Meditation According to the Upanishads -2. Swami Krishnananda

14/05/2019
(Spoken on January 14th, 1973)
2.

In the Aitareya Upanishad particularly, we have what may be called the objective approach to Truth, which means to say the Upanishad here considers the universe as created out of the Supreme Being in a manifold process. The description of the process of creation in the Upanishad is given to us not so much to enlighten us about the actual process that might have taken place at the time of creation as to tell us how we stand in relation to it. The purpose of the Upanishad is to cause liberation of the soul, not to give a metaphysical system. All creation theories in the Upanishads have this purport before them, the liberation of the soul, and this can be achieved only by a proper appreciation and understanding of the relationship of the individual soul to the Supreme Soul.

The understanding that the individual has of its relation with the Supreme Being is its status. The individual generally regards itself as standing outside creation as a creature evolved in the process of creation, as something ignorant, impotent and miserable. The creation theory, the doctrine of the process of the evolution of the universe described in the Upanishads, gives us an idea as to whether we are in any way connected with Reality at all, or we stand outside it. That we stand outside it is out of the question because if that had been the case, liberation would be impossible. If the individual soul is absolutely outside the operation and the activity of the Supreme Being, there would be no connection between the two and the soul would ever be in bondage. It would be what is called the ‘eternal damnation theory’. According to certain religions, there are some souls who are eternally damned and will never attain salvation. That would be the most uncomfortable doctrine that we evolve out of a belief that the individual stands absolutely outside the existence and activity of the Supreme Being.

Now, is it so? Is it a fact, or is there something else, a deeper truth standing between the souls and God? The Aitareya Upanishad tells us that this is not the whole truth. The objective analysis given to us in this Upanishad in the process of creation, the description of the way in which the universe has evolved, tells us that everything has come from that One. Atma va idam eka evagra asit (Ait. 1.1.1): The Atman alone existed in the beginning. Nanyat kiñ cana mi?at: Nothing living existed at that time. The Supreme Atman, Paramatman, existed. That has somehow become this cosmos. This is what the Aitareya Upanishad tells us. It has become the objective cosmos and also the subjective jiva. It has become not only the objective universe, not only the individual jiva, but also the presiding deity standing midway between the objective and the subjective sides. This is what we generally call the adhibhautika, adhidaivika and adhyatmika faces of creation. All these three are supposed to be Ishvara Himself. The Atman itself has become all this.

To be continued ..