॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
***
Skandha X : Chapter 87 Can the Vedas reveal Brahman?
परीक्षिदुवाच
ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मण्यनिर्देश्ये निर्गुणे गुणवृत्तयः ।कथं चरन्ति श्रुतयः साक्षात्सदसतः परे ॥
श्रीशुक उवाच
बुद्धीन्द्रियमनःप्राणान् जनानामसृजत्प्रभुः । मात्रार्थं च भवार्थं च आत्मनेऽकल्पनाय च ॥
सैषा ह्युपनिषद्ब्राह्मी पूर्वेषां पूर्वजैर्धृता । श्रद्धया धारयेद्यस्तां क्षेमं गच्छेदकिञ्चनः ॥
अत्र ते वर्णयिष्यामि गाथां नारायणान्विताम् । नारदस्य च संवादमृषेर्नारायणस्य च ॥
एकदा नारदो लोकान् पर्यटन् भगवत्प्रियः । सनातनमृषिं द्रष्टुं ययौ नारायणाश्रमम् ॥
यो वै भारतवर्षेऽस्मिन् क्षेमाय स्वस्तये नृणाम् । धर्मज्ञानशमोपेतमाकल्पादास्थितस्तपः ॥
तत्रोपविष्टमृषिभिः कलापग्रामवासिभिः । परीतं प्रणतोऽपृच्छदिदमेव कुरूद्वह ॥
तस्मै ह्यवोचद्भगवान् ऋषीणां शृण्वतामिदम् । यो ब्रह्मवादः पूर्वेषां जनलोकनिवासिनाम् ॥
श्रीभगवानुवाच
स्वायम्भुव ब्रह्मसत्रं जनलोकेऽभवत्पुरा । तत्रस्थानां मानसानां मुनीनामूर्ध्वरेतसाम् ॥
श्वेतद्वीपं गतवति त्वयि द्रष्टुं तदीश्वरम् । ब्रह्मवादः सुसंवृत्तः श्रुतयो यत्र शेरते ।
तत्र हायमभूत्प्रश्नस्त्वं मां यमनुपृच्छसि ॥
तुल्यश्रुततपःशीलास्तुल्यस्वीयारिमध्यमाः । अपि चक्रुः प्रवचनमेकं शुश्रूषवोऽपरे ॥
सनन्दन उवाच
स्वसृष्टमिदमापीय शयानं सह शक्तिभिः । तदन्ते बोधयाञ्चक्रुस्तल्लिङ्गैः श्रुतयः परम् ॥
यथा शयानं सम्राजं वन्दिनस्तत्पराक्रमैः । प्रत्यूषेऽभ्येत्य सुश्लोकैर्बोधयन्त्यनुजीविनः ॥
T:
King Parikshit had a profound philosophical question. He asked,
“Oh, enlightened sage! The Vedas, being constituted of words (i.e. of human origin), can only describe entities coming within the scope of the three Gunas of Prakriti. How can they then really reveal Brahman, the Absolute Being, who is not included in the Gunas of Prakriti, who cannot be defined or described as an object before us, and who is beyond the relation of cause and effect?”
Sage Shuka was gratified to hear this inquiry. He replied:
The all-powerful Lord created faculties like intellect, mind, senses and Prana in the Jivas only so that they may enjoy sense contacts in the world, may perform works, gain the felicities of heaven in the hereafter, and attain liberation from Samsara.
It is not proper to doubt the efficacy of the Vedas. For it is the ignorance-shattering science that culminates in the knowledge of Brahman, accepted as such by the most ancient of ancient wise men from endless time. A man accepting it with deep faith and sincerity and living a life of renunciation attains the blessedness of abiding in the Paramatma.
In order to make this clear. I shall narrate to you an episode relating to Sage Narayana. It is a conversation that took place between Naroda and Rishi Narayana.
Once, in the course of his constant travels all over the universe, Narada, the sage most beloved to the Lord, went over to Badarikashrama to see the Rishi Narayana, who is engaged during the whole Kalpa engaged in austerity constituted of Dharma (righteousness), Jnana (knowledge) and Shama (the practice of self-restraint) directed to confer the material and spiritual good of the men inhabiting Bharatavarsha. (This is explicitly stated as Bharatavarsha, i.e. the India we know).
Narada put this very question you have asked, Parikshit, to Sage Narayana who was sitting there surrounded by Rishis living in the village of Kalapagrama.
***
The revered Sage Narayana narrated to Narada what took place during a big philosophical conclave on Brahman during a Yajna held in Janaloka by the ancients. The revered Narayana said:
“Oh son of the self-born Brahma! It was in Janaloka, under the auspices of the mind-born sons of Brahma who are lifelong celibates, (i.e. the Kumaras) and attended by the residents of that region that this Brahmasattram (gathering to discuss Brahman) by a large number of savants and self-controlled gages took place. Narada, you had gone to Shwetadweepa at that time to pay obeisance to its Lord Aniruddha when this assembly for the discussion on Brahman took place in Janaloka. The question investigated then was the very question you have now raised.”
***
Though all these sages were equal in learning, austerity, and character. and even-sightedness towards friends, foes and neutrals, they chose one among themselves (Sanandana) as the speaker while the others heard him with deep attention. Sandandana. the speaker, said as follows:
In order to awaken a sleeping emperor in the morning, the minstrels attached to his court come and proclaim his glorious deeds in praise of him. In the same way, in order to awaken the Lord at the end of the Pralaya from the Cosmic Slumber (cosmic hibernation) into which He had entered when the previous Kalpa had ended, withdrawing into Himself the whole universe and the powers connected with it, the Shrutis i.e. the Vedas recited a hymn recalling all His distinctive majesties. Maya functions as Ignorance in Jiva and as Shakti in the Lord!
(Mahaperiyavaa in his talks on the Vedas states that the Vedas were not even created by Brahman, and they existed always!)
श्रुतय ऊचुः
जय जय जह्यजामजित दोषगृभीतगुणां त्वमसि यदात्मना समवरुद्धसमस्तभगः ।
अगजगदोकसामखिलशक्त्यवबोधक ते क्वचिदजयाऽऽत्मना च चरतोऽनुचरेन्निगमः ॥
बृहदुपलब्धमेतदवयन्त्यवशेषतया यत उदयास्तमयौ विकृतेर्मृदि वाविकृतात् ।
अत ऋषयो दधुस्त्वयि मनोवचनाचरितं कथमयथा भवन्ति भुवि दत्तपदानि नृणाम् ॥
इति तव सूरयस्त्र्यधिपतेऽखिललोकमलक्षपणकथामृताब्धिमवगाह्य तपांसि जहुः ।
किमुत पुनः स्वधामविधुताशयकालगुणाः परम भजन्ति ये पदमजस्रसुखानुभवम् ॥
दृतय इव श्वसन्त्यसुभृतो यदि तेऽनुविधा महदहमादयोऽण्डमसृजन् यदनुग्रहतः ।
पुरुषविधोऽन्वयोऽत्र चरमोऽन्नमयादिषु यः सदसतः परं त्वमथ यदेष्ववशेषमृतम् ॥
उदरमुपासते य ऋषिवर्त्मसु कूर्पदृशः परिसरपद्धतिं हृदयमारुणयो दहरम् ।
तत उदगादनन्त तव धाम शिरः परमं पुनरिह यत्समेत्य न पतन्ति कृतान्तमुखे ॥
स्वकृतविचित्रयोनिषु विशन्निव हेतुतया तरतमतश्चकास्स्यनलवत्स्वकृतानुकृतिः ।
अथ वितथास्वमूष्ववितथं तव धाम समं विरजधियोऽन्वयन्त्यभिविपण्यव एकरसम् ॥
स्वकृतपुरेष्वमीष्वबहिरन्तरसंवरणं तव पुरुषं वदन्त्यखिलशक्तिधृतोंऽशकृतम् ।
इति नृगतिं विविच्य कवयो निगमावपनं भवत उपासतेऽङ्घ्रिमभवं भुवि विश्वसिताः ॥
दुरवगमात्मतत्त्वनिगमाय तवात्ततनोः चरितमहामृताब्धिपरिवर्तपरिश्रमणाः ।
न परिलषन्ति केचिदपवर्गमपीश्वर ते चरणसरोजहंसकुलसङ्गविसृष्टगृहाः ॥
त्वदनुपथं कुलायमिदमात्मसुहृत्प्रियवत्च रति तथोन्मुखे त्वयि हिते प्रिय आत्मनि च ।
न बत रमन्त्यहो असदुपासनयाऽऽत्महनो यदनुशया भ्रमन्त्युरुभये कुशरीरभृतः ॥
निभृतमरुन्मनोऽक्षदृढयोगयुजो हृदि यन्मुनय उपासते तदरयोऽपि ययुः स्मरणात् ।
स्त्रिय उरगेन्द्रभोगभुजदण्डविषक्तधियो वयमपि ते समाः समदृशोऽङ्घ्रिसरोजसुधाः ॥
क इह नु वेद बतावरजन्मलयोऽग्रसरं यत उदगादृषिर्यमनु देवगणा उभये ।
तर्हि न सन्न चासदुभयं न च कालजवः किमपि न तत्र शास्त्रमवकृष्य शयीत यदा ॥
जनिमसतः सतो मृतिमुतात्मनि ये च भिदां विपणमृतं स्मरन्त्युपदिशन्ति त आरुपितैः ।
त्रिगुणमयः पुमानिति भिदा यदबोधकृता त्वयि न ततः परत्र स भवेदवबोधरसे ॥
सदिव मनस्त्रिवृत्त्वयि विभात्यसदामनुजात्स दभिमृशन्त्यशेषमिदमात्मतयाऽऽत्मविदः ।
न हि विकृतिं त्यजन्ति कनकस्य तदात्मतया स्वकृतमनुप्रविष्टमिदमात्मतयावसितम् ॥
तव परि ये चरन्त्यखिलसत्त्वनिकेततया त उत पदाऽऽक्रमन्त्यविगणय्य शिरो निरृतेः ।
परिवयसे पशूनिव गिरा विबुधानपि तांस्त्वयि कृतसौहृदाः खलु पुनन्ति न ये विमुखाः ॥
त्वमकरणः स्वराडखिलकारकशक्तिधरः तव बलिमुद्वहन्ति समदन्त्यजयानिमिषाः ।
वर्षभुजोऽखिलक्षितिपतेरिव विश्वसृजो विदधति यत्र ये त्वधिकृता भवतश्चकिताः ॥
स्थिरचरजातयः स्युरजयोत्थनिमित्तयुजो विहर उदीक्षया यदि परस्य विमुक्त ततः ।
न हि परमस्य कश्चिदपरो न परश्च भवेत्वि यत इवापदस्य तव शून्यतुलां दधतः ॥
अपरिमिता ध्रुवास्तनुभृतो यदि सर्वगताः तर्हि न शास्यतेति नियमो ध्रुव नेतरथा ।
अजनि च यन्मयं तदविमुच्य नियन्तृ भवेत्स ममनुजानतां यदमतं मतदुष्टतया ॥
न घटत उद्भवः प्रकृतिपूरुषयोरजयोः उभययुजा भवन्त्यसुभृतो जलबुद्बुदवत् ।
त्वयि त इमे ततो विविधनामगुणैः परमे सरित इवार्णवे मधुनि लिल्युरशेषरसाः ॥
नृषु तव मायया भ्रमममीष्ववगत्य भृशं त्वयि सुधियोऽभवे दधति भावमनुप्रभवम् ।
कथमनुवर्ततां भवभयं तव यद्भ्रुकुटिः सृजति मुहुस्त्रिणेमिरभवच्छरणेषु भयम् ॥
T:
The Shrutis said:
Hail, Hail unto the Supreme Master unconquerable! Withdraw Thy Maya, constituted of the three Gunas, from covering the knowledge of all Jivas, moving and unmoving, with the covering cloth of ignorance. But in Thee, the controller of Maya, Maya is not the veil of ignorance as it is in the Jiva, but Thy inherent Shakti and divine majesty. The Vedas reveal Thee as sometimes manifesting Thy inherent power of Maya and at other times as subsisting in Thyself, with all powers quiescent as it is at this moment. The Universe is hence non-different from Thee!
The whole universe of experience is ultimately Thyself alone. For it is known to the Vedas and the Rishis that Thou alone remainest when everything is dissolved to the subtlest state. Just as the appearance and disappearance of all effects like pots take place in their material substance i.e. clay, so do the origination and dissolution of the universe take place in Thee, their material cause. But there is this difference that, unlike clay, Thy substance is not in the least affected by the. creation and dissolution of the universe out of Thee (पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम्…). As everything that is conceived by thought and touched by the senses are only Thy manifestation and therefore Thyself, the various deities and forms of worship described in the Vedas really relate to Thee only, though indirectly. It is like the situation when someone places a step on something, say a stone or a patch of clay. Since everything is supported by the earth alone, he is stepping finally on the earth alone as the earth supports all objects! So too do all the words and teachings of the Vedas point towards Thee, though they may appear to deal with deities worshipped through mantras and rituals.
Identity of the Goal of Devotion and Knowledge
Oh Master of Prakriti! Knowing this -that all the divine manifestations and incarnations are really Thyself – the great sages delved into the ocean of the world-sanctifying accounts of Thy Leela, i.e. sportive actions in the form of divine incarnations and manifestations, and through that recounting of Your Leelas, the sages assuaged the heat of all their sufferings caused by the Gunas and Karmas. O Parameshwara, it is then needless to say that those who overcome the limitations of space, time and mental modifications and intuit Thy Being ( i.e. experientially realise You), will overcome all sufferings and be established in Thy state of unbroken Bliss.
The Lord as the Transcendent and as the Immanent
Man can be said to be a man, truly alive, only if he adores Thee. Otherwise, he is merely a pair of bellows, a breathing machine. For, Thou art the Power that activates the insentient cosmic categories of seed matter and enables them to take the shape of the universe, including man. In the human personality so formed, Thou as the Purusha permeatest the five sheaths or bodies (Koshas)—the Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya. Interpenetrating all these and taking their shape, Thou art described also as transcending them as their ultimate support, the One remaining as the unchangeable/inexhaustible and ultimate residue when all the distinctions of cause and effect are eliminated.
The Spiritual Ascent
Among the followers of the path of the Rishis, those who are most gross-minded or body-oriented meditate on Thee in the stomach region (i.e. the centre in the navel called Manipura, probably including also Muladhara). Others, more subtle-minded, meditate on Thee in the spiritual dimension in the heart region called Dahara. From the heart, Shushumna, the spiritual conduit leads to the head, the highest region where Thou art intuited in the Sahasrara or the Thousand-petalled Lotus. There is no more birth and death for those attaining this.
Divine Immanence
Though Thou art already present in these diverse creations of Thine as their material cause, still it looks as if Thou hast entered into them again after the creation of the bodies, manifesting identification with their shape and character, just as the fire takes the shape and nature of the fuel it is burning. Therefore men who are endowed with a dispassionate mind and who have renounced all self-centred values, recognise Thee as the Enduring Spirit in these transient bodies.
The Jiva and his Destiny
The Purusha (the Jiva) abides in the bodies created by the Karmas performed by himself, without his spiritual nature being effaced by anything within or without m the midst of the cause-and-effect relationships. He is described as a 'part' (Amsha) of Thee, and Thou as the Whole endowed with infinite puissance and excellences. Arriving through discrimination at this spiritual origin and destiny of man, wise men adore Thee with deep faith and devotion, having accepted the Vedic teaching that Thou art the centre for dedicating and depositing all one's actions, and that devotion to Thee can secure one's release from Samsara.
Bhakti as the fifth Purushartha
Oh Lord of all! In order to reveal this spiritual nature of man which is difficult to comprehend, Thou dost embody Thyself in the form of divine Incarnations accessible in the physical world. There are some who enter into the vast nectarine ocean of the narratives of Thy deeds and excellences revealed through Your Leela as Thy Incarnations, and exclude all other forms of spiritual striving. They leave their homes and all worldly attachments and join that community of all-renouncing men who constitute the Swans (Para- mahamsas) ever sporting with delight at the lotus of Thy feet (Note: This is the concept of Bhagavatas we have seen again and again). They reject even Apavarga=Moksha or liberation which is generally considered the fourth and the highest Purushartha or value of life, and prefer the fifth Purushartha consisting in the absorbing Divine service of Prema Bhakti.
Human Birth for the Jiva a Great Opportunity
This human body, so well-suited for Thy service, is now readily available for one to depend on, like a bosom friend or a dear relative, to be used for devotional purposes. So also Thou, who art the soul of one's soul and benevolent, art eager to blessthe devotee. But alas! The heedless man shows no Interest in Thee because of his indulgence in sense objects of a degrading nature.
Devotion through Confrontation and Physical Love
Through remembrance, Thy antagonists attained to the same spiritual goal as the sages who had established complete control over their vital forces, mind and senses, and meditated on Thee in the heart. To Thee, we (the Shruti Devatas), who look upon Thee as equally present everywhere and therefore are in constant communion with Thy lotus feet, and the women (the Gopikas of Vrindavan) who longed for the embrace of Thy arms, powerful and handsome like Adishesha, are of equal worth. Whatever the nature of the passion that moves the devotee, if it makes him intensely think of Thee, Thy grace falls on him. By this neglect of devotional life, he becomes a killer of the soul (he erases his spiritual opportunities). By the force of tendencies developed through a life of attachment to this body, he roams about taking inferior bodies in this terrible maze of Samsara.
None can know Thee except by Thy Grace
Thou art the Primeval Being prior to whom or by whose side there was none else existing. Lo! How can any of the others who came from Thee and after Thee, and who are bound to dissolve into Thee, know Thee? From Thee the creator Brahma arose, and from him the two types of divinities. And when Thou enterest into Thy cosmic slumber drawing everything into Thyself, there is nothing left to be known as gross or subtle or as a combination of both—no movement of time, no scripture. (How can anyone, therefore, know the subtle truth about Thee unless instructed by Thee? So to practise devotion to Thee and win Thy grace is the easier way of salvation for man.)
The Conflicting Views of Philosophers
Different philosophers have different theories of reality. The Vaiseshikas say that real entities arise from a previous state of non-existence. Naiyayikas have the theory that existent entities perish. The Samkhyas contend that the spirit is many and therefore different in each body. The Mimamsaka ritualists find the truth in the fruits of ritualistic works. All these theories are mere guesswork based on misconceptions. So also the materialist's theory that man is a product of the three Gunas of Prakriti and that every being is therefore a separate and perishable individual is a theory based on the ignorance of Thy nature. For Thou, Pure Consciousness, in whom ignorance has no place. is the ultimate Truth.
The World derives its Reality from the Lord
This universe of three Gunas, a mental projection, and the individual self or the Jiva, are Asat, something non-existent in themselves, but become Sat, or derive existential value, because of Thee who art the substance behind them. The knowers of the Self, therefore, recognise all this as Sat or existing, because all form an expression of Thyself. A product of gold is not rejected as illusory because it exists in identification with its substance which is gold. Having manifested the universe, Thou dost indwell it as its substance (as gold abides in all products of it).
Devotion versus Vedic Ritualism
Those who adore Thee as the soul and substance of everything, overcome Death, planting their feet on his head, as it were, with the utmost contempt. The others, who are averse to this truth, are bound by Thee to the life of Samsara like animals with the rope of Vedic ritualism, even though they be great scholars. Those who love Thee purify the world, not the others (who put on a garb of spirituality without the love of Thee at heart).
The Supremacy of the Lord
Though Thou, the self-luminous and self-conscious one, be without limbs and sense organs, Thou art the power that supports the sense faculties of all creatures. Dominated by Thy Maya, all the Devas and creators like Prajapatis offer tribute to Thee as subordinate kings do to their suzerains, and they in turn subsist on what men offer them as Yajna offerings. Out of fear of Thee, all the Devas perform their appointed tasks.
Karma determines Differences
Oh unfettered one! When Thou, the Transcendent Being, desirest to sport with Yoga Maya and cast Thy glance at her, then the powers and tendencies of Jivas that had become latent in Thee at the close of the cosmic cycle are aroused,. and as a consequence, Jivas, bodies moving and unmoving, come into being. These differences noticed in the nature and the power of the Jivas are due to their own Karmas and not of Thy making. For. to Thee, who art the highest of all beings—who art the same towards all like Akasa, beyond mind and words, and extremely subtle, there is no such difference as the favoured one and the disfavoured one. All beings are alike to Thee, and the differences noticed in them are only due to their own Karma.
Jiva non-different from Brahman
Oh, Eternal Being! If embodied beings (Jivas) are countless in number and are also eternal and all-pervading, they cannot come under Thy control, as each would be its own absolute authority and could go in his own way. They can be under Thy control only if it is otherwise. If the Jiva is a manifestation of Thyself through an adjunct, then Thou, as their causal substance, will be permeating them in all their transformations through their adjuncts and would be their controller without losing Thy own original nature as the Supreme Being. But the all-pervading and ultimate seer that Thou art, Thou canst not be an object of knowledge like other knowable things. To say that the ultimate seer can be seen would be an absurd doctrine.
Unity of all Beings in Brahman
A living being (Jiva) cannot be a product of Prakriti (matter) alone or of Purusha (consciousness) alone. For both these are eternal, whereas living beings come and go. They are therefore the product of the mutual superimposition of both into a complex unit (in which their separateness cannot be understood or experienced). They may be compared to bubbles in which air and water particles combine. When all those Jivas dissolve in Thee, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, either in deep sleep or in liberation, then all their separateness disappears, with this difference that in sleep the mergence/unitedness is still in combination with the adjuncts in a subtle form as of flower nectars of various kinds in honey, while in liberation, it IS absolute mergence as of river water in the ocean.
Devotion as the Panacea for Samsara
Knowing that it is due to the delusion caused by Thy Maya that the Jivas are subject to birth after birth in the transmigratory cycle (Samsara), wise men adore Thee, the granter of release from Samsara, with intense devotion. How can there be Samsara for one who serves Thee? For, Thy wheel of Time with its rim of three parts (past, present and future), on which the life of transmigration is mounted, causes fear only to those who do not take refuge in Thee.
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