The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Ch-1.11 Second Brahmana, Post-11. : Swami Krishnananda.

-

 


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, April 24, 2021. 11:39. AM.
Chapter - I :
SECOND BRAHMANA: THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE-11.
Post-11.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This Cosmic Prāṇa, Hiraṇyagarbha, or Virāt, assumed a threefold aspect – Adhibhautika, Adhyātmika and Adhidaivika, viz., the physical, the subjective and the transcendent. The objective or the physical, the subjective or the psychic, and the transcendent which is the invisible divine content, are later formulations.

Here again the Upaniṣhad brings us back, by a Simhāvalokana, as it were, a retrospective look, to the unity of things, in spite of the tripartite diversification that has taken place. In spite of this threefold manifestation, which is apparently a segmentation of creation into three different corners, as if unconnected with one another, there is yet a unity among them. That point is brought out here, in this analogy, which describes the unity present in the midst of this tripartite diversity, by the comparison of this triad with that of the horse in the Aśvamedha Sacrifice, and also in terms of a particular shape the sacrificial ground takes in the Aśvamedha Sacrifice, viz. the shape of a bird. The sacrificial ground is drawn in a particular shape. The shape is of a bird. So, the bird is described here, or we may say, the horse itself is described. Both comparisons are apt. The eastern direction of this sacrificial ground in this drawing which is of the shape of a bird, or of this Aśvamedha Sacrificial horse; of this, the eastern direction is the head. And the various limbs are described further, as before. Its arms are the intermediary quarters, northeast and southeast. The western quarter is its tail. Again, the hip bones in the body of the horse are the other intermediary quarters, viz., northwest and southwest. The southern direction and the northern direction are the sides of the body. The sky is the back; the atmosphere is the belly; this earth is the chest. And this is the description of the cosmic condition. This Virāt description is to be found in the sacrificial diagrams of the Aśvamedha Sacrifice, as also in temple constructions.

The temples, especially in Southern India, are constructed in the shape of the Virāt. The Holy of Holies inside is the head of the Virāt, which is represented by a luminous glow of a sacred light in a dark room, comparable to the ānandamaya Koṣha (causal sheath) which is dark, but illumined by the ātman within, and encompassed by seven Prakaras, or corridors. Sometimes these are five, comparable to the five Koṣhas or vestures of the body – Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Vijñānamaya, ānandamaya – the physical, vital, mental, intellectual and causal sheaths. And there is the Balipitha, the sacrificial altar, at the entrance, which is represented by a huge post. Before you enter the body of the Virāt, you have to offer yourself first; otherwise, no entry is possible. You have to pay a fee to the Virāt before you gain access into it, and the fee is your own self. You have to cease to be, first, as you are now, in order that you may become what you want to become. This is the symbol of temple construction, and also of the patterns drawn in the Aśvamedha Sacrifice. That pattern is described here in its correlation with the parts of the universe. Such is the geometrical description of the creation of the universe, with its deep philosophical significance and spiritual connotation. One who knows this becomes strong and obtains a resting place, wherever he be.

"so׳kāmayata dvitīyo ma ātmā jāyeteti, sa manasā vācam mithunaṁ samabhavad aśanāyā mṛtyuḥ, tad yad reta āsīt, sa saṁvatsaro ׳bhavat; na ha purā tataḥ saṁvatsara āsa. tam etāvantaṁ kālam abhibhaḥ. yāvān saṁvatsaraḥ, tam etāvataḥ, kālasya parastād asṛjata; taṁ jātam abhivyādadāt, sa bhāṇ akarot saiva vāg abhavat."

It willed, or He willed: "May I have a second Self." This is the origin of creation. The world, this creation, this universe is the second Self, as it were, of the Supreme Being. This 'other' Self, which is this vast creation, is animated by the Supreme Being Himself. It is 'other' in the sense that is had not all the characters of the Absolute. Yet, it is the Self. Though it is the 'other', it is also the Self. It is called the 'Other Self', inasmuch as the Selfhood of the Absolute is transparently present in this creation. The Universal ātman is immanent in the whole universe, in all aspects of creation; and yet the universe is an 'otherness', as it were, of God, an object of God. It is as if the Universal 'I' is envisaging a universal object, including all that is visible or sensible – space, time and causal relation. A single Subject encountering a single Object is the state which is described in this passage, a Cosmic Consciousness becoming aware of a Cosmic Object in a peculiar manner, not in the way in which the ordinary individual is aware of an object outside. The way in which God is conscious of the universe, is different from the way in which an ordinary Jīva, or individual, is conscious of an object. This makes all the difference between Universal Consciousness and particularised consciousness.

To be continued ....


=========================================================================

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Ch-1, Second Brahmana, Post-1 : Swami Krishnananda

-
Image
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, January 25, 2021. 04:04. PM. Chapter I : SECOND BRAHMANA: THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE Post-1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now follow some very difficult symbols of the Upaniṣhad. Literally, they cannot be easily grasped. Even the Sanskrit is not classical; it is highly archaic. It is a Vedic language. And the idea conveyed through this most difficult style is still more difficult, so that one cannot easily make out the sense of some passages, unless we deeply think over the words as well as the meanings that are hidden between the lines. An unphilosophical mind may not be able to understand the hidden meaning of these symbols, and perhaps it is the case with all symbols; they cannot be understood literally. The symbolic description here is one of the process of creation. How things come; an
Read more

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad -1.7 Swami Krishnananda

-
Image
Wednesday, June 10, 2020. 1.Introduction -7. 1. The Upanishad begins with a startling exposition of the very methodology of living adopted in our country. As I tried to mention to you, the method of the Upanishad is secret, esoteric and intended to go into the meaning of action which is otherwise exoteric. I have also mentioned that the Veda has an aspect, namely, the ritual aspect, the aspect of sacrifice, performance of religious ceremony by the application of the Mantras of the Samhitas, as expounded in the section known as the Brahmanas.  The Aranyakas go to the contemplated side of the Brahmanas, and tell us that a sacrifice need not necessarily be outward; it can also be inward; and the inward is as powerful as the outward. It can even be more powerful than the outward. The ritual that is performed by the mind, say the Aranyakas, is more puissant in the production of effect than the ritual that is outwardly performed through the sacred fire, or in the holy altar.  The entire rang
Read more

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Ch-1. Second Brahmana, The Creation of the Universe. : 4. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, June 1, 2021. 8:05. PM. Chapter - I : SECOND BRAHMANA:  THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE-4. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mind of the cosmos, which is called the Cosmic Mind, in usual parlance, is regarded here as an evolute, and not the original Being. The Absolute is Transcendent Being, and not a mind, thinking. It is not even a causal state. Even the causal state is supposed to be posterior to the Absolute. We never associate the Absolute with the world. The Brahman of the Upanishad, or the Absolute of philosophy, is the assertion of Being which is unrelated to creation. And, when we have to associate God with creation, we have a new word altogether for it. Ishvara is the word we use in the language of the Vedanta. Such words do not occur in the Upanishads. They are all to be found in the later Vedanta, but they are assumed here. In the Sa
Read more