Episode 01 - Kaivalya Upanishad.
KAIVAILYA UPANISHAD
Source is auspicious.
17. jaakrudha Swapna sushupdhyaathi prapancham yath prakaasathE
Thath Brahmaahamithi njaathvaa Sarva bhandhai: pramuchyathE
The material world defined by the three states of consciousness - awaken state, dream state and deep sleep state,is sourced in Me. One who realises this is shorn of all bonds of material life.
18. Thrishu thaamaSu yath bhOgyam bhOkthaa bhOgaccha yath bhavEth;
ThEbhyO vilakshaNah; Saakshee chinmaathrOham Sathaa Siva:
In the three states of consciousness, the one that experiences, the one that is experienced and the one that is the cause of the experience is different from Me. I remain a witness, the embodiment of Gnaana, the one that is always auspicious (sadhaa Siva).
19. MayyEva Sakalam jaatham, mayyEva Sarvam prathishtitham;
Mayi Sarvam layam yaathi thath, BrahmaathvyamaSmyaham.
Everything came forth from Me. Everything resides in (leans on to) Me. Everything (eventually) ends (layam) in Me. I am that Brahmam without a plural (adhvayam).
20. ANOraNeeyaanahamEva thath vath,Mahaanaham Viswamaham vichithram
PuraathanOham PurushOhamEEsa,HiraNyamayOham Sivaroopamasmi.
I am smaller than the smallest atom; I am larger than the largest perceivable being. I am the Universe that is perceived in a myriad ways. I am the most ancient and I manifest all (Purusha) and command (Isa) all. I shine like the most brilliant gold. I am the embodiment of auspiciousness. (Sivam)
21. apaaNipaathOhamachinthyaa sakthi,PaSyaamyasakshu Sa sruNOmyakarna,
Aham vijaanaami viviktha roopa,Na saasthi vEththaa, mam chithSathaaham.
I have no limbs (hands, legs). Yet I command limitless power and command. I see without any eyes; I hear without any ears. In my limitless forms I am conscious of everything. But there is none who knows Me, is conscious of Me. I am always the most pure of consciousness.
22. VedairanEkairahamEva vEdhyaVedaanthakrith vEdhavidhEvaSaaham
Na puNya paapE mama naasthi naasah;Na janma dhEhEndhriya pudhirasthi.
Na bhoomiraapO na vahnirasthiNa chaanilOmESthi na chaambaramcha.
I am the core content of all the Vedas. I gave the vedaanthas and I am fully aware of all the Vedas. I am beyond punya or paapa.I am without an end. Birth, body, the indhriyaas, are not for Me. Not for Me are this Earth, Water nor Fire nor Air nor the Ether.
23. Evam vidhithvaa paramaathma roopam,guhaasayam nishkalmathvidheeyam,
SamaStha saakshim, Sadha Sath viheenam,Prayaathi Sudhdham paramaathma Roopam.
As elaborated here, the soul that comprehends Me as indivisible, without a second, the one that is witnessing everything,the one without a cause nor effect, realises Me as That and attains Me.
(Much of these proclamations should remind us of the Gita - Vibhoothi Yoga (Chapter 10) where the Lord tries to elaborate His brilliant and best manifestations (I am Saama amongst the Vedas, I am the month of mrigasirsha (maargazhi) among months, I am Kaamdhenu among the cows, etc.) and rests with the following rejoinder:
NaandhOsthi mama dhivyaanaam vibhootheenaam paranthapah
Eva dhoothEsatha: prOkthO vibhoothErviStharO mayaa.
(The One who haunts opponents(Arjuna!)! There is no finity to the aspects of My Divinity. I had proclaimed a few just to underscore)
Now, to the centre piece in this exceptionally articulated Upanishad:
Equation of Source and the Sourced
16. Yathparam Brahma SarvaAthmA viSvasyaayathanam mahath;
SUkshmaath SUkshmatharam thath thwamEva thwamEva thath.
The One Para Brahmam which is omnipresent (without a biggining and without an end) That which is the Soul of Everything, That which sustains this Prakriti (the material worlds), the One that is subtler than the subtlest, YOU ARE THAT! YOU ARE THAT! (Note that the proclamation is repeated twice for effect. We are reminded of the mahaa vakyaas in the Upanishads - That thwam asi; aham Brahmaasmi.)
Now, we shall look at two different proclamations from one of the less-known upanishads: the kaivalya upansihad - one mantra dwelling on a very attractive allegory for the process traversed by a true Saadhaka and the other matching one of the four maha vakyas.
How to reach the Source
Mantra 11
AAthmanamaraNim kruthvaa praNavam chOtharaaraNim
Njaananirmadhanaabhsyaath paasam dhahathi paNdithah:
The allegory is the ancient process of generating fire – with a hardwood base having the cavity, a hardwood staff to churn (with the aid of a rope). The learned Saadhaka who has the single-minded purpose, burns his desires and worldly afflictions (paasham dhahathi paNdithah), by using his single-minded resolve of his soul as the lower hardwood base (aAthmaanam araNim), with “OM” chanted relentlessly and with total focus as the hardwood churning staff, churning single-mindedly with his intellect (njaanaa nir mathanam abhyaasaath). (mathanam is churning).
(In the course of this mind-gripping discussion, readers would note that the Upanishads use very impressive and deeply reaching allegories to illustrate the messages sought to be conveyed. Earlier, we found that the allegory of the bow, bow-chord, arrow and target was used.)
Equation emphasised
Mantra 16
yath param Brahma SarvaAthmA viswaaSya yathanam mahath:
Sookshaath sookshatharam nithyam thath thvamEva thvamEva.
That parabrahmam which is the inner energy of all the souls, that which is omnipresent, that which has every being there, that which supports all the worlds, that which is subltler than the sublest, Thou Art That! Thou Art That!.
(Note the repetitive assertion for emphasis).
(We noted earlier, while briefly discussing the four Maha Vakyas, that the Chandogya Upanishad asserts:“Thath Thvam Asi”.
We find such reaffirmations right through the Upanishads. Some of these assertions also seem to be the expressions found in the Vedas themselves. We would see some of these later.
We shall look at some more gems in the Kaivalya Upanishad. We noted earlier that some of the proclamations occur identically in the Rig Veda and the Upanishads.
Sloka 8. Sa Brahma Sa siva SEndrah SOksharah parama Svaraat:
Sa Eva vishnu Sa praaNah Sa kaalOgni Sa chandramah.
He is Brahma, He is Siva, He is Indra, He is the Self-Effulgent, Immutable, Supreme! He alone (Eva) is Vishnu, He is Prana, He is Time and Fire as well. He is the Moon.
(In the Sri Narayana Suktha, with which most of us are familiar (a part of the Rig Veda), the first line of the above sloka appears identically.
However, in the popular versions of this Suktha, the line is recited as sa brahma sa Siva sa Harih, sEndrah sOkSharah parama svaraat.
Sloka 9. Sa Eva Sarvam yath bhootham yacha bhavyam sanaathanam;
njaathvaa tham mrutyu madthyEthi naanya panthaa vimukthyathE.
He alone is all that was, all that is, and all that will be: .the One that existed in all the past, the One that is in the present and the One that will be in all of future, the Eternal: the One that manifests everything and omnipresent. Knowing him one transcends death. There is no other way (naanya panthaa) to liberation.
"The words "yath bhootham yacha bhavyam" also occur in Sri Purusha Suktha (Pursha EvEdhagm Sarvam, yath bhootham yacha bhavyam".
Simple step to Supreme
Sloka 10.Sarva bhoothaStha maAthmanam Sarva bhoothaani caAthmani:
Sampacyan Brahma paramam yaani naanyEna hEthunaa.
Seeing the Athman in all beings and all beings in the Athman, one attains the highest state i.e. Brahmam; not by any other means.
(Please contemplate on this proposition: seeing the Athman in all beings and all beings in the Athman - can one think of any other way of thinking of universal unity?)