The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Ch-1. Second Brahmana, The Creation of the Universe. : 13.5 Swami Krishnananda.

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Wednesday, September 01, 2021. 8:10. PM.
Chapter - I :
SECOND BRAHMANA : 
13. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE-5.
Mantram-5. continued ..
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The Vedas became threefold and fourfold – Rik, Yajur, Sāman, ātharvaṇ. Yajñān prajāḥ paśūn: The sacrificial processes, human beings, animals, etc. – everything became manifest. Sa yad yad evāsṛjata, tad tad attum adhriyata: Whatever was created was conceived by the consciousness, and there was an urge to grasp every object. The more one goes down in the level of creation, the greater is the desire for the object. The higher one goes, the less is the desire. The violence of desire becomes intense as consciousness goes down and down, until there is an intense feeling of separation of the subject from the object. The intensity of the desire is due to the intensity of the separation, so that when the material form of the object becomes glaringly intense, the feeling of separation, also, becomes equally intense; and then it is that there is this desire of the soul to grasp the object, for union with itself. Consciousness became immanent in all things; it entered everything; it created all beings and became all beings.

All objects become the food for this Consciousness. It grasps them in a variegated manner, right from the Virāt down to the lowest animate created being, because the process of the grasping of the object by Consciousness varies, no doubt, in the manner of its expression, but the intention is the same. The intention of the Consciousness moving towards an object is the absorption of the object into itself. In the case of Virāt, they are both identical; the object and consciousness are the same, and they cannot be separated, even as we cannot separate our own body from our soul. It is a kind of identity of being. But, when there is a further movement down in the direction of the separation of Consciousness from the object, then there is not that organic connection between the subject and the object. There is only a desire which cannot be fulfilled, because consciousness cannot, in fact, become an object. They are two different things in character. The object can never become consciousness, and the consciousness can never become an object, inasmuch as it has its own unique nature. So, no desire can be fulfilled, finally. It only acts vigorously in the direction of objects, with the intention of extinguishing itself, but it can never extinguish itself until the body of the object becomes the body of consciousness. That is the intention, ultimately.

The desire of every individual is to become the Virāt. This is the meaning of any desire. Even if we take a cup of tea, our desire is only that; we want to become one with everything. It is a stimulation of the inner psyche towards the unification of oneself with all things. One who knows this mystery can become everything, says the Upaniṣhad, which is a great consolation and a comfort for created beings. If we can understand what all this drama means, how this creation has taken place, how Consciousness has become all things, what desire means actually in its intention, if this is comprehended properly by us, we can become 'That', which has been the cause of this manifestation. One who knows it, becomes 'That'. So is this concluding, solacing message of the Upaniṣhad to everyone – 'Knowing is Being'. If we can know this secret, we can go deep into the secret of self-mastery, so that desire ceases. The assumption by Consciousness that the object is spatially and temporarily cut off from itself is the cause of desire. But, when this assumption is understood in its proper connotation, the desire must cease, because the intention being pious, the mode of fulfilling this intention also should be equally pious, which means to say, there should be identity, which cannot be established as long as there is real separation, and the separation must be there as long as there is involvement of Consciousness in space and time. Space and time are also aspects of Consciousness only. Why should they cause this distinction? This is what is to be understood properly, and where this is grasped, desire ceases, and one can become 'That', from where one has descended.

Mantram-5. Ends.

Nexr: Mantram-6.

"so׳kāmayata, bhūyasā yajñena bhūyo yajeyeti; so׳śrāmyat, sa tapo׳tapyata: tasya śrāntasya taptasya yaśo vīryam udakrāmat. prāṇā vai yaśo vīryam; tat prāṇeṣūtkrānteṣu śarīraṁ śvayitum adhriyata, tasya śarīra eva mana āsīt."

To be continued .....

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