The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad -1.17. Swami Krishnananda.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2020. 08 : 48. AM.

1.Introduction -17.

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The act, the process and the end towards which the action is directed are all single in their essence, and they are not even a tripartite or a threefold process. It is a single development of Being which is impartite. This contemplation which was originally initiated in the Puruṣha-Sūkta, as the Cosmic Sacrifice, may be said to be the Mother of all other concepts of sacrifice, or Yajña in the Indian tradition, or perhaps any other tradition of this type. The offering up of oneself is the core of the Sacrifice, and, thus, the highest Sacrifice is supposed to be self-sacrifice, not the sacrifice of outward material or anything that one 'possesses'. The offering of what we have is a lower sacrifice in comparison with the sacrifice of what we are. This is the Jñāna-Yajña, or the knowledge-sacrifice that is spoken of in the Bhagavadgītā and such other scriptures. The Puruṣha-Sūkta is, therefore, a contemplation of a Jñāna-Yajña as if performed by God Himself in the act of creation or a universal Self-alienation.

A similar contemplation is envisaged in the beginning of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad, where the Aśvamedha Sacrifice is made an occasion for a spiritual contemplation. The Aśva, or the horse, consecrated in the sacrifice, is identified with Prajāpati, or the Creator of the Universe, the Virāt or the Hiraṇyagarbha of the later Vedānta. And in the very description that we find in the commencement of the Upaniṣhad, the details of the parts of the horse are identified with the details of the Universe outside, so that here is a purely symbolic contemplation. The ritual becomes a Cosmic Act, and the horse of the Aśvamedha Sacrifice is the Prajāpati of the Veda. The Creator is the object of contemplation. In the beginning, this contemplation is religious in the sense that there is an 'externalisation' of the Idea of Prajāpati, as a transcendent Creator of the Universe, but later it becomes wholly spiritual, where the meditator identifies himself with Prajāpati, the All-Being, the Creator, so that the Upāsana (worship) becomes a Self-contemplation, Adhyātma-Vidyā, once again.

The Upaniṣhad takes us from ritualistic concepts to religious adorations, and then to spiritual visualisations. There is, again, a gradual ascent of thought, from the outward to the inward, and from the inward to the Universal. We withdraw from the outward mode of behaviour to the inward psychological factors which determine these external modes of behaviour, and then we contemplate the Being that is precedent even to psychological behaviour. What we do outside is determined by what we think in our minds, and what we think in our minds is conditioned by what we are in our true selves. So, there is a process of the rise of contemplative action from the outer realm of name, form and action to the inward thought-processes of the individual, and to thought-process in general, leading to 'being', not merely to the individual's apparent being, but to the Being of all beings; which the Upaniṣhad would describe as Sātyasya Satyam, or the Truth of all truths.

Te Upaniṣhads do not regard anything as absolutely untrue. Everything is true, but relatively so. There is a passage from the lower truth to the higher truth. The Upaniṣhads have a strange way of envisaging things. The True alone prevails everywhere. Truth alone succeeds – Satyameva jayate – not untruth, because untruth is not. Therefore, the rise is from a lesser wholeness of truth to the larger wholeness which is above it. Actually, we reach, in the end, the Ultimate Wholeness which is Brahman, the Absolute. And also, simultaneously, it is an ascent of the soul from one condition of joy to another condition of joy. We do not rise from sorrow to joy, because sorrow is a misconceived tendency to happiness. It is a misplaced form of being which comes to us as a grief or agony. Just as untruth is not, sorrow also is not, because they are misplaced values, and when they are placed in their proper contexts, they look beautiful. As totally ugly things do not exist in the world, absolute sorrow also does not exist. An ugly thing is a misplaced value, again. When a thing is not properly placed, it looks ugly. When the very same thing is placed where it ought to be, it becomes the beautiful, so that perfection is the Dharma (law) of the Upaniṣhad gospel, and it sees perfection everywhere. The enlightenment of consciousness to this Perfect Being is the entire process of Upaniṣhad wisdom.

END.

NEXT- CHAPTER - I : The Universe as a Sacrificial Horse

To be continued ....

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