KATHOUPANISHAD - 62. Swami Advayananda.

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

Friday 09, Aug 2024 07:00.
KATHOPANISHAD
Chapter 1.3:   
17 Mantras:  THE JOURNEY AHEAD
THE ROUTE OF THE JOURNEY
1.3.13:   Successive Merging from Speech to Self 
Post - 62

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

Mantram - 1.3.13:   Successive Merging from Speech to Self :

1 

 Yachhet vaak = The organ of speech should be merged  

manasee praajnah = into the mind by the discriminating man; 

2 

tat yachhet =  Then that mind should be merged 

jnaane aatmani; =  into the intellect, the knowing self; 

3 

jnaanam aatmani = Then the intellect or knowing self  

mahati niyachhet =  should be merged into the Mahat, the Total Mind; 

4 

tat yachhet = Finally, that Mahat, too, should be merged  

shaante aatmani. =  into the peaceful Self. 

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

The process of tuning oneself more and more to the inner Self is once again 

repeated from the point of view of a Sadhana to attain the Self. It follows the same lines as 

already seen in 3.10/11.  

Yacchet is the verb which defines the Sadhana needed to be done. It occurs in every 

Pada.It means dissolve or merge, to withdraw from the grosser into the subtler.  

That is the Sadhana. This is done at four levels: 

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

1

 Dissolve Speech into Mind: ‘Speech’ is used here as an Upa-Lakshana, i.e. it stands 

for all the five organs of action in the body of which speech is the first.  

All actions stem from a desire in the mind. The desire is not permitted to act itself 

out. The organs of actions are instructed not to permit any vagaries of the mind to drive the 

senses. In modern psychology, this is tantamount to suppression. Suppression can burst out 

into rampant, uncontrolled desire-activity if there is nothing to stop the mental energy from 

damming up from within. At best, it is a temporary necessity, until the mind is trained to 

check the desires themselves. 

2

 Dissolve Mind into Intellect: The desire which remains in the mind, 

notwithstanding the above external checkpoint, has to be dissolved by the discriminating 

power of the intellect. The intellect is a controlling power over the irrational mind;  hence it 

is here called the Atman, which has to be taken to mean the controller of the mind.  

When desire is checked through Viveka, it is called sublimation. 

This is more desirable than the temporary suppression. The effulgence of the intellect 

pacifies desire in the mind. Each desire checked in this way adds to the mind’s purity. 

3

 Dissolve Intellect into Mahat or Cosmic Intellect: The method of checking the 

intellect itself lies in surrender of one’s Ego-sense. This is the most difficult of all operations. 

Swami Sivananda calls it ‘Ego-dectomy’. The ‘I’-thought which originates in the intellect has 

to be dissolved. When the sense of individuality is thinned out, the individual intellect 

expands into the Total Intellect. The words in the Bhashya, ‘Swacchha-Swabhaavakam

Aatmanah’ tell us that the idea is “to render the individual intellect as pure and sweet” as 

the Total Intellect, whose other name is Hiranyagarbha. When an intellect expands in this 

way, the hold of the Ego upon it gets completely loosened and dissolved. 

4

 Dissolve the Mahat or “Great Soul” into the Supreme Self: This final mergence of 

the Consciousness into its deepest level of awareness is called Self-realisation. This is 

characterized by the experience of Shanti or peacefulness. We note that the intellect with 

ego cannot directly merge into the Self. As soon as the ego-sense is dissolved, the intellect, 

which is now identified with the Totality, merges naturally into the deep, universal Being. 

Link Passage (to next mantram): In an important link, three similes are quoted in the 

Bhashya to help us understand our real predicament. 

They are: i) the water of a mirage ; ii) the snake on the rope; and iii) the dirt in the sky. 

Our ignorance or deluded state of the intellect is described in each of these similes: 

i) The Mirage: The world is only an appearance; it is not really there.

ii) The Snake: Due to fear this appearance makes us resort to all sorts of actions to 

get rid of a “snake” that is really only a rope. 

iii) The Dirt: The ignorance is not our true nature. Just as the sky is unaffected by the 

dust in the air, so also the Self is really unaffected by the presence of the ‘dust’ of Karmas 

accompanying It. 

In all three cases, once the real nature of the seen object is understood, the 

misconception vanishes. In the same way, once the knowledge of one’s true nature sets in 

deeply into our heart, and when purity and one-pointedness are developed, the Self reveals 

Itself. Peace of mind is enjoyed, and the goal of life is achieved.  

Therefore, it is worth making effort to acquire knowledge. The next section gives us 

a big boost of inspiration to strive hard for this state of peacefulness. 

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

Next

THE GLORY OF THIS JOURNEY

 1.3.14: A Wake-Up Call From the Wise 

Continued

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