moksha. In both cases it is my ahamkara which
does the job of identification, but the entities regarded
as myself are different.
NOTE NO. 85. HIRANYAGARBHA IS AN ELEVATED JIVA
Hiranyagarbha is
only an elevated jiva who, by virtue of his meditation on
Iswara, has been assigned by Iswara to hold the office of
Hiranyagarbha for a mahaakalpa (311,
040,000,000,000 human years) He is one who has gained ahambrahmasmi
jnanam and has, in addition, done meditation on Iswara
to such an extent that Iswara chooses him to be Hiranyagarbha.
NOTEE NO. 86. VISISHTA AND UPAHITA
In Sastra
the words, “visishta caitanyam” and “upahita caitanyam”
occur. When we regard the upaadhi as an uintegral part or
real attribute of an entity, the entity is said to be visishta.
When the upaadhi is regarded as mithya, the entity is said
to be upahita.The example for visishta and upahita is as follows:
- I ask you to give me water to drink. You bring it in a tumbler.
The tumbler is an integral part of your bringing the water.
Now, the water is tumbler-visishta. When I drink the water,
I swallow only the water. At the time of drinking, the water
is tumbler-upahita. Like that, when the body mind complex
is regarded as a real attribute of jivatma, jivatma is visishta
jivatma. When the body mind complex is regarded as mithya,
the jivatma is uapahita jivatma. Understanding
the mithyatvam of the body mind complex and appreciating the
satyatvam of atma is the understanding of upahita caitanyam.There
is no question of experiencing nirupaadhika caitanyam. Nirupadhika
caitanyam is nirguna Brahman; nirguna Brahman cannot be experienced;
nirguna Brahman has to be owned and in videha maukti one is
Brahman Itself.
NOTE NO. 87. BRAHMAN
IS BEYONF TIME AND SPACE
Time is a part of
the beginningless cycle of creation. Brahman is infinite not
only in terms of space but time and entity. Besides, Upanishads
say that Brahman is the real sub-stratum, the support of the
mithya nama roopas of the universe. The nama roopas include
space and time. The support of space and time has to be beyond
space and time. There can be no time beyond time or space
beyond space. Brahman is beyond space and time. Pramana
for Brahman being beyond time is Brhadaranyaka 4.4.16 and
Kathopanishad 1.2.14. Pramana for
being beyond space is in Swetasvatara 3.14 (which, it seems,
reproduces Taittiriya Aranyaka third prasna.) It reads, “.”
This is a description of Brahman; “With thousand heads and
thousand feet and having enclosed the universe, the Purusha
(the Infinite) stands ten inches beyond.”
This is to indicate that Brahman is beyond space. When Brahman
is said to be all pervading, we have to understand it properly.
It is not as if there was already a universe and Brahman pervaded
it. Brahman is the eternal Existence. And on that Existence
names and forms are superimposed in an alternating cycle of
manifest and unmanifest condition. It is like space which
is already there and you insert perceptible objects in it.
A vyaavahaarika
example for Brahman, the imperceptible Existence –Consciousness
being available for recognition as the Existence in mama roopas
in general and as reflected consciousness, particularly, in
minds is light. Light manifests only where there are certain
other forms of matter like solids, liquids, air, space etc,
Light is there is a vacuum also; though it is not manifest
there; it is transmitted across the vacuum. For the astronaut
in outer space, it is all darkness around, because there is
no air for light to manifest. But in the process of docking,
an astronaut from one space vehicle can see the other space
vehicle; the light reflected by the other space vehicle is
transmitted across the airless space and falls on his retina.
Like that, Existence
is there, whether nama roopas are there or not. Pure Existence
cannot be perceived. When nama roopas are superimposed, Existence
togetn#her with the nama roopas are perceived as objects.
That is what Brahman manifesting as the universe means. Intellectually,
you have to eliminate nama roopas to appreciate pure Existence.
Transformation from
finite to another finite is useless. Transformation from infinite
to infinite is not necessary. Transformation from finite to
infinite is not possible. Only if we are already infinite
but are ignorant of it can we discover our infinity.
NOTE NO. 90. ANYONYA ASRAYA OF WORLD AND COGNITION OF WORLD
IS PROOF OF MITHYAHow do you know
that there is a world? Because we have world vrittis.
Why do you have world vrittis? Because there is a world.
This is mutual dependence (“anyonya aasraya”). What
ever is involved in anyonya aasraya is mithya.
Therefore, both the world and our vrittis are mithya.
NOTE
NO. 91. THE WORD, ‘UPANISHAD’. FOUR
(1). upa = (By going
(to a guru)
ni = (sitting)
under (his feet for study of Sastra, one obtains)
shad = (the
knowledge that is the) destroyer (of samsara).
(2) (The teaching
that)
ni = brings
(the jivatma)
upa = near
(Paramatma) (i.e., reveals jivatma paramatma aikyam)
shad = (is
the) destroyer (of samsara).
(3) Upanishad (upanishannam)
= (The benefit of the teaching) hidden (in the Sastra)
(This is
Sankaracarya's derivation).
(4) For upa and
ni, same as in (1)
shad (sad) = that
which leads (jivatma to moksha).
.NOTE
NO. 92. Man's
shadow is example of world being not away but not part of
Brahman.
My shadow is non-separate
from me, in the sense that I can't walk away, leaving my shadow.
But is not part of me either. When I go to the coffee kiosk,
I don't order two cups of coffee, one for me and one for my
shadow. Brahman and the world are like a man and his shadow.
The world, being nama roopas roopas superimposed on Brahman,
the nama roopas are not away from Brahman. But they are not
part of Brahman.
NOTE
NO. 93. JNANI HAS NO REBIRTH – EXCEPTIONS
Once
aham brahaasmi jnaanam is gained, the sancita karma is destroyed
and there is no aagami karma. Only the unexhausted portion
of praarabdha continues till the physical body falls. When
the physical body falls, the sukshma and karana sariras are
disasolved; there is no rebirth; the jnaani ‘becomes’ Brahman.
There is a discussion in Brahma Sutra 3.3.32, whether there
are exceptions. A person cites instances from Smriti (Itihasas
and Puranas) of cetain jnanis being reborn and raises the
doubt whether aham brahnmasmi jnaanam leads to liberation.
The examples are the Vedic teacher, Rishi Apantaratamas who
was reborn as Veda Vyasa (Krishna-dwaipayana), at the behest
of Vishnu, at the junction of Dwapara and kali Yuga, of Vasishta
who was reborn as Mitra-Varuna, as dircted ny Brahmaaa, of
Bhrgu and others who were reborn from the sacrifice of Varuna
and of Daksha, narada etc. The Vedantin explains that ahambrahasmi
jnaanam does lead to liberation. But in the case of certain
jnanis, even though they become jivan muktas, they take rebirths.
These rebirths are for the sake of fululling missions, entrusted
to them by Iswara, relating to the welfare of the world like
propogation of Veda. They retain their jnaanam and continue
to be jivan muktas. They have control over the materials required
for bodies, sense organs and minds and create new bodies.
The bodies created may be one after another in succession
or many bodies simultaneously. The reborn jivanmuktas rememember
thei past lives.. The rebirth is not account of sancitakarma;
sancita karma has already been destroyed. The mission for
which they take bodies is a part of their praarabdha. These
are special prarabdhas, where a part relating to loka sangraha
remains, even after the end of the janma in whichj jnaanam
is gained. The missions may extend to many yugas even. When
the loka sangraha prarabdha is over and the missions are fulfilled,
these jivanmuktas attain videhamukti. Since the jiivanmuktas
having rerebirth and taking bodies for fulfilling missions
is itself a vyavaharic phenomenon, it is reasoanable to assume
that until they attain videhamukti and ‘become’Brahman’, they
are merged in Iswara. This phenomenon is like devatas like
the Sun-God attaining videha-mukti after their mission is
fulfilled, vide Chandogya 3.6.1 Generally, these are rishis
or devats like Yamadharmaraja. The jivanmuktas who are reborn
to fulfil missions are called adhikaaris.They are like
avataras but are not avataras; they are rebrorn on account
of prarabdha, whereas avataras are born out of Iswara’s sankalpa.
(In the Smriti, there is mention of a jnaani having entered
another body in the present janma itself. A wman brahmavaadin,
Sulabha, wanted to have a discussionw with janaka; she entered
Janaka’s body after finishing the discussion with him, reenetered
her own body.)
(
In Brahmasutra 3.3.32, there is also mention of certain ajnanis
rememebering their past lives. They are called jaatismaras.)
NOTE
NO. 94 .VIDEHAMUKTI IS MERGER IN ISWARA, FROM THE VYAVAHARIKA
POINT OF VIEW.
THIS
IS APPENDIX 10 |