PRASHNA UPANISHAD - 49 : Rishi Pippala.

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

#6 Questions, 67 Mantras: “Questions from Disciples Answered.”

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

GAARGYA’S QUESTION

Query No 4:

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

Tuesday 12, Mar 2024. 07:20.

Q.4E – Attribute less & All-Knowing 

Post-49.

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

Mantram - 4.10: Q.4E – Attribute less & All-Knowing 

1. 

Param eva aksharam pratipadyate  =  He attains the supreme Immutable itself, 

sah yah ha vai :  = who realizes he is: 

2. 

tad acchhaayam, ashareeram,  =  that shadowless, bodiless, 

alohitam, shubhram, aksharam.  =  colourless, pure, indestructible Being. 

3. 

Vedayate yastu, Somya, =O amiable one, he again who realizes this, 

sah sarvajnah sarvah bhavati.  = becomes all-knowing, and all. 

4. 

Tad eshah shlokah:  = On this there is a Sruti Mantram in support: 

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

Pujya Gurudev says that in this mantram, “We have a beautiful description of the Self 

which is comparable with the best available in all the scriptural literature of the world, and 

which defines in the language of the finite that which is the infinite, eternal Truth Principle.” 

 FIVE TECHNICAL TERMS FOR THE SELF:

 

Five technical terms are used here to describe the Self. This means they have a 

specific meaning in the context of Vedanta: 

i) Acchhaayam: “shadowless”; refers to the complete absence of Ignorance, the root 

principle that produces the fundamental illusion in the mind. In Vedanta, Ignorance 

represents the Causal body. 

ii) Ashareeram: “bodiless”; this expresses absence of all forms. The body, or form, 

represents the Gross body. 

iii) Alohitam: “devoid of redness”; this represents the presence of the life energies in 

the inert body. Redness, symbolizes the flow of blood, warmth, the glow of life, etc, without 

which we will have only a corpse. Thus, this word represents the whole Subtle body. 

iv) Shubhram: “pure”; in Vedanta this means being free of all attributes. There are 

no attributes in the Self, hence it is considered as pure. 

v) Aksharam: “indestructible, unchangeable”; the Self can have no modifications, 

such as birth, growth, maturity, decay, old age, and death. This is another typical 

characteristic by which the Self is described. 

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

 

1. The person who has realized the Turiya state is the subject of this verse. It is clearly 

said here that the one who realizes the Immutable Self, himself becomes Immutable. In 

another Upanishad (the Taittiriya) it is said, “He who realizes Brahman, becomes Brahman.” 

How is such a daring statement possible? 

2. These two lines give the reason. The sage who attains this state goes beyond the 

gross body (shadowless and bodiless); beyond the subtle body (colourless, which implies 

formless); and beyond the causal body of ignorance (pure). When these three bodies are 

transcended, the person is said to one with the Supreme Self, i.e. Indestructible. 

3. Such a person also is said to become omniscient. How is that?  

 *****

 Next

Mantram - 4.11 Q – 4E:  Sruti Quotation: Merging into the Supreme

Continued

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