ISAVASYA UPANISHAD - Wave 3: Mantras 9-14 (6 No.). Swami Gurubhaktananda ( Chinmaya Mission ).
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Tuesday, June 15, 2021.10 : 21 AM.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
18 Mantra-s on “The All-Pervading Reality”
Wave 3: Verses 9-14 (6 No.)
The Integration of KNOWLEDGE
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B. SAMBHUTI & ASAMBHUTI
Mantram - 12 : Worship of Unmanifest & Manifest,
Mantram - 13 : The Fruits of Unmanifest & Manifest,
Mantram - 14 : Combining Unmanifest & Manifest.
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Mantram - 12 : Worship of Unmanifest & Manifest,
"Andham tamah pravishanti, ye asambhootim-upaasate;
tato bhooya iva te tamo ya u sambhootyaagm ratah."
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Translation :
2 ye asambhootim-upaasate; = aim to conquer the Unmanifest cause of creation;
3 tato bhooya iva te tamo = but they enter into even greater darkness
4 ya u sambhootyaagm ratah. = who aim to conquer the Manifest creation itself.
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Mantram - 13 : The Fruits of Unmanifest & Manifest,
"Anyat eva aahuh sambhavaat, anyat aahuh asambhavaat;
iti shushruma dheeraanaam, ye nah tat vicha-chakshire."
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Translation :
5 Anyat eva aahuh sambhavaat, = One thing, they say, is obtained from the Manifest,
6 anyat aahuh asambhavaat; = and another thing, they say, from the Unmanifest;
7 iti shushruma dheeraanaam, = Thus we have heard from the wise,
8 ye nah tat vicha-chakshire. = who have explained it to us.
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Mantram - 14 : Combining Unmanifest & Manifest.
"Sambhootim cha vinaasham cha, yah tat veda ubhayam saha;
vinaashena mrityum teertvaa, sambhootyaa amritam ashnute."
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Translation :
9 Sambhootim cha vinaasham cha, = The Manifest and the Unmanifest (Vinasham) –
10 yah tat veda ubhayam saha; = he who knows them both together (at the same time),
11 vinaashena mrityum teertvaa, = overcomes death through the Unmanifest*,
12 Sambhootyaa amritam ashnute. = and obtains immortality through the Manifest*.
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* In Option E below, Sri Shankaracharyaji swops Unmanifest with Manifest.
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Commentary :
In this second set of three verses, in 12 the fruits Sambhuti and Asambhuti, when worshipped alone, are given; in 13 their fruits are compared to each other (again, note that they not opposed to each other), and in 14 is given the fruit of combining both of them.
The problem before us is to find the right interpretation of Sambhooti and Asambhooti so that it fits all three verses without contradiction.
The dictionary meanings of these two terms are “manifest” and “unmanifest”.
The two options examined are:
D. Combining Destruction of Life Undivine & Construction of Life Divine:
Asambhooti = Destroying undivine tendencies in the unmanifested (causal) plane.
Sambhooti = Seeing the Divine in all manifested life at the subtle and gross planes.
E. Combining Meditation on Impersonal God & Personal God:
Asambhooti = Meditation on the unmanifest, Impersonal Nirguna Brahman.
Sambhooti = Meditation on the manifest, Personal Saguna Brahman.
F. Combining Jnana & Bhakti:
Asambhooti = Knowledge of the unmanifest, Impersonal Nirguna Brahman.
Sambhooti = Devotion and surrender to the manifest, Personal Saguna Brahman.
Let us take up each of these and see how they fit all the three verses:
D. Combining Destruction of Life Undivine & Construction of Life Divine:
This interpretation was given to Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji by his Guru, Swami Tapovanji. It has the advantages of being based purely on Vedantic principles, seeing that we are dealing with a Vedantic text; and being free from the controversy we shall see in option E.
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Asambhooti: The “unmanifest” here refers to latent desires called Vasanas, and reside at the causal level of existence. The old life is governed by subconscious Vasanas or tendencies that all souls are born with. At the root of these tendencies lies Cosmic Delusion or Ignorance, named AVIDYA in the previous set of verses. Living in Avidya leads to “blindening darkness”.
A new life is ushered in when, through Vairagya the Sadhaka eliminates his Vasanas bit by bit, until they are fully destroyed. The fruit of such a Sadhana is the end of death. The absence of Vasanas means no future birth ever again. He is liberated from transmigration.
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Sambhooti: At the “manifest” level of life, the Vasanas of the causal level wreak havoc at the subtle and gross levels. They create all sorts of complications in our lifestyle – our habits, our actions, our thoughts, etc – and life flows into the channel of sorrow and grief. When Vasanas are not checked, it is impossible to arrest the build-up of sorrow in life. This is described as “even greater darkness”.
A new life begins when, by Viveka or discrimination between the Self and the not- Self, life is divinised by the conscious cultivation of virtue and removal of vice. This divinisation brings the fruit of immortality. One becomes a ‘God’ on earth, gaining immortal fame among men; he also gains spiritual immortality by becoming One with Reality.
Vairagya and Viveka are products of VIDYA or Knowledge. Asambhuti represents Vairagya, while Sambhooti represents Viveka. Combining them is the meaning of verse 14. Death is averted by the Vairagya or detachment of Asambhuti, while immortality is gained by the Viveka or aspiration of Sambhuti in the intellect.
This interpretation has a great simplicity, beauty and attractive charm in it for the practical seeker of liberation. It is a unique contribution coming from the Himalayan Sage Tapovanji, a man of Vairagya and Viveka. Its pure Vedantic approach steers it clear of all controversy. It is therefore the one that Swami Chinmayanandaji prefers.
However, Sri Shankaracharyaji, for an equally valid reason, opts for the next two interpretations, which are closely related.
E. Combining Meditation on Impersonal God & Personal God:
This option, which also meets with the requirements of all three verses, is supported by none other than Sri Shankaracharyaji himself. The view taken is not restricted to Vedanta, but takes into account the social and philosophical upheavals of his time. There was much debate at that time, circa 8th century C.E., which persists even to this day, as to which was the true God to be worshipped. Was it the Impersonal God of the Vedas, or was it the Personal Gods of the Puranas? Seen in this context, Sri Shankaracharya’s approach is quite justified, even though it may inevitably encourage some controversy.
Our discussion follows the same pattern as under point D:
Asambhuti: here “unmanifest” refers to the Causal State of the universe. Nothing is yet created but creation has been conceived as a ‘Master Plan’ about to be put into action through the power of Maya (Prakriti). We place ourselves in the shoes of the omnipotent and omniscient Lord, the supreme Creator of the worlds, namely, Ishwara. Whom does He worship? The Impersonal, Formless, Attributeless, unconditioned Lord, the Nirguna Brahman, the Reality Itself. To start off with this meditation or Upasana, one is bound to face “blindening Darkness”. It is like a primary school child sitting in the PhD class!
If one succeeds in it, the fruit of this meditation is the overcoming of Maya, the destruction of Delusion or Ignorance, the root cause of worldly existence. When Delusion is conquered, one recognises Reality as his own Being, and attains Immortality (note below).
Sambhooti: Here “manifest” refers to the whole of creation, both subtle (mental) and gross (physical). The Womb of Creation is Hiranyagarbha, who appoints Divine beings called Deities to govern it. Meditation on these Deities is meditation on the conditioned Lord, the Saguna Brahman with form and attributes. This meditation is within the reach of most worshippers who have advanced sufficiently to realise that the world is governed in an organised manner. However, this meditation is fraught with “even greater darkness” as one pins his faith on Deities who themselves are part of Creation. One faces the danger of being ‘trapped’ in creation with a Personal God. A safety feature in this meditation is to regard the Deity as Ishwara Himself.
The fruits of this worship come in the form of intellectual, mental and physical excellence, but there is no removal of Ignorance until he obtains knowledge of the Self. The excellence attained by meditating on the Saguna Brahman frees one from the fear of ‘death’ (see note below).
The combination of these two would lead to the fruits of both, namely, conquest over death and immortality. This is equivalent to Liberation while living. Note: Sri Shankaracharya has had to swop Unmanifest and Manifest in lines 3 and 4 of verse 14. Freedom from fear of death is the maximum fruit obtained from Saguna meditation. Immortality is obtained only through Nirguna meditation. Hence the need for the re-arrangement of the fruits. Sri Shankaracharyaji takes recourse to a fine grammatical rule in Sanskrit to justify this change. This is dealt with after point F, for those interested.
F. Combining Jnana & Bhakti:
This follows a similar pattern to option E. Asambhooti refers to Jnana or Knowledge of the Self or Unmanifest Supreme Reality, the Impersonal God; Sambhooti refers to Bhakti or Devotion to the Deities ruling the Manifest Unreality, i.e. the Personal Gods.
Jnana without Bhakti leads to “blindening darkness”; Bhakti without Jnana leads to “even greater darkness”. It is said, “Knowledge without devotion is lame, while devotion without knowledge is blind.” Another proverb says, “Knowledge and devotion are like one’s two legs; without either one, one cannot walk.” Through sayings like these, the Bhakta is encouraged to obtain knowledge, and the Jnani is encouraged to develop love for God.
The sensible and correct approach is to always combine Jnana and Bhakti. By this combined method, the fruits of both are obtained, namely, freedom from fear of death through Bhakti, and Immortality through Jnana.
Thus the age old controversy between Bhakti and Jnana is put to bed by the Rishi.
THE CONTROVERSIAL ASPECT
Where does the controversy come in? In this option, there needs to be a correction made to the first line of verse 14. As it stands, Sambhuti and a completely new term, Vinasha, are named, which compel one to take Vinasha to mean Asambhuti. However, Vinasha, which means destruction, can only take place on the manifested (subtle and gross) world, not the unmanifested (causal) world. It therefore can only apply to Sambhuti, which ould now appear twice.
The duplication is avoided by Sri Shankaracharya by suggesting that the word ambhooti is really supposed to be Asambhooti. There is a grammar rule where the ‘A’ is dropped when a word is preceded by another word ending in ‘A’. In this case the previous word is in the previous verse! – it is ‘Chakshirah’ which has changed to ‘Chakshire’.
The controversy hinges on this fine grammatical point, but Sri Shankaracharya, a master of Samskrit grammar, is pretty sure of his stance. For suggesting this change based on a grammar rule, Sri Shankaracharya has initiated a controversy that still rages among scholastic Vedantins. To genuine seekers, there is no problem. Any interpretation which helps them to evolve is acceptable – that is the approach of a true seeker. Intellectual controversies mean nothing to the genuine seeker.
What do we learn from such passages in the scriptures that are interpreted more in the light of Sanskrit grammar than on Vedanta principles? Guruji gave us three reasons why this is considered permissible:
i) It broadens our outlook, albeit only for academic interest.
ii) It gives people who have such desires as to attain these other worlds a chance to
fulfill their wishes legitimately.
iii) Those who seek liberation need to know these things to develop their Vairagya.
The seeker is sure to reflect thus: “I can attain these worlds with all this huge effort, but at
the end I will not be liberated. I gain nothing substantial. Is it worth it?”
The Brahma Jnani replies, “Enough is enough. Now stick to Brahma Jnana.”
Guruji made another interesting comment: “Vedanta is like keeping accounts. Every cent has to be accounted for. If the two sides do not balance we should hunt out the error. Even if the error is in our favour, we should not permit it – it means there is a problem somewhere! Vedantic enquiry demands such strict intellectual honesty in order to succeed.”
The whole matter brings out Sri Shankaracharya’s intellectual honesty to stick to the Truth without any compromise. If compromise is to be made, let it rather be in grammar than in Vedanta!
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NEXT -
ISHAVASYA UPANISHAD
Wave 4: Mantra - 15-17 (3 No.) “The VISION of TRUTH”
To be continued ....
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